2026 Roster and Transfer Discussion Thread

FootyLovin said:
I don't know enough about the internal workings of teams and who does what. But I wonder if part of the Lee issue / question was his skill as a salesman. Players don't just get bought like an item at the supermarket. They have to be wooed. That means finesse and style and timing and persistence. There is a lot that makes a great salesperson good at closing deals. I wonder if Lee had those skills.
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It's a good point and in Lee's defense Caludio's job on that front was quite a bit easier considering that in addition to being a former somewhat well known player himself at various points in time he also had some combination Villa, Vieira, Lampard and Pirlo that could make a call as well to help with the pitch. I think about 80% of the players that came during the Vieira era mentioned a call from him being one of the things that sealed the deal.

Just one more reason I still think having one big name player on the roster at all times matters.
 
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joe said:
By my count NYCFC averaged 1.81 goals per game in that stretch, including being shut out twice. NYCFC averaged 1.44 for the season.

MLS season average for all clubs was 1.45, including NYCFC. 1.81 for the season would have been seventh in the league.

For what that's worth
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We were unquestionably better after Fernandez-Mercau arrived and I think if we stay healthy we are obviously not as good as Inter Messi, but we are right in the thick of the rest of the Eastern Conference race.
 
FootyLovin said:
I don't know enough about the internal workings of teams and who does what. But I wonder if part of the Lee issue / question was his skill as a salesman. Players don't just get bought like an item at the supermarket. They have to be wooed. That means finesse and style and timing and persistence. There is a lot that makes a great salesperson good at closing deals. I wonder if Lee had those skills.
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You also have to wonder how much the stadium ordeal and playing in baseball stadiums plays into it.

Sure, Villa, Lampard, and Pirlo came here in 2015 and it didn't (at least on the surface) bother them enough to turn them away, but that surely isn't the same sentiment across the board. And honestly, it probably helped that they all came in year 1 so they didn't have enough tape to see how bad the field can look at times.

Part of me wishes David Lee were around for another 3-4 years so we could see if there were any trends there and I could specifically ask him about it.

Sure, can ask Dunivant about it (or whoever is in that role in 2027-2028), but they won't have the same pre-stadium experiences to lean on.
 
ZYanksRule said:
I think his "going to the board" comment was just a turn of phrase since that's the phrase they use in Europe.
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Possibly, but the question still stands: who is he going to? It doesn't really matter to me if it's a formal board, or just an ad hoc brain trust. Either way, he went to someone to ask for specific reinforcements. I just want to know who it is.
gbservis said:
(T)he key point is that CFG is heavily curating the player pool.
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There was an awful lot of "likely" and "it seems" in the rest of your comment for such a definitive statement. It's certainly possible. It's just as possible CFG is simply providing a budget outline and big binders of scouting reports.
 
SoupInNYC said:
You also have to wonder how much the stadium ordeal and playing in baseball stadiums plays into it.
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I don't think it's possible to overstate the difference having our own park is going to make, in every respect. This is certainly one of them. There aren't many first division nomads in global football (in fact, I can't think of any unless a stadium is being renovated). It must be less than appealing to an ambitious pro.
 
ZYanksRule said:
From July 25, 2025 (when Nico debuted) until the end of last season, we were 7-4-0, 21 pts, 3rd in the East and 4th in MLS.

We were not a middling to good team once we had Nico FM in the fold. We were one of the best teams in the league. We are running back that team while giving Nico (and our other midseason additions) a full preseason to really acclimate. If either Parks or Perea are healthy near the start of the season, we are one of the best teams in MLS and are primed for a deep run this season.
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You and I went through this before, and you and I disagree, which is fine.

- I would not count the Dallas game as his because he played 29 minutes after we had a 3-1 lead
- I think relying solely on W-L-D in 10-11 games is a mistake because streaks, more below
- NYC had just a +1 GD in the 10 games he played in full
- After he arrived the team took fewer shots, for lower xG, while allowing both more goals and more xGA per game.
It's great that they won more points than any similar number of games in the season but look at anything beyond PPG and it seems a bit shaky.

