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Marmol leaves Red Bulls, will train with Chicago (but has NOT signed a contract)

Paraguayan midfielder Lider Marmol has left the New York Red Bulls and is heading to Chicago to train with the Chicago Fire. Marmol has yet to sign a contract with MLS or the Fire, but he will train with the Fire and make a decision on whether he wants to stay and sign with Chicago.

Marmol’s extended training stint with the Red Bulls came to an end on Friday after the Red Bulls determined they could no longer wait for something to change in the current deadlock involving them and the Chicago Fire, who hold the first right to sign Marmol within MLS. After being told his time with the Red Bulls was over, Marmol and his representantive arranged for Marmol to head to Chicago to train with the Fire, which had been in constant contact with Marmol’s agent during the past week.

"It’s a big step that he’s coming here and it’s a different thing talking on the phone and meeting face to face," Fire technical director Frank Klopas said. "He’s a good young player who we think can make us better so we’re happy."

Klopas acknowledged that Marmol will need some time to settle in with Chicago, but he believes the Fire will make the 23-year-old midfielder feel comfortable and want to sign with Chicago.

"I can respect that he wanted to play for a certain coach but this is professional sports and sometimes you don’t end up in situations that you want," Klopas said. "We have a first-class environment here with a coach who likes him and wants him here. (Marmol) is a young player and this is a learning process for him).

"We’re confident that he is going to feel comfortable here," Klopas said. "We’ll give him some time to meet the players and train and get settled in and take it from there."

As for this story on the MLS website saying Marmol has already signed, it is wrong.

If the Fire convinces Marmol to sign, it will add a versatile and skillful player who could step in and start either in central defense or defensive midfield. He is a sharp passer, very strong on the ball and has a powerful shot.

Do I think he will sign? As dejected and unhappy as Marmol was with being unable to play for the Red Bulls, I think Chicago will make him feel comfortable and he will wind up agreeing to a deal. Between the veterans on the Fire, and Denis Hamlett and Frank Klopas, I’m pretty sure they will give Marmol the hard sell and make him feel wanted and welcome. It might take a little time for Marmol to make a final decision, but I see him being a Fire player and starter by May (potentially in time for the first meeting between the Fire and Red Bulls on May 25).

The development makes an already disappointing year on the player acquisition front even more frustrating for Red Bulls head coach Juan Carlos Osorio, who had coveted Marmol as the answer to the team’s need for another defensive midfielder to pair with Seth Stammler.

What do you think of this development? Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. I thought I’d throw my two cents in here. To start off, I must say that I am a Fire fan. Every Day, Every Time, No Exceptions, Without Fail. However I do have to comment that as much as I am happy that we may potentially sign Lider, it is a bit unfair to both him and RBNY that the discovery claim rule is written as it is. It sounds as though he is a top notch player who deserves to be playing and getting paid, wherever he plays!

    And to play devil’s advocate, would anyone compare this to Chelsea FC, in which they buy all the quality players so other teams cannot?

    At the end of the day, though, I am happy that we will potentially sign a great defender. It is unfortunate that he will not get to play with the coach he prefers to play with, but such is life. And unlike the Wilman conde issue, Lider didn’t sign a contract with CFFC yet.

    …just my two cents.

    >>>P.S. Ives: do you have any idea when authentic jerseys with authentic numbering will be available? I can’t seem to get an answe from anybody in chicago! lol

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  2. Im assuming this is a coincidence, but it would be funny if marmol signs with Chicago, because the Chicago Cubs have a relief Pitcher named Carlos Marmol…i dont know if its a common name, but its pretty funny i think if they were both in chicago

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  3. Moddy, can you jump off a building?

    Seriously though, how much sports news do you read? If you read much at all you would know that most information in sports stories comes from sources who aren’t named. I read all the top sports writers in the country in other sports, and they’re always citing unnamed sources. That’s the business. Would it be nice if they could reveal names? Sure, but as long as the information gets to me I could give a crap. I’m also sure that team sources, whether players, coaches or PR people, don’t want their names out there because they don’t want to be known for leaking stuff, or don’t want other writers mad at them for leaking stuff.

    Based on your stupid criteria I suppose the likes of Peter Gammons, Chris Mortenson, Ric Bucher, Michael Smith and Sal Paolantonio are all crap journalists since they’re constantly giving us news from unnamed sources. RIGHT.

    I’m just a sports fan and a soccer fan though and since you’re the one pretending to be a real journalist I will leave the expert opinions on journalism to you.

