2019 Roster Discussion

[dummyrun]

Nothing about Medina and Almiron is the same beyond the fact that they are young and from Paraguay. Atlanta paid a $13M transfer fee for a 24 year old Almiron who was putting up numbers and holding his own in Argentinas first division. NYCFC paid $4M for a 19 year old Medina who's only experience was in the first division in Paraguay. Just the money and the caliber of player alone at the time of purchase is the definition of less ambitious.

Look, 24-year-olds from Argentina are cool but you know what'd be really ambitious? If we signed an attacking mid just entering his prime, say 26, who's been putting up numbers and holding his own in La Liga, the best league in the world. I'm talking about a player with a real pedigree, a Barcelona academy product with Premier League experience and a starring role on a good national team.

That kind of talent won't come cheap, but if CFG wants to show they're serious about NYCFC they'll pony up the $7m transfer fee and $6m-a-year salary it takes to bring a true star DP to MLS. That's what it takes to compete with Atlanta United, right? That's what it takes to win.

Congrats, you've just signed Gio dos Santos.

 

[Ulrich]

Look, 24-year-olds from Argentina are cool but you know what'd be really ambitious? If we signed an attacking mid just entering his prime, say 26, who's been putting up numbers and holding his own in La Liga, the best league in the world. I'm talking about a player with a real pedigree, a Barcelona academy product with Premier League experience and a starring role on a good national team.

That kind of talent won't come cheap, but if CFG wants to show that they're serious about NYCFC they'll pony up the $7m transfer fee and $6m-a-year salary it takes to bring a superstar DP to MLS. That's what it takes to compete with Atlanta United, right? That's what it takes to win.

Congrats, you've just signed Gio dos Santos.

Nah, GDS was a marketing ploy for LA fans. Nobody thought he was gonna light the league up.

 

[gbservis]

Look, 24-year-olds from Argentina are cool but you know what'd be really ambitious? If we signed an attacking mid just entering his prime, say 26, who's been putting up numbers and holding his own in La Liga, the best league in the world. I'm talking about a player with a real pedigree, a Barcelona academy product with Premier League experience and a starring role on a good national team.

That kind of talent won't come cheap, but if CFG wants to show they're serious about NYCFC they'll pony up the $7m transfer fee and $6m-a-year salary it takes to bring a true star DP to MLS. That's what it takes to compete with Atlanta United, right? That's what it takes to win.

Congrats, you've just signed Gio dos Santos.

I'd take Gio dos Santos over Medina, bet he would have started all of our playoff games.

 

[dummyrun]

I'd take Gio dos Santos over Medina, bet he would have started all of our playoff games.

True, he didn't miss a minute of the Galaxy's playoff run this year.

 

[gbservis]

True, he didn't miss a minute of the Galaxy's playoff games this year.

True but in all seriousness Atlanta with Almiron dropped a pile of cash bought a lottery ticket with 1:2 odds of winning NYCFC cheaped out and bought one that even if we are being generous looks like it has 1:8 chance of winning. But people are acting like hey it's the same both clubs just out there rolling the dice.

 

[dummyrun]

True but in all seriousness Atlanta with Almiron dropped a pile of cash bought a lottery ticket with 1:2 odds of winning NYCFC cheaped out and bought one that even if we are being generous looks like it has 1:8 chance of winning. But people are acting like hey it's the same both clubs just out there rolling the dice.

Oh for sure, Almirón looked like a great signing at the time and he panned out better than anybody could have hoped. He's also literally the only guy so far in the history of Major League Soccer to follow his particular trajectory. I don't really have a point with the dos Santos stuff other than to make fun of the Galaxy (because there's never a bad time to make fun of the Galaxy) and to suggest that hindsight bias plays a part in how we talk about big signings after the fact.

 

[Kjbert]

Gio makes $2 million a year I think

 

[dummyrun]

Gio makes $2 million a year I think

You're thinking of Jona. Gio's at $4.3m base, $6m total comp.

 

[ManhattanValley]

The level of pessimism here is hilarious. I know it's sad to be bounced out of the playoffs by the best team in the league (again!), but I think it's a bit early to start writing off CFG as perennial underachievers. Just because you took a bath on your seven spare season tickets on StubHub doesn't mean this team isn't positioned for a run, in 2019 or not long after.

 

[Christopher Jee]

The level of pessimism here is hilarious. I know it's sad to be bounced out of the playoffs by the best team in the league (again!), but I think it's a bit early to start writing off CFG as perennial underachievers. Just because you took a bath on your seven spare season tickets on StubHub doesn't mean this team isn't positioned for a run, in 2019 or not long after.

This is both a reasonable and an incredibly patronising take, which makes for interesting consumption.

P.S. what your avatar always looks like to me

 

[Marito]

Nah, GDS was a marketing ploy for LA fans. Nobody thought he was gonna light the league up.

I did. And I don't think there was any reason to think he wouldn't. Unless you were his bunk mate and knew he had decided to stop being elite and gorge on Doritos or something, Gio had a 10 year track record of being way way above our typical DP level. The only hint could be that he tended to switch teams frequently (but so does Marko Arnautovic for example) and maybe didn't leave in the best terms. But he had pedigree and had performed in LaLiga for many years.

