2018 Roster Discussion

Pretty sure Wallace was a defender that was converted to a winger. For him it is natural to defend, or take instruction to defend, whereas a natural winger has a one-track mind to attack.

I agree the issue is that our LB also has a one-track mind to attack so I'm interested to see what the plan is.
 
I’m waiting for a team to sign a transfer-fee “DP” to a half season contract and then re-sign them to a 2.5 or 3.5 year contract at their normal wage. Speeds up the Cap manipulation by half a season.

Nice try, but you’ve still spent the transfer fee in that same season.
We learned from Lampardgate that FIFA doesn’t allow contracts that end mid season. You can do a half season contract that starts midseason, but a contract that starts opening Day, or 2 weeks in, or whenever has to go to the end of the season. Trialists are under a separate arrangement.
 
I woke up and saw the signing via the team's email. I didn't want to check Twitter because I tapped the Man City vs. Crystal Palace game (that's for another thread).

My first reaction was an audible "fuck" as I read he was a DP. I have some great concerns with this signing.

- My general rule of thumb for a DP is 20 goal production as a combination of goals and assists. 10G/10A, 8G/12A, 20G/0A. Doesn't matter, just produce goals. I don't think this kid will get that level of production this year in what is Villa's best year to win MLS Cup (given Vieira's roster construction, Pirlo off the cap, etc.)
- He's a 10. Maxi Moralez is also a damn 10 worth $2M. He's a winger. Okay, we have Jack Harrison on the right with no good backup and then we have Wallace/Lewis on the right. I obviously think Harrison and Lewis should get minutes, so how do all the player minutes add up after the season.
- He'll have a roster cap hit of $150K given he's 20 or younger by the start of the season. So that extra $350K cap we have available compared to the 24+ age DP cap hit is something we'll have to track to see how we use.
 
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https://nypost.com/2017/12/31/nycfc-may-have-just-added-their-star-of-the-future/

First, I'm more convinced that Lewis is the start of the future. He's going to stay in MLS longer than Medina since he's an American.

But the quotes from the story that matter...

Reyna said the club is looking to add two to three more players, both within MLS and abroad, in the coming weeks.

“We’re really pleased with the work we’ve done so far,” he said. “We’re really looking forward to pushing on and having a better squad and even better team than last year.”

2-3 more players, only? We are still -9 net from the 2017 roster size. We have 5 SuperDraft picks. We're not going to keep all of them as we dropped our 3rd and 4rd round picks in 2017.
 
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I woke up and saw the signing via the team's email. I didn't want to check Twitter because I tapped the Man City vs. Crystal Palace game (that's for another thread).

My first reaction was an audible "fuck" as I read he was a DP. I have some great concerns with this signing.

- My general rule of thumb for a DP is 20 goal production as a combination of goals and assists. 10G/10A, 8G/12A, 20G/0A. Doesn't matter, just produce goals. I don't think this kid will get that level of production this year in what is Villa's best year to win MLS Cup (given Vieira's roster construction, Pirlo off the cap, etc.)
- He's a 10. Maxi Moralez is also a damn 10 worth $2M. He's a winger. Okay, we have Jack Harrison on the right with no good backup and then we have Wallace/Lewis on the right. I obviously think Harrison and Lewis should get minutes, so how do all the player minutes add up after the season.
- He'll have a roster cap hit of $150K given he's 20 or younger by the start of the season. So that extra $350K cap we have available compared to the 24+ age DP cap hit is something we'll have to track to see how we use.

Lewis has played mostly on the RW for us so Jack is the one in front of him at the moment. It sounds like Medina can play on either wing or at CAM. Both Harrison and Lewis have played both wings in the past. Ideally I think what this means is that we will have an attacking rotation. Best 10 would be Medina LW, Maxi at the 10 and Jack on the RW. To cover for call ups, injuries and just to keep players fresh have Medina as the back up 10 with Lewis and Wallace rotating through the wings.

Take all the time we saw Tommy last year at both LW and in the midfield, add in the 1-2 games Wallace played out of position in the middle, rest Jack a bit more often so he doesn't wear down and there should be plenty of time to go around between Maxi, Medina, Harrison, Lewis, and Wallace. This all assumes Harrison stays, fingers crossed.
 
Lewis has played mostly on the RW for us so Jack is the one in front of him at the moment. It sounds like Medina can play on either wing or at CAM. Both Harrison and Lewis have played both wings in the past. Ideally I think what this means is that we will have an attacking rotation. Best 10 would be Medina LW, Maxi at the 10 and Jack on the RW. To cover for call ups, injuries and just to keep players fresh have Medina as the back up 10 with Lewis and Wallace rotating through the wings.

