Who is the hole that needs replacing? I guess I would start with who is part of the "core". Joseph Benny Alston Soares Caraglio Fagundez Reis(?) That leaves a lot of guys that may be moved back to the bench or out the door. Who is your core and who do you cut?
I don't like Alston but we'll see if Heaps can help him out since he knows the position so well. Also I'd say Zerka is part of the core for now. Depth: McCarthy, Guy (I like him but I think he's the perfect energizer sub type of player) Barnes, Tierney, Lekic (I'd rather see him get the boot but I doubt that's going to happen) Cut or trade: Boggs, Phelan, Cochrane, Nyassi, Mansally, Schilawski, Loewy, Coria, Dube, any of the reserves that didn't improve.
I'm a Ryan Guy fan. He's showed me something most every time he's been on the field. He knows how to get the ball up the field, into the box, and, at times, into the net. Those seem to be precious commodities on this team. And he weathered the apparent doghouse storm with class, coming back game ready. I think they should keep him.
I think Alston is an MLS caliber right back so long as there are two quality central defenders and a defensive midfielder for him to rely on. His pace and willingness to get forward fit in with the modern game. With a player of that style, you are going to have to live with some of the mistakes he gives up on the back-end. The biggest problems with him has been that his problems were amplified because there wasn't sufficient cover behind him. He was a much better player when they had Osei/Badilla/Barnes at centerback, and Larentowicz as the defensive midfielder. I think a lot of this teams defensive issues over the past two seasons have been because of the loss of Larentowicz, and then the team trying to fit Phelan into that spot. Look at a player like Gibbs. He comes in, with Phelan sitting in front of him, and sucks. Then he goes to Chicago, with Logan Pause and he is fine. The lack of quality at that Defensive midfielder position amplifies a lot of this teams problems. It is such an integral part of the modern game. It can almost be seen as the lynchpin to most modern systems, and definitely in MLS. He is the modern sweeper, cleaning up and winning balls in front of the back line. He is also the transition between defense and attack. The player looked at first to move the ball forward and maintain solid possession. Pat Phelan has been an abysmal failure at that job. I'm not saying that all players on the Revs roster are quality, but I think finding a suitable defensive midfielder would all much more freedom to players like Alston, and cover for some of the central defenders. I think Coria should get another shot if they can find a quality defensive midfielder, but if they can find a better central defender as well, then he could be replaced.
Ryan Guy is one of the best outside midfield players we've had in years. That being said, it's a shame that Ryan Guy is one of the best outside midfield players we've had in years. I think he can be a servicable every day kind of starter, but my perfect roster overhaul would include shipping Nyassi and Mansally away, bringing in a player to improve on the wing, and RyGuy serving as a sub/spot starter
I think everybody seriously overrates Soares. I don't see this kid having anymore than a mediocre career path. Finding a quality CB to cover his weaknesses and a Dmid as Kraft Out so perfectly laid out are integral to this team going forward. I can easily seeing the Revs as one of the highest scoring teams in the league next season. Its the back end that's the issue.
Cut: Boggs, Cochrane, Schilawski, Loewy, Nyassi, Dube. Don't resign Joseph; use that money on a DP Centerback. Scour Argentina for a young and hungry quality DMid. Oh yeah....Bye bye Phelan
I can't disagree with that. Homegrown players are automatically protected correct? I thought DPs were too? I think with that list protected, The revs will once again lose no one in the expansion draft. Their young new players didn't prove anything. The rest of their bench is too over paid. What is the salary cut you take in the expansion draft?
I think your concerns on Soares can be easily answered by Kraft Out's explanation of Alston's struggles below. Soares is the genuine article in my opinion. I couldn't agree more with your assessment. I wonder what this says about Shalrie at this stage in his career? This is also why the Revs were very tough to break down and had nothing going forward at the beginning of the season. They often had three defensive midfielders (Shalrie, Phelan, McCarthy) in front of the back line. -------------Lekic--------Caraglio--------------- -----Feilhaber--------------------Zerka--------- ---------------Shalrie---????-------------------- --????---------Soares---????-------Alston------ ---------------------Reis------------------------- Depth: Tierney, McCarthy, Barnes, Guy, Fagundez Everyone else sucks and can go. Out of this list on of these guys would have to be unprotected for the expansion draft. I guess McCarthy would be the one I would expose.
Regarding the DPs ... here's the official rules about the draft. So we have no idea if Caraglio's contract includes or doesn't inclue a no-trade, but I'd seriously doubt if it does. I suppose we'll find that out on Monday if he's on the list. And I don't think you have to take a salary cut ... I think if Montreal takes a player, they're picking up the obligation on the remainder of the contract. At least that would make sense to me.
I agree about the d-mid comments. Yet even if the Revs got an all-universe d-mid, Alston still lacks the quality to do constructive things with the ball when he gets forward. So he'd be on my list of people I'd be willing to move if the right deal came along.
His touch is heavy, but he does a lot to stretch the width of the field. I think he is pretty useful as an attacking right back. I'm not looking for Danny Alves. I'm looking for someone who can open up space for Zerka, Caraglio and whatever other attacking players they will have. Alston is more than efficient in that role.
