very dissapointed with transfers

Unfortunately he got a red card last game against Philly Union due to the ref making a bad call - one of our former forwards, a Guatemalan by the name of Carlos Ruiz, acted as if he was intentionally elbowed in the face, thus Chris got sent about 10-15 minutes into the second half.

He still hasn't made a goal yet (but hey, that's not his role), but I think he'll nab a few this season.

 

He's a very hard worker, plays defensive midfield for us, generally, and he covers a great deal of ground. Does a good job at breaking up plays, occasionally a bit sloppy with his touches/passing. Great commitment, great work ethic, doesn't tend to give up fouls in dangerous areas.

 

http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/henderson-seattle-looking-target-help-top


Seattle is another team looking to surpass us in the striker department. It would be best to add that 2nd or 3rd Striker sooner rather than later. Hopefully we are looking to upgrade the position so that the player is integrated and acclimated by mid-season. The current transfer window is closing shortly. Are we looking to make an impact in Champions League this year?

 

Again: Lopez and Cardozo fit that criteria.

You need to relax. It's a long season. Think back to how Juninho was at this point last year and how he developed.

Lopez played very well in his last game and Cardozo has shown in pre-season that while he has areas to develop, at the very least he can provide service down the flanks.

More importantly, we're building a nucleus that should be around for some considerable time.

Consider what Gonzalez, DLG, Franklin, Juninho and Stephens are capable of today and then remember that they're all basically kids with years of development and ahead of them. If Lopez can produce that level of skill on a regular basis for us, while building chemistry with the team, then I see further evidence of an intelligent building process. It's far too early to write off Cardozo (or to assume that Lindpere for example, will replicate last seasons form).

That will serve us (MLS Cup runners up and SS winners in the last two seasons) far better going forward than drafting in a 32 year old DeRo to an attacking system that already contains three expensive DPs.

 

They were both nice finds, but Cardozo was selected in the draft. Bringing in Angel was a necessity, but we need better striker depth from the transfer market if we are going for titles. Hopefully we are looking to improve, because many teams have been.


http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/liverpool-product-trialing-chivas-usa

After drafting Estupinan, Chivas is looking for more attacking depth.

 

No disrespect, but your argument doesn't make any sense whatsoever in the context of the salary-capped MLS; i.e. a selling league. Yes, Juninho has improved during his time year, but he's not an LA Galaxy player - he's a Sao Paulo player and will return to his squad at season's end (LA Galaxy will not be able to pay a transfer fee). Yes, Omar Gonzalez is a great centerback with tremendous upside, but now that he's getting called to the USMNT, I find it very hard to believe he will stay with LA Galaxy/MLS after this season, the following at best. Europe will come calling and he will certainly answer that call. Should Sean Franklin start to get called regularly to the NT, I would think his days in MLS are numbered as well.

The point being, MLS is not like the NFL or MLB where you traditionally build and develop your squads for the future - the time to win in MLS is now and will be so for the forseeable future because your team will not be together for very long. Thus, and to go back to the original point, NYRB trade for DeRo was very astute.

 

Frankly I disagree. I think you're underestimating the timeframe for players coming in and going abroad. You might get that with a Stuart Holden, but he's a player who had talent enough to be a strong starter in the EPL straight off. A player in a position as reliant on footballing IQ and organisation as CB is not going to see many 22 yr olds spirited away to Europe before they have significantly developed.

Omar is still developing an I doubt he'll be going anywhere for a year or two more. I'd actually say that Franklin is more ready for that jump, yet here he still is.

Juninho might be taken back to Sao Paolo, or we might sign him outright (what makes you think we can't offer a transfer fee? That only applies to intraleague transfers). He's good for the MLS, but for one of Brazil's top sides? Again, not at this stage in his development.

FTR, I didn't say DeRo wasn't a good pickup or that a new forward would be out of the question. However, given that we've been working with a streaky Buddle, green Bowen, Magee, Kiro and Alan Gordon for a few years, JPA, Lopez, Barrett, Magee and Cristman isn't that bad a selection.

If anything, JPA is a more reliable performer than Buddle, Lopez at first glances appears to be more deveoped than Bowen and Barrett and Cristman are at worst, interchangable with Gordon and Magee, but probably more productive.

 

I really don't know if Omar is going to get called up to the USMNT again, unless he makes some leaps forward in his distribution. These last friendlies were a strong statement about where Omar stands vs. Tim Ream.

