Most teams just hope to get into the playoffs then make a run. We did it from 3rd in the East in 2020. It's the exception to the rule when the Shield winner also gets MLS Cup. Nancy is at least theoretically an upgrade from Porter. A couple more points would have put us in the playoffs. If we'd held on to half the points we dropped after the 75th minute, we would have finished around 4th. So playoffs should be the expectation for the team. Maybe we miss but that would be another disappointing season.
A team that is basically spending the full cap, spent back to back club record transfer fees (including one of the biggest in league history), is paying the highest salaries in club history (top 10 in MLS), has 3 DPs, etc… forget that we’re talking about Cbus. The team I described above, let’s call them Team X, should be competing, yeah? If we’re not trying to win, we should sell LZ. We should sell Cucho. What’s the point of spending a ton of money on them if the goal is to just creep into the playoffs? I agree, this specific team probably ain’t winning the cup, no doubt. But a team with this profile (fees, salaries, 3 DPs) should be competing. If we can’t finish, let’s say, top four in the east, then this team needs to be blown up, and Bez needs to go. For all this money, we should be better.
Agreed on the fact that we’ve spent enough money that we should be better than we are. But merely spending the money isn’t enough if you don’t spend it wisely. And our roster’s a mess. Hard pass on selling LZ and Cucho. Just because our roster is underwhelming this season doesn’t mean we can’t get better in the next window, and it doesn’t mean those two can’t be a part of a competitive team next season.
How often do pre-season favorites perform up to expectation? How many pundits predicted NE would finish 10th in the East last year, and Seattle 11th in the West. The experts rarely accurately predict the unexpected.
Which is why I always laugh at the kind of posts being made in this thread about “winning now” and how badly we suck.
My all time favorite MLS prediction is from a podcast (or whatever you'd call it) on mlssoccersoccer in Feb 2008. It was an interview format where they went through all of the teams one by one and Shep Messing was asked to explain the reason why each one could Win the Cup. When they got to the Crew, Messing literally laughed and said " Let's face it, there's no way the Crew can win the Cup". It was the one and only team in the entire league that he said had no hope at all of winning.
We have so many unknowns this year. I think we are a borderline playoff team because of roster construction and depth. I think if everyone stays healthy ( attackers ) with a new system we should have a chance to be a top team if others not named Cucho & LZ can contribute. At the same time let one of those 2 get hurt and I think we are in serious trouble . I’m mostly concerned about LZ staying healthy at his age and size in a physical MLS. After getting Ramirez there is no need for Kei Kamara. If JRR & Ramírez both play bad or one of our 3 guys get hurt I would definitely consider it. However maybe Yaw or Matan contribute this year somebody has to step up like DEJ did last year. If i had to guess it will be Ramirez if we play 2 strikers. Cucho will draw lots of attention and hopefully Cucho & LZ can slip him the ball in a great position and make teams pay. Once more ppl start scoring it’s a lot harder to harass Cucho & LZ. Good coaching and a good system could be the difference because Porter and his 4231 were not scoring enough and we gave up late scores a lot because we rarely could get that goal late when countering a team who is pushing numbers. Defense also needs to stay healthy because our back ups are a complete unknown outside of Josh Williams. Things we need: A more aggressive Nagbe contributing more in attack Molino same ^ if he stays healthy I think he definitely can. production from a second striker ( wingers didn’t do enough in Porters system outside of DEJ) Ramirez needs to produce since we gave him that 2/3 yr contract that’s a lot of IFs but a healthy roster this year will be better than the awful roster we had last year. A lot of ppl will bash Porter if we are successful and rightfully so. However I don’t think Bez gave him a good roster for his system. So let’s hope Nancy and his system can overcome our shortcomings on the roster.
Crew are +3000 on Tipico at the moment. I'm sure these lines change quite a bit as money comes in on them.
Florian Thauvin is out of contract. France international Florian Thauvin has been denied access to Tigres training ground following his contract termination. pic.twitter.com/rCHYVqJaxU— Birdie (@birdiefootball) January 25, 2023 Bring him to the Midwest Marseille.
Correct me if I’m wrong… this means if you drop $100 on us, and it happens, you get back your original $100 plus $3,000?
I still don’t think it’s going to happen, but if I was a gambling man, I could understand dropping 100 bucks on that. Or maybe 50.
Actually, it may not if bet credits/free bets are used. I screwed myself out of some money by using some free bets on some extremely short odds, e.g. -20000, and only got the winnings and not the stake.
Yes, free bets or bonus cash or other promotional things don't give the "stake" back because the stake didn't really exist in the first place. But, if you're wagering a real $100, then the way the line is listed at +3000, would return the stake and the winnings, paying out $3100.