Quite a day. Can't believe how busy all the sites were and how sucky the day seemed to play out. One of my basic beliefs is "My serenity is inversely proportional to my expectations". Even though we had relatively few picks it's obvious that we all wanted to get a big bag of young playres with potential today. Instead ended up with a dose of hard reality. SN didn't go to the draft with a very big shopping list. His focus is obviously elsewhere. Recent Action: We've added Nowak. APC is gone freeing up Cap and a SI slot. We've added a starting level Keeper. We picked up a couple of young forwards who meet the requirements of the depth chart. JMM may or may not be on his way back.. Serna may or may not be traded. Needs: Increased quality: at Left Back and Left Wing So whats the next move?
FWIW, I'm VERY confident that JMM will play for the Revs this year. It's from an outstanding source. ...I'm just not sure exactly how the Revs will acquire him. But I do stand by the story that's on RevsNet right now. The fact that we didn't pick anybody that can play on the left boggles my mind.
We now have 19 players on our senior roster. Someone needs to go. TF needs to move up to the senior roster or move on. 1--#24Adin Brown 2--# ? Matt Reis 3--#2 Leo Cullen 4--#3 Rusty Pierce 5--#7 Daniel Hernandez 6--#8 Joe Franchino 7--#12 Daouda Kante TI 8--#18 Carlos Llamosa 9--#21 Shalrie Joseph 10--#5 Brian Kamler 11--#6 Jay Heaps 12--#14 Steve Ralston 13--#16 Jim Rooney 14--#17 Braeden Cloutier 15--#25 Winston Griffiths TI 16--#9 Diego Serna SI 17--#10 Peter Nowak 18--#13 Wolde Harris 19--#20 Taylor Twellman Developmental Roster UUU Tony Frias ?? VVV Nick Downing WWW Marshall Leonard XXX Patt Noonan YYY Danelon Westfield ZZZ Kyle Singer
On USSOCCERUK-USA1 wrote: Joe-Max Moore was apparently about to ink with MLS, but has pulled out and is going to sign for a team in Belgium. Just got an e-mail from a guy at Soccer 365. Chris Bergins response "That's a heap of beep" I bet your right Mike. Welcome back JMM George
Is anyone else struck by the implicit vote of confidence given to Franchino and Griffiths by the draft choices? I asked on Ussoccer Uk whether MLS plans to have another draft of sorts before the season starts to include waived players and late signers with the league - anyone care to guess?
I suggested on another thread that maybe Ralston will move to the left and Noonan (or maybe Moore?) could see time at right. Still, it's hard to figure not picking a single lefty, even with a late pick on a long shot. Has anyone in the know (Mike? Danizinho?) heard if we're looking at bringing in new players from outside the league/draft? Otherwise, our best chance for new blood may be the next cut-down date (Jan. 21st to 23 senior players, then Mar. 17th to 18 seniors) and waiver draft (Jan. 23rd, another after Mar. 17th), and that's not too heartening.
Liked the trade : APC & pick for Reis. But, Noonan at 9? What about Gaven???? Singer? A 5' 11" Goalkeeper? What about Phil Salyer or Ian Joy? Still untapped European potential.
Salyer never signed and JOy failed a physical prior to the combine I believe, an old knee injury that really hasn't shown up before, so he didn't enter the draft. The Magpie
I said the same thing elsewhere, too. JMM on the right and Ralston on the left is a distinct possibility. Franchino starts at LB, and Kamler provides cover. Isn't Griffith on the way to becoming an SI this year? If so, I imagine he's on his way out. Lee
We only have one SI? Is this a poor allocation of talent or have the American players caught up with the rest of the world?
I suspect that as the league progresses that SI's are becoming a bit of a red herring. First, in our case, we have players like Nowak, Wolde, Griffiths, Hernandez and Kante who all grew up in an absolutely non-typical US club soccer way. None of them count as SI's because of green cards, etc. and in Daniel's situation because he grew up in Texas but played with Mexican teams in a Mexican kid's league. Second, as MLS becomes a young man's league more and more of our best players are starting out like Ruiz, Vaca and others who aren't yet SI's. Third, the good US players are now as good as most of the mid-level SI-types who used to come into MLS, so why bother? Unless you can get a young, up and coming player for relatively short money a US equivalent is going to do the job just as well. I think for every John Spencer who comes in and thrives there are far more dodgy SI's who just aren't worth it any more. I think Nicol realizes that and is probably going with what he knows at this point which may produce less excitement and pre-season frisson but will probably yeild a better team in the end. JIM DOW
Serna is one. I think Griffiths and Kante will be next year as well, as they will both be 25. Griffiths may have a green card, though, not sure. Lee
Not to be too picky, but Ruiz is a SI. Even though he's young, his salary is high enough to qualify him. On a completely unrelated note, I went on the mlsnet rosters page to verify the Ruiz thing, and I checked our roster. Reis is on it, APC is off, but still no Shalrie Joseph. Is he really all the way signed?
Check the Revs WEB page--he's list on the roster as #21. He's not listed as an SI or TI which I take to mean he has a green card.
Llmosa and Serna Clearblue is saying that both Llmosa and Serna are leaving the League. Only time will tell if this is true but his track record is very good. Losing both players should free up a bunch of Cap space and at least one if not two Allocations. This makes getting JMM simple and maybe---just maybe---we can sign an as yet to be determined left winger. I wonder if Buhlman could be enticed back into the picture?????? George