It smacks of desperation after a series of failures. Act One. Hire Carnell. Develop a system. implement system. Win and stun everyone. Injuries mount. internal discord. Quick playoff exit. Act Two. Get desperate after quick exit. Shuffle players during offseason. Loss of Gio is bigger than expected, watch production decline. Get desperate, find Germans, lots of Germans, quick. Discord grows (rhymes with Klauss?), fire Carnell. Interlude. Bring up Hackworth. Stifles discord. Mediocrity replaces the decline. More players exit. Find more Germans, quick. Act Three. Get more desperate, hire Mellberg. More players exit, including Parker. Titanic replaces leaky fishing boat. Key player departs (Vassilev). Rampant discord. Fire Mellberg, second fastest firing in MLS history. Interlude. Bring up Critchley. Stifles discord. Mediocrity replaces the disaster. Titanic has sunk. Survivors try to build a boat out of lifeboats. Act Four (beginning this week). Get desperate. Panic ensues. "Find more players quick, anywhere, from any team. Get me players, lots of players," Lutz screams. Players come and go in droves. Lutz scrambles to find a coach, trolls the depths of somewhere in Europe, and . . .
One last note. I think Lutz is fully capable of judging technical skills. What he seems to lack are (a) understanding how intangibles affect a team and why an average player with fire in the belly may be better than a technical player filled with indifference, and (b) accurate assessment of how individual players blend into a team (or why they don't). That's why we lost Parker and Vassilev. That's why Kijima was deemed expendable. That's why we have technical players who seem out of place, like Teuchert and perhaps Klauss. On a league basis, that's part of why Miami can't defend and why Columbus with Darlington Nagbe is a tough team to beat and why a few technically strong players move from team to team almost annually. On a bigger stage, sports history, that's why Connie Mack build the best team baseball may ever have seen, destroyed it in arrogance, thought he could rebuild it quickly, eventually 25 years later built something close to it again, and destroyed it again, never to rise again. JMHO.
I agree with most of that but the Parker piece. Parker wanted more money than he was worth, and I think it was an upgrade to get Kessler for Parker, minus the injuries(always the injuries)
Multiple reports circulating in Mexico and Brazil right now connecting Klauss to a transfer to Club Leon FC. There aren't any MLS sources reporting this yet. I have doubts about this until it comes from a reliable source.
I'm not bothered if we move Klauss and get money for him. "However", Lutz better have an immediate DP #9 lined up and ready to go.
Why do I have these thoughts that Sang Bin Jeung is the new DP #9 and that Lutz will manage to transfer Klauss without receiving anything in return?
So far, every story or post on the Klauss rumor traces back to someone supposedly on Club Leon's radio broadcast team. I want to see something from somebody who is credible. That said, the Second Transfer Window is open . . .
The saga continues, but now with Matt Baker giving a credible report that there are or were negotiations between Club Leon FC and St. Louis CITY SC regarding Klauss. *shrug*
This is happy news. We need that right now. For those of us who stare blankly in shock when we realize that Gen Z starts turning 30 in January, get ready. Gen Alpha has arrived in CITY's pro ranks, with a CITY 2 debut.
OK, so CITY added Fallou Fall and Sangbin Jeong and is renting Devin Padelford (currently without a purchase option) through the end of this lost season. Is that it? Meanwhile, Vancouver is very close to adding Thomas Muller and Colorado is confirmed as adding Rob Holding and New England just added Matt Turner.
If all we are going to do is add 2 on U22 initiative and a supplemental roster loan player, we deserve the spoon.
Meanwhile, LAFC acquired Son Heung-min and Ryan Porteus and Toronto bought Djordje Mihailovic from Colorado. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Still waiting, CITY. Sixteen days left to clean house and build a roster. Whatcha got? Or are we going to channel Kroenke and just become another neighborhood parts warehouse for the competitive teams?
I would agree with the thought that we are done with respect to player movements. What I do not understand is the silence around the search for a coach. Why? Why are we kept in the dark regarding who is on the short list?
There's a short list? I figured we were waiting for Scandinavian seasons to end to see who would get fired and would be available for free.
I found the short list. Well, they are short. And any of them would be a pupular choice with fans. So there's that.
This opens a senior roster spot (not an international one as he had a Green Card), and removes his $1.2m from the payroll. Hopefully we fill that spot with a more attack minded player, or maybe a 6 to replace Durkin. (I see Fall as being the Nilsson replacement).
Meanwhile, Philadelphia acquired Milan Iloski (ex-San Diego) on a permanent transfer from FC Nordsjælland. Still waiting, CITY. Twelve days left to clean house and build a roster. Time's a-wasting.
With Joyner's appearance today, he is no longer eligible for short term loans. We have one more contract buyout allowed. I vote we buyout Yaro and give the supplemental roster spot to Joyner. We have Kessler, Baumgartl, Fall, Hiebert, JGR, and Durkin who can all play in there, so it's not like we should need 7 CBs.
One possibility is that CITY needs Nilsson's salary (around $2 million) to have the cap space to re-sign Burki. Alm-Blom-Horn-Nilsson-Pidro-Thorisson are gone from this year's contract, though Alm will be on next season's contract list. Sangbin Jeung and Fallou Fall are in. Devin Padelford is currently on loan only. Orozco came up from CITY 2, and has earned a spot. We have one domestic spot available on the Senior Roster (Nilsson's). CITY is sitting on lots of Garberbucks to buy down salaries. There were iffy rumors about Klauss and still are rumors about Celio Pompeu as possible outgoing players. Matt Baker said there has been some confirmation that Celio has received inquiries from other clubs. Silva pretty much is a guaranteed outgoing player. Benjamin Cremaschi vented about his lack of playing time in Miami. He may be baiting them for a transfer or just playing it for a salary bump. I doubt that he would fit Diego and Lutz' "style" of play, but he may be an available player. If CITY could figure out a way to purchase Padelford, he could take that spot.