2018 Roster Discussion

[Gotham Gator]

Agree with everyone saying that Struna and White are the surprises here. White played well this year and makes the minimum, which means he's a very useful commodity. Someone will value that and grab him. Struna seemed like a good option at that spot - although it is difficult to really figure out how much he would be on for a full year.

Agree also with those pointing out that Brillant's situation is really due to his salary. He makes more than anyone on the team except for Chanot, Ring and the 3 DPs. The Club must think it can go into the market and get the same quality for less money (and maybe it already has with Ferraresi). Brillant did play well this year, so maybe we renegotiate for less or he finds a way to another team that can pay him.

I think that situation is pretty much limited to Brillant. Of the 11 guys released, 8 were on a minimum contract, or very close to it. There is nothing to negotiate with those guys. The other two (Allen, Camargo) were below the league average. We basically dumped the bottom end of our compensation pool. Not sure who we are going to use to replace all those guys.

 

[Gotham Gator]

I think he would be our tallest CB. Callens and Chanot are both 6'1" (not including Callens' hair).

 

[Kjbert]

Agree with everyone saying that Struna and White are the surprises here. White played well this year and makes the minimum, which means he's a very useful commodity. Someone will value that and grab him. Struna seemed like a good option at that spot - although it is difficult to really figure out how much he would be on for a full year.

Agree also with those pointing out that Brillant's situation is really due to his salary. He makes more than anyone on the team except for Chanot, Ring and the 3 DPs. The Club must think it can go into the market and get the same quality for less money (and maybe it already has with Ferraresi). Brillant did play well this year, so maybe we renegotiate for less or he finds a way to another team that can pay him.

I think that situation is pretty much limited to Brillant. Of the 11 guys released, 8 were on a minimum contract, or very close to it. There is nothing to negotiate with those guys. The other two (Allen, Camargo) were below the league average. We basically dumped the bottom end of our compensation pool. Not sure who we are going to use to replace all those guys.

This is a great point. I wonder if the team is looking for better quality and less depth in numbers.

 

[SoupInNYC]

Agree with everyone saying that Struna and White are the surprises here. White played well this year and makes the minimum, which means he's a very useful commodity. Someone will value that and grab him. Struna seemed like a good option at that spot - although it is difficult to really figure out how much he would be on for a full year.

Agree also with those pointing out that Brillant's situation is really due to his salary. He makes more than anyone on the team except for Chanot, Ring and the 3 DPs. The Club must think it can go into the market and get the same quality for less money (and maybe it already has with Ferraresi). Brillant did play well this year, so maybe we renegotiate for less or he finds a way to another team that can pay him.

I think that situation is pretty much limited to Brillant. Of the 11 guys released, 8 were on a minimum contract, or very close to it. There is nothing to negotiate with those guys. The other two (Allen, Camargo) were below the league average. We basically dumped the bottom end of our compensation pool. Not sure who we are going to use to replace all those guys.

Going to go into Twitter analysis mode....

There were 11 players who had options not picked up...

• 1 was here on a loan (Camargo)
• 2 were out on loan (Gomez and Mena)
• 1 was signed in the waning moments of the season (Struna)
• 2 played here for only 1 year with very limited minutes (Stertzer and Okoli)
• 4 played here for multiple years and the NYCFC Twitter account has sent out "Thank You" tweets for (Lopez, RJ Allen, White, and Johansen)
• 1 has played here for multiple years, played significant minutes, and has no "Thank You" tweet from the NYCFC account (Brillant)

Brillant to return, confirmed.

 

[sbrylski]

Going to go into Twitter analysis mode....

There were 11 players who had options not picked up...

• 1 was here on a loan (Camargo)
• 2 were out on loan (Gomez and Mena)
• 1 was signed in the waning moments of the season (Struna)
• 2 played here for only 1 year with very limited minutes (Stertzer and Okoli)
• 4 played here for multiple years and the NYCFC Twitter account has sent out "Thank You" tweets for (Lopez, RJ Allen, White, and Johansen)
• 1 has played here for multiple years, played significant minutes, and has no "Thank You" tweet from the NYCFC account (Brillant)

Brillant to return, confirmed.

I'd love it if Brillant came back on a 200k.

LCB: Callens, Sands, Sweat
CB: Chanot, Brillant
RCB: Ferraresi, Sands

 

[Gotham Gator]

I should say that I also agree with those who think these moves may portend a switch to 3 CBs, mainly because we ditched all our RBs.

 

[Christopher Jee]

I should say that I also agree with those who think these moves may portend a switch to 3 CBs, mainly because we ditched all our RBs.

I'm not so sure. Unless we are planning to play a next-level attacking version of a 3-5-2, you still need wide right players who can play well on both sides of the ball.

 

[gbservis]

I'm not so sure. Unless we are planning to play a next-level attacking version of a 3-5-2, you still need wide right players who can play well on both sides of the ball.

Harrison has the work rate and the toughness to play D and he did plenty of it last season. He still has a considerable amount to improve on D and one could argue playing him in that role wastes his attacking talent but he could do it.

 

[Kjbert]

I'm not so sure. Unless we are planning to play a next-level attacking version of a 3-5-2, you still need wide right players who can play well on both sides of the ball.

