Wanchope's making 240k/year. If he can improve his finishing a bit, he's going to score a shit ton of goals. He had 4 great opportunities in the last game.
After seeing Thorrington today I would like to see him be held on to for another year to see if he has anything else in him. He seemed really aggressive on the ball and has potential to fit into Coach O's plans in my opinion.
I'm just going out on a limb and say that DP's are protected and Baky, Barrett and Carr are still GA. The fire have alot of older expensive players who should not be protected and hopefully would be drafted by San Jose. Protect- 1. Rolfe- The Fires second best player and future MLS standout, The Fire would be dumb not to protect this guy. 2. Mapp- showed a ton of potential before the injuries, hes most likely not going overseas this offeason and one would have to admit that having a healthy Mapp on the Fire next year only makes us better. 3. Pickens- Solid Goalie, young and a solid teamate. 4. Conde- This is a no brainer 5. Logan Pause- Was a non factor early this year, but got a second chance and boy has he looked like a lock down defender. 6. Segares- Keep 7. John Thorrington - Allways had talent just could not stay healthy. 8. Dasan Robinson - CJ's replacement and a solid player. 9. Telesford - Might not get picked by SJ, but still you like his talent and would hate to see a younger player go over the older guys. 10. Nick Noble- Call me crazy for protecting Noble over Busch, but I like this kid's potential, hes got great size and could be our #1 goalie in a year or 2. 11. whoever else. I personaly wish that Wanchope isn't protected, the best thing that could happen to the Fire would be if SJ takes Wanchope and his big contract. Losing some of these big contracts would be great also- Chris Armas 225,000 34 years old Ivan Guerrero 187,000 34 years old CJ Brown 106,000 31 Jim Curtin 120,000 28 and often injured thats close to 640,000 in funds that could go to a BUNCH of other players or one more DP.
That's kind of the goal of these drafts. Put out players the WON'T be taken. All players left at the curb should be wiped down with a healthy layer of yak dung to make them less appealing. that was supposed to work last year with Mr. Jaqua (going to Europe, remember?). The principle is sound. Offer up players no one wants. If we're going to lose a player we have a use for, we should get something - even if it's just a draft pick - in return. So I think it's a no brainer to leave Wancho unprotected. If they take him, it frees up dollars and a spot in the first XI. The tougher calls will be Armas, CJ, Ivan, Diego. Will SJ take any of these guys despite their age? All are playing well...
Oh of course you leave him out there, but I think that anyone would be nuts to think that SJ would actually take him.
I really have no idea if GA players need to be protected, and I don't really want to find last year's threads about Toronto's expansion... However, being that we only have on on roster (as I think GA status wears off in a player's third year) when SJ's draft happens, it's probably a small issue. My choices for protection: Pickens, Robinson, Conde, Segares, Pause, Rolfe, Mapp, Blanco, Thorrington, Barrett, Soumare (if GAs are auto-protected, Carr) This leaves a lot of vets hanging out to dry, which is unfortunate, but probably necessary. If SJ's new coach tries to do what MoJo did by taking guys of value regardless of age and dealing them around it might come back to bite us if they take someone like Guerrero who has some years left or CJ Brown who is playing well. It's also unfortunate if we'd lose someone that Osorio's keen on like Menezes, but those are the breaks I guess.
Hey guys maybe a lil off topic, but i could not open my own thread cause i am a newbie, i think Chicago fire should open their wallet for a quality signing like Goalkeeper, Guillermo Ochoa, ive seen some fire games and i do not like the current goalie, Ochoa will make as big of an impact as blanco and will get even more fans to the games, He recently got nominated for the Golden Boot 2007, Next to golies like Buffon, Iker Casillas, Petr Cesh so we might as well get him while he is not that expensive maybe 8 mdd!!!
Pickens is good. Hypothetically, Use that money on a forward. Tall, fast, good in the air and doesn't have the touch of a Rhino.
No way in hell. Pickens has plenty of talent and has looked good again (outside of the obvious moment against DC) now that he isn't the entire defense. Ochoa is better but not nearly worth big bucks instead of Pickens. If we are going to open the wallet again, we have much, much bigger needs than keeper.
Ochoa's good, but not head and shoulders better than Pickens, who has been very solid and will probably get a raise next year. However, speaking of América, the guy we should invest in is Cabañas. That guy is fantastic.
I agree with you list. I think Barrett's an automatic, so protect Carr. As for Menezes - he has looked marginal to me this season and was _completely_ outclassed against Cruz Azul. Apparently he's from the part of Brazil that doesn't play much soccer . To me he's an easy one to expose. I'll miss him about as much as Orlando Perez. If I were San Jose I'd pass over guys like Menezes and look for a Plotkin, Noble, Franks, Banner or Jeffy Curtin.
Guillermo Ochoa is good but like its been said hes not worth paying big money to. Pickens has been solid but still makes some mistakes which I think will be corrected working with Osario. We need to patch up a couple of holes up front before we do in the back. With Conde playing in back this will reduce alot of pressure on Pickens in my opinion.
That's fair. I could see Banner as a guy with some potential. Didn't see the Cruz Azul game (due to the whole not being on TV thing), but I thought he was a guy with some potential.
I will need to disagree with you on this one, i think a team should always be built from the defense to the fowards not the other way around, now lets remember that ochoa at this moment is consider by fifa one of the top goal keepers not only in Mexico, or even Latin America, But the World he has great carisma and i can guarantee the same impact that cuauh had when he joined the fire, i can easely see more than 7k people there for his presentation. eighter way we do need a good forward so cabañas will be a great signing as well, but he will not have the same impact.
Besides Busch, Nick Noble can step in at any time if needed...our keepers, as a group, are the best in MLS hands down...of coarse I mean 'hands down' unless the ball is chipped toward goal from the right side of the field.
Goalkeeping (league-wide) is one area where a DP or foreign signing is rarely, if ever, needed. America produces enough solid goalkeepers that bringing someone in is rarely worth it. If you want to keep a low GAA, then you sign someone like Conde who can bolster the defense. Pickens, in his third year as a pro has looked very good [once the defense solidified], enough so to at least warrant a call in to the National Team camp. He is more than the Fire need between the pipes. Lets see them spend some money on someone who can put the ball in the back of the net.
I agree it should be built up from the defense but its a rare occasion that defense wins games. I would like to see Ochoa type money spent on a proven goal scorer with field vision that matches Blanco's and can make runs on Blanco's passes. Once we have a proven goal scorer then we can make the defense rock solid. I wouldnt like to spend the money on a top keeper when we need a forward to bang in goals, a goal scorer who can finish nice set ups provided by Blanco (as we saw yesterday Barrett is not that player, beautiful for sure goal pass from Temo and Barrett sends it into the 10th row)
Yeah i definetly agree with you, i was speachless on that one, i definetly agree a forward is needed, but i guess that i was also thinking in boositng the Fans, I would not be afraid to say that Ochoa has more Positive popularity than any other Mexican player, including blanco, but in over all popularity negative and positive blanco definetly wins.