Ramiro should always have been a D-Mid. Zaher looked good the games he played had some killer crosses and passing too. His claim to fame... he got to f*uck pop singer JoJo, date her, be in music videos as pretty boy muscle man... played some pro soccer, and struck it huge in bit coin. Good for Zaher. I have his jersey.
https://www.skysports.com/football/...document-gaffe-scuppered-loan-move-for-winger Hakim, there is still one transfer window in the world still open, and at least one team who could still use some veteran attacking creativity.
Konrad De La Fuente was suppose to be loaned out to Hull City but the deal fell apart at the last minute. His club team had recalled him from his previous loan and are now stuck with him. They were supposedly offering a 1.7 mil (Euro) buyout. He can be loaned to an MLS team still before the April window closes. Could this be an opportunity for the Quakes? American so no international slot required.
Even though they are very different type of players, they can play the same positions. We still have the same guys (Cowell, Benji, Espinoza and Bouda) we had last year at that position when they pursued Hoppe. A friend of mine had asked scout Bruno Costa about Konrad about a month ago and Costa said “we know him well”. Luchi worked with him at national team camps so he should know if KDLF would help the team or if he has attitude issues.
Good point, but it is only a brief time at those camps. He might be able to get a sense, but you'd really need to see what De La Fuente is all about over an extended period of time...all the peaks and valleys after the initial new club glow has waned. He has really struggled after leaving Barca. I like the young forwards we already have...just me, but I'm not excited by the baggage De La Fuente would bring.
Those first few weeks he had at Marseilles, I thought wow this guy is going to push for a world cup winger spot. He looked like a star in the making. It has been a downward spiral since then. Maybe what he needs is to humble himself in the basement of the Western conference for a season. That would scare him straight.
I’m not saying the Quakes need him, but I could see a somewhat low risk/high reward scenario. He should qualify as a U-22 initiative player on a one year loan with buyout option. If he is poor the Quakes seem to have plenty of cover and if he lights it up the Quakes activate his buyout clause and maybe end up flipping him for a nice profit in a couple of years. Maybe he has dreams of playing in the ‘26 World Cup. Playing well for the assistant coach of the Qater WC team is pretty helpful. Marseille is over a barrel right now. I don’t think they want him taking up a roster spot. They gambled on the Hull City loan and lost. The Quakes have been playing Barcelona ball for a while now. He should be well trained in the system.
All good points, but if he had dreams of playing in a world cup, he was right in the mix... right on the tracks for 2022 after leaving Barca. He was well positioned...and he went the opposite direction. I don't think he would have any interest in playing in San Jose on a loan or low money incentive based deal. There are much more appealing places to play if he wanted to take a deal like that. I always thought he was a tunnel vision player...really high level technically, but never combo'd that well. I would have been way more excited to get a legit shot at Hoppe. Imo, Leitch is risk averse with guys like De La Fuente...going forward he wants good citizens and captain caliber traits...guys that are dialed...he'll methodically keep adding guys like that...slowly putting together a very stable team that won't yo-yo season after season.
I think he earns a little bit more than Cade internet says he earns 676k. I mean could that fit into a loan U-22 player? I have no idea. Fun to think about tho.
A little jealous of these 2 moves. Some good players. https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/new-york-red-bulls-sign-dp-forward-dante-vanzeir-arrives-from-belgium https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/nycfc-sign-argentine-defender-braian-cufre-on-loan-from-mallorca
MLS dropping more coin than a lot of Euro leagues in the transfer window. How much money each club spent from Europe's top 5 leagues + MLS in the 2023 winter transfer window #MLS🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/htJTOSQdGj— US Soccer's Bot (@USSoccersBot) February 2, 2023
Maybe the Quakes still make one more move... if Benji is leaving in the summer they should trade for Opoku if LAFC is still trying to move him. I don't think it's as necessary as I once did, as long as Cowell takes a big step up and his USMNT performance wasn't fools gold. Espinoza / Cowell / Kikanovic / Bouda / Richmond is decent depth for the two winger spots... one more high level guy would be ideal though. I don't think a CB is likely, assuming they sign Munie that's six on the roster (Rodrigues, Nathan, Beason, Agren, Walls, Munie)... maybe a #9 is needed but I think they probably go into the season with a depth chart of Ebobisse / Kikanovic / Patino and then evaluate in the summer. They have probably done enough to field a competitive roster, the question is are they satisfied with that or will they be more ambitious for the first time in a decade?