For a guy they thought was a star #10 in the making, it would be quite interesting to see him morph into a RWB.

I bet he could do it. But I'm not sure how I feel about a 21 year old learning how to play RWB, partnering with a 19 year old brand new RCB.

 

[EganSoccerWords]

I think you guys meaning to say KhiryShelton4RWB.

 

[Gotham Gator]

I'm not so sure. Unless we are planning to play a next-level attacking version of a 3-5-2, you still need wide right players who can play well on both sides of the ball.

But why else jettison all 3 RBs? It's not 100%, but there's a good chance it's because none of them really fit the role of a RWB. Certainly not the way Matarrita fits the role of a LWB.

 

[LionNYC]

I think you guys meaning to say KhiryShelton4RWB.

We’re going to reverse Gareth Bale him.

 

[Christopher Jee]

But why else jettison all 3 RBs? It's not 100%, but there's a good chance it's because none of them really fit the role of a RWB. Certainly not the way Matarrita fits the role of a LWB.

Because none of them are good enough. It was clearly the weakest position last year. I'm only cautiously optimistic about Struna but look how much our entire offense and Jack in particular came alive when our opponents' wide left players had two ballers to contend with.

I think you guys meaning to say KhiryShelton4RWB.

Really? I think WB is one of the most tactically nuanced positions to play on the pitch and Shelton hasn't demonstrated any of that.

Harrison has the work rate and the toughness to play D and he did plenty of it last season. He still has a considerable amount to improve on D and one could argue playing him in that role wastes his attacking talent but he could do it.

I like to think I'm always open to being proven wrong, but Harrison is an inverted winger. He always cuts inside. Unless Paddy is cooking up something truly extraordinary, I don't see how we can get by without a wide right crossing threat. When Guardiola tried 3ATB he still had natural left footers on the left and natural right footers on the right.

So maybe we're grooming Lewis for RWB.

Or maybe we keep Harrison inverted and have the attacking midfielders create overloads in wide areas (like De Bruyne and Silva do for Citeh). I don't hate that. It leaves our wide areas less exposed than having our full backs provide the width in a 4-3-3 because they have to cover a lot of distance in that setup.

 

[JGarrettLieb]

Damn those cuts were aggressive. Someone in management desperately wants an MLS cup.

 

[EganSoccerWords]

One thing to keep on mind is that if there is a big TAM increase, we have already have 10 out of 11 starting XI positions spoken for (3 DPs, Mata, Ring, Jack, Yangel, Callens, Chanot, Sean John) spoken for. Need something to spend it on spend it on besides a third DP. Gutting our weakest position makes alot of sense.

I would also bet on us using allocation to get another Generation Adidas player.

 

[JGarrettLieb]

One thing to keep on mind is that if there is a big TAM increase, we have already have 10 out of 11 starting XI positions spoken for (3 DPs, Mata, Ring, Jack, Yangel, Callens, Chanot, Sean John) spoken for. Need something to spend it on spend it on besides a third DP. Gutting our weakest position makes alot of sense.

I would also bet on us using allocation to get another Generation Adidas player.

With $2mm in TAM you look to make one to three of your starters into depth. And then make some decent depth signings.

Lets be honest with ourselves here, at least one or two of last season's lock down starters will become depth players. We're adding another DP and will likely have $2mm in TAM that the team will have to pay for, on top of the other TAM and GAM the team would get normally.

There are so many more resources for teams to add strength, league wide, to the starting XI next year that last year's team would probably finish mid table in the upcoming season.

Jack I think we replace not start btw, there are real and serious offers out for him now.

 

[Gotham Gator]

Worth keeping in mind that the Club has certainly determined exactly which positions it wants to fill for 2018, and how much it wants to spend at each spot. It also certainly has candidates in mind for many of those positions. Each guy that was let go was let go because he didn't fit the specific plan they have.

Will be interesting to see how this all plays out.

 

[Kjbert]

Worth keeping in mind that the Club has certainly determined exactly which positions it wants to fill for 2018, and how much it wants to spend at each spot. It also certainly has candidates in mind for many of those positions. Each guy that was let go was let go because he didn't fit the specific plan they have.

Will be interesting to see how this all plays out.

My only concern is that good Americans are generally overpaid in this league and we let a 5th string CB making $65,000 walk out the door.

 

[Sabo]

My only concern is that good Americans are generally overpaid in this league and we let a 5th string CB making $65,000 walk out the door.

Makes me wonder if the Club is planning on signing more of the Academy players who are getting national youth team call-ups during 2018. I think MLS is going to change the rules this offseason to allow teams to capture much more revenue when homegrown players are transferred. If that is the expectation, more contracts to youth players is the smart play.

 

[Kjbert]

Makes me wonder if the Club is planning on signing more of the Academy players who are getting national youth team call-ups during 2018. I think MLS is going to change the rules this offseason to allow teams to capture much more revenue when homegrown players are transferred. If that is the expectation, more contracts to youth players is the smart play.

The league will get better when it allows Clubs to profit from the sale of their players. I don't know how you do that in a Single Entity structure, but it holds the league back.

In what world does it make sense to let Erik Palmer Brown and Joeven Jones walk for free?