2025 Roster and Transfer Discussion Thread

[CCMore]

Jansen comes in and asks Lee, “so who’s our striker?”
Lee: “Well CFG wants you to play Jovan.”
JP: “Okay, is he any good?”
Lee: “They say he’s the top of his generation.”
JP: “Good good. What’s his style of play?”
Lee: “He’s a poacher.”
JP: “Ah. So stands in front of the goal and whines about lack of service.”
Lee: “Uh…”
JP: “Does he run? Does he press?”
Lee: “Uh… well he’s only 19! He can learn!”
JP: “He can learn in someone else’s system. Get me a runner.”

Lee to the GMs of the world: “Anyone want to borrow our top of a generation young talent?!”

 

[mgarbowski]

If we do loan Mijatovic it's admission of failure, even though it's better than pretending it might work out.

Regardless, what's the steelman case for firing Cushing but keeping Lee?

 

[ZYanksRule]

Jovan never wanted to be here, and it's probably better for our 2025 prospects to get him somewhere else where he wants to be. Then we can sign a player who wants to be here.

The Jovan signing does NOT seem like a David Lee signing. That was a signing from up above. No surprise it didn't work.

 

[gbservis]

Regardless, what's the steelman case for firing Cushing but keeping Lee?

Lee didn't pick any of the big signings. You can't fire a guy who does what you tell him. That's my guess at least.

 

[ZYanksRule]

Maxi's back! Tell a friend, Maxi's back!!

https://twitter.com/x/status/1878831622130135069

 

[Fantazma]

Maxi's back! Tell a friend, Maxi's back!!

https://twitter.com/x/status/1878831622130135069

i still have that bobble head in my desk at home

 

[KevinJRogers]

Maxi's back! Tell a friend, Maxi's back!!

https://twitter.com/x/status/1878831622130135069

It's like having an assistant coach who can take the pitch. Not to mention, he still has game.

 

[ZYanksRule]

Meanwhile, Hudson River Blue is reporting Jovan isn't returning this season. Good riddance -- he never wanted to be here and played like it.

Jovan Mijatović: I'm waiting for Europe right now

Benfica, PSV, and Anderlecht are reportedly interested in the 19-year-old striker — who spoke to Serbian publication Sportal, and threw some shade on his time at New York City FC.

www.hudsonriverblue.com

 

[KevinJRogers]

Meanwhile, Hudson River Blue is reporting Jovan isn't returning this season. Good riddance -- he never wanted to be here and played like it.

Jovan Mijatović: I'm waiting for Europe right now

Benfica, PSV, and Anderlecht are reportedly interested in the 19-year-old striker — who spoke to Serbian publication Sportal, and threw some shade on his time at New York City FC.

www.hudsonriverblue.com

His attitude has not been great. I'm not sure how much of it is his own ego and how much of it is conflict with Nick, but either way, he hasn't been an "all for one and one for all" kind of guy.

He could grow into one. We've all seen head cases become leaders in a variety of sports. But I'm not sure he can ever recover from his bad start with us.

 

[Fantazma]

Meanwhile, Hudson River Blue is reporting Jovan isn't returning this season. Good riddance -- he never wanted to be here and played like it.

Jovan Mijatović: I'm waiting for Europe right now

Benfica, PSV, and Anderlecht are reportedly interested in the 19-year-old striker — who spoke to Serbian publication Sportal, and threw some shade on his time at New York City FC.

www.hudsonriverblue.com

so how would that work? wasnt there a report that only one of the payments was made to red start and other coming up this year. will NYCFC look to sell for full amount agreed with red star?

 

[Shwafta]

Meanwhile, Hudson River Blue is reporting Jovan isn't returning this season. Good riddance -- he never wanted to be here and played like it.

