Another RSL Trade : Klein for Sturgis + Findley?
After the Cunningham trade I thought it was apparent that new head coach Jason Kreis had given up on Real Salt Lake's season. Publicly he was saying that it was a good team that was assembled but in trading away a player who can score 12-18 goals in a season the actions were saying "we're toast; time to rebuild".
If the new trade rumor turns out to be true, it'll further solidify that theory for me. The rumor is that RSL has traded Chris Klein along with some salary cap space to the LA Galaxy for Nathan Sturgis and Robbie Findley. It's hard to say who's getting the better deal on this.
Klein has seemed to struggle at times this year. But it's hard to make too much of that given how poorly those around him have played. He brings a veteran presence and a midfielder who can score 5 - 10 goals and the same with assists.
Sturgis looks to have a lot of talent that already has him looking like a decent MLS player. It could be that Kreis sees him as a replacement for Eddie Pope (he plays as a center back for the US U-20s). Robbie Findley, well, he's got talent but I have yet to see anything out of him that would give me reason to think he's going to make it. The MLS' history is full of players like Findley that come in with a lot of promise and stick around for a few years until they've shown they're not going to cut it.
As to which side got the better deal, the devil will be in the detail. It could be that both sides got the better. Findley could start to settle in and turn into a nice sub that nabs some late goals for RSL. Sturgis could end up giving RSL's midfield some bite. And Klein could help give LA some badly needed offense on the cheap. There's no reason their has to be a winner and a loser. The one thing we can be sure of is that in bringing in a vet RM like Klein, Yallop is committed to playing David Beckham in the middle of the park.
3 comments:
Dude, are you for real? RSL got a way better deal on this trade. Klein is quickly headed for retirement while Sturgis and Findley are two bright spots in the youth ranks. I'm shocked LA is making this move since they've been loading up on salary...now they trade away about $150,000 in salary for Klein's $187,000? Doesn't make sense. I think Alexi is going off the deep end with all this Beckham noise going on around him.
It could be. I'm not sold on Findley like many others are. Nor am I sold on Sturgis. In that sense it's more because it's going to take another year or two for him to get where he's capable of playing. Remember it took Ricardo Clark a couple years to really learn the ropes (BTW, why did the Metrostars trade him?). As for Klein, I'm not sold on his decline being emminent. He's a good vet that's been playing on a team that right now is a bigger mess than in it's expansion year (2005) Plus we have yet to see what RSL is kicking in to get Klein off their hands.
But I'm glad you mentioned it. I think this trade is a good contrast in the teams approach right now. Kreis has written off this year and is trying to bring in some young talent to build a team with. LA on the other hand has decided they're willing to sacrifice things down the road to try to make sure they don't miss the playoffs in 2007.
i think something that is missing from this discussion is that there is talk that sturgis will be leaving for europe rather soon, and that RSL ate part of klein's salary.
time will tell . .
DMH
Post a Comment