There's no rule that says we have to sign him, exactly, but there is this: So, basically, you can sign a Next Pro player to up to four, short-term (four-day) MLS contracts per season. If you want to play (or even sit the bench) for the first team beyond that, then yes, you'd have to sign them to a MLS contract.
Ramirez is at a back up salary and is 31 years old. Right now Ramirez should start because he is one of our best XI and JRR has not shown much but we are all hopeful he isn’t the next Flash in the pan guy like Berry. If we get a DP striker who starts , Ramirez stays in the 18 and JRR is 3rd string who can get more experience at Crew2. Now we don’t have to get a DP striker but ID we don’t it needs be a CM someone who can push Nagbe to a back up/ rotational starter. a DP CB sounds horrible. We do need two CB and most importantly someone who plays LCB. If we get another CB hopefully it pushes Degenek to RCB or off the team. Moreria wants to attack he is better at RCB but the rumors could be true and he wants a more attacking role elsewhere. He is a RB and not a RWB. He can pass , hold the ball and get forward well and defend but Farsi has a better motor and is a better fit to get up and down the pitch. I would also keep Nagbe to a team friendly deal not dirt cheap but he has certainly been overcompensated by us but earlier in his career he definitely was undervalued for his contributions. (Atlanta & Portland) Your list I agree with True Crew but we need to find a replacement before we get rid of Degenek. But I think we can find a better fit for our style at his price. I would like to see him at RCB if we pick up a true CB to man the middle.
If we add some people in July at CB especially I could raise my expectations but until then we will be in the middle of the back between 5-10th place …. Injuries happen and right now we need Ramirez , Cucho & LZ , Nagbe &Morris to stay healthy the rest of the year while improving our defense additions & health
I do think a stud of a CB (Chad Marshall circa '08 or Mensah '20) would have a disproportionate affect on this team. Not that we don't have other holes - we most certainly, do - but weakness at CB is the most glaring one. Charlotte's first goal last weekend it is prime example. Frenchie did his best, but he's not a true CB. And I don't have much faith that Degenek or Williams (if he ever plays again) would have fared much better. An All Star quality CB raises the level of everyone who plays around him; O'Rourke in '08 or Josh in '20, for example.
It's funny but I never think of Danny as a center back, though I suppose that technically that's what he was. At base, he was a deep destroyer who did his best work in front of Marshall. In fact of course it was Marshall who allowed him to do his thing, mmuch of the time much farther forward than the book would suggest as O'Rourke could take chances and go for tackles knowing that if by some chance you got past the physical bludgeoning he dished out all you got was the chance to go one v one with the elegant, technically sophisticated Marshall. It was a no win situation. That whole back line worked together so well, with Padula impossible to break down and Hejduk running the touch line like an insane.person. Sigi knew defense and he knew how to let good players play.
If Degenek , Josh & Vallecilla were to become healthy I think we could be above average but that still is asking a lot for a best case scenario.If we are serious we need to add 2 cb and one needs to be a sure fire starter @ LCB And even then we need the CBs we have to get healthy.we can use a lot of other upgrades that will have to wait till off-season unless we can find a way to offload some guys because then we could use a CDM/CM or attacker (DP next year ) really hard to judge cap space available. Wish spotrac had nfl like details but MLS seems unwillingly to inform their fans of such information.
This week’s Soccer Speakeasy from the Columbus Dispatch had Tim Bezbatchenko as a guest. “We feel like we’re very close. I would expect [a center back signing] to be completed in the next few weeks if we can get everything across the line.”#Crew96 #VamosColumbus— Keith Naas, xpeaker of the houxe (@knaas) June 8, 2023 Tommy Scoops aka Tom Bogert was on inside the crew this week too.
Breaking #Crew96 news: Working with Michael Arace, I can confirm that the team is signing defender Yevhen Chberko, a Ukrainian center back playing in the Croatian first league. Exclusive @DispatchAlerts story: https://t.co/LJoNXw1QG0— Adam Jardy (@AdamJardy) June 9, 2023
Well here we go with another random signing from a mid-tier European league. It's a signing at least and it's someone who's been trusted to be a starter for a professional soccer team so hopefully he's at least semi competent...lol. Even being in his prime at 25, I would imagine we can probably get him in under the max salary....I could see like 400 or 500k. 25 years old. 6'0" tall I believe. Left footed center back. Looks like maybe he can maybe even be a left back in a pinch (but probably not an attacking LWB) but I'm not certain. I would assume we're looking at our new LCB.
A left footed CB who can advance into the midfield and play like Frenchie or John Stones in this system is a really good asset offensively. We will see about the defense.
Official Привіт 🇺🇦The Columbus Crew have signed center back Yevhen Cheberko from NK Osijek.#Crew96 | #VamosColumbushttps://t.co/PoD7iQqlSQ— The Crew (@ColumbusCrew) June 9, 2023
Agree 100% with your take on Danny, Bill. He is always a DM to me. We needed help at CB desperately. Even before Degenek, Williams, & Vallecilla went down. This will allow us to move Amundsen to his more natural spot (LWB) more often. Degenek & Williams are back in training. Window opens July 5th, so the new guy cannot play until then. This takes up our final INT spot. https://massive-report.com/2023/06/...ment-with-ukrainian-defender-yevhen-cheberko/ Full update later on. I would hope the depth chart will look something like this: LCB: Chberko, Vallecilla, Amundsen, Quinton CB: Degenek, Williams, Moreira, Quinton RCB: Moreira, Zawadzki, Vallecilla, Farsi IDK where to put Hughes.
This would certainly seem like the highest level of play he has reached Seems primiarly a centerback Doesn't seem to score much 35 cards in 132 professional games. Won't turn 26 till the start of next year https://www.transfermarkt.us/yevgen-cheberko/profil/spieler/343153
NK Osijek qualified for Europa League/Conference League in each of the last 3 years prior to this one.
On TV they said Cucho tied the club record with a goal contribution (goal or assist) in 8 straight games. Does anyone know who he is tied with? Stetn John? Guille? Pipa? McBride? Cunningham? Kamara? I remember Andy Williams had a pretty long assist streak back in the day.
Cunningham and Zelarayan With his second-half goal against Chicago, @ColumbusCrew forward Cucho Hernández recorded a goal contribution in his eighth consecutive game, tying the club record held by Lucas Zelarayán and Jeff Cunningham. pic.twitter.com/zAxesLg9TO— MLS Communications (@MLS_PR) June 11, 2023
Maybe @TrueCrew or someone else knows what the deal might be on this new Ukrainian guy and a work visa. People are saying that he'll be "available" on July 5 but I believe that's as far as FIFA and MLS are concerned. Doesn't our beloved US Government have something to say about it?
Yeah it might be later than that depends on that paperwork for the work visa. But July 5th is when the window opens to make it official for us to have him on the roster.
MLS players who scored goals from midfield and beyond: 2023: Lucas Zelarayan, Columbus Crew 2022: Sebastian Ferreira, Houston Dynamo 2022: Lucas Zelarayan, Columbus Crew 2019: Wayne Rooney, D.C. United 2017: David Villa, New York City FC 2009: Claudio López, Kansas City Wizards 2008: Danny Cepero, RBNY 2008: David Beckham, LA Galaxy 2007: Michael Parkhurst, New England Revolution 2006: Dwayne De Rosario, Houston Dynamo 1999: Marco Etcheverry, D.C. United 1996: Pete Marino, Columbus Crew