Photo: Paul Rudderow
(Author’s note: This post was updated at 6:42 p.m. to reflect the official confirmation and terms of the deal.)
Philadelphia Union have traded center back Bakary Soumare to the Chicago Fire for a 2014 second round draft pick and an undisclosed amount of allocation money.
Soumare confirmed the deal in an email to the Philly Soccer Page this morning. The Union announced the deal Thursday evening.
““We are thankful for Bakary’s contributions to the Union and wish him the best of luck as he continues his career,” Union manager John Hackworth said in a statement posted on the team’s web site.
Soumare, 27, joined the Union last June from Germany shortly after the man who secured his acquisition, former Union manager Peter Nowak, was fired. The Union had traded a first round draft pick and allocation money for Soumare, who had been an all-star with Chicago before leaving for Europe and was expected to anchor the Union’s back line. However, Soumare was carrying an injury that failed to heal properly and missed all but one game last season.
This year, Soumare went into training camp healthy, but Union manager John Hackworth opted to keep converted midfielder Amobi Okugo at center back, where he flourished last year under Hackworth. Okugo started with newly acquired Philadelphia-area native Jeff Parke at center back on opening day, leaving Soumare on the bench.
Soumare privately requested a trade after that opening day game and then forced the issue two weeks later when he went public to PSP about his trade request. Hackworth said he would accommodate Soumare’s request.
The trade would ostensibly take Soumare’s $310,000 base salary off the Union payroll, unless the Union pick up part of the tab.* Soumare’s departure potentially frees space for other acquisitions, such as a left back.
Soumare expressed interest in going to Chicago, in part because he had previously played for the club and still maintains his home there. Chicago’s top center back, Arne Friedrich, has been out all season with an injury, and there have been indications he could end up retiring because of it.
This post will be updated as more information becomes available.
Well I hope we got SOMETHING for him.
He never was a Union player. Never bled the blue and gold.
I bleed blue and gold and I a going straight to the hospital.
i wouldnt exact love an organization that wouldnt let me pursue my dream
Fuck the Union.
Terrible move.
Worse than ANYTHING Nowak did.
Also, RIP Okugos career. He is NOT a CB and his honeymoon at that position has been long over.
Down with Hackworth.
It is what it is. He was never going to start here.
And I feel the same way about Okugo but I suspect turning Okugo into a national team center back is kinda of a Hackworth legacy project.
Totally Agree.
Agreed
Is this a Union thing, an Okugo thing or a Soumare thing?
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Seriously, you cheer for and defend maybe the worst goalie in the league yet the next minute you crucify your club…which happens to be overachieving.
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What would make you content with the Union? I’ll never understand some folks around here.
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I swear the moaning about Soumare leaving isnt about Soumare but about Okugo.
yea and?
It’s about being a terrible decision all around. We lose a good CB. We lose the ability to play a talented young DMid who has NT potential there at DMid. We expose both positions to major liabilities (CB to injury, DMid to the fact Carrol is old and looks old).
The Soumare situation had a chance to work. The worst part is Hackworth didn’t even TRY to make it work.
The depth at Dmid on the USMNT is far too deep to consider Okugo. He has a much better shot of making the national team as a centerback.
In the 2 matches I’ve seen Carroll play with Kleb he’s looked really good. I want to see that play out.
At some point in the season your gonna have to accept that Okugo was never and will never play as a DMid this year. Even if Carroll gets hurt.
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Apparently Soumare having requested a trade after the 1st game never gave it a chance to work either. You can’t put this on only Hackworth.
Its a Hack thing. What would make me content is a manager who puts the best XI out there. Not a manager who wants to mold players into what he wants them to be. Its almost June and this team has no fluidity, Kleb situation is a prime example. If Hack would a started him sooner this teamwould be more comfortable together. Baky opened up other people on set pieces and was physical on D. Okugo has good ball skills and better vision and touch on his passes than BC, and would help link the mid with the forwards. That’s why u see him move up more and BC drops back when they are down a goal. What if Parke gets hurt again? Hack is so frustrating. Baky actually took control of the back line last game, something I haven’t seen since Valdes was here. For the record I never said anything about Zac. He’s young and I expect growing pains. In his defence he’s had ALOT of breakdowns in front of him. This team has more problems than zac and hack could of pushed him more by signing Hartman. Why does Daniel still see the field? That decision pretty much sums up Hackworth not to mention all the other terrible decisions he makes.
