Glory Glory Revolution: (Take 2) 2007 edition

[SirFozzie]

Defenders

Alex Zotinca (31, Valued at $35k, 725/wk) Last Year: 4 Apperances, 7.00 Rating. Probably will start at left side of defense if our transfer plans do not work out. Did not play much last year with the emergence of Julinho, but with him gone to Columbus will likely need him to play more.

Sergio Flores (22, Valued at $22K, $325/wk) Last Year: 30 Appearances, 7.00 Rating. Not quite average at central defense, but right now he's a starter at central defense. Getting better quickly however.

Berg (19, Valued at $110K, $450/wk) Last Year: 13 appearances, 2 goals, 1 assist 4 MoM awards, 8.00 rating for Olaria, Paulista, 1 Appearance, 7.00 rating) He's just about average as is, and will only get better with our training facilities. Young, so stamina may be an issue.

Luke Vercollone (25, Valued at $130K, $350/wk), Last year: 16 Appearances, 1 Man of the Match Award, 6.81 rating) . I expect a real break through year from Luke. He can play defense or defensive midfield.. right now I have him playing in Shalrie Joseph's role. Will be a full time player.

Pirata Castro (31, Valued at $50K, 925/wk), Last Year: 18 Appearances, 1 Assist, 1 Man of Match, 7.22 Rating). Can play defense, defensive midfield or midfield. Probably will have a starting point as a defensive midfielder to start, or a defender.

Eric Denton (30, Valued at $50K, 600/wk) Last Year: 1 Appearance ( a 7). didn't play much last year, and was injured a lot last year, let's see how he bounces back.

Jim Henning (23, Valued at $35K, 250/wk), Last Year: 12 Appearances, 7.08 rating. Hoping that we can use him more this year.. our coaching staff feels like if he applies him self, he could be a very good player for us. Looking at his stats , he did well last year.

Tony Medina (22, Valued at $18K, 300/wk), Last Year:4 appearances, 7.25 Rating. Despite his gaudy rating, he's got an uphill battle to remain with the club. has not progressed the way we like. Let's see what happens, however.

Jeff Baragan (21, Valued at $6k, 230/wk) Longshot to make the club.

Ryan Lopez (21, Valued at $4k, 250/wk), Even a longer shot to make the club.

I transfer list Baragan and Lopez, hoping to get USL teams interested in them

[SirFozzie]

Midfielders

Steve Ralston (33, Valued at $130K, 3600/wk, Last year: 31 appearances, 1 goal, 4 assists, 7.26 rating). Definitely a starter. Fitness starting to creep up on Stevie, but even though he might not go full 90, he's the #1 choice.

Santiago Biglieri (21, Valued at $1.1 Million, 475/wk, Last Year:12 Appearances, 6.5 Rating). Mostly a sub last year, still learning our center midfield duties, Santiago is well liked by our coaches, and we're thinking about starting him at midfield to start the year.

Robbie Russell (28, Valued at $150K, 2700/wk, Last Year: 14 apps, 1 G, 1 A, 1 MoM, 6.57) Never really fit in here, hasn't adjusted to playing central midfield. I put him on the list, so I can get something for him, and hopefully free up some salary (not that I'm close to the cap, but who knows!)

Ricardo Faty (21, Valued at $55k, 350/wk, Last Year: 11 Appearances, 7.00 Rating). Did well in coming in last year on a free transfer, and can play defensive midfield. Will get further training at midfield.. I'd like to see him replace Ralston there as we get close to the end of the year.

Chris Tanner (22, Valued at $9k, 250/wk, Last Year: 1 Appearance (7)), Injured knee cartilage over the winter, and may not be recovering as well as we'd like. His position is precarious.

Greg Brown (21, Valued at $80k, 300/wk, Last Year: 11 Appearances, 2 G, 6.45 Rating), did alright for a rookie.. will get his fair share of starts and sub appearances to help him develop.

Brian White (22, Valued at $18k, 300/wk, Last Year:3 App, 6.33 rating). Knows he has to come to practice and work hard every day if he's to stay on the roster. I think he'll be a reserve again, but who knows?

Mark Glazer (22, Valued at $6K, 170/wk, did not play last year) Somehow made the roster last year. Won't this year. On the list.

Paul Morris (21, Valued at $6k, 170/wk) nowhere near MLS ready. on the list.

Ryan Rudisill (21, Valued at $6k, 230/wk) Probably will stick for the full year, unless we bring several players in. Gonna be a reserve tho.

