Ryan Nelsen Leaving Tottenham (Return to MLS)

Well Nelsen would probably spell the end to both DC players in DC whose names end in kovic. Dejan almost certainly would be moved along. Branko would be tough unless the FO does some shrewd maneuvering and can sign both Ryan and Branko at bargain prices. That scenario would excite me.

Adding Nelsen at the expense of Branko and Dejan would be a step backwards IMO even if it leave a little extra cash for that young Honduran.

 

bring him as a player-coach... give him a small "player" salary and a high "coach" salary... im sure this has been done before in MLS.

 

I'd be so pissed if he went to another team.

 

Meh, he's already been at Tottenham. He can't go anyplace worse.

 

Goff has the link to players' salaries in his latest blog. Wolff is shown as "guaranteed" $130,000 so I assume that is his playing salary. BTW, that same link shows MacDonald as the highest paid defender over both Dudar and Jakovic. If we're talking about clearing space, a BMac for Nelsen swap would suit me fine.

 

Hmm... this is enticing.

He's a great player, even at 34. I imagine we can get 2 years of solid play out of him in central defense. At the same time, we'd clearly have to make room for him salary-wise. Although Jakovic is younger, and still is a promising player, I would think he'd be a prime candidate to be shipped out. Toronto seems like a club that could really use Jakovic. I could also see Houston wanting to pursue him for depth after Cameron departs this summer. Dallas could be a fit. If we sent him to a club that has some allocation money to send us in return, that would be the ideal option.

A backline of Woolard, Dudar, Nelsen, Russell/Korb would be a nice thing to trot out for the playoffs. And you'd have BMac for some depth. Nelsen also gives us real depth for Kitchen's position as a deep lying midfielder, and would be a great guy for Kitchen to learn from.

 

I'm worried that Nelsen will end up missing so much time with injuries that he'll make Jakovic look like Cal Ripken.

 

This is the move I have been hoping for for the last couple of months. The player/coach split gives us an advantage as we could fit it into our salary cap.

Another advantage is that we have a lot of depth at center back so he wouldn't have to play every single game.

Dudar and Nelson are both fantastic center backs for MLS. I would love to have the option of playing the both of them together. The only way that a team could do that responsibly would be if the team had enough other players to cover for their injuries/needed rests or, in Nelson's case, Olympic Duty. We have that.

This would be a perfect fit. We need another great center back. Nelson is the last piece that we really need to get us to the level at/near the top of MLS. We are very close. Nelson brings us there.

 

I don't know but Nelsen would probably cost more than what Jakovic costs. One scenario would be to deal Jakovic for allocation money and then Dejan's cap space combined with that allocation money could maybe fit Nelsen. Or you trade Jakovic straight up for a Boskovic replacement and use that cap space for Ryan. Either way I see any move for Nelsen as the end for Jakovic.

As much as I think Nelsen could be a good fit in DC I would always think twice before dumping a talented international who is just presumably entering the prime of his career for a much better player who is very much at the very end of his career. Reminds me of the Brian McBride scenario. Two years from now Jakovic will still be a quality starter somewhere in the league and DC is starting from scratch. Unless of course they're projecting White as a future starter in which case maybe Nelsen should come and play for 2 years and help develop Ethan.

Also I'm surprised at how little love BMac is getting lately from some posters. Is there any one center back on this team that's been more valuable to us so far this season? No! Not even close. That's money well spent. Case closed.

 

I'll bite. The most valuable center back has been Woolard. He played out of position and helped hold down the defense at a quarter of McDonald's pay. Given that McDonald is the 4th highest paid player on the team, he's done what he is paid and expected to do. Woolard has performed above and beyond -- that's value.

 

Woolard the most valuable CB? He played there 3 times this year. McDonald played every minute except the one suspension. Woolard doesn't belong in this conversation.

I like what Daniel is doing this year but his salary is exactly what his perceived value was at the start of the year. If it wasn't for DC he wouldn't of gotten much more anywhere else. Truth is he probably would of wound up in lower leagues.

Again I'll say that BMac has been our most valuable CB this year and it's not even close. Of course a lot of that is because he's healthier than the other 3, but it's all about taking your chances and he's made the best of it.

 

It has -- and there was a huge backlash against it, and so the league has regulations that make it harder to do now.

 

Dudar.

That back line was still trash until Dudar started calming it down.

If we can get Nelsen, bring him in and trade one of our centerbacks for the deal possible. I wonder if he would bring his teammate David Bentley; he should be released since, well, he didn't even make the 18 man roster of the club he got loaned to on the final day of the Coca Cola league season.

Also, bring in more trialists for depth positions.

 

A few points:

Woolard started the season out as a great value proposition for any MLS team. if it wasn't United, he would have been doing his thing somewhere in MLS. We ditched lots of players last year that weren't in our plans but still caught on elsewhere (e.g., Barklage), so its not like we're the last chance saloon for these guys. Woolard is a valuable and versatile player. His salary reflects his lack of history as an MLS starter -- nothing more, nothing less. "Perceived value" only tells half the story.

