2018 Roster Discussion

[Jock]

This is the PERFECT time to sell him. His value won’t get any higher. And ACON is coming up, meaning his value to us will automatically decrease for us (since we don’t take off all intl breaks) even if his performance stays the same.

It’s the same argument for Villa as a TAM. He’s amazing when he plays. But at his age, can you count on him for 34 matches? We already know we’re going to be missing Isi next year for a good chunk of matches. Even if he’s healthy. Euro teams won’t see it that way though.

But..... what if we don't sell him and he stays for his contract, then maybe signs another afterwards?

The boy has great talent and if his performance does stay the same (14 goals this season?) then he's a great piece to have in our squad. He's not on the highest salary, and given his appearance record, maybe you put him in the category of 'rotation player'.

I make a comparison to other people that played about as regularly as he has - would you rather have ITS or Khiry Shelton? Or Stiven Mendoza? If Isi leaves and we have to replace him with someone else, you'd struggle to find someone to give you his output for that money.

Hell, if we could and someone came in with a multi-million dollar offer for him, then it would make sense. But just being open to punting him and hoping we'd get someone better seems like wishful thinking. And besides, we're never likely to be cash poor anyway, not like (The World Famous) Dundee United who are very much in that boat of having to sell players that start to perform just to stay afloat.

 

[adam]

But..... what if we don't sell him and he stays for his contract, then maybe signs another afterwards?

The boy has great talent and if his performance does stay the same (14 goals this season?) then he's a great piece to have in our squad. He's not on the highest salary, and given his appearance record, maybe you put him in the category of 'rotation player'.

I make a comparison to other people that played about as regularly as he has - would you rather have ITS or Khiry Shelton? Or Stiven Mendoza? If Isi leaves and we have to replace him with someone else, you'd struggle to find someone to give you his output for that money.

Hell, if we could and someone came in with a multi-million dollar offer for him, then it would make sense. But just being open to punting him and hoping we'd get someone better seems like wishful thinking. And besides, we're never likely to be cash poor anyway, not like (The World Famous) Dundee United who are very much in that boat of having to sell players that start to perform just to stay afloat.

This is MLS. We wouldn't be selling him for the cash, we'd be selling him for the GAM. If a player makes $500k and you sell him for a few million. you can get the max $600k in GAM and replace him with a $1.1mm player at the same cost vs the cap. Also, the extra money would go to the club and maybe our overlords then decide it's worth it to get us another $6-8mm DP again if we're not bleeding too much cash.

 

[Jock]

Still seems risky to me. In the event of a concrete offer for him/replacement that we could get with that money, we'd have to judge it on the merits, but as a general move of being open to punting him, i'm still skeptical.

 

[SoupInNYC]

Still seems risky to me. In the event of a concrete offer for him/replacement that we could get with that money, we'd have to judge it on the merits, but as a general move of being open to punting him, i'm still skeptical.

I think either way, we are in a good spot with him. Keep him or sell him. Can see the merits of both.

 

[Gotham Gator]

If we lose Villa, then we need a DP striker. The other guys we have - save Berget - are all wingers, and while we have some good ones, that is not the same.

If we lose Herrera, then we need a DP box-to-box mid. I think we have all seen this year what he means to us.

The question is what we do if we lose both.

 

[Christopher Jee]

I think either way, we are in a good spot with him. Keep him or sell him. Can see the merits of both.

I also feel like he has a lot of upside. For instance, I think he's gotten a lot more physical, and defensively aware. Never saw him press like he did last night and think it will continue to lead to improved offensive and defensive production.

I agree that he drifts in and out of games, but I'm also oddly confident that Dome can help him improve on that. Often see him with his arm around Ismael talking to him during and after training and games.

 

[Schwallacus]

I also feel like he has a lot of upside. For instance, I think he's gotten a lot more physical, and defensively aware. Never saw him press like he did last night and think it will continue to lead to improved offensive and defensive production.

I agree that he drifts in and out of games, but I'm also oddly confident that Dome can help him improve on that. Often see him with his arm around Ismael talking to him during and after training and games.

Christopher Jee hides in the trees/bushes right outside the fence of the training facility making sure that Dome teaches IST at least 2x per training session.

 

[Kjbert]

If we lose Villa, then we need a DP striker. The other guys we have - save Berget - are all wingers, and while we have some good ones, that is not the same.

If we lose Herrera, then we need a DP box-to-box mid. I think we have all seen this year what he means to us.

The question is what we do if we lose both.

