I would like to win my place, according to them I still have the coach’s confidence, I’m still in Seattle’s plans for the future, but in a situation like that you don’t want to look elsewhere and play. Mentally we try to hold on, we hold on, but after a while it will go over the top and we will have to look elsewhere […] I am waiting for this transfer window to decide what I will do, we will see with the club but the situation for me is not good at all, maybe it is good for them, they have a fourth quality defender they can keep but for me, I cannot be this player who is just waiting. I’m clearly waiting for this transfer window to have a clear idea of my future, whether it’s Seattle or elsewhere.
I like AB, but he’s pretty clearly third choice CB in our current lineup and probably fourth if Arreaga is healthy. While he’s played well, I don’t know that he is a starter on this team, even if we move Arreaga. Theoretically, if we could stay in a competition like Leagues Cup or USOC for more than two matches, perhaps he could get some playing time then to show his stuff. Or maybe time as a third CB if we were able to score any goals, to close out games. But if he wants to see if he can be a starter, maybe a move is best.
I see him as different from Big Sam. We had a clear need for another striker who would get actual playing time, given that our other options after Raul were going to be out for big stretches on international duty (JMo) or are better suited to sub roles at this stage in their careers (Fredy). We splashed a lot of money on Heber, when the upgrade was not clear. Sam also is a big physical presence, giving us a very different dimension for a change of look compared to Raul. Would really have liked the team to keep him on. But AB has had good amounts of playing time - I think we know more or less what he’s capable of at the moment, and I don’t see him getting ahead of Jackson or Yeimar. Maybe with a salary bump and moving Xavi we could convince him to stick around as a 3rd CB?
Yeah, I’m with you re: Ragen and Gomez Andrade. I’m a pretty intense Arreaga skeptic, so I’d probably put AB in before Xavi, but that’s more because I think AB is gonna keep improving with playing time where Xavi is probably not, and because AB is on a much less expensive contract – even I would have a hard time arguing Xavi isn’t the better player right now.
I’m hoping we don’t end up talking about AB like we do about Big Sam.