Jason Myers (21, Valued at $14k, 250/wk) Probably will stay with the team, but needs to improve.

Jeff Stewart (20, Valued at $6k, 230/wk), hasn't moved the needle in preseason. On the list.

John Allen (21, Valued at $70K, 275/wk) Definitely will stay, very good at a young age, has worked on his crossing already, and a good late game attack choice.

[SirFozzie]

Attack

Josh Wolff: (30, Valued at 1.5 Million, 4300/wk, Last Year: 26 Games, 15 G, 10 A, 6 MoM, 7.62 rating), Our #1 attacker, and only did not win the MVP because of Khano Smith last year. Has another year left on the contract, so I expect him to start proving he deserves another contract soon. Top-Class all the way.

Conor Casey (26, 400K, 3700/wk, Last Year: 17 Games, 10 G, 6 A, 2 MoM, Rating: 7.41) Usually scored goals in bunches last year, really nicely done. Has started to work his way back into the USA set up. Hoping he takes the next step.

Khano Smith (27, 2.9 Million, 850/wk, Last Year: 33 Games, 17 G, 12 A, 2 MoM, 7.76 Rating) Wow. A two time MVP, and he's a great player. I'm just glad the other teams haven't started sniffing around Khano yet. And he's really in his prime, and actually could get better! I expect another great season from him.

Daniel Mendes (26, 3.2 Million, 2900/wk), Last Year:10 GP, 2 G, 2A, 7.30 Rating). Our #1 backup (pricy).. but only because our attack is so good. With injuries and such, we should give him plenty of games.

David Warren (21, 6K, 325/wk): Already on the list

Jaiime Holmes (24, 70K, 250/wk) Last Year, 8 Appearances, 3 goals, 1 Assist, 7.13 Rating: Still good physically, good finishing, needs to increase his other technical skills.. he's #5.. but when you have 3 strikers, that's not so bad!

[SirFozzie]

We sign 2 players, it's going to bring us close to the internationals limit, but here's what we have:

Hernani might be the bargain of the centuy. He was not going to play for Portugese side Nacional, and we acquire for 10k, a player now worth 2100 times that (as in 2.1 MILLION) He's a Left side midfielder.. and the 20 year old (who has been capped at the U19 level for Portugal), may just immediately break into the lineup if not make us choose a wider formation. He's a player you build a team around.

Pedro Junior is a 22 year old central midfielder, we acquired for 40K from Portugese non-league side Clube Oriental. he's now worth 150K, and he's pretty good at everything. not as much as Hernani, but Hernani's injured, and iffy for the start of the year.

[SirFozzie]

After our first friendly (a 0-0 draw at Rochester where we did everything but score), the Turk visits, and the following players are cut.

Ryan Lopez
Mark Glazer
Jeff Barragan
Paul Morris
David Warren

[SirFozzie]

Allen, Mendes and Smith all score against Northern Virginia, and we win 3-0.

Lopez bugs me that I screwed up one of the first rounders, but right now, even after cutting those 5, we have 31 on roster, and we have to cut at least 3, and one or more of them may need to be internationals

[SirFozzie]

Allen scores his 2nd of preseason, and two own goals provide us a 3-1 win at Western Massachusetts. Now we get down to the nitty gritty. By my count, looks like we have 31 players, and 10 international players. Shit. that means we need to cut three, and they're no bums in the group.

[SirFozzie]

Wolff scores the only goal in a 2-1 loss to Montreal, we have the 2nd annual Revolution Cup (we play DC United, Chicago plays USL2 team Atlanta) left.. and the decisions aren't getting any easier.

[SirFozzie]

Shit, 3 weeks to go till opening day against the Mutts, and Busch breaks a finger on a misstimed catch, which means he's out for 4-8 weeks.

Well, Larsen will get in early I guess.

[SirFozzie]

Finally, Cut day for the Internationals arrive.

Damnit, I hate when I miscalculate so badly.

Our Cut List:
Pirata Castro
Ricardo Faty
Berg

This hurts a lot. These guys will be offered a job if any of my internationals move on.

Now I shall go bang my head into the wall.

Repeatedly.

[SirFozzie]

Well.. one thing is going right.. Steve Ralston and Conor Casey score goals, and we beat DC United 2-0 in Revolution Cup II semifinal action. We will Play Chicago, who beat Atlanta 2-1 in the other semi final.

