MLS 2023 Season News and Such

Holden
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MLS 2023 Season News and Such Aug 3, 2023 22:17:33 GMT airkeeper and sounderfan1974 like this

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Post by Holden on Aug 3, 2023 22:17:33 GMT

Aug 3, 2023 21:29:26 GMT INVINCIBLE 2023 Fantasy Champ said:

Aug 3, 2023 17:06:12 GMT Holden said:

I'm not judging Waibel until the end of the 2024 Summer Transfer window. I would have been shocked if we were able to make a notable signing this summer. It wouldn't be possible without paying one of our DPs or TAM players to kick sand to open up a spot.

With the potential of MLS roster rules opening up, might have been more prudent to wait until next year anyway.

I like Diego Fagundez, but are we really impressed with LA Galaxy bringing in Tony Alfaro and Barrios? If the Sounders made those signings we'd all be whining. Outside of Miami it was actually a pretty quiet window for MLS. LAFC continues to take advantage of the U-22 DP Initiative, which I hope is a path we follow.

I've seen enough from Waibel. His record is really bad. He found Chu who hasn't been worth a U22 slot and $2 million. He was obviously heavily involved in signing his buddy Rusnak, who I maintain has been the worst signing in Sounders history. Heber is a disaster for $400K in GAM and $1m in salary. Selling Adeniran for a pittance is looking like a really stupid move.

Before Lagerwey stopped caring, he was really good at finding key players for cheap like Kim, Goose, Leerdam, VRod, etc. When he stopped caring he started just shelling out money and big contracts for mediocre (or worse) guys like Yeimar, Chu, and Arreaga. Waibel has jumped right over the first part and gone straight to giving out big contracts to bad players. I understand that Hanauer isn't giving him any money but if that's going to be the case, he needs to be a hell of a lot better at finding bargain.

I'll admit that I was a big Chu hater when he first arrived - maybe he just had never experienced turf in his life before. Because Chu takes up a U-22 spot, he only hits the cap at $200k regardless of how much he's paid. Looking at his performance this year - $200k for Chu is the best bargain on the team.

Heber seems like an honest miss. Letting Adeniran go only looks like a stupid move because of Heber's underperformance. Although it could be argued we should have kept Adeniran instead of Montero.

The Rusnak deal does have me a little worried. But I maintain that I'll hold judgement until I see what Waibel really wants to do with the team next year.

airkeeper
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MLS 2023 Season News and Such Aug 4, 2023 21:47:12 GMT via mobile Zafiro likes this

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Post by airkeeper on Aug 4, 2023 21:47:12 GMT

Aug 3, 2023 17:06:12 GMT Holden said:

I'm not judging Waibel until the end of the 2024 Summer Transfer window. I would have been shocked if we were able to make a notable signing this summer. It wouldn't be possible without paying one of our DPs or TAM players to kick sand to open up a spot.

With the potential of MLS roster rules opening up, might have been more prudent to wait until next year anyway.

I like Diego Fagundez, but are we really impressed with LA Galaxy bringing in Tony Alfaro and Barrios? If the Sounders made those signings we'd all be whining. Outside of Miami it was actually a pretty quiet window for MLS. LAFC continues to take advantage of the U-22 DP Initiative, which I hope is a path we follow.

TBH if we had brought in Fagundez (just him), I would have been 1) okay with it (dude can find goals) and 2) kind of confused as to where he'd slot in. If we'd made the signings financially sanctioned LAG made, fans would be scratching heads but at least we'd have done something.

Last Edit: Aug 4, 2023 21:47:36 GMT by airkeeper

#SchmetzerOut

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MLS 2023 Season News and Such Aug 5, 2023 3:50:30 GMT airkeeper and sounderfan1974 like this

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Post by INVINCIBLE 2023 Fantasy Champ on Aug 5, 2023 3:50:30 GMT

Aug 3, 2023 22:17:33 GMT Holden said:

Aug 3, 2023 21:29:26 GMT INVINCIBLE 2023 Fantasy Champ said:

I've seen enough from Waibel. His record is really bad. He found Chu who hasn't been worth a U22 slot and $2 million. He was obviously heavily involved in signing his buddy Rusnak, who I maintain has been the worst signing in Sounders history. Heber is a disaster for $400K in GAM and $1m in salary. Selling Adeniran for a pittance is looking like a really stupid move.

Before Lagerwey stopped caring, he was really good at finding key players for cheap like Kim, Goose, Leerdam, VRod, etc. When he stopped caring he started just shelling out money and big contracts for mediocre (or worse) guys like Yeimar, Chu, and Arreaga. Waibel has jumped right over the first part and gone straight to giving out big contracts to bad players. I understand that Hanauer isn't giving him any money but if that's going to be the case, he needs to be a hell of a lot better at finding bargain.

