2018 Offseason Thread
- Thread starter LionNYC
- Start date
I’m gonna wait to see how Maxi performs this year - he’s A+ moving the ball to the final third and last year really underperformed making the final decision- I chalk that up to having too few scoring options that could be counted on. He’s gonna have villa, a rejuvenated Harrison, Medina will <fingers crossed> hopefully be a legit threat, and maybe one more real forward if the FO can spend their TAM wisely. With that group, Maxi’s passing skills will hopefully shine a bit more and he won’t stutter when making the decisive pass because he won’t be second guessing if the recipient isn’t worthy.
Good points. I'm fine with Maxi not scoring if he's distributing the ball well. Last year we lacked a second consistent scorer. Hopefully this changes with Medina, Villa, Harrison, and more playing time from Lewis.
You really want Turan? Which version of Turan would MLS be getting? The passionate, world class version from Atletico, or the lazy, happy to benchwarm from Barca?
Villa seems to not be afraid to call out teammates on their bullshit, so I would have loved to see him belittling Turan every game. But I'll take a likable, talented, wants-to-be-here Maxi over Turan and his maledictions
Is it just me or has the overall dislike of Maxi grown considerably since the season ended? End of the season a few people noted that he was disappointing for a DP. You can find multiple post game threads with people singing his praises for totally controlling a game. Then about 3 months of off season go by without a single second of soccer played by him and for many he's a total bust that needs to be cut. Sometimes I think Hivemind is on to something.
It's perplexing to me that so many posts complain about Maxi a playmaking midfielder's scoring output while giving Harrison and our other wingers arguably in positions considerably more responsible for goal production and total pass.
I am with you and
Ulrich, well said by both of you. Throughout the season, he was consistently praised, often described as bossing opponents, controlling games for us and earning MotM honors. He sputtered down the stretch like the rest of our reliables (including our captain, Yangel, Sean etc.). Yes, Maxi’s shortcomings (see what I did there) were particularly glaring for many reasons. And I understand the arguments that we could have done better with a DP signing. But I don’t agree with writing him off. He can be a very positive player for us especially for the reasons
Ulrich nicely summarized.
Right around season end we went through the roster and compared NYC to other teams. After Villa, we have terrible goal production. The falloff is bigger than any other top MLS sides, and it's not close. Our players ranked 2-4 would be ranked 4-6 on teams like TFC, Atlanta, Columbus, Portland and Seattle when measured by goals and assists. Maxi took the heat more than Harrison, Wallace, etc. because he's a DP and is paid millions. Pirlo was a write-off as of May. The FO took the heat because Maxi's goal and assist production in 2017 were basically in line with what he's done his entire career. Maxi could maybe be an adequate 3rd DP or a solid TAM player. But our 2017 DP hire needed to be our #2 offensive producer and in line with Altidore, Accam, Meram, Higuain, Villalba, Almiron, Royer, Adi, Bruin or Lodeiro. He had lower combined G/A production than all of those and not one was the top goal producer on their team. Some were ranked third on their team. Maxi is not nearly as good as the second and third best players on quality MLS teams.
Some want to blame the absence of better finishers instead of Maxi, but if that's the case, then he had to be a goal scorer himself, and he's never been an assist machine anywhere else anyway. If he does better next year it will be uncharacteristic. Maxi does lots of good things. He can be an important productive player on a team with 2-4 other good finishers. Given our roster, given that Pirlo was a door stop, he was a mistake.
Based on your points isn't Pirlo the primary mistake that put Maxi in a position that required him to fill an unreasonably large hole? Also Maxi put the ball on a platter directly in front of goal for Harrison no less than three times down the stretch and Jack flubbed all of them. You are correct that his assist numbers have never been huge but with proper finishing by our attackers his numbers would have been much better. I don't disagree that Maxi was likely the wrong signing based on our need but the reaction of many seems to be directed at the player where as your posts make a strong case that it's 100% on the FO.
Pirlo was a mistake, but with the increase in TAM, every signing can be re-evaluated <fairly or not> and we’re likely to find a different opinion/conclusion. Maxi just happens to be the focal point now that the additional TAM has been allowed and he’d fit better as a high TAM player than a DP.
Case in point, Mix was overpriced our first year because there were zero CAP manipulating mechanisms, and $750k was a huge chunk of the cap to drop on him, but he’s not pricey any longer with the amount of TAM available. In fact, $750k is pretty pedestrian now for a starting quality midfielder.
Mostly yes.
I'm definitely on team Pirlo-Sucked-for-NYCFC. And he was paid more than Maxi. But we were already stuck with him in 2017 when we signed Maxi. That cake was baked in July 2015. Maxi was the new addition.
I'm also willing to blame the FO more than Maxi. Maxi is who he is. He did not have a bad year based on what we could have expected.
The problem with Maxi is he can be a solid, even outstanding $multi-million player on a team that can have several such players. Put him in a league where there are 4-15 players per team making multimillion salaries -- with at least 3-5 of those who score goals and generate assists -- and let Maxi be the engine behind all of them. When you only get 3 such players, and one of them (Pirlo) is already useless, you can't throw away that last spot on someone who doesn't directly produce goals. In MLS generally, your second best DP has to put up scoring numbers. It's a waste to use that slot on someone who does all sorts of useful, non-glamorous work that doesn't involve direct production no matter how good he is.
Maxi did not play well in the playoffs and that left a poor impression on many of us. Lasting images of missed shots and such.
I think the negativity right now has to do with his contract, the lack of goals combined with his DP status and general concern that other teams are stocking up. The negativity shouldn't be as negative but he's also not a dynamic DP either.
I think the negativity right now has to do with his contract, the lack of goals combined with his DP status and general concern that other teams are stocking up. The negativity shouldn't be as negative but he's also not a dynamic DP either.
A $450K a year salary seems like a lot to pay a backup. Also why would Ola Kamara be interested in being a backup?
We are looking for a TAM-level interchangeable CM to backup our starting 3, right?
I suspect that his buddy has told him things that would make him want to stay away.
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