2024 Roster and Transfer Discussion Thread

[ZYanksRule]

I spoke with him for a bit at the CITC gala last February and he basically told me he loved it here and was planning to eventually retire here and coach. That's why I was genuinely shocked when he left. And the fact that he named every coach he played under here EXCEPT one, and says his relationship with the club is fine, it is not hard to put two and two together.

Right, OK -- but it could also be that Cushing told him "You're not a starter anymore, you're going to come off the bench and not see as many minutes." Which, let's be honest -- he's a club legend but he was slowing down a bit. Martins and Risa are, without much question, higher on the depth chart than he was. I don't think that's an outrageous thing for Cushing to want to do. If Chanot reacted to that by deciding to leave, it's not really on Cushing. He has to do what's best for the team.

 

[moogoo]

Right, OK -- but it could also be that Cushing told him "You're not a starter anymore, you're going to come off the bench and not see as many minutes." Which, let's be honest -- he's a club legend but he was slowing down a bit. Martins and Risa are, without much question, higher on the depth chart than he was. I don't think that's an outrageous thing for Cushing to want to do. If Chanot reacted to that by deciding to leave, it's not really on Cushing. He has to do what's best for the team.

we were watching the same games? chanot was a beast in 2023. he was coming up big all the time. he even said he has not felt so good in years. he was not "slowing down" or becoming a liability.

sure - cushing could have still thought chanot wasn't a starter anymore and wanted to get going with risa because we needed a left footed cb and ideally, cushing probably wanted to play with 4 atb. but we ended up playing 3atb plenty of times and had chanot still been around, it would have been a great formation for us cause we would have been solid in the back, plenty of passing range, and our wingbacks would have been free to attack, something they often had trouble doing.

there was a falling out between them. could have been over minutes, but his tone makes it seem like it was something more. I look forward to seeing chanot come back to NYC and I hope he can be part of the club again in some capacity. Wish him the best with his academy endeavors and i would love to run into him some day.

 

[gbservis]

Right, OK -- but it could also be that Cushing told him "You're not a starter anymore, you're going to come off the bench and not see as many minutes." Which, let's be honest -- he's a club legend but he was slowing down a bit. Martins and Risa are, without much question, higher on the depth chart than he was. I don't think that's an outrageous thing for Cushing to want to do. If Chanot reacted to that by deciding to leave, it's not really on Cushing. He has to do what's best for the team.

I don't buy it. Chanot already went through this situation with the team when we brought in Martins 3 years ago and it went fine. Chanot even gave an interview during the first preseason after Martins arrived saying he thought having a rotation of 3 quality centerbacks (Callens being the 3rd) was good for the club and he was getting older and can't play every game. Why can Ronny navigate that conversation and relationship with Chanot 3 years earlier but Cushing botched it so badly Chanot left for the last couple of months of his career?

Chanot was with the club 7 years and was nothing but a professional the entire time. He was respected enough within the ranks to be selected captain and clearly took pride in his leadership role in the locker room. He's made it clear he wanted to retire here, I find it nearly impossible to believe that if handled correctly he would have easily accepted fewer starts behind Risa to get the end of his career that he wanted and deserved.

 

[ZYanksRule]

we were watching the same games? chanot was a beast in 2023. he was coming up big all the time. he even said he has not felt so good in years. he was not "slowing down" or becoming a liability.

sure - cushing could have still thought chanot wasn't a starter anymore and wanted to get going with risa because we needed a left footed cb and ideally, cushing probably wanted to play with 4 atb. but we ended up playing 3atb plenty of times and had chanot still been around, it would have been a great formation for us cause we would have been solid in the back, plenty of passing range, and our wingbacks would have been free to attack, something they often had trouble doing.

there was a falling out between them. could have been over minutes, but his tone makes it seem like it was something more. I look forward to seeing chanot come back to NYC and I hope he can be part of the club again in some capacity. Wish him the best with his academy endeavors and i would love to run into him some day.

You may very well be right. But he was playing well before Risa came in. They signed Risa to be a starter, and Martins was a DP. Chanot, when Risa arrived, was going to lose minutes. I think it's very possible the "falling out" between him and Cushing was nothing more than understanding that he was going to see his minutes drastically cut. As a professional with lots of confidence, I would imagine he wouldn't take kindly to that.

For me, the simplest explanation is usually the correct one. The simplest explanation is that he was upset over his minutes being cut and that's why he left.