Khano Smith got a bruised head, but he shouldn't miss much more then the opener (and that's on the OUTSIDE!

[SirFozzie]

Well, we have a trophy, even if it IS our own tournament, maybe that's a good sign.. we beat Chicago 2-1 thanks to goals from Josh Wolff and Daniel Mendes, and win the Revolution Cup II.

next year, I want to be playing in the Concacaf Champion's Tourney (The winners of the conference final play in that!)

[SirFozzie]

The odds makers have spoken

Odds
Metrostars 2-1 (F*** them)
DC United 5-1 (F*** them 2)
Chivas USA 8-1
Chicago 14-1
NEW ENGLAND 14-1
Real Salt Lake 16-1.

[SirFozzie]

We start the year in Harrison, New Jersey against the Eastern Conference Champion Metrostars.

I say that just so my blood will properly be boiling for this game.

What a wild game.

Alejandre Moreno scores for them in the 6th minute.

Conor Casey Scores in the 7th.

He then does it again in the 9th

Josh Wolff makes it 3-1 Revs in the 19th (yes, four goals in less then 20 minutes)

Dunseth makes it 3-2, with a goal in the 27th.

3-2 at the half.

Khano Smith restores the two goal condition 8 minutes into the 2nd half, 4-2.

Casey finishes a hat trick an hour in..

Michael Bradley scores with 20 minutes to play to make it 5-3.

And at the end, your preseason favorites lose to the Revs 5-3.

This is your warning MLS. We're coming hard this year. We're hungry.

[SirFozzie]

We have a game three days later, and we're down at the half 1-0, but 2nd half goals by Conor Casey, Daniel mendes, and a PK by Khano Smith is enough for a 3-1 win.

[RPI-Fan]

When you "cut" players, do they move to the reserves or are they off your payroll altogether?

When you say you'll give them a job back, does that mean assuming they haven't already latched on somewhere else?

Thanks!
~rpi-fan

[SirFozzie]

If they're not on your 28 man roster, they are automatically free transferred.

And I would give em a job, but Berg and a couple others immediately hooked up with new teams

[SirFozzie]

Just taking a couple days off with work and my surgery in the morning, will update when I feel better.

[SirFozzie]

Guess who's back.. back again. Fozzie's back.. tell a.. (checks clock).. never mind.. there ain't no one awake at this time anyway

[SirFozzie]

Our fast start hits a brick wall as DC United takes us behind the woodshed, and only a good game by backup goalie Larsen (who made some tough saves but gave up goals on somewhat easier opportunities), keeps it 2-0.

[SirFozzie]

Well, losing 1-0 to Columbus sucks. In fact, it triple sucks.

A) We lost.

B) We had two goals called back for fouls I didn't see/agree with

C) Columbus's only goal was on an own goal by Pedro Junior.

Shitttt...

We're now 2 wins, 2 losses on the year.

[SirFozzie]

To make things worse, Conor Casey went down hard in the fifth minute, and after the game, it's discovered he has fractured ribs, and will miss a month or two.

Daniel Mendes scored both disallowed goals, but I decide to shift away from the 4-1-2-3 for the time being and go back to a diamond based 4-4-2 for now.

[SirFozzie]

While Real Madrid have returned to at least CONTENDING for La Liga glory (they have bounced back to 4th), Barcelona is 8th, 13 points out with just 5 games to play, and they decide to fire Michael Ladrup after two years as the Catalan giants gaffer.

And hooboy, do they set a chain of dominoes in motion, probably with this one. The new manager at Barcelona? Jose Mourinho, who never was able to get Chelsea to repeat their championship (Finishing 3rd and fourth the two prior years, and they were in third this year, two points out with three to play). What a strange time to be making the change.

[SirFozzie]

I forget to change the tactics 11 days later, as we're home against Chicago. We still have a good front three, but any injuries, and the striker on the bench is Jaime Holmes, and that should be enough said right there.

Josh Wolff scores the only goal for us, after pegging back a 2nd minute Chicago goal, so we'll take the 1-1 draw.

[SirFozzie]

This time I remember to change the tactic, and Hernani finally gets a start on the left side of midfield, let's see what the kid can do.

We take on the Mutts at home..

John Allen is another youngster just getting his 2nd start in a Revs jersey, and he pounces on a Khano Smith shot that wasn't saved cleanly, and in the fifth minute, it's 1-0 Revs, and his first MLS goal.

