Hey guys, wanted to start this little thread just to find out if any of you keep up with the A-league. If so, then when are we exactly going to be seeing McKinley at the Rose Bowl, scoring goals for the G's like we've never seen Albright or Moreno do?!? Now, I know they said at the conclusion of the A-league season, but our time is running out, I mean we only have 4 games left, and I doubt playoff time will be the time to experiment with a new striker. So, I say bring on McKinley now, so we can finalize our #1 team, whether he's included or not, at least we'll know what our first team will be come playoff time.
Kei will stay with Portland until the are knocked out of the A-League playoffs. Their last regular season match is on Monday. Some links for you to keep up with his progress: Portland Timbers Timber Rattlers Timberlog
As PZ said, depends on how far we go in the playoffs. At the moment the first round games are scheduled between Sep 4-8 (with the Timbers playing thier home leg on Thurs 5th). The next round is Sep 11-15. My guess is that the Timbers will get at least this far (hopefully further!!). Oh and by-the-way I spoke to McKinley yesterday. http://www.users.qwest.net/~dallen3/McKTInterview082702.html Dave
Well McKinley got a red card last night for an incident where an Impact defender sent an elbow in his direction as the players walked back after a Timbers attack. McKinley turned to confront him and was sent off. The report from the Impact says it was for a "head butt" but I don't think anyone watching saw anything of the sort. Oh well. In that kind of situation there's always the chance that the officials will see the retaliation and not the original offence. c'est la vie! Dave
Thanks. I lose track of some of these people. Is Andrew Shue still with us??? Anyone knows when Tennyson is arriving? He should be ready to go right???
Huh. I guess I've been out of the loop. I had not heard about Tennyson's scoring exploits this season (he and a teammate tied for the A-League lead with 18 goals). I also did not know Kei had been added to the Galaxy roster. I guess with Glinton injured we had a spot for him. Well, you know how happy I am. Another UCLA stud comes to the Galaxy to excel in MLS. You also have to give props to the Portland Timbers - they seem to have become a pipeline for the Galaxy. That can only help us down the line.
Kyle, it's not like you to be so out of the loop. It was reported a couple of weeks ago that the G's would be replacing Bardales who is out for the rest of the season with Kei. Sigi wanted to keep Kei after the preseason but only had a developmental spot available for him so he made arrangements for Kei to head to Portland and get some serious playing time this season. LA still has rights to him for another season.
Yeah, well, graduate school will do that to you. I knew that we held his rights for one more year. It's one of the weird quirks of the MLS SuperDraft rules. If we'd signed him in preseason and then cut him, we would have lost him. But since we never signed him then and only had him as a non-roster invitee, even though the result was the same - he didn't make the team in the spring - we got to keep him from signing with anyone else. This is yet another one of the ways that Sigi Schmid has proven himself to be a master of working the system. We hold the rights to a number of players who are not and never have been on our team - Robert Russell, Brent Rahim, Cory Gibbs, and I think Hemir Niebles also. The Galaxy probably didn't have roster spots or playing time for these guys anyway, so why not let them play for other pro clubs and get some seasoning, while holding onto their rights? It's a brilliant strategy in my mind and one that could one day make the Galaxy a truly dominant force in this league.
I'm not sure, but I don't think the league ever signed him, so I believe we should still own his rights if he should ever sign. I could be wrong about that, though.