Do we know if Patiño is still in camp? Looks like maybe he gone: Sfumato il tesseramento col San José, Santiago #Patiño è finito nel mirino di #Internacional #Santos #Ceara e #Chapecoense in 🇧🇷, ma piace anche in Turchia @calciomercatoit— daniele trecca (@danieletrecca) February 2, 2023
I do not think he is in camp anymore and I am guessing it is because whoever they bring in is going to know that they should get used to riding the bench behind Jebo. Its alright I think that role should be for someone really cheap like a homegrown or something. I heard a lot of hype around Tomo Allen maybe sign him and start raising him as a backup?
You think someone like Patiño wouldn't want another shot at MLS in any case, especially knowing that he's a Jebo injury away from possibly getting significant playing time? Maybe he just didn't impress, and possibly didn't really distinguish himself above superdraft pick Liam Butts, who might still be in camp? I don't know, just guessing... we may know a little more after tomorrow's match.
Bummer, I thought Patino made a lot of sense as a depth option, I wonder who said no Patino or the Quakes... for the Quakes it would have been nice to have a proven goal scorer at the professional level (even if USL) who is entering his prime (25), for Patino an opportunity to show he can play at the MLS level and being as you said one Jebo injury away from significant playing time. As for the other two names mentioned: Liam Butts: I can't imagine the Quakes think Liam Butts the 33rd overall pick is a better option than a 25 year old who already has pro success and was once the 3rd overall pick... at least not in terms of contributing in 2023. I would be shocked if Butts got signed at all. Tomo Allen: You may have heard good things, but has he even done anything in MLS Next Pro? Has he even played at that level, or above academy at all? I just googled him and TopDrawerSoccer says Class of 2025... as in high school not college! This Earthquakes profile from 2018 says he is 10, so that would make him what 15 now? Take one look at the 2018 photo of Tomo Allen: is this someone you can see contributing at the MLS level in 2023?
I don't think this one is necessarily such a slam dunk case. 1) The Quakes selected Butts out of I guess over 300 eligible players in the SuperDraft so there must have been something they really liked about him, 2) There's the resume and then there's what you actually show in training. Maybe they just didn't see much difference between the 2 and figured that Butts has more upside, being younger and new to the pro game. And to be fair Butts is 21-22 yo and hasn't had a chance yet to play in a league like USL to give apples to apples. And yes there's the experience factor that plays in Patiño's favor. 3) I don't think it's necessariliy great shakes to score a lot of goals in USL if you fall into the right situation, i.e. you get lots of minutes on a decent team. The Quakes had a guy named Pablo Campos for a short time around 2009 and didn't hang onto him and he went on to absolutely rake in USL. Your main man Adam Jahn at times looked like a man amongst boys in Sac circa 2016. Camdog Weaver was a USL goal-scoring machine and SJ Earthquakes flame-out. 4) Maybe neither here nor there but Butts came out of Atlanta United's academy and credits it for his fast start in college ball. So if signed he'd be kind of like one of Leitchee's favored "College Homegrown" signings. College and "homegrown", just not our homegrown. This is all of course pure speculation. For all we know Butts is already out of camp or will be signed to Quakes II or something. Or maybe they have a veteran #9 signing in the works that would make Patiño not worth the look. But it wouldn't completely surprise me if they thought Butts could serve as senior club depth at #9.
I am just moving on from Patino because I would have loved it but I see him on insta training with someone else so maybe it is a little premature but I was assuming that it just did not work out. I have not seen Liam Butts in camp yet but if he impressed then hell yeah I have faith in Leitch and Luchi to make the right choice. I threw in Tomo because he is 6'3 and moves well on the ball and apparently just needs some muscle. My dream scenario tho would just be we get Fidel Barajas back because we know Cade and Benji can fill in for CF if needed so why not get another attacking prospect that is also very talented.
We will find out how Barajas turns out but I would take Sebastian Carbajal over him in my lineup. Carbajal needs to mature physically but his soccer IQ and technical skills are very exciting. I really hope he works with Wondo because he already has the innate ability to be at the right place/right time.