OFFICIAL 2012-2013: Roster Moves and Rumors

oh i was hoping it was an April Fools joke...

all kidding aside we really really need a wide threat.

even when wilhemsson wasnt performing at a high level last season, just his threat/presence gave LD and Keane holes they could drive a big rig through in the oppositions back line.

 

The Amr Zaki April Fool's joke was actually pretty well done. He's just famous enough that we'd think "that's possible" and just old and difficult enough that we'd all think "oh man I sure hope this isn't actually happening! Could this be happening?? Oh man!"

The Arshavin stuff I definitely believe, but I'm not really on board with the dude. He's hella talented, but getting up there in age, has been injured a LOT, has a bit of a prima donna attitude, and can't really play on the wing if we need him to. So. Definitely meh if he's the big DP they are talking about.

 

I always thought of him largely as a wide player??

Am I remembering wrong?

 

Yeah, he's played his best as a 2nd or withdrawn striker, but Arsenal has pushed him wide a lot (with only limited success) so if you remember him mainly from the premier league rather than Euro 2008, it's natural to assume he is more of a winger. His work rate isn't good enough on a consistent basis to play on the wing and playing in the hole, like Donovan does with Keane, is probably his best position.

 

Official MLS website confirms the rumors:

http://www.mlssoccer.com/es/news/ar...iensa-en-andrei-arshavin-por-si-falla-lampard

Getting him seems to be conditional upon Frank's decision, so I don't think he'll be coming here. He wants playing time and will probably either go home and plays for a Russian Premier League team or stays in London and goes to Fulham. Both would be much more in line with what his short-term goals are, and that is to be with the Russians in Brazil next year.

 

im still praying we get Kaka. The chemistry with our Brazilians would be redonculous

 

That statement would have been true pre-becks but coming to play in Los Angeles has already shown will not undermine the ability for players to get on their national teams. Keane is still being called in as was Becks.

 

so are we assuming this is legit and not a april fools? how the hell could we afford him and lampard together? the argument about national team is ridiculous too but i guess you need a plethora of international high calibre players before the stigma is gone

 

True, but Ireland (#40) has a much smaller talent pool and thus are ranked lower than Russia (#10) in FIFA rankings. The Irish can't be picky with who they cap - Russians can. Not only is their country far larger with a much more competitive domestic league, but given how skewed it is (only 6 teams have won the Russian Premier League since its inception, with Moscow teams having won the most), if he goes to a top RPL side, he's almost guaranteed Champion's League every season.

Taking all this into consideration, I say LA has no chance of getting him. Don't get me wrong, not saying nobody could track his progress if he came stateside, its just that I doubt the Russian FA would dedicate such time and resources to bother because of inherent European bias against MLS.

Yeah, pretty much. The quality of the starting XI may have gone up, but the playing rosters overall need to continue improving for us to be on near-equal footing. MLS as a whole league is still behind in terms of general quality imo.

 

I understand but I rebuke your analysis on the basis of watching the Russian accident videos. I know it has nothing to do with what we are talking about but damn those things are pretty bad. So if I was Andre I would not go their thus, LA Galaxy. Pure BigSoccer rationale in that arguement.

 

Here's some pure speculation. LAG could be floating this balloon as a way of pressuring Lampard to make a decision - in essence telling Lampard we have other options so he needs to sign or the opportunity disappears.

 

If we're already zeroed in on one free agent....that would be incredibly bad management. I suspect (and certainly hope!) that we have multiple irons in the fire and multiple targets we are tracking.

 

Mustapha Jarju!?

 

I am sure we have multiple irons in the fire. But to go semi-public about one is unusual, which is why I am speculating about the motive.

 

it's not unusual, happens all the time. the players and the clubs these days use the media to pressure each other into or out of contracts. I don't think it's moral but they do it a lot.

we need a 4th DP slot and a 350K increase the cap damnit. when's the CBA up for negotiations again btw?

 

I believe at the end of next season.

 

i expect big changes again this time around, the amount of teams utilizing the DP slot has exploded since our last CBA

 

He ruined Star Wars.

 

Well, I should have said it's unusual for LAG to do it. And it is.

 

I disagree. Just adding more DPs is too simplistic and increasingly undermines the point of a Salary Cap. I heard a good idea recently. Not sure if this was proposed in the media, blog, podcast (may have even been on here somewhere) but I did hear an interesting idea regarding cap alleviation for veterans.

I can't remember the precise details, but the basic premise was that if a player was with your club for a certain number of consecutive years, his max salary could be increased. I'd propose doing that and perhaps have the extra not count against the cap.

So a 3 year player can go to $500k with only the first $300k counting against the cap. A 5 year gets up to $650 and perhaps you allow a 7+ year vet to be treated as an additional DP. Maybe allow academy graduates to be eligible for the $500k immediately. This would certainly allow clubs to build over time and reduce the need to blow rosters so frequently. It would also be an incentive against players heading out to MLS-comparable European Leagues like Norway.

As an incentive to stay in the league, there could also be a league-wide initiative, which would be a similar system, but require longer spells in the league as a whole. For example, you need to be in the league 0verall for 7-8 years before you get a league-wide increase in your maximum non-DP salary.

 

I've had a change of heart.

A little while ago I would have been on the 4th DP bandwagon but I think we should be doing everything possible increasing the cap. When you do the numbers an additional DP wouldn't make as much difference to the overall quality of the league as if the cap was doubled. Focus on that and what needs to happen to make that a reality. I think with the CBA coming up the league and the union should make it imperative that the league work towards that goal in a relatively short period of time.

I don't have faith it will though, I honestly think nothing more progressive beyond the minimal increases will come out of those negotiations, to me that's not good enough and the quality will stagnate.

The MLS has shareholders but for investors they are woefully unambitious, you get the impression they'll do anything as long as they don't risk losses. Taking a hit for a couple years by increasing the cap and possibly requiring more from the clubs would put the league in a stronger position when marketing itself, to fans and sponsors.

 

well i mean an increase in salary along with 4th DP. I am still a hard supporter that we need a 4th DP slot and only used on players that are eligible for the US national team.

 

Not a bad idea, quite interesting. Ideally we need to get to a level where DP's are useless b/c the cap is so high but i doubt that will happen anytime remotely soon

 

Creative idea. Kind of strikes me as a mini-DP contract. I guess it's optional so it doesn't have to impact a team's cost unless they choose use it. But if they did, it would create challenges for player trades. If we're paying a player $500k with a $300k cap hit, any team that took him would get a $500k hit. It would certainly work great for the Galaxy, which is willing to spend money and very stable, but I would expect a lot of other teams would oppose it.