Still, it was a very solid 10 or 11 game run.
In 2015 the worst NYCFC team ever somehow managed an 8-game streak for 16 points and 2.00 PPG.
2016 saw a terrible 7 points in 8 games start followed by an amazing 23 points in 11 games and ended with a so-so 24 points in 15 games.
In 2018 NYCFC earned 2.22 PPG over the first 9 games and 1.44 over the final 25.
Ronny had so many up and down streaks from 2020 through the start of 2022: 3 points in 6 games, 23 in 10 games, 15 in 15 games and 22 in 8 games.
The 2024 team I consider very similar to the current roster managed 24 points in 9 games at one point.

Streaks happen. You're never as bad as you look in your worst streak and never as good as you seem in your best. Combining that with a post hoc argument crediting Nico is not enough to convince me. Pending Martinez we're still a team whose scoring depth falls off a cliff after Sylla, Wolf and Nico. As I wrote earlier, this changes if Jones, Ojeda, Talles or Reid blossom. Maybe some of them will. I hope they do. I really hope Malachi comes back and kills it. But until they show me that or the team adds yet more pieces I don't see this as a top tier MLS team.

Revfugee said:
We have already effectively replaced Fernandez on the pitch if not on the roster. With Talles. And IMHO that is an upgrade.
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I know everyone is tired of me citing Julian's G+A contributions but in Talles's best season (2022) he had 0.52 G+A/90 and last year Julian had 0.51/90. Talles certainly has more skills, but he fiddles around way too much and got completely stuck inside his own head in 2023, which together IMO at least partly offsets his superior soccer sense over Julian. Talles did contribute his 0.51 over about twice as many minutes which is definitely a plus on his side. He's an upgrade, but IMO not a big one who seriously moves the points needle unless he finally breaks out. Which I guess he could. Putting on my rosy outlook hat I think he could work extremely well with Sylla's style of play.
But mostly I'm in Show Me mode.
 
KevinJRogers said:
Possibly, but the question still stands: who is he going to? It doesn't really matter to me if it's a formal board, or just an ad hoc brain trust. Either way, he went to someone to ask for specific reinforcements. I just want to know who it is.

There was an awful lot of "likely" and "it seems" in the rest of your comment for such a definitive statement. It's certainly possible. It's just as possible CFG is simply providing a budget outline and big binders of scouting reports.
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He seemed to make a comment referencing Brad and Todd, so I would think he goes to Todd, who gets financial approval from Brad, who gets final approval from Marty/CFG.

"The Board" could also mean the sporting director, assistant sporting directors, and scouts. I just am not reading much into it.
 
ZYanksRule said:
He seemed to make a comment referencing Brad and Todd, so I would think he goes to Todd, who gets financial approval from Brad, who gets final approval from Marty/CFG.

"The Board" could also mean the sporting director, assistant sporting directors, and scouts. I just am not reading much into it.
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If it's Brad and Todd and Marty, then that's what I want to hear. ✊
 
mgarbowski said:
You and I went through this before, and you and I disagree, which is fine.

- I would not count the Dallas game as his because he played 29 minutes after we had a 3-1 lead
- I think relying solely on W-L-D in 10-11 games is a mistake because streaks, more below
- NYC had just a +1 GD in the 10 games he played in full
- After he arrived the team took fewer shots, for lower xG, while allowing both more goals and more xGA per game.
It's great that they won more points than any similar number of games in the season but look at anything beyond PPG and it seems a bit shaky.

Still, it was a very solid 10 or 11 game run.
In 2015 the worst NYCFC team ever somehow managed an 8-game streak for 16 points and 2.00 PPG.
2016 saw a terrible 7 points in 8 games start followed by an amazing 23 points in 11 games and ended with a so-so 24 points in 15 games.
In 2018 NYCFC earned 2.22 PPG over the first 9 games and 1.44 over the final 25.
Ronny had so many up and down streaks from 2020 through the start of 2022: 3 points in 6 games, 23 in 10 games, 15 in 15 games and 22 in 8 games.
The 2024 team I consider very similar to the current roster managed 24 points in 9 games at one point.

