That's weird. Just a few days ago I praised the Berhalter, Precourt, and Higuain for coming to a one year extension. I said, that Higuain had exceeded all my expectations this season and I was happy to be wrong.
Nagbe is an interesting comparison. He's a guy who constantly seems to be on the ball, and in dangerous positions, but his end product is so lacking so often. He's an incredibly frustrating player to watch. To be honest if we were to spend our highest transfer fee ever on a player, to make him our third DP, I expected something more than Nagbe, Now, don't get me wrong. Santos does add something to the team he seems to have unlocked Pipa even a bit more. And their is an adjustment time to the league I'm sure. But end of 2016 Ethan Finlay is a horribly low bar to measure him against. Has he come close to contributing to 2015 Ethan Finlay levels. I mean in 560 minutes (most starting minutes, not coming off the bench trying to find the game) he has zero goals and two assists. I believe the assist was from a dead ball situation. Has he even lived up to Kekuta's production? In 814 minutes Kekuta has 4 goals and 3 assists. This isn't apples to apples, obviously. There are parts of Santos's game that work better with this team (beyond the idiotic complaints about Kekuta's body language and "effort"). But for a DP, for all the hype that we had been sold on him, to have doubts on what we have seen so far is completely reasonable.
I'll admit it (sorry to deflate your bubble again @stanger) if you told me before the season that we'd finish 6th out of 22 I would have said that is a successful season. It's somewhat blunted by still hovering around 5th in the East, but even that can change with a few different results on Sunday. To finish 2nd or 3rd in the league would have exceeded even the expectations of the biggest of the Berhalter Believers. I do think we need to at least advance one round in the playoffs. It doesn't matter if we finish 2nd or 5th. To not advance a round, after ending the season 9 or 10 unbeaten would be a titanic disappointment. I remember 2001 the team was playing great towards the end of the season. Crew Stadium was slated to hold MLS Cup. Destiny 2001 banners (this was before the days tifo) appeared. We crashed out horribly to San Jose in the first round. 2004 we had an 18 game unbeaten streak under the guidance of Crew Legend and two time trophy winner Greg Andrulis, We won the Supporters Shield, we crashed out in the first round again, to New England. Those were two seasons where we had long and sustained success in season. Yet, despite the Supporter's Shield many supporters look back on those seasons with warm feelings because of how they ended. I do think there needs to be some success in the playoffs this year, otherwise I think this season is discarded with so many others. The ten game unbeaten streak a "that's so MLS footnote." Beyond that I share all the same concerns from zman's excellent post above, but this has already gone on too long for most people's attention spans.
Santos has shown flashes that he is capable of being a difference maker. His movement, on and off the ball is good. He's a good dribbler, and makes quick decisions. Many players have struggled when coming to the league midseason, and then kicked on the next season with a full preseason and whatnot. I expect Santos to be that way.
I'm hopeful too. And your right he has shown flashes. But not all players take so long to adapt to the league. Blerim Dzemali has 7 goals and 10 assists in 1800 minutes for a Montreal team that's been a dumpster fire most the season. The team has played better since Santos's arrival. And obviously you'd rather be in our situation than Montreal's. But skepticism about whether Santos can be a "difference maker" isn't negativity for it's own sake. There are warning signs,
He's earned another year whether I want him fired or not. You can tell that by how Precourt has shelled out money for his signings, and how Precourt in a tweet measured success as making the playoffs for the third time in four years. I have higher standards for success and think that if after 4 years into his program Gregg doesn't have a trophy his job shouldn't be guaranteed. Especially if we don't advance in the playoffs this season. You always look to get better if opportunity is there. From the trainers, to the players, to the Head Coach and Sporting Director.
I said it long ago; I really think the sporting director and the head coach should be two different people. Frees both of them to concentrate on one focus.
Nice dodge. Although hardware is the goal, I am realistic in my expectations. I want to watch exciting, competitive soccer and Gregg's high risk/reward system delivers. I can live without hardware as long as the team is competitive.
