Who must go in the transfer window?

It’s hard to recall a time when we here at the Soapbox have been so excited for a transfer window, and we’re pretty confident that you are too. It’s unfortunate for people to lose their jobs, it truly is, but sometimes you just can’t cut it in certain leagues and we hope that these players go on to make livable wages in the Lithuanian Second Division. It’s time to break down what we want to see in the upcoming transfer window. Fill us in on your thoughts in the comment section.

Wirtjo Leonard

Regan Dunk

Dunk has had a couple of incredibly poor performances for RSL, he looks completely lost and like a player only fit to start when 15 others aren’t. - Oh wait, that has actually been a thing this year. - He’s been riding the Monarch bench for a few games and when subbed in, he hasn’t really done much. I don’t understand what this club sees in him, and i’m not even positive he deserves a place on the monarchs.

Omar Holness

The only plausibility of Omar staying with the first team in my opinion is if we don’t bring in another CM in the transfer window. Something which I think is extremely unlikely. I still think Omar has potential to be a good player for us. But he needs to either go out on loan, or have repetitive impeccable performances with the monarchs, and maybe he can get a contract next year.

Jordan Allen

I like Jordan Allen a lot, especially as a person, and that is what makes this so hard. But if you can’t stay healthy then you can’t stay healthy. Since 2014 he has only made 50 appearances, and he hasn’t been as productive as a lot of people seem to think anyways bagging only 4 goals and 4 assists in that time. Additionally, in a world where Plata stays, and we keep Jefferson or Brooks after their loan, Allen isn’t looking at getting many minutes anyways.

Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images

Honorable Mentions: AKA guys who probably aren’t a part of Petke’s long term plans and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them let go at the end of the season.

Wingert - (Hot Take Alert) I think of anyone on this roster Wingert has the most of what it takes to be a successful manager, even more than Beckerman. His on the pitch performances have been lacking and so I hope and think that that transition will come sooner rather than later.

Maund/Schuler - I’m not positive that we see both of these guys leaving, but I definitely think it will either be one or the other. We have the worst Goal Differential in the league, and considering that a good centerback comes cheaper than a good striker I would expect to see some new faces come in, either this transfer window or the next, if not both.

Yura - Currently, he’s not worth the money. We’re halfway through the season, say he scores the same amount the rest of the season as he has now. That puts him at 10 goals for the season. THAT IS $200,000 per goal. If he steps up, it might be a different story. We’ll wait and see.

Andy Graff

I am a massive proponent for huge risks and crazy shakeups. I want to see major changes. Petke needs the opportunity to make big changes work for him. So who would I like to see go? Will it look much different from the others?

Center backs et. al.

Except Justen Glad and Tony Beltran, our entire defense needs retooling. Aside from those two, I’m not attached to any other defender. It might not be so much as they need to be replaced as they need to find themselves deeper on the depth chart; either way, we need to see some major changes in defense. We could use some of Rio Tinto’s behavioral changes and major investments in a serious, top-dollar center back.

Yura Movsisyan

I just don’t think he’s bought into the new coach and the coach’s ideas for this team. Tailoring a team around a single player is a recipe for disaster. It might work for a while, but it’s a major calamity waiting in the wings with a torn ACL or a major hamstring injury. RSL is not going to be built around Yura. It just isn’t going to happen. If he can’t buy in, find a way to fit, he belongs elsewhere.

Joao Plata

I think he’s worth more to RSL on the transfer market. That’s not to say that Plata will not one day become one of the best to play for RSL, but I also think he should be shopped around. If the rumors about the Liga MX teams are correct, there’s a lot of business potential to selling Plata.

Sunny

I really wanted to put Luke here. But I think if we can figure out this roster and have Luke as a depth player instead of a starter, he’s solid for RSL. Sunny, on the other hand, is far too inconsistent and broken. He has a game where he blows your mind, then he disappears for weeks, then he gets injured. What we really need is to find our future Kyle Beckerman replacement or move toward a system that doesn’t rely so heavily on a defensive midfielder.

Honorable Mentions (with honorable spelled correctly, Ben)

Kyle Beckerman and Chris Wingert could do this club a lot of good by transitioning into support/training/youth/coaching capacities with an eye on helping this club develop into the future. We don’t want another Javier Morales incident. I also don’t want to see another Nat Borchers or Ned Grabavoy situation. Let’s ensure these guys stay around and use them to RSL’s advantage. Portland doesn’t need any more of our legends working for them. Stupid Portland.