We gotta take one or two players back on this as Chicago needs to get rid of some salary to make this work.
Prediction – Duka and Jumper.
There is also the rumors that the Union are persuing Kader Keita
UnionRumors (who did get this right weeks ago) seems to think the Union will no pursue some Africian winger named Keita or something.
Keita’s wikipedia page has him on Philadelphia Union!! Check it out! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdul_Kader_Ke%C3%AFta
also Fire might not need to drop much salary depending on how much money they get back for selling Robbie Rodger’s rights.
Lindpere is another option too. I don’t think the Fire will give up Segares, who the Union probably asked about at one point.
“The trade will take Soumare’s $310,000 base salary off the Union payroll, potentially freeing space for other acquisitions, such as a left back.”
hahahahahahahahahaha,ohhhh Im ok, I got it under control…hahahahahahahahahahahaha
This team will have a negative payroll when they dump Kleberson in January. First of all, Dan, can you confirm the whole salary number is off? They wouldnt bite a month ago with the U rumored to be paying half.
No, I can’t. I’ve updated the post to add that caveat.
I’ll bet we pay a portion….Dumbasses that we are! You’ll see.
We have dumped two bona fide MLS starters within a week (Soumare to me was our best player on Saturday, and it wasn’t close). Meanwhile, Cruz and Daniel—who have been consistently wretched from the word go—still get starts or at least meaningful minutes, we play Gaddis and Okugo out of position, we have zero (ZERO) backup depth at center back and have not a single legitimate left sided player on the roster. I’m groaning audibly.
I get he wanted to leave, but I was hoping that Okugo could take over for Carroll and allow Soumare and Parke back at CB. Guess not.
Soumare and Parke aren’t a very good pairing. Not enough speed.
Ellis this is the 2nd post you’ve made that is actual smart and rational. You know your soccer my friend.
Carroll looks like a totally different player when he can actually play a real d-mid, because we have someone who is actually playing a real attacking mid.
I wouldn’t mind Okugo playing some D-mid, but Soumare and Parke are to slow, they need to be matched with somoeone like Okugo. You can’t have 2 slow CD’s You can have 1 matched with a more athletic one. I do think that Soumare could be better then Parke, especially long term. But Parke wants to be here and Soumare didn’t.
I like Soumare – a big, physical back who can take up alot of space and win any challenge. That said, in this defense no one should feel secure about their job. I’d like to see more defenders going forward in attack, and Soumare’s skills certainly supported that. Take away the final twenty minutes against the Galaxy and the Union have allowed one goal in three games. The midfield is the real problem; they are not recognizing opportunities or are too slow to react to them. I would have thought Keon Daniel would have been gone long before Soumare.
My only concern at this point is what happens if Okugo and Parke are taken for the Gold Cup. That may not happen, as Klinsmann has indicated he wants to field a quite strong team, so Okugo’s youth and inexperience at CB might mean he stays behind and Parke goes, or neither. But, if one or both does go, who plays CB? Albright?
If you were Klinsmann would you really take either one?
They woudn’t be near the top of choices but it’s not that farfetched. Parke has NT experience and could be one of the veteran presences on the team.
Okugo had a honeymoon period at CB and was a youth NT member (at his real position though, of course) and if he gets in a good run of form and get lucky he could get a call up as well.
Not likely, but it ain’t like saying MacMath deserves a GC call up either.
For the Gold Cup? Sure, why wouldn’t you? He could cap tie Okugo, and Parke is solid. It’s to be a B team. Those guys are at that level. Even if you think Okugo’s not, the cap-tying is notable.
@Dan +1.
Guess you guys care more about the NT than the U. LOL
Sounds like a question for a Wednesday Hack conf
Keita’s wikipedia page already has him listed as playing for the Union.
That was done four days ago. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Abdul_Kader_Ke%C3%AFta&diff=555997250&oldid=549145268
That could just be an overzealous commenter
we need….
1. a left back
2. a veteran goalie
3. a true left winger
4. a better right winger
5. a back up center back
Agree 100% and in that order.
No……Let’s trade some more starting caliber players and then pay for them to play elsewhere.
Only if we get nothing in return.
We need a better front office and manager!
Ives is reporting that the U will eat a lot of the salary this year, but it will be free next year…
4 years in and we are still “building for the future.”
