(Good afternoon all. Apologies for the lack of afternoon posts today but non-SBI duties called me away. Here is a rundown of some stories to catch you up on some of the day's activities.)
Carson to West Brom
So much for that eight-figure transfer fee.
English goalkeeper Scott Carson was supposed to help Liverpool fetch a big transfer when this summer's transfer window opened. At least that was before he struggled with the English national team and with Aston Villa late in his loan deal.
The result is Carson being moved to newly-promoted West Bromwich Albion for the modest price of $6.34 million. Yes, it's still four times more than what Aston Villa paid for Brad Guzan, but not nearly as much as was expected for him earlier this year. West Brom beat out fellow promoted squad Stoke City for Carson's services (And if you're wondering why I led with this, I started to post this in the AM before other things happened).
Earthquakes sign Lima
The San Jose Earthquakes continued the extreme makeover of their putrid offense with the addition of Brazilian midfielder Francisco Lima. The well-traveled veteran of Serie A joins the Earthquakes from Serie B side Brescia, where he spent two seasons.
Oh, and he's 37 years old.
With Darren Huckerby and Scott Sealy already added to the fold, San Jose will be hoping Lima can help boost the worst offense in the league. With a few more players expected to join as well, maybe the Earthquakes can pull off the second-half miracle that not many people think they can pull off.
Houston waives Caraccio, is he headed to NYRB?
The Houston Dynamo, which recently brought back forward Nate Jaqua, bid farewell to Argentine forward Franco Caraccio. The young striker floundered with the Dynamo, managing two goals and an assist in 10 games for Houston.
He might not be out of work long. The New York Post's Brian Lewis is hearing that the Red Bulls are interested in Caraccio. That shouldn't come as a surprise given A) Osorio's affinity for South American players, B) the Red Bulls' desperate need for forwards and C) Osorio's willingness to pick players off the MLS scrap heap (see Andrew Boyens).
And to wrap up:
Yes, I'm aware I'm close to setting a new record for delay in posting a Q&A but it's been a wild few weeks. I'll look to finish it and perhaps post it on the weekend (for those of you visit on the weekends).
I'll be covering the Red Bulls-Galaxy game so be sure to check in here for all your Beckham in New York news.
That's all for now. Share your thoughts on these stories and any others I may have missed in the comments section below.
Ives Galarcep is an American soccer columnist for ESPNsoccernet.com and creator of SoccerByIves.net.
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One thing's for sure, MLS is going to get a lot more competitive in the second stanza of '08. Considering how tight the first half of the season was, things could get ugly this year as teams try to make the playoffs.
Posted by: Eugene | July 18, 2008 at 04:58 PM
"Yes, I'm aware I'm close to setting a new record for delay in posting a Q&A but it's been a wild few weeks."
Oh, don't worry, I'm sure my question asking you for predictions for Euro '08 is just as timely as ever.
(Kidding!)
Posted by: A.S. | July 18, 2008 at 05:06 PM
ives- have you seen lima? does not look at all like a 37 yo. and reports are that he also doesn't play like a 37 yo. time will tell. isn't maldini 40 and still w/ milan, and preki won an mls mvp at 40?
Posted by: frank from sf | July 18, 2008 at 05:07 PM
Lima is very good in the midfield and can defend and go up for offense from the cm and will certainly organize the midfield with corrales
Posted by: Einar | July 18, 2008 at 05:09 PM
I still think caraccio has potential here in the MLS. I mean he is still pretty young for a player just to be dropped.
Posted by: Einar | July 18, 2008 at 05:11 PM
Guys, I didn't say Lima was a bad signing. I simply said how old he was.
Posted by: Ives | July 18, 2008 at 05:19 PM
I thought Caraccio played well in the SuperLiga game on Sunday. Oh well, they are judging him on a whole season, not one game.
Posted by: Felix | July 18, 2008 at 05:22 PM
Ives, you also did not declare the winner of the last You Write The Caption (the Osorio edition). Maybe it is because there was no worthy winner, but let the least bad caption win!
Posted by: BFBS | July 18, 2008 at 05:51 PM
caraccio looked good in that superliga game he played.
from what i saw, his work rate was really high.
i think the dynamo made a mistake unless it was for other reasons than he wasnt good enough.
Posted by: combo breaker karma | July 18, 2008 at 05:56 PM
Ives, you don't have to, I'll say Lima is a bad signing.
I thought expansion teams were supposed to try and get young talent and build from the ground up. San Jose seems to bring in old guys who can benefit the team right now, but who don't seem to create a good base for growth. If that is what Yallop wants to do, so be it, but I think the Quakes should put thier efforts into having a great team 2 years down the road, rather than a competitive team right now.
Sealy, Huckerby, and Lima probably won't be with the team in 2 years.
Posted by: Kaiser | July 18, 2008 at 06:00 PM
Caraccio has been terrible all year except for the Superliga game against Chivas.
Posted by: Seth|NYC | July 18, 2008 at 06:03 PM
Sounds to me like the Clash are downgrading ...
Posted by: KingSnake | July 18, 2008 at 06:05 PM
Hah English goalkeepers.
And as for Caraccio ehh. Sometimes I feel like RBNY operates like Fulham. Spend a good chunk of money, but does it by getting a ton of mediocre players instead of any actual good ones
Posted by: Scott A | July 18, 2008 at 06:11 PM
Kaiser, it seems like your taking the NBA or NFL characteristics of an expansion team and putting them towards the MLS' expansion teams. MLS is completely different because the source of young talent and talent pool for the other two leagues are different than the MLS. If San Jose has the ability to get better through signing older players that may have some quality, there's nothing wrong with that. Expansion teams in the MLS have the ability to become level with the other teams in the league much quicker than those in the NFL or NBA.