Streaks happen. You're never as bad as you look in your worst streak and never as good as you seem in your best. Combining that with a post hoc argument crediting Nico is not enough to convince me. Pending Martinez we're still a team whose scoring depth falls off a cliff after Sylla, Wolf and Nico. As I wrote earlier, this changes if Jones, Ojeda, Talles or Reid blossom. Maybe some of them will. I hope they do. I really hope Malachi comes back and kills it. But until they show me that or the team adds yet more pieces I don't see this as a top tier MLS team.


I know everyone is tired of me citing Julian's G+A contributions but in Talles's best season (2022) he had 0.52 G+A/90 and last year Julian had 0.51/90. Talles certainly has more skills, but he fiddles around way too much and got completely stuck inside his own head in 2023, which together IMO at least partly offsets his superior soccer sense over Julian. Talles did contribute his 0.51 over about twice as many minutes which is definitely a plus on his side. He's an upgrade, but IMO not a big one who seriously moves the points needle unless he finally breaks out. Which I guess he could. Putting on my rosy outlook hat I think he could work extremely well with Sylla's style of play.
But mostly I'm in Show Me mode.
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I agree with your position, I don't think we have seen enough from Nico to say one way or another what things will look like with him this season. I will say I think he looked his best the few times he was able to play his in his natural position at CAM. He carries the ball in traffic like an NFL running back going down hill, people just bounce off him. Hopefully either Magno and Ojeda can do enough in camp to lock down the starting wing position opposite Wolf so Nico can play CAM and Maxi can be an impact sub.
 
Shwafta said:
www.newyorkcityfc.com

New York City FC Signs Defender Kai Trewin from Melbourne City FC | New York City FC

New York City FC today announced that it has signed Defender Kai Trewin from A-League side Melbourne City FC through the 2028–29 season, with an option for 2029–30. The 24-year-old Australian international will join the Club upon receipt of his ITC and P-1 Visa. Trewin joins New York City from
www.newyorkcityfc.com www.newyorkcityfc.com
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He sounds a lot like what Nectar Triantis came to Minnesota as and if he’s close to as good we would be thrilled. Triantis came to Sunderland (my other squad) as a ball playing CB but went on loan the last 2 seasons to Hibs, played CDM, and became the only non Rangers/Celtic all league player. Triantis is probably more talented and chose to represent Greece instead of Australia, but if he’s more polished this will be a great signing.
 
gbservis said:
I agree with your position, I don't think we have seen enough from Nico to say one way or another what things will look like with him this season. I will say I think he looked his best the few times he was able to play his in his natural position at CAM. He carries the ball in traffic like an NFL running back going down hill, people just bounce off him. Hopefully either Magno and Ojeda can do enough in camp to lock down the starting wing position opposite Wolf so Nico can play CAM and Maxi can be an impact sub.
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I think it's possible, but not likely, we finish top 4 in the East. Regardless, I think it's a huge long shot for us to win MLS Cup as currently set up.

Here are the goal totals for the last 9 MLS Cup winners:
81, 69, 67, 66, 56, (53), 52, 70, 74. The (53) is 2020 pro rated.

Six of the nine scored at least 66 goals. We scored 50 last year. We have not added 16 goals. I doubt we added 10. And scoring 60 or even 66 still leaves you with a battle: in the last 4 years 23 teams scored at least 60 goals.
We need more goal contributors.
 
Fantazma said:
dont know how legit this source is. Jorge Ruvalcaba to nycfc

https://twitter.com/x/status/2016588976195350932
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Seeing another report that it's the Red Bulls who are interested in him ...

https://twitter.com/x/status/2016582324578619445

EDIT: Seeing half the Twitter reports say NYCFC and half say Red Bulls so someone got confused. But this report I linked to above is a Red Bulls reporter so might carry a little more weight, unless both teams are interested and fighting it out for him?
 
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