Here's a general round-up of Major League Soccer stuff I failed to note or comment on over the past week:
Done & Dusted
Toronto FC
MLS's one and only Canadian team added Andy Welsh to their roster this week. According to the report in Soccer America Toronto picked up a young, left-sided buck in this transaction. We shall see....we shall see....
DC United
Disgustingly, the Capitol's black-and-red were most active this week, siging two players to developmental contracts: Kiki Willis and Kasali Yinka Casal. The latter sounds the more impressive of the two, but we'll never know anything about them for sure till they take the field. Speaking for the rest of the league, I'm hoping for more Filomeno than Gomez.
Rumors 'n' Such
Chicago Fire
Still no Blanco. It's fun to rack up cheap site visits by mentioning his name, though.
Chivas USA
Will the So Cal Goats add Laurent Merlin to their roster? LA Soccer News says new Chivas coach Preki made an offer - not much of one, but an offer all the same.
(############)
Showing posts with label Laurent Merlin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Laurent Merlin. Show all posts
03.02-03.09: Week in TRADES/SIGNINGS
Done
DC United
In what looks like another phenomenon of the rich getting richer, DC United signed another Brazilian, Fred. Or, as his parents named him, Helbert Frederico Carreiro da Silva. Here's to hoping he doesn't adjust well to Major League Soccer. In other DC news, DCenters ran a good interview with new 'keeper Jay Nolly. There's some interesting stuff about picking up and moving across the country in there. Good job, guys.
Toronto FC
Conor Casey finally made it official with Toronto FC. It's nucking futs how long that deal took to come together. With Edson Buddle, Alecko Eskandarian, and, now, Conor Casey, they've got an interesting set-up at forward...and I think "interesting" is about as far as I can go on that one.
In other Toronto FC news, the Canadian also picked up bitter, bitter former Columbus Crew net-minder, Jon Busch. Good luck with it up there. I don't know what Sigi sees in Bill Gaudette, either.
Red Bull New York
Looks like RBNY picked up Chris Leitch. I get this one well enough, though Ives Galarcep, from whom I learned of this one, wonders whether another player will have to make room on the roster.
(NOTE: I'm doing the Robbie Rogers thing elsewhere...there's something about that one I can't stop picking at.)
Rumors and Addenda
The good folks at Sideline Views caught sight of former LA Galaxy trialist Laurent Merlin talking to a Chicago Fire official. Given that's been quiet lately, it probably means nothing, but it's a good photo nonetheless. One trade rumor looking a bit more solid, if far from complete: Cuauhtemoc Blanco to Chicago; Luis Arroyave reported on his blog that the fiery Mexican met with that Guppy guy from Chicago's front office. I remain cool to this move...can't help it.
Finally, I feel compelled to note that former #1 MLS-draftee Steve Shak looks to have signed with the Charlotte Eagles. Fascinating.
(########)
DC United
In what looks like another phenomenon of the rich getting richer, DC United signed another Brazilian, Fred. Or, as his parents named him, Helbert Frederico Carreiro da Silva. Here's to hoping he doesn't adjust well to Major League Soccer. In other DC news, DCenters ran a good interview with new 'keeper Jay Nolly. There's some interesting stuff about picking up and moving across the country in there. Good job, guys.
Toronto FC
Conor Casey finally made it official with Toronto FC. It's nucking futs how long that deal took to come together. With Edson Buddle, Alecko Eskandarian, and, now, Conor Casey, they've got an interesting set-up at forward...and I think "interesting" is about as far as I can go on that one.
In other Toronto FC news, the Canadian also picked up bitter, bitter former Columbus Crew net-minder, Jon Busch. Good luck with it up there. I don't know what Sigi sees in Bill Gaudette, either.
Red Bull New York
Looks like RBNY picked up Chris Leitch. I get this one well enough, though Ives Galarcep, from whom I learned of this one, wonders whether another player will have to make room on the roster.
(NOTE: I'm doing the Robbie Rogers thing elsewhere...there's something about that one I can't stop picking at.)
Rumors and Addenda
The good folks at Sideline Views caught sight of former LA Galaxy trialist Laurent Merlin talking to a Chicago Fire official. Given that's been quiet lately, it probably means nothing, but it's a good photo nonetheless. One trade rumor looking a bit more solid, if far from complete: Cuauhtemoc Blanco to Chicago; Luis Arroyave reported on his blog that the fiery Mexican met with that Guppy guy from Chicago's front office. I remain cool to this move...can't help it.
Finally, I feel compelled to note that former #1 MLS-draftee Steve Shak looks to have signed with the Charlotte Eagles. Fascinating.
(########)
Yallop on the "American Style"
Tucked at the very end of an article about the Laurent Merlin's chance of catching on with the Los Angeles Galaxy - good story, by the way - is an engaging quote from Galaxy head coach, Frank Yallop. In discussing the question of whether Merlin will adapt to the American game, Yallop describes it like so:
Is Yallop on the money there? Or is he just describing the English game?
I'm going to think about this one over the weekend (though not extensively) and see what I come up with.
"It’s a higher-paced game here. We really go at teams and we make sure that its an end-to-end game. It’s not so much possession, though I’m trying to change that a little bit here. I want us to be dynamic as well, though. I want good ball possession for our guys, but also breaking forward, American-style, a cavalier style that we all like to watch."
Is Yallop on the money there? Or is he just describing the English game?
I'm going to think about this one over the weekend (though not extensively) and see what I come up with.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)