I don't think it is his wife's fault(didn't even know he was married), that Danny sucks. Archie, u can't have it both ways; either support Sigi and his moves or not. U leave too much wiggle room so that u can come back and criticize. You want Danny to have the opportunity to play for a good coach and you forgot half your post was how Sigi did not play Danny in the U20's and how in other posts you have already ordained Sigi as a good coach. So, either he played for a good coach named Sigi and couldn't cut it, or Sigi is not a good coach. You declare.
Danny is 18 and single. There are lots of co-eds around to be dated. The Mrs Szetela referred to is his mother. His father passed away a couple years ago. I think nearly all Crew fans agree that Sigi is a good coach. The question is what is Danny's future with the Crew. At the moment he isn't a starter and doesn't have a position. He's played all over the midfield. We played a 3-4-3 under Bob with a midfield of Vasquez/Elliott at AM, Wingert/Elliott at DM, Henderson on the right or left wing and Testo, Glen, or Rodriguez opposite. I think Sigi is inclined toward the 3-5-2 or 4-4-2. If we play a 5 man midfield, Danny might see lots of playing time. In a 4 man field, we probably have an opening at DM with Simon going to England but it's not clear that Danny is first in line for PT. Duncan Oughton will be competing and Chris Wingert as well.
FWIW, Sigi Schmid has an outstanding record working with college grads (both in terms of talent spotting as well as developing guys like Albright and Califf and others). However, I personally think his record with teens is a bit more mixed. I don't know how much (if at all) that factors into this but my read of Schmid is that he'd prefer to have a 22 year old college draftee over a 17 year old GenAd or P-40. And I know that's not the immediate tradeoff here, it's possible that he's just not that wild about Szetela. After all, I had a hard time believing that Metro would put Gaven on the block (with Guevara possibly leaving and Djorkaeff not exactly being a spring chicken) but that appears to be the case as well.
To me, and it's just my feel at the moment, Sigi knows MLS as well as or better than any coach and he knows that he can win right now if he can come up wtih the right mix of players. Between Sigi and Bobby they certainly have enough experience with Danny to have a handle on his abilities and his potential both short and long term. Maybe they think he can help right now, maybe they think he is of more use right now as trade bait, maybe they feel he's not the player some people think he is and want to unload him, or maybe they think he's likely to up and split for Europe at the first opportunity and they don't want to waste their time developing a player for someone else. The only people who know what they think about him, and their plans for him , are Sigi and Bob and they aren't likely to share their thoughts with us. Rightly so. The difference is that I - and most other fans - believe that there are grownups in charge who will make good, intelligent decisions on Danny and everybody else and there is a reasonable expectation that they'll be right more often than they're wrong.
Didn't Sigi Schmid pass up an opportunity to draft DeMarcus Beasley and went with Sasha Victorine instead b/c Sigi felt that DMB was going to go to Europe at the first available opportunity? So this certainly seems to be a factor for Schmid--at least in the past.
Nice catch, FF. I'd love to see McCullers go into the pressbox at a Crew/Metros game and just bitchslap Ives someday. That would make me laugh.
Just a thought, take it or leave it as you will but, the next time the Metros are playing at CCS, you guys should have a huge banner ridiculing Ives. Perhaps something like: "Danny's Ours, Suck It Ives" or "kcah a si sevi" writing it backwards might prevent any stadium nazis from trying to confiscate your banner immediately. Knowing how brilliant those kind of folks are, you might get a good 45 minute exposure before it goes down. Enough time to get it through Ives' thick head.
I don't know who Smith would have had the stones to jack up, but my suggestion would be to yank Ive's press credentials any time he shows up at CCS. Act like a dork, undermine the team/player relationships with no particular evidence other than the same old "Danny Szetela Axe" you want to grind, great: buy your own freakin dinner and sit in the cheap seats, bitch.
I come in peace... Pardon my ig'nancy, but what position in mid-field does Szet play? Would he be a winger? 'Cuz we gots plenty o' d-mids but only one winger (Cobi). We would love, love, love to unload Pete Vagenas. Please, no a-mids. We got plenty of those as well. Cheers!!
Great question, but it was unresolved last year. I'd say D-Mid by reputation and Nats, but played D-Mid and some wing earlier here, too.
