i say we need both. We need to starter Fullbacks, a DP class Forward and Starter class Winger/Forward if and when Romain gets hurt again next year. For the forward I would not mind a Gareth Bale at all. I also would consider David Silva (33) who I also think would be available this year as well.
It depends upon who had the final say on DP signings. Bruce didn't have that control, Tim did. AEG seems to insist on at least one big name. If you restrict the list to South Americans, we know Neymar, MessI and Ronaldo aren't coming. Cavani is on an expiring contract but also has missed a lot of games due to hamstring and other injuries. If you expand the list, then Chicharito would seem to meet AEG's criteria. Otherwise, Zlatan may be the biggest name in available center forwards. Who knows what Real Madrid wants for Bale.
I know Kevin Baxter would love to see Javier Hernandez on this team. Plus De Klose knows him well enough that we could actually get a legit conversation with him and his people. It would also require buying out his current 3 year 7+million euro deal with Sevilla. I think I would want us to go 4-4-2 diamond if we signed him though --------------Chicharito---------Llegett ----------------------------JDS ------Pavon------------------------------Romain ------------------------Corona New LB----Polenta---Romney/Steres/Gonzalez-----New RB
I would love to see Modric with the Galaxy. However, assuming that the Galaxy use a DP slot for a forward, it would require either a 4th DP slot or Romain leaving or signing a TAM contract.
But neither team in the final has a starting striker with more than 15 goals on the season. In fact, all of the golden boot chasers were bottled up effectively in the playoffs and their teams eliminated; maybe a lesson against relying heavily on a single goal-scorer? Zlatan only scored 1 of his team's 5 playoff goals; Vela 2 of 6, Josef Martinez 1 of 4. A good MLS striker -- not even elite -- say a Kei Kamara type, will bag about 15 goals a season playing between Pavon and Alessandrini and in front of Jona Dos Santos in a good attacking set-up. The difference is, that striker would also create chances for Pavon, Romain, and Jona (or Antuna and Alvarez) to finish more often -- which is something Zlatan doesn't do. We should not mistake players not finishing for an inability to finish.
I’ll be interested to see what happens with Bale. I can’t tell if his agreement to move to China was just a "get me out of here by any means necessary" or if he thinks after 3 (4?) Champions’ Leagues a title and few other trinkets along the way he doesn’t need to play for an elite club anymore. Does seem like he really wants out of Madrid in January though. Injury-prone and I doubt turf will do him any favors. He’s also sort of the Pavon/Allesandrini role as a wide-forward so it doesn’t really solve any problem, just upgrades that position. I still think we’d need a very good striker even though Bale would likely knock in a substantial number of goals.
Again where Stejskal did say this? I don't trust argentinian sources... http://cornerofthegalaxy.com/2019/08/07/galaxy-finally-land-pavon/ https://theathletic.co.uk/1124142/2...pavon-to-unusual-free-loan-deal-with-options/ Otherwise I agree, I want to keep Pavon as long as possible.
Agree on all points. And I just can't see Bale ending up in MLS next year. He's waaay too expensive - Real is likely going to want some 10's of millions in a transfer fee and Bale will likely get a $20m+/yr salary (given that's what the Chinese team is offering, according to reports). And with his injury history and age he comes with significant risk and so is probably not worth that much. But a Chinese club might be rich enough (with help from the league) to justify spending that much on Bale for PR reasons.
The rumor was the Chinese club’s salary was based on Real letting Bale go on a free. That whole Zidane/Bale fracas this summer reached a head, and then Real got cold feet at the last minute. Rumors so who knows. He’s still going to be outrageously expensive.
Sources: Galaxy remain confident they’ll land Cristian Pavon on 18-month loan w/ option to buy, but they need to open up cap space, acquire TAM and free an int’l spot to do so. Looking to trade 1-2 players. As @MLSist and @PaulTenorio reported, Ema Boateng to DC is a possibility.— Sam Stejskal (@samstejskal) August 6, 2019 This was right before we signed him. Like I said, I am not positive this is the case, but there seems to be numerous reports of the 18 months $2million loan. If we were smart, we could have kept Pavon under the 1.5 million DP threshold for 2020.