I'll admit that I was a big Chu hater when he first arrived - maybe he just had never experienced turf in his life before. Because Chu takes up a U-22 spot, he only hits the cap at $200k regardless of how much he's paid. Looking at his performance this year - $200k for Chu is the best bargain on the team.

Heber seems like an honest miss. Letting Adeniran go only looks like a stupid move because of Heber's underperformance. Although it could be argued we should have kept Adeniran instead of Montero.

The Rusnak deal does have me a little worried. But I maintain that I'll hold judgement until I see what Waibel really wants to do with the team next year.

IMHO the only reason Chu looks good is because the rest of the team is devoid of any kind of offensive spark. He's a one-eyed man in the land of the blind.

airkeeper
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MLS 2023 Season News and Such Aug 5, 2023 5:27:20 GMT via mobile sounderfan1974 and INVINCIBLE 2023 Fantasy Champ like this

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Post by airkeeper on Aug 5, 2023 5:27:20 GMT

Aug 5, 2023 3:50:30 GMT INVINCIBLE 2023 Fantasy Champ said:

Aug 3, 2023 22:17:33 GMT Holden said:

I'll admit that I was a big Chu hater when he first arrived - maybe he just had never experienced turf in his life before. Because Chu takes up a U-22 spot, he only hits the cap at $200k regardless of how much he's paid. Looking at his performance this year - $200k for Chu is the best bargain on the team.

Heber seems like an honest miss. Letting Adeniran go only looks like a stupid move because of Heber's underperformance. Although it could be argued we should have kept Adeniran instead of Montero.

The Rusnak deal does have me a little worried. But I maintain that I'll hold judgement until I see what Waibel really wants to do with the team next year.

IMHO the only reason Chu looks good is because the rest of the team is devoid of any kind of offensive spark. He's a one-eyed man in the land of the blind.

I agree, to a point. Chu came into the eleven as a replacement due to injury. Expectations were low. We happened to play an, at the time, weak SKC, and he was largely an unknown to the opposition. But he and Morris seemed to have chemistry. Chu very much exceeded expectations. His speed created chances and having a taller, stronger, speedy Morris as a target helped. Then opponents had scouting on him, and Schmetzer moved Morris--eventually he left with the Nats--and Chu's advantage diminished.

Yeah, I agree that Chu has looked good because others were underperforming. But I also think Chu has raw talent, but perhaps he has plateaued--perhaps our coaches can't help him improve. But perhaps, if Schmetzer had the courage to bench a vastly underperforming, aging Ruidiaz for Morris we'd see him shine. I guess what I'm getting at is there are multiple facets to consider besides (or in addition to) Chu being a standout amongst duds. Idk

#SchmetzerOut

INVINCIBLE 2023 Fantasy Champ Senior Member Posts: 3,717	MLS 2023 Season News and Such Aug 5, 2023 17:57:42 GMT Zafiro and sounderfan1974 like this Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by INVINCIBLE 2023 Fantasy Champ on Aug 5, 2023 17:57:42 GMT Bad news for the Inventor of Sex.

airkeeper
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MLS 2023 Season News and Such Aug 5, 2023 18:36:15 GMT via mobile Zafiro likes this

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Post by airkeeper on Aug 5, 2023 18:36:15 GMT

Aug 5, 2023 17:57:42 GMT INVINCIBLE 2023 Fantasy Champ said:

Bad news for the Inventor of Sex.

Haha--at the nickname (I recall it was from a meme after his hatty)

That pic is graphic. Oof bad luck for him--hope he makes a full recovery and can return to form.

Curious though, was it confirmed that his cleats got caught in the playing surface? I mean, I'm as pro-grass as can be, but I've seen player fracture ankles playing on natural surface, and we all know that players can sustain ACL tears, for example, on grass (see: Jordan Morris at Swansea).

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MLS 2023 Season News and Such Aug 5, 2023 18:48:35 GMT

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Post by INVINCIBLE 2023 Fantasy Champ on Aug 5, 2023 18:48:35 GMT

Aug 5, 2023 18:36:15 GMT airkeeper said:

Curious though, was it confirmed that his cleats got caught in the playing surface? I mean, I'm as pro-grass as can be, but I've seen player fracture ankles playing on natural surface, and we all know that players can sustain ACL tears, for example, on grass (see: Jordan Morris at Swansea).

Morris was a ticking time bomb after the first ACL tear. There's a high likelihood of doing the second one after the first ACL tear. It happened to my Corgi, lol.