He has the speed to get up the flank, but once the ball goes out to him it never comes back. He's very Nyassi in that regard. If he sticks around I'm hoping that he can salvaged by better instruction. Yet I think he might be overvalued around the league (young, fast, has a pedigree), which would make him a good guy to trade.
I think that is a bit of an overstatement. He hasn't had much on that right side or in front of goal to outlet to since he came here. Down the stretch, when Caraglio became a presence in front of goal, he began to put more balls into the box, and didn't lose the ball quite as often. He had more space and time on the ball, because the other teams actually had to worry about a capable player up front. Before that what were his options on the ball? Give it to Nyassi to lose? Send the balls in to players who would do nothing with it like Lekic, Stolica, Jankauskus, Dube? The best he played, 2009 season, he actually had Shalrie as an outlet in front of goal. You have to look at Alston's play within the context of the team and the players around him. I'm even willing to give Nyassi somewhat of a pass. The Revs forward line has been atrocious for 3 seasons. There is no outlet for any other player going forward. Of course they are going to look bad, because they have no one to give the ball to. Almost all of the Revs best attacking players over the last few years have been left sided players like Feilhaber and Marko.
Much as I agree with the notion that individual players are affected by the options their team gives them, Alston doesn't hit an effective cross. He's pure north-south in terms of ball handling and he demonstrates no touch in terms of passing. That's even before you get to his consistently poor decision-making. A lack of attractive options shouldn't have robbed him of his skills. He's still young and, like I said above, perhaps better instruction (and a better supporting cast and tactics) adds some quality to his game. I'd love to see a kid with his raw ability put it together. Then again, the Revs have six or seven holes to fill. Alston might be overrated enough to help you fill two of those holes with underrated players from another team. Or he might be able to fetch a player who adds the cohesion this team lacks. I'm not saying the Revs should chuck Alston for the sake of chucking him, but this team needs to make a lot of moves and it's going to need to identify a replaceable/upgradable player or two (or three) who boasts some market value. I also put Shalrie on the list of potential trade bait. He makes a lot more sense for a team trying to get over the hump to win some trophies. The Revs are rebuilding.
This a good argument, but no matter who is playing near him his touch and crossing ability will still be below average. If, like you said, the Revs sign a Larentowicz level D-mid and it helps minimize his defensive mental errors, however, then he is still worth it because of how good he is at defending 1 on 1 with someone dribbling at him. And again like you said, the fact he can storm up the line and take a marker away from Zerka and onto him isn't the worst thing in the world as long as defending is at a higher level than it was last season.
Nearly all MLS contracts with players that were purchased with an owners money have no trade clauses.
Protecting Lekic would be horrible news. Not only would Montreal not care in a million years about taking him, but it means the Revs "braintrust" (I use the term loosely) are serious about a Caraglio-Lekic tandem next year. That's absolutely not good enough in this league. Not even close. We can't afford to be uniformly slow up top. Even Fagundez is more quick than fast. Benny's slow. Zerka's slow. Guy is so-so.
I'm not a huge fan of Lekic but I can see where the Revs would want to protect him. I think the club wants to see what a Lekic and Caraglio tandem will do playing together for a full season. I don't necessarily agree with it but I think giving both guys a fair chance to play together for a full season might actually work.
It's easy to forget what Lekic's pedigree was prior to arriving at the Revs, aka 3x Danish League Best XI, and still only 30 and not particularly injury prone. While Lekic's game does have obvious deficiencies (his ridiculously bad first touch and unwillingness to dribble forward with the ball) a lot of his struggles can be attributed to: a) his temper regarding the playing situation he thought he was getting into vs. reality (cutting Stoli and Marko so soon after his arrival probably didn't help) and b) adjustment to the MLS style of play - specifically the whistle-happy MLS refs who were flagging him for offsides on his runs/positioning when he probably got away with a lot more in Europe. In fact, while refs are supposed to give potentially close offside calls in favor of the offense, MLS refs usually do the opposite and flag anything close. Now that the 1-year adjustment period is over and he knows how the refs function, and he has Caraglio who will do a lot of the dirty work for him, he may be much more productive next year.
Who you protect in the expansion draft doesn't imply any subtext other than a player is on the "good" side of the line in a forced ranking of players you would prefer not to lose. In the case of Lekic, to conclude that protecting him implies that the Revs believe the team has adequate speed is nuts. You protect him because Caraglio could blow out a knee, or our first round pick decides to enter the seminary, or (wait for it) we don't get our guy in the January transfer window. Throwing guys over the side of the boat in the hopes that it will force a desired outcome doesn't work. Exhibit A: Stolica (this bought us 3 months of 4-5-1). Exhibit B: Domi (this installed Tierney and/or Barnes at LB). If you cut Lekic, I'd prefer to see it done because the preseason has demonstrated that we have replaced him, or if you need his cap hit to close another deal.
Your logic is sound. On the other hand, if we haven't replaced him or used his cap hit to close another deal, we're looking at another season ending like this one.