I'm by no means trying to hype this guy up, but the goals to appearances ratio can be very misleading, especially when you are looking at a young player. That being said, this appears to be more of a depth signing with the though that he could maybe develop into a player that can regularly challenge for a starting spot.
Try to keep up with @RobShow95 and his highlights! 🏃♂️💨🎥 // #Crew96 pic.twitter.com/PghSMs9QOd— The Crew (@ColumbusCrew) January 18, 2019 Let's break down this epic 35 second highlight video that Crew social media dares us to keep up with: 0 - 5 seconds - Heart Shaped Hands!!! Is he a Kei Kamara fan?!?! 5 - 7 seconds - A Goal! 7 - 8 seconds - Fancy editing shows Robinho running backwards before taking a pk. 8 - 10 seconds - PK goal, well taken. 10 - 17 seconds - Fancy dribbling in the box and then a pass off to a player who may or may not have gotten off a shot. 18 - 21 seconds - Nice flicked on goal 22 - 25 seconds - Nice goal from inside box. 26 - 28 seconds - Goal Celebration 29 - 34 seconds - We are back to the five second clip of heart shaped hands that opened the video 35 - title card Remarkable. Nearly 30% of this highlight video is one goal celebration and another 20% of this is dribbling and a single pass that may or may not have resulted in a shot on goal. Give us all the cups.
Similar to how justifying Bendik as a Kempin replacement as backup GK worked for me, I'm fine with Robinho as a replacement for Martinez. Maybe something clicks for him and he becomes a legit option for the wing. If not, it's not like he has to do much to match Martinez' input the last couple years.
Seems like Hansen, Opoku, and Robinho are all there to try to push/supplant Santos & Meram in the wide spots. Hansen may well have done so last year before he got hurt. Jimenez, Sosa, & Argudo can also play wide in a pinch, or a FB is we go defensive or 3 in the back. Martinez didn't give us much end product, but there was industry and flashes early. If we could get 15 goals and 20 assists from our top 3 wide players, that would be huge for us. Last year: Hansen (3 G, 3 A, 22 G, 11 GS, 1,031 min); Santos (1 G, 7 A, 30 G, 29 GS, 2,221 min); Meram (1 G, 1 A, 9 G, 7 GS, 595 min); Martinez (0 G, 2 A, 14 G, 11 GS, 841 min); Grella (1 G, 1 A, 12 G, 5 GS, 480 min); Sosa (1 G, 1 A, 3 G, 10 GS, 385 min); Opoku (0 G, 0 A, 5 G, 1 GS, 150 min); Argudo (0 G, 0 A, 18 G, 6 GS, 630 min). That is just awful production from MF. And it wasn't as if Trapp & Artur (1 G, 3 A combined) gave us much either. Getting Zardes, Pipa, Valenzuela, & Afful some help is priority #1. First we will see if Porter can guys on the roster to do it. If not, big move in summer.
I have no idea. I am however of the opinion that we should do what we can to sign more good players, and less not good players.
I dont understand why we need another young unproven winger. Hansen and Opoku are both young and have shown some good stuff and should be given the opportunity to push Meram and Santos. I feel like Robinho will probably just push Opoku out of the picture. If we were going to sign a winger....it should've been a proven goal scorer worthy of a DP or at least TAM level contract.....who can walk right into the team, punch Santos and Meram in the face and start. At least Robinho wont consume a bunch of cap space but he is an international roster spot taken up. Hopefully he comes in and surprises everybody. About his stats....The 14 goals in 119 appearances doesnt look worthwhile for us....but the majority of them were this past season on loan at Santa Cruz, I think like 8 goals in 38(?) appearances....granted thats Serie C and I dont know how that level of play compares to MLS.
Artur was a bit player in Brazil but has been a consistent starter in MLS. Maybe Robinho will amount to something. We completely lacked speed last year. We completely lacked any skill whatsoever coming off the bench. Maybe Robinho can fill this hole.
Fair question. My only response would be that international slots aren't the roster limiting variable they once were. Granted, this signing was engineered before Porter and Bez (I really hope auto correct quickly learns that, no, I'm not really referring to Joan Baez when I type Bez) came on board. Still, the previous regime was pretty efficient in gauging roster space for intl slots. What was the market rate to buy one from another club last year, around $50k? Anyway, just speculation on my part, but I'm not sure the Crew are convinced - based on his thin resume - that this guy is sure to have a long term future with the club. Is his contract guaranteed? Maybe he ends up getting traded to another team in MLS. Who knows? We signed a young Brazilian player. Doesn't mean we've made a lifelong commitment to the kid, and I doubt the cost of the acquisition will limit us in any way from bringing in more players.
Artur was being groomed by Sao Paulo to potentially play with the first team. He was never loaned out. Robinho was loaned out to the second, third, and fourth division, multiple times in each division. Cerea is a yoyo club that has spent more seasons in the second division that first. I wouldn't exactly say they're the same. Not saying Robinho will be crap, who knows, but I don't think you can compare a guy from one of Brazil's biggest youth academies to a guy from a provincial second division club.
I'd expect more guys to get green cards too. I'd expect Abubakar to be close, as he went to school here--maybe Artur and Mensah (for example Afful has his).
While this doesn't affect roster status (green card makes a player domestic), I was wondering if any Crew players are going through the naturalization process.
We have 2 INT spots open. Still. Using an INT spot is not a big deal. I continue to be amazed at the hand-wringing about Robinho (& Bendik) signings. These are mid-level, low risk, depth signings. They do not hurt or limit us financially or in terms of roster flexibility. Again, I know people want big signings, but that just is not going to happen until summer. We don't have a full FO or coaching staff yet. We do not have a TV deal. We do not have an Academy or USL set up/plan. We have two stadium/construction deals yo manage. A big/risky roster decision just is not in the cards. We were pretty good last year and have the top 17 guys back. No NEED to rush into a big/poor decision that does limit us going forward. Take smart, well considered steps. One after the other. Pouring a bunch of time & resources into a DP search right now makes little sense. Let Porter evaluate what he has and get a staff hired. Let Bez fill his staff and concentrate on some of the business side stuff that has to happen soon. Wait & see + Bendik, Clark, & Robinho is fine along with the Williams pick and the stash in Lansing of the other pick.
Abubakar has his according to my count. Our INTs are: Mensah, Santos, Valenzuela, Artur, Sosa, & Robinho. There is a handy roster that gets posted with that info on it, BTW.
New regime hasn't caught up with the lazy of the old in all phases just yet? Lalas received his green card back in October. https://www.dispatch.com/sports/20181015/crew-sc--lalas-abubakar-visits-mom-gets-green-card-on-trip "Though his most recent trip to Ghana flew by, the U.S. green card will serve a couple of purposes. Abubakar no longer will count as an international player in MLS and he now will be able to set up more frequent visits with his mother, stepbrother and stepsister."
Did anybody else read this and think "Why does Alexi Lalas need a green card? and "Why are we talking about him in the Roster Thread?"
Ives reporting we have signed Aboubacar Keita to a homegrown contract. Defender that played at Virginia and has been with the US U-20 team. Good pickup but seems like we might move another center back.
It seems Crognale would be the lowest CB on the totem poll, though that's based on Berhalter's system so who knows what Porter will thinking. If Crognale is the lowest ranking CB, I wonder if we could keep him and continue loaning him out.