Jovan Mijatović: I'm waiting for Europe right now

Benfica, PSV, and Anderlecht are reportedly interested in the 19-year-old striker — who spoke to Serbian publication Sportal, and threw some shade on his time at New York City FC.

www.hudsonriverblue.com

I guess my tune changes on the guy from what I said last week. Hope he never gets another chance here.
---
Maxi signing article on the NYCFC website: New York City FC Re-Signs Midfielder Maxi Moralez | New York City FC

Making 26 appearances across all competitions last season, Moralez tallied two goals and seven assists, reaching a personal milestone of 100 career goal contributions. In doing so, he joined David Villa (103) as the only players in club history to achieve the feat.

Two things:
1. They mentioned Villa here, fair play. Not over-glorifying, but mentioning. I think that's good.
2. It says he joins Villa... but according to Transfermarkt, maxi now has 105 (38+67) goal contributions, and Villa has 101 (80+21. So what gives, why doesn't it say he's the top contributor of all time? Is there a different metric they're using like hockey assists or some games that are not officially recorded?

 

[KevinJRogers]

I guess my tune changes on the guy from what I said last week. Hope he never gets another chance here.
---
Maxi signing article on the NYCFC website: New York City FC Re-Signs Midfielder Maxi Moralez | New York City FC


Two things:
1. They mentioned Villa here, fair play. Not over-glorifying, but mentioning. I think that's good.
2. It says he joins Villa... but according to Transfermarkt, maxi now has 105 (38+67) goal contributions, and Villa has 101 (80+21. So what gives, why doesn't it say he's the top contributor of all time? Is there a different metric they're using like hockey assists or some games that are not officially recorded?

I noticed that myself. I assumed they didn't mention it because Villa's contributions were mostly goals and Maxi's were mostly assists, but it would have been nice for them to acknowledge what Maxi has accomplished a little more specifically. He deserves it.

 

[MixandKhiryBFFs]

His attitude has not been great. I'm not sure how much of it is his own ego and how much of it is conflict with Nick, but either way, he hasn't been an "all for one and one for all" kind of guy.

He could grow into one. We've all seen head cases become leaders in a variety of sports. But I'm not sure he can ever recover from his bad start with us.

I wonder how much of this is also on the club. They obviously didn’t properly assess how this teenager would manage in a foreign country without any family support, etc. It was even more unlikely to go well if he never wanted to be here, or didn’t have the right attitude. And is this a kid who pouts when he doesn’t get his way and shows that on the field? Clearly yes. That’s a lot of $$$ for the club to get it wrong, whether on the attitude alone or the talent. Of course it’s more on him, but that’s a huge misstep.

 

[Shwafta]

I noticed that myself. I assumed they didn't mention it because Villa's contributions were mostly goals and Maxi's were mostly assists, but it would have been nice for them to acknowledge what Maxi has accomplished a little more specifically. He deserves it.

I think it might just be that however they're tracking the metric is different, since the totals are wrong for Villa in that article. So maybe in whatever stats they have Villa still has more?

 

[KevinJRogers]

I wonder how much of this is also on the club. They obviously didn’t properly assess how this teenager would manage in a foreign country without any family support, etc. It was even more unlikely to go well if he never wanted to be here, or didn’t have the right attitude. And is this a kid who pouts when he doesn’t get his way and shows that on the field? Clearly yes. That’s a lot of $$$ for the club to get it wrong, whether on the attitude alone or the talent. Of course it’s more on him, but that’s a huge misstep.

A total scouting failure is entirely possible, although Jovan got off to such a horrible start it's tough to say for sure. And he may have gotten it in his head he was signed to start and expected to be the starter from Day One and subsequently got discouraged and disaffected when that turned out to not be the case.

It's also worth noting, both Trapito and Julian got significant auditions and then got benched, too. Christian McFarlane might qualify as well, but he may have been bubble wrapped in anticipation of a transfer to the Mothership.

We'll get answers to all of it soon enough. Pascal Jansen is coming in with a remit.

 

[KevinJRogers]

I think it might just be that however they're tracking the metric is different, since the totals are wrong for Villa in that article. So maybe in whatever stats they have Villa still has more?

