I agree the system is a big problem, and in addition, our offensive players collectively are several notches below ATL, so ATL is going to have an advantage so long as goals continue to decide the outcome of games rather than possession and passing percentage.
Personally I will buy season ticket Ciera when we have 3 legit DPs. Higuain is legit but Mensah is total garbage. When your coach refuses to play the best players and allows Mensah to make the bulk of mistakes and still start the team will lose respect and not believe in the team. Fire Greg!
Guys, I'm not worried. Gregg has another opportunity to finally beat an expansion team on Tuesday and then nearly 2 weeks off before our next league match. I think those two weeks are what Gregg needs to put the finishing touches on putting his winning system in place. Sure it's been 4 years. Sure we've been in rebuilding mode since 26 seconds into MLS Cup 2015. I just think Gregg needs more time to institute his system.
I agree. I think Minnesota away is our toughest remaining game this month. Philly home and away and RSL all easier opposition.
Am I missing something? Last night they played harder and wanted it more than us. Pure and simple. And that is all coaching.
I wonder how Acura feels as our latest jersey sponsor. When do companies start running for the hills because the product they are backing is sliding down hill. I am getting extremely bored with this rinse repeat (Mensah still adjusting, just have to move on, its just one game, blah blah). The situation is so predictable that any assistant coach taking over would be an improvement (but not by much due to roster). Atlanta looked not only more talented but passionate and hungry and whatever their coach is feeding them. Its working or starting to click.
Atlanta is a much better coached team of course. That's why Martino has had assignments like head man for Argentina and Barcelona and Greg...hasn't. And they certainly played harder too. But they are also better players as well. They created more chances and took advantage of at least 2 of them. We had 1 pretty good chance but it resulted in our only shot on goal going straight at the keeper.
Atlanta has better players + better coaching = Win Surprised? Just to save you some time over the next few weeks, most of the teams in the MLS have better players. July looks like a light month so 9 points would be big but I am guessing 6. The major offensive problem with the Crew is when they are down and the other team packs it in, they cannot break through. Most of the time it can be broken several ways, switching sides for a cross (which they are really bad at especially recently), quick passing through the middle (which they try but are terrible at, haven't most of these players played together for 3 years) or the bomb shot (which none of our players can do) or break down with dribbling (which only 3 of our players can do but if they off, forget it). This is not new however and not just the Crew.
This is the silliest of sports takes. Teams do not win simply because they want to win more. That's not how that works. And even in some dreamworld where heart is all that matters, is that "all coaching"? Does Gregg teach the team to care about being professional athletes? If so, we should go get JK, he's the rah rah coach you want.
Exactly. This such a garbage argument. The possession was 58%-42% in favor of Columbus. That isn't worth much in and of itself, but it doesn't speak to not trying or not playing hard. Two stats that speak to hustle and heart were split, but close: Duels won -- 51-45 in favor of Columbus. Tackles won: 15-12 in favor of Atlanta. Neither one of those speak to desire or lack of effort on our part. If someone has something to drive that point, I'll listen to it, but I'm skeptical. It's the easiest thing in the world to throw out there that the team that won just wanted it more. Sometimes that's the case, and you can sometimes find individual examples, but for the most part, it's a dodge. It's something we can tell ourselves to psychologically satisfy ourselves that we're really not that bad, and if we just try a little harder, it'll be fine. And even if it WAS true, using that as a tool to bludgeon the coach with is completely lame, as it lets the professional players off the hook. You shouldn't need your coach to rah rah you to play hard.
There are certainly coaches out there who don't inspire their players. Berhalter isn't one of those guys. If you're gonna hate Berhalter, pick another reason. As of late, there are plenty available.
Ciera? Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement? Here is the chicken and the egg problem. To get another and better DP's the Crew need to make more money. How to they make more money, have more people watch the games (on TV or in the stands). How do they get more people to watch, have better DP's. . .
Honestly, at this point, until a stadium in a better location is a reality, our attendance will be shit, as long as we keep playing like this. Shit play leads to zero walk ups. Shit location leads to zero walk ups.
Well, we got more money from Acura and turned that into Mensah. Money poorly spent is about the same as not having any money in the first place.
Typing to fast didnt proof read but you get my point. The owner does not put out the best team possible but the best that fits his very tight budget which means our sporting director needs to have a impressive track record but he only has gotten 1 DP ( Higuain was already here) and it was a total waste of money. We need 2 more DPs and Mensah bought down or preferably removed from the team. Atlanta is doing things the right way they have 3 DPs and a coach who has experience at high levels. We have a bargain coach and a marginal DP ( Higuain) and a bum (DP) Mensah . Let's not forget getting rid of Kei and his contract was already in the plans! The incident over the PK was a smokescreen. We are a low budget team who will never fully compete on a high level with this current structure. Let's not forget we don't have a Crew 2 yet because we are cheap. I hope AP sells the team to somebody with ambition to win and build a dynasty because he clearly doesn't care and is just as much if not more of a problem then GB. Start a AP sucks thread we should !
Saying that dumping Kei's salary was already in our plans is stupid. They would have just let him walk before the season started instead of giving him an increase. I do agree however, that AP is cheap and Gregg doesn't do a good enough job finding talent. I'm sure a big part of Gregg's PowerPoint was building a club on a limited budget. Brad Friedel's discussions were more to the tune of "I can bring some friends over from the EPL".
I mean, if we're gonna talk about dumb, comparing Anthony Precourt to a guy that is worth $3.5 billion is just plain dumb. Precourt is cheap compared to Arthur Blank? No shit. Yeah know what also helps out Blank (besides the fact that he's easily worth 10x what Precourt is, if not more)? All that NFL money.
Do we even know what AP is worth? We obviously don't need to drop 10 million on players but if he can't even walk with the big dogs, he had no business entering the race. I'm not throwing all of the blame on AP though, Gregg needs to do a much better job at recognizing talent.
Its not AP's fault GB paid a transfer fee for Abu. Its not AP's fault that GB made Mensah the highest paid defender in the league. Its not AP's fault GB had buyer's remorse with Kei. GB had had some hit or miss signings over his, I'd say more positive than negative. This year though, other than Artur, the players he's brought in from abroad have range from total garbage to mediocre. Its been proven in this league time and again you dont need the biggest wallet to win. In fact, it can be done on very modest means. That being said, the FO has to be good, and our's is shaky at best. I'm not an AP apologist, but Berhalter has been given the green light to spend some money, even a second DP, and he signed Jonathan f'ing Mensah. Its easy to sign Miguel Almiron and Josef Martinez and Hector Vilalba and Brad Guzan and Greg Garza and Gonzalez Pirez when you got money.
Wow just wow. I get the need to sign better players but you are Tinfoil Ted levels of conspiracy theory. Why would anyone sign a player to a higher contract if they were just planning to trade him? Do you think NE was like we would take him if only he was make twice as much? the_rickler is right they would have just released him and saved a WHOLE bunch of money . .. time . . . and energy. Yes they are cheap but they have to be. They are probably losing money every year. Because causal fans aren't coming and the 'real soccer fans' stop supporting the team when they are down. The Crew are down almost 3k ticket per game so far this year over last. At minimum that is $1 million dollar shortfall over last year. Would you throw in another million or so to start up Crew 2 if you are already losing money on Crew 1. And if AP sells the team it is not staying in Columbus. The team will become FC Cincinnati or Detroit or St. Louis.