2012-13 Crew Offseason Roster Thread

I'm not sure I buy the whole Vukovic dog house meme around here. How many left backs did we off load? 3? Do we really think the team offloaded all the other left backs when the head coach was not a fan of the one guy they actually kept?

 

Article in the Dispatch a few hours ago discussing the future of Duka and Vukovic: http://www.dispatch.com/content/blogs/covering-the-crew/2012/11/duka-and-netzo.html


Highlights (lowlights of our moronic coach):


Vukovic said his contract is for three years but only the first was guaranteed.

“I like Columbus and I like the players,” he said.

During the season, head coach Robert Warzycha told me that Williams earned the spot over
Vukovic because of “responsibility.” Vukovic said he did not understand why he lost the spot.
Asked where the coaches told him they needed to see improvement, Vukovic said, “I have no clue. I talked to him, but I don’t agree with him. I think of the games I played, and I think I played good and I did some good stuff for the Crew. I had three assists and many good things, I think. I talked with him and he said I must do this and this. I tried, but when I do it how he wants it’s not good because I do it like before. Every time is different. I don’t know.”

“I think I played good, but then I had the problem with my ankle and I had to rest for a few weeks,” he said. “I came back, but then I didn’t play again. I wasn’t happy with that. Like everybody else, when you don’t play, you’re not happy. Now the season is over, I don’t know. I like Columbus. I like everyone here and guys like Mike (Lapper) and Brian Bliss and Mark (McCullers). Everyone who is here is good people.”


Notice a name missing about good people. Is the unnamed as big a nutcase as Piotr Nowack was in Philadelphia?

I would like to shove "responsibility" up Warzycha's dog house!!!

 

I agree with you, kind of. He cut Francis, which made you think that Vukovic was his man, but then we hear that Anor is starting to play at left back in training/reserves....bit weird but not unheard of converting a winger/wide man to full back. Then Anor actually starts a game at left back (was Vuko injured maybe?), gets injured and basically since then Vuko has not seen the field, being replaced by a center back.

Just trying to piece together these things, and I am not able to rule out a dog house scenario.

 

IIRC Vuko and Miranda both played poorly against Montreal in our loss to them, then the next week Anor and Williams were starting out wide against SKC, both screw up, Anor tears his ACL, Williams takes over at LB for a game against DC and then Vuko injures his ankle midweek vs Stoke

 

Your memory is pretty good.

July 8th at Montreal: After we went up 1-0 in the 64th we seemed to bunker, as we almost always do. Vuko played poorly in that game with a yellow on a foul on Nyassi in the third minute. He later messed up in the 78th minute by tightening in the middle on Nyassi, while leaving the wide open overlapping Valentine. Gaven pinched in as well and Vuko couldn't recover, but almost did. But he did have an assist on the goal, as he sent in the corner. Anor was called over immediately and you could see the anger on Warzycha's face. I'm betting that was a talking point that week as that was one of Duncan's keys to the game. He was taken off in the 81st minute when the game was still tied at 1-1. Nyassi gave him trouble all game. Sometimes Vuko would step up in that game and Marshall was just sitting way to far back for no apparent reason, with no Impact player even close. Thus when he attempted an offside trap it wouldn't work. Birchall pushed Mapp down in the box to give the Impact the winning PK in the 89th minute. I give partial blame to Miranda as he pinched in resulting in Birchall gaurding two players out wide. Anor made several mistakes in that game in the little bit of time he was in, but Montreal was unable to finish the chances.

Anor started the next game against KC, had an early yellow, and assisted Kamara in KC's second goal by passing it straight to him. Anor did well with the free kicks and took several deep shots. The assist on the KC goal was well after the ACL tear in the 63rd and instead of taking out Anor, Warzycha took out Tchani and Williams.

 

RW also has Finley playing at LB.

Mendez talked about how he was rushed back to playing, so he injuried his hamstring again.

Higuain he is a DP because the Crew paid a transfer fee and the fee only apply's to this year, I have no idea what his salary will be next year.

 

You re-negotiate and still have that Friedel/Keller situation where the backup is just as reliable as the starter, but to do so would mean who-knows-what for Lampson. You know Hesmer, and even Gruenenbaum won't be around forever and Lampson seems like someone they'd want to cultivate into a future Crew starting GK.

