It would be so easy for us to be better. We just choose not to be. We are so desperate for anything more than air at this point, even this guy seemed appealing!
General MLS Discussion
- Thread starter Shwafta
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Marito
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Unless they were planning to eventually move him to the wing when Alonso returned, or play a 2-striker setup, he wasn't supposed to be top dog. Alonso has the track record to be top dog, and Sylla was just intended as a stopgap guy while Alonso recovered and a complementary piece thereafter, IMHO. Why spend DP money on that role when they could have found a perfectly usable player in USL is beyond me. OTOH, if the 2 bundesliga is below MLS it isn't by much, same as with the liga 2 in Spain. I mean, both Nico and our Jimmy play in yo-yo teams who happen to be in the top division right now but will be back in the second in no time, and both are among our very best players and top for MLS in general.
I think this is the best defense of their hesitant inaction in the winter window. When you're in a capped league with playoffs and your top scorer is injured but probably due to return by season end it can be wasteful to replace him rather than use those funds to fill other needs. Nico's ability to score in addition to create, which I think might have exceeded their hopes or at least expectations, made it easier to hold pat. They figured they could muddle along no worse than last year until Alonso's situation is clearer.
The counter is that the drop from Nico or Martinez to Wolf is large (though not unusual for much of MLS) and the drop after Wolf last year was a cliff, which they addressed by offloading Fernandez and hoping that one or both of Magno and Ojeda would finally blossom into a regular MLS scorer.
Either might yet do it, with Ojeda showing more promise. But if Wolf tops out at 10-12, then we really need not one but both Magno and Ojeda to provide 7-10 goals to reach the top 5-8 teams in the league, and I think that's a bad bet, especially with no striker to unlock Talles.
As you suggest, Sylla was supposed to check both boxes first as a stopgap striker then a complementary winger. But he's arguably not quite the quality we'd like for a striker and maybe too expensive for the complementary piece. I doubt they ever felt truly confident in the signing and when something came up in the medicals they might have been relieved. It was probably justifiable to back out but borderline based on both teams' behavior. Then they got to do what they do best, wait.
And regardless of the motivation for his signing - striker or complimentary forward, with our top tier world spanning player scouting network, this guy was plan A through Z.
Marito
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I see that, but this issue of comparing a top-flight league in a non footballing country like the USA to a 2nd level league in a top footballing country like Germany or Spain ought to measure some intangibles that are really head-spinning to me, particularly the quality of youth development and coaching, and therefore of the academy players who participate in the 2nd level league, who may not rank as high in this kind of comparison as their true skill level would deserve. Mind you, I know nothing about this. I am just toying with the idea. But please consider this fact: the total US military personnel in Germany is about 35,000 and was as high as 200,000 during its Cold-War peak. I don't know what percentage of them marry German ladies, but it can't be 100%. So the population of German-American offspring of these soldiers has to be tiny, and they cannot all be soccer-crazy and athletic freaks. However, their prominence in the USMNT lineups has been, for many decades, absurdly outsized, Noahkai Banks being just the latest example. They should have a 1 in a million chance, but for all practical purposes strike at 1 in 10. The only reasonable explanation for that, IMHO, is that the quality of youth soccer development in Germany is just a gazillion times better than here. And don't get me started on LaMasia. So I suspect that a league with a sizable contingent of very young players who have participated in those development programs may be underrated in $ terms because those kids potential value won't be realized immediately.
that ranking doesn't expressly layout the data and formula used but in general, they weigh out power ratings for players comprising the teams and then the number of teams participating in major tournaments and their success. our ranking is no doubt, boosted by the fact that we have some aging super stars with high power ratings despite their age. The gap from these super stars to the average MLS player is pretty huge at the moment. But their being here boosts our rating quite a bit, I think. Without them, we'd probably drop out of the top 10 based on talent and team success.
Their actions to me suggest that despite stating outwardly that their goal is to put the team in the best position to compete for trophies at every opportunity, their true priority internally is the make the playoffs every season no matter what. They will always choose the slow and steady safe options that gets them a good team, over going all in for great at the risk of a few down seasons afterwards.
Marito
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This ranking is still full of surprises, such as: a huge gap between the Swedish and Danish 1st division, and the Turkish and Eredivisie ranked below the Polish and Croatian 1st divisions. I am guessing both are super top-heavy.
Liga MX below MLS as well.
Also Marito brought up the yoyo teams. In countries with pro/rel where the top of the 2nd division promotes into one of the top 3 leagues in the world, those yoyo teams are going to have a lot of MLS star caliber talent. So just looking at the league as a whole doesn't tell the story.
Hell, we don't have pro/rel, but look at our top clubs and the likes of Messi and Son. The top clubs in any of these leagues have players that are well worthy of DP money if you just pick well.
Hell, we don't have pro/rel, but look at our top clubs and the likes of Messi and Son. The top clubs in any of these leagues have players that are well worthy of DP money if you just pick well.
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