[Abe Sargent]

Player Thoughts –

Gimenez – Led the league in goals and assists? Total class. Next year I expect to keep and start him.

Simonovski – He wasn’t doing badly, but I felt it was time to hand the reign elsewhere, and boy, was I glad that I did that. I thought he was going to drop back down to form this year, and then I’d run out Dodoi, but he did drop, but was still scoring and helping, just not as dominantly as before.

Dodoi – Heading into this year, Dodoi was my #3 and I thought he’d get enough starts after Simonovski fell off that he’d wind up at #2 by Gimenez by the end of the season. I was wrong about that. His stats off the bench were fine, but not impressive, and his staring games were never that strong.

Schlocobiert – I had him locked into #4 on my rotation and only the injury to both Simonovski and Dodoi at the beginning of the year gave me a chance to see him next to Gimenez, and he was okay in limited time, but when the others came back from injury and weren;t blowing the roofs off, I moved to him halfway through the year and wow, was that the right call. He went from #4 to #2 and has a season worth of goals and assists for half a year of starting. He is my starting ST next year, no question.

With the success of Morbeck in Viitorul, I might was to question Simonovski;s role in this squad next year, not because he failed, but because he’s just weaker than the rest.

Rimniceanu – Probably going to be my starter next year. 3rd fewest goals allowed in the Basano is good.

Maio – I rushed Maio to four starts, and he was good in all of them. I want to try and get him some first team play next either, either with up and Cups and such, or on a loan, but after his tutoring with Rimniceanu concludes. I would expect him to start in 2-3 seasons if developed correctly.

Mitrea – Mitrea was good on the ball and surprisingly good at set pieces with IFKs, DFKs, and PKs sinking regularly. And not as the header but as the kicker. 8 goals for a DC on set pieces? That’s just fun! I expect that added variety t lock my vice captain in as a starter at DC next year

Viera – I like my captain, but due to his injury, he only started half of the season. He wasn’t this amazing defensive machine, and a 32 year old DC with a history of long term injuries might be a little too much to rely o, with my forced sale of Palenik removing that option,

Riojas – I wouldn’t be surprised to see him as VC or Ca this year at DC. I have him penciled in at DC along Mitrea. I think they work well together. He’s solid.

Ursu – I am not surprised that Ursu dropped in quality on the pitch

Antov – Antov is a 18 year old with some interesting stuff, but his technical skills still need work. He’s a developmental kind of guy, but he can also be a solid sub at DMC too

Petre – Petre is locked into my MR/ML spot despite not having a great set of skills, he just plays up to the competition every time, and he’s strong. I don’t plan on moving Petre off the starting spot he has for me.

Stoian – I liked the older rotation guy, who was better than Tandia, both on paper and in real play. He played well, but he stats weren’t that amazing. Despite the fact that Stoian is better, more experienced, and has Gimenez on his side of the field getting his balls, he had 50% of the goals of Petre and fewer assists. I have him penciled in at ML next year, but I am not committed to it.

Traore – Traore got a lot of starts and reps, and was perfectly fine, but he wasn;t at the level of himself last year, and his MC role went to Margeman and I never went back. I could see rotation for him again next year, but he’s 31 soon. That’s a little on the older side of life.

Tandia – I love Tandia, but my team has clearly passed him by, and I wouldn’t be surprised to look to sell hm next year. He went from my 2nd best middie to my 3rd worst in two years.

Lupu – Lupu has grown into the best player, but I was surprised at his lack of assists at the AMC spot. Still, he had a bunch of goals, so he played well. I’ll keep him in the AMC spot, and I did rotate in Margeman and Eckart into this spot to give them some AMC experience as well, and they did well. Elkhart got Mom in the Cup in the AMC spot. I suspect Lupu remains in this spot. I can’t imagine a Top Xi that doesn’t include Lupu. But he could be in another spot.

Margeman – No question, Margeman was locked into my MC spot as the main player last year, after ebbing into Traore’s role and spot on the team. He played well too, and I am sure that he’ll be penciled in next year as well.

Eckhart - Our surprise signing in the January window when I found him, he is an up and coming middle and youther who can already play at the this level. Will he be a sub? Or a loanee? I don’t know.