---------------------------Aguero--------------------------------- ---------Pavon----------Lletget----------Alessandrini------- -----------------Corona---------Dos Santos-------------------
I miss Bruce's ability to find this type of quality player: Alex Buttner , Left Back, just signed by new England. https://www.espn.com/soccer/new-eng...lexander-buttner-joins-new-england-revolution He will make that team competitive again. Counting on you DTK
Hmm. I seem to recall Bruce rejecting Ronaldinho at one point, due to his penchant for partying and questionable work ethic. Clearly if any of those three are available, you take them. I think the general point was more that we look to younger up-and-comers or solid players in the Americas in or around their prime. Though in fairness, we certainly seem to be taking such an approach, when you consider we've signed Pavon, Corona, Favio and Gonzalez of late. As a Man United fan, I've got a lot of time for Chicharito. Always seemed a very likable guy and on form he's a lethal finisher. However, if we're saying that we require a more dynamic forward than Zlatan to fully realize GBS's vision, this would discount Hernandez entirely. He is a pure goal-poaching number 9 who has seen fluctuations in form throughout his career. If Zlatan was starved of service, this would compound that issue as he's not going to be creating much on his own.
This has to be your worst and silliest argument yet. Look at MLS stats for once. You find that the Galaxy tied for 3rd in scoring with 58 goals. They were 2nd in assists with 62. Zlatan led all forwards (not named Vela) with more than 10 goals in assists with 8. He probably would have had more assists and goals if he had Pavon for a full season and not less than a third. Throw in a healthy Romain and his totals would have been even higher. Meanwhile, how does that noted header, Kei Kamara provide more scoring opportunities for his teammates? He had 1 assist. Are you trying to argue that he draws more attention from defenders than Zlatan?
I don't think I said anything about Kei Kamara one way or the other. As I say all the time, stats don't tell a story, but they may explain it. So let's talk stats, because they do explain the story of this season very well: As you said, the Galaxy are 2nd in assists (behind only LAFC). In fact, the Galaxy have more assists than goals, which is only possible because of secondary assists -- this means on many of LA's goals, the ball is being touched by at least 3 players in sequence (the chance creator, assister and finisher). Additionally, as we know, Zlatan is 2nd in goals this season (behind Vela), but he's also 2nd in shots and 2nd shots on goal (also behind Vela). The elite number of 2ndary assists, shots, and shots on target tells me Zlatan is getting lots of chances to score in MLS, mostly being created by others. Zlatan's conversion rate is actually slightly poorer than Vela's and Martinez's, which you maybe could explain because those teams play in such a way that their strikers can almost walk goals in (their xGs are also higher). But Zlatan's conversion rate's also poorer than guys who get lots fewer chances per game, like CJ Sapong and Gyasi Zardes. We've all seen Zlatan miss big chances (though I don't really hold that against him). My point is to dispel the notion that Zlatan is doing everything himself; he's getting many good chances that even an average goal scorer would score from. In fact, if you watch all his goals from this season, I count no less than 10 that you'd expect any average goal scorer to tuck away (though of course, there are about 5-6 in there that no one else on Earth can score). This analysis attempts to calculate an "expected threat" and attempts to measure how often a striker creates their own shot. The chart below shows strikers in MLS plotted with xG vs. %of own chances created. Look at where MLS top goal scorers Martinez, Vela and Ibra appear respectively -- of the three, Ibra's most dependent on help from his team, around the level that Wondo, Sapong and Kamara are. IMO, in general, it's a bad idea to have a DP striker this dependent on service. https://www.americansocceranalysis....-xt-to-find-the-best-shot-creators-in-the-mls
But what kind of chances? Being service dependent is not the most terrible thing, but the kind of service Zlatan needs is another factor that hurts our team. He's very dependent on aerial crosses, which are an inherently risky form of attacking, even with Zlatan who is good in the air. The Galaxy were 2nd in total crosses and inaccurate crosses in MLS (behind Portland) meaning we gave the ball away more than 550 this season. 550 times we sent the ball in with our outside backs and midfielders upfield. Not hard to build a strategy to oppose that. The Galaxy lead the league in key passes from corners and tied Colorado and Portland to lead on assists from key passes. So it paid off for us this season, but the rest of our 5'8'' team who are finesse guys who like the ball on their feet (and are most dangerous in those situations) do not benefit from this type of service. Nor are they necessarily proficient at putting in crosses (a specific skill). So my assessment is 1) Zlatan is dependent on good service 2) The type of service he needs puts us at risk defensively and isn't valuable to the rest of the team's scorers.
Really, it was in the post I responded to and visible in the portion shown. I will require it below. For the record not that many MLS strikers get 15 goals a season. There were a total of 7 with LAFC having 2. FWIW, Pavon (with Zlatan) projects to a 16 to 20 goal scorer over a full season.
I think he's got something like 2.5 but the way things went last season, I don't think United would hold out for a massive fee, unless of course he breaks out at Inter this season. I don't think that's likely though.