Second, maybe its this glass of cabernet talking, but BMac is great based mainly on the number of solid minutes he has contributed under less than deep circumstances. If you look at the quality of play he's had since the start of the year, there have been a number of bad giveaways and turnovers. Not to mention the dreaded long balls to nowhere. BMac would is very fairly compensated and is a solid player at this level. But at best he is a top 12 centerback in MLS. At best. Dudar is unquestionably our best CB.

 

Its the cabernet talking.
BMac is not a top centerback or "great". He'd be a top 3rd CB though and he's a serviceable 2nd CB with another better more versatile player next to him... and he's played remarkably well despite a revolving door next to him this year.

 

The less than deep circumstances is exactly why I'm rating BMac so high right now. He's been paired with 5 different CBs and 3 of them were playing out of position. Other than the game he started with Kitchen our defense was able to survive with their morale relatively unscathed. Of course it's a credit to the whole unit, but in many of these games he's had to elevate his performance to make up for the makeshift nature of our lineups.

McDonald is an athletic beast. He destroys aerial balls from midfield. He's been exposed by crosses from the wing a couple of times, but I'd give at least 50% of the blame to our right backs which is where most of those crosses have come from. Russell can't leave a crosser wide open and expect to get bailed out by McDonald every time. Other than that he's physical in the box and has blocked countless shots on goal. He's an aggressive tackler and this season he's managed just enough restraint to avoid the red cards and PKs. He has recovery speed and his positioning has improved greatly from last year so he doesn't have to chase as much. The distribution has been a problem from time to time but I think he's gotten better since the first weeks of the season. Three assists is a testament to that.

 

I stand by the idea that while he's clearly not a top 10 CB, he's still solid... probably one of the top 20 in MLS. I said top 12 at best. There are some bad ones out there. He would be a consistent first choice starter for several teams and would be relied on heavily. As I said, Dudar is our best. And while BMac isn't great, he's "solid". The defending around MLS has been horrid this year. That ball-watching mistake against Toronto aside, we've at least been a very organized back line that looks like they know what they're doing.

That $200+k deal was just signed a few months ago. So he's not overpaid -- United knew exactly what they were getting from him for that price, because his play certainly hasn't dropped off from last year. If they felt that he was worth the money then, he's definitely worth it now. You may be operating under the assumption that there's some great pool of central defense talent in MLS. There isn't. There's a top 5-10 who are very good/great, and then there is a second tier of guys who are good/solid. I personally would keep him, although the distribution mistakes and giveaways do frustrate me.

 

Is Nelsen fit from injury?

 

As I stated when I first started posting on DC's forum, I have been following BMac since his first year in college at San Francisco where he played forward. The kid got little respect for his results in college. Other guys on the squad got the league's POY, defender of the year, first round MLS draft picks etc year after year. All he got was his team to 3 visits to the NCAA in 4 years, something USF used to dominate but hadn't been to in almost a generation.

BMac was drafted in the 4th round, a round the MLS got rid of the next year; talk about no respect. He goes to the Gals at the league minimum of $12,400, that's right, twelve thousand per year, BMac starts next to Golden Balls in the center of the pitch as a rookie. Talk about 1% vs 99%. When BMac went down with an injury, IMO, not coincidently the Gals, 2 macthes later went winless in the next 12 matches, fired (?) Guillett and brought in Arena. Arena had different ideas and let BMac go for zip, nothing, nada and at the last possible moment. The timing of that release made BMac's opportunities to catch on with another squad immediately for the 2009 season, remote.

John Doyle, a fellow USF alum of BMac's signed him for the minimum ($40k) tripling his salary. But that new found wealth in Silly Con valley still left him practically living on a park bench. Once the Quakes were firmly out of the 2009 playoffs, Yallop the head coach put BMac in the line up for the first time at central midfield and later at CB. It was 2010, when BMac was paired with another WCC forward who was converted to CB (Burling) that the Quakes made the run to the "east coast" conference finals. Oh yeah and another kid emerged, Wondo at the same time. Guess what the story is/was?

In 2011, when Yallop's decided to try something different, BMac was traded for allocation money. Hey, that's an upgrade from zip! Oh and the Quakes tanked. BMac got to United the same day as DeRo. So guess what the "story" line is in DC?

Hey before you go off on me comparing BMac to DeRo or Wondo or Golden Balls, I am just saying I understand why BMac gets little or no recognition for his contributions in light of the major stories being written at the same time by other teammates. But they are teammates after all.

I heard that BMac got a look by an English 2nd tier team (Nottingham) last winter but signed with DC instead. When I look at the amount BMac is being paid now by DC and the stability his "talking and tackling" (Olsen's words) has brought to the back line, I think a good fit has been found. Whether it is Nelsen, Dudar, Jankovic or whomever at CB or even BMac in central midfield, I believe BMac presence on a squad's starting XI and to his teammates will add to any MLS squad.

 

That's a well reasoned, well researched, eloquent and complete response.

Get off the Internet.

I don't think anyone's ever said he adds NOTHING, but there are components of his game that could certainly be stronger. His forward distribution decisions chief among them. If we add someone who does all he can already do, plus make better distribution decisions, plus be solid leadership to the back line, he'd add great depth. Also, we just <3 Nelson.

 

If Nelsen returns I suspect Jakovic is the one to go. He's frequently out injured and makes more mental mistakes than McDonald, plus Toronto should give-up quite a bit for him.