We’re the freakin Pittsburgh Pirates of the MLS. Eventually, we have to try to put a current competitive team together. I just don’t see it happening. We have, what, 4 natural defenders on the roster (including Albright who is a player-coach/local-face)? Inexcusable.
It could be. They might eat some. We’ll see. SBI has multiple basic facts wrong in that story and (as usual) relies entirely on unnamed sources. But he often gets these inside-the-league-office scoops right in general, so we’ll see what happens.
Remember that Garfan money? *poof*
I’m withholding all judgements until the terms of the trade are announced. Chance that the Union shoots themselves in the foot – 80%.
Talk about people overreacting.
We dont know what we got, we dont know what it may help us do in the future.
Did anyone learn anything from the Gabe trade? Maybe Hack has a plan.
For the record, his performances likely upped his value and we are selling while he is “peaking”. We now avoid an injury risk and his value lowering once he gets benched for a healthy Parke anyway. This is good business.
What exactly was the plan from the Gabe trade?
Welcome to the PSP! We overreact when everyone leaves! Especially after they play a total of 4 games for us!
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But really this isnt about Soumare leaving. Its about Okugo, apparently he’s ready to be the USMNT Dmid…just like Williams was ready to be the USMNT RB two years ago.
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Cant wait to see everybody melt when Carroll leaves 🙂
Yea because you are totally not overreacting at all. And adding a strawman in there to boot.
This isn’t just about Okugo. Who even with an improved Carrol, Okugo could have potentially could be a better Younger player at his position.
Saoumare could have been a better younger version of Jeff Parke at his position. But as what it is pretty obvious right now the Union make personnel decisions based on short term PR and not for the long term benefit of the team.
We still don’t have a proper Left Back.
And It isn’t just a matter that we field suspect players but players seem to regress or stagnate.
So very few people are freaking out, yourself not included. And there are plenty of good reasons to be annoyed at the front office.
Somebody’s got a case of the could haves and maybes. Thats cute.
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As for long term benefits…we do have a pretty young team (Maybe youngest in the league?)…and could Okugo actually benefit as a DMid in the future from his time as a CB now?
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I think starting young players is conducive to a bright future, no!
There’s a column here, I can feel it. 😉
Starting young players? Baky is 27.
Okugo is 22. Carrol is 31…
Not so bright a future if we keep recycling young players and players in their prime for what? nothing?
How bright can our future be when obvious solutions aren’t even tried.
Have our best team game all season and then trade the man of the match.
Only 4 starting players were over 24 years old against Chicago.
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Bodes well for future and long term benefits for team. Is your argument for future or present?
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Best team match, should we re-arrange two positions/players then?
What exactly was that plan? You mean his decision to stubbornly start Gaddis no matter what, due to his decision to stubbornly not play Garfan in the midfield no matter what?
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I mean I know Cruz and Daniel are hall of famers…
I heard we’ve got a bid in for this guy.. http://www.thebiglead.com/index.php/2013/05/23/mario-gjurovski-celebrates-goal-by-removing-shorts-wearing-them-on-his-head-gets-red-card-video/
I can live with this
I love the facts that (i) he was already on a yellow, and (ii) after a deliberative pause, he does this, gets his second yellow, and then reacts to the card. Um, dude, you put your shorts on your head.
Trade Garfan, get money back. Get rid of Soumare, lose his salary. After we lose Kleberson atthe end of the year the Union will basically have no payroll. What does it matter if our midfield is shambles and the defense is one injury/call up away from ALBRIGHT STARTING.
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Obviously its all overreaction right now because we don’t know what we got back. But I think people are upset at losing two starting quality players within 2 weeks.
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If we don’t get a player back, a LEGIT player, for Soumare, then this is a ridiculous trade. I don’t want to hear allocation money and a draft pick. We need players on our team RIGHT NOW. Although I don’t even know if Hackworth would play whoever we got back, bc he is in love with Gaddis/Cruz/Daniel.
Well, we are going to need some payroll room if we want to actually keep JackMack. That boy is going to have to be paid… Going to have to pay Okugo some good money as well. Aren’t their rookie deals almost up?
They are going to become expensive players next year. No more Generation Adidas.
We aren’t gonna keep Jack Mac if you were his agent would you tell him to stay in Philly or test the market?
