Agoos what year is this... that was like 250 years ago in MLS years - Go through the last 10-12 years of top three finishers for MLS Defender of the Year - How many were DPs?- Go through all the DP defenders in MLS history - How many won trophies? You have three DP slots in MLS, pretty much every team uses them on attacking players for a reason. Because you can find great defenders without spending DP-level money. Hell some teams don't even spend money on foreign defenders. In relevant MLS history: The dominant LA Galaxy teams in the early 2010s had a domestic backline, Omar Gonzalez, AJ De La Garza, Sean Franklin, all drafted, and Todd Dunivant. The New England Revolution just set the MLS points record last season with a backline consisting of all domestic draft picks, Andrew Farrell, Henry Kessler, Brandon Bye, DeJuan Jones... with a domestic DM in front of them (Matt Polster) and a domestic goalkeeper (Matt Turner).
Long is a potential World Cup starting CB. I'd say that puts him equal to Zimmerman money, though I'd rather have Zimmerman by a long shot.
Long wouldn't even make the World Cup roster for me (Zimmerman, Richards, Brooks, EPB), if he's starting that means Gregg isn't properly valuing Chris Richards.
LAFC just dumped Henry for nothing, when they added Chiellini and had too many CBs on the roster... would have been a cheap pick up for the short-term but he's Canadian so maybe he would have preferred TFC even if the Quakes were interested... in any case the Quakes need a CB who is an improvement over their current guys, not just another CB to throw into the mix.
If LAFC really want to replace Arango with some big name big money DP... If LAFC's really shopping this dude they're nuts. pic.twitter.com/XNTHEtYIXf— Matthew Doyle (@MattDoyle76) July 24, 2022 19 - Cristian Arango has scored in 19 @MLS matches, including 7 of his last 8, more than any other player since his debut in the competition in August 2021. Reliable. pic.twitter.com/rHq6XJM4MZ— OptaJack⚽️ (@OptaJack) July 24, 2022 MLS trade targets: 5 players who could move this transfer window Cristian Arango Forward · Los Angeles Football Club Given some of the recent reports that LAFC aren’t opposed to listening to offers for Cristian Arango, you have to kick the tires, right? If LAFC truly want to go out and sign a higher-profile No. 9 and use their third Designated Player tag up front, I’m calling about Arango. After scoring nine non-penalty goals in around 1,400 minutes in 2021, the Colombian striker has seven non-penalty goals in around 1,300 minutes this year. Per Second Spectrum, Arango finished in the 97th percentile among forwards with at least 1,000 minutes last year in xG per 90 minutes. He’s dropped to the 85th percentile in 2022, but that’s still a promising figure. Trading for Arango could be a shrewd way to add a useful No. 9 without dipping into the international transfer market. Again, that’s if LAFC are interested in moving the 2021 MLS Newcomer of the Year. Logical destinations: New York City FC, Minnesota United FC, Nashville SC, Toronto FC
Here's a logical move the Quakes should make either this summer transfer window or over the upcoming offseason... The Quakes should transfer Cowell to whatever big Euro club is willing to pay the most for him right now. At age 18 Cowell is "young and raw" while still being somewhat productive at the MLS level (5 goals 6 assists in 2021, 1 goal 4 assists so far in 2022). But he does not seem to be developing. Or improving his touch. Or his soccer brain. Or expanding his overall skillset. At 18 or 19 (Cowell turns 19 in October), Euro teams may still pay many millions for a prospect like that, thinking they can develop him in their own system. Once he hits 20, 21, 22, they are far more likely to see him as having plateaued and not worth investing the time effort and money. Then the Quakes could be looking at $1-5 million instead of $5-10 million for Cowell (just throwing out some rough numbers based on other MLS transfers). Meanwhile, Cowell is usually not the answer for the Quakes these days. They should be playing other current guys who are doing better like Kikanovic, or the next group of guys who have more promise like Tsakiris.
Quakes should do Cade a favor and play him some Next Pro minutes. Take the pressure off of him being a “star player” for the first team because of his new expensive contract. Casey Walls and Emi Ochoa have really improved this year by getting Quakes2 experience. Use it to give Cade some developmental time.
Here is the most candid interview I've seen by a coach on a player (Brooks). Lots to read behind the lines on as well.
Speaking of high line, we don’t do it right? Seems we rarely trap someone offsides. This is another reason we struggle on D I think. There is too much room for our opposition to run around in. And another reason to get more speed on our defense.
