Rumor mill on NE boards is that JMM is going to NE but they will need an Allocation and are shopping Serna. Serna could score goals with his head which would be helpful here. Possible?
Diego has a bad attitude. He worked out in Miami, but not as well with the teams last year. Plus, he's not a spring chicken. I would stay away from him.
This is a tough call. He and Lassiter are my least favorite players. But he is a scorer. However, I don't see how Spencer could put up with his ego for 10 minutes. Bad idea.
Diego has a bad attitude. He worked out in Miami, but not as well with the teams last year. Plus, he's not a spring chicken. I would stay away from him... You don't know the whole story, and one of the reasons he didn't work out so well for the Revs last year was due to the fact he injuered his knee in late June and was out for the rest of the season. Rest of the story? Serna's mercurial nature, actions, and attitude can be attributed in large part to a serious personal situation involving his family. To make a long (but true and accurate) story short, Serna's had to make several unscheduled trips over the last few years back to Colombia where he had to pay $$$ to certain parties threatening the safety of his family. Think of a situation similar to that when any number of the first Russian hockey players ended up in the NHL, only to have their families threatened by the Russia Mafia back home if they didn't cough up a "protection fee." Pretty much the same thing happened to Serna and things were kept very quiet up until about six months ago when the story started to trickle out. Last I heard the money's been paid off and he's trying to move his family to the states. No spring chicken? Hell, Serna's almost three years younger than Spencer and Lord knows how old El Pibe was when you signed him. Both Colorado players have/did a pretty good job IMHO. Scenario I'd offer would be this: Colorado uses their allocation to sign Joe-Max Moore. Prior to the Revs making their pick at #9 they'd announce a trade of Serna and Rusty Pierce for Joe-Max. You get better depth at forward, better size, and some good, additional cover at right back. Just my 2 cents The Magpie
That could work for both teams. If Hankinson can handle Carlos' and Diallos' egos, Serna should be no problem.
Colorado uses their allocation to sign Joe-Max Moore. Prior to the Revs making their pick at #7 they'd announce a trade of Serna and Rusty Pierce for Joe-Max. You get better depth at forward, better size, and some good, additional cover at right back. I would burn my REvs season tickets on the front step of Krafts house if he did this. Serna and Pierce are way too much for JMM. JMM is a nice player when healthy,,,question is when is he ever healthy?
It's not going ot happen. CO is not giving/trading away their allocation. They are working on bringing somebody else in with the allocation (hope it works out), and that big young forward is not in MLS.
No, I don't know the whole story and don't need to. What mattes is that Serna has been a handful to deal with for every MLS team he's played for, including Miami. It doesn't matter how valid his reasons are for leaving. What good is he if he's not around? What good is he if he disappears for unknown reasons -- that is, for reasons not released to coaches, teammates or fans? Serna is hardly the first MLS player to experience these problems, but he's hardly shown a good track record of dealing with them. Over the years the Rapids have had at least two players who have experienced unpublished and deeply personal problems. Both Marquinho and Geoff Aunger had to undergo forced absence from the team to deal with their issues; while for long stretches the fans were left in the dark (and in some cases angered), the end result is that these players recognized that a playing career in MLS was not in their (or their families') best interest. Unless someone can suggest that Serna has taken care of his problems once and for all, his ultimate value to a team is highly questionable.
That's the spirit! We don't need no stinkin' facts! Serna worries me, but if he came with Pierce that's an upgrade over our current rotating crop of right backs. Also, Diego, personal problems or not has scored a boat load of MLS goals. To me, pairing him with either of our two smurfs up front is better than than trying to play Carrieri and Spencer together up top. BTW, Magpie, I thought the insights into Serna's ordeal were interesting and shed some light. I wonder if the Colombian mob didn't threaten his family if he didn't take at least 3 huge dives per game?
Revsnet is reporting Alex Pineda Chacon and their first pick to L.A. for Matt Reis. This is to free up room under the cap for Joe-Max Moore.
Ok, out with it. I've seen you post this info twice, and you're withholding information. Full disclosure!!!!
If this is indeed true, I'm going to assume he's from Africa or Asia. If he was from Europe or South America, we'd probably have heard it by now. In any event, while I'm excited at the prospect of this player he's as much of a crapshoot as anyone from the draft. Given the generally short careers in MLS (specifically, the tenure of young international players), I'd be more optimistic if we were talking about an older veteran (a la Spencer or Grimandi).
He is young (I think 23). And therefore according to the league's new rules (???) anyone under the age of 24 have to have a clearance from their previous club/s. This clearance letter/s would state that the previous club/s do not seek compensation for this player when he joins a new club. So, if a 22-yr-old international player played in Spain (e.g.) and wanted to come to MLS and was not under contract with the spanish club, the league MLS would require this clearance letter from the spanish club stating that the kid is free and clear and that the spanish club will not be asking any money in return. OK, after all that. This is where the young (23?) African striker deal is at the moment. He is very good and he is a big strong athlete. He was training with the Rapids briefly last year. And Spenny (for one) really likes this kid. He is married to an American so that won't be an issue (I'm not sure if he has a green card yet though but that shouldn't take long to get after you get married). Hopefully the paperwork gets sorted out quickly and this deal can be finished. IF there is a problem the team has other plans to fill into the striker position.
Would this really be more of a FIFA rule rather than a specific MLS rule? I mean, if a player is out of contract with their club in some other part of the world, they're free to sign with any club they want without the need for a transfer fee. I also didn't think this had anything to do with age -- the only thing regarding age and international players is their classification within MLS for purposes of rosters and salary limitations. Also, if we're talking about a young 23-year-old international who isn't a big name and can come to the league without requiring a transfer fee... wouldn't that make him a discovery pick rather than an allocation? In any event, this sounds like an exciting prospect and I hope it pans out. I'd love to see a young international come to the Rapids and develop. And since he's married, maybe that'll help him steer clear of all those hurdles that Agogo ran into...
Age You know, adding another MLS rerun (Serna) isn't likely to help out the cause. We need to build the team thru youth, and careful selectionof veterns who have some of their best years (that's plural) ahead of them. Grimandi could give us 5 years. OK I'll take it. I complained (and still do!) about the CV trade as he wasn't going to give us the duration of service that I would want as a GM. His salary came from Balboa who would have been looking towards another two or three years ahead of him with the Rapids. Yeah, injury can happen anywhere but age is for real. Had we won the Cup with CV then it's an OK deal. We didn't. I think that Carrieri is the young example of a good choice when we were ready to develope him. Spencer, Limpars, and hopefully Grimandi are good senior players with something left when we got them. Save injury, Limpars was a top MLS player. So as Tim and Dan search the earth for the new forward, please pray for the 22 year old from Spain, or the 31 year old from Europe, and not the 4th team MLS malcontent, nor the 38 year old (still in shape!) who fools the scouts. RLH