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  4. Man you Jersey cats crack me up–Internetz tough guyz all of ya. If you actually bothered to read what I wrote, you’d see that I made the point that any GOOD writer can cite sources and doesn’t rely on “unnamed” sources for the majority of his statements. If these statements can’t be attributed, that tells me either a:they can’t be taken seriously, or b: they were off the record, in which case they shouldn’t have been printed at all.

    By the way I’m not his fan but Luis Arroyave is a good writer in Chicago. He has the same problem as Ives–lots of rumors, no sources. In addition, they both are wrong more than can be linked to just “unnamed sources” providing wrong information.

    As for telling me to go somewhere else and to “STFU”, last time I checked free debate and conversation were some of the good points of being in America.

    Honest debate is one thing, senseless name calling is another. Since this is your preferred method of communication, you sir are a cad and a heel. Good day to you.

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  5. Moddy, how about you and DaBull go crawl back into whatever hole in Chicago you came out of?

    If you don’t want to believe what’s written here then get the hell out of here. I’m sure there are great soccer sites out of Chicago you can go to (Oh wait, not really). Just because you aren’t used to a writer who actually has sources that reveal stuff doesn’t mean Ives’ is lying. Good writers have plenty of sources to back things up and if he were making things up don’t you think people would stop talking to him by now?

    I read two people, Ives and Goff, and a lot of what they deliver is news from unnamed sources. If the choice is between getting my news from those sources or getting no news then I’m going with the unnamed sources.

    Now go back to Chicago and STFU

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  6. I don’t believe that ALL of your sources in Chicago with the exception of Klopas refuse to be cited publicly. Until you can attribute your information to an actual source, we’re going to question what you write. I’d question ANY journalist that can’t back up his statements (no I didn’t say conjecture, so calm down) with actual references. You remind me of Templeton on the last season of The Wire for some reason, guy.

    Also, I’m not sure the Jersey fans understand this, but Marmol was training with the Fire LONG before he ever came to RedBulls. I’m sure it’s been mentioned in passing, but honestly the reason he was here in the first place, and also the reason the Fire had the claim on him before Jersey did, was because he had already been in Chicago’s camp last year. Trying to say he didn’t or doesn’t want to play in Chicago is one of those half-truths–he DID want to play here LAST YEAR, but that was when JCO was OUR coach.It logically follows that his loyalty is to your coach and has nothing to do with the actual clubs involved. I don’t delude myself and try to claim he wanted to play for Chicago over Jersey–the majority of Fire fans all understand that he wanted to play for you guys.

    The thing that upset a lot of us was the way the Jersey fans aired their “entitlement” issues. Look back to your poster on the last page–“We should get what we want cause we’re special and blah blah blah…” (paraphrased), THAT is what we hate about your club. We hate your coach for basically the same reason–he flaunts the rules and assuming he could pull a player that already had a claim on him shows his arrogance. You got the coach your fanbase deserves.

    p.s. We’re thinking of suing your club for the “New York Red Bulls” claim–did Jersey get annexed and no one told us? Keep it real, k?

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  7. dabull – If you need to be told in every sentence that one of the the most respected soccer journalists in this country corroberated his story with “sources from team x close to the situation” then you have no business reading this site. Get over yourself, or find a new blog to troll.

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  8. Ives,

    Thank-you for your clarifications. I was not necessarily accusing you of conjecture. I was trying to say that while reading your articles there are a lot of times where you make a statement but do not qualify it with ‘according sources from team X close to the situation’ or something along those lines. I was trying to point out that this is what leads to a lot of confusion from your critics. Without those qualifiers some of your statements can be mistaken for conjecture, especially if those statement are controversial for some fans. I feel that some of your stories on the Marmol situation would have been better recieved (at least by me) if it had been more clearly stated that you were using sources within the Fire organization, and also sources close to Marmol.

    “Da Bull, that too is incorrect. Multiple sources have told me that Marmol played hardball with his contract demands because he was trying to force the Fire to pass on him or force a trade. Marmol would have signed the league’s $100K offer the day it was made if it had meant signing with the Red Bulls.

    The delay in Marmol signing a deal now has to do with him wanting to see if he feels comfortable in Chicago and if he believes it is an environment where he can improve as a player.”

    Thank-you for that information. That information would have made the situation a little clearer if it was used in the above story.

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  9. “Him not signing yet should not be a surprise since the major hang-up in negotiations seems to be money, not the team he will be playing for.”

    Da Bull, that too is incorrect. Multiple sources have told me that Marmol played hardball with his contract demands because he was trying to force the Fire to pass on him or force a trade. Marmol would have signed the league’s $100K offer the day it was made if it had meant signing with the Red Bulls.

    The delay in Marmol signing a deal now has to do with him wanting to see if he feels comfortable in Chicago and if he believes it is an environment where he can improve as a player.

