More on Juan Pablo

Allen Hopkins has been spitting hot fire all day today about the backstory on Juan Pablo Angel leaving New York Red Bulls after this year.

Just after noon today he put up on his twitter feed:

Classy JPA has known since MLS ASG in July he would not return to @RBNY. 4 MLS clubs tried & failed to trade for JPA. NOT a big revelation.

Uh, speak for yourself Allen. This is kind've a big revelation to everyone else (unless you're talking about JPA being classy, in which case yeah we got that).

During his appearance on ExtraTime Radio later in the day, Hopkins mentioned that NY basically told Angel "you're welcome to leave now if you can find a team" after the game in Houston. Juan Pablo moving midseason would've been one of the biggest trades in MLS history.

The four teams Hopkins ended up mentioning:

DC United: Not surprising at all. Their attack is anemic and Angel would've been a huge boost. They really don't have any talent to offer back in a trade though.

Colorado Rapids: The shocker of the bunch. NYRB and Colorado did end up doing a trade later in the year, but that was for Ballouchy and Kandji. Not sure what they would've had to give up for Angel, but clearly they weren't interested in dumping Cummings.

Seattle Sounders: This was before they had traded away Ljungberg and brought in Nkufo. This is somewhat surprising to me (not so much to the ETR hosts) but I'm sure they're happy they ended up with Nkufo at 1/4 the cost and nobody lost.

Los Angeles Galaxy: Daaaaaamn. Buddle, Angel, Donovan, Beckham? That's an eff you attack right there. Apparently a potential deal for Angel was a big reason they got rid of Alan Gordon to Chivas USA, to open up a striker spot in case they were able to pull it off.

So we're still not much closer to figuring out where he ends up (although it sounds like he and his family love the NYC area so Philly, New England and DC seem like front-runners) but it will definitely be THE story to watch during the offseason.

JPA 2 NYRB: ttyl

Caught up in the boringness of last nights US/Colombia match was Juan Pablo Angel's announcement at half time that he "probably won't" return to the New York Red Bulls next season.

This isn't entirely surprising. He and Thierry Henry play very similarly as strikers and with nearly $11m tied up in Designated Player salaries already with Rafa Marquez and Henry New York isn't likely to put $500k+ into another striker. So that leaves us with the question: where does Angel go?

He's said his family feels at home in America, so he may stay around with another MLS team. Also, he obviously still has the skill to contribute a lot to any MLS team, and will deserve DP money for at least a couple more seasons.

Some possible targets:
New England Revolution: There have been a couple articles lately that New England is finally ready to open up and pay for a DP who can help them win. Does that mean that they'll go outside the organization to get one or just that they'll give Shalrie Joseph the money he's deserved for years? Or, is this all just a big gimmick to get season ticket holders to stick around?
Houston Dynamo: Assuming, of course, they aren't still bitter from signing Luis Angel Landin for way too much money last time they tried a DP experiment. Sure they could use more help on defense than offense, but they still have the 3rd lowest number of shots on goal in the league.
DC United: Yeah, there's not much good going on in attack here outside of Najar and they've put the money up for DPs before.
Expansion clubs: This idea is a little more out there, but signing JPA would give instant credibility to either Vancouver or Portland's attack.

Also happening last night:

Chicago Fire 0 - 2 Kansas City Wizards
Kansas City had to win in Chicago to have any hope of making the playoffs and they did. Teal Bunbury scored another goal, got an assist, and had a couple other good shots. He's already turned down a callup from Canada (who he also has the option of playing for) holding out hope that he could play for the US one day. Given the terrible play of our forwards recently I say make it happen; let's call him up.

Colombia says "No thanks, MLS"

Colombia released their roster for the two US-based friendlies they'll play in the coming weeks. Despite strong showing from all 3 this year, Juan Pablo Angel, David Ferreira and Fredy Montero all missed out on the callup.

Colombia's roster:

GOALKEEPER
Breiner Castillo (Independiente Medellin)
Farid Mondragon (Cologne)
David Ospina (Nice)

DEFENDER
Pablo Armero (Udinese)
Ivan Cordoba (Inter Milan)
Aquivaldo Mosquera (America)
Luis Amaranto Perea (Atletico Madrid)
Juan David Valencia (Independiente Medellin)
Mario Yepes (AC Milan)
Camilo Zuniga (Napoli)

MIDFIELDER
Juan Cuadrado (Udinese)
Victor Ibarbo (Atletico Nacional)
John Javier Restrepo (Independiente Medellin)
John Valencia (Once Caldas)
John Viafara (La Equidad)

FORWARD
Falcao Garcia (Porto)
Teofilo Gutierrez (Trabzonspor)
Giovani Moreno (Racing Club)
Adrian Ramos (Hertha Berlin)
Darwin Quintero (Santos Laguna)

Now, Ferreira and JPA are not young. I get that. They've had their time with the Colombian national team and don't project to have any real impact in the future. However, they're both playing great right now, are based in the country where these friendlies are taking place, and, in JPA's case, live maybe 45 minutes away from the location of the game October 12th against the USA. I know that MLS isn't looked at as a top tier league, but shouldn't 58 goals in 98 appearances and living just down the road be worthy of a look?

The more interesting case is Fredy Montero. They 23 year old forward for Seattle Sounders has been playing out of his mind in his second season here, and will be a contender for the league MVP award. He's had 4 caps with the national team since 2007, most recently in August of 2009. However, if he's not getting noticed now, you have to wonder when he will be called in.

Look at the forwards Colombia chose instead:
Falcao Garcia - This 24 year old is a monster. 27 goals in 34 for games for Porto, he should be a fixture for some time to come.
Teofilo Gutierrez - 25 years old, recently moved from the Colombian league (where he was one of the leading scorers) to Turkey.
Giovani Moreno - 24 year old now playing for Racing in Argentina after 5 solid seasons in Colombia.
Adrian Ramos - 24 year old who has established himself as a regular with Hertha Berlin in the Bundesliga.
Darwin Quintero - 23 year old with Santos Laguna who plays often, but doesn't have the best goal scoring record

That's 5 forwards, all under the age of 25, and all playing outside Colombia. It's going to be tough sledding for Montero to crack that group considering MLS's (undeservedly poor, in my opinion) reputation abroad.

Of course, it is always possible that the Colombian team didn't want to interupt MLS players at the end of their season when all of them are in the playoff race. It could have been a benevolent decision intended to curry favor with MLS coaches.

Somehow I don't think that's the case though.