11 minutes later, Daniel Mendes (in for the slightly injured Josh Wolff), ets the ball on the breakaway, but has a defender riding his inside shoulder.. preventing the cutback.. so he just beats him to the touch line, gets a step, and cuts it back, crossing it to Khano, who heads it home for a two goal cushion. Think I should've made the tactic switch earlier?

It's 2-nil at the break.

In the 60th minute, we make two 2nd half subs as the Mutts try to pressure us. Tim Johnson on for Stevie Ralston (who moved back to defense at halftime), and Jaime Holmes is on for Daniel Mendes, who already has a yellow, and is tiring.

84th minute, Larsen makes a good save, tipping over the bar a Razov long shot.

86th minute.. there's a mad scarmble in the box, Larsen can't save it cleanly, and somewhere in the madness, the ball hits off the post before Luke Vercollone can clear it out.

92nd minute.. the Mutts again hit the post.. this time from distance, on a shot that was curling back, but couldn't QUITE curl enough.

That's the game, and our three game slide without a win is over, as we beat the Metros 2-0.

Hernani gets a 7 (19-30 passes, 1 key, 1 tackle, 1 interception, 2 shots, 2 on target).

Khano Smith is man of the match a 9.

We are now caught up to where I was prior to the break.

[SirFozzie]

Chelsea hire Claudio Ranieri to replace Jose Mourinho, who joined Barcelona.

Up next is Chivas USA, and games involving them are USUALLY high scoring, and this one starts off with a bang, as we are THREE goals up within twenty minutes, (Goals from Khano Smith, a set piece goal by defender Sergio Flores, and a penalty kick by Ralston), and from that point, we just sock it in, and Chivas can't break us down, and it's a 3-0 win.

Khano Smith gets the man of the match award with a perfect 10 rating.

[SirFozzie]

In our next game, against Real Salt Lake, I can retire the award for "Worst Penalty Kick in MLS, 2008 edition" Steve Ralston gets to take a first minute PK, and he hits it wide right. How wide right? The ball crossed the endline OUTSIDE OF THE SIX YARD BOX. He could only shake his head sheepishly while the RSL fans jeered him mercilessly.

Thankfully, the ref was in a giving mood.. ie he gave the gift that keeps on looming, yellow cards, and Nik Besagno picked up his 2nd a half hour in, and combined with a Daniel Mendes hattrick (9th, 38th, and 79th minutes), that's enough for a 3-1 win.

[SirFozzie]

In a shocker, Chelsea win the EPL when both Arsenal and Middlesborough falter down the stretch. So much for Jose Mourinho being a super manager, huh? Claudio Ranieri comes in for the final games of the year, and manages to pull off the unthinkable.

[SirFozzie]

One note I forgot to mention prior to the RSL game is that Khano Smith is the MLS player of the month for April. He's a true system player, as he would only be average in any other system I think, but flourishes for us. This is his 3rd player of the Month award in as many years.

[SirFozzie]

We continue our winning streak, defeating Kansas City 2-1, thanks to a pair of first half goals by Khano Smith. 3 wins in a row, after 2 losses and a draw. You explain it.

[SirFozzie]

Game invalidated by crash, will pick up below

[SirFozzie]

Game invalidated by crash Reposting below

[SirFozzie]

The Games were invalidated by the crash

Now.. time for a little audience participation. I have arranged for another international player to join us at the summer transfer window (August 15th). Yeah, I know, you think I would have realized my lesson :P But.. this is a really tough decision.

I will be posting the two players as soon as imageshack is up. I need you to help me decide whether I should keep Larsen, dump him for Barroso, or trade Jon Busch and let go one of my other international players. It's now June 1st, so we have some time to decide.

(Larsen, our existing keeper.. has been getting to be our #1a keeper this year)

And Alan Barroso, the guy I'm bringing in. For $1,000. There's gotta be something wrong.. but I just don't see it!

[SirFozzie]

Image Shack is very slow, so you may not see them

[winkingpirate]

I think it may be due to his height, I think the game undervalues short keepers.

[SirFozzie]

Had a non-FM2006 computer crash wipe out back to the KC game, so I'll try to quickly resim and see how it turns out

[SirFozzie]

We look awful for the first sixty minutes of the DC United game going down 2-0, but adding Khano Smith on the left helped, as he hit a GREAT cross for Josh Wolff to nod home in the 67th minute to cut the lead in half, and then Ohbum hit the best pass I've ever seen.. from three or four steps past the centre line, curling it into Wolff, who crashed it home, and we had tied it up, 2-2 in the 82nd minute.

