2025 Roster and Transfer Discussion Thread

[mgarbowski]

Of course, had he really been the second coming of Wayne Rooney -- as so many believed -- we all would have been ecstatic about it and called Lee's move a masterstroke despite the big upfront investment. It looks horrible only because "I score many goals for you" ended up a cruel joke.

But this applies to every acquisition by any team in any sport that falls short of expectations. If they worked out fans would like them. I’m not sure what that proves.

But you can criticize Lee/CFG for the following without relying on disappointing results.

1. Summer 2022. Offers for Taty aren’t what they expected. So they rely on their go-to move of loaning out. But they don’t replace him until a sale happens a year later. They could have sold earlier for less. Or they could have signed a replacement without waiting for the sale. The extra fee ends up wasted anyway and we play 2/3 of 2023 with no useful striker by choice.
2. Re-signing Santi after he tried to leave but failed to get offers. They knew he wanted to be elsewhere and he was young, guaranteeing that if he improved he would soon be gone. We could have targeted a mid-20s #10 looking to settle in.
3. Re-signing Maxi, ensuring we lack a full time reliable 10 to complement Santi.
4. Going all in on unproven youth by signing Ojeda and Jovan in early 2024 when we had no reliable scorers. It was too early to give up on Bakrar, but also foolish to rely on him and not get at least one proven scorer.
5. Loaning Sands a second time. After one failed loan you either keep or sell for what you can get. Now we have yet another roster spot we can’t fill so we can take Jimmy back a second time on the back end of the season coming off injury and not match fit.

Every one of these failed. Every one was predictable. I was against every one at the time. There’s some bad luck to have every one turn bad, but they were all poor bets regardless of the quality of the players involved and how they turned out.

Mitigating factors:

• Playing Heber later 2022 after Taty left let us sell him to Seattle above his actual value, though I’m not sure we did anything useful with that GAM.
• If we had an effective scorer in early 2024 I’m not sure Nick plays Martinez enough or in a position where he turns into what he is now.

 

[ezbeezy214]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1906817616854802915

 

[FootyLovin]

JFC, I surf in and see 17 new posts and my 1st thought is we signed somebody.

I come here once a day. For me there were 31 new posts in this thread this morning. I did the same but with half my mind thinking, “here comes 31 posts griping about no signings.”

 

[Marito]

But this applies to every acquisition by any team in any sport that falls short of expectations. If they worked out fans would like them. I’m not sure what that proves.

But you can criticize Lee/CFG for the following without relying on disappointing results.

1. Summer 2022. Offers for Taty aren’t what they expected. So they rely on their go-to move of loaning out. But they don’t replace him until a sale happens a year later. They could have sold earlier for less. Or they could have signed a replacement without waiting for the sale. The extra fee ends up wasted anyway and we play 2/3 of 2023 with no useful striker by choice.
2. Re-signing Santi after he tried to leave but failed to get offers. They knew he wanted to be elsewhere and he was young, guaranteeing that if he improved he would soon be gone. We could have targeted a mid-20s #10 looking to settle in.
3. Re-signing Maxi, ensuring we lack a full time reliable 10 to complement Santi.
4. Going all in on unproven youth by signing Ojeda and Jovan in early 2024 when we had no reliable scorers. It was too early to give up on Bakrar, but also foolish to rely on him and not get at least one proven scorer.
5. Loaning Sands a second time. After one failed loan you either keep or sell for what you can get. Now we have yet another roster spot we can’t fill so we can take Jimmy back a second time on the back end of the season coming off injury and not match fit.

Every one of these failed. Every one was predictable. I was against every one at the time. There’s some bad luck to have every one turn bad, but they were all poor bets regardless of the quality of the players involved and how they turned out.

Mitigating factors:

• Playing Heber later 2022 after Taty left let us sell him to Seattle above his actual value, though I’m not sure we did anything useful with that GAM.
• If we had an effective scorer in early 2024 I’m not sure Nick plays Martinez enough or in a position where he turns into what he is now.

I think at least #2 is questionable, considering they bought Santi for 5M and sold him for 15 to 17M. During his "second spell" with us he was by far the best player in the team, with the pro of busting his ass off and the con of not being 100% a team player. Still, his numbers were very close to elite and Botafogo clearly agreed. As with the sales of Cucho, Zelarayan, Gaby Pereira et al, there are offers you can't refuse.

 

[KevinJRogers]

But this applies to every acquisition by any team in any sport that falls short of expectations. If they worked out fans would like them. I’m not sure what that proves.

But you can criticize Lee/CFG for the following without relying on disappointing results.

