I will tell you this team you mentioned started the season rather well specifically on defense. Not a lot of goal scoring but set pieces and grit carried us early then it all fell apart with injuries. The late ownership change really prevented us changing this roster much sooner. The team you mentioned did pretty well the season before with aging players and we did next to nothing to improve it. I feel like your short selling that roster just a lil bit.
Well, I guess I'm pointing my finger most obviously at our midfield. I don't think the Trapp/Artur pairing was successful last year. Meram and Robinho with guys like Rico Clark, Hansen and Jimenez on the subs bench (how we started the season) was simply not close to being good enough. Argudo was an interesting player, I'll admit, though we didn't see anything of him until injuries forced Porter's hand. Maybe another season of Berhalter-ball would have worked better with these guys, but I don't know.
Thanks for the reminder of how different the roster is now vs 12 months ago. Meram. Robinho. Hansen. (Shudder) Your last comment is an interesting one, and we'll of course never know but its undeniable that any roster runs its course, and it seems very much like ours had run theirs. ( its?) Where the hell is Timon? Particularly when the engine - Pipa, obviously - went down it simply didnt work. It was running on memory and fumes, and I think it would have been even if GGG had come back. That roster was done. And frankly, if you're going to ruthlessly RIP it all out root and stem and rebuild, you're better off doing it with a new coach. Old coaches tend to be loyal to the guys who they've been to war with. What's needed is a fresh eye with no old loyalties.
This is what I am thinking as well. 4th maybe. Things really have to break our way to be higher. A lot of new pieces. Zelarayan & Nagbe have to click well, and early. Wormgoor has to be an upgrade. Santos has to be good wide. Valenzuela has to be close to his old self. Zardes has to stay healthy. Trapp/Nagbe has to work. Nagbe & Zelarayan have to stay healthy. Lot of ifs there. I think we will be good. Better. 5th is better than 10th.
The wide play has been poop for like two years. Losing Valenzuela for the year, Afful (and Jimenez/Francus later on) hurt us wide even more. Then the spine took hits. Pipa, and Steffen, and missing Trapp & Zardes for a month. Santos stopped the bleeding at CAM. Room at GK. Diaz wide. Got Zardes & Trapp back. Keita & Maloney had to start 10 games apiece due to injuries in the back. If we could have held a lead late, POs could have been a reality. Depth is better this year. Especially in defense. We have 10 playable defenders I am reasonably confident in. Sjoberg dicey in space. I think 50+ points is doable.
Afful was not the player last year that he had been under Greg. That could be because of coaching difference between Greg and Porter. Under Greg Afful was a goal line to goal linde playet. I couldn't believe how far forward he came and how fast he recovered on defence!
Two other differences that must be taken into account. He was a year older. He was out injured a good part of the season.
True! I am sure age and injuries had a lot to do with the changes in his stile of play! I was always amazed at his ability to push all the way to the attacking goal line then make a recovery run to the defensive goal line. Truly amazing!
I think this goes here. https://www.dispatch.com/sports/202...r-columbus-crew-to-answer-as-new-season-looms
Piatti officially left L'Impact de Montreal today. This makes the Crew's path to second and a first round bye even more likely. Will any of you cowards join me in actually setting high expectations for the team this season? Or does the egregious bumbling of Truck Stop Jimmy and the business side of the team give you caution about the on field prospects? Choose joy. Choose hope.
I'll bet a six on Kyle that we finish second. If this team gels midseason, we will be a lot better than people expect.
I believe we will be a good team this year! We may not be the champions but I believe we will be competitive and fun to watch! Last year was a dumpster fire! I believe this year's team will be very competitive!
MLS aspires to be like the NFL in more than TV ratings. For both leagues, the difference between making the playoffs and missing the playoffs is a midseason knee sprain and two offside calls. Guessing who will lose out or benefit on those things beforehand is a fool's errand. Just root for your team, hope for the best and enjoy the ride.
This squad is so much better than they were at the start of 2019 it's hard to picture them as the same team. We've upgraded about half the starters and we have some decent game changing subs. It really does come down to Zelarayán, Nagbe and Artur. How good are they individually, how well do they work and interplay with each other, and how much better do they make the others around them. It's a whole new central midfield. We'll go where they take us.
Here is some #math #content for the doubters and the fake fans. Atlanta should come back to the pack significantly. Losses of Nagbe and others will hurt them. They are still obviously a playoff team but they don't run away. Neither does NYCFC with transition in the coaching ranks. That's by no means a 64 point team. There is unrest in Toronto (as usual) and you have to wonder if Philadelphia has reached a celing of sorts. Are they really more than a 55 point team? Unlikely. Overall I think you see the table bunched up a little bit more. FCC won't be as bad as last year. The Crew clearly won't be as bad. This brings down the amount of "free points" that teams will get. Second place in the table won't be in the high 50's. It's more than likely in the low to mid 50's. Let's say around 54-56 range. Moving on from Pipa to a competent #10 (if that's what Zelarayan is) is alone worth about 8-10 points for this team. Nagbe's addition is major and though it won't come up on the scoresheet in the same way as Zelarayan is probably worth another 4-5 points. From there you are talking about full seasons of Diaz and Room. You hopefully have enough depth that that Afful isn't playing every minute. The addition of Adi nets us a few extra points through late draws or winners in the rare games where Gyasi Zardes is not world class, points that we were never gonna see with JJ Williams (ha!) as a top option off the bench. All in all we are sitting in that 53-56 point range, which is good enough for at least 2nd in the East. Let's ********in go.
Room >>>> Kempin Valenzuela >>>>>> Maloney/Jiminez Artur > Trapp Nagbe >> Artur Zelarayán >>> Pipa Diaz >>> Argudo Adi >>>>> JJ Mokhtar + Etienne > Manneh We've majorly upgraded 6 starters and have a couple/3 game changing subs available. Best year over year change in Crew history?
I agree with this but I’m concerned with DM because you need Nagbe & Artur to play about 90 min every game yet stay healthy. I’ve heard good things about Aidan and he is likely the first sub there but Berhalter is he really a DM ? And is he ready ??? We are banking on two young guys . clearly we will add a CDM in the summer window but i would feel better if we still had someone like Clark on the bench who could be used if the young guys struggle or the injury bug bites
I agree that we're thinnest behind Nagbe and Artur. We have 2 home grown rookies there along with Jiminez and maybe Mokhtar as a possibility in the Nagbe role. Not great as far as known quantities and no one really knows what we have in the rooks until they play. I wouldn't be surprised if by the summer window we're not seeing a revitalized Artur playing at least MLS average level DM, that we use that international slot and the empty Trapp salary cap money to bring in a DP #6. Artur as a valued back up on a less than $400k salary with a $1m+ level player ahead of him kind of completes this team, IMHO. I'd rather Artur turn things around and have a great season and have us splash for a 3x faster and 7 years younger Santos replacement this summer with that cap space. But we'll see.