2023 Roster and Transfer Discussion Thread

[moogoo]

What the hell was the justification for sending Thiago Andrade out when we're already short offensive depth and we replaced him with nobody this window?
How come every time a player wants out and another teams wants him for nothing in return we say "Is this fast enough?" when it take us a year to find one fecking striker?

Mitrita: I want to leave to be with my family.
Multiple loanee clubs: we'll never pay you.
NYCFC Is now good, or is that too slow?
Sands: I want to go to Europe.
Rangers: We'll never pay you.
NYCFC: Do you want that gift-wrapped?
Taty: Send me to Europe
Europe: Not going to pay for that.
NYCFC: Go to a sister club for a free year.
Andrade: it's not working out
Paranaense: Will you take a back-dated check?
NYCFC: That's our favorite!!!

Looks like Taty will work out, but can we just once replace these guys on time?
Magno replaced Mitrita as an offensive DP with a 14 game gap spanning 2 seasons.
Sands replaced himself after a year.
It's going to be at best 11 months and maybe more without a Taty replacement and Andrade will go unreplaced for at least 17+ games.

Throw Heber in there too. Minimum 22 games without a replacement.

Right now we counting on G. Segal to replace Taty, Heber and Magno.

low key - think andrade was a problem in the locker room maybe? at least that's what seemed to be implied by Nick when asked about it.

That's the only justifiable reason to ship him out imo. otherwise, it was a stupid move.

 

[Kenny]

What the hell was the justification for sending Thiago Andrade out when we're already short offensive depth and we replaced him with nobody this window?
How come every time a player wants out and another teams wants him for nothing in return we say "Is this fast enough?" when it take us a year to find one fecking striker?

Mitrita: I want to leave to be with my family.
Multiple loanee clubs: we'll never pay you.
NYCFC Is now good, or is that too slow?
Sands: I want to go to Europe.
Rangers: We'll never pay you.
NYCFC: Do you want that gift-wrapped?
Taty: Send me to Europe
Europe: Not going to pay for that.
NYCFC: Go to a sister club for a free year.
Andrade: it's not working out
Paranaense: Will you take a back-dated check?
NYCFC: That's our favorite!!!

Looks like Taty will work out, but can we just once replace these guys on time?
Magno replaced Mitrita as an offensive DP with a 14 game gap spanning 2 seasons.
Sands replaced himself after a year plus.
It's going to be at best 11 months and maybe more without a Taty replacement and Andrade will go unreplaced for at least 17+ games.

Throw Heber in there too. Minimum 22 games without a replacement.

Right now we counting on G. Segal to replace Taty, Heber and Magno.

I agree with with you except I don't think Andrade would have helped us tonight. Heber, though....

 

[gbservis]

What the hell was the justification for sending Thiago Andrade out when we're already short offensive depth and we replaced him with nobody this window?
How come every time a player wants out and another teams wants him for nothing in return we say "Is this fast enough?" when it take us a year to find one fecking striker?

Mitrita: I want to leave to be with my family.
Multiple loanee clubs: we'll never pay you.
NYCFC Is now good, or is that too slow?
Sands: I want to go to Europe.
Rangers: We'll never pay you.
NYCFC: Do you want that gift-wrapped?
Taty: Send me to Europe
Europe: Not going to pay for that.
NYCFC: Go to a sister club for a free year.
Andrade: it's not working out
Paranaense: Will you take a back-dated check?
NYCFC: That's our favorite!!!

Looks like Taty will work out, but can we just once replace these guys on time?
Magno replaced Mitrita as an offensive DP with a 14 game gap spanning 2 seasons.
Sands replaced himself after a year.
It's going to be at best 11 months and maybe more without a Taty replacement and Andrade will go unreplaced for at least 17+ games.

Throw Heber in there too. Minimum 22 games without a replacement.

Right now we counting on G. Segal to replace Taty, Heber and Magno.

How did K Kjbert hack mgarbowski 's account?