 

[moogoo]

You may very well be right. But he was playing well before Risa came in. They signed Risa to be a starter, and Martins was a DP. Chanot, when Risa arrived, was going to lose minutes. I think it's very possible the "falling out" between him and Cushing was nothing more than understanding that he was going to see his minutes drastically cut. As a professional with lots of confidence, I would imagine he wouldn't take kindly to that.

For me, the simplest explanation is usually the correct one. The simplest explanation is that he was upset over his minutes being cut and that's why he left.

Sure. It may well have been the case. But is losing minutes something a professional like chanot would hold a grudge over to the point of seemingly losing any real respect for nick? Maybe I'm just speculating what I want to see. Who knows. We'll probably never know

 

[ZYanksRule]

Sure. It may well have been the case. But is losing minutes something a professional like chanot would hold a grudge over to the point of seemingly losing any real respect for nick? Maybe I'm just speculating what I want to see. Who knows. We'll probably never know

What evidence do we have that he holds a grudge or lost respect for Cushing? Maybe he's just upset that he wasn't going to play anymore and thereby refuses to thank Nick for his time there. Maybe he thinks he was owed more playing time because of his long-time service to the club. I think part of this story is that most of the fanbase doesn't like Cushing, so they're putting their frustrations on what they want Chanot to have felt. It's easy to blame Cushing for pushing a club legend out because it keeps with the narrative that Cushing is a bad coach.

We signed Birk Risa, and shortly after he debuted Chanot was on the outside and transferred out. I see no evidence to believe this is any more nefarious than that.

Risa made his first appearance with NYCFC on August 20. Chanot didn't play another minute for NYCFC after having started the last game before Risa's debut. I would bet it's nothing more complicated than that, even though it's a cleaner narrative than most fans want to believe.

 

[JCMore]

Honestly I can see both sides of the Chanot debate. But it does seem odd that a player who has told Kenny that he doesn’t want to leave the club would leave just because his minutes dropped. While I see ZYanksRule ‘s perspective, I also think that an aged legend of the game would understand that with time minutes will become harder to come by.
In most instances when looking at the club, unless is it an over the top improvement, the coaching staff usually takes a long time to integrate a player into the team. Even talles had to sit out most of 2021 to get integrated under Diela. So it is a little surprising to see Chanot dropped so quickly for Risa who arguably isn’t a massive improvement to the starting 11 right off the bat.

 

[ZYanksRule]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1752704291440320850

Not only the 18-year-old striker, but also a backup centerback looks to be on his way.

I think the only thing left on the shopping list is a left-back.

 

[LionNYC]

What's the latest on Matias Arezo?

 

[Fantazma]

What's the latest on Matias Arezo?

"se queda" the word was that he was going to stay in Granada and was only going to consider bigger offers than what nycfc was offering. Rare L from CLmerlo though on his report.

 

[canchon]

"se queda" the word was that he was going to stay in Granada and was only going to consider bigger offers than what nycfc was offering. Rare L from CLmerlo though on his report.

Shocked at the L from CLMerlo, he usually is the polar opposite of nycfc.source

 

[Fantazma]

Shocked at the L from CLMerlo, he usually is the polar opposite of nycfc.source

i am too, dude is like fabrizio of latam.

 

[DeGrozz]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1752704291440320850

Not only the 18-year-old striker, but also a backup centerback looks to be on his way.

I think the only thing left on the shopping list is a left-back.

Lol - he just stole the following article and passed it off as though he has a source:

Ne jedan, nego dvojica Srba u Njujorku: Mijatović ide odmah, a prati ga štoper Spartaka | Mozzart Sport

Sve je dogovoreno, nedostaju samo potpisi. A oni su formalnost, pošto je Njujork Siti utanačio transfera dvojice Srba. Da, dobro ste pročitali, te iak...

www.mozzartsport.com

 

[LionNYC]

New York City FC Acquires Forward Agustín Ojeda from Racing Club | New York City FC

Today New York City FC announced that it has acquired Forward Agustín Ojeda from Argentinian side Racing Club through 2028 with an option for 2029. Having been capped by his country at youth level, Ojeda is one of the most exciting young talents in Argentina. The 19-year-old Forward joins the

www.nycfc.com

 

[ZYanksRule]

So our options at forward, winger, and attacking midfield are now:

Wolf, Ojeda, Magno, Bakrar, Martinez, Fernandez, Rodriguez, and Moralez when he comes off injury. Plus maybe Jovan if they get him across the finish line.

At most we only have four positions for those players. Bakrar is likely at the 9 (unless Jovan is made official). Does Wolf play at the 10? If so, where does Santi go? We're going to have some talented guys coming off the bench.

Potentially an attacking spear of:

Ojeda-Jovan-Fernandez
And Santi at the 10.

