I agree mostly. However, my intent was to pat myself on the back. And also to point out that I thought Gressel appeared to be polished beyond his years in the clips I viewed. That has seemingly translated to MLS. Johnson has been getting decent minutes in a very strong Chicago midfield. His film showed a guy with incredible quickness, touch and dribbling skills, the type of stuff that guys are not likely to acquire later if they aren't already demonstrating it. On the ball he is in the mold of, but not as good, as Pulisic. Looking at Lalas, I saw a guy who looked physically clumsy. Top and mid level players just don't look that way to me. Anyway, I only spent a few hours researching before the draft. I'm sure I just got lucky otherwise I would have a different career, but I still think there is something to those first impressions I formed watching those three players.
We've got to lighten up once in a while. Beer is good for that! Alt's ok. But I lived in Cologne--and drinking Alt if you're from Cologne is like waiving a maize and blue flag at 15th and High.
I'd also not discount that Gressel had pro training in Germany before moving to the states. But, yeah, once in a while you get lucky! I recall picking one of my lifetime favorite baseball players when he was just a rookie (and now wish my mom hadn't thrown out all of the rookie cards of his I had--though I still have all of the 1968s with bench and Ryan). It was a guy that took a couple years to be successful too:
Yes, I had read that about Gressel pre draft and that was another plus for him I thought. Similarly, Daniel Johnson was in a youth academy for an EPL team (West Ham I think). He was forced to leave (at 16 I think) not because of talent but because his parents remained in the United States and that was a violation of either a law or a league rule. I think MLS will be the top for Gressel. But I think Johnson will see playing time with USMNT in a year or two.
Phish is actually only playing 13 shows this year. All in my backyard at MSG. Maybe Aces and I can share a brownie.
Let's talk about the Kinnear firing for a moment here and look at it in relation to our current situation in Columbus. Since 2015, San Jose has 108 points. In that same time Columbus Crew has 114 points. San Jose is showing improvement over last season and is currently above the red line in 5th place, only two points off a top two spot in the West. Columbus Crew is also showing improvement over last season and now sits 5th place in the East, 9 points off a top two spot in the East despite having played a game more than the top 3 in the conference. This weekend Columbus beat bottom of the conference Montreal, 4-1. Our owner Anthony Precourt decides that this showing deserves a tweet and reminds us that this win over bottom of the conference Montreal, is indicative of the potential of this team. This weekend San Jose defeats bottom of conference RSL 2-1. Jesse Fioranelli does not tweet about the potential in the side, or talk about how they are above the red line, only 2 points off a top two spot. He fires Kinnear and replaces him with Leitch. The differences here are staggering. Of course, Fioranelli came in during the offseason, and Kinnear was never his guy. But you look at what San Jose is doing; new stadium, partial rebrand, bringing in someone OVER the Head Coach to manage the operations here. And the message is clear in San Jose, at least from Fioranelli. Mediocrity isn't good enough. Meanwhile in Columbus it's the same old. The owner glosses over the previous 18 months and decides the win against bottom of conference Montreal is more indicative of this teams potential than the previous 18 months. One month after speaking about how we had as many wins as Toronto and "keeping an eye on the horizon" we sit ten points behind Toronto and are treading water in 5th place. Mediocrity is accepted. Occasional 4-1 victories will be used to placate the masses. Nobody knows if what is happening in San Jose is gonna work, but at least they have the balls to try. It makes the current situation in Columbus all the more depressing.
GBS looks indifferent and unsatisfied during the celebration. Like he needs more of a challenge and wants to come home. Just kidding, sorta.
True however there are some very significant differences. 1) DP's - San Jose has brought in at least 5 DP's during Kinnear's tenure. Only Wondo has lasted more than 1 season. There are reports that the signing of Valeri Qazaishvili, there most recent DP drove a split between Kinnear and the club. There was division on spending money on a Names player or just a good player. The Crew don't have that division on the team. Like it or not with Gregg being Sporting Director and Coach, the owner does not have to take sides. And Gregg's spending has been at worse even, while San Jose has been all bad. 2) Kinnear was MLS 1.0 thinking coach. He playing too conservatively and boring. Also Kinnear would not play some of their young, exciting players enough, Tommy Thompson being the one mostly mentioned. He had no style but also seemed no plan. The Crew have a definite style and it is not a 4-4-2 from 2002. And the Crew have a very young dynamic team. Again for better or worse it is entertaining. 3) San Jose has been bad for years under Kinnear. 2016 - 17th overall, 2015 - 13th overall (2014 not Kinnear but 18th overall) I am sure you know but 2016 - 18th , 2015 - 4th, 2014 - 7th. So is 2016 a blip or anomaly for the Crew. "The balls to try" argument does not have a good track record. Remember when TFC was in the post season until they had the "balls to try" sacking Ryan Nelsen (and Lord Duncan) in 2014. How is RSL doing with their ballsy move? Bottom of the table. . . My guess is San Jose will have a few spastic wins, because teams don't know what to expect yet but will drop below the red line again (as LA and Seattle spend for wins). And I guess I am still not at that point, where ANYTHING is better than Gregg. If 2017 starts turning into 2016 pull the trigger in October and Coach Friedel and GM Ali Curtis have a nice long run to make the team their own before March of 2018.
In God's name, why delay the inevitable? We needed three points today, but are outplayed at home and lose embarrassingly. We've all seen this so many times over the past 18 months. This franchise is lost with Berhalter as coach.
If GB comes back next year, I'm not renewing my season tix. MLS live is 1/10th the price and i can watch the whole league.
To late. When the trust fund baby owner thinks there is potential with this club, he is correct. But just not with this coach and the majority of the players. Member when we were contenders?
If Gregg would just get over himself and his ridiculous system I feel like this collection of players might actually be fun to watch. And yet all we get is 90 minutes of looped crosses to nobody. I'm so ********ing sick of this shit.
Or pressured backpasses to the keeper. So sick of those. We get 3/4 of the way up the pitch only to send it allllllllllllll the way back. When your attacking mid playmaker is where a Devensive Midfielder plays, you know this shit ain't working.
...But...but...we did win, according to the crew page: Columbus (8-10-1, 25 points) out-passed and out-possessed Atlanta (8-7-3, 27 points) by margins of 449-337 and 57.5 percent to 42.5 percent, respectively. This is worse than the G.A days......no more gregs please
Yeah, i think we have players that are good enough to compete at the top of the east, without question. They're just not being put into positions to win with 'the system' that GB refuses to change. This team has trouble defending when stretched and are deadly when quickly countering. Almost seems like we should play a more counterattacking style or something idk...
I recommend that we put the other team's goal directly under attack when we win the ball, but I know that's crazy.