The Official Cristian Arango thread

As discussed elsewhere the Quakes should bring in 23 year old fellow Colombian Dylan Borrero who fills the hole at starting left winger and is a Bruce guy currently out of contract.

 

Clearly RSL and the Quakes have a difference of opinion on whether Arango's second half of the 2024 season was a blip or not...

Since Arango was suspended from RSL, he was never the same. Something was off and something was amiss. That is why you see a deal that doesn’t add up to his value to SJ. Can Bruce Arena get him back on track will be a key question?! #MLS

— Taylor Twellman (@TaylorTwellman) January 10, 2025

Everyone saying SJ just fleeced RSL is not taking that into consideration. That was a worst case scenario 2nd half from Chicho.

— Maximiliano Bretos (@MaxBretosSports) January 10, 2025

 

LMAO

 

Arango

 

These guys are a lot more bullish on the Quakes attack than I am, though I will say that they know our team much better than say Matt Doyle does (even worked in an Oscar Verhoeven reference). But they were echoing that tweet extolling the potential greatness of the Quakes "front 4", and including repping Pelligrino as a guy who could break out and score double digit goals. They think making the playoffs is the "low bar" for us, or maybe they were saying that we could make the playoffs and that's a "low bar" but a good bar for us given where we've been.

 

I think they are jumping over the fact that the 4 have to gel together for that to happen... big if.

But they are 4 individually talented players (soda-water not as much).

 

Anyone else we want from RSL?

RSL today https://t.co/OUfBXIOuWQ pic.twitter.com/FJfaTpBtmK

— Caleb Turner (@calebturner23) January 11, 2025

Diego Luna when he returns from the USMNT camp and realizes Chicho, Julio, Gomez and Crooks are all gone #RSL pic.twitter.com/YnIIdeYiDc

— RSL Show on KSL 🎙️⚡️ (@rslshow) January 10, 2025

 

Brody, Glad, Kei, Luna

 

Sigh...from a value perspective, this is a good/great deal. A goal scorer who has a chip on his shoulder after leaving RSL.

However, we seem to be collecting assholes. First, we hire Arena. Then, while may be not on the same level of El Flopidor (aka Fish), I hated Arango when he played for LAFC.

Well, at least this should be fun to see how this play's out...

 

I liked watching Arango play for LAFC and RSL. He’s got a lot of bad boy in him. Maybe that’s why Pablo seems to have given up on him. But it could definitely backfire — like when Kei Kamara was here.

Will be very interesting to see how this all plays out!

 

Funny that Bruce "suspended by the league and we don't really know why" brought in Arango "suspended by the league and we don't really know why"... at least Arango's was only for 3 games.

Credit to Bruce / Leitch / whoever was involved in making this happen given that not long ago the Quakes were heavily linked to Brandon Vazquez who just signed with Austin FC a few days ago, that was a quick pivot to Plan B relative to how long it usually takes the Quakes to make moves.

 

I would hope they don't have a completely linear series of plans, and instead have multiple irons in the fire simultaneously. Vazquez was probably not a likely get anyway.

On another note, you know how Moneyball is all about leveraging market inefficiencies to get good market value? Seems like the Quakes have found something here: the "formerly suspended by the league" player / coach. Watch for a Dante Vanzeir next!

 

Market inefficiencies.

 

The market strongly undervalues the formerly suspended player / coach!

 

Sorry, I've been busy!

OK, so this is a good move, at least potentially. Can't fault the club for this move, even if it doesn't pan out. Maybe Chicho is washed up? Or maybe he puts in two or three decent seasons for us.

I'm more willing to bet that he turns good, than bad.

But, we still need a d-mid, and we could use a new left-wing too.

This is better, no doubt about it!

Go Quakesfans!!

 

Not so fast.
First, Chicho has to actually play well for us.
Second, we're still a couple of starters short of mediocre.

Can't throw eggs before the chicken has laid some. We need more new guys, but this is the sort of step that we needed. Full marks to the Quakes for getting this done, and well before the season starts as @bsman said. But, the glass isn't even half full yet.

Go Quakesfans!!

 

Me too!

 

Lets see how Harkes and Kaye do before we beg for a new guy.

 

Oh, and training camp opens next week. I'm not certain what day.

 

Were either of them top players at their positions in MLS last season?

I'm hoping for serviceable, as opposed to actually good.

Also, keep in mind that I think that d-mid is one of the most important positions on the team. You have have a good d-mid to keep shape and cut out attacks before your shitty defense gets exposed. As bad as our defense is, I think a big part of that was our shit d-mid. We're going to have at least one or two new guys on defense, so a good d-mid is a must.

Kaye had only fifteen starts for NER last season. That's not inspiring. Maybe he was hurt some of the season? But he's also 31, so that's not inspiring either. Mind you, I hope like hell that he's good, but I wouldn't bet the house on it.

Go Quakesfans!!

 

Cool!

Maybe he can do this at PayPal?

 

If we dump Gruezo we need another dmid, even if just for depth, though I still think we should also try Rodrigues there.

 

All true, but I have seen Bruce get more out of aging vets then skill level and stats say.

They cant be any worse than Gruezo and Baldisimo.

Weve had more success with vets then not over our history, so hopefully we hit some fruit again. If anything else, it adds some good depth to the puzzle as we contine to over haul the roster, over the next 2 or 3 windows. Nothings built over night in the league.

The first goal of Arena was rebuild a culture. Hes doing that. I can give Bruce some patience. Im happy we dont havr to see Yueill, Thompson, Ebobisee Morales and others anymore who expired in 2022.