It would be nice (maybe even a bit selfish/greedy) to keep Hesmer, but I wouldn't be surprised if he is let go. Plus, there was that Dispatch article from earlier in the year that could suggest he's ready to move on.

 

This is where the dog house situation is sealed for me. When Williams and Anor had their mistakes, RW stood up for them and blamed the injuries.

But Vukovic has one very bad game after playing a large roll in a defense that had the back on lockdown for the early part of the season, and suddenly he's the one who needs to be responsible.

What's more, I haven't crunched the numbers, but my memory tells me that our once solid defense started springing leaks when we slid Williams out on the left in July.

Bottom line in my book: Vukovic should stay, but he's all but out the door. That Dispatch article sealed it.

 

It is all on RW. You're right, when he moved Williams out left, the defense lost a lot because RW weakened the base of the spine. Williams did a serviceable job on the left, but we'd likely be still playing if Vuko had been utilized

 

This is always hard for me. I think J Willy was our best defender this year, hands down. And yes, our best CB option. BUT I like him on the outside too because he is a real threat going forward. With a little better luck, he would of had 6 or 7 goals. Until Higuian and Jario, he was our best attacking threat many games. So, I think I understand a little bit about why RW kept him out there.

Now that we got our attack sorted, maybe he'll stay at CB. But the Crew sort of always had those streaking outside backs. I wonder what his preferred position is.

 

If you take our best CB out of position to somewhere else and play a weaker person in that position, then said position is just that: weaker.

Mendes is alright, and James a bit less so. But let's look at an x factor here. The impact of Williams pairing with Marshall and what Marshall doesn't have to cover for when Williams is there.

That said, Marshall was his own bowl of shit for large pieces of the season, but on the other side of Marshall needing to cover for weaker CB's, Williams is also better cover for Marshall than Mendes or James.

So, like I said, if you take our best CB out of the spine to somewhere else and play a weaker person in that position, then the spine is just that: weaker.

 

His getting skinned by DeLeon during the second DC game still stings a bit.

 

Can someone tell me what these league resources are that Bliss says we're getting?

Danny has not fully recovered from injury. I say give him a full season next year. But I am a biased fan of his so take that as you will.

 

I think the Crew get some allocation money because they missed he playoffs, I think that is what Bliss is talking about.

 

I think we said that following the great leadership exodus of 2010, and then again after 2011. Dude just can't stay healthy. And to top it off, he's too slow now. Not that he was ever super quick before, but he's even slower now

The time has come to part ways.

 

What date do contracts expire in MLS?

 

If we get rid of Hesmer's contract can we at least use some of the money to give this girl free season tickets? I'd consider that a step in the right direction.

http://deadspin.com/5955624/todays-...w-two-bare-breasts-of-a-crew-supporter-[nsfw]

 

A couple of points here:
if we let go of hesmer (or he retires) we are 1 injury away from a disaster. The only reason we were even competative this year is because we had a compatent backup. Lampson is not proven. Again, Lampson is not proven.

Vargas is a waste of good cap space. heineman never impressed me. Meram is ok, but not a wing player. renteria is worth keeping. I think he is a beast off the bench and is good enough to start 10 games a year.

Our wide midfield was a major disappointment this year. Gaven was solid but noobody else stepped up. After years of Ekpo, Rogers and Gaven, I was spoiled with quality and speed. (not necessarily goals). duka has showed he doesn't want to play wide. Meram sucks at passing. finlay and speas are raw. we need a quality winger with speed. Imagine Higuain sending through passes to a speedy winger. it would open up our midfield and lead to better offense.

i think between marshall, james, and williams, we have a good centerbacks. we need a LB, (josh gardner anyone).

I thought milo was solid and capable. Birchall is an asset. Mendes is a quality player.

Gerhig scares the hell out of me.

Bottom line is cut 4 waste players and bring in 2 game changers and we're in the playoffs. do we need 30 or 31 players? How about 28 or 29 better quality ones?

 

Interesting note: 2008, 2009 and 2010 champions all missed the playoffs the prior year but had added a significant amount of talent leading to their playoff run.


*Edit: RSL did make the 2008 playoffs, but the prior year did not. This was the year (08) they signed Espindola and Morales.