The 2016 season is history. Berhalter has so far announced (via interview) that Columbus will be exercising Meram's option year and re-signing Jahn. Discuss.
Gregg gets to earn his salary this offseason, because I don't think that we have a good core to build around. I think Meram & Ola have earned their keep. Other than that, there are major questions around every player. Trapp - technically skilled, but robotic under Gregg. Wil's play this year defined "possession without purpose". I know he's a CDM, but he was too predictable. Naess – Lots to like, but he got caught ball watching on lots of goals. Sauro - injury prone. If the medical staff think his issues have been isolated & he’s fully healed, I think you bring him back. It’s a risk, but so is going & finding a replacement. Tchani - Brings a lot of physicality, and I'd be ok keeping him. But he & the team might both benefit from a change of scenery. Parkhurst - his skillset would be valuable if he were 6'2". But he's not. Finlay - did we witness his ceiling in 2015? What a disappointing year. Pipa - Brings creativity, vision, & technical ability, but is he good enough to be the guy that all of our attacks flow through? He doesn't create much on his own like a Piatti or Kaka. Cedrick - Speed merchant with little more to offer. Afful - Great in the attack, but I'm not sold on his 1v1 defending. Are his attacking qualities worth it? Clark - I think Steve had an ok year. But if we want to pass it around in our defensive third, I think we should have a player that's more comfortable with his feet. Maybe you keep him, but start grooming Steffen. Duka - A guy with his technical ability should provide so much more.... I just don't think he plays with much heart. Saravia - is he that bad that he can't see the field in the last 2 games that don't matter? Where the hell has he been, and why can't we draft anyone in the first round that can contribute?
Higuain - one injury problem that nagged him the rest of the season Trapp - Concussion problems. We all saw how hard it has been to move past those. Lots of people wrote off Chad after 2007. Came out in ********ing beast mode in 2008 and 2009. Give him a timetable for full recovery from knocking his brain around. Eboe
The MLS expansion draft is five rounds. Once a team gets a player selected, that team is removed from the draft. Even though both Minnesota and Atlanta surely know that Wahl is retiring, we can use an unprotected slot on him, right? I mean, why not.
What are you dribbling on about? http://pressbox.mlssoccer.com/content/2016-expansion-draft-rules-and-regulations
This year's expansion teams are getting a little hosed by only getting 5 veterans each, especially Atlanta since they don't get to bring along any NASL players as MNU does. An Atlanta soccer fan blog, Dirty South Soccer, did an analysis of each team's likely protected and unprotected players and said Parkhurst is the most likely player they might take from us followed by Clark and Mbawati. But they said with only 5 players to be gained they most likely won't take anyone from the Crew. That makes sense. And no, the Crew won't have Wahl on the protected list.
This team needs talent. We need 3-4 starters and at least 2 difference makers. This league is growing fast and Precourt apologizes for not meeting his expectations? He knows what his payroll is, not that hard to predict the outcome.
People say homegrowns dont have to be protected, but that isnt 100% accurate. Click the link above, it only seems to apply to reserve and supplemental players, like swanson. Speas got selected last time round, wasnt he homegrown?
Best? Hardly - Ola was our best player. Meram was frustrating and infuriating with his turnovers and "Watch me Messi my way through the defenders".
^ on his way to leading the team in assists, 25% of our total, and 10 more than Higs, plus he knocked in 5 goals. Merams assists are usually the best quality. He tends to really set the table for the scorer. Didn't review his highlight reel, just my recollection.
Meram and Finlay both rely on an effective central mid who can distribute the ball and a forward that can play with his back to the goal and is good in the air. Without that they are often just running pointlessly up and down the side of the field. I'm frustrated by people who say that Afful is not good defensively. I don't know what games they are watching.
#3 in the league for successful dribles and big chances created. While he might have the ball taken away sometimes, his success is better than almost of the league. The point being, on the list of positions that need an upgrade, left wing is low on the list. Maybe just above right back and striker.
If you think either wing can't be improved, you're smoking something. Besides any of the 3 CM positions, what position could improve more than wing? Sauro was excellent when healthy. Naess was solid (few rough games). Ola and Jahn will be fine for strikers if we grab a solid 3rd option Saeid, Tchani, and Trapp left Things to be desired Pipa has continued to decline and is having injury issues. Ethan struggled early on, improved, but isn't playing quite as good as the 2 prior season (but still played like a solid MLS winger). Meram was good some games. And some games he was terrible. Still a good season all around, but I want Justin and Ethan fighting for playing time with a good third option. You could argue LB could be improved, but I think Francis is solid if we nix Parkhurst and upgrade a defensive mid.
Saying he is not our best player does not mean he didn't have a decent year statistically. The sooner we can sell him like we did with Gio, the better.
Don't know if Meram is the"best"player but he is one of the best players on the team. He is no "Messi" but this is MLS and our owner Obviously doesn't have the money to throw away. So you may ask why did he buy a team? Well there is prestige in being a pro team owner,even an MLS team. Even the Hunts,God bless Lamar,could not afford too many pro teams!
Sauro will not be back if what Im hearing about his knee is correct. It is a different knee issue. Saravia is as good or better than Trapp but we all know 3G does not rotate players very much. There is a reason that Larson asked to leave as did Amro Terek(?). I know of one other player that asked to be traded because of lack of minutes. I would not be suprised if Saravia wants to be traded. In my humble opinion, 3G already has a reputation for not giving enough players a legit chance. I also think Martinez did not see the field enough and would have been a better option than Duka.
Yeah it sounds like he had surgery. But unless it was a patellar tendon repair or ACL, he should be good to go around the start of the season. Even if it was one of those, he shouldn't take much longer assuming his surgery and recovery go pretty well.