The roster is a mess. The #9 issues are the most pressing, but we are thin at CB and CDM and have no impact attacking subs. I feel bad for Cushing because fans are going to start complaining about him when the guy has never been given a fully functioning roster to work with.

 

[Revfugee]

What the hell was the justification for sending Thiago Andrade out when we're already short offensive depth and we replaced him with nobody this window?
How come every time a player wants out and another teams wants him for nothing in return we say "Is this fast enough?" when it take us a year to find one fecking striker?

Mitrita: I want to leave to be with my family.
Multiple loanee clubs: we'll never pay you.
NYCFC Is now good, or is that too slow?
Sands: I want to go to Europe.
Rangers: We'll never pay you.
NYCFC: Do you want that gift-wrapped?
Taty: Send me to Europe
Europe: Not going to pay for that.
NYCFC: Go to a sister club for a free year.
Andrade: it's not working out
Paranaense: Will you take a back-dated check?
NYCFC: That's our favorite!!!

Looks like Taty will work out, but can we just once replace these guys on time?
Magno replaced Mitrita as an offensive DP with a 14 game gap spanning 2 seasons.
Sands replaced himself after a year plus.
It's going to be at best 11 months and maybe more without a Taty replacement and Andrade will go unreplaced for at least 17+ games.

Throw Heber in there too. Minimum 22 games without a replacement.

Right now we counting on G. Segal to replace Taty, Heber and Magno.

You forgot Callens.

 

[mgarbowski]

You forgot Callens.

Callens' contract was up, and I'm less annoyed at the state of our defense than most right now. We'll need depth and should get a worthwhile CB this season, but I'm completely fine with leaving that to the summer. The only thing about replacing Callens that bugs me came about a week ago when we were rumored to offer almost $1M for a left-footed CB in the middle of his walk year and his team said "nope because we need him unless you pay a lot more even though in a few months his transfer value will be zero" and I'm like, "oh, you can do that. Why don't we ever do that?"

The roster is a mess. The #9 issues are the most pressing, but we are thin at CB and CDM and have no impact attacking subs. I feel bad for Cushing because fans are going to start complaining about him when the guy has never been given a fully functioning roster to work with.

I was thinking about this myself last night. The Cushing record is not all that good in the context of this team (1.47 PPG) and the Away record is especially weak, but there are so many confounding factors on the roster it's impossible to say he's had a fair shake. And he's handled it all professionally. Domé had a cow when he had to coach just 4 games without a starting quality striker. Nick has not said a thing.

low key - think andrade was a problem in the locker room maybe? at least that's what seemed to be implied by Nick when asked about it.

I agree with with you except I don't think Andrade would have helped us tonight. Heber, though....

Stand-alone, I'm fine with letting Thiago go. I also agree he probably wasn't the solution last night except with Pereira out the offensive bench options were Segal and Jasson, both of whom require defining "offensive options" very broadly. I think bringing him in - even if his only skill is running fast - might have changed the dynamic of a thoroughly dreadful performance. To M moogoo's point if we put ourselves in a spot where we had to decide between keeping a toxic teammate and having zero offensive depth that's really terrible roster management.

 

[Revfugee]

Callens' contract was up, and I'm less annoyed at the state of our defense than most right now. We'll need depth and should get a left-footed CB this season, but I'm completely fine with leaving that to the summer. The only thing about replacing Callens that bugs me came about a week ago when we were rumored to offer almost $1M for a left-footed CB in the middle of his walk year and his team said "nope because we need him unless you pay a lot more even though in a few months his transfer value will be zero" and I'm like, "oh, you can do that. Why don't we ever do that?"

I was thinking about this myself last night. The Cushing record is not all that good in the context of this team (1.47 PPG) and the Away record is especially weak, but there are so many confounding factors on the roster it's impossible to say he's had a fair shake. And he's handled it all professionally. Domé had a cow when he had to coach just 4 games without a starting quality striker. Nick has not said a thing.