Last Year Nowak traded away Mwanga, Califf, Letoux, Mapp, Miglioranzi.
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This Year Hackworth got rid of Garfan, Soumare, Hoffman, Valdes, and Adu.
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Thats one hell of a team we let go. However Hackworth hasn’t been as vilified for his moves. We need someone to be a GM who knows what they’re doing, and isn’t just looking to save money, and isn’t looking to protect his favorite players.
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With the current group, we will be having these same conversations 3 years from now.
Not the same at all. Hoffman was terrible. Soumare wanted to leave. Valdes wanted to go back to Columbia so that he could make a world cup team. And can we finally give up talking about ADU. First he was drastically overpaid. However, the real reason hes gone is because he was a locker room problem. The players HATED him. He felt like everything should have been handed to him and Hackworth knew that. Thats why hes gone. And Klebersons not a bad player either.
Well said.
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Soumare kinda parallels Adu. Overpaid and felt CB spot should be handed to him and not earned…dunno bout him as a teammate.
Relax guys I was mostly joking. Nowak was a cancer and ridiculously bad.
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However I don’t agree with a lot Hackworth has done, even though he is not even remotely close to the level that Nowak was horrible.
I understand the concern. I think the big difference is that Nowak was trading away bonified starters that wanted to be here, while Hackworth is trading away disgruntled depth. This is a concern though since if players start to go down we could be in real trouble. However, asides for the continued playing of Keon I have been pretty happy with the starting line up this past week. Even Cruz with all his downfalls adds a different dimension that has exploited opposing defenses.
Soumare wanted to play, above all else. I’m sure he’s glad to head back home to Chicago, but if he was starting for us, he wouldn’t have asked for a trade and would have been perfectly happy here. He’s been a quality professional the entire time he’s been here, and I think he deserves more respect than he’s getting for that.
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MLS is a high-turnover league, especially for teams who are trying to improve their quality.
That would be an interesting team… maybe something like 4-3-3
Adue – Hoffman – LeToux
Mwanga Mapp
Mig
Garfan Valdes Soumare Califf
Hoffman-Mwanga
Mapp— Adu — LeToux
Migz
Garfan- Califf- Soumare- Valdez
Very interesting!!!!
If we’re forming such a team, I’d put Andrew Jacobson in for Migz. Maybe Jordan Harvey at RB?
LOL @Migs.. He always looked 110% clueless on the field
yeah “looked”
I’m not trying to over react, but I hope we get players or are planning to use the cap space to get some, because we are very thin in places despite what hack and the FO want to say. Also some one correct me if my math is wrong; but we gave up money and a draft pick to get him, we then trade Garfan for money and a draft pick, now we trade Baky and money to cover the bill (presumably). So if my math is correct that leaves the Union with a net gain of -1 Farfan and some money? Maybe it’s that new math thing that I don’t understand.
As per 3:41 update The longer this plays out more I think a 3 way deal with La might be going on.
The hole managament is screwed up. Fuck hackworth and the hole fereral office. This team will never win anything until they have basic knowledge of running a football club
I hate to be negative but my gut tells me we get nobody in return for Soumare AND we pay a portion of his salary. That’s just how Sak rolls! I hope to hell I’m wrong!!!
One thing we know for sure is that Soumare isn’t going to come back and beat the U during the regular season this year. At least any trade didn’t happen until after they swept the Fire.
Don’t count your chickens yet. Still one more game against the Fire on 8/3…
Although “play me or trade me” may represent disgruntled players, it also could show players who are working hard, playing better than others in practice, but never make the pitch because marginal players have “free pass”. Think Cruz, Daniels and Carroll in that current mix.
+1
At least with Garfan (still didn’t want to see him go) we received pretty good compensation. It’s not going to help us in the slightest this year of course (or maybe next), but at least it was a good deal.
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I really just hope that we get something decent here, an actual player, who will PLAY on our team THIS YEAR.
Agreed. Sad to see Garfan go but what we got was a good deal. Looking at what we got for Soumare this was horrible. Wish Hack saw something like this coming and maybe drafted a LB instead of a Winger who will take years to be ready to play LB. Or maybe not cut the CB we signed post draft who immediately got signed by the Galaxy. This isn’t some pick up game where we can just play whatever position is empty this is a professional team I pay to watch right?
SBI says all we got was a 2nd rounder and allocation…
If that is true I am going to kick my cat…
I am going to have to report you to PETA for your actions!
