Hey all, hope the holiday season treated you (and your wallets) kindly. I have a bunch of little nuggets floating around in my head for the review (thoughts on Garth, things I'd do if I ran RSL, Ben Cup pictures, etc.), but nothing fully fleshed out. I did want to give a quick update on one thing that is reportedly about to be finalized, and that is the trade of Alecko Eskandarian to Chivas USA for a $125k allocation. Now I fully understand that as a striker, Esky's 2007 season was dismal at best. However, there are a few things about this trade that unnerve me.
1-I have a feeling that Esky is due for a comeback season. This is based on nothing, just a hunch, but still.
2-This leaves us with a striker corps of: Robbie Findley (yay, maybe he'll get some playing time now!), Fabian Espindola aka Espi (almost more of an attacking mid, somewhat inconsistent, but decent), Yura Movsisyan (young, yes, but I didn't see much last year. Like Esky, but slower), Kyle Brown (I like his enthusiasm, but is he MLS ready yet?), and, technically, Jamie Watson (solid backup, but Jason & Garth hate him for whatever reason and he won't be back). This does not instill me with a lot of confidence. They better have a striker lined up somewhere... Maybe Archie??? :D
3-The allocation does us no good since RSL seems to be reluctant to sign anybody who makes more than $25 a month.
4-With the right coaching (I know, I know), I could see Esky making a transition to a solid attacking mid, something this team could use more of.
5-Say what you will about the end results, but in many of RSL's games last year, Esky was the only one making any sort of effort. He fills a "leadership-by-example" role that will be extremely difficult for RSL to fill, especially when combined with the loss of Eddie Pope.
I'm just not sold on the benefits of this trade. Hopefully RSL will take the money and go get another striker and put me at ease, but as of right now, I'm not sold on this one.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
chivas pick up a good backup/sometimes starter striker in esky. with razov getting up there in age they need someone to take some minutes from him.
not sure what RSL is doing, but they always seem to have some sort of plan to not keep decent talent to make room for less talented players.
ps. give me a few days to get the new blog set up. the royal review is linked. settle down.
Post a Comment