Stand-alone, I'm fine with letting Thiago go. I also agree he probably wasn't the solution last night except with Pereira out the offensive bench options were Segal and Jasson, both of whom require defining "offensive options" very broadly. I think bringing him in - even if his only skill is running fast - might have changed the dynamic of a thoroughly dreadful performance. To M moogoo's point if we put ourselves in a spot where we had to decide between keeping a toxic teammate and having zero offensive depth that's really terrible roster management.

My point about Callens is that he stayed in CFG, we got bupkes, and yet even healthy he’s barely gotten a sniff at Girona. It’s frustrating to see him ride the pine at a sister club when he could be very useful here.
Hopefully he’s happy there.

And I agree, Defense has not been the issue, largely because Chanot has had more in the tank than predicted and because Martins is quietly very very good. Not to mention Sands coming back, thank goodness.

 

[mgarbowski]

My point about Callens is that he stayed in CFG, we got bupkes, and yet even healthy he’s barely gotten a sniff at Girona. It’s frustrating to see him ride the pine at a sister club when he could be very useful here.
Hopefully he’s happy there.

His contract was over. We had no input as to where he went except perhaps for a general networking effect. Bupkes is what we were owed and all we could expect. Our only option was to offer to pay him more than he's worth in MLS and even then he probably wanted to test himself in a bigger league. He's learning his level. Sometimes you can't stop someone from making a mistake.

 

[Revfugee]

His contract was over. We had no input as to where he went except perhaps for a general networking effect. Bupkes is what we were owed and all we could expect. Our only option was to offer to pay him more than he's worth in MLS and even then he probably wanted to test himself in a bigger league. He's learning his level. Sometimes you can't stop someone from making a mistake

His contract was over. We had no input as to where he went except perhaps for a general networking effect. Bupkes is what we were owed and all we could expect. Our only option was to offer to pay him more than he's worth in MLS and even then he probably wanted to test himself in a bigger league. He's learning his level. Sometimes you can't stop someone from making a mistake.

I’m sure he did want to up his level. In hindsight CFG/Girona could have laundered some petrobucks by buying him from us last season and loaning him to us for the rest of last season. Everybody wins. But they waited.

I hope he can break in over there. They have stabilized but they started the season very shaky at the back and it has surprised me how little of a shot they have given him.

 

[VernonJohn]

Re:callens
Why go somewhere to sit on the bench at age 30 on a mid table La Liga team? Okay, money I guess…but if you love to compete and play the game…

 

[moogoo]

Re:callens
Why go somewhere to sit on the bench at age 30 on a mid table La Liga team? Okay, money I guess…but if you love to compete and play the game…

he wanted to test himself i can understand that.

can also understand why girona didn't want to shake up their backline mid season just as things were doing ok.

if he spends next year riding the pine too, then i'd be more concerned.

 

[VernonJohn]

he wanted to test himself i can understand that.

can also understand why girona didn't want to shake up their backline mid season just as things were doing ok.

if he spends next year riding the pine too, then i'd be more concerned.

I’m bummed for Callens. He became my favorite player on the team. In the 4 years I have followed -NYCFC he seemed to become bolder delivering in’ 21 big time and I thought even more thrilling to watch in ‘22. Damn I wish I could be watching him as a regular starter on NYCFC. So okay I’m being selfish as well but I still think for him… I don’t know about the move to La Liga at his age but I guess if he can be a regular starter next year it will be worth the move.

 

[Gotham Gator]

How are we thin at CDM with Sands and Morales? Unless you are lumping CDM and CB together since our CB depth is essentially to shift Sands or Morales to the back line.

 

[Gotham Gator]

I’m bummed for Callens. He became my favorite player on the team. In the 4 years I have followed -NYCFC he seemed to become bolder delivering in’ 21 big time and I thought even more thrilling to watch in ‘22. Damn I wish I could be watching him as a regular starter on NYCFC. So okay I’m being selfish as well but I still think for him… I don’t know about the move to La Liga at his age but I guess if he can be a regular starter next year it will be worth the move.