Wolf, Magno, Martinez, and Bakrar available off the bench. Has the potential to be a really dynamic, exciting attack.

Opening Day last year featured the following attacking players:
Andrade-Magno-Pereira, with Pellegrini at the 10.

We have dramatically improved our attacking options in the last 12 months. What was a weakness has a lot of potential to be quite good. David Lee has done a really good job at fixing the attack. Get us a left-back and a backup CB and this team is ready to roll.

EDIT: I'm not even including the young guys -- Jones, Yanez, Segal, and O'Toole (who is listed as a forward on the team website). Those guys aren't going to see a lot of playing time unless there are a bunch of injuries.

 

[gbservis]

So our options at forward, winger, and attacking midfield are now:

Wolf, Ojeda, Magno, Bakrar, Martinez, Fernandez, Rodriguez, and Moralez when he comes off injury. Plus maybe Jovan if they get him across the finish line.

At most we only have four positions for those players. Bakrar is likely at the 9 (unless Jovan is made official). Does Wolf play at the 10? If so, where does Santi go? We're going to have some talented guys coming off the bench.

Potentially an attacking spear of:

Ojeda-Jovan-Fernandez
And Santi at the 10.

Wolf, Magno, Martinez, and Bakrar available off the bench. Has the potential to be a really dynamic, exciting attack.

Opening Day last year featured the following attacking players:
Andrade-Magno-Pereira, with Pellegrini at the 10.

We have dramatically improved our attacking options in the last 12 months. What was a weakness has a lot of potential to be quite good. David Lee has done a really good job at fixing the attack. Get us a left-back and a backup CB and this team is ready to roll.

EDIT: I'm not even including the young guys -- Jones, Yanez, Segal, and O'Toole (who is listed as a forward on the team website). Those guys aren't going to see a lot of playing time unless there are a bunch of injuries.

Ojeda is an exciting signing but he's 19 years old and has a total of 5 professional appearances I would bet they take it slow with him similar to what they did with Gabby and Taty. I wouldn't expect him to start until well into the season. Not saying it's a bad signing but it's a bit soon to consider him as a starter. The same applies to Jovan if we sign him, he has more professional appearances (19) but in a pretty weak league so he probably needs at least a few months to find his footing as well.

My guess is that Wolf is the Ladezma replacement and will back up Santi at CAM and play on the wing in a pinch. Maybe he pushes for Santi's starting spot, some competition is never a bad thing.

Unless Magno is sold and/or we sign a more experienced attacker who's ready to go on day 1, my bet would be we start the season the way we ended it with Magno, Bakrar, Fernandez, and Santi. Hopefully, a full training camp together will help them prepare to produce more goals.

 

[FootyLovin]

Ojeda is an exciting signing but he's 19 years old and has a total of 5 professional appearances I would bet they take it slow with him similar to what they did with Gabby and Taty. I wouldn't expect him to start until well into the season. Not saying it's a bad signing but it's a bit soon to consider him as a starter. The same applies to Jovan if we sign him, he has more professional appearances (19) but in a pretty weak league so he probably needs at least a few months to find his footing as well.

My guess is that Wolf is the Ladezma replacement and will back up Santi at CAM and play on the wing in a pinch. Maybe he pushes for Santi's starting spot, some competition is never a bad thing.

Unless Magno is sold and/or we sign a more experienced attacker who's ready to go on day 1, my bet would be we start the season the way we ended it with Magno, Bakrar, Fernandez, and Santi. Hopefully, a full training camp together will help them prepare to produce more goals.

This.

I don’t know anything about Ojeda really, but I think we forgot what we were saying about Magno 12 months ago (before the year of forward experiment dragged his development backwards). There was a debate at one point about whether we would rather have Magno or Taty play their whole careers here. Personally I’m more optimistic for a bounce back season for Magno than I am for our new 18 year old to steal the show. I wouldn’t complain if that happened. Just not holding my breath on it.

 

[ZYanksRule]

Jovan Miljatovic appears to be done. Should get an announcement very soon.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1753906249593188501

https://twitter.com/x/status/1753810110491566261

 

[KevinJRogers]

Jovan Miljatovic appears to be done. Should get an announcement very soon.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1753906249593188501

https://twitter.com/x/status/1753810110491566261

Man, we're going to have some young Pigeons.

 

[ZYanksRule]

Man, we're going to have some young Pigeons.

I'm excited for it. There's going to be lots of variance in game-to-game performances, but we should be exciting at the very least. If these kids are as good as their transfer price and pedigree suggests, we should be really fun this year.

I like having players who are hungry to take another step in their development.