Columbus Crew @ La ville aux cent buts (hahaha, goals are buts) | Match 32 - Oct. 6, 2018 3:00 PM ET

I think my favorite moment was the action immediately after Afful's miss early in the game on that very nice Higuain cross. Both Zardes and Santos were running for the loose ball, and Zardes took it and possibly took away a Santos shooting opportunity. Santos just stopped playing and stood there, making no effort to provide a passing option for Zardes.

Good times!

 

And why would Zardes give him a shooting opportunity? I don’t blame him one bit. Santos has what, one goal on the season? The dude sucks and Zardes knows it. Him giving up hardly hurts the team since he’s been trash since he’s been here.

 

Oh, I'm with you...I was commenting on Santos basically quitting on the play. Pretty frustrating to watch.

 

Unless that guy is Santos.

 

Really? Many journalists have claimed Berhalter is having a great season. Doyle, McIntyre just to name two. This has been in the past 2 weeks.

 

It's just really confusing. Haters say GB is shit, but in the same breathe say the team is full of shit players. So, is he overachieving with what he has, or failing with a team that should be doing better? If it's the latter, how does that make sense since the players are shit?*

*I know Hang will go on a 7 paragraphs rant about "GB the GM" etc etc, which is an argument that has its merits, but let's leave this just at the coaching level.

 

This team/season is reminding me of 2016.

Not that terrible, of course. But after the 2016 season, Berhalter admitted that after the 2015 MLS Cup Final appearance, the team - and he - went into 2016 not pushing themselves as much as they should have. I mean, they fielded a championship-caliber team just a few months earlier, right? Why change? And 2016 ended up being a ********ing disaster of a season.

We didn't get to the final last year, but we had a pretty decent playoff run, and finished the regular season strongly. Of course, Berhalter needed to replace Kamara, which he did with Zardes. And he eventually upgraded Jahn for Mullins, though we play with two strikers so rarely that it doesn't much matter. But, in general, this team sat on its hands and expected the same general roster from 2017 to be good enough to match or exceed that season's performance in 2018. Hell, we even brought back an out of form Meram to enhance the similarities.

Was this Berhalter's preference? Did PSV tell him he couldn't go after certain players he was interested in? I really don't know. But this team failed to build on a pretty successful 2017, and is now paying the price for that complacency.

 

Worst match of the year. Highlights everything wrong with the Berhalter system. Possession without purpose, horrendous finishing, crosses without meaning, no ideas in the offensive third, defensive breakdowns that are punished. Utter lack of urgency in an important stretch.

 

A lot of our fanbase is more blinded by sentimentality or inside jokes on podcasts than the actual product on the field. Harrison Afful is a nice guy, who never created 26 goals, and has been average to below average for the the better part of 3 years now.

 

Yep. A likable guy who brought excitement at one point. It's hard not to cheer for him but his play on both sides of the ball has declined. He's this generation's Ansil Elcock.

 

I'm not gonna give you 7 paragraphs, but I will give you this. This is what happened when you let a coach stay to long. 5 years is a damn long time. I'll explain in less than 4 more paragraphs.

Gregg built up a system and a team in 2014, it was welcome change and needed. In 2015 Gregg caught lightening in a bottle with the Kamara allocation and a super human season by Kei Kamara which elevated other players on the team and covered up holes in the system.

2016 was an unmitigated disaster. I put more blame on Gregg others put more on the players. The team was never a threat and was on the outside looking in of the playoffs all season. There was little thought that Precourt would fire Gregg. This should have given Gregg agency to re-boot the lineup. For instance you like guys like Christian Martinez. I wanted to move on from Pipa. Gregg instead stayed the course and leaned on veterans to get us out of the malaise. Afful, Meram, Pipa, Clark. etc. We never threatened the playoffs.

2017 we make we add Mensah. We also rely on Williams. I've said repeatedly Gregg should have been fired after the Open Cup loss to Cincy. He wasn't. The potential move is announced. Gregg's veterans lead an unikely run to the conference finals.

2018, a few veterans ask to move on. Meram. Ola. One makes his way back. Pipa still runs the show. Afful, Mensah, Williams still the core of the defense. Milton Valenzuela is added and looks nice. Gyasi added out of necessity.

I'm past 4 paragraphs and on my way to seven or more.

Gregg has been conservative bordering on complacent in the ways that he has built this roster and shaped his game day squad. Santos has never seen his position under threat, for god knows what reason. Pipa can go 3 months without a goal or an assist and still be the first name on the team sheet. Afful has never seen his position under threat. Gregg has his guys and will continue to ride them regardless of performance. He's content to be hovering at mid table and hope for a decent run in the playoffs. There is little ambition beyond that. There is no effort for the Supporters Shield, there is less than no effort for the Open Cup.

Gregg has had more job security than virtually any coach in MLS. Nobody ever questioned his job was under siege. There have been opportunities to make more significant changes here. To bring youth through, to sit down underperforming veterans, to pave the way for an heir to Pipa. If we did that we probably would have somewhat worse results now. Maybe we'd be fighting in the 6-9 spots instead of the 4-6.