As an uninvited guest here, I will try and be respectful. We'll see how it goes. Whoa, there, cowboy. (Was that respectful? Sorry, I'll try to do better) Far be it from me to do a rain dance during your canonization ceremony of your beloved coach, but you're just a tad off center here. Rather than a "brilliant strategy" this really is more of a "calculated gamble" that, frankly, has yet to pay dividend one. These are all guys who are running as fast and as hard as they can to avoid playing with MLS. Take Tennyson: now, as some of you may know, I am the world's leading chronicler of the trials and tribulations of the Hoosier Daddy. He came out of UCLA and proclaimed to all and sundry that he had no intention of playing for $24,000 a year and was going overseas. And to be honest, he was a complete bust. Lowly Bryne in Norway said "No thanks", St Pauli ditto. He played for the Orange County Blue Star/Wave/Hump in the PDL for a bit and finally got a short contract with Sundsvall, where he actually played all of one stinkin' half of one game, and they showed him the door at the end. You may see all this as "getting seasoning" but I think most people would see his arrival back in the states as a dismal failure. That's not to say he won't do well, and I sincerely wish him the best, but what he was doing all that year was NOT ripening up for the Gals. And as far as Sigi being the master of this Grand Strategy, the guy was drafted by the Crew, not LA. They figured, like Sigi and, frankly, everybody else, that he was worth a fourth round pick; if he made it in Eurpoe someplce, no great loss, and if he failed and ended up back here, then it was worth the gamble. Every team in MLS does this. As it was, just before Lord Tenny signed with Sundsvall, Sigi came calling offering a second round pick for him, and the Crew took it. When, a few weeks later, he signed in Sweden, it looked like he'd been hornswoggled. Of course, him stinking up Sweden seems to be your definition of getting "seasoning" and a 'brilliant strategy" Crew used the pick to get Jon Busch, who's now our starting GK, has the best GAA in the league and is a BIG reason for our turnaround this year. And since, frankly, we're up to our ears in strikers (we couldn't even find room for John Barry Nusum and sent him to Atlanta) we're fine with the whole thing. Ditto Cory Gibbs, who was, incidentally, drafted by Miami, not LA. I didn't know LA had picked up his rights, but I'm sure you're right. In any case, Cory would be very surprised to learn that, rather than trying to make some big money and build a career, what he's REALLY doing playing in the 1Bundesliga is getting some "seasoning" so he can be good enough to play in MLS. See, he's probably under the delusion that he's making ten times the money that MLS can pay and actually (get this) WANTS TO STAY. Go figure. Rahim WAS actually drafted by Sigi. He instead signed with Joe Public (the greatest team name in the world) to keep his options open, then signed with Levski Sofa (also a hell of a good name, but only for a Jewish Furniture Store; get it? Levski Sofa? Oh, nevermind) in Bulgaria and is now on loan through January with West Ham in the English Premiership, where they have already expressed interest in signing him to a long term deal. He too would be VERY surprised to learn that he's not really starting a career in one of the best leagues in the world but rather is gaining the needed experience to come back to the US and play for Sigi Schmidt, "Master of the System". Robert Russell is playing in Norway for Sogndal (or whatever) and is a possibility for you I suppose, and I really liked him a lot coming out of Duke, but he's doing pretty well by all reports and may be a candidate for a rumored move to Glasgow Celtic. He too would rather blow his brains out than come back to MLS. (Niebles is an interesting case - the highest he's ever played is the PDL ((Brooklyn Knoights)); Sigi used one of the three Robin Fraser/Rapids picks for him; unfortunately for the "pile of talent aging in the celler with the port" theory, he was WAIVED by LA and is a free agent) Anyway, the point is that the "brilliant strategy" really amounts to doing the same thing everybody else is doing a little of: get the rights to a guy who is trying his luck elsewhere; if he fails, then you can scoop him up. So far, none of these guys has made any contribution to LA. I'm sure Big Mac will score some for you but he's NOT the second coming of Tyler Twellman. As for the rest of these guys, LA's "rights" run out in less than 5 months. You may see all this as "brilliant" but to the rest of the world it's starting to look like squandering perfectly good draft choices.
Hey, hi , it's me again. Just stopping back to spread a little more of the sunshine I'm so famous for. Unfortunately I was posting off the top of my head this morning (I'd say "out my ass" but that wouldn't be polite) so I didn't bother looking anything up. Now please, don't get me wrong here, because I really do think Key will be a decent MLS player. HOWEVER, before anybody goes into erotic asphixiation over LA bringing in the ACTUAL A LEAGUE SCORING CHAMPION WITH 18 ACTUAL GOALS, THEY COUNTED AND EVERYTHING please allow me to put just the slightest little bit of perspective on that if I might. Thanks, you're very kind. Here's a quiz: Name for me the 2001 A League goalscoring leader: Beulah the buzzer says "Time's up, honey" The answer: the immortal Paul Conway. With 22. Actually, it was just another bookend for Paul, since he won it in 2000 as well. In fact, since the founding of the A League in 1997, the goals champions have been, in order: Doug Miller, Mark Baena-Niall Thompson (tie) , Paul Conway-Greg Howes-John Menyonger (tie) and, last year, Conway again. Now while I would not for a minute denegrate any of these fine gentlemen, one or two of which I have ACTUALLY HEARD OF BEFORE, we are all still waiting for them to have that big, impact year in MLS. Hell, we're still waiting for them to have ANY year in MLS. Just thought you'd like to know. Hey, no problem. It's what I do.