1. Summer 2022. Offers for Taty aren’t what they expected. So they rely on their go-to move of loaning out. But they don’t replace him until a sale happens a year later. They could have sold earlier for less. Or they could have signed a replacement without waiting for the sale. The extra fee ends up wasted anyway and we play 2/3 of 2023 with no useful striker by choice.
2. Re-signing Santi after he tried to leave but failed to get offers. They knew he wanted to be elsewhere and he was young, guaranteeing that if he improved he would soon be gone. We could have targeted a mid-20s #10 looking to settle in.
3. Re-signing Maxi, ensuring we lack a full time reliable 10 to complement Santi.
4. Going all in on unproven youth by signing Ojeda and Jovan in early 2024 when we had no reliable scorers. It was too early to give up on Bakrar, but also foolish to rely on him and not get at least one proven scorer.
5. Loaning Sands a second time. After one failed loan you either keep or sell for what you can get. Now we have yet another roster spot we can’t fill so we can take Jimmy back a second time on the back end of the season coming off injury and not match fit.

Every one of these failed. Every one was predictable. I was against every one at the time. There’s some bad luck to have every one turn bad, but they were all poor bets regardless of the quality of the players involved and how they turned out.

Mitigating factors:

• Playing Heber later 2022 after Taty left let us sell him to Seattle above his actual value, though I’m not sure we did anything useful with that GAM.
• If we had an effective scorer in early 2024 I’m not sure Nick plays Martinez enough or in a position where he turns into what he is now.

Those are all legitimate points. They're also a wish list. We don't know what alternative pathways were tried and whether these moves, or at least most of them, were the best options which were realistically available at the time.

And that's my only point: in an ideal world, we'd find the perfect fits and just plug them in. But we don't live in an ideal world. We don't get what we want just because we want it. (I've also pointed out, repeatedly, we're not an independent club in association football. We can't just go on a Boehly binge and load up.)

It's also a bit ironic to have us all be so impatient (for the record, so am I -- it's time to win now) to get something done right away, but be critical of Lee for getting something done as best he could during past windows and settling for the best available option rather than wait for the perfect player.

Times when he has waited, we're critical of that, too.

All that being said, if Ojeda and Fernandez don't work out this year, and we don't fill the obvious needs by the close of the summer window at the latest, I too think Lee's time should be up. Nothing I'm saying implies he shouldn't be held accountable in all this. Quite the opposite.

In fact, I would say if we're not a Cup contending team come the playoffs, and a serious one, I believe that should be all she wrote. Business is business.

 

[ezbeezy214]

Even if Ojeda and Fernandez get better, we still need a winger and a 10

 

[joe]

 

[ZYanksRule]

It's also a bit ironic to have us all be so impatient (for the record, so am I -- it's time to win now) to get something done right away, but be critical of Lee for getting something done as best he could during past windows and settling for the best available option rather than wait for the perfect player.

Times when he has waited, we're critical of that, too.

I disagree that we are being impatient. This is now the third season since the Championship Era team was dismantled, and we are nowhere even close to being back at that level. The Club claims it wants to win trophies every year, but we don't have the roster to do it.

David Lee has had 3 seasons to rebuild the roster, and he is failing. It does not take 3 years to rebuild in MLS. 2023 was understandable. 2024 was a movement forward but not enough of a movement forward. 2025, so far, despite better-than-expected-results, is unacceptable how many roster holes we have.

That's not impatience. We've been patient. We understood what 2023 was, and we understood 2024 was about the guys we brought in. This year should be about results, and so far it's been about having 5 teenagers on our gameday roster because we literally don't have enough players to fill out a squad. This is embarrassing.

 

[mgarbowski]

I think at least #2 is questionable, considering they bought Santi for 5M and sold him for 15 to 17M. During his "second spell" with us he was by far the best player in the team, with the pro of busting his ass off and the con of not being 100% a team player. Still, his numbers were very close to elite and Botafogo clearly agreed. As with the sales of Cucho, Zelarayan, Gaby Pereira et al, there are offers you can't refuse.

I guess the difference of opinion is whether you accept that a highly profitable sale is the main point of acquiring players. I think even in a selling league, you need some guys on offense who stick around. I'm going to link my post from Feb 2024 that discussed how some MLS clubs were shifting to buying 24-26 year olds because the market price for 18-22 year olds has inflated so much, and as a bonus, the 24-26 year old players offer more predictable production and often stay longer because by the time you might sell them their value has tanked. Latte Lath is an example of a player at the very high end of the price range in this cohort. He's 26 and Atlanta paid >$20 million. They did not even get the advantage of a lower price with his age. The chance that Atlanta can make a big profit or even break even is minimal. But, the chance that he bombs out in MLS is low, and the chance he stays several years is higher than for any 22 year old.
Among our recent offensive acquisitions the only ones in this age range when they arrived are Martinez and Wolf. Turns out they play the most and have the most goal contributions even though Wolf is very streaky with long slumps. The only issue with respect to their immediate contributions is that Martinez was not used enough soon enough.
Re-signing Santi was a decision that a potential transfer fee was more important than roster stability for the most important offensive position in MLS. Sentiment also might have played a part just as it certainly did with Maxi. Re-signing both Santi and Maxi was a pair of choices whose very predictable outcome is to end up where we are now: a 38 year old #10 and no backup.

