2019 Roster Thread

I'm hopeful Porter doesn't see May next year. I am also hopeful that Bez does what Bez wants and doesn't take anything from Porter so that we're best set up for the next coach.

 

You might be right. Or not. I dont think Keita is ready. We'll see what Porter thinks.

 

I REALLY don't think Keita is ready, or anywhere close to it. I don't see what everyone else seems to see there. Yes, he's still extremely young, and he's a great athlete who can occasionally hit a pass with his left foot, but a big part of being a defender is defending. And I haven't seen him do very much of that this year. And if he's still 2 years away from being an actual MLS level defender, which I think is a generous estimate, then what are we doing just gifting him a starting spot?

 

Oddly enough, Sauro hasn't been playing in Mexico much. Two games, one of which he got a double yellow late. Listed mostly as out injured with a hammy. Perhaps we made a good move there.

 

Depends on how you like analytics. I posted (hard on my phone to find) that no one has dribbled past him in something like 500 minutes which is the most of any defender in the league. His one on one defending suggest he is more than ready. I would say his positional awareness and reading of the game are important to develop.

I would love to see the advance metrics on his passing stats. I would also say the player to his immediate left doesn’t provide the same type of outlet as Milton would.

 

I want to keep him and tend to agree with you but what if the staff is all in on Keita and want to start him with Mensah ?

i would keep him for sure

 

Yeah, I remember reading that info you posted. It passes the eye test for me. He's got very quick feet and just seems to manage to stay in front of anyone dribbling at him. He's got centerback size and left back 1v1 ability.

Why do we play him over Lalas or anyone else? Because we want to be a championship level team in 2021. Getting the guy as much playing time between now and then gives us the best chance at that based on our current roster. Especially if it's Keita and $1M GarberBux or something in the greater than $500k to improve the squad in other areas.

He has all the things that make him valuable aside from his playing ability: young and extremely cheap. Having guys that are MLS average at their position but take up basically no cap room are so helpful in creating a team in this league. He's MLS average now I think or certainly not far from it. He will get better.

Valenzuela, Keita and Diaz are players I want this team to be built around or at least be the supporting level players that we are using to enable us to grab the MLS elite level players needed to be champs.

 

Speaking of Valenzuela... Though I am hopeful he returns to pre-injury form, I am not taking it as a given. Does anyone have any recent good news about his recovery?

 

Between potential injuries, match congestion, any desire to start making both of those even more challenging if you have any desire to win Open Cup, or play in CCL, depth is king. Why, for cash, would you trade away a young rising star like Lalas when right now, you have Lalas/Mensah/Bouba at CB. Not to mention the tactical flexibility that gives you if you ever want to drop three studs in the back.

I don't know what will happen either obviously, and I think it it is exciting to see play out, but my gosh, for every on the pitch reason, I hope we keep him.

 

The clowns running FC Kentucky say they're "open" to trading colossal DP bust Fenando Adi and will consider offers.

I bet they would. The problem is, a box of cookies or a half can of paint would be overpaying. What a disaster

 

Myers posted a video of him running back on 9/6 and has mentioned him working out off to the side of a couple training sessions since then. Seems like promising news.

Here’s proof that Milton Valenzuela is, in fact, running now. #Crew96 pic.twitter.com/1J9cL2K9uS

— Jacob Myers (@_jcmyers) September 6, 2019

 

Trade him to the Dayton Dutch lions for a gift card

 

Murphy posted a video of him taking some shots on goal yesterday

Milton Valenzuela hitting some long shots. #Crew96 pic.twitter.com/kXkxg1aoCf

— Patrick Murphy (@_Pat_Murphy) October 2, 2019

 

Having good players on your roster is important. Totally agree with you about Lalas, he's in my 12 guys I'd protect for sure. I do think that there is a line, I posted some thoughts about what that might be, where it is more valuable to building our roster to trade him than to have a back up. Center back, like goalkeeper is a spot where you put a guy there and he plays 90 minutes. Back ups don't get minutes. I want those minutes to be with Keita now even if Lalas is better.

 

Saw this on Reddit and thought it might give the tactical geniuses on BigSoccer something else to argue about:

Trapp Game: How Caleb Porter has changed the Crew

All kidding aside, I liked the article. My eyes kinda gloss over when stats get used to analyze soccer. Still, the authors do a good job of showing the data, then explaining what it means to the statistically challenged. Obviously, the stats that Bez employs to quantify how well the team is playing will be more professional than what you see here. Still, he is a self-proclaimed stats guy, so why not?

First off, I wouldn't have bothered to post this at all, if the authors hadn't won me over with how it begins:

"Slithered..." nice word choice.

The executive summary is that:

1. In one year, Porter hasn't dramatically changed the way the team plays, but;
2. there has been clear transformational change, most evident in where and how Trapp has been asked to play;
3. defensively, we pressure a little bit more than we did under Berhalter, but not much has changed.