We certainly don't have a high line and speed is likely why. I really like compact teams... we're kinda the opposite of that.
A high line eliminates or severely restricts endless backpassing, which seems to be our #1 strategy both on defense and offense…
Just curious, since March 10, 2013 when this thread was discovered, have any of these trade & free agency ideas ever materialized after 78648 posts? For that matter has John Doyle, Jesse Fioranelli, Chris Leitch and most importantly John Fisher, ever seen this thread?
Not a bad idea, but if you are trying to sell a player, how would the Quakes look putting down into Next Pro and he still struggles? I favor the idea, but would be surprised if it happens...
I'd take Long in a heartbeat...he's nails. He's lost a bit of pace but he reads the game at a high level...rarely puts a foot wrong. Imo, Brooks and EPB don't manage the game as cleanly as Long... they can be caught out or have a few tune outs. That's why Long gets the nod for the nats. When Brooks is completely engaged he's top shelf, but we haven't seen him dialed in for some time. Top 4 Nats CBs for me when healthy are Robinson, Zimmerman, Long and Richards. I find it interesting how Zimmerman really developed his ability to read the game...he's developed into an organizer instead of just a man mark stopper type CB. He's a lock starter now...Long's injury basically opened the door for him to be the primary organizer at CB for the nats...it's all zone, not stopper sweeper these days...but imo, he's taking the lead on setting the line Hoping to see Richards get healthy...he could be the best out of all of them if he can just stay healthy...a super athletic organizer...Hopefully by 2026 we have Richards and Robinson at CB But yeah, I'd spend a little money if we could get Long.
Spoiler alert: it’s not going to be the Quakes because it never is Reports from France that an LA MLS club has given an offer for winger Denis Bouanga of Ligue 2 club Saint-Étienne. Bouanga scored nine goals and had six assist last season. #LAGalaxy #LAFC https://t.co/FiWkx3f6Sl— Alex Ruiz (@AlxRuiz15) July 28, 2022 StE were relegated so those numbers from last season were from Ligue 1
In the center back department. Connor Donovan has supposedly been a legend for Sacramento Republic this year. He was a rock yesterday against SKC. I don’t see him being worse than Beason.
Noticed that Farid Boulaya is a free agent. He had a really good season a year ago in Ligue 1 for Metz(where they finished 10th) and was rumored to be a target for Leeds then wasn't as good last season(where they were relegated), and is very fun to watch, very skilled. Should be available as a TAM player and would slot into LW and combine well with Monteiro.
Quakes Acquire Brazilian Defender Rodrigues on Loan from Gremio: https://www.sjearthquakes.com/news/...zilian-defender-rodrigues-on-loan-from-gremio It's another Chofis-ish deal - loan (for a year), with option to buy. Good news - low risk - if he doesn't do well, you're only on the hook for a year. Bad news - if he does well, price goes up.
This isn't really true... The price of an option to buy is almost always (if not always) in the loan deal. In fact for MLS teams it may even be a league requirement? Even in that deal I suppose it could go up based on certain metrics like say appearances or goals/assists, but I don't think that's very likely. The price can still be negotiated down, eg "the option to buy is for $3 million but how about you let us have him for $2.5 million?" (which is essentially the two parties agreeing to a new deal), but if the price is so low that it's a steal, the team will likely just pull the trigger based on the negotiated price that's in the contract. That's the case all over the world, but a recent example from MLS: Inter Miami paid $6 million for Julian Carranza as a DP, this year they loaned him to the Philadelphia Union, where he's playing really well for them (he currently has 8 goals 5 assists), and even before the loan was over they exercised their buy option for a mere $500k (to be paid over two years!) plus a percentage of any future transfer. Loan deals almost always (if not always) state that the player on loan can't play against the club loaning him out, so Philly exercised their buy option right before they were scheduled to play Inter Miami so he could be involved in that game (which they won).
Depends on how the contract is written. I'd be surprised if the "options to buy" were binding, as in we set a price and if you want to take it (as the purchaser) we are bound to accept it. If it is binding, then any seller who has any interest in the value of the player and has any smarts would be motivated to set the price high, knowing that the buyer can reject it, and then it's a renegotiation. Either way, my point stands. If you purchase a player outright from the start, you are taking a bigger risk, and you also have the potential to get a really good deal if the player turns good and the seller undervalued him.