 

[Ulrich]

I did. And I don't think there was any reason to think he wouldn't. Unless you were his bunk mate and knew he had decided to stop being elite and gorge on Doritos or something, Gio had a 10 year track record of being way way above our typical DP level. The only hint could be that he tended to switch teams frequently (but so does Marko Arnautovic for example) and maybe didn't leave in the best terms. But he had pedigree and had performed in LaLiga for many years.

I saw the signing and immediately thought it was PR ploy pandering to the Mexican heritage fans/potential fans, because LAG is gonna go that route. He was never a big scorer at FCB. Failed at Tottenham, and was marginal for a forward at Mallorca and Villarreal. If he couldn’t cut it at a Tottenham with the physical play of the EPL, then he was going to be in for a rude awakening in MLS.

 

[SoupInNYC]

True but in all seriousness Atlanta with Almiron dropped a pile of cash bought a lottery ticket with 1:2 odds of winning NYCFC cheaped out and bought one that even if we are being generous looks like it has 1:8 chance of winning. But people are acting like hey it's the same both clubs just out there rolling the dice.

I agree with this, but don’t think the comparison should be made, although we are doing it.

Considering the DPs brought in by Atlanta, Almiron was their Villa. He was the one they shelled out more money on.

IMO, the signing of Medina as a 3rd DP should be compared more to Villalba or Barco. Now there are items there to criticize the move for sure, Villalba has been more productive and Barco had a lot more hype to him (and transfer few) (and also discussion on performance).

As many have pointed out, I just don’t think the comparison of Almiron to Medina is fair when we are talking about ambition as one is DP#1 and the other DP#3.

Similarly, I know dummyrun was being facetious above, but let’s talk about their ambition. They’ve definitely shown it. I think he at least showed a glimpse into what most of the league thought was coming here when Gio came. And there were big hopes about Jona too. Add on bringing Alessandrini and Zlatan and I would have to say that their ambition in signing players is top 3 in the league. But that hasn’t necessarily worked out for them.

Just some quick, unorganized thoughts from me as I’m working at an airport bar while on “vacation”.

 

[dummyrun]

I agree with this, but don’t think the comparison should be made, although we are doing it.

Considering the DPs brought in by Atlanta, Almiron was their Villa. He was the one they shelled out more money on.

IMO, the signing of Medina as a 3rd DP should be compared more to Villalba or Barco. Now there are items there to criticize the move for sure, Villalba has been more productive and Barco had a lot more hype to him (and transfer few) (and also discussion on performance).

As many have pointed out, I just don’t think the comparison of Almiron to Medina is fair when we are talking about ambition as one is DP#1 and the other DP#3.

Similarly, I know dummyrun was being facetious above, but let’s talk about their ambition. They’ve definitely shown it. I think he at least showed a glimpse into what most of the league thought was coming here when Gio came. And there were big hopes about Jona too. Add on bringing Alessandrini and Zlatan and I would have to say that their ambition in signing players is top 3 in the league. But that hasn’t necessarily worked out for them.

Just some quick, unorganized thoughts from me as I’m working at an airport bar while on “vacation”.

There's really not much to say about Medina yet. His reported transfer fee was ambitious by MLS standards—not Barco ambitious, but a reasonable amount for a team trying to jump on the selling-league movement before the market's been proven. We won't know for a couple years how that market will shape up and whether a bigger buy might have been justified. We also won't know for a while how all these 18-to-23-year-olds around the league are going to develop as players and settle into their teams. All I can say is I thought Medina and Taty showed promise for their ages, I'm interested to watch them grow, and I'm glad NYCFC is getting in on this young Latin Americans trend whether or not our first signings hit big.

That said, I agree that we should have different expectations for our DP1 and DP3. If Almirón sells for $30m next month and Reyna decides to go that route for a Villa replacement, I'll want to see the team splash out on somebody with a little more of a track record. Maybe one of these guys:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1072148853930016768

 

[Fantazma]

There's really just not much to say about Medina yet. His reported transfer fee was ambitious by MLS standards—not Barco ambitious, but a reasonable amount for a team trying to jump on the selling-league trend before the market's been proven. We won't know for a couple years how that market will shape up and whether a bigger buy might have been justified. We also won't know for a while how all these individual 18-to-23-year-olds around the league are going to develop as players and settle into their teams. All I can really say is I thought Medina and Taty showed promise for their ages, I'm interested to watch them grow, and I'm glad NYCFC is getting in on this young Latin Americans trend whether or not our first signings hit big.

That said, I agree that we should have different expectations for our DP1 and DP3. If Almirón sells for $30m next month and Reyna decides to go that route for a Villa replacement, I'll want to see the team splash out on somebody with a little more of a track record. Maybe one of these guys:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1072148853930016768

i can speak for some of the liga mx targets you have:

guzman - pachuca always says they will only sell their players to european teams

davila- maybe, though not sure how much necaxa will want for him,

vega- sold to chivas already

Ruiz- allegedly already sold to chivas but will stay in queretaro until june 2019.

 

[Fake Jew]

Griezmann is currently in NYC.

 

[adam]

Griezmann is currently in NYC.

 

[Kjbert]

Griezmann is currently in NYC.

You can thank the Yellow Vests.

 

[mgarbowski]

Griezmann is currently in NYC.

He has a game in 6 days, followed by a break. Why would he be here now?

 

[adam]

He has a game in 6 days, followed by a break. Why would he be here now?

Could be any number of reasons. But negotiating a $150mm winter transfer to NYCFC is almost positively not one of them. If it is, I’ll eat my hat.