We'll take it.

[SirFozzie]

We lose 1-0 to Columbus, and even our best player, Wolff, was average on the day. Our defense is not so good, we'll have to look into improving it.. (more in central defense then on the sides).

[SirFozzie]

Seattle's been bugging me about Jaime Holmes for a while, and I tell them if they pony up $210K for him, they can have him. To my surprise, they accept. I'll take it, this frees up a roster spot if we can acquire a defender.

We re-submit a transfer deal for Barroso, hopefully he accepts again, the selling of Holmes doesn't help, he needs to take one of the International spots.

[SirFozzie]

We acquire Drew Moor from Colorado for a 2nd round Supplemental Draft Pick, he can play central defense and right side defense. He's 24, and was pushing hard to get into Colorado's first team plans.

Barroso accepts our deal, so the clock is ticking, come August 15th one of our internationals will have to go.

[SirFozzie]

Two Late goals from sub Josh Wolff (he's pretty much convinced me that he and Daniel Mendes should start up front with Khano moving to the left side midfield role), combined with earlier goals from Daniel Mendes and Eric Allen, give us a 4-2 win on the road at Chicago.

Long time USA goalie Tony Meola is back in MLS, as he signs on with FC Dallas as their new manager. Meola had 101 caps for the USA, and he'll have a lot of work ahead of him, as Dallas are 10 points out of the playoffs 12 games into the year (they only have 7 points)

[SirFozzie]

The Mutts fire Bob Bradley, and if rumors are true, Crewe manger Steve Cotterill may be the new boss, which says a lot about MLS gaining visibility, last year, Cotterill was managing Crewe in the EPL, sadly they were relegated.

[ice4277]

RE: The Argentinian goalie.

Could your scout be overvaluing him? That's the only thing I can think of that may make things not as they seem.

[SirFozzie]

I dunno.. he is playing for Boca, so the training facilities are good.. but I guess we'll find out come 8/15...

The least said about our game against the Mutts, the better. We get taken to the woodshed, 4-1. ow.

[SirFozzie]

We acquire more defensive help, as we trade for Columbus's 29 year old versatile defender Bryan Namoff for a 2nd round SuperDraft Pick. He can play all three defensive positions, and probably wil lstart right away.

[SirFozzie]

Cotterill does take the reigns at the Mutts. That'll be interesting.

As contracts are now seven months from expiring.. time to make some decisions.

Alex Zotinca (12 appearances, 6.92 rating): Makes $725/wk, wants $750 wk. I offer $725 wk

Robbie Russell (4 starts, 4 subs, 7.00 rating): Makes $2700/wk, wants the same. I offer 2200. He's going to take at least somewhat a paycut if he's going to stay.

Robbie Denton (6 starts, 1assist, 7.17 rating): Makes $600/wk, wants $825/wk, I offer $675/wk for a couple years

Khano Smith (11 starts, 1 sub, 6 Goals, 9 Assists, 8.08 Rating): Makes $850/wk, wants $4300/wk (thank god I have a ton of salary cap room ).. I offer 3800/wk long term.. he'll get what he wants if he doesn't accept it.

Steve Ralston (12 appearances, 1 goal, 1 assist, 7.42 Rating)L Makes $3600/wk, wants 4200/wk.. I offer a 1 year extension at 3600/wk

[SirFozzie]

Russell signs through December of next year, as does Denton.

Smith doesn't like my offer.. I think about trying to meet him half way, and then decide it's not worth the trouble, and offer him what he wants. ($4300/wk, through 2011)

[SirFozzie]

Well.. Ralston is now gone.

He did accept my offer, but then Italian side Ascoli offered us 1.8 million dollars.. and I jumped at it. He's gone as of July 1st, but considering I was looking at him as only a short term option on the right side anyway..

[SirFozzie]

We comeback from the Mutts shellacking and beat San Jose 3-0, on goals by Daniel Mendes, and two late goals from sub Greg Brown (I've gotten lucky with some of my draft picks, I guess, Brown and Allen both have contributed.

[Blade6119]

Its very possible Boca just has a world class keeper or two in front of him so he has spent the entire game so far toiling in the reserves and hasnt had a chance to gain any exposure or value(he is on the reserve team)

Kind of a stretch, but possible