Le Belge's What I Want For Christmas List
The top five gifts Santa can bring DCU this year.
1. A great coach. One who can pull us above the morass that is MLS soccer into something that resembles a flowing, attack oriented style of football that will leave us breathless from cheering all the time and the rest of the league in the dust.
2. A new stadium. We need to find a new site and at least sign an agreement to build a stadium this year, otherwise St Louis or Baltimore will start to look more menacing as alternative venues.
3. A dynamic playmaker. I know that the idea of a playmaker is so passé in modern football, but I want one, preferably Riquelme. If not Riquelme, someone as good as Etcheverry used to be or at the least as good as Gomez. Where to find someone like that…I don’t know, that’s Santa’s job. If we can’t find someone quickly, then I’d settle on spending the DP money we won’t use on Riquelme to bring Seedorf in for a couple of years. He is getting on in years and might be ready to make the move.
4. A rock solid stopper to pair with Jakovic. A stone wall that will have opposing attackers wish they were on the bench . Nelson - if we could get him back, maybe Needham if he wanted to come back or possibly Opara if he is as good as folks think he is.
5. A target forward who scores goals – someone in the McBride, Ching, Zamora role – but who can score 12-15 goals a year while also having the kind of workrate where he can fight for balls, hold up balls and feed our other attackers. I also want him to have some height so he can get a head on the ball and we finally score on a corner kick. If we can’t find someone who quite fits the bill, then I’ll settle on using the DP money we don’t spend on Riquelme for someone like Raul, Van Nistelroy or Henry to give me some thrills for a year or two while Pontius or 2010 draftee Andre Akpan develop.
I will stick my stocking up against the wall at RFK. Hopefully I will not find it filled with coal come Christmas day.
The coaching consensus builds, and I'll build myself on the importance of #2 when I get to my own list. There's no way in hell we're getting Nelsen back, and I just haven't been impressed when I've seen Opara play. Needham? Does success in the Norwegian second division mean he'll be "rock solid" in MLS? We've already got a project in James. Do we need another?
It is interesting to consider the approach that the front office will take with the DP slot (assuming Emilio is either gone or on a significantly reduced salary). I suspect that the "stylish" Kevin Payne won't sully himself by going with a big target forward. Riquelme? Great player in the right setting, but do I think MLS is that setting? Nope.
Thoughts?
No comments:
Post a Comment