Starting my parental leave today so finally a moment (he is napping) to post some random thoughts from the start of the season. I have watched 85% of each game so far and much of this has been said already by others. Nancy: He has already proven the ability to develop players better than Porter (slightly hyperbolic). I enjoy what he is doing so much more than Porter. I think we make the playoffs but are not ready to really be title challengers till he gets the ability to turn this roster even more to his liking. Matan: It seems strange but he has only played like 1200 MLS minutes even though it feels like he has been around for a few seasons. He seems to be putting it together in this system in a way that was not possible for him to do with Porter. His final ball and finishing really are areas that need to be improved on. Farsi: I want to like him because he works so damn hard. For me, he is not an MLS playoff starter at that role. We need to find someone who is going to be dangerous in the final 3rd. He does not seem to have any moves to get past a player or Diaz level speed to exploit open spaces. Maybe he has it and just needs more time for those qualities to show. Quinton: I have been hard on him because I also don't think he is ready to be an every day MLS starter. I think he has potential and for the salary he is on is a valuable rotational piece. Credit to him for bouncing back after a tough game to have a good overall game against Atlanta. Morris: If I was a team in Europe I would be putting some zero's on checks and try and get him this summer. He continues to progress and will easily be the best home grown player we have ever had. Sands: He just needs more reps but he will be good in this system. He is a straight-line runner who can cross and defend. He just needs to be healthy and get minutes.
I thought it was interesting to see where did our players come from. Please note the exact order of signing to the first team or Crew 2 might not be totally right but you get the point. Other MLS Teams: 6 College/Crew 2: 12 Central America: 1 Mexico: 1 Europe: 7
The 12 from college/Crew 2 is surprising, especially considering the current state of the SuperDraft.
Not to mention the state of the Acadamy during the "dark times". That said, I think they are counting players like JRR as coming from Crew 2 even though he was a TFC castoff.
Yeah, its a bit more murky because its hard to know when the team talked with a player what their individual pathway is. However if they (Farsi, JRR) signed Crew 2 contracts and part of Crew 2 is to identify talent within the broader system and bring them into the fold. Point remains the same in terms of the general construction of the roster.
All of our academy guys went to college so that does tell you a little bit about what we thought of them at the time. JRR never got a TFC first team contract so maybe we just promised him a better pathway and he jumped at it.
Sure, just mean they weren’t developed from the age of 7 or 8, they came in when they were 18 or 19. We still have yet to develop someone from a younger age, besides Trapp.
If you can get young Americans on the back end you can spend most of your money on attacking players . My opinion all 3 DPs should be guys who are clinical in the final 3rd there is not a ton of young Americans like that and obviously everyone in the world wants players like that. This is where you buy them young with raw talent let them thrive in your system and then sell to bigger clubs reinvest and do it again.
I do really like Morris. I do. I want to preface this comment with that. Defensively, tackling, disrupting, destroying - he really is elite among MLS players in his position. BUT (and yes there is a but) - I think he will be in Columbus much longer than people believe. If he moves on, I think it will be to another MLS side paying record-breaking GAM or a second-division European team (similar to when Bolton wanted Trapp). For him to meet his potential, he's going to need a much more progressive passer next to him. I just don't think he has the next-level offensive ability for someone to pay out the ass for him. He's certainly not as technical on the ball as Nagbe, Trapp, Artur, etc. that have come before him. It's certainly the missing piece to his game. Luckily he makes up for it by being ELITE defensively. I think this is where some of the midfield struggles come with Columbus right now. Nagbe is one of the best in the league with the ball at his feet but is too conservative and Morris doesn't yet have that club in his bag. The positive is that Nancy has a track record of growing players, so I very well may take this comment back at the end of the year.
I think we forget how little professional soccer he has logged. I think we will know what type of player he will be by the end of this season. I believe Porter is a terrible developer of players so seeing his growth with Nancy will tell us alot. 2020 - 450* includes playoffs 2021 - 0 2022 - 1811 2023 - 436
Messi scored his 100th goal. Eloy Room did dive for the save LIONEL MESSI’S 100th 🇦🇷 GOALJust days after scoring his 800th career goal, Messi scores his 100th for La Albiceleste. Trophy after Trophy. Milestone after Milestone. Incredible to be alive to watch him work. 🤯 pic.twitter.com/XOYoU4C3KC— Men in Blazers (@MenInBlazers) March 29, 2023 Edit: Messi scores a hatrick in 36 minutes against him
That's an honor for Eloy to be part of a milestone goal for Messi.....and two other Messi goals in a 7-nil thrashing!
Are we still posting our own tweets around here? You were whispering how wonderful Columbus is in his ear, right? He'd be nice depth for Cucho!— Drew Van Runkle (@DrewVanRunkle) March 29, 2023
Providing a payday for the Curacao Federation (and the players) while not risking their FIFA ranking and giving their coaches and players a camp.
Sure, but why Curacao? Seems pretty random—some tiny Dutch constituent in the Caribbean. I find it odd Argentina would give two craps about the finances of a Caribbean federation. An Argentinian “Camp Cupcake”? Sure. Probably availability of opponents is the thing I guess, what with the Nations League in CONCACAF and Euro qualifying going on.
You could also note that, assuming they don't want to play another CONMEBOL team, Curacao is about as close as you can get to Argentina. Short easy flight, low cost.
I heard two interesting stories about the Crew on Extratime in the last week. The first is that the Crew (pre-Nancy) were ready to let whatever Romanian club Matan was loaned to make his loan a permanent transfer. The second story is that Quinton, after the MLSNP season last year, was not going to be re-signed (again, pre-Nancy). In both cases, Nancy said he wanted the player to come to preseason so that he could work with them personally and see if they could fit into his plans. If they did, they could stay. If not, he’d be fine letting them go. Nancy clearly has an eye for young talent that Porter doesn’t (despite being a former college coach, wtf). Now, was it Bez that was ready to let them go? Porter pre-firing? Some combination of the two? That was unclear on Extratime.
I'm sure it's been said before but it bears repeating: Porter was The Haslam's guy; Nancy is Bez's guy.
If true, that would restore some of my faith in Bez. I already have a low opinion of the Haslams (minus saving the team) so my opinion doesn’t change too much there.