2017 Roster Discussion

[Tyler Connley]

Another target we miss out on in ofori.... I swear we only get players on free transfers except defenders. Pisses me off doubt we get a dp this window. We are so cheap. We could drop whatever we wanted on a dp spot but I gurantee we don't even spend 5m+ which is sad

 

[SpicyRoll]

Another target we miss out on in ofori.... I swear we only get players on free transfers except defenders. Pisses me off doubt we get a dp this window. We are so cheap. We could drop whatever we wanted on a dp spot but I gurantee we don't even spend 5m+ which is sad

I think you have the wrong mindset about this. Free transfers is the best method to acquire a player (especially in a salary capped league such as ours). For instance, we were able to somehow convince Callens to rescind his contract so he can sign with us on a free. That's a big win for us at the negotiation table.

Even if our owners have deep pockets, it doesn't give us the excuse to overspend. Our team is a business, and in order for us to run a profitable business we need to make smart business decisions. I'm disappointed we missed out on Ofori, but it seemed that we had an offer on the table, so we were ready to spend. Ofori ultimately decided to sign with Stuttgart. We don't know whether it was a financial decision or career growth decision for him.

I prefer us going after high-value players with the potential to transfer them out and earn a profit. It's how the team should be running its business.

 

[JayH]

Another target we miss out on in ofori.... I swear we only get players on free transfers except defenders. Pisses me off doubt we get a dp this window. We are so cheap. We could drop whatever we wanted on a dp spot but I gurantee we don't even spend 5m+ which is sad

 

[Tyler Connley]

 

[Tyler Connley]

I think you have the wrong mindset about this. Free transfers is the best method to acquire a player (especially in a salary capped league such as ours). For instance, we were able to somehow convince Callens to rescind his contract so he can sign with us on a free. That's a big win for us at the negotiation table.

Even if our owners have deep pockets, it doesn't give us the excuse to overspend. Our team is a business, and in order for us to run a profitable business we need to make smart business decisions. I'm disappointed we missed out on Ofori, but it seemed that we had an offer on the table, so we were ready to spend. Ofori ultimately decided to sign with Stuttgart. We don't know whether it was a financial decision or career growth decision for him.

I prefer us going after high-value players with the potential to transfer them out and earn a profit. It's how the team should be running its business.

Name one fee they have paid besides chanot brilliant and mata which are all defenders by the way

 

[BxLio91]

Who failed a medical?

Are we still signing Ring?

What about this Yangel kid on loan?

Now there's talk about Bernal?

Any apparently our offer was rejected for this guy?

https://twitter.com/x/status/826417472748261376

I'm telling you...Khedira is coming...in summer '17

Caceres.


So we should be spending money for the sake of spending money or we should be making smart moves to use the money efficiently.

 

[Midas Mulligan]

I do feel like we're being a bit cheap on this stuff. All of the folks who were making the argument about how sensible he was as a DP will now have to reverse course and explain how it's all part of our genius.

I would have liked to have seen the Ofori guy play (literally, for anyone, even once), but I'm not too sad about missing on him. I somewhat expected that after the Ring news came out. I'm far more sad that we don't have a gotdam defensive mid yet. Go drop some coin and don't waste Pirlo's last season. That's a massive expense, and it's time for them to back their initial bet.

 

[sbrylski]

I do feel like we're being a bit cheap on this stuff. All of the folks who were making the argument about how sensible he was as a DP will now have to reverse course and explain how it's all part of our genius.

I would have liked to have seen the Ofori guy play (literally, for anyone, even once), but I'm not too sad about missing on him. I somewhat expected that after the Ring news came out. I'm far more sad that we don't have a gotdam defensive mid yet. Go drop some coin and don't waste Pirlo's last season. That's a massive expense, and it's time for them to back their initial bet.

I'm still more than happy to see us sign a young DP on a salary that can eventually be bought down with TAM, freeing up the DP spot again.

It's just a pretty specific scenario and tough to convince a young player who is already worth $500k-$1 million per year in salary to come to MLS, when he'll likely have a lot of European interest.

 

[Kjbert]

Put me back in the pissed off camp.

Still a few weeks left in pre-season. But I don't see where the team is materially better right now than last year.

And for 25,000 fans at $40 a ticket per game, go spend some damn transfer money. Blow us away.

 

[Midas Mulligan]

I'm still more than happy to see us sign a young DP on a salary that can eventually be bought down with TAM, freeing up the DP spot again.

It's just a pretty specific scenario and tough to convince a young player who is already worth $500k-$1 million per year in salary to come to MLS, when he'll likely have a lot of European interest.

That's always going to be the case. Look, ATL & LAG aren't out there making excuses. They are signing guys who can ball, going head to head with Europe when they have to and getting some hits.

LAG is snatching up a massive talent in Alessandrini who we could sorely use. He has the skill to potentially destroy any defense in the league. We'll see how he turns out, but I think he could be another Piatti-level impact player.

We don't get a bigger trophy for winning on the cheap. And yeah, I'm a little irritated that we're in this same situation again, for the 3rd time in 3 years. I hope I'm surprised, but right now, we aren't seeing evidence of a plan to put together a top notch MLS roster, either because
1) there isn't one
or
2) we can't execute it.

