What about DJ Countess? I know he has his playing abroad fantasy, but seriously, he's in his mid-twenties and there's only so long you can labor in obscurity in some Chilean backwater. If there was a chance the Quakes could lure him back, I think that would be well worth a shot. And speaking of goalies, Eric Reed. Yes. Absolutely.
Speaking of which, at least two of those listed keepers are in the USL-1. Reed plays for the California Victory--I've seen what he can do all year. His play reminds me a bit of a younger Joe Cannon--the team didn't do much but he kept them from being blown out in games and didn't have much in front of him. Saunders is now leading the Puerto Rico Islanders--and has better support. At least, the former might warrant a tryout with one of the 13, soon to be 14 teams in the top flight. The latter might be suited for the second tier at this stage of his playing career. If Guzan ends up heading for bigger pastures, Burpo might fill his spot. That team has somewhat of a keeper controversy--and that's for another thread. ----- As for Countess, he's much too talented to be playing in Chile. At least, paying his dues either in the lower divisions or some lightweight Euro team might keep him sharp. If MLS was a 14-16 team league he'd be on a first team roster. He is not Jonny Walker going down to South America. If Califf's contract in Denmark will be up, I'm sure he'd be back with the Quakes (or any other team). If there was a team here he'd still be around--which was one reason why he bolted for across the pond.
You left out that he has good distribution. Reed generally throws the ball to his players, rather than just booting it down field. I agree that he's a really good keeper. Amongst the Timbers, Josh Wicks had 14 shutouts in the season, and now a 15th in the playoffs. He is a monster keeper. Of course, he's faced far fewer shots than any other starting keeper in USL because our backline are so incredibly studly. Justin Thompson and Cameron Knowles are the best central defenders in the league. Both are huge and young. I would think they'd do just fine in MLS. (Thompson probably takes up an SI spot.) Our outside defenders are good too, but I think both have had a look in MLS and not stuck. David Hague is young and plays forward or outside midfield. He's got good touch and nice vision. Not sure if he's good enough for MLS though, even as a sub. Luc Harrington also plays up front or on the wing. Good touch, nice passing. The Vickies were into a lot of short passing. You have some decent players there. I liked Fitzgerald also. He's got some size and pace. Honestly, I'm surprised that you didn't get better results. Letoux from Shittle would be a good pickup. The Whitecraps have a lot of good players, but many of them are getting on in years. I was thinking that we might look into stealing a players or two from the Guadaloupe National team. They went pretty far in the Gold Cup, so there must be a good player or two there. We should also be scouring the Central and South American leagues for a bargain foreigner or two. GOOOOOO QUAAAAAAAKES!!!!! - Mark
I know that Juan Roman Riquelme's brother plays for a second division team in Argentina and from what I understand is very good. A guy who's from Argentina who happens to live in Watsonville but will be playing for the Stockton Cougars happens to know the family said that if the team is interested he'll be glad to contact someone since he's going to visit his family this December.
Wish I had Dave's direct phone number because anytime you call the office his assistants answer the calls this guy says he knows of some pretty decent players that can play with this league its all a matter of communicating with him I have his phone number.