Ives Galercep could be woefully wrong on this (Szetela up for trade). But here's my take... 1. The Crew "denial" doesn't seem like much of one ("no-one on the roster is untouchable"). You don't want to make too public that you're trying to deal someone if there is a chance they'll stay with the team. I'm guessing (and it's only a guess) that the Crew don't have Szetela at the top of their "must trade" list but he may also be someone that Sigi Schmid isn't impressed by. The Crew management always struck me as an organization that tended not to advertise potential deals or indicate they were looking to trade someone unless it was a complete falling out like Razov. 2. If the argument is that Ives is intentionally sticking it to the Crew, that's undercut by his point in the same article that Gaven is on the trading block. Similar situation--a youth player with tremendous potential who had a disappointing 2005. 3. UCLACarlos--some of the Crew fans who've seen Szetela more and recently may have a different take. I know he's played all of the midfield roles but I think his position in MLS is as a defensive midfielder or holding mid. Szetela had such a big rep coming into MLS b/c: he was physically gifted for his size, had very good technical ability for a D-mid and had a bit of a nasty streak. But if you're looking for an outside midfielder, there are other people that probably fit that position much better (a better cross, better N-S speed, etc.). Besides, the question would be who does LA have that the Crew would want? Schmid more or less gave up on Vagenas--I couldn't see him trading for PV. Sampson dumped a number of the players that Schmid thought highly of (Califf for instance). I know that Pando Ramirez is being offered around the league but I doubt that he'd Columbus much--I frankly think that "El Loco" is a better Guatemalan than Pando.
He's projected as a central mid. If Chicago switches to a 3-5-2 permanently I see this move: Szetela-->Chicago; Vagenas-->Crew; Mapp-->LA. Mapp won't work out as wingback and Chicago needs a holding/d-mid type player with Armas in decline. LA needs an L-mid. Sigi likes Vagenas and the Crew need a veteran holding mid. Add other players/draft picks to balance out perceived lopsidedness.
If Szetala is traded, there is no way McCullers would do it in conference. So, I definately don't see him going to Chicago.
This scenario makes no sense on a couple of different levels. 1. Sigi Schmid eventually buried Vagenas deep on the bench when he was with LA. In short, unless someone is arguing that it was either just a plot by Schmid to reduce the trade value of Vagenas OR he's seen Vagenas in a new light, the reasonable conclusion is that Schmid doesn't think that highly of Vagenas and wouldn't want to trade for him. Put it this way--Schmid valued Simon Elliot over Peter Vagenas and just allowed SE to leave, so what does that tell you about how Schmid likely feels about Vagenas? 2. Yes, Mapp tends to disappear in many games. But he's fast, young and capable of taking over a match. Maybe Szetela will be that kind of player (actually Szetela will probably be better but is a different kind of player) but neither Szetela or Vagenas is at the same level that Mapp is at right now. 3. The Crew go after a holding mid only if they deal Szetela or conclude that Szetela's concussion problems are bad enough to jeopardize his career. 4. I'd argue that the Crew are more likely to go after an A-mid if Schmid concludes that Martino is not the guy he wants to build his attack around. This range of deals makes sense for only one team--LA (b/c they desperately need outside mids). It doesn't make sense for Chicago (they have a range of D-mids and holding mids) and it doesn't make sense for the Crew (who I'd argue need to be sure Busch is healthy, and make decisions about their strikers and A-mid). The Crew IMHO were far more talented then they looked last year. The only GK better than Busch at single-handedly taking over a game is Cannon. The Crew backline is good (though the retirement of Fraser adds a whole). There is lots of talent at midfield--but a few people need to step forward. And the frontline has possibilities though Sigi probably needs to find another Ruiz-type (a bargain Central American who can score goals). Put all that together with a coach who is organized and professional and the Crew will be a force.
Joe: this isn't the first nor the last time someone not from around here wildly posts potential trades on this forum without the slightest shred of thought or insight. Usually it involves one of A.) some metroturd fan or someone like that who thinks we have the intelligence of a George Mason soccer coach and/or B.) trading one of our talented players for a bag of practice balls or something. I'm surprised that in this case there are actual players invovled. Bottom line: that deal sounded pretty stupid to me too. Our previous regime may have loved to obtain Vagenas's "experience" and "leadership", but I'm not sure our current crew will fall for that crap.