2021 Roster Discussion
- Thread starter EganSoccerWords
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There are definitely folks here who are more astute observers of soccer and other leagues than I am, but for the most part I don't understand the rush to praise or panic. We certainly don't have much information. And even if we did, I think it's always a bit of a chance. Even Lucas Zelarayan was a bit of a reclamation project for Caleb Porter. He wasn't starting at Tigres. The change of scenery, and having a team built around him, has given him room to thrive
Maxi.
Is it just me, or is it possible that Maxi's drop off this year had more (or as much) to do with the squad as with aging. Maybe this is the eternal optimist, but I think his game/style of play is one that is more resistant to aging than most. But he needs players (a) making runs and (b) finishing. The roster (including injuries) and Deila implementing a new system limited those.
I'm bullish on Maxi having a better year in 2021 with a high power frontline to interchange with.
Is it just me, or is it possible that Maxi's drop off this year had more (or as much) to do with the squad as with aging. Maybe this is the eternal optimist, but I think his game/style of play is one that is more resistant to aging than most. But he needs players (a) making runs and (b) finishing. The roster (including injuries) and Deila implementing a new system limited those.
I'm bullish on Maxi having a better year in 2021 with a high power frontline to interchange with.
He started the year with a calf injury. I think that held him back for the most of the season, especially at it started properly only after the Disney tournament.
Per WhoScored, Maxi averaged 2.9 key passes/90 minutes this season, his lowest total since 2017. In 2019, he averaged 3.6 key passes/90, and it was 3.2 in 2018.
So from a pure chance creation model, he wasn't quite as good as 2019, but it's not like he was awful.
I know everyone has Medina PTSD, but let's see this kid before we write him off because of some guy on reddit.
DO you mean the Earth Day grey kit for Jack? He never played in our grey away kit. I would pay top dollar for one of those 2017 Earth Day kits if you ever come across one for sale that you don't want.
Anyone got one of those to spare? If I remember correctly, the only way to get one was to bid on the game used shirts straight from the club.
The issue with his age may be more about whether it contributes to injuries like this rather than diminishing his skill set.
I mean, you're not wrong, but waiting until we've given him a three-year contract and a DP slot before passing judgment on him has its risks too.
What's the evidence to suggest that this strategy of signing young South Americans is producing results in MLS? We're 1 for 3 so far on our own signings (maybe Cacha will still come good). Has anyone else made it work?
What's the cut off for young? I believe Villalba, Asad, Almiron, and Martinez were all 22-23 in Atlanta United's first season.
I think his injuries had a lot to do with his drop off this season, but I kinda feel like the whole pandemic really killed his motivation as well. He expressed a lot of concern over his family early on and that will effect a player mentally and emotionally. I speculate, that as a result, his level of effort and grit seemed like it dropped off this year vs last year. Most exemplary of this is in the playoff game, he turned the ball over and sat on the grass looking for a foul instead of tracking back to defend. This isn't something I would ever expect from him.
Maybe it's a combination of a lot of things. It's a strange year to truly evaluate someone's performances considering the situations we're asking all the players to deal with for our enjoyment, but nonetheless, it is a necessary evil despite the situation. Hopefully 2021 will bring a revitalized version for all our players.
How does it have risks for us? We're not the ones making the decision whether to bring him into the club. It has risks for the front office, but you have to hope they are doing their due diligence. All we can do as fans is support the player and root for him once he joins.
Not even Atlanta United has a 50% success rate with young players from South America. Almiron the only one they truly hit on. Ultimately as fans all we can do is trust the scouts and the front office that they're bringing in talented players. I think we would all agree Mitrita had the requisite talent to be a star in this league, it just didn't work out for myriad reasons. I'd rather bring in young, talented players with aspiration than aging stars from Europe who are clinging on to their careers. For every Villa, there's three Pirlo's.
For every Almiron there is a Pity Martinez. People were fawning over him when he arrived, I remember the podcast guys saying things like was the best player in MLS before he even arrived. Whoops.
Nothing to do with young South Americans. Safe to say that NYCFC has not figured out a consistent strategy in terms of DP recruitment. Maxi and Villa have been the only successful ones, so places us at 1 for 4 for European DPs and 1 for 2 for South American DPs.
Also keep in mind that the league has language in the new CBA where they can mandate turning the third DP spot into young only so NYCFC needs to figure out this signing young South Americans thing like LAFC sooner than later.