Neither is a flattering look for management.

Eta: to be clear, everything you say is true. And if I believed we were capable of pulling that off, I'd back it, for sure.

 

[Kjbert]

That's always going to be the case. Look, ATL & LAG aren't out there making excuses. They are signing guys who can ball, going head to head with Europe when they have to and getting some hits.

LAG is snatching up a massive talent in Alessandrini who we could sorely use. He has the skill to potentially destroy any defense in the league. We'll see how he turns out, but I think he could be another Piatti-level impact player.

We don't get a bigger trophy for winning on the cheap. And yeah, I'm a little irritated that we're in this same situation again, for the 3rd time in 3 years. I hope I'm surprised, but right now, we aren't seeing evidence of a plan to put together a top notch MLS roster, either because
1) there isn't one
or
2) we can't execute it.

Neither is a flattering look for management.

Eta: to be clear, everything you say is true. And if I believed we were capable of pulling that off, I'd back it, for sure.

For some reason, they seem against making transfer fee investments. I think it's because they don't see a sell-on investment.

 

[NYCFCfan]

MLS 2017 Roster Rules have not been announced. The current policy is 160 spots dividend among the 20 teams. This will obviously be expanded to to accommodate MNUTD and ATLUTD. However, is there any thought that each team will be given an additional international roster spot or two from the 8 that are allotted as of last year?

If not, we'll need to do some trading for spots. Currently, the teams with the least amount of used spots based on January 24, 2017 http://www.mlssoccer.com/rosters/2017

Toronto - 2
New England - 3
DC - 4
RSL, Portland - 5
SJ, LAG, Dallas, Seattle - 6

FWIW last year Empire of Soccer reported that NYCFC had acquired a mystery roster spot that no one knew where it came from. I know Araos has asked the club for clarification as to how many international roster spots we have but it seems that question will go unanswered for now.

If that spot is still around we have one empty spot, if it's not then we have no empty spots.

 

[Kjbert]

FWIW last year Empire of Soccer reported that NYCFC had acquired a mystery roster spot that no one knew where it came from. I know Araos has asked the club for clarification as to how many international roster spots we have but it seems that question will go unanswered for now.

If that spot is still around we have one empty spot, if it's not then we have no empty spots.

On January 31st, how do you feel about our offseason so far?

- Encouraged?
- Disappointed?
- Hopeful?
- Unsure?

 

[mgarbowski]

I don't get the fascination with transfer fees -- either by the team or by people here. Outside of DPs, the team has a fixed budget for player employment costs that includes transfer fees along with salary. The more they spend on fees the less they have for salary. They don't really save money either way. Now if they can spend some transfer fee $$ and get better players without blowing the salary budget I'm all for it, but I don't see how doing the opposite saves them money or shows them to be cheap.

Of course the DP situation is another issue. DP transfer fees are outside the budget and if we're not getting the right DPs because we'll pay millions in salary but $0 for fees that's a problem, but the discussion here seems to be broader than our one open DP slot.

What am I missing?

 

[dannd23]

Would be cool to see us unload $30 million on a transfer fee for a DP, but other than that, I'd happily take all free transfers if they are good players. Thus far, they all appear to be starting level players in MLS (Callens and Ring in particular)

 

[LionNYC]

Name one fee they have paid besides chanot brilliant and mata which are all defenders by the way

Jonathan Lewis. Effectively we paid $250K to get him to come to our team.

 

[Kjbert]

I don't get the fascination with transfer fees -- either by the team or by people here. Outside of DPs, the team has a fixed budget for player employment costs that includes transfer fees along with salary. The more they spend on fees the less they have for salary. They don't really save money either way. Now if they can spend some transfer fee $$ and get better players without blowing the salary budget I'm all for it, but I don't see how doing the opposite saves them money or shows them to be cheap.

Of course the DP situation is another issue. DP transfer fees are outside the budget and if we're not getting the right DPs because we'll pay millions in salary but $0 for fees that's a problem, but the discussion here seems to be broader than our one open DP slot.

What am I missing?

They are paying Pirlo $14 million over 2.5 years.

I would rather have a player that makes $5 Million over 3 years with a $10 Million transfer fee if he actually fits. Which is why many of us were bullish on Ofori as an example

 

[Tom in Fairfield CT]

We upgraded left wing, CM and LCB. I'm happy with the offseason at this point. It all hinges on CDM and we have the DP spot open.

I'd prefer a DP now, but getting a competent CDM then choosing a DP in the summer based on need isn't the worst thing on the world.

 

[mgarbowski]

They are paying Pirlo $14 million over 2.5 years.

I would rather have a player that makes $5 Million over 3 years with a $10 Million transfer fee if he actually fits. Which is why many of us were bullish on Ofori as an example

So this is just about the open DP slot? Not that I'm diminishing that - I'm just looking to understand.

 

[SpicyRoll]

Typically a player who commands that high of a transfer fee will be on a higher salary. But I do see the point you're making.

The verdict is still out regarding our offseason. Ofori is a miss and I'm disappointed, but I do remember Vieria saying we had several DP options in his press conference. We'll see how the team reacts in the next few weeks.