Messi
Ronaldo Reus Villa
Toure Grabavoy
Baines Wingert KWS Dani Alves
Saunders
Ronaldo Reus Villa
Toure Grabavoy
Baines Wingert KWS Dani Alves
Saunders
2015 Offseason Megathread
- Thread starter FootyLovin
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I think Lampard should probably slot in over Ronaldo. He's class. And English.
1 season isnt enough to give up on this guy I think. Nemec is the one who has to go.
I would solidify my back and start from there.
iraola-mena-facey-angelino
mix-pirlo-calle
lampard-poku
villa
I think if they continue to work they can get there. They certainly have the ability and body type to do so.
Mena has just under two weeks in this country and Facey was playing young boys in England.
Unless we can upgrade with a solid defender from overseas I think this is our path to get it done.
Mena has just under two weeks in this country and Facey was playing young boys in England.
Unless we can upgrade with a solid defender from overseas I think this is our path to get it done.
This market and this forum has shown us that people want results quick, I don't think there is time to let them gel. I say next season find a proven starting level CB, push Facey & Mena to the bench and slowly let them grow, but solidify that defense ASAP. should have happened this year.
I think they have a lot of potential. Mena, while making terrible mistakes his first game, has shown that he can be a good player. Also Facey has stepped it up for this team. He has been our best defender over the course of the full season, while having to adjust to having different people in the back line almost.
.....with that being said I'm all for acquiring any sort of upgrade in the back four.
Iraola certainly will. Facey will if we can keep hold of him.
Agreed.
Agreed. Way too early to judge a player new to the country and wasn't even supposed to play significant minutes against ORL if not for Wingert injury.
I think a big upgrade at LB when we lose Angelino will be in order.
Remember that when we finally had a handful of games in a row with a consistent back line in June we actually started to look good. Our building blocks may not be as bad as they appear due to the frequently changing lineup.
Also we probably need another winger unless Shelton comes back strong. Even if, depth there would help as we now have a glut of central attackers without much width.
I've heard nothing but they haven't released him so that's comforting, for what it's worth.
my gut says Facey leaves regardless of our opinion of him. But who knows. Iraola I don't know. As I mentioned elsewhere he is probably the most decorated defender in MLS right now, but his performance so far has been so-so. Perhaps he is acclimating still. In any case we're still looking at or should look at 3 new starters in the back.
Can Saunders perform at this level next year?
Sure, I will give it a shot.
----------------Villa--------------------
---Mix-------Lampard---------Poku--
-----Jacobson--------Pirlo------------
Angelino----------------------------------Iraola
---------Mena-------G.John------------
---------------Saunders-------------------
I think we go more or less the same lineup next season. I think we manage to keep angelino for just one more season. I think G. John comes back from injury and gets back to solid form, and kreis finally goes to the eye doctor so he can see that poku needs to start.
I think we get a left back and a cb and a third string gk in the 2016 mls draft. We select Micheal Amick cb and Brandon Vincent lb.
Players we cut or trade
1) nemec
2) Grabavoy (hopefully)
3) Alvarez
4) meara goes back from loan
5) calle goes back from loan
6) velsaquez
7) brandt
8) KWS
9) Eirik Johansen
players we acquire-
1) Stolz - good cover for cm and is not really being used by red bulls.
2) Facey- wishful thinking but I think we either get loan extended or we buy his rights .
3) macMath- to replace meara, we buy macmath from Colorado
4) For more cb cover we acquire tim parker from vancouver….or christian dean.
5) Bjorn maars johnsen- too good to pass up.
6) Brandon Barker on loan from manchester city.
7) back up goal keeper
8) Micheal Amick
9) Brandon Vincent
----------------Villa--------------------
---Mix-------Lampard---------Poku--
-----Jacobson--------Pirlo------------
Angelino----------------------------------Iraola
---------Mena-------G.John------------
---------------Saunders-------------------
I think we go more or less the same lineup next season. I think we manage to keep angelino for just one more season. I think G. John comes back from injury and gets back to solid form, and kreis finally goes to the eye doctor so he can see that poku needs to start.
I think we get a left back and a cb and a third string gk in the 2016 mls draft. We select Micheal Amick cb and Brandon Vincent lb.
Players we cut or trade
1) nemec
2) Grabavoy (hopefully)
3) Alvarez
4) meara goes back from loan
5) calle goes back from loan
6) velsaquez
7) brandt
8) KWS
9) Eirik Johansen
players we acquire-
1) Stolz - good cover for cm and is not really being used by red bulls.
2) Facey- wishful thinking but I think we either get loan extended or we buy his rights .
3) macMath- to replace meara, we buy macmath from Colorado
4) For more cb cover we acquire tim parker from vancouver….or christian dean.
5) Bjorn maars johnsen- too good to pass up.
6) Brandon Barker on loan from manchester city.
