A comparison of Atlanta's front 6 illustrates the issues that LA faces in building a competitive squad: Assists are globally recognized assists. Salary v Production Martinez(1M,15G,1A) Asad(150K, 6G,10A) Almiron(2.2M, 9G,8a) Villalba(771K, 12G,8A) Carmona(725K, 2G,1A) Larentowicz(175K, 1G,1A) Zardes(577K, 2G,2A) Boateng(115K, 4G,2A) Gio(5.5M, 6G2A) Alessandrini(2M, 11G,9A) Jones(720K, 1G,2A) Pedro(150K, 1G,2A) Ratings (Whoscored) Martinez(7.62) Asad(7.24) Almiron(7.40) Villalba(7.15) Carmona(6.68) Larentowicz(6.86) Zardes(6.6) Boateng(6.75) Gio(6.81) Alessandrini(7.42) Jones(6.71) Pedro(6.59) What jumps out? Gio makes more than ATLs combined front 6 and is a below average performer for his position!
I was pretty candid about not wanting Jones to begin with, especially at that price, so that's no big secret. Considering he missed half the available games this season with injuries (which many of us predicted) signing him for next year seems unfathomable. CM is a spine position and I don't fancy building the spine around a player you can pretty much count on missing half your matches. I admit I liked the idea of the Pedro signing a lot more to begin with for a couple reasons. Atlanta spent more than 15 million acquiring Almiron, Martinez and Villalaba; we spent 1.5 acquiring Pedro. IMO, these are the kinds of moves we should be making. Not every young player is going to light up the league, but that's a smaller risk, IMO, than signing this particular vintage of Jermaine Jones as a win-now option. Because with that signing, if you don't win this season, it all goes into the toilet. Pedro's fee can be recouped, at least partially. If Jones doesn't deliver a championship, you wasted your money. BTW, how many championships does he have? Having said that, I don't know that it makes sense to carry Pedro with Jona here.
Not really what else can be expected with a nickel and dime cap? People who can run a business (maybe) but are not one bit qualified to run a football club the way it's supposed to. You put idiots who never knew what it's like to play top tier football in parts of the world where results mean life or death (professionally speaking). It's all a load of rubbish every aspect of the club this season, I would like Klein to go over to Germany and sit in and observe how Karl Heinze-Rummeniege runs Bayern Munchen! The money different yes, the available quality not even close but the concept of running a top tier club should be the same! Win or get the sack players and managers zero tolerance for losing simple concept!
That's discouraging, but predictable. Wonder how AEG et al. feel about the decision to cut costs now at the start of the season? For whatever they've saved, they have lost magnitudes more in goodwill and actual brand value. Terribly disappointing thinking.
TT on MLSSoccer Extra Time just essentially said that Bruce had drained LA of allocation money for the 2016 (the last year of his deal) season and it would have been very tough in 2017 for any coach. Listen to 51:00 https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2017...lor-twellman-identifies-usmnt-holes-wades-mls
I am sorry "Thehoustonhoyafan" my anger at this season is too great. This is no excuse for selling AJ, nor letting Larentowicz go, or overpaying for JJ, not to mention Gordon and Leonardo and relying on Garcia at right back. Klein and Vagenas need to be fired. This sounds like TT doing a favor for Klein and putting in a "good word".
What also jumps out to me is Alesanndrini is really underrated in the league. Those numbers as a winger for the worst team in the league are really quite amazing.
It looks totally possible to me, we were all surprised by the fact we managed to sign three DPs, Van Damme, De Jong, Cole, Magee, Larentowicz and Gordon at the same time. But I agree with JPAR too, there have been too many mistakes by this FO.
That’s odd, because I could have sworn both Jermaine Jones and later in the season Van Damme were both using forms of allocation money to buy down their contract. Something must be up with Zardes as well since he’s making more than max salary. So yeah, Bruce may have used up a lot of “funny money”, but clearly not all of it. And allocation money is just one aspect of the debacle that is 2017. No allocation money was required to retain Keane or as @JPAR says AJ. Allocation money wouldn’t account for the colossal mishandling of Robbie Rogers or the hiring of Onalfo. AEG signed off on a project that Had a President making decisions absent the guiding hand of Arena, basically a year one President A GM who had never held that role in any organization before A coach who had failed miserably at the MLS level and accomplished little at the USL level Agreed to sell/trade/not renew almost every single first team player who had more than 4 years with the team Rely on Academy and GII players who had thus far proven ineffective for one reason or another at MLS levels to start rather than as serviceable backups for when injuries/call ups hit There’s that paradox based on the Thesues’s ship where the old rotting planks were replaced by newer ones for so long the entire timber of the ship had been replaced over time. The paradox being is it still the same ship even though every scrap of wood was not original. Sports teams are a bit like that. The 2017 Galaxy decided to rip off 90% of the wood, replace it and expect the ship to sail as it did the season before. I’d love to say hindsight is 20/20, but even the most generous fan was aware of at least 2 of the problems listed above.
