It's Been a While

So I know that I haven't posted anything lately as the Fire have been playing quite a few games but instead of talking about the games I have decided to discuss a different subject,: 2013 and beyond. I know this year is far from over and I'm not giving up on the Fire this year because if they keep on chugging out the 1-0 victories I know that they will obtain their goal of making the playoffs. That's a whole other issue that I'm not going to get in to, but why set your goals on just the playoffs? Well anyway lets take a look at the status of the Fire roster.

Position	Player	Age	Contract Expiration	Status
GK	Johnson	23	Dec. 2012	Domestic
GK	Tornaghi	24	At least thru 2013	International
GK	Nolly	30	?	Domestic
DF	Gargan	29	At least thru 2013	Domestic
DF	Gibbs	32	At least thru 2013	Domestic
DF	Segares	29	At least thru 2013	Domestic
DF	Kinney	24	?	Domestic
DF	Anibaba	23	At least thru 2014	Domestic
DF	Berry	23	At least thru 2014	Domestic
DF	Jumper	23	At least thru 2014	Domestic
DF	Friedrich	33	Dec. 2012	International
DF	Walls	22	At least thru 2014	Domestic
MF	Nyarko	26	At least thru 2014	Domestic
MF	Paladini	27	At least thru 2013	Domestic
MF	Pappa	24	Dec. 2012	International
MF	Pause	30	At least thru 2013	Domestic
MF	Bone	23	?	Domestic
MF	Grazzini	31	Dec. 2012	International
MF	Pardo	35	Dec. 2013	International
MF	Alex	23	?	International
MF	Videira	26	?	Domestic
MF	Robayo	28	Gone any day now	International
MF	Pineda	19	At least thru 2014	Domestic
F	Barouch	20	At least thru 2014	Domestic
F	Gulley	18	At least thru 2014	Domestic
F	Puppo	25	?	International
F	Rolfe	29	At least thru 2014	Domestic
F	Oduro	26	At least thru 2013	Domestic

Most of these are guesses on my part with some help with the guys over at HTIOT. For some odd reason the Fire and/or MLS do not like to release length of contracts. The question marks for some of the players contract status are the ones I could not really make a logical guess because there are different rumors out there. Okay so here we go:

• GK: Well we have signed Tornaghi and I'm assuming its not just a 1 year deal but keeping him around for the long run is a good thing and could become our starter for the future.  Johnson's contract I have heard is up at the end of the year but the club holds an option for 2013. This i one of those situations that I can see Johnson leaving within the next 13 months on a transfer leaving Tornaghi as our starter for the future. Nolly's contract is one I have absolutely no idea. Our future looks pretty good in the GK department with the possibility of adding 1 or 2 players pending Johnson's and Nolly's future. Looking like we will have 3/3 returning for 2013.
• DF: In the back it looks like we have a young solid core to build around but the question that remains to be answered is who is going to teach these youngins. The Fire have done well to bring in Gibbs and Friedrich to try to add experience in the center and also bringing in Gargan and Segares on the outsides. What about after this season? Friedrich I believe singed a contract just for this season as he possibly looks to go back to Europe and Gibbs will be coming off of knee surgery in 2013 so we will have to see what he has left. So in the center in the 2013 season we are looking at Gibbs, Anibaba(will be 3rd year), Berry(will be 2nd year), and Walls(no first team action so far). On the outside in 2013 we will have the incumbents Gargan and Segares, along with Jumper(will be 2nd year) who has seen limited playing time. The question mark is the eternally injured Kinney who has not seen any playing time in a couple years it seems like. Looking like we will have 7/9 returning for 2013.
• MF: In the middle of the park it becomes less clear whats going on. We all know the Grazzini situation as he will not be back this season. Pappa has repeatedly stated he is done after this season and wants to go to Europe and there are even reports that Wigan has signed a pre contract with him. Then there's Robayo, complained about being here and not getting any playing time, who should be gone any day now. So what does that leave us? Nyarko just signed a new contract this season. Pause has his contract thru the 2013 season. Paladini should be around through 2013 maybe longer just a guess. Pardo seems to have one more season in him. Alex, we just signed this season but the rumors floating around said he only signed through the end of this season but that doesn't seem right to me, so I'm going to go with that he'll be here thru at least 2013. Pineda I have no idea when he'll start to see some first team action but he will be around for a while. Videira and Bone I also have no clue about because Bone seems to have alot of promise but gets little playing time to develop and Videira is just a reserve player nothing more. So as it stands right now heading into 2013 my best guess is we will have 7/11 MF coming back but in 2014 we could have only 3/11 of the MF that we had at the beginning of 2012. I'll go on further after I take a look at the forward position.
• F: So at the forward position we have a little more stability in terms of the attacking half of the field. Rolfe, Oduro, Gulley, and Barouch are all still going to be here through at least the 2013 season. Puppo's status on the other hand I can't figure out. He is considered the team's DP but yet he doesn't get any playing time because of his lack of ability to hang in a such a physical league. If this organization doesn't release him after the season then there is something wrong. To me i think that we will see the 4/5 returning for both the 2013 and 2014 season.

There you have it, my guesses on the future of this club when you take a look at the roster going forward. The part that concerns me the most is the instability we may have in the midfield going into the next 2 years. What I mean is that the midfield is very important to any team because they are the link between the defense and the forwards when attacking, also they are the ones that help the defense when defending. I believe that having a stable midfield core that has played with each other for years is key because every player can get used to the others playing style and know where each other is going to be. 2013 we should be okay but it is the possibility of only having 3 of the current players for 2014 that is a bit concerning. If you look at any successful team their midfield probably have been playing together for at least 2 to 3 years with the occasional addition of 1 or 2 pieces here and there. I don't want to see player turnover because: a) we are not Toronto, and b) the key to building a successful team is to have that stability. You can't grow as a team if there is a revolving door policy with players. I hope frank and company will go ahead and find players that can replace the players that are going to be leaving with players that want to be here for a while and that can fit this system and make a solid contribution. In no way am I saying that we should sign DP's to make it better. I just want to see stability within the team and players that want to be here playing for the badge because "Tradition, Honor, Passion" is not just a slogan to be taken lightly(I'm looking at you Robayo).