Villa needs to be replaced with a Josef Martinez level player. Anything else should be unacceptable to us.

 

[mgarbowski]

Villa needs to be replaced with a Josef Martinez level player. Anything else should be unacceptable to us.

Martinez wasn't Martinez level until he got to Atlanta. Hard to copy signings like that.

 

[Ulrich]

Martinez wasn't Martinez level until he got to Atlanta. Hard to copy signings like that.

He may not be Martinez level after he leaves. Their style plays directly to his strengths of sprinting and poaching. Euro teams will make him adapt or sit.

 

[SoupInNYC]

If we lose Villa, then we need a DP striker. The other guys we have - save Berget - are all wingers, and while we have some good ones, that is not the same.

If we lose Herrera, then we need a DP box-to-box mid. I think we have all seen this year what he means to us.

The question is what we do if we lose both.

How soon is Griezman looking to come to MLS?

 

[Seven]

We could just...wait for it... re-sign Villa! Yep sounds like a good plan!

Just because he had some injuries this year doesn’t necessarily mean he will have as many injuries next year. Yes I know, his age means it much more likely. But take Schweinsteiger for example. He was injury prone for Chicago last year, but was re-signed and played in 31 games for them this year

*Disclaimer: Yes I am wearing my Villa homer glasses right now

 

[Gotham Gator]

Martinez wasn't Martinez level until he got to Atlanta. Hard to copy signings like that.

He wasn't Martinez level until he started playing in front of Almiron.

 

[Kjbert]

We could just...wait for it... re-sign Villa! Yep sounds like a good plan!

Just because he had some injuries this year doesn’t necessarily mean he will have as many injuries next year. Yes I know, his age means it much more likely. But take Schweinsteiger for example. He was injury prone for Chicago last year, but was re-signed and played in 31 games for them this year

*Disclaimer: Yes I am wearing my Villa homer glasses right now

He played in 23 games this season. At age 36, do you think his health will get better or worse moving forward?

 

[Kjbert]

Martinez wasn't Martinez level until he got to Atlanta. Hard to copy signings like that.

Go get me a finished product from Boca then.

 

[ZYanksRule]

We could just...wait for it... re-sign Villa! Yep sounds like a good plan!

Just because he had some injuries this year doesn’t necessarily mean he will have as many injuries next year. Yes I know, his age means it much more likely. But take Schweinsteiger for example. He was injury prone for Chicago last year, but was re-signed and played in 31 games for them this year

*Disclaimer: Yes I am wearing my Villa homer glasses right now

I'm with you. Bring him back, even if it's on DP wages (it almost certainly will be just because there's no way he's taking that large a pay cut).

He may get hurt again and play only 20 games. But when on the field he's still the same scorer he's always been here. You take the risk that David Villa can stay healthy because he's David Villa and because the guy you find to replace him will have a mountain to climb to live up to the expectations.

 

[Kjbert]

I'm with you. Bring him back, even if it's on DP wages (it almost certainly will be just because there's no way he's taking that large a pay cut).

He may get hurt again and play only 20 games. But when on the field he's still the same scorer he's always been here. You take the risk that David Villa can stay healthy because he's David Villa and because the guy you find to replace him will have a mountain to climb to live up to the expectations.

There are hundreds of players in world soccer right now better than David Villa. Why not just go and get one of them?

 

[ZYanksRule]

There are hundreds of players in world soccer right now better than David Villa. Why not just go and get one of them?

And out of those hundreds of players, which ones want to come play for MLS?

Which one of those is willing to be the kind of ambassador Villa's been?

Which one is going to put in the level of effort Villa has?

Which one of them will be able to do all that AND put in the results on the field?

It is not as easy as you make it seem to find a replacement for David Villa, whether he leaves after this season or next season.

For me, for everything he means to this franchise, he stays as long as he wants.

 

[Kjbert]

And out of those hundreds of players, which ones want to come play for MLS?

Which one of those is willing to be the kind of ambassador Villa's been?

Which one is going to put in the level of effort Villa has?

Which one of them will be able to do all that AND put in the results on the field?

It is not as easy as you make it seem to find a replacement for David Villa, whether he leaves after this season or next season.

For me, for everything he means to this franchise, he stays as long as he wants.

Then your priority isn't winning an MLS Cup. And that's OK. But if that's how you feel, we have a fundamental disagreement. The guy isn't a DP worthy player moving forward.

 

[Kjbert]

Free players in 2019:

Juan Mata
Sami Khedira
Mario Balotelli
Angel Di Maria