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  10. DaBull, everything I have written on the Marmol situation has come from information I have received from sources. I don’t write based on conjecture, so where have I failed to differentiate the two?

    Sources have told me throughout this process that Marmol didn’t want to play for Chicago, he only wanted to play for the Red Bulls. It should also be noted that Marmol only made the decision to go to Chicago after being told by the Red Bulls that they were done trying to figure out a solution to bring him in and couldn’t have him around any longer.

    As for this statement: “t seems you did not reveal that you actually contacted people within the Fire organization with knowledge of the matter until people started questioning your credibility” I quoted Frank Klopas extensively in my piece on Marmol heading to Chicago so exactly how was it not clear where my information was coming from regarding anything relating to Marmol going to Chicago?

    There are some people who are simply going to refuse to believe some of the things I write because they don’t like what is being written and will choose to hide behind the fact that I can’t reveal my sources in some situations. That’s fine, but to insinuate that anything I have written is fiction is overboard.

    I have come to expect the irrational rantings of a select few fans who just have nothing better to do than be negative, confrontational and contrarian, but I would be lying if I said it didn’t bother me that some folks who clearly have no idea what is really going on want to pretend they do simply by believing what they choose and ignoring what they don’t like.

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  11. Matt, tanks for keeping this civil and resorting to name calling. High class.

    As for your question as to why Marmol stayed with NYRB as long as he did, well it was because he thought he could get a paycheck there. I never said that NYRB wasn’t his first choice. I was trying to point out that he probably doesn’t have any problem playing for Chicago. He just wants to play and get paid. He stayed with NYRB so long because they were actively trying to obtain his rights from the Fire. He thought he could get a paycheck from them. Once NYRB had exhausted all their options in trying to acquire him, they told him it was time to move on. He then went to Chicago so he could get a paycheck.

    It was smart of NYRB to have him training with them as long as there was a possibility of them signing Marmol. It wouldn’t surprise me if Marmol was probably told as such by NYRB.

    You’re also missing the point at how contracts are negotiated with players and MLS. The players negotiate with MLS, not the actual teams. Even if he had signed a contract with MLS while he was training with NYRB, he would have to play for Chicago. Him not signing yet should not be a surprise since the major hang-up in negotiations seems to be money, not the team he will be playing for.

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  12. Ives,

    I do have to make this one comment about your writing. In your articles (or posts) sometimes it very difficult to separate statements based on information that you have gotten from sources or based completely on conjecture. I understand you cannot reveal your sources, but some more clarification is needed sometimes. When making comments about the Fire, qualifiers such as ‘confirmed by sources within the Fire organization’ would be helpful. The same goes for dealing with players and coaches as well.

    In the case regarding Marmol and the Fire it seems you did not reveal that you actually contacted people within the Fire organization with knowledge of the matter until people started questioning your credibility (correct me if I missed something). Help us fans out a little bit by referencing your comments a little better so we can make our own informed decisions based on all the information at our disposal. Thanks.

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  13. Da Bull, you are a tool. Marmol was never quoted publicly as saying that he never wanted to go to Chicago.

    And since you swear he never had a preference, let me ask you this: Why in the heck did Marmol stay with the red bulls this long, train this long, if he didn’t have a preference? Why did it take the red bulls actually telling him,” sorry, but we can’t have you and you can’t stick around anymore” before he even CONSIDERED going to Chicago? That sounds to me like somebody who never wanted to go to Chicago, ESPECIALLY when you consider that he didn’t turn around and sign a deal with Chicago right away. No, Marmol went there and wants to feel it out BEFORE signing. That tells me he NEVER intended on signing there.

    Deal with it you Chicago clowns, the guy never wanted to play for you and only now is considering it because he has no other choice.

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  14. such hostility here O.o…

    fact is, Marmol wanted to play with JCO, not NJ…. just so happens thats currently where JCO is at the moment… very well in the next year or so he could be with a completely different team (assuming RBNJ hold up to the pattern of old)

    he’s going to sign for the Fire, as Ives pointed out the fire org. will make sure he’s comfortable and welcomed…. he’ll play his game and the fire will have yet another quality skilled player… when his contract nears ending or ends, then he can venture out… but a quality season or two could see him moving over seas anyhow (if he impresses)…

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  15. When asked about a report that claimed he had no interest in playing for the Fire, Marmol responded, “Those are lies — I never said that.”

    Is this quote a lie?? The popular explanation here is basically “What else is he supposed to say? He’s in Chicago”

    If that explanation is to be believed, then what about all of Marmol’s statements that he didn’t want to play in Chicago? Can we attribute those to “What else is he supposed to say? He’s in New York” since he was training with NYRB at the time those comments were made??

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