Lots of negativity in this thread for a coach doing pretty well all things considered. In one of my group text threads where everyone is a Crew fan we were discussing how not all possession is equal. We again are one of the better possession teams which we as largely true under Porter as well. However, there is a distinct difference between the overall goal of having possession between these two coaches. Porter wanted the ball to dominate the flow and make the other team work. How we we constantly struggled to break teams down and create chances. When we did have transition opportunities players often would slow the game down in the name of keeping the ball. Clearly something they were coaches to do. Nancy also wants to keep the ball but has clearly giving them more freedom to be creative and take risk. That has turned into creating more attacking soccer than before. The shine might wear off but Nancy is clearly a person players seem to connect with in a way that was not possible with Porter. I watched last night and especially the first half was more enjoyable than almost any game under Porter. He is also doing this with several young players who he is certainly “coaching” them up.
Since I sat through the Crew inaugural game (4 - 0 over DC, McBride with the brace) I've seen more than my fair share of "bad games". Some of them painfully so. A couple suicidally so. The point is not that they didn't play very well. Been there, done that, have a closet full of shirts. The problem last night was that they looked for all the world like they just didn't give a shit and couldn't be bothered putting in any effort. THAT is what's disturbing. Bad games happen. Shit performances are part of any sport. Mailing it the f*ck in is something else altogether.
I'll add to this. We were told, and I am pretty sure I still believe, that Nancy was a guy that people want to play for. That he's the opposite of someone like Porter in the way he can build a culture in the locker room. That his trust in young players makes it such that when given an opportunity like last night, they are ready to reward Nancy for that trust. That didn't happen last night. And last night could just be a one-off. These things happen. As much as I want to take the Open Cup seriously, many teams around MLS simply do not, Garber shits on it repeatedly, and as a club we haven't taken it seriously for over a decade. There are larger forces here. But the tone of the performance was something that we were told, and most of us believed, would happen much less often under Nancy. Let's hope he fixes whatever is ailing the locker room at the moment.
If the Crew started a lineup with, collectively, less than 400 combined league appearances I'll buy you a new hat. How many Div I games collectively have the RiverDogs played in? Any at all? Even the relative newcomers: has Zawadski not appeared in maybe 20 MLS games? Parente has even had some starts. We could go right down the roster. For a laugh, we could go ahead and compare total salaries. In any case, "inexperienced" players oftentimes play their asses off; here's my big chance to make an impression on the staff. Who last night played like they were doing anything much besides trying not to break a nail?
How many are starters? Two, and arguably they are our worst two starters, Quinton and Vallecilla. For the other nine, how many are regular contributors in the league, by that I mean first or second choice options? Two, Zawadzki and Ramirez. Both are clear backups behind players expected to play 90 minutes week in week out. The other seven are either third choice or worse. Seven out of eleven that do jack shit week in week out because they aren’t good enough, which makes them USL level, at best. You act like we played with seasoned vets or gamechangers. We didn’t. You say we had 400 appearances in the team. Were about 325 of them between Bush, Ramirez, and Medranda? You’d think we got relegated with all the shit on here.
This is what I saw and is what is so damn frustrating. Nancy's game plan was to run out a group of scrubs and play for possession. Then with 15 minutes left risk injury to two starters and pray our possession will score a goal. It was a shit game plan and he should feel bad.
While I agree with your post, I don't know if there was any other choice considering our roster and injury situation.
Probably should have had at least 1 of Matan or Nagbe on the bench. If they weren't needed, fine. But as it turned out JRR and Ramirez couldn't get the ball in front of goal. We needed someone to be a distributor in the absence of Cucho and Lucas but the team we played vs Pittsburgh didn't have anyone who could do that vs USL opposition.
Absolutely, not playing Matan was a mistake Now if we beat Nashville with Matan then i guess it was worth it. I would have played Matan at least a half. JRR & Ramirez are too similar and not a good combo in my opinion
Wilfried Nancy talked yesterday about a moment he had with Sean Zawadzki during preseason, trying to help him believe in his ability to keep the ball under pressure. Such a great, detailed look at how Nancy coaches and the impact he's had on the #Crew96 young players pic.twitter.com/yzb1XneZHp— Bailey Johnson (@BaileyAJohnson_) June 2, 2023
Maybe she should ask him about his much-quoted pre season confidence in the limitless skill and potential of Phillip Quinton.
Hey-Hey, Ho-Ho Wilfried Nancy Has Got To Go! In all seriousness last night was SO much FUN! Our dynamic offense had Zimmerman, Dax, and the rest of "Man In Black" wannabes chasing shadows. Our defense assembled from the isle of misfit toys managed to keep the reigning MVP in check. A masterclass.
"Everbody Plays the Fool" was by The Main Ingredient which did not have a Neville brother in it. Covered? IDK.
Aaron Neville did the definitive performance of the song. He had an unfair advantage due to him owning a once in a lifetime Voice. Main Ingredient can suck it. This was his followup release to his marvelous duet with Linda Ronstadt "I don't know much". Linda once commented that when you sing with Aaron Neville you just sing the notes on the page and get out of the way Aaron is a little like Barry Gibb and Michael Jackson: they needed backup singers and their brothers were handy but just about anyone else who could carry a tune would have been fine. (the young lady in the video is his niece Arthell Neville, which means that while she's not a Neville Brother she's a Neville Brother Daughter. Which is close)
While Nashville missed three starters on Gold Cup duty, the Black & Gold were without Morris, who has been so critical in controlling possession in the midfield, and Nancy made a bold call keeping Zawadzki on the backline and moving Matan back to central midfield. - Massive Report It’s a bold move Cotton, let’s see if it pays off. well it certainly did for the front runner of COY