On that we agree! It's actually the perfect fit to have someone who can play on the left or centrally. I would still like to see them sign one more reasonably quality CB who can compete for starts. If Imperiale plays LB mostly, there are 0 players to compete for starting CB over Muma and Goodson.
I'll go under. I'm guessing Imperiale gets a lot of minutes and puts Muma on the bench for a significant amount of games. Less wear and tear on Muma. I also think the attack will be better...more time spent in the attacking third...solid central midfield defense...Godoy/Alashe/Pelosi cutting out balls reducing the amount of work for the CBs...,less wear and tear on Clay.
Yeah, if Muma sits because Imperiale beats him out, that doesn't count toward my number projection...and it means Imperiale is a better value signing than we expect given he's likely not paid in Muma territory.
Big Vic was underpaid for his value for a couple of years. What someone is paid doesn't equal value very often. Didn't Lenhart make a lot more than Quincy last year?
10 to a goodson injury and about 1 or 2 for a USMNT call up. Bernardez will make up the rest through suspensions
a quick chat with the new guy http://www.sjearthquakes.com/post/2016/02/03/qa-catching-new-signing-andres-imperiale
I expect Andrés to take over for Muma, probably before the middle of the season. Then we have only one absurdly slow defender and his positioning is excellent. I would allow us to play a higher line, because we'd have a lot more speed on defense. Andrés started for Saprissa. He's on par with MLS players. I fully expect him to replace Muma. And yeah, I'm excited about this. I still think that Pelosi is going to play left back. Not my first choice mind you, but I don't get to make that call. We've got to think that Pelosi will be a better left back, and contribute more going forward, though I don't think he has Shaun's pace. Go Quakes!! - Mark
I sure hope he doesn't, but that's because I have a fantasy that Pelosi can be even a better Mulrooney than Mulrooney was on the championship Quakes.
When I see this guy's name, can't help but see this image. Probably permanent brain damage from watching too much TV in adolescent years (only to be replaced by "watching" too much internet later).
When he scores, he's got to run to a corner flag and then pretend he's lifting a crown from his head.
This is kind of my overall mantra, but I think that speed is overvalued. I get why it's a desired attribute, but Bernardez and Goodson have proven time and time again that their positioning makes up for their lack of pace more often than not. Not all of the time, of course, but most of it. I understand your point about playing a higher line, but I think that comes down more to an offense incapable of maintaining the ball more than slow defenders. It's tough to be definitive there, but with how well Godoy and Alashe won possession in midfield at times, it makes the slow defenders argument a little shakier to me. Imperiale may take over in the center, but if it happens, I think it will be due to injury or suspension rather than purely outperforming one of the two. I have a hard time imagining Kinnear making that kind of change when the Quakes were as stout defensively as they were last year. Francis is an easier replacement for starting for several reasons. With Dawkins coming back to the team, there just isn't a place for Pelosi to play right now except as a sub, unless Alashe really drops in form. It's kind of a weird issue the Quakes put themselves in. They got some young players who have a lot of promise, but then doubled up on positions with better paid and (sometimes) better performing players. That leaves some of the young players with fewer opportunities to shine. It gets complained about a lot around here, of course, and it doesn't look like a problem that has been solved or is likely to go away. On the other hand of course, Alashe got tons of minutes last year, and Pelosi got quite a few as well, so there you go.
Has this guy laced up his boots for us in preseason yet? I don't recall seeing his name in any of the preseason posts...
Not entirely. I don't think he can play left back--maybe in an extreme emergency. And in the Sac match, when he came in for about the last 12 minutes, he gave the ball away four times. But he's done some good things defensively.
Our players need to time these pregnancies for the off-season. Otherwise we end up with a lot of sleep-deprived guys running around, eg Wondo.
imptuna.....and I don't have any idea how he came up with it. Good that he was practicing fully today. No paternity leave beyond yesterday must mean mom and Giovanni are doing super.