Another Timbers/Galaxy connection Another Timbers connection which might be of interest is Hugo Alcaraz-Cuellar. Hugo had a great season with the Timbers and he tells me he is going down to train with the Galaxy for (part of?) the rest of the season. He has already played in an Galaxy line-up as a guest in a friendly back in May. Hugo led the Timbers on assists this year and was particularly effective providing crosses and set-pieces for our front two. One to watch out for I'm guessing. Dave
Re: Another Timbers/Galaxy connection Friendly vs. Aguila where he came on for Ochoa in the midfield for the second half.
Quote: HOWEVER, before anybody goes into erotic asphixiation over LA bringing in the ACTUAL A LEAGUE SCORING CHAMPION WITH 18 ACTUAL GOALS, THEY COUNTED AND EVERYTHING please allow me to put just the slightest little bit of perspective on that if I might. Thanks, you're very kind. Here's a quiz: Name for me the 2001 A League goalscoring leader: Beulah the buzzer says "Time's up, honey" The answer: the immortal Paul Conway. With 22. Actually, it was just another bookend for Paul, since he won it in 2000 as well. In fact, since the founding of the A League in 1997, the goals champions have been, in order: Doug Miller, Mark Baena-Niall Thompson (tie) , Paul Conway-Greg Howes-John Menyonger (tie) and, last year, Conway again. Now while I would not for a minute denegrate any of these fine gentlemen, one or two of which I have ACTUALLY HEARD OF BEFORE, we are all still waiting for them to have that big, impact year in MLS. Unquote The reason Paul Conway and Mark Baena were not lighting up the MLS is because each turned down contract offers by the mighty MLS. These players were offered more money to play in the A-league. Eric Wynalda ia another good example.
The fact that it is a gamble is exactly what makes it a brilliant strategy. Because it is a gamble with a home run payoff if it works, something that cannot be said of the gambles taken by the other teams with similar draft picks. Take the picks around Cory Gibbs this year (Yes, the Galaxy did select him in the 2002 SuperDraft - he was eligible to be re-drafted due to the contraction of the Fusion, I believe). Here they are: 35. CLB - John Barry Nusum, F - Furman 36. CHI - Dipsy Selolwane, F - St. Louis 37. KC - Chris Brunt, D - Sioux Falls Spitfire 38. LA - Corey Gibbs, D - St. Pauli 39. SJ - Kevin Sakuda, D - Duke 40. DC - Dennis Ludwig, F - Rutgers 41. NE - Derek Potteiger, M - Penn State 42. DC - Bob Brennan, D - American University 43. KC - Dominic DaPra, F - Wisconsin I believe the only player here that started the season on an MLS roster was Brunt. In any case, virtually all of the available players at this point in the draft were severe long shots and most didn't make it. These players aren't nearly as talented as the guy the Galaxy drafted and wouldn't have near the impact he would in this league. At the end of camp, most were waived and thus their MLS rights lost. Surely with the Galaxy's tight roster, this would have been their fate on our team as well. Instead, we gained the future rights to a far better player, which to me makes it a significantly better gamble than the ones made by other teams. Oh, and one more thing about dividend one. Another one of these gambles was, in fact, Gavin Glinton. He was passed on by most of the other teams not because of a lack of talent or perceived ability, but because the other clubs felt sure he was going to sign overseas (and he almost did). But for whatever reason, he didn't sign, so the Galaxy got him, and that gamble has already paid off in his pre-injury play this year. You could have said the same of Seth George and Taylor Twellman at certain points in time, yet both ended up in MLS within two years of their overseas signings. Yes, I've seen your critique. It's useful for its humor, but not much else. Tennyson is a young player finding his way. His European spells didn't work out, but neither did Taylor Twellman's or Landon Donovan's, so I feel very comfortable taking his very short experience there with a grain of salt in determining how well he will do for the Galaxy. If they were perfectly good draft choices, then it wouldn't be brilliant. And let's be clear on one thing. I did not say that this strategy would make the Galaxy one of the league's dominant teams, I said it could. Clearly if none of these players sign, which is a very real possibility, then it won't come to anything. But if they do sign, then the Galaxy will have the best young talent in the league.