Martinez was established in Europe when he signed, Almiron was 23 and a full international. Villalba has been peripheral, Barco flatters to deceive and Pity was a total bust. Also - Atlanta are awful now.
I don’t think our focus on South American kids is a bad thing (I’ve enjoyed watching Taty and Herrera very much) but I don’t see many young prospects from the region who have torn up MLS beyond Diego Rossi as DPs.
Considering that every DP signing except Maxi (and partially Villa) has been a failure, I think that focusing on our problems with young players (from SA or anywhere) ignores most of the problem, which is really hard to diagnose, precisely because everything we've tried has failed.
I have no problem reserving 1 DP slot for a young DP. Besides the possibility that the league could eventually mandate this, it frees up cap space, and if eventually done right, has maximum upside on eventual sales.
But I'm back to the point where I want [need?] to see the club sign a proven goalscorer who produces in big spots. NYCFC has not done that since Villa and Lampard, and they only get extremely partial credit for Lampard because of the way they screwed up his time here. Neither ever produced for us in big spots, even though their track record was doing exactly that against tougher competition. Lamps was hurt and nearly done, while Villa still had some years of productive play in him, as evidenced by his regular season play. But we've tried almost every other option a lot more in the last 5 years with a broader scope of failure. Despite that, I'm happy to sign Rodriguez in the off-season and wait until summer if necessary for the proven guy, as long as it actually happens. I don't care where from. But I want a guy with a proven record of scoring in a top league and winning trophies including preferably some knockout competition performances: doing so in international play is a bonus but not a prerequisite. I'm also, however, willing to give up some stature for age [eta: actually youth]. Effectively, we only tried the proven guy once and I think we need to try it again because we've demonstrated we can't pick diamonds in the rough. I think our record on those is not even what one would expect using a dartboard. We're actively bad at it.
PS: Of current players, I am not closing the door on Taty or Heber possibly becoming effective Cup/playoff performers. But they both have now 2 years of failure and/or being unavailable for such games and while I won't be shocked if that changes I certainly cannot count on it. And I don't much count Heber's hat trick in Costa Rica as worth much compared to not scoring in the USOC loss to Orlando, not being fit for more than 30 scoreless minutes against Toronto, a goose egg in game 1 against Tigres, and then unavailable again for playoffs and Tigres game 2. I actually think Heber has it in him to be a regular producer in big spots, except he's far too injury prone to rely upon.
I have no problem reserving 1 DP slot for a young DP. Besides the possibility that the league could eventually mandate this, it frees up cap space, and if eventually done right, has maximum upside on eventual sales.
But I'm back to the point where I want [need?] to see the club sign a proven goalscorer who produces in big spots. NYCFC has not done that since Villa and Lampard, and they only get extremely partial credit for Lampard because of the way they screwed up his time here. Neither ever produced for us in big spots, even though their track record was doing exactly that against tougher competition. Lamps was hurt and nearly done, while Villa still had some years of productive play in him, as evidenced by his regular season play. But we've tried almost every other option a lot more in the last 5 years with a broader scope of failure. Despite that, I'm happy to sign Rodriguez in the off-season and wait until summer if necessary for the proven guy, as long as it actually happens. I don't care where from. But I want a guy with a proven record of scoring in a top league and winning trophies including preferably some knockout competition performances: doing so in international play is a bonus but not a prerequisite. I'm also, however, willing to give up some stature for age [eta: actually youth]. Effectively, we only tried the proven guy once and I think we need to try it again because we've demonstrated we can't pick diamonds in the rough. I think our record on those is not even what one would expect using a dartboard. We're actively bad at it.
PS: Of current players, I am not closing the door on Taty or Heber possibly becoming effective Cup/playoff performers. But they both have now 2 years of failure and/or being unavailable for such games and while I won't be shocked if that changes I certainly cannot count on it. And I don't much count Heber's hat trick in Costa Rica as worth much compared to not scoring in the USOC loss to Orlando, not being fit for more than 30 scoreless minutes against Toronto, a goose egg in game 1 against Tigres, and then unavailable again for playoffs and Tigres game 2. I actually think Heber has it in him to be a regular producer in big spots, except he's far too injury prone to rely upon.
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What’s crazy is we were rumored to be very close to signing Ruidiaz, who has an insane scoring rate in the MLS playoffs
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