I take it one step further. I would say that Serioux is an outright liability based on what I saw on Saturday. I hope that he can develop a little more discipline by the start of the season.
Thanks for the article, John.
I take it one step further. I would say that Serioux is an outright liability based on what I saw on Saturday. I hope that he can develop a little more discipline by the start of the season.
Thanks for the article, John.
Does Serioux get to play Wednesday? Not sure if suspensions count in pre-season. It's not like it was a straight red..
John, I for the most part agree w/ you,
but theres one piece in your article that got under my skin:
Nana is starter-worthy....Velez, Harmse and [bold]Gyan[/bold] are not starters, they're late-game substitutes (at best); players that can come on in the final minutes of the game, or be used in an emergency when the regular starters are injured, suspended or away on international duty.
...Just not CB...
Nana is our Wynne replacement, and he was the best player on the pitch when we had him in that position (okay maybe not "the best", but high up there...he amazed)
I am really not sure where this myth of Nana being a CB originated from,
but it's really ticking me off that people are still on about it:
NANA is our Wynne replacement,
He's being groomed for when we sell Wynne,
So can we please stop assuming he's in line for the CB spot already?
Completely different positions
It's funny that Molinaro should mention Jimmy Conrad, because I've been hearing rumblings that Mo is working to bring him here from KC in a trade. Maybe John's hearing the same rumours as me.
The price might be a little too steep...but Conrad would be marvellous and would certainly help us win.
[/notsosubtlehint]
Holy crap...that would be a major coup.
Conrad is a solid back. A consistent all-star. And very fan friendly.
wow!!! Conrad is one MLS defender who I think has stood the test of time. I don't know how Mo can do it.
Even at the not-so-subtley-hinted-at price?
It will probably take Jo.Smith, Frei/Edwards, and something else.
KC isnt just going to let the face of team walk out of town for nothing...i bet they are asking ALOT, like Guvera (an attacking option of feed the ball to lopez, so he isnt a total waste of a million bucks)
And that would leave NO experience on the back line, eveyone has less then 2 years in the MLS on D in KC, Chance Myers ancoring the D?
Sounds nice, but i just dont see KC wanting to make that deal
You guys might wanna re-read the last bit of my post.
The only place wynne is going is over seas in order to install a grass pitch, end of.
That would be quite the trade, I doubt it, who'd play right back?
re: Jimmy Conrad, ill believe it when i see it
So will I. Like I said, my source only says Mo's trying to get it done. Not that it is done or that it's close to being done.
KC will never trade Conrad.
He's Brennan x5 for them.
He's totally critical to them on the field, and the face of the team to the community, and the season ticket holders.
“What the world needs is more geniuses with humility; there are so few of us left.”
“What the world needs is more geniuses with humility; there are so few of us left.”
We had the same issue up front last year that we have at the back this year. A glaring hole that doesn't seem to want to be plugged.
I don't think Mo is sitting back and thinking that Serioux is the answer to the equation, I'm sure Mo knows that he needs more strength in the middle of the club's defense - but once again this seems like a "fallen through deal". Not being in the US, plus the turf and climate give Mo a unique difficulty to sign players.
Mo also seems to get his heart set on players, if we sign them, it's great, but if the deal falls through (which I bet a couple have at CB), then we are left with holes in the boat.
this is exactly what i was thinking.. he has the size, the strength and the brains for the position.
but for some reason people keep going around saying Nana is not a CB and is being groomed to be a RB. No he isn't. He's a young kid and he can go in either position.. just as Harmse can move from midfield to defense or Serioux can be a defensive midfielder and then is moved to play RB and CB.
Nana should not be put into a mould at such a young age. He has the talent to be either.
If it is the proposed deal mentioned in this thread. I would actually do the deal. Here is why, you guys can let me know what you think.
Pros:
1. With the aging core of players (Guevara, Robbo, Dichio, DeRo)....you will need to win soon. Conrad had a few years left.
2. You get a team leader, a CB who knows the league and its players.
3. Don't think he'll miss about 1/3 of the season due to international duties
4. You will have Conrad here next year and the year after, you may not have Wynne here next year.
Cons:
1. The speed
2. The creativity lost from the back, with the overlapping runs
3. The money you get when sold to a European club
That deal should make no sense to KC.
KC should not trade the face of their team for 3-6 months of Marvell, plus a whack of cash (Mo of course would try to keep some or most of any transfer, this is how Freddy Adu's deal from DC to RSL worked)....
unless KC are in very dire straits financially. That could be.
This does makes sense from our point of view, as we just watched Anselmi/Peddie swallow most of the Edu transfer (remember how Mo asked for grass with the Edu proceeds, and got publicly shot down by Anselmi?). Mo probably would like to figure out how to get a playing asset this time.
Last edited by ensco; 03-10-2009 at 09:11 AM.
“What the world needs is more geniuses with humility; there are so few of us left.”
please expand, im not entirely sure i understand as the transfer money is to be used within the MLS (ie within other transfers, allocations, academy etc) and cant be used by MLSE (also as mentioned many times previously the grass issue is primarily a prob with the government as opposed to MLSE)
There are others who can do this more precisely....
MLSE received $3.3 million for Edu. Two-thirds were supposed to be used for "player development" or some such. So where did our $2.2 million go? Mo wanted to use it towards grass.
I know some small portion of that (maybe $500K? I'm guessing) is in this year's allocation, but where did the rest of it the $2.2 million go?
“What the world needs is more geniuses with humility; there are so few of us left.”
Robbo is their principal distributor from the final third/middle third of the pitch. So put down to 10 men, it makes more tactical sense to move him back than to bring on another defender, if you're trying to hold up your offensive shape.
Carver probably just saw more in going for the win than in bunkering down by withdrawing an offensive player to add a defender, that's all. Given Charleston's inability to compete 11-on-10, it would appear to have been the right one.
So I don't expect to see Carl Robinson as a starting centre half any time soon.
AS for the main contention, it's way too early to make those kind of judgments. We've seen Harmse and Serioux as centre halfs for about five minutes, comparatively speaking, and you need three or four games before you can see if a pairing is gelling. Serioux certianly can't be judged, given that he's been out for most of the last year and had arrived to train with the team 48 hours before.
So the jury's out. Certainly couldn't hurt to add an experienced centre back (is CJ Brown sitting on the bench in Chicago?), but it's not necessarily anythign to worry about yet.