7) back up goal keeper
8) Micheal Amick
9) Brandon Vincent
I like the way you think but Angelino and Barker are pretty optimistic. Would love it if true.
At this point, I want Kreis to pick a player to build around, pick the appropriate formation, and stick with it thru the end of next year. These last few games should be auditions (fuck, this is preseason shit) for spots in the formation of choice next year.
I pick Pirlo to build around, and I pick the 4-4-2 diamond.
Up top, depth is a good thing. Poku, Mullins, and McNamara will get their playing time. Lampard plays a little out of position as a recessed CAM (I'm not going to build a formation around him, and like it or not we are stuck with him for 2016), and rotates with Poku and McNamara. Poku and Mullins can also start up front sometime, but I hope we bring in a true striker with the money saved by cutting Nemec.
The other mids get a little makeover. One of the more head scratching things all year about Kreis' formations is the lack of a consistent DM. Jacobson occasionally fills the role, but often charges forward and plays more like an 8 than a 6. I'd like a strong upgrade there. Second, Pirlo and Mix would play off each other perfectly. Mix can run all day long, protect Pirlo defensively, and shuttle the ball forward. Bringing in a second mid exactly like Mix (maybe slightly more defensive), parking both next to Pirlo, would transform our midfield defense into a strength.
Defensively, my mockup here relies on a healthy John, a competition between Mena and Facey for the other CB spot, and holdovers at fullback filling their roles. I really think Mena and Facey have potential to be very solid MLS defenders, but just need some more time. If John still has it, we might already have our stout CB pairing on the roster.
I pick Pirlo to build around, and I pick the 4-4-2 diamond.
Up top, depth is a good thing. Poku, Mullins, and McNamara will get their playing time. Lampard plays a little out of position as a recessed CAM (I'm not going to build a formation around him, and like it or not we are stuck with him for 2016), and rotates with Poku and McNamara. Poku and Mullins can also start up front sometime, but I hope we bring in a true striker with the money saved by cutting Nemec.
The other mids get a little makeover. One of the more head scratching things all year about Kreis' formations is the lack of a consistent DM. Jacobson occasionally fills the role, but often charges forward and plays more like an 8 than a 6. I'd like a strong upgrade there. Second, Pirlo and Mix would play off each other perfectly. Mix can run all day long, protect Pirlo defensively, and shuttle the ball forward. Bringing in a second mid exactly like Mix (maybe slightly more defensive), parking both next to Pirlo, would transform our midfield defense into a strength.
Defensively, my mockup here relies on a healthy John, a competition between Mena and Facey for the other CB spot, and holdovers at fullback filling their roles. I really think Mena and Facey have potential to be very solid MLS defenders, but just need some more time. If John still has it, we might already have our stout CB pairing on the roster.
Well, who do we have on our 2016 roster that is of starting quality? I'd say:
Villa
Poku
Mix
Pirlo
And potential starters with question marks?
Iraola (should be)
John (may be)
And then a few more guys that are good enough to be role players and stick around:
Lampard
Mullins
McNamara
Facey
Mena
Allen
And maybe Jacobson if he's here solely as the end of the bench CM option for safety.
So if we want to be aggressive in player acquisition, I say we have about 7 holes to fill:
GK - Free Agent #1
CB - Free Agent #2
CB - John/Mena/Facey/Free Agent #3
LB - Free Agent #4
RB - Iraola/Allen/Free Agent #5
CM - Pirlo
LCM - Mix
RCM - Free Agent #6
CAM - Lampard/Poku/McNamara
ST - Free Agent #7/Mullins
ST - Villa
Some random picks for the most important spots:
GK Jaime Penedo (still without a contract after leaving Galaxy)
CB Geoff Cameron (would be a stud in MLS)
LB Bryan Oviedo (Costa Rican at Everton with an expiring contract)
CM Lucas Romero (up-and-coming Argentinian)
ST Emmanuel Adebayor (just released from contract by Tottenham, can't sign anywhere until January)
Now that would be a dream offseason.
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I like the 4-3-1-2. You still get a diamond but the CMs play a little flatter to help give Pirlo more cover in the back. Lampard would get more leeway to attack at LCM and Mix would have more defensive responsibility. Lampard actually played a very similar position in Chelsea's 4-3-3. I don't really get the whole Jacobson > Mix thing Kreis has going but hopefully Jacobson is gone next year. Poku gets to play his best spot and Villa gets a partner up front who I hope is named Shelton.
If we are concerned about our defensive midfield, we could move Poku to ST next to Villa and Lampard into that #10 CAM spot and put a true CDM destroyer next to Pirlo and Mix.
If we are concerned about our defensive midfield, we could move Poku to ST next to Villa and Lampard into that #10 CAM spot and put a true CDM destroyer next to Pirlo and Mix.
You guys have a lot of faith in George John. The fact that he hasn't resurfaced anywhere, and Kreis' comments on him have been iffy at best, makes me think he might not ever make it back.
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