In the last issue of SA, they rated players at various positions. A total of 58 players were ranked at 10 positions. Dallas had one player ranked: Brad Davis at the 5th ranked left-mid. One Burn player ranked about 50th in the league in terms of talent and performance. (Hell, Columbus had 5 in the list.) No one else. Not sure-fire National teamer Chris Gbandi or the vaunted Shavar Thomas. No Vaca. No Kreis. No one. And deservedly so. You can throw a dart and hit a position we need serious help in. These team is so devoid of proven talent it scares me. Granted, a healthly Ronnie O makes this list but no one else will come close. Going back to the Cotton Bowl will help ,morale but will it help the teams performance? Some folks say they want to draft Chad Marshall (who gets a short spotlight in this issue) but I say the last thing we need back there is a another young, unproven defender. We have what: 2 allocations and 2 top 10 draft picks? We need another allocation. We need experience in the back and at center mid. Those should be our allocations. And draft another half back and forward with our picks. We need an allocation type player up top but I imagine we will only get a cheap allocation and using one at forward will be a waste when I think we can get better value for our money in the back. Good defenders are cheaper than mediocre forwards.
alright last season was a disaster, thats established, but lets not cry wolf until we give these guys a chance in a real stadium with a better coach. There needs to be tweaking, but you can't take what Soccer America says to heart, we have very skilled players.
Sorry Burning, Too late to cry wolf. The wolf already got in the pen and gobbled up all the chickens. I have been getting bashed for the same comments that the "Soccer America" article documents. We basically have an expansion team type of roster. Look. My son's room is practically a shrine to Jason Kreis. I LOVE the years that Ocar has given us. I was an even bigger fan of Leonel Alvarez when he wore the red and black. But, I applauded the trade that brought in Ariel. You will come around sooner or later, and I greatly appreciate your sense of team loyalty. However, it is time for a HUGE house cleaning. We have wasted enough time already.
As perceived by Soccer America. I think we were missing the best right sided player in the league in O'Brien last year. And have high potential players in Gbandi, Thomas and Countess. So the cupboard looks much more bare than it really is.
...and with the parity situation in MLS and the arrival of possible, unheard of talents (the next Damani Ralph, Ricardo Clark, etc...) your team could come out flying next season. I don't think I've ever seen a less predictable, professional league.
We already did the house cleaning. We got rid of Jefferies. That was the first thing that had to be done. While there are players I think would be working at a car dealership if it were not for the MLS, I do not believe we have an expansion team type roster. The talent is there and hopefully Clarke(since all signs are pointing towards him) will be able to tap the keg open. I think he is going in the right direction with EJ. Lets see if he can do it with Gbandi.
I just started such a thread in the MLS forum: https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=85130