In another thread, QuakeAttack noted that the trades for Califf and Clark are looking pretty good at this point. My question: Who takes responsibility, or gets credit, for the way this current bunch has been rebuilt? We had extreme turnover between last season and this. Maybe someone has a definitive answer but I think most of us would just be speculating. (Not that this will stop anyone.) The dark aspects of this question: - Does Alexi Lalas get any credit? - How much do we owe Judas for leaving, and thus making the Quakes a hungrier, more entertaining squad? - What kind of Karma is in play with the injuries to Waibel and Dayak?
The metroAlexiual left the table. Kinnear gets all of the chips. Alexi gets credit for whatever the metrostars accomplish.
- Does Alexi Lalas get any credit? NO! - How much do we owe Judas for leaving, and thus making the Quakes a hungrier, more entertaining squad? Lots and lots, enough to get over it already anyway - What kind of Karma is in play with the injuries to Waibel and Dayak? That's not funny! I will beat you senseless next time I see you!
I guess the real issue is: How much of the team's roster is a result of what Dom wanted, and how much of it was a result of what AEG and/or Alexi wanted or otherwise pulled off?
It's hard to know exactly, but whenever I saw Kinnear in the early preseason, I saw Lalas with him. It's safe to say he had some input. But then, I have been begging for a team like this for 5 years. I think the credit goes to me.
We spent half of the Narcissus allocation on Clark and half of the Mulrooney allocation on Califf. Then we spent the remaining half of one of the allocations on Chung (not sure which allocation that was). We still have half an allocation. I think we credit Dom for most of the acquisitions. I think that gAlexi had some input and made some comments, but I think he pretty much left it up to Dom, with the exception that he must have said, "no expensive players." I mean, we had a ton of salary cap space and two allocations. We could have signed some pretty big name guys. Though, I really like the team that Dom, JD, and gAlexi put together. Also, there was a report in the Merc (Way better coverage!) that the Quakes are looking at a Romanian striker. No chance that would have happened with gAlexi at the table. I think this is a significant development, even if we don't sign the guy. The mere fact that we are looking outside the league is impressive. Also, the loan of Goldthwaite makes me wonder if we're going to loan him for the rest of the season as part of a move to free up a roster spot? Maybe not. (Goldthwaite did not play for the Timbers tonight and is not yet listed on their roster.) While it might have been Dom's idea to pick up Califf (I suspect that it was gAlexi's idea), I'm sure that the gross over payment of half an allocation was gAlexi's doing. And yeah, we did pay too much for him. Thus far, Califf has played 665 minutes out of a possible 1530, so not even half the total minutes yet. (DFO has played more minutes at 855.) Califf has been great for us, but he was injured when we made the trade. That's a situation where you make the trade for "future considerations." In other words, we give you a chunk of an allocation IF he gets healthy and manages to play more than X number of minutes for us. So credit Dom for finding a bunch of hungry players and molding them into a quality, hard-working, Team. Blame gAlexi for overpaying for some players. I'm thinking that we over paid for Califf and Chung. They've both been good for us, but they were surplus to their previous teams. We could have paid less. And JD probably deserves some credit in there somewhere. GO QUAKES!! - Mark
You, the fans should get a credit, too. How many other teams in MLS have fans that believe so much in a team?
Recent comments by Mullan and Robinson in Shrader's recent column show that at least the players perceive it as a team that Dom has "put together". I'm sure Lalas had some input and may have vetoed a few things Dom wanted to do, or maybe Dom vetoed a few things Lalas wanted to do. But my guess is that it was mostly Dom telling Lalas who he was interested in picking up and Lalas making it happen unless he thought it was a bad idea. "Dominic has put together a great team," said Brian Mullan. "The players not only have skill but they really want to win and they really want to work hard to win. I love playing here. I wouldn't want to play for another coach." "In the end it comes down to camaraderie," Robinson said. "If you look at the players they've brought in year in and year out, since Frank Yallop and Dominic Kinnear have been here, they're not just good players, they're good people."
Re: Question: Who put this team together? markmcf8 and JazzyJ, thanks for some enlightening posts. The rest of you yo-yo's never fail to entertain.
I don't think a roster spot frees up when a player is loaned, Levesque is still on our roster. But the real point is that they don't have to free up a roster spot, they have one with Twellman going down. There are only 9 developmental players, so they have a developmental roster spot open (assuming they cut Twellman, which you would assume they have done or will do if they need a spot.)
Would they cut Twellman? or just put him on IR? If they put him on IR, he remains "on the team," but he wouldn't take up a roster spot for the rest of the season. I've forgotten, but I think that Chung and Gray replace the roster spots of Dayak and Waibel? Is that right? So we're at max on the senior roster? If we were to sign this Romanian, or some other player, how would we make space on the roster? GO QUAKES!! - Mark
Yep, Chung and Gray took the roster spots of Dayak and Waibel, and we are maxed out on the senior roster. As for Twellman, I just looked this up and found an interesting point in the rules: So whether this is putting Twellman on IR or not (just seems to be the mechanics of what happens), looks like they can sign an additional developmental player.
Here is my breakdown by player on who put the team together: O'Rourke (any drafted player) - both Lalas and Dom (even). Clark - both Lalas and Dom (even). Moreno - both Lalas and Dom (even). Cerritos - both Lalas and Dom (primarily) Chung - both Lalas and Dom (primarily) Grey - Dom Califf - Lalas Barrett - both Lalas and Dom (even). Aliosi - both Lalas (primarily) and Dom Yes, Lalas deserves credit. He was very adamant at the end of last season and during the off season about last year not being acceptable and about changing the team (I.e. rebuilding, retooling, whatever...). Looking at the two players who have made the most impact on the team are Cerritos and Califf, Lalas had a big part in bringing in both players. That being sad, Dom deserves all of the credit of putting together all of the pieces into a fine team. However, just because Lalas was arrogant and came from LA, doesn't mean we should be turning a blind eye to his contribution. Lastly, as far as the comments about "paying too much", I have only seen one or two post to that effect. Small minority. Hell, the way the defense has turned around with Califf in the middle, he may be the team MVP at the end of the season. A partial allocation is a small price to pay for his contributions as a leader on and off the field. However, as someone else posted, the post season is a different story. You can't replace Donovan's ability to turn it up another gear. If you are saying that the allocation should have been used for that "post season" player, I would have a hard time arguing with you.
What I'm saying is that Califf was injured and unable to play when we signed him. Therefore, a half an allocation is too much. We were not sure when, or even if, he would recover. Yes, he's turned out to be great for us. No argument there. But this is surely a case where you trade "future considerations" for the player. The evil, cheating filth get a roster spot and cap relief immediately, and once Califf plays a certain number of minutes for us they get a draft pick or two or half an allocation or whatever, but you don't pay half an allocation for a player who cannot play. That's my point. He is turning out to be worth that half an allocation, but we could not have known that when we made the trade, because we were not even sure if he would be able to play. Plus, he still wants to go to Europe. So we paid half an allocation for a player who will put in less than a full season for us. AND, the evil, cheating, league-favored, water-stealing, smog-breathing, baby-snatching, devil-worshipping, galactofilth needed that half an allocation in order to sign Narcissus. Makes it a doubly evil trade. GO QUAKES!! - Mark