2020 Roster Discussion

[Marito]

I have been quite critical of Mitri in the past, and selling him would be acceptable as part of a bigger, ambitious plan (like bringing someone of Pozuelo's caliber to fill that DP spot) but to loan him for the rest of the season simply tells us that our crappy manager has for some reason more importance for management than their only healthy and promising DP. In other words, we are keeping Ronnie, losing Mitri because of Ronnie, and have no plans for improvement whatsoever. The fact that Mitri has been our best player in the last 2 matches was simply the egg-on-face component, but the conversations to get rid of him predate it. Now the mothership has sided with the coach and they'll do nothing else for the foreseeable future until they fire Ronnie down the road, but we'll have to get through our year of mediocrity first.

 

[mgarbowski]

Mitri's most recent Instagram post has no particular message to it, but it also has over 6,800 comments (he usually gets <100), and they're almost all in Arabic or have green hearts and/or flags. If they're in English they say "Welcome." It's clear fans in Jeddah expect this to happen, though of course that's not an especially reliable indicator of any transfer.

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[mgarbowski]

The Outfield is exceedingly droll today.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1313518889683300352

Followed by

https://twitter.com/x/status/1313522654197035009

 

[moogoo]

The Outfield is exceedingly droll today.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1313518889683300352

Followed by

https://twitter.com/x/status/1313522654197035009

wonder if "0-0 win" was purposeful jab or a mistake... hmmmm

either way, without mitri, we have to hope isi, taty, and gary can pick up the slack. Not too hopeful with Gary, but if isi and taty get on fire (like they did vs Minnesota in 2019), we might be ok. just as long as they stay healthy.

i have no hope for gary or medina becoming actual attacking threats.

time to sign up derosario from the academy?

 

[ManhattanValley]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1313547289869406211

The Athletic says it would be a loan deal through 2021, and personal issues appear to be a factor (I don't want to speculate too much, but I'm guessing his family's ability to get in/out of the country has something to do with it)

Stupid question, but presumably the DP slot becomes open if he leaves on loan? We are looking at a big-time rebuild, folks.

 

[LionNYC]

Can you imagine if people were paying STH fees for this year?

I'm waiting for more evidence that this is real before judging, but the stuff you pointed out alone is evidence that the team is in a holding pattern at best in 2020. Should this loan/sale go through, we move from treading water to drastic overhaul, and my questions include: do they take some Mitrita sale proceeds and buyout Medina, leading to a major DP rebuild, and is this being done with the assumption Ronnie is back for 2021 (I think it is - he only played Mitrita when injuries forced his hand and possibly to showcase him).

ETA: Also, if Mitrita does leave we likely have not one but two DPs missing 10 games this year. Even with just his NT/Family/Quarantine absence he'll miss a prorated 10, ie at least 7 of 23 games).

Well I've already paid for 2021 and am expecting the same shit.

 

[SoupInNYC]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1313547289869406211

The Athletic says it would be a loan deal through 2021, and personal issues appear to be a factor (I don't want to speculate too much, but I'm guessing his family's ability to get in/out of the country has something to do with it)

Stupid question, but presumably the DP slot becomes open if he leaves on loan? We are looking at a big-time rebuild, folks.

Yes, the DP slot becomes available if he's away on loan. I can't remember the specific example of this, but that has occurred with other teams in the past.

 

[mgarbowski]

The Athletic says it would be a loan deal through 2021, and personal issues appear to be a factor (I don't want to speculate too much, but I'm guessing his family's ability to get in/out of the country has something to do with it)

Stupid question, but presumably the DP slot becomes open if he leaves on loan? We are looking at a big-time rebuild, folks.

The Saudi league runs on a Fall to Spring schedule, so any return to us would involve another midseason departure or arrival either for them or us. I cannot see bringing him back. It's too disruptive to go through that twice with the same player in short order. If he has family issues of course I'm very sympathetic. But once you push to leave midseason to go play elsewhere and you get your way, you can't come back. This isn't a leave of absence. You could go on a leave of absence for a family emergency on the eve of the MLS Cup and I'd welcome you back whenever you were ready. But he wants to play somewhere else. I'll wish him all the goodwill in the world. I truly hope any family issues are resolved in the best possible way. But I don't want him back later.

And we have no idea how long his contract is for. Unlike the Maxi and Medina announcements which were specific as to length, the Mitrita announcement simply said he "signed a multi-year contract." Three years would be through 2021. My guess is it was 4 years through 2022, but that is a guess backed by almost nothing.

Well I've already paid for 2021 and am expecting the same shit.

This is when the forum software needs to allow you -- or me actually -- to react to a single post with both the laughter and anger emoji.

 

[mgarbowski]

Yes, the DP slot becomes available if he's away on loan. I can't remember the specific example of this, but that has occurred with other teams in the past.