Absolutely correct - up to a point. Certainly Tony Bakker in Charleston is willing to belly up to the bar for Conway, just as he is for a lot of other things, like a first class stadium. At the same time, Mr Bakker's personal wealth does not mean he can completely ignore A League economics. And the cold hard fact is that, while Conway HAS reportedly been offered an MLS deal at least once, the fact remains that it was not the kind of offer they give to top-flight strikers. If it was, he'd be there. Put another way, yes, MLS has given him some love - just not BIG love. Ditto Baena, although I'm not as familiar with the Timbers finances as I am with his Olympic-level talents in the field of diving. But you lost me at Wynalda. (Actually, I was there at Blackbaud the night Waldo blew up his knee in a meaningless exhibition against the Revs. Very sad indeed.) He went to the Battery because the most MLS supposedly offered him was 40k. It's no great endorsement of his abilities to have gotten somebody, someplace, to go higher than that. However that may be, the point is that, while these guys are undeniably good, their success, for whatever reason, has been exclusively in a rather, shall we say, "unfancied" league against, frequently, some pretty putrid defenders. Like I said, I think, and honestly hope, that Big Mac (so many nicknames, so little time) will do well. I was simply making the point that some of your compatriots seem to want to race to the county line and litter his path with palm fronds. And I'm suggesting that basing these hopes on a couple month's worth of goals in the A League may be just a tad bit unrealistic. Fred
OK, here's ANOTHER draft list - the fourth round in 2001: 38 Miami Greg Simmonds 39 Columbus McKinley Tennyson 40 Miami Cory Gibbs 41 Colorado Ryan Trout 42 New England Yari Allnutt 43 Dallas Adam Zapala 44 Tampa Bay Adam Throop 45 Los Angeles Brent Rahim As you can see, not only CAN it INDEED "be said about other teams with similar draft picks" but as a matter of fact two of these guys WERE drafted by other teams with similar draft picks. Every year a number of guys don't sign with MLS going into the draft, and drafting them is taking a risk. In 2001 there were four guys who were otherwise considered to be first-round caliber who sunk lower because they weren't signed: Russell, Tennyson, Gibbs and Rahim. And in fact your coach went WAY out on a limb and drafted TWO of them, taking Russell in the second. Throw in the second he traded to CBus for Key and the third he used this year on Gibbs (thanks for the update - I'd missed that one) and you have FOUR perfectly good draft choices, including two second rounders which can occasionally grab you a decent player (Faria, Vagenas, Mastroeni, Talley, etc.) used on guys who have yet to put on a Gals jersey, Tennyson is about to, and more power to him. As for the others, Rahim would seem a poor bet to decide to leave West Ham for a chance to play in MLS for pocket change. Gibbs is having some injury problems right now but he's been a starter at St Pauli and he too would seem to be an unlikely candidate for LA. Now poor Robert Russell, slaving away in Norway is, as I said before, a possibility. However, the whole point of being there is NOT to build a career in Norway; the idea is that Euro scouts will see you play and get you a shot with a better club. Something which, BTW isn't happening in MLS. So unless he's planning on giving up, he too will be learning to love lutefisk. In any case, the "rights" to Russell and Rahim expire in five months. We haven't seen enough of Glinton to say one way of the other, really. But again, my point is not that this is an entirely bad idea; rather that it's not, as you put it in your post "a brilliant strategy" by Sigi who is showing his "mastery of the system" and guaranteeing that LA will be "a dominant force in the league for years to come" And furthermore, EVERYBODY does this. Last year the Crew drafted Tennyson. This year it was Jeff Matteo, who was unsigned and ended up in Italy. The only difference is that Sigi seems to be in love with it, and I really question whether a strategy which so far has gained you only an A League callup is really worth the price you're paying in draft choices You REALLY want to discuss Seth George? Really? Well, since that was the point, then it must have been a success. Donovan came back because he couldn't break into the first squad on one of the best teams in the world. Twellman ditto at 1860 Munich in the 1Bundesliga. Tennyson was DUMPED by a bottom of the table, completely broke loser squad in a third rate league. It's not really the same thing. IF these players sign, which they won't, LA would definitely have some good young players. "The best young talent in the league" may be a bit of a stretch, considering that Tennyson couldn't even make your squad last Spring. The bottom line is that, while this may, somehow, someday turn out to have been a "brilliant strategy" by a "master of the system" at this particular point in time, it hasn't yielded you jack squat.
Typical. Somebody wants to have a serious soccer discussion, you start in trying (pretty weakly, but trying) to be insulting. Just confirms what everybody says about you guys. I thought the two guys in the discussion here were holding their own, but you apparently didn't.