Basically, Trapp's been pushed much farther up field, no longer slots back between the two center backs like he used to under Berhalter. Porter wants him to be directly involved in a faster attacking scheme, and not play a linking role between the defense and attacking midfielders. This has had a pretty dramatic effect on his passing efficiency (it's gone way down due to him attempting longer, more aggressive passes in the attacking third, as opposed to the long linking passes to defenders - Afful and Valenzuela - he used to make under Berhalter). And this has had a negative effect on Zardes' productivity.

And:

The stats and graphics are pretty interesting, IMO. You want to show just how bad of a passer Guzman is, just check out that WOWY graph. Because that graph also compares passing in different segments of the pitch from last year to this one, it also shows that Higuain was also pushed way up field in 2019 compared to last year. For some reason, the piece ignores Santos; I'd be very curious to see the transformation in his positional play and passing compared to last year.

 

I understand what you're saying but after a season of constant backing and filling on the back line due to injuries, callups and what have you I hope you won't think it snarky of me to say that "backups don't get minutes" isn't strictly true. Sauro goes down, Mensah goes to Ghana, on and on.

Josh Williams is a backup. (Who spent some timeout injured) Crognale is a backup (who also, IIRC, got a bit dinged up). Keita was a backup and would have seen precious little action were it not for the aforementioned exigencies. All three of those guys saw a lot of minutes.

 

@Minnman I wanted to post that article yesterday (I came across it on Twitter, but also visit their website regularly). I just didn't have the time to break it down like I wanted. Thanks for taking the time. That WOWY graph stuck out to me too:




It illustrates what I have believed I was seeing, that our central midfielders are being asked to be more direct and get forward, they're just not very good at it.

 

Totally agree with you so it's very hard to take it as snark. Obviously back ups will be needed. This year has been a bit unprecedented for center back injuries though. Usual back up use would be a starting pair that plays 23-25 games maybe? Not going to do that research but it sounds right. WIth maybe both those guys playing 29 games, just not all with each other.

Of course you could start Lalas, find a way to get Keita games via a loan and deal with the same lackluster backups we have now. Or grab the "sell high" cash for Lalas, start Keita and deal with the same lackluster backups as needed. Or keep them both, start Keita and have a coveted Lalas on your bench just in case (and be better prepared for injuries and absences, no doubt).

This is the stuff we pay Bez for. I am a self taught soccer nut, never even lead the corporate challenge in goals during my playing career, but I like to think I have a decent eye for this stuff. I think at some point Lalas is too valuable to keep.

 

Agree. Quick example - Last game, ball on right side with time. Guzman standing still at top of 18 arc putting both his hands up in air. Diaz correctly (to me) judged that a standing still Guzman would never get to a ball played to him, not cleanly. But Guzman, lazy ********, could have made a hard 5 yard run giving Diaz a small wimdow to hit a Hard pass on ground. By making a run Guzman would have kept himself open to receive the ball instead of Guzmam’s dumb idea to only be open at the time the ball was played. He never would have remained open just standing thrre flat footed. But 5 yards was too much to ask w/o a guarantee for him I guess.

I got really pissed off watching it.

 

Just did a quick stat check for center backs over at https://www.americansocceranalysis.com/asa-xgoals

We're the only team in MLS this year to play 6 different players listed as center backs. Only 4 teams played 5 guys CIN, COL, SKC and TOR. The majority of the teams played 4 guys. ATL, MIN and RSL played 3 with FCD having the healthiest pairing, only starting 2 guys listed as center backs.

Cursory views show that most teams had a preferred pair with guys getting over 2000 minutes. Mensah played the most for us with 2225 minutes to this point. He's got the 29th most minutes for a CB in the league. We just didn't have a healthy go to pair all year. A few teams had pairings that basically played all the minutes, here's the top 11 minutes played guys through 33 games:



Obviously you want 2 guys who are good, get better by playing together and to have a couple of semi capable guys who can happily ride the bench and give you some meaningful games several times a year.

Crognale I have totally soured on, just hasn't made the leap, I'm no longer clamoring for him to get minutes or a string a games to improve. But he's cheap, happy to be here and has no other options. Williams is too pricey for a back up, ok to let him walk.

I think Mensah, Keita, Crognale and a draftpick/waiver draft guy would be a fine way to start 2020. Lalas is a luxury asset.

 

Good stuff.

I agree completely on Crognale. This season was a huge opportunity for several players who, on a better team or one with fewer injuries, would have spent the season picking up pinnies and cones or discovering the scenic beauty of Harrisburg and DesMoines from a bus seat.

Keita made the most of his shot and elbowed his way firmly into the picture. Crognale had every chance to do the same (in fact Porter was almost begging him to) and simply did not deliver. I'm not ready to give up on the kid by any means but it's abundantly clear that he's not ready for prime time.

As for the rest, I keep envisioning the nightmare scenario where we trade Lalas and then, in week 4, one of the starters gets banged up and out trots Josh Williams again.

 

What’s the big deal with letting Keita sit next season behind Mensah and letting Mensah walk when his contract is up? I think Mensah has been one of the most improved over the past two years but he is extremely expensive and we’ve got two very capable young guys waiting in the wings.