Allen, Holness, Dunk, and Schmidt might just do better as Monarchs. The ultimate point of Real Monarchs is to prepare players for the first team. These guy’s aren’t RSL ready and they’re not getting the quality field time to make them better. Allen might be, but he’s always broken, so we just don’t really know.

Benjamin Smith

This.... IS MY BOOMSTICK!!!!

Sunny

Sunny is could probably do really well with another team where we weren't three deep at his primary position. Beckerman, Sunny and Luke are all fighting for the same position and Sunny has the least upside. He isn't better than Beckerman in defense and he's not better than Luke moving forward so there's no justification in playing him. Better for him to be moved on while he's still got some value in the transfer market than let him go at the end of the season on the off chance he will play.

Aaron Maund

When you get a chance you either take it or let it slip through your fingers and I'm firmly of the opinion that Maund has had more than enough time to grab his chance at our starting center back. I always put players through the Nat Borchers test when we talk about defense. "But Ben, you handsome monolith of a man" I hear you say, "what's the Nat Borchers test?". Well, picture Borchers side by side with a player starting at center back. Do they look like they perform like a player that would be paired with him? If no, then they shouldn't be starting at center back. It's not a position you can go cheap on and I have felt like shirt has trying to make the player rather than the player making the shirt. I think Schuler has more to offer in this spot, Glad has more potential and Schimdt has enough time left to develop into something good. Maund isn't going to get better and he's not doing the job. Time to go.

Yura Movsisyan

Oh Yura, it didn't have to be this way with us. I really wanted to like you, I really wanted to support you and give you my love and my adoration. I just wanted you to give back as much as I gave to you and now I don't think things can be the same between us again.

Yura came back at a time where we were trying to rebuild and galvanize the team and the return of a club legend was something of a fan pleasing move. I wasn't always convinced but I had faith. However so far Yura has done nothing to earn the money he is being paid. Again, he's not a bad player he's just not right for whatever we are trying to do right now which all hinges on speed and first time finishing. He's not performed well enough at a level where he should be leading the charge and that means that something has gone very wrong in the homecoming for Yura. Time to part ways before we continue to sink more money into a contract that's getting us little in return.

Honourable Mentions (with a u because I'm English, dammit!): Wingert should be part of free agency this year but only after he gets a match to honour all he's done for the club. Offers for Plata should be entertained if nothing else. Fernandez needs to either be given a chance or moved on for the good of his career. Kid has talent but he can't sit three deep in the goalkeeper line up forever.

Also, I have strong opinions against Dunk and Holness going Mr Leonard! I'm watching you...

Kreg Asay

OK I’ll bite...

Demar Phillips

Phillips had plenty of promise when he started, videos showed him sending in great crosses, and a willingness to go 1v1. Well now in his 3rd year and we’ve seen occasional flashes of those skills, but more often he just disappears during games. He generally puts in merely an average performance. Danilo Acosta has played 3 less games, and has really looked like more of an impact player - and he’s 14 years younger!

Sunday Stephen “Sunny”

As others have mentioned above; Sunny has some great games, but more often than not he isn’t an upgrade from Kyle Beckerman or Luke Mulholland. Yes, Kyle has slowed down, but he does better in positioning to intercept passes or recover balls, otherwise they’re both pretty similar. Luke is weaker in passing, but much better at attacking and pressuring opponents, and he draws a high number of fouls - (24 so far this year) from which we get set pieces!

50/50 (to avoid the Honorable/Honourable debate)

• Joao Plata: He hasn’t been the sparkplug we’ve known since his injury last year. I believe he still has a lot to give, but he may need a change of venue in which to do it.
• Yura Movsisyan: He’s certainly under-performed for his salary, but as we’ve discussed often on this site it could very well be down to not being used in his best pairing. Cassar wanted him to be a Saborio-esque target striker, but he’s not. Petke has more or less continued it since that’s the way the team is used to now (until he gets the pieces to make adjustments). I think he stays at least to the end of the season.
• Chris Wingert: He makes a decent backup for R/L back, and as we’ve seen could play at CB (though I think it’d have to be another extreme situation for that). But I doubt any other teams will want to pick him up due to his age/salary. He’ll see the season out with RSL and retire.
• Omar Holness: He’s not getting any younger, and riding the bench isn’t helping him. If he stays, it’s likely that RSL sees him as a potential replacement for Beckerman (or Sunny); otherwise shop him around.