 

[moogoo]

normally i'd put this in the social media thread, but it seems most relevant here. My reaction is "what a load of crap":

 

[ezbeezy214]

We always will be aggressive with opportunities
We are excited to work with Pascal, but we need to keep in mind of our model
We spent on young players that need to develop
We’ve had some tough results
Exciting to welcome new Academy kids and give the debuts
Have our eyes on targets

 

[gbservis]

normally i'd put this in the social media thread, but it seems most relevant here. My reaction is "what a load of crap":

He talks a lot, but his words don’t match his actions. It’s also baffling that, as a GM, he barely speaks to the media—and when he does, it’s always through the team’s internal media, with nothing but soft, pre-approved questions.

My takeaways:

1. When discussing the decision to choose Pascal, he made it sound like he has full autonomy and calls all the shots for the club. So if Sims and Lee want to act like Lee owns the big decisions that work out well, it's time for us as fans to stop giving him a pass on player selection based on some hypothetical that CFG is actually calling the shots.
2. I nearly laughed out loud when he claimed they’ve been "very active" in adding players to fit Pascal’s vision—only for the footage to cut to Shore and Ried.
3. He spoke about player development and knowing the right time to send a player abroad—then cited Jovan as if he were a carefully managed development project. The audacity! He made it sound like Jovan was just another club player sent for growth, as if he’s actually coming back someday.

 

[moogoo]

He talks a lot, but his words don’t match his actions. It’s also baffling that, as a GM, he barely speaks to the media—and when he does, it’s always through the team’s internal media, with nothing but soft, pre-approved questions.

My takeaways:

1. When discussing the decision to choose Pascal, he made it sound like he has full autonomy and calls all the shots for the club. So if Sims and Lee want to act like Lee owns the big decisions that work out well, it's time for us as fans to stop giving him a pass on player selection based on some hypothetical that CFG is actually calling the shots.
2. I nearly laughed out loud when he claimed they’ve been "very active" in adding players to fit Pascal’s vision—only for the footage to cut to Shore and Ried.
3. He spoke about player development and knowing the right time to send a player abroad—then cited Jovan as if he were a carefully managed development project. The audacity! He made it sound like Jovan was just another club player sent for growth, as if he’s actually coming back someday.

that's why i said it's a load of crap. "very active" in this transfer window? gtfoh. He hasn't made a single signing outside of bringing on next pro or academy kids. Then in one sentence he says he wants to bring quality and experience and depth to the team and the next sentence, he says he wants to make sure he's not blocking youth player paths into the first team. You can't have it both ways. Yes, there is a balance that needs to be struck, but you would expect a soccer sporting director to know, if you are a good enough you will play. That seems to be Jansen's view as well. he doesn't care if you're a draft pick, a big money transfer, or an academy player, your age, or whatever. If you are good enough, you will play. So sign players to make the team better and if young kids are good enough, they will still play and we will have QUALITY depth on the bench.

it was aggravating hearing him spew his ideals when the reality is we have a thin roster with holes in key positions.

 

[LionNYC]

The even more crap is the "new stadium sales team" saying how great the roster will be when the new stadium opens. They are spewing lies, garbage, and crap.

 

[BC19]

Wow he’s deluded. Apt that this was put on April Fools Day. We deserve better than this stooge.

 

[Fantazma]

normally i'd put this in the social media thread, but it seems most relevant here. My reaction is "what a load of crap":

 

[mgarbowski]

Lee talks as if they believe Jovan could at least maybe come back. There are loans where you want to get someone a chance to develop and maybe rejoin you, and loans where you hope they get bought. It sounds like Jovan is in Category 1. Maybe that's total misdirection, but that's the message I heard. But we almost always send people on loan as a planned prelude to a transfer. It might not work but that's the plan.

I think they are committed to at least another full year or two of development for Fernandez and Ojeda. It's not unreasonable in the abstract. But it would be more palatable if we had one winger now who can be expected to score 10-12 goals as a complement to Martinez. Wolf could become that but he is not yet. His production this year is consistent with his 2024 streakiness. Too early to tell if that will change.

If Fernandez and Ojeda (and/or Jovan!) blossom we could in fact have an awesome offensive roster when the stadium opens in 2027. Assuming we get a solid 10, and assuming the kids are not sold.

If they blossom it is a better bet to assume they will be sold.

We're not getting a new 10 until summer unless one falls from the sky. If Maxi gets hurt they will scramble even more than they have been.

 

[ezbeezy214]

We always will be aggressive with opportunities
We are excited to work with Pascal, but we need to keep in mind of our model
We spent on young players that need to develop
We’ve had some tough results
Exciting to welcome new Academy kids and give the debuts
Have our eyes on targets

Ok I’ve seen it now and I actually wasn’t generic enough

 

[GratefulDawg]

What a bunch of bland "fan generated" questions. They think we're idiots.

Maybe we are.

 

[BC19]

Our Sporting Director believes that our roster, with a single designated player, a centerback who now leads the club in own goals, and 2/4 U22 spots being used on fringe wingers can compete with any team in this league. Liar.