And that’s why Claudio said he’s out of our price range.
NYCFC Players Wanted Thread
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And that’s why Claudio said he’s out of our price range.
I was thinking about this -- I'm not really sure where reinforcements are needed right now. Unless we get some major injuries, this roster is good to go.
The thing is, he is playing with other top, top players in both the club and national context. That is not the case with MLS. I mean, our team is pretty fucking good for MLS, but I don't think players that are pure connectors can be all that effective when they are working with lesser players. I mean, how often do you see Iniesta shoot? Basically when it's the only option. I think this was the case with Pirlo and I fear it would be the case with Iniesta. At some point the craftsperson is limited by their materials. Maxi, Ring and Herrera are really good, but if Iniesta were to replace Herrera, I'm not sure Maxi and Ring would be good enough to do all of Iniesta's running. As a team, I'm not sure we'd keep the ball enough in order to prevent us from having to do all that running.
If only we could convince Aguero to come here when his contract expires in 2020. He'd be almost exactly 33. But he seems set on going home to Independiente.
https://www.manchestereveningnews.c...news/sergio-aguero-contract-man-city-14456729
https://www.manchestereveningnews.c...news/sergio-aguero-contract-man-city-14456729
I don't think the Iniesta/Pirlo is a good comparison. Iniesta is a dribbler and a short passer, who runs very well into tight spaces. His area of operation is around the box, towards the left wing. He's tailor-made for our game, and in fact if Barca didn't have Messi, Iniesta would more obviously be seen as a 10 that likes to drift left. Even more so, Barca quite frequently plays only one purely defensive midfielder (Busquets) with Rakitic and Iniesta (or Coutinho).
So a midfield of Iniesta, Maxi and Ring would surely work OK. Our strength would be in having 70% of meaningful possession and a lot more offensive creativity. One of the frequent criticisms of Maxi last year was that he likes to drift back too much. As we saw yesterday, if given space he's pretty darn good spraying long balls to fullbacks who like to run down the wing. He can still do that playing as an 8. Tinnerholm our Alba. Maxi our Rakitic. Iniesta our 10, Medina a false 9 and Villa ST with Tajouri more of a winger. Why not?
He's not. We don't know yet what the full story is on the Ibra move, but we can be damn sure it wasn't the version Jovan Kirovski's been pushing to a hilariously credulous Kevin Baxter and an only slightly more skeptical Grant Wahl.
That's true. It's a slight difference that he can dribble. But at the end of the day he's still connecting the dots rather than being a pure and direct threat. I can see possible realities where it works out, but I'd still rather go and get a direct attacking threat.
Taken out of context but I'll make room in the trophy cabinet
RB is now incredibly envious!
We can always improve somewhere. If Callens or Chanot goes down long term, we could get leaky. Hountondji was supposed to be the 3rd starting-caliber centerback, but it appears he's behind Ibeagha on the depth chart right now, a USL-level (i.e. replacement-level) player. A fifth CB (that would slot in 3rd on the depth chart) wouldn't be a bad addition. (Unless Sands is a CB now?)
Second, even though Matarrita played a great game yesterday, he has been injury prone and both him and Sweat are pretty inconsistent. I would have zero issues with bringing in a true stud LB and maybe traded Sweat for some allocation money, and use Mata as a spot starter at LB (and LW for defensive purposes). Mata could also be sold this summer after the World Cup if he plays.
While the above is true about Ibeagha and Hountondji, it appears it has more to do with Ibeagha impressing (and getting the opportunity to do so with Chanot red card and Hountondji at the time being not fit) than it does Hountondji disappointing.
We really don't have enough data on Cedric yet to get an idea on what kind of quality he is.
And to add, that “USL-caliber” CB is actually a quite solid MLS-caliber CB. He’s not Callens or Chanot, considering they’re all star quality, but Ibeagha has shown very well for himself.
Pretty early on Ibeagha yet. I love using Bravo as an example of good first impressions leading to misaligned expectations. Ibeagha went from a second tier Iceland club to getting cut by Houston, to USL, to us. But centerbacks are late blooming, so maybe at 26 he is starting to bring another level.
Maybe Houston isn’t a good evaluator of talent? Or maybe the system wasn’t a good fit for how he defends? Or maybe the guys around him were weak/created a weak link that impacted him? Or maybe he’s grown as a player? He was the top USL defender last season, so maybe that team brought out his best qualities? It’s akin (but slightly different) to what Pulisic said about himself, if he was in MLS/USL he’d likely be toiling to make the 18 because of the mentality of not playing youth and the tactics/teams wouldn’t bring out the best in him. Ibeagha fits nicely with NYCFC and PV isn’t afraid to let him play, even with a “weak” CV.
Maybe our guys around him make him look better.
Christopher Jee could play CB next to a Callens.
Christopher Jee could play CB next to a Callens.Similar threads
