This thread is going to come up soon enough anyway, so might as well get it started. Here's the roster: Chris Armas DaMarcus Beasley Carlos Bocanegra C.J. Brown Craig Capano - P40 Jim Curtin Sergi Daniv -SI Kelly Gray - P40 Dema Kovalenko - GC Jesse Marsch Jason Moore Peter Nowak - GC Mike Nugent - DP Orlando Perez Ante Razov Henry Ring Miguel Saavedra - P40 Dipsy Selolwane Billy Sleeth Hristo Stoitchkov - SI Zach Thornton David Vaudreuil - RP Billy Walsh - CU Evan Whitfield Josh Wolff Basically, the guys on the bubble are either questionable in value, widely rumored to be moving on (Beasley) or potentially high in trade value (i.e., Gray, Whitfield). I still think one of our back three might be on the block as well, but that's going to be dictated by the other trading party. On top of salary concerns, we've got 21 players for an 18-man roster, possibly more if any of the P40 guys "graduate" and if Nuge can't be a developmental player for more than one season. I'll go into more detail for the online column in a couple of weeks. ON THE TEAM: Armas, Bocanegra, Brown, Capano, Curtin, Marsch, Nowak, Razov, Ring, Saavedra, Selolwane, Thornton ON THE BUBBLE, ON THE BLOCK: Beasley, Daniv, Gray, Kovalenko, Nugent, Perez, Sleeth, Whitfield, Wolff ON THE WAY OUT: Moore, Stoitchkov, Vaudreuil, Walsh Later, COZ
Stoitchkov,walsh and vauderill must go. Depending on what we can get to replace them I wouldn't be opposed to trading or waiving wolff,nowak or even beasley. Wolff is too injury prone ,same for Nowak and his age is against him. Beasley while an exciting dribbler doesn't score or assist enough. Of course he has a tremondous upside and he is great defensively so I would only want to get rid of him for an allocation and or high draft pick. If we can replace Marsch with a lower salaried player that also would be fine with me to free up salary cap room.Didn't we release Daniv already or am I mistaken? If not we can release him now. We cannot go into next season without obtaining a consistent high scoring forward who can stay healthy. As painful as it maybe we may have to clean house and rebuild.
Gray is on the bubble? Nowak or Hristo has to go. Get rid of Daniv, Moore, Walsh, Vaudreuil. If Hristo and Daniv go, that should lead to some interesting SI transactions for the Fire. What a stupid waste Vaudreuil was this year.
I think these players should and will be gone next year. Stoitchov-A good players when he's healthy but as everybody knows that was not many games in his 3 years with the FIRE. Vaudreuil-retirement Walsh-What a waste of a player roster (I finally found somebody a hate more than Marsch on this team) Kovalenko-Overrated as a player and dirty at times C.J. Brown- Beasley-Will go overseas Daniv-a waste of a SI spot. P.S. I think Peter Nowak should have one more season with this team just for what he has done for this team for over the past 5 years. I say this when healthy that he still at 39 is one of the best players in the league.
Solid analysis from our resident radio personality (by the way, pretty good job on the final game Coz). My "On the Bubble" list is slightly shorter however. It includes Beasley, Daniv, Kovalenko, Nugent, Perez, Sleeth, Wolff. I think Bradley saw something in Gray and most likely will stick by his choice. Also, Whitfield is a very solid player that can easily make an impact with his return, and he will fill a spot most likely abandoned by Vaudreuil's re-retirement. Next year I think these two players will still be in Fire red, but good play from both could either secure a long-time Fire stint or up their trade value and open up a trade possibility (later in the season at the earliest). Regardless I think they will start next season for Chicago. Look for Beasley to train with a relatively high profile European team this winter, but unless he makes some major strides between now and the start of the season I think he'll stay a Fire player. He still has far to go to be able to go to Europe and make an impact. He is speed is amazing, his moves are pretty good, but his finishing ability is virtually nil. Another season in MLS would be good for him. He needs to focus a great deal on working towards becoming a better finisher. Couple that with his other attributes and he will go overseas for some big money. And Daniv has been a bit of of bust, he needs to go. Your "On the Way Out" list is right on.
Gray and Whitfield aren't on the bubble as much as on the block, I would imagine. I was going to separate the two, but that gets too confusing. Gray (or Curtin, for that matter) could fill an immediate void for the Metrostars in central defense, for instance. If we can pry Brad Davis away in return, we've got coverage if DMB moves on. And I've got all four right-sided midfielders (Kovalenko, Daniv, Whitfield, Sleeth) up in the air, because it would be hard to justify keeping all of them. Evan may have sustantial trade value, which makes him vulnerable even if he would contribute significantly in red next year. I'm not saying it's what I would do if I were coach/GM, I'm just saying its possible. The problem with Beasley is this damn transfer window. We might not know what he's doing until it's too late to make any significant changes in response. Later, COZ
Keep: Chris Armas Welcome back Chris! Ante Razov DaMarcus Beasley-unless offer comes through Carlos Bocanegra C.J. Brown Craig Capano - A-League loanout Jim Curtin- Don't sit him! Sergi Daniv -Showed lots of promise before his injury. We NEED a right midfielder. Kelly Gray - With more minutes should be a good player. Jesse Marsch Jason Moore Peter Nowak - 1 more year for our captain. Orlando Perez Henry Ring- Got nothing wrong with our backup. Maybe we need another "Snitko" to challenge Zach though... Miguel Saavedra - More A League. Mabye an MLS appearance this year? Dipsy Selolwane-We'll finally see Dipsy Zach Thornton Evan Whitfield Josh Wolff OUT: Dema Kovalenko - trade David Vaudreuil -re-retire Billy Sleeth- waive Hristo Stoitchkov - retire (coach?) Billy Walsh - keep rid of!!! Mike Nugent - If he doesnt count as roster, we may as well keep him even though I dont think he adds much to the team.
