Some observations:
1. Decisions need to be made on Lowe and Flach, who are out of contract after this season with no team options.
Flach is a Curtin favorite, but Lowe? Maybe it's time to give Craig a shot.
2. Blake, Elliott, Mbaizo, Torres, Uhre, Craig, Raffanello, Real, and Quinn all have options for next season. These players should get a new contract this year, or their long-term outlook with the club is uncertain.
I expect Elliott, Craig, Rafanello, and Quinn to get new deals. I would have expected Blake to, but who knows what's going on with him after that IG post. Mbaizo will probably get his option picked up, either for a sale or one more year of depth. The Union will probably let Torres and Real walk.
3. The Union could have as many as two DP slots available this summer, if Carranza is sold and Gazdag is bought down. They could have a third depending on what they do with Uhre at the end of the season. If Uhre doesn't turn it up, I could see them declining his option and just letting him walk. He's on too much money for the lack of production.
In any case, there's plenty of opportunity for the team to invest in this squad. Will they? There's no excuses other than a lack of ambition if they don't.
I wouldn't be suprised if Mbaizo is let go this offseason tbh. I still haven't heard if there's been an improvement on his family's visa issues and Harriel has won the start job.
I also do see a world that Carranza stays here long term, but its going to require investments over the summer to help convince him to stay.
Carranza seems personally committed to playing in Europe. I also remember seeing he's listed his citizenship as Italian in some places (he has dual citizenship with Argentina). I wouldn't be surprised if he wants to go to Serie A to try to make a name for himself in Italy and make the national team there.
I love Carranza. But every signal we've gotten is that he wants to make the move to Europe this summer.
He can't be bought down. I think it's because his transfer fee was too high.
Honestly, unless Uhre has some sort of revelation, I don't expect him back next year. Why pick up the option to pay so much money for so little production?
Yeah he can't come back. He's putting in effort. Can't fault him for that. But he's either in his own head or there is a legit voodoo curse on him. Either way we can't afford to be paying this much for a guy who's supposed to be a fast goalscorer but only does the first half of that. It might even be better for his career to go somewhere else and start fresh
Uhre is gone unless he has an incredible second half of the season and scores 20 goals. He probably finishes with 10 or 15 at most. He's 30 in September, and whilst it's ok to have strikers over 30, they need to be a striker over 30 who has a clear value to the squad. Uhre isn't that, unfortunately. We could the DP slot resource far better.
So happy the league put these out. Going to be some big decisions for 2025 for us at season end
So it look like if we can re-sign Bedoya, Flach, and Lowe we can run it back next year! Woohoo!!
I always forget that Tai Baribo both exists and is getting TAM money
Some observations: 1. Decisions need to be made on Lowe and Flach, who are out of contract after this season with no team options. Flach is a Curtin favorite, but Lowe? Maybe it's time to give Craig a shot. 2. Blake, Elliott, Mbaizo, Torres, Uhre, Craig, Raffanello, Real, and Quinn all have options for next season. These players should get a new contract this year, or their long-term outlook with the club is uncertain. I expect Elliott, Craig, Rafanello, and Quinn to get new deals. I would have expected Blake to, but who knows what's going on with him after that IG post. Mbaizo will probably get his option picked up, either for a sale or one more year of depth. The Union will probably let Torres and Real walk. 3. The Union could have as many as two DP slots available this summer, if Carranza is sold and Gazdag is bought down. They could have a third depending on what they do with Uhre at the end of the season. If Uhre doesn't turn it up, I could see them declining his option and just letting him walk. He's on too much money for the lack of production. In any case, there's plenty of opportunity for the team to invest in this squad. Will they? There's no excuses other than a lack of ambition if they don't.
I wouldn't be suprised if Mbaizo is let go this offseason tbh. I still haven't heard if there's been an improvement on his family's visa issues and Harriel has won the start job. I also do see a world that Carranza stays here long term, but its going to require investments over the summer to help convince him to stay.
Carranza seems personally committed to playing in Europe. I also remember seeing he's listed his citizenship as Italian in some places (he has dual citizenship with Argentina). I wouldn't be surprised if he wants to go to Serie A to try to make a name for himself in Italy and make the national team there. I love Carranza. But every signal we've gotten is that he wants to make the move to Europe this summer.
Agreed, but I do think there is non-zero chance that he stay here.
Do senior slots not get the homegrown designation? McGlynn
Do we think Uhre is gone after this year? I don’t think he’s lived up to the DP price and at the least should be bought down
He can't be bought down. I think it's because his transfer fee was too high. Honestly, unless Uhre has some sort of revelation, I don't expect him back next year. Why pick up the option to pay so much money for so little production?
Yeah he can't come back. He's putting in effort. Can't fault him for that. But he's either in his own head or there is a legit voodoo curse on him. Either way we can't afford to be paying this much for a guy who's supposed to be a fast goalscorer but only does the first half of that. It might even be better for his career to go somewhere else and start fresh
Uhre is gone unless he has an incredible second half of the season and scores 20 goals. He probably finishes with 10 or 15 at most. He's 30 in September, and whilst it's ok to have strikers over 30, they need to be a striker over 30 who has a clear value to the squad. Uhre isn't that, unfortunately. We could the DP slot resource far better.
I thought Donavan was homegrown
He’s from the area but not homegrown. He was drafted by someone else (the Crew?), let go, and we picked him up.
I think we got him from the draft
There is a 2cd Union profile at the end of the pdf, that adds Bedoya's Player professional development role, and Harriel/McGlynn's homegrown status.