Even so, unless there is certainty that the loan will last the length of Mitri's remaining contract - however long that is - it will be very tricky to sign another DP just for the length of a Mitri loan. Unless maybe you also align the loan length with the expiration of Medina and Maxi's contract's which both expire after 2021.

 

[Fantazma]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1313547289869406211

The Athletic says it would be a loan deal through 2021, and personal issues appear to be a factor (I don't want to speculate too much, but I'm guessing his family's ability to get in/out of the country has something to do with it)

Stupid question, but presumably the DP slot becomes open if he leaves on loan? We are looking at a big-time rebuild, folks.

with his wife maybe he feels its easier and closer going from saudi arabia to romania than it is to/from nyc.

also didnt we also get some messages here that the dude always seemed to be home sick.

 

[Gotham Gator]

What the fucking fuck! Honestly!

 

[Shwafta]

What i got from the last few ronny things is that he absolutely hates our / media in general. Always accusatory tone and like he never wants to be there

 

[ManhattanValley]

If he has family issues of course I'm very sympathetic. But once you push to leave midseason to go play elsewhere and you get your way, you can't come back. This isn't a leave of absence. You could go on a leave of absence for a family emergency on the eve of the MLS Cup and I'd welcome you back whenever you were ready. But he wants to play somewhere else. I'll wish him all the goodwill in the world. I truly hope any family issues are resolved in the best possible way. But I don't want him back later.

Not sure I follow you here. You're OK with a leave of absence, but not OK if he plays somewhere else during it? I'm guessing it hasn't been his lifelong dream to play for Al-Ahly (his accountant's lifelong dream, maybe), so why is it worse if he spends his time away from the US playing rather than sitting on the couch?

(Yes, I know this is likely moot and I doubt he plays for us again)

 

[mgarbowski]

Not sure I follow you here. You're OK with a leave of absence, but not OK if he plays somewhere else during it? I'm guessing it hasn't been his lifelong dream to play for Al-Ahly (his accountant's lifelong dream, maybe), so why is it worse if he spends his time away from the US playing rather than sitting on the couch?

(Yes, I know this is likely moot and I doubt he plays for us again)

I'll concede this is not some universal truth, but I stand by my judgment here.

If you take a leave and come back when the emergency ends, that's just life. But when you sign to play in NYC, leave your pregnant wife in Romania (maybe for Covid reasons but who knows), then ask to depart midseason to spend 1.5 years or more in a country that isn't even the country or continent she is in* to play for another team, well, it sounds less like an emergency and more like a lifestyle decision that maybe/probably is driven by family concerns. He's entitled to them and I don't begrudge his choices, but if a player asks for a midseason departure that's a big deal. I'm OK with indulging it but not with the player returning at his whim. If you want to go play in Saudi go play in Saudi and God bless. But when you go you go.

* There isn't even a non-stop flight currently between Jeddah and Bucharest and the travel time is more than 6 hours at best. That's obviously better than NYC-Romania but not exactly pop home weekly on your day off proximity.

Flight Time Jeddah - Bucharest | Jeddah to Bucharest (JED to OTP) Flight Duration

Direct flight time from Jeddah to Bucharest. Flying time between King Abdulaziz International Airport, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and Henri Coanda International Airport, Bucharest, Romania. One stop & 1+ stop flight time between Jeddah & Bucharest. Jeddah Airport to Bucharest Airport (JED to OTP)...

www.prokerala.com

 

[NYCFC_Dan]

Mitri's most recent Instagram post has no particular message to it, but it also has over 6,800 comments (he usually gets <100), and they're almost all in Arabic or have green hearts and/or flags. If they're in English they say "Welcome." It's clear fans in Jeddah expect this to happen, though of course that's not an especially reliable indicator of any transfer.

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

The person that broke the news on Twitter has 1 million followers and their tweet was entirely Arabic. That would explain why so many people are replying to his insta posts.

 

[Kjbert]

They’re trying to lower expenses. Getting rid of a DP salary is the easiest way to do that. I think we still pay for a percentage right? Recall hearing something about that in the past, could be wrong. In the last 5 years of watching MLS I don’t remember another case of a club loaning out their DP player.

i DONT think he makes that much. Less than Ring and Mata and Timnerholm and Heber, no?

 

[Kjbert]

Does Maxi play another game for NYCFC?

mitrita’s contract was 4 years. That means $8 million sunk. Will they ever spend that much again?

I didn’t watch the last game. Probably won’t watch another one this season. Top 3 offensive players out for a team that can’t score anyway.

 

[danger]

i DONT think he makes that much. Less than Ring and Mata and Timnerholm and Heber, no?

I should know this stuff by now because people have explained it here multiple times, but I never commit it to longterm. Why can't we just consult the MLSPA salary info? I remember something about the transfer fee being spread out over the life of the contract for purposes of determining whether the salary is DP or not, but I thought the MLSPA data just has the actual base salary? But then I was also confused by the amounts of the 3 NYCFC players here (displayed mostly by accident as I searched for Alexand...)