I didnt come here for that awesome pic, but jeez, I wish I could do that shit. Anyway, I didn't know where this should go so: The USSF has nominated five guys for US Soccer Player of the Year. Two of them play for Columbus. (Adams, Miazga and McKennie are the others. Yawn.) Terrific honor for Steffen and Trapp, but also for the team. And probably doesnt hurt Berhalter much either.
I'd be hard pressed to pick Zardes' or Steffen's season as better than the other, but either way both seasons were miles better than Trapp's, who who had a solid but not great season, so your overall point still stands.
I have had this conversation with my daughter, who until recently played d-mid. It’s a thankless position, unlikely to get you any accolades. Trapp has a phenomenal season this year, the evidence is we made the second round of the playoffs.
There were only five teams in the league that conceded fewer goals than Columbus this season. Wil Trapp absolutely played a part in that. Problem is, when you have great goalkeeping, much improved play from your back line, and a system that nets you better numbers in time of possession, it’s hard to assign credit to any one person. And since defensive players tend to get noticed less and less when things are going well, it’s easy for a non-flashy guy to be overlooked.
You seem like a good father, James. But, for your daughter's sake I hope she looks for higher standards of evidence before declares a performance phenomenal....
To you and. yours as well, James! I'm thankful to have several more years of Columbus Crew greatness, Columbus Crew disappointments, Columbus Crew mediocrity, and everything in between to share with you. We truly live in a time of abundance. And I will not take it for granted. #Blessed
Greggs club career has been Ok but certainly worthy of criticism. Is he any less qualified though than, say, Gareth Southgate who relegated an original Prmeier league club but then took his national team to the semi finals? Why not be optimistic?
Surly somewhere someone had done some analysis of club success and how translates to a National Team. It's totally different ball game. Low in Germany is a good example of another coach with little real club success that was better suited for a National Team. I don't know if that means Gregg will be a better National Team Coach but not sure how much we should read into his club career. The most interesting thing will be if he is going to continue the same playing style. That would be my biggest concern. You don't get the players for nearly as long to train on a system. The repetitive training and movement needed to play what Berhalter wants is really high. On top of that you need outside backs capable of playing a specific style. With the Crew he could go find that player but at the NT level its whoever you got. To me, that is the real question about him becoming the coach.
It's difficult to use SUM/MLS/USSF and optimism in the same sentence. The Crew and USMNT have been a shit show for over a year and the fact they waited so long to hire such an unambitious choice means the fans have watched a wasted year. I'm cautiously hopeful but soccer house has given me little reason to be optimistic or trustworthy.
Strange because I see the opposite. Having a system will make things easier as everyone knows what's expected. Please remember, our top players are playing far more complex systems on a weekly basis. What concerns me is Ggg coaching seems more professional than passionate. We lacked a killer instinct too often, went into shut down mode after a one goal lead and would possess for possession's sake as opposed to actually putting the ball into the net. He has also stuck with players in poor form for way too long. This is a titanic step up from Sarachan and for the first time since Trinidad, I'm looking forward to seeing the USMNT play.
Valid point but your asking Yedlin who plays a specific style 90% of the time to jump into games with a few days of training and build a level of comfort with teammates that ask him to do very specific movements. To your point, in time that could make things easier but until you settle on a grouping the short term seems difficult. I will say we will see a cohesive plan of playing for the first time in a REALLY long time. Everyone praised Sarachan because he was in a tough "spot" but every game was a different idea from him. Gregg is known for the details and at the National Team level when you have a long time to prepare for opponents he should be even better in that sense
Gregg has the ability to pick the players that suit him every cycle. If you don’t fit the system you don’t get picked.