Take all the time we saw Tommy last year at both LW and in the midfield, add in the 1-2 games Wallace played out of position in the middle, rest Jack a bit more often so he doesn't wear down and there should be plenty of time to go around between Maxi, Medina, Harrison, Lewis, and Wallace. This all assumes Harrison stays, fingers crossed.

Wasn’t there a tweet from a reporter that Harrison is confirmed as staying?
 
Haha, the plan is defend by attacking. AKA no change.

The previous plan always seemed to be play a LW that can help on D and a RB that acts like a 3rd CB and rarely goes forward. It's possible we are going even more aggressive as you suggest but Medina likely plays less D than Wallace and we just cut our CB minded RB and paid a bunch on money for a guy that seems very skilled going forward so who knows? I'm not against it, the lopsided approach was extremely predictable and left Jack with no support on the right. Options down each side will be nice. Ideally Mata gets on board with playing some D and Tinnerholm is solid on both ends. Worst case the midfield gets shredded in transition and 50% of the forum is bitching about our CBs and GK by game 5 because they can't stop 5 on 2 fastbreaks.
 
You can play with 2 CBs, a holding player and that's it defensively. You just need players that can possess. Tinnerholm can possess. No one else RB could last year. I thought Wallace was shitty in possession too.

I would imagine Vieira believes he has or is adding pieces that let him play total football.
 
No one else RB could last year
Struna could.

Otherwise, i agree we don’t have to have such a defensive set up.

I do predict many giveaways from Medina. As I and other have followed up with, Paraguayan league defending appears to be half-hearted at best, and they only make up for it by being entirely unathletic.
 
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All due respect to him, he's an aggregator not a journalist -- but also full marks to him, because his Twitter feeds are where I learn about 95% of my NYCFC-related news from, so he really does provide a vital service.
Hey I’d have an exclusive interview with Medina if they called me up and asked me to do it too. Can only work with what I’m given. But I agree. I shouldn’t be the main point for people, that’s an indictment on the state of media coverage for MLS in this country.
 
Hey I’d have an exclusive interview with Medina if they called me up and asked me to do it too. Can only work with what I’m given. But I agree. I shouldn’t be the main point for people, that’s an indictment on the state of media coverage for MLS in this country.

Don't get me wrong, Chris, I wasn't taking a dig at you. I wish they gave you more access because you might have the largest readership among NYCFC fans, you're fair and honest, and you do a really good job.
 
https://nypost.com/2017/12/31/nycfc-may-have-just-added-their-star-of-the-future/

First, I'm more convinced that Lewis is the start of the future. He's going to stay in MLS longer than Medina since he's an American.

But the quotes from the story that matter...

Reyna said the club is looking to add two to three more players, both within MLS and abroad, in the coming weeks.

“We’re really pleased with the work we’ve done so far,” he said. “We’re really looking forward to pushing on and having a better squad and even better team than last year.”

2-3 more players, only? We are still -9 net from the 2017 roster size. We have 5 SuperDraft picks. We're not going to keep all of them as we dropped our 3rd and 4rd round picks in 2017.

I assume they would do what they did previous years sign some trialists to fill depth roles.

They might also be waiting until after the superdraft before knowing what positions they need to fill.
 
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I assume they would do what they did previous years sign some trialists to fill depth roles.

They might also be waiting until after the superdraft before knowing what positions they need to fill.

They have a boatload of TAM lying around if they use their discretionary TAM. We should be getting a few more Rings & Chanots if that’s the case. Turn a few of our current starters into depth players or at least rotate more.
 
I assume they would do what they did previous years sign some trialists to fill depth roles.

They might also be waiting until after the superdraft before knowing what positions they need to fill.

Right. I took the “2-3 players” remark as meaning 2-3 big signings (i.e. TAM guys), with depth coming later from trialists and draftees.
 
We can argue about whether we are legit 16 or 17 deep right now (I won't accept anyone's argument we have fewer than 16 quality MLS players), but with 2-3 more TAM signings we will be legit 18-20 deep with a TMac quality player having trouble making the game day 18.

Looking for more depth along our spine, especially CF and Mid, but I am sure the FO is seeing the roster the same way.

This might be the first year PV has the players to attack the way he wants to instead of being forced to work around roster weaknesses.