Who needs depth? Terrible decision.
Do we have any defenders left on the roster? If somehow Okugo was called up and Parke was hurt let’s say, what would our back line be?
Albright, Carroll, Williams, Gaddis? My god…
This guy was the last Nowak/Guiterrez trade and in hindsight it was an awful, horrible trade for the Union. Soumare didn’t want to play for the Union and wanted to return to the Fire, plus he was on really big wages in MLS terms (I think he was the 5th highest paid defender in the whole league). This trade was more of an opportunity to clear his bloated salary off our books. In 2014 we should now have alot of free salary to re-sign young players (who I’m sure everyone wants to keep) like Jack Mac and Okugo, and also allow Hackworth to add to the core of this team with player(s) that he can scout, recruit, and bring in himself. Now lets flip a secound round pick to Toronto and bring back Califf for defensive depth!
With Hack playing bums like Daniel, Cruz and Carrol (last two good games aside) and being the architect of the most embracing swing and miss in MLS history (the LB draft situation), and thinking Gaddis at LB is a good idea, I am NOT prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt going forward.
And please, bringing Califf back would be an insult. We trade a all star level CB who we could have made work for a CB whos skills no longer exist. Califf is done. He would just be a PR move.
“Most embracing swing and miss in MLS history”
Well aren’t you a fan of hyperbole. They missed out on a couple of second rounders. Well, I can’t even say totally missed out since Anding and Richards are in Harrisburg right now. Calm down.
“All star level”?! He had one good game, and that was against Chicago, one of the most offensively inept teams in the league. Everyone is overreacting. Yes, we got a bad deal, but this should free up space for Keita, who should drastically improve our wing play. Hopefully we can get more offensive depth at a better price.
The deal is official. I’ve just been informed.
My cat has been kicked.
Wow, we really bent over on that one.
I could see us trading him for the 2nd round pick and a small allocation, but the fact that we also have to pick up part of his salary for the next two years as well just kills me.
Oh, and we have one less defender to choose from as well. Well played.
The draft pick and money I saw, last I checked picking up his salary was just speculation, has that last part been confirmed?
Yea. So there is that.
This team is just going in circles.
Big Ben…Parliament…
I’ll spot you that Chivas is the worst run club in MLS. Where do we rank? 3rd worst after TFC?
Is it overreacting to question what the plan is? Those of you siding with Hack, what flavor is the Kool Aid? Would you carry 1 natural CB and no LBs? Would you accept future draft picks while your team often looks out of gas today with a third of the season completed? You’d be hard pressed to find moves that resoundingly favor the U. Yeah, Chivas overpaid for Garfan, but which team now has a player who can play LB? When Parke tweaks his hammy Saturday eating poutine in MTL, how happy will you be with Albright at CB? This is the Jordan Harvey deal. The Andrew Jacobsen deal. LeToux for MLS magic beans/allocation. It smells of empty pockets and a lack of vision.
Umm, a 4th year team. We made the the playoffs in our 2nd year. Are on target to get to the playoffs this year and we have a real solid young team and plenty of cap space and we don’t have a DP.
I think we will be fine, chill out guys.
On target in May is not on target in September. You need depth to rotate a squad so players don’t wear down. We barely rotate our squad when we have depth now we have no choice but to keep our back 4 starting every week. God forbid anyone in our back line gets hurt for a long period or gets called up. I don’t know where we have cap space we were tight up already and are still holding Soumare’s contract for a large portion this year. Unless we have enough money to sign 2 defenders we could see our playoff spot slip away come August.
I think playoffs in the MLS aren’t a good metric for success when half your division is horrible and the other half get into the playoffs by essentially being not horrible because half the division gets into the playoffs.
Seriously I hate the playoff structure in the MLS
Seattle is a 5th year team and have made CONCACAF CH League. MTL is a second year team that will probably dismantle us.
What is the advantage of “plenty of cap space” when they dont use it wisely?
What is the advantage of “we dont have a DP”? To play Danny Cruz more?
We are in 5th/playoff spot by dint of beating crappy teams. Current playoff teams handle us easily and expose the talent gap. We like to think of guys like Marfan as “talented”, and often read here and other U sites about our talent level. We are either not as talented as we think we are (most assuredly) or our coaching staff has yet to unlock the potential through technique, formations or lineups to challenge the top teams (most assuredly as well).