But, there'd be new blood coming through. Gregg would be able to utilize his job security to truly implement something different. To really leave a stamp on the team, and move it forward. Instead he plays it conservative, makes another playoff, hopes to catch lightening in a bottle and gets another sticker on his resume for that.

Thing is this team has been borderline unwatchable this season. It's boring, awful soccer. We rarely threaten goal, and we are susceptible to the same mistakes we have been in years past. As far as young players coming through to be excited about there is maybe Valenuela and Abubukar. Nothing in the attacking areas.

That is my frustration with Gregg. He punted on unheard of job security and his unassailable reputation with the press to give us dreadfully boring soccer built on the backs of declining veterans with no real hopes for the future. Steffen should leave. Trapp should have left 2-3 years ago but lacks the suitors and possibly the ambition to leave now.

This didn't answer your question. This is paragraph 12.

Columbus Crew playoff fever. Can you feel the excitement?

 

Extra credit to everyone who reads all of that. What a masterpiece.

 

I got to the point where you said you wrote 4, and were doing at least 7 more.

I agree with most of that. I've been off and on the GB hate train for years. I seem to remember you conducting the GB hate train at a particularly high speed a couple of times, during the spell in 2015 where we went like 3 months without a win, and last year. We made the final one year, almost made it the second. At this point, however, I agree 5 years is a long time and GB should move on.

So now answer my question, which you admit you didn't:

Is GB the coach overachieving with what he has, or failing with a team that should be doing better? We agree that GB the GM could have done better.

 

So you're saying that @hangthadj wrote 4 paragraphs more and yet somehow managed to avoid the pertinent question?

 

I would like to apologize for drunk optimistic Draghignazzo, and officially call him out as an idiot.

 

He should be doing better. But it’s a complicated answer. He’s become a victim of his own vanity and failed his role as the steward of the club. Whether this is primarily the fault of the Sporting Director or the Head Coach is up for debate, but either way it’s on Gregg.

The team has declined since 2015. Though it’s not necessarily a straight line the decline is evident. We are relying on a same core of players (Higuain, Trapp, Afful, Meram) to take us through and a group of underachieving veterans.

If Gregg leaves after this year we have 5 years, no trophies, and no real youth products brought through the system under Gregg to advance the team and take us to the next phase. The closest, as I said, are maybe Abubukar and Valenzuela.

Instead of taking a step back to take a step forward Gregg’s teams have stepped back since 2015 with no real vision on how to step forward except for hoping some veterans recapture the magic. His vanity neglected short term pain for a possible greater reward. We’ve seen no youth develop to the point of taking this team forward.

As a result, Gregg’s successor has at least as difficult job to rebuild this team as when Gregg got here, and probably more so.

 

Some people want to spoon feed you. I trust the intellect of (most) BS Crew posters to do a little bit of reading between the lines.

As we know nothing in soccer is ever really black and white except sometimes Juventus (and ******** them) or Newcastle (irrelevant).

 

But, if the players are underachieving, and should have been let go long ago, isn't he doing a decent job by getting this ragtag group of jokers into the playoffs?

I think this year we've had some players really fail to deliver. Santos is A1, but also guys like Artur, Meram, and basically anyone that can be classified as an attacker (other than Zardes) has been a disappointment. GB the GM failed in picking these wingers, and perhaps has held onto Pipa too long.

I just get confused because it seems like the blame shifts from the players to the coach and back again. Perhaps we can just agree that damn near everyone has regressed. I think Steffen and Mensah (yes, Mensah) have improved. IMO Afful, Valenzuela, and Trapp have had good moments, but are a bit more debatable. Zardes has clearly imrpoved. Other than that, not much.

 

It's harder to miss the playoffs than make the playoffs in MLS. Unless you are a dumpster fire like Orlando or Chicago or aren't even trying like DC the past few years, a half competent team makes the playoffs.

The problem is Gregg has seen this group play dull, uninspired, nearly unwatchable soccer for most of the year. There is no spark in attack and he keeps throwing out the same unit thinking that something is gonna change. He hasn't been able to lite a fire under the attack. Whatever is going on in training and in the games has not led to development of younger players to the players who have been terrible.

To echo what zip said a few posts back, he's out of ideas.

 

Definitely agree with that.

 

Thanks hang.

 

On the motif of bad French language jokes, the francophone the Crew's performance last night most resembled would seem to be....

 

My take on this season..its a no brainer
People pretend that the move to Austin Doesn't affect players or coaches.
It has a LOT to do with everyone's future. No player is immune to picking up roots with no real idea of what the future holds. Precourt, that piece of sh*t. Of a mama's boy owner, doesn't give a rat's ass. As soon as this season is over, some of these players will a look for.a more secure future. Gregg is going to LA if he's smart.
In a nutshell, leaving is in the players heads and it's taken over. The collective sees no reason to push for playoffs and they are playing like it. Two chances to clinch says a lot. Doom by ownership.