I think that was wear and tear from the turf, not anything to do with Swansea.

sounderfan1974
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MLS 2023 Season News and Such Aug 6, 2023 23:03:16 GMT

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Post by sounderfan1974 on Aug 6, 2023 23:03:16 GMT

Aug 5, 2023 18:48:35 GMT INVINCIBLE 2023 Fantasy Champ said:

Aug 5, 2023 18:36:15 GMT airkeeper said:

Curious though, was it confirmed that his cleats got caught in the playing surface? I mean, I'm as pro-grass as can be, but I've seen player fracture ankles playing on natural surface, and we all know that players can sustain ACL tears, for example, on grass (see: Jordan Morris at Swansea).

Morris was a ticking time bomb after the first ACL tear. There's a high likelihood of doing the second one after the first ACL tear. It happened to my Corgi, lol.

I think that was wear and tear from the turf, not anything to do with Swansea.

Just an observation- wasn't Morris' second ACL tear on the opposite knee from his first ACL tear? Or did you mean that he is prone to ACL tears overall?

Another observation is that in both cases for Morris, the "grass" was closer to "mud", making the surface unstable and easier to get injured. It's the same thing that happens when laying grass turf over an artificial surface if it hasn't been given time to set.

INVINCIBLE 2023 Fantasy Champ
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MLS 2023 Season News and Such Aug 7, 2023 0:00:15 GMT sounderfan1974 likes this

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Post by INVINCIBLE 2023 Fantasy Champ on Aug 7, 2023 0:00:15 GMT

Aug 6, 2023 23:03:16 GMT sounderfan1974 said:

Aug 5, 2023 18:48:35 GMT INVINCIBLE 2023 Fantasy Champ said:

Morris was a ticking time bomb after the first ACL tear. There's a high likelihood of doing the second one after the first ACL tear. It happened to my Corgi, lol.

I think that was wear and tear from the turf, not anything to do with Swansea.

Just an observation- wasn't Morris' second ACL tear on the opposite knee from his first ACL tear? Or did you mean that he is prone to ACL tears overall?

Yeah that's what I meant. At least with dogs - as I found out the hard way - if they tear their left ACL, there's a 50% chance they will tear the right eventually. Probably because they put more pressure on the uninjured leg to compensate for the injured leg.

Holden Senior Member This too shall pass. Posts: 5,083	MLS 2023 Season News and Such Aug 7, 2023 2:09:05 GMT airkeeper, sounderfan1974, and 1 more like this Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by Holden on Aug 7, 2023 2:09:05 GMT TIL Jordan Morris is a really fast overweight Corgi.

Holden
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MLS 2023 Season News and Such Aug 7, 2023 2:15:31 GMT TSchulz and airkeeper like this

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Post by Holden on Aug 7, 2023 2:15:31 GMT

I’m jealous of the Earthquakes for getting Hoppe. He seems like he’d thrive in MLS. Talent definitely has a limited ceiling but his gamesmanship is A+. I’m assuming that loan will turn to a full time MLS transfer.

Holden Senior Member This too shall pass. Posts: 5,083	MLS 2023 Season News and Such Aug 7, 2023 2:17:17 GMT Zafiro, airkeeper, and 3 more like this Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by Holden on Aug 7, 2023 2:17:17 GMT Can’t let another transfer window go by without thanking TSchulz for posting all the breaking news all in one place.

INVINCIBLE 2023 Fantasy Champ
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MLS 2023 Season News and Such Aug 7, 2023 3:19:15 GMT via mobile Zafiro, airkeeper, and 1 more like this

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Post by INVINCIBLE 2023 Fantasy Champ on Aug 7, 2023 3:19:15 GMT

Aug 7, 2023 2:17:17 GMT Holden said:

Can’t let another transfer window go by without thanking TSchulz for posting all the breaking news all in one place.

Amen!

sounderfan1974
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MLS 2023 Season News and Such Aug 7, 2023 3:54:57 GMT

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Post by sounderfan1974 on Aug 7, 2023 3:54:57 GMT

Aug 7, 2023 2:15:31 GMT Holden said:

I’m jealous of the Earthquakes for getting Hoppe. He seems like he’d thrive in MLS. Talent definitely has a limited ceiling but his gamesmanship is A+. I’m assuming that loan will turn to a full time MLS transfer.

Sorry, but I'm missing the "gamesmanship" reference here. Can you enlighten me?

INVINCIBLE 2023 Fantasy Champ
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MLS 2023 Season News and Such Aug 7, 2023 3:57:02 GMT Zafiro, Holden, and 2 more like this