It isn’t overreacting. It is a reasonable reaction from a fanbase who witnesses with each passing year very questionable personnel moves that do not strengthen the team.
Dan Walsh Do you really think the union has any national team players on their roster.. Only one is Zach Pfeffer and he might never put on a union jersey again..
There is no way and of these guys would make the national team any better
Also its a joke to hear people talking about jack mac playing in Europe.. he does not have the skills and the mental toughness it takes to play in a top division in any country..
I am upset with the way the union don’t play the best 11 players week in and week out.. You cant tell me that torres is not a better player than daniels.
Also can you give me your thoughts on the staff set up .. I think curtin should be sitting right next to hack…
Yes, the Union have national team players on their roster. McInerney, Okugo and Parke at least are all Gold Cup quality. Are they more than that? Maybe some day, but we don’t know. Mac and Okugo are young.
Mac playing in Europe? Sure, I can see it. Man United? Barcelona? Odds are against it. Everton? Fulham? Championship? Sure, maybe some day. You’re too hard on him. The dude’s 20.
The staff setup? I don’t have great insight into that. Seems like a decent group of coaches that lacks overall experience. But I don’t know. I’m not in the practices. I don’t experience it like the players do.
+1 Dan. Why bash the league leader in goals scored. and UPSET please tell me the last time that a 20 year old was leading the league in scoring 1/3 of the way through the season. I would bet that it has never happened in MLS history. The kid has loads of potential.
Because he is short and slow, at least by the standards of EPL and La Liga.
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That’s a great thing. We will have to pay him, but his salary will be DP level, not multimillions, which means cheapskate owners COULD pay him if they wanted to. I don’t think they will.
Okugo has always been an overrated central defender. He gets in because we are so thin on Defense.
Jack… Jack is going to the National team. Right here and now I could see him as a Hercules Gomez type with the potential to be much much more.
And as far as Europe? I think he is going to go the Jozy route the Dutch leagues and then who knows.
I think going to a lower European league is the way to go as opposed to go to the EPL and sit like Brek Shae did.
McInerney is listed as 5-10. That’s taller than both Wayne Rooney and Chicharito, for convenient examples.
And so, maybe he’ll go to the Netherlands and just be a star there like Danny Koevermans was. I don’t know. Sieve makes good points.
HELLO! I… LIKE THIS TRADE?
All I know is that Soumare is the only defensive player who actually seemed to have the knowledge and will to organize and lead the defense since Valdez left. I am sure that Gaddis and McMath will miss him. We better get other guys scoring goals along with JackMac. We will need all we can get.
Well… I always like the word “allocation money ” so we really can’t judge the value of the trade. Tough. We will see.
running out of words. sigh.
First Baky, now I’m hearing Alejandro Moreno doing the Cruz Azul C.A. match on ESPN2 so you know he’ll be next…
I’m coming back, baby.
And I’m really excited about the great players the Union got trading by trading Bob Somary and Gareth Farphan.
I defended you Bob!!! It’s in writing – look it up!
Anyway, we do need more footballers named Gareth. And Xavi. Definitely need us some of those.
Okugo gets a call for Gold Cup, Parke’s hamstring doesn’t respond, please tell me the two CB’s who replace them? Anyone think Union get 6 points against Chicago without “disgruntled” Soumare available to fill in at CB? Good teams rotate players in during the year to keep players fresh, competing and having game experience for playoff run at the end of the season. Bad teams choose 11 and scratch their heads about what to do when injuries occur.
+1
This is amazing, we are a second rate, lower level team in this league. We act like we are poor and have no money. I’ve never seen so much allocation money pile up. What the hell am I paying $18.50 for a beer and a hot dog if we can’t keep anyone here.
Because you overvalue processed meat and watered down suds?
[Except for the Boddington’s — LOVE that stuff]
Does anyone know if allocation money collected by a team HAS to be used on player salaries or if it can be used in anyway the team wants?
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Just wondering if it is possible the FO could be using that money to pay off debts or things like that and have no intentions of reinvesting that money back into the roster.
It can be used to (i) acquire other players, (ii) pay down certain salaries, or (iii) be given to Nick S as magic beans.
He gave up a perfectly good cow for those beans.
Yes. It can be used toward transfer fees too. For a rundown, check out this story.