Tea Light in the Dark Universe: Bobby Wood at Hamburg

Yes, but it is worth a heckuva lot of money to Bobby. Money that he won't come close to getting elsewhere.

 

I mean who cares about that. None of us are Wood to enjoy that unearned money.

the club should just axe him and pay severance and move on. No point in him being there next season.

anyways he seems to want leave and his agent is looking for other clubs too.

 

Everybody wanting you to leave (including yourself) is only half of the equation.

The other half is someone else wanting you enough.

 

Severance can only be paid if both parties agree to the idea and if the money is mutually acceptable. If it isn't, the player's union will have something to say about it - on the way to strike action.

The norm is 50%, which clears the way for the player to sign for someone who'll pay him the difference or something close to that over the long term.

That Bobby hasn't agreed a payoff yet suggests that the offers waiting aren't close to 50% of what he's making, or are so contingent on appearances made, etc that he can't afford to accept one of them.

 

Apologies for a semantic argument: wood certainly earned his contract and I’m glad for him he got it. The fact that it was a bad financial investment for the club is different from it being unearned IMO. So is the likelihood that it will be bad for his USMNT career.

I think the same with Bradley’s monster TFC contract - no one should be mad that they took that money to the bank (not that you’ve indicated any anger at all btw)

 

I doubt Bobby cares if they play him anymore - he knows that's a boat that's sailed. It's about the Benjamins now for a player who's lost his mojo and maybe more.

 

buying his mom all tthe best things in the world.

 

https://soccer.nbcsports.com/2020/0...d-bundesliga-hamburg-mls-major-league-soccer/

 

Jesus H. Christ, Bobby. I can't believe that FC Cincy offered you that much money! $1M/yr is about 3 times what I'd expected an MLS club to offer. Y'ain't gettin' more than that!

 

He's going to make $4m next year if Hamburg gets promoted. An uninjured and back-to-previous-form Wood is better than or similar to

- Zardes @ $630k
- Jozy @ $2.2m

The key question is if his injury has allowed him to return to previous form. Given that he can't get time on a similar to MLS level team, it doesn't appear to be the case. Sad because he was quite good when healthy and our forward pool is terrible

 

Bobby has 1 hell of an agent!

 

Saw something in German the other day that quoted someone at HSV as saying they were not forcing Wood out, but would work with him if he wanted to move, fwiw.

Seemed like general nice speak...

 

Nice speak for "take their offer and we promise the door won't hit you on the way out."

 

I get it that he'll make a lot of money next year if promoted. If that's what he's holding out for then why is he having his agent seek out a deal in MLS? Sure, uninjured and in form he (was) better than Zardes and might be as good as Jozy (though that's entirely debatable), but he's not in form and hasn't been for at least a year and a half. But given the current state of his career--and the fact that no one knows how he'd respond to getting playing time again--means he ain't worth either Zardes money (proven MLS goal-scorer) or Jozy money (proven MLS goal-scorer, also big shiny name to sell tickets/jerserys). There's no way he's going to get an offer coming remotely close to netting him $4m over the next two years (to compete with what he would get if he stays through promotion).

 

Completely agree that the $4m is way way off market (like Bradley and Jozy’s original contracts).

given that his ceiling is so much higher than Zardes, if the team’s medical team was confident he was healthy, he should be paid more than Zardes, even with the injury risk (and I’m not a Zardes hater). Heck, Jozy is a walking injury as well.

 

Did anyone else cough blood when you read zardes MAKES 630K!!!!?

I guess i am still on mls 1.0 salary model... Lol..

Yes yes, no mls talk but seriously....

 

It looked like it was after news of the MLS move falling apart had already broken (though, to be fair, I didn't bother to source the origin of the quote.)

But given how much he's being paid, how little they use him and how much they're trying to move Papa as well, I'm thinking it was "professionally nice."

I'll see if I can track it down.

(found the reference to the article - seems it was before the transfer broke down. Regardless, no matter what HSV might say, they want him gone.)

 

Has anyone seen him play?

 

I am no Zardes fan, but at this point, even I can't say that in MLS Wood's ceiling is so much higher than Zardes. Zardes is the prototypical MLS striker. Durable, high motor, huge work ethic, great team player. Wood may be all of those things other than the first, but I put those in order of import for MLS, IMHO. To be effective in MLS you must first be durable. Turf fields from time to time, massive climate changes, long flights regularly limiting regeneration time all add up to not really being ideal for a guy who isn't particularly prone to long periods of healthy knees.

 

fair point but why does Jozy get the huge contract if durability is vital?

 

When he is healthy, he is miles better than Zardes or likely Wood, so my calculus is likely not suitable to a striker like Jozy in MLS.

 

We can agree to disagree on “healthy” ceilings for Jozy and Bobby. Both were not major league level talents as their career showed them not able to produce at that level. Both have been productive for the USMNT (one with more points and one who showed up better vs stronger opponents) and at the minor league level.

I actually think that a healthy Bobby would thrive in MLS.

Have you seen Bobby play recently? I haven’t but I assume he’s a shell of who he could be due to injuries.

 

And I yet I struggle to remember the last time Jozy was impactful for the NT or even a top attacker in MLS.

 

Jozy was very durable pre-MLS and did not suffer from a single, chronic issue when he was hurt

Wood's health question is more complicated as it seems (from public statements) to be focussed on his knees, recurring, and is perhaps the reason for his drop in form.

For Jozy, it was just taking a chance on an aging athlete playing in a, by some measures such as travel, more taxing league.

For Wood I'd imagine it's - are his knees the reason he cannot seem to return to form, even in the B2.

 

The best ability is availability.