Posted by: Cyrus | July 18, 2008 at 06:15 PM
As a Dynamo fan who has attended many games and watched the rest on TV, I can say that Caraccio was a frustrating player. He started the season well but then seemed to struggle immensely. He wasn't very fast, seemed tired, and his first touch consistently let him down. (Incidentally, Ngwenya had problems with his first touch when he came here, too. I can back this up because I lived in LA and used to watch him there, and I'm sure Crew fans would agree, as well.)
He didn't help himself with that embarrassing performance in the USOC. He was pretty good against CD Guad but he had already been told his fate. (I guess he was trying to show off to potential new employers?)
His real problem was his salary: $130,500. Too expensive to keep at his productivity level. Dom really seems sad to let the kid go; I wish we could have lent him out to a USL team and brought him back next year when Jaqua goes to Seattle.
For those who are interested, Bernardo Fallas (the Houston Chronicle's main soccer guy along with Glenn Davis) has a good article about it on his blog: http://blogs.chron.com/soccer/
Posted by: silent e | July 18, 2008 at 06:31 PM
So, who will be waived from San Jose? I seem to count 20 senior roster players now, even after waiving Joe Vide. Unless some of these guys have been downgraded to the Dev. roster?
SJ senior roster:
1. Cannon
2. Benton
3. Denton
4. Hernandez
5. Garcia
6. Cochrane
7. Riley
8. Guerrero
9. Salinas
10. Corrales
11. Grabavoy
12. Gray
13. *Lima
14. O'Brien
15. Kirovski
16. *Huckerby
17. Johnson
18. *Sealy
19. Cunliffe
20. Glinton
IR: P. Jean-Philippe
Dev Roster
1. Gustavson (note: MLSnet lists him as a senior player too, which would make 21!)
2. Lowery
3. Roberts
4. Ayers
5. Smarte
6. Hatzke
7. Kamara
Maybe they will switch Salinas, Ayers, nand Hernandez to the dev roster, assuming they are eligible.
Maybe they will cut Jovan Kirovski, since he has not been used much by them at all since coming over with Kelly Gray.
Coming to a bookstore near you --
Jovan: A Cautionary Tale for US Soccer Supporters
Posted by: sn00zer | July 18, 2008 at 06:37 PM
On a related note, Ives, do you have a scoop on who RBNY will be dropping to make room for the new players?
In Dallas, 3rd Degree says no cuts expected even as team adds 2 new int'l players bc there is room on the dev roster to move Dello-Russo and Daniels back down. Maybe SJ will work something similar out.
Posted by: sn00zer | July 18, 2008 at 06:48 PM
1. I think Ives is making too big a deal out of his age. Lima doesn't look a day over 35!
2. Carraccio to the Red Bulls? You have to wonder just how much change the team can stand and till play coherently. JCO pretty much decided to stand pat to begin the season (just removing a few contributors from last year like Doe and Kovalenko).
Related to the post about MLS becoming more competitive--I don't know if that's the case. Oh sure, teams like the Red Bulls and United and San Jose are making a bunch of changes. But if those changes meet the league average for foreign additions, most of them won't work out (for a variety of reasons). I wouldn't be surprised to see some teams implode (FDC--especially if Cooper goes to Norway). The only team I look at that continues to look strong regardless is NE: deep, fast, lots of contributors and they still haven't gotten anything from Taylor Twellman this season. If he gets healthy and in-form, yikes!
3. First Doe, now Vide. Have the tables turned and DC United is become "Red Bulls South"?
Posted by: John | July 18, 2008 at 11:02 PM
@sn00zer:
Benton gets cut. Glinton moves to the IR. (6 week or season ending? ...don't know.) Those are the most likely changes for SJE.
Posted by: Roblar | July 19, 2008 at 03:19 AM
Ives,
You need to learn how much Aston Villa paid for Brad Guzan. Please reference:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/a/aston_villa/7503296.stm
http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/clubfootball/news/newsid=824623.html?cid=rssfeed&att=
Also, I should let you know that £1 is equal to about $2.
This is 2-3 times you've listed Guzan's transfer fee as $1.5M, which is about £0.75M. The press disagrees.
Posted by: Mark | July 19, 2008 at 04:06 AM
Mark, I will stand by the figure I reported of how much Villa paid for Guzan and will keep reporting. I am also fully aware of the exchange rate but thanks for the info.
The 2 million pound figure was the fee agreed to in the winter window. Anyone who thinks Villa would pay the same exact amount in the summer window, when Guzan was set to leave MLS on a free transfer in six months, might want to reconsider.
Posted by: Ives | July 19, 2008 at 08:53 AM
And John, how did I make too big a deal of Lima's age when all I did was say how old he was? Please explain.
Posted by: Ives | July 19, 2008 at 08:54 AM
Thats a nice bit of business for Aston Villa if they get both Friedel and Guzan for less than West Brom got Carson alone. Martin O'Neill and the AV staff are developing a really good reputation as shrewd transfer players this offseason.
Posted by: JB | July 19, 2008 at 10:31 AM
Man, I'm impressed that the Quakes got a player of Lima's quality, or actually that any MLS side can get that kind of player.
I think considering how good SJ's defense has been and how bad the West is, they have a shot to sneak in the playoffs. Not a good shot, but a shot.
Posted by: Kartik | July 20, 2008 at 11:55 AM