Franklin is currently sitting behind, among others, Steve Cherundolo, Eric Lichaj and Tim Chandler.

 

Gonzo has great potential as a CB and already has the physical and technical tools to hold his own. However, he is still learning about his positioning, organisation and reading of the game and as JuniorLA pointed out, his distribution needs much improvement. He's on the fringes of the nats right now. This is not criteria for a Euro move - not at 22 years old.

With the MLS improving year-on-year, the expanding Salary Cap and the issues with playing and/or development that the likes of Gooch, Altidore and Adu have experienced, I think we will see players staying progressively longer in the league going forward. There was a time when Omar Cummings and Fredy Montero would be elsewhere by now.

Now Stephens, you can't judge too firmly just yet. Just because Gonzo and Franklin have exploded out of the blocks, you can't expect that from everyone. Young players in particular develop at different rates. Stephens to me looks very promising because the IQ and basic technique is there. There is a lot to work with there.

Now I notice you use the term "superstar". If you mean it in the way I would normally use it, I agree. But then I'd say the same about Gonzo and Franklin. However, I use that term to reference an exceptional, well-known talent. If you simply mean a top Galaxy player, I'd disagree. Stephen may never become a player who generates highlight reels, but I can certainly see him becoming a vital cog in the future. In fact, players who read the game well and make good decisions (something that Stephens has shown great signs of doing for his age) are as essential to great teams as the spectacular, flashy ones.

 

I love having players like Franklin on the team. He's probably as good as he's going to get, and currently he's a top class MLS right back. He's ALMOST good enough to be a national team player, but it's likely at his age the national team will look for options who might develop further (Chandler, Lichaj). He won't really get called in much more to the national team except for some Camp Cupcake games, so we won't miss him to national team callups. As well, being out of the national team picture means that he may not get looks from Europe (though he could easily decide to not re-sign with us and go over seas for a decent chunk of change). Under the right circumstances, Franklin could end up being a career Galaxy player and possible legend.

 

just to clarify: DeRosario is NOT a designated player....and therefore we could have made a similar move - just as Toronto agreed to pay part of his salary to NY. It is therefore safe to assume that our management did fall asleep at the switch or rather decided to make some silly moves past offseason (remember Bowen ?)....well too bad it would be nice to have him available now.......

 

I don't think De Ro would have been a good long term signing and I think if we had picked him up I would have been worried. Bruce isn't a guy who reacts quickly, good or bad.

 

Omar's distribution wasn't looking very good against Philadelphia either.

However, I do expect both of these guys to be gone when they're contracts are up. Franklin might stay if we gave him a good offer, but given the fact that we tend to use all our DPs and that we still need attacking help, it's hard to see us spending a lot on a defender.

 

I heard Omar played with an injury. That might explain his poor form

 

These last friendlies are no statement at all regarding Ream vs. Gonzo. Gonzo was hurt and not called in. I agree Gonzo needs to work on his distribution but people completely blow Ream's passing ability out of proportion. His stellar passing ability cost NY the game against Philly.

 

They blow it out of proportion because it's the main difference between Ream and Gonzalez. And yeah, he's young and makes mistakes, but watching his link up play, it's truly a value added thing from a centerback. Not that Gonzo can't improve, but it's a weakness for him and a strength for Ream. As a USMNT fan, I'd rather see Ream because of the flow out of the backfield. As a Galaxy fan, I really hope Gonzo gets into the range of "average" or "above average" because they would give us quite a few extra possessions every game where he doesn't hoof it down to the opposing defense or out of bounds.

 

I thought Omar was really good against DC at keeping his distribution on the ground and to people's feet. I remember seeing him complete some really long ground passes to the wide players.

 

I'm assuming you didn't see his involvement in Philly's goal this weekend...

 

I did see it. Not his finest hour. However, if we're going to judge players on their dumbest plays instead of the body of their work and taking into account age and experience, then we're going to have to assume all young players are worthless. If you enjoy watching aimless hoofs out of the back, then by all means believe that Ream overrated.

 

We are looking to win MLS cup not another Supporter's shield. Remember last year? By 4th of July we looked like the best Galaxy team ever, only to suck a fat one in the fall. This team is built to win in the fall not the spring. If Lopez and Cardozo mature in the same way Junhino did near the end of last season we will be fine.

 

Gonzalez only gave the ball away once last weekend. I think the blanket statement that Gonzalez is poor at distributing the ball is no longer as accurate as it has been.