I think Callens was injured for a time? He wasn't in the squad for a few weeks in any event. Herrera also seems to be out, although I couldn't find any news on that.

 

[gbservis]

How are we thin at CDM with Sands and Morales? Unless you are lumping CDM and CB together since our CB depth is essentially to shift Sands or Morales to the back line.

Partially lumping them in with the CBs but also looking at subs for central midfielders in general. If Keaton or Sands or either CB goes down Morales starts and then who do you bring off the bench when one of them needs a sub, I guess Haak?

It seems like Sands being both the Callens and the Acevado replacement is going to get us in trouble when injuries arrive and squad rotation is needed. Since Taty left our roster is full of positions with 2x players out for every 1 player back. Counting only players that have actually played time in games:

Attack
Out: Taty, Heber, Thiago, Maxi
In: Pellegrini, Ledezma

Midfield
Out: Acevado, Zelalaem
In: Sands

CB
Out: Callens
In: no one

I know we added some other players but if they haven't played a single min at this point I think it's fair to say we are not counting them.

 

[mgarbowski]

I know we added some other players but if they haven't played a single min at this point I think it's fair to say we are not counting them.

Segal has played a fair bit and I think needs to be included.
In the CB category, I think it's not right to exclude Alfaro. He's been usually the lone CB bench option every game. You just don't play bench CBs unless your first choice pairing is unavailable.
Finally, O'Toole is in a sort of odd place. He signed mid-May last year, so that pre-dates your Taty-departure cut-off, but his first game appearance after signing with the first team was Campeones Cup mid September. He then played full 90 in the last 3 season games plus all 3 playoff games, before almost disappearing this year. Given that play pattern I think he belongs, either in the midfield or attack categories.

I do think the club is still behind on a basic body count compared to 2021-22, but not by as much as it was in the winter. It's more that if you have to count Segal, O'Toole and Alfaro there is a quality issue.

 

[gbservis]

Segal has played a fair bit and I think needs to be included.
In the CB category, I think it's not right to exclude Alfaro. He's been usually the lone CB bench option every game. You just don't play bench CBs unless your first choice pairing is unavailable.
Finally, O'Toole is in a sort of odd place. He signed mid-May last year, so that pre-dates your Taty-departure cut-off, but his first game appearance after signing with the first team was Campeones Cup mid September. He then played full 90 in the last 3 season games plus all 3 playoff games, before almost disappearing this year. Given that play pattern I think he belongs, either in the midfield or attack categories.

I do think the club is still behind on a basic body count compared to 2021-22, but not by as much as it was in the winter. It's more that if you have to count Segal, O'Toole and Alfaro there is a quality issue.

Good call on Segal I agree he should be counted. I'm not sold on including Alfaro as Cushing went with Sands at CB rather than play Alfaro when we needed a CB even though taking Sands out of the midfield clearly hurts our ability to move the ball. It was a different coach but we used to see guys like Ibheaga come in occasionally for the last 8' of a match when we had a lead and we were trying to close it out. I agree it's not common to play bench CBs but if Cushing rated Alfaro at all I think we would have seen a token appearance by him at this point.

 

[DeGrozz]

Re:callens
Why go somewhere to sit on the bench at age 30 on a mid table La Liga team? Okay, money I guess…but if you love to compete and play the game…

He has been injured since his first few appearances, I thought.

 

[Revfugee]

He has been injured since his first few appearances, I thought.

Callens finally got in today after Taty out Girona up 2-0. Commentator called him a Canadian. SMH.

 

[DeGrozz]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1653436371824934918

I hadn't heard this before and seems a little editorialized, but what's the full story?

 

[Shwafta]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1653436371824934918

I hadn't heard this before and seems a little editorialized, but what's the full story?

what? if this is actually true, does that mean we potentially lost Callens bc MLS has some weird zimmerman rule or something?