So we need a striker for next season. Here are some options: Kei Kamara - A true #9 forward. He likes to play with his back to goal, and can give Gio an outlet. He wouldn't cost us a DP slot, but he is 33 now so it's a bit risky. I think he is the type of forward we need. Terrence Boyd - Also a big forward who can play with his back to goal. Injuries have wrecked him though. He was prolific in Austria before suffering two long term injuries. A move to MLS could get him going again. He is only 26 so if he works out, we could have him for a while. Also likely wouldn't demand DP contract. Aron Johannsson - Good striker who has had injuries ruin what seemed to be a great move to him. Now he is in Werder's reserves, so I could see him wanting out. Rumors that he could go to MLS circulated before, so maybe we could get him? Not sure if he would fit our system though. Also injuries are worrisome. Likely wouldn't need to be a DP as well. Jordan Rhodes - A bit of a random shout for him, but he was a prolific scorer in the championship who made a couple bad transfers which has stagnated his career. He is a bit like Robbie Keane. Wage demands would likely be high though. Steven Fletcher - Another kind of random shout. Fletcher has been a decently consistent scorer in England. Seems to be a solid championship striker and his playing style would work in the MLS. He is a scruffy player who would work for us. Wage demands might be on the edge of DP level though. Leonardo Ulloa - Target man for Leicester. No longer players for them really at all. Just signed a new deal though despite handing in a transfer request in January. Would be a great signing for us and fit the team well.
I guess you are not listening to Yoda's warning about anger instead following Anansi's advice? While I have gone on record saying that the FO royally screwed up with the roster construction, Big Red is the only FO mistake from your list that I agree with. There is little evidence to support your statement that the FO overpaid for Jones. In fact just checking the list of USMNT regulars MLS salary: Bradley 6.5M, Altidore 4.9M, Dempsey 3.9M, Howard 2.4M, Bedoya 1.2M, Beckerman 825K, Edu 818K, Wondo 800K, Kljestan 787K, Mix 772K, Besler 758K, Zusi 757K all make more guaranteed income than Jones at 722K.
So the allocation list is available here: https://www.mlssoccer.com/allocation. It's a full and complete list, 100% transparent. Aron Johannsson is on the allocation list, Terrence Boyd is not.
Yes and the Galaxy should be near the top of the allocation list by the time the transfer window opens up again.
There is little evidence to support your statement that the FO overpaid for Jones. In fact just checking the list of USMNT regulars MLS salary: Bradley 6.5M, Altidore 4.9M, Dempsey 3.9M, Howard 2.4M, Bedoya 1.2M, Beckerman 825K, Edu 818K, Wondo 800K, Kljestan 787K, Mix 772K, Besler 758K, Zusi 757K all make more guaranteed income than Jones at 722K. I hear what you are saying, but all those guys are relatively healthy and playing serious minutes. JJ hasn't played more than half a season since he came to MLS, this is also his 4th team in 4 years. So I guess the question is, is he worth $750K for a half a season? I would argue that he is not, that it's almost impossible to build a team/identity/continuity around a midfielder who will miss significant time on the field. His age and history are working against the salary he is getting. But it's more than that, it's the idea that the FO thought this was the guy to build around. There are plenty of midfielders we could have gone for (Dax McCarty), that would have been much smarter and less expensive choices. But our FO is incompetent, as our record proves.
While your viewpoint has some validity, your calculations are off. Jones has started 17 games and played in 18. He was suspended for 2. So he played in 60 percent of the games. Of course you get what you pay for. The AUFC players have 39 goals and 24 assists. The "finesse 8" has 1 and 2 respectively. To paraphrase the protector of the Grail, Atlanta chose wisely even at a 10 to 1 price difference. Now I don't know why you made this comparison because the positional differences make this a skewed comparison. But even standing alone Pedro brings little to the pitch except the ability to win headers in the midfield. I am sorry but this part of your post is just plain stupid. Many great players In all sports never win championships. I guess in your view Altadore, Bradley, Kljesan, Villa and Wright Phillips, among others, all represent wasted money,
You have a reasonable point. LA could have not signed Jones at 720K and instead signed Dax at $600K or Juninho at 700K. Would it have made a positive difference to LA's season?
What exactly have you proven? You know what, you made an asinine statement earlier "However, if he's here next year, I will personally vomit on the front of Sigi's shirt.". Make sure you post a video of you vomiting on Sigi's shirt.
My bad. In fact, he's on-track to play the most matches he ever has in an MLS season. Which is little consolation to me as a Galaxy fan sitting in dead last after the worst season in franchise history. Their 8 is one of the reasons ATL play some of the most attractive soccer in MLS and yet with his modest output they have the 2nd best GD in MLS. Like it or not, Pedro's bland consistency in the 8 position has delivered more wins this season than Jones playing the same position, including the very last match we won. In fact, we have not won a match against a fully staffed team with Jones as the 8. But don't let me stop anyone from celebrating all those chances he created in a tie against 10-man RSL @ home. How are those players like Jones? Jones was brought in to deliver a championship (or at least make a good run) this year. He's 36.
My bad, I didn't realize this was the Germany Jones LA Chapter Fan Club Forum. Did I mess up my bookmarks? He's hasn't been good for this club, period. And many of us predicted that. And he now holds the dubious legacy of attaching the unretirement of a Galaxy legend's number to the worst season in club history.
Just as a by-the-by, it's been a long, trying season and these debates can get spirited, but I hope everyone knows even though I may disagree, I respect and appreciate all the opinions / posters here. No disrespect intended. Ever. And I promise I won't vomit on anyone's shirt. Well, maybe @TrickHog's.