Osei out, he has created to many goal chances for other teams, if he was not playing im sure our point situation would be a little less grim. I am tired of holding my breath evertime the ball goes to him.
Keep: Twellman - Hes a great player. Joseph - Duh Ralston - i guess Mansally - not being used properly. Alston - duh Igwe - biggest fan. should replace heaps. Osei - cheap and sufficient Barnes - see Osei Reis - sure Colaluca - has potential Badilla/Castro - pick one Dube - Very good backup forward. Assengue - lets actually play him Videira - one more year Knighton - showed promise Maybe: Larentowicz - if they can keep him for around 100-120k Jankauskas - Love him, but theres no point if hes never on field. Shuttleworth - depends Heaps - love him, but since i crush on igwe, might explore trades while heaps' stock is high Dump: Nyassi - No progress. Badilla/Castro - pick the other one. Thompson - awful. Phelan - sub-par Tierney - could probably be easily replaced Albright - too much $ for a bench player thats about 450k for 6 roster spots freed up. thats 6 90k players. maybe different if CBA changes.
I agree with almost all of your choices and reasoning except I would definitely keep Larentowicz if possible and I'd be shocked if Heaps was cut/retired/traded. He's still a good multipurpose back line option. Of course they will likely expose him (and Albright) again in the draft and he could get picked by Philly
No way Nyassi is going anywhere. For the peanuts he is being paid, his potential and being only 20 its a not brainer to keep him. Not sure what you see in Igwe but by MLS standards, no way is he worth 108k a year. if he loses his GA status, the only way he should stay on is if he takes a decent pay cut
You don't think teams would be exceptionally suspicious if a team that is desperate for an experienced forward and goal-scorer, isn't in a particularly bad situation cap-wise, is looking to trade it's long-injured, 100 goal scorer? The only way I see anyone offering anything would be on a conditional deal - in which case we'd be guaranteed to lose. If he doesn't perform, we get diddly, if he does, we look like fools. Defense was rarely our problem this year. Sure, there were dicey moments, but the end result most of the season was that our defense kept us in games and gave us a chance to win. I think we should focus on the offense. If we're concerned about distribution, I suggest we start by looking at Heaps and Reis (who ends up with his punts and gk's? Hint: not the Revs.). Why does Reis get a pass from everyone? How about that innocuous long shot that killed us in a critical game vs. Columbus? Even IF Reis *thought* Osei would clear it, shouldn't he have lined up to catch it "just in case"? And, for all of the communication snafus with Osei, Reis had some last year with Badilla also. It can't always be the other guy's fault. Totally agree on Nyassi. And I expect Igwe to sign for less. He has little bargaining power until he can lock down a starting spot. Sure, but one can dream ...
Yeah, I don't think they will trade him. I meant to put him in the keep, but give Igwe a chance. And yes, Igwe would have to take a pay cut.
nah, igwe is useless. nothing I saw last night makes me thing he's worth keeping. I saw missed tackles, poor clearances (especially using his head), saw him regularly not being in the right place on the field leaving men open. he almost gave up a PK on that late in the game take down (which he also handled the ball, luckily the ref didn't see it). His judgment and vision of the run of play are poor. he will never be anything more than a bench player. Tierney in his very short few minutes looked better than igwe. any college kid we pull out of the draft in the 1st 3 rounds can do what Igwe does. Barnes and Alston have already surpassed him. He's clearly not really competing for a spot. Jay Heaps with 2 broken legs in a coma would be better than igwe. I've seen a few posts lately about heaps. we saw exactly why he is so important to this team. Even though he has gotten older and a little slower, he is still a leader on the field, especially in defense. He had a massive game last night. Sure, sometimes his distribution fails him, but he's still a much better than average defender in this league. His vision on the field is amazing (unlike Igwe). He may not have the speed, but he has excellent judgment and is usually in the right place to make a clearance. We lose heaps and I think we see this defense crumble. The other guys just don't have the experience. He keeps the back organized.
Igwe will be in a world of poop if this coming draft produces another Barnes type player that can handle the left side
Wow, you'd think there'd been a boatload of goals given up or started in his area in the games he's played this season. Let me think, there have been ... uh, none.
Does not matter Igwe = 108,000 caps space hit when his GA is lifted. decent speed limited defensive ability and very little growth in his 3 years Barnes = 34,000 cap space, decent speed. Good defender, strong in the air, unlimited upside. Again, if the Revs find another defender like Barnes in the draft and the GA status is taken from Igwe, his job is on the line. Why pay 108k to a player that has now grown much if any when you can pay 34k to a rookie with equal or greater ability and more potential?
have you seen how far the dude can throw the ball? If my name was Mr. Brady, i'd be looking over my shoulder.
I'm to the point where I'd like to see more of Alston, rather than playing the "catch with the 'Keeper" game that we seem to have gotten with Barnes' throws lately. BTW, both Alston and Barnes are huge upgrades on Heaps who was our previous long-throw guy.
its too bad barnes puts alot of air under it, it would be nice to see a few line drives. Then again, nothing wrong with actually throwing it to a teammate
Just mix it up ... that's all I've been asking. It's constantly a long throw, and it never works, and it just gets annoying.
Barnes can throw in a decent ball into the box, with the hope being I guess that Joseph or Jankauskas heads the ball over to someone else who takes a shot or something. I think the Revs got a penalty kick off of a Barnes throw in, but now it seems like the best result is the opposing players can't handle it and put the ball out for a corner kick. That's happened a handful of times, although I can't remember the Revs scoring on a corner kick this year. The problem now is other teams now the plan so they triple team the target of the throw, usually Shalrie, and muscle him out of the play altogether. Alston has a long throw-in also, maybe not as long as Barnes. But Alston's is more of a "pop fly" to Barnes' "line drive." I, too, am a little tired of seeing this done on every throw in close to the other teams box. Maybe a shorter throw to Mansally or Nyassi for a cross would be better.
Is that true? I'm not sure Igwe's salary stays the same when he graduates from GA. I'm curious how this works. In any event, I hope he keeps GA for one more year. I like him on the left, and Jay may be nearing his expiration date.
When he graduates from GA he has to compete for a roster slot and sign a new contract. The Revs will likely resign him at a significantly lower Cap hit.
Just a reminder, based on the Climbing the Ladder analysis of Generation Adidas, it appears unlikely that Amaechi Igwe or Nico Colaluca will graduate from the program during this off-season. Kevin Alston, on the other hand, probably will.