Maybe. I double-checked and Villa has 97 goal contributions for us in MLS (77 G, 20 A) according to Football Reference and Maxi has 82 (27 G, 55 A), so it must have something to do with tournament contributions and that kind of thing.

 

[Shwafta]

Maybe. I double-checked and Villa has 97 goal contributions for us in MLS (77 G, 20 A) according to Football Reference and Maxi has 82 (27 G, 55 A), so it must have something to do with tournament contributions and that kind of thing.

Yeah, for sure it's not just MLS because there's CCL, open cup, leagues cup, etc.
I'm just going based off nycfc on transfermarkt, so it should include all official games for NYCFC in any competitions.

 

[ZYanksRule]

I guess my tune changes on the guy from what I said last week. Hope he never gets another chance here.
---
Maxi signing article on the NYCFC website: New York City FC Re-Signs Midfielder Maxi Moralez | New York City FC


Two things:
1. They mentioned Villa here, fair play. Not over-glorifying, but mentioning. I think that's good.
2. It says he joins Villa... but according to Transfermarkt, maxi now has 105 (38+67) goal contributions, and Villa has 101 (80+21. So what gives, why doesn't it say he's the top contributor of all time? Is there a different metric they're using like hockey assists or some games that are not officially recorded?

Looks like the press release was indicating regular season numbers only. And I think Transfermarkt does not have full/official stats.

Per MLS's website, which holds the official stats, Villa had 77 goals and 26 assists in the regular season (103 contributions), plus 3 goals in playoffs.

Maxi, per MLS, has 27 goals and 74 assists (101 contributions), plus 5 goals/6 assists in playoffs.

I wonder how much of this is also on the club. They obviously didn’t properly assess how this teenager would manage in a foreign country without any family support, etc. It was even more unlikely to go well if he never wanted to be here, or didn’t have the right attitude. And is this a kid who pouts when he doesn’t get his way and shows that on the field? Clearly yes. That’s a lot of $$$ for the club to get it wrong, whether on the attitude alone or the talent. Of course it’s more on him, but that’s a huge misstep.

Important to note that despite this mistake by the team - which as you say is significant, they still stand to make money off Jovan's transfer. If they loan him to a European club now and he blows up, his eventual transfer fee could be in the 8 figures. WE paid $8.6 million for him, I believe, and if he plays well in Europe his transfer fee should get to $20 million or more.

While his transfer here was unsuccessful on the field, there's a decent chance it will turn out to be highly successful financially for the team. Not that I particularly care about that, but a high outgoing transfer fee could allow another high incoming transfer down the road.

 

[Shwafta]

Looks like the press release was indicating regular season numbers only. And I think Transfermarkt does not have full/official stats.

Per MLS's website, which holds the official stats, Villa had 77 goals and 26 assists in the regular season (103 contributions), plus 3 goals in playoffs.

Maxi, per MLS, has 27 goals and 74 assists (101 contributions), plus 5 goals/6 assists in playoffs.

So based on that info, Maxi needs two regular season assists and goals in order to overtake. I hope that happens.

 

[gbservis]

I wonder how much of this is also on the club. They obviously didn’t properly assess how this teenager would manage in a foreign country without any family support, etc. It was even more unlikely to go well if he never wanted to be here, or didn’t have the right attitude. And is this a kid who pouts when he doesn’t get his way and shows that on the field? Clearly yes. That’s a lot of $$$ for the club to get it wrong, whether on the attitude alone or the talent. Of course it’s more on him, but that’s a huge misstep.

A large portion has to be on the club/broader cfg org. Setting aside Jovan's attitude and adjustment issues what was the plan on the pitch? Jovan does not press, he doesn't have pace to get in behind, he just doesn't play in a way that fits our system or even the broader cfg way of playing. Did they expect Jovan to completely change the way he plays to fit the system? Was Nick expected to rework the tactics around Jovan and he didn't? That's the question I'd love for someone to ask David Lee. Watch 5 min of his red star footage and it's wildly apparent that he was never going to be plug and play into our current tactics.