I'm not sure how it's a dodge. Should Gregg finish the season without a trophy he is in the Jim Curtin/Ben Olsen category of coaches without trophies. Let's recap coaches who have been with the same team since 2014 or before and their trophies. For giggles, I'll throw in coaches who were fired this season but had been there since 2014 or before: Greg Berhalter (Columbus Crew 2014) - 0 trophies, 1 Cup final Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado Rapids 2014, fired 2017) - 0 trophies, 0 Cup finals Ben Olsen (DC United 2010) - 0 trophies since 2014, 1 Open Cup in 2013 Jay Heaps (NE Revolution 2011, fired 2017) - 0 trophies That Asshole, Caleb Porter (Portland Timbers 2013) - 1 MLS Cup Peter Vermes (Sporting KC 2009) - 2 Open Cups, 1 Open Cup pre 2013, 1 MLS Cup Pre 2014 Carl Robinson (Vancouver Whitecaps 2014) - 1 Canadian Championship Jim Curtin (Philadelphia Union 2014) - 0 Trophies, 2 Open Cup Finals Greg Vanney (TFC, 2014) - 1 Supporters Shield, 2 Canadian Championships. So really, this isn't a harsh standard that Gregg is being held up to here. I get what you are saying about wanting to be competitive every year and that being good enough. For most MLS owners, more is needed, which is why you don't see more on this list who have coached going back to 2014. Most on this list have won a trophy or trophies. Of those who haven't, even Jim Curtin has put his team in position to play for one more often than Gregg. It's fine to say, I want exciting competitive soccer and being willing to live with that as long as the team is competitive. But that's also how you wind up having 6+ years of Jay Heaps. Everything has an expiration date. Even in parity driven playoff equalizing MLS.
It's a dodge because I asked if you still thought Gregg should be fired and you didn't answer. The rest is your attempt at justification.
You said hardware every season isn't realistic. I agree. I was speaking about over the course of 4 years. The vast majority of active coaches who have spent 4 years with their club have hardware. Gregg and Jim Curtin don't. So, yes I believe this team can and should have a better coach than Gregg, but we have an owner who is emotionally tied to Gregg. Unfortunately, since our fanbase will be content with replicating the Jay Heaps New England Revolution era our owner will never feel the pressure to replace Gregg. I'm resigned to riding this season out and next season since it's clear that he won't be fired in the offseason. I hope that he has learned from his mistakes to get us to an MLS Cup this season. If that's too tall an order, I hope at the very least next season he channels the wisdom of master tournament tactician Jim Curtain and leads us past an USL side and to an Open Cup final.
I'll be honest before looking at that list of coaches, I didn't even realize how common it is to stumble your way to a trophy, or more than one cup final over 4 years. That's the beauty of parity. And it's been pretty simple across MLS, if you don't do so you are either canned or in rare cases you are kept around out of respect for your playing career with the club (Heaps and Olsen).
Lets compare league finishes in conference. (* 2017 as of now) Berhalter (cbus) - 5*, 9, 2, 3. Average finish - 4.75 Pablo (col) - 10*, 2, 10, 9. Average finish - 7.75 Olsen (dc) - 11*, 4, 4, 1. Average finish - 5 Heaps (ne) - 7*, 7, 5, 2. Average finish - 5.25 Porter (por) - 2*, 7, 3, 6. Average finish - 4.5 Vermes (skc) - 4*, 5, 6, 5. Average finish - 5 Robinson (van) - 1*, 8, 2, 5. Average finish - 4 Curtain (phil) - 9*, 6, 9, 6. Average finish - 7.75 Vanney (tfc) - 1*, 3, 6, 7. Average finish - 4.25
Jake Taylor: [Jake stands up] Well then I guess there's only one thing left to do. Roger Dorn: What's that? Jake Taylor: Win the whole ********ing thing.
Yes it is, I don't disagree with you here. I'm not excited about 5th in the East, if that's where we end up, but 6th overall would typically be a team that is a legit contender, which is a good season by any metric. If this season were replicated next season, I would likely be pretty happy again overall. But, it's a grey area. Are we competitive against other top teams, or do we only beat the teams below us, etc.? But all in all, I think 6th overall is a good finish, as long as the team looks like they have a decent chance to win the whole thing.
Gregg is the only hope the Columbus Crew has at another trophy in franchise history. In Gregg I trust. In Precourt's direction I spit.