2025 Roster and Transfer Discussion Thread

[EganSoccerWords]

Still doesn't explain why his fee doubled over 2 years after his transfer from Brazil to Japan, at the far past prospect age of 27.

Doesn't really matter from a roster building perspective. He was going to be a DP whether his transfer fee was 2 or 4 million.

I also know that when Thiago signed that an opposing GM thought he had the potential to be the best CB in MLS, so we aren't the only ones that had a high opinion of him.

 

[KevinJRogers]

This is the point, I think.
I don't think Lee has zero autonomy; nor do I believe CFG ignores club needs. But I do think club need is too low as a priority, because they believe they are properly balancing club need with the desire to develop and sell, but they are not as good at it as they think. Which effectively , if unintentionally, downplays club need.

I do believe the U22 initiative has seduced them into an imbalanced approach to offensive roster building. The most consistent potential upside is with very young, unproven offensive talent. When you hit, you make more profit than with defenders or from players who were already proven before you get them.

There is not one player on our roster who scored 10 goals in a year at a pro level before coming to NY. I don't think we've obtained a proven 10 goal scorer since Mitrita and Heber in 2019, six years ago. That's a choice you make when you're really good at identifying which young talent will develop, and their record is not as good as their self-regard. Taty, Pereira, Martinez, with Santi in the netherworld* against everyone else. Pereira was only a financial success. He didn't stay long enough to do anything significantly positive for the club, scoring 14 goals in 2 years, which is nice enough but not major. He mostly showed enough to get paid by someone else.

* Santi is tough to judge. He came, was good but not great, tried to leave, returned immediately because nobody wanted him at his or our price, so we overpaid, and he finally shone in his 4th year but is still just an adequate DP. By no means is he a failure. In fact he's our most successful current DP. The problem is our best DP should be better than Santi. Santi ranked 21st in MLS for combined Goals and Assists in 2024. That's not terrible! But it means roughly 2/3 of MLS clubs probably had someone better, accounting for some teams having >1 in the top 20.

I guess somebody has to lead the bottom third, but this club should be better.

We're about to find out how much is the business model, how much are roster construction decisions, and how much is coaching. This is a very, very big year for us, the capstone to the transition we've been executing since 2022. If it turns out club management has gotten it all wrong, we only have one year after this to get it right before going into our stadium.

Which makes it all exciting as hell. Let's GO.

 

[EganSoccerWords]

If we got wrong, I doubt David Lee makes it to the new stadium

 

[Alex Da Silva]

I think that a superstar dp/high TAM 6 would be the best choice move, if we aren't going to need a CAM, having a midfield of super 6, perea, and parks would be pretty great with parks the most advanced, but still able to provide some defense. It provides more cover to the defence, allowing some of the prospects to get a good run and develop, can be a great start of the attack, especially if they have a good passing range, and it pushes santi to the winger/10 spot he is best at and I think would unlock parks more than he has been before being the most advanced midfielder but not entirely running the attack, plus perea at the 8 makes the most of his mobility.

 

[BC19]

I think a goal contributing number 8 would push this team to a new space. Someone to support both the attack and defense and get up and down the pitch.

 

[KevinJRogers]

If we got wrong, I doubt David Lee makes it to the new stadium

Oh yes. If we don't make the top four in the East and the semifinal in the tournament, at a minimum, he's toast. And I do mean at a minimum. If we're healthy the entire year we should be even better than that at this point in the cycle.

 

[Brooklyn Blue]

So assuming we do have some room (DP, U22), what do we actually want?

Current XI

Martinez
Ojeda? - Santi - Wolf
Haak - Perea
KOT - Risa - Martins - Tayvon
Freese
Super sub - Maxi

If we use our DP, where do we get the best value over replacement?

(A) 9 - get a super striker on the concern that 2024 was a flash in the pan for Alonso
(B) LW - whether Ojeda or otherwise there is no obvious choice there if Maxi is the super sub and Santi moves to the 10
(C) 10 - move Santi permanently to the LW with a bona fide CAM to run the show and follow Maxi’s legacy
(D) RW - is Wolf better or worse than the wild swings we’ve made in judging him
(E) NOTA - none of the above; let’s spend another DP below the offensive line

A CAM that allows flexibility with Santi, or - my top choice - a left-footed left back that is excellent at free kicks. I like KOT, but this is a spot that could be improved and use depth. As to set pieces, it seems that we never do anything with them and have no real direct threat. Give us an MLS level left-footed TAA. Or, an on the rise Gudi. Anything to add *some* threat to set pieces - Santi and Maxi are great, but it never seems that anything happens from their set piece delivery.

 

[ZYanksRule]

So assuming we do have some room (DP, U22), what do we actually want?

Current XI

Martinez
Ojeda? - Santi - Wolf
Haak - Perea
KOT - Risa - Martins - Tayvon
Freese
Super sub - Maxi

If we use our DP, where do we get the best value over replacement?

(A) 9 - get a super striker on the concern that 2024 was a flash in the pan for Alonso
(B) LW - whether Ojeda or otherwise there is no obvious choice there if Maxi is the super sub and Santi moves to the 10
(C) 10 - move Santi permanently to the LW with a bona fide CAM to run the show and follow Maxi’s legacy
(D) RW - is Wolf better or worse than the wild swings we’ve made in judging him
(E) NOTA - none of the above; let’s spend another DP below the offensive line

I think a star DP No. 10 is the ideal situation. I think I like Santi better on the wing than I do as the No. 10, and a star No. 10 is the one thing that separates good MLS teams from great MLS teams.

If we can find a star DP No. 10 who delivers 8 goals and 15 assists, we vault all the way into the Miami/Columbus/Cincy echelon of teams in the East. I really believe a star No. 10 is the most valuable piece in MLS.

 

[Gene]

All sorts of silliness on social media alluding that Evander is up for grabs.

 

[Fantazma]

All sorts of silliness on social media alluding that Evander is up for grabs.

i dont think its alluded, Bogert did say he was gone from portland. although its been wide range on who the suitors are ( not us apparently) Orlando/Dallas/Cincy are the names i seen.

 

[ZYanksRule]

i dont think its alluded, Bogert did say he was gone from portland. although its been wide range on who the suitors are ( not us apparently) Orlando/Dallas/Cincy are the names i seen.

It's strange how few MLS players from around the league we have interest in. Evander would be a hell of a No. 10 DP for us, but we just never look at other MLS players as upgrades.

Sometimes I think our front office/ownership group is too invested in trying to prove how smart they are. "Look at this player we found halfway around the world you've never heard of."

 

[mgarbowski]

We're about to find out how much is the business model, how much are roster construction decisions, and how much is coaching.

I disagree we can learn that. I don't even have an idea how we would assess the level of responsibility to business model as a factor separate from roster and coaching.
As for the other 2, people are going to conclude what they want, but no Sands, and probably no Jovan starts the new coach in a hole and the replacements might perform better or worse. Either way, credit/blame will be split between Lee and Jansen.
If neither Ojeda or Fernandez break out, is that a coach failure or simply because they're both still under 21?
Martinez and Rodriguez had their breakout years in 2024 under Cushing at 24 and 25. Some guys need that much time.
If Ojeda and Fernandez do improve, is it the coach or because last year they were both under 20?

We can tell, reliably, if the team improves, by way of points, GD, xGD etc. Assessing the responsibility split for that is sound and fury. It's fun. It's why we're here. But it's not knowledge, and little will be learned.