But, what do I know??? I would keep: Nowak, who at 38 is still the heart of this team. Zach, Boca, Curtin, Brown, Armas, Gray, Kovalenko, Razov. I don't think Stoitchkov is even part of the question. I will always be a big fan of his and appreciate his helping the Fire and the League. Would love to see him in a coaching position. Would love to see Marsch on any other MLS team - that way he would pass the ball to our team! For various reasons, I don't expect to see DMB, Wolff, Daniv, Vaud, Walsh or Moore as men in red next season.
We all know Bradley won't trade Marsch. If Beasley went to Europe right now, he'd likley be sitting most of the time. He could use another year in MLS. I'd love to see Kovalenko play better for the Fire. He hit a plateau this season, but I'd like to see whether he could get past it. Gray had excellent moments this year, but seemed to space out a lot. If he learns to focus and contribute for a full 90 minutes, I say keep him. The short GO list is Walsh and Vaudreuil. Everything else is a tough choice, so I'll leave that up to Bob.
I followed the Fire alittle this year. I couldnt beleive some of the sorry players they picked up this year. In a way the fire had a way of insulting talent!!! cheers
walsh and vaud are gone... but i'll give them a long round of a standing ovation for what they were able to bring... i could care less if you agree, i know they deserve it and i am thankful they came in to help out hristo shouldn't be offered a contract, we would have to pay him far too much for next to nothing... although i loved being able to watch him play and am thankful for having seen him score in person i hope that nowak's contract can be re-worked... i have a hard time seeing him being healthy for next year we need to get marsch resigned... he is extremely valuable and filled in admirably for armas, he is a great little things player and plays with the type of heart i wish everyone played with i think the biggest thing, in all respects, is finding someone who can play nowak's role next year... it will be needed, he can't play it the whole year (injuries, age...) i think our biggest depth in terms of moving people will be via the backline... we are strong there... whitfield, brown, curtin, boca... plus perez and even gray those are some people that most teams would love to have, throw in wolff, dema, or ante... and teams should start to drool... even if they do have to wait a bit on wolff number 10's are tough to find, let's hope we can find a martino out there
hi im Lucci Gonzalez's(san jose earthquakes) brother. If these players you are mentioning should leave...who should replace them? My brother might be leaving the quakes do to obviouse reasons (desserved playtime).
if you are his brother, i hope he kicks your ass for making him look like a loser otherwise, i'm really not sure how he is suppose to be starting over graziani or donovan.. or get off the bench before derosario he also should have realized that mls is a wasteland... they care not to let top players go and would rather stagnate into oblivion
My idea of a likely starting lineup for next year: ......Wolff........Razov ..........Nowak...........Beasley ....Marsch......Armas..... .Whitfield Curtin Brown Boca. ..........Zach............ subs: Daniv, Dispey, Gray, Perez Meaning, Hristo, Walsh, Vaud are gone. -I would love to trade Dema. I have been saying this since the end of the 2001 season. -If we play three in the back, I think Curtin sits and Boca moves to center with RB Brown CB Curtin and LB Perez and perhaps Daniv playing RW or maybe even Whitfield if he doesn't play in the back in place of Perez. -Jason Moore? Tough call. Put in some good games before he got sick and injured. But with the acquistion of Perez may be expendable. Unless Beasley is gonna go or Bob has someone else in mind. -Gray? Needs some more games, more experience. With a healthier squad next season and especially with Armas back, he may not get those. -Nugent, Capano and Saalvaderra(sp)- Non-roster counting players will likely be in Milwaukee all season long. -Dipsey? We will finally see what Dipsey brings to our team. What we will still need: Another Forward.(Roy Lassiter? j/k)
This will probably be our starting lineup if we can get out of training camp healthy, except beasley and boca are on the left side and whitfield is on the right side.Or bob might start dema in a 3-5-2 formation and sit whitfield. Who is going to want dema after he scored a grand total of one goal the whole year. If eveyone could stay healthy the whole season we would contend for the title but based on past experience that is not going to happen. Wilt and Bradley need to find a great scorer like la and ne did in ruiz and twellman. Also another #10 to take Nowak's position eventually or to replace marsch with someone who can actually pass the ball to a teammate once in a while.
I think that Perez and Gray will see significant minutes next season. They're both big and fast attacking defenders. I wouldn't be surprised to see Stoichkov, Brown and either Wolff or DaMarcus leave. -Tron
This might be a stretch, but what about a trade for Mathis. Im not sure im convinced on this idea either...Sure he is injury prone like Wolff...but he can play up top or as an Attacking Midfield, which is what we sorely need. If he can regain his previous form, and most players stay healthy, no one can compete with the Fire. If anyone, Bradley can get him to play. The Fire are a team with little known inner conflicts. If there was a way to keep Wolff and Mathis, you have a great marketing ploy. The league loves this kind of crap. Im just not sold on the idea of Nowak playing another season and if he does, you know hes going to be injured for maybe half a season, who can run the A-mid spot? Kovalenko might be the only one suited for it but theres no way in hell I would let him run the team. Any other players out of contract here or abroad that can play A-mid?
Fine idea. . . https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=13198&perpage=15&pagenumber=3
KEEP HRISTO He isn't worth the league max anymore. But Pay him 50k and keep him around. He is worth he weight in gold when he is healthy. That isn't often but hey I would keep him around.
The thing is... Mathis has only one year left on his contract and I believe he fully intends to go to Europe (although his demand is incredibly down). Whereas, Wolff has another 5 or 7 years on his contract.