Post-match: 2024 Match 1-Columbus (defending league CHAMPION) Crew vs Atlanta (non-champion, bums) United

That would include me. I had no idea about a moment of silence.

 

???

Is that what the moment of silence was for?

 

Who do I need to mock and humiliate to acquire such a surplus toque? I'm packing to move south so couldn't come to the game and will really need warm headgear down near the equator .... And of course I must rep The Greatest Team Ever!!

 

No one is quite sure yet exactly what happened. A couple girls got into a fight in a restroom, some other girls broke it up, everybody walked on their own power to the principals office, were seen by the nurse and went on their way.

The next day one of the girls - a non-binary something or other - died. The medical.examiner has yet to rule on CoD.

Now if this had been two slutty cheerleaders or two clarinet players in Oklahoma fighting over a saxophone guy no one in the Nordecke would have given a crap.

But the Nordecke can't allow an opportunity to virtue signal over something they know nothing whatsoever about beyond what some hysterical bloggers have said to pass without taking their moral outrage out for a spin.

And people wonder why more and more people are skeptical about the direction of the section. I'm willing to bet that at least one person in Columbus died under suspiciously violent circumstances over the last week. Where's their moment of silence?

 

Just rewatched at home. Not pretty, especially the second half. Still, good ball movement. JRR isn’t an alike replacement for Matan. I liked his involvement. He’s surprisingly good with the ball at his feet, a solid passer who has good vision, seems to make good decisions. He should have finished at least one of those chances, though.

It’s hard to read much into this first match. Really, all I care about is that we got the 3 points and learning about Farsi’s status. The Dispatch write-up said it’s an ankle issue. If so, I’m modestly relieved, being that he walked off under his own power (with some help) and was putting weight on both legs. A sprain? We were a different team without him.

Then again, no Moriera or Matan meant we already were substantially ‘different.’ I’m very confident seeing Zawadski out there, wherever he plays. Arfsten, not as much.

I remain a bit concerned about Rossi. But, again, it’s just the first match. He’s very involved, but rarely shows signs of being able to independently impact that match in the way one expects to see from a former golden boot winner and a player we paid such a high fee to acquire.

Anyway, on to Minnesota, where I’d expect see some substantial lineup changes. Hard to see Farsi playing. But I’d assume Moriera will start in back. Matan, who had some minor injury yesterday, I’d expect to start, as well. But who plays in Farsi’s role with a week to prepare? I’d prefer it not be Arsften.

 

I think the whole team was gassed late on. Rossi in particular. He had a couple great chances late & made a meal out of both.

Hagen did not make the 20. Habroune did not make the 20. Jones & Hinestroza did not see the field. Not a great sign for our new guys.

 

Maybe. But Cucho missing that PK and Farsi needing to be subbed out really changed the game. Up by one goal, Nancy’s subs were to players with a deep understanding of his system. If we had a 2 goal lead, and if Farsi were still in the match, I wonder if we might have seen Hinesstroza yesterday.

 

First game of the season. One should not read too much into that either way.

 

A simple “yes” would’ve sufficed.

 

I’m gonna day this until I’m blue in the face, he’s a winger. Will he eventually be a wingback? Maybe, maybe not. But right now, dude is an ultra attacking finesse dribbly winger. I fail to see a universe where he’s a starting wingback for us, but that’s just me.

Someone will bring up that Matan did it, and he did… like twice, and then never again.

Also, to be fair, multiple new signings around the league didn’t play yesterday, so not the end of the world.

 

OK.

Yes.

 

I found it odd that JRR seemed to be dropping deep and playmaking more than Cucho. I felt like that sort of threw everything off a bit.

 

Hanroune is no where close to being a regular in MLS, just based on his frame and physicality. I think he’ll still play a lot with Crew 2 this year.

I never really understood the Hagen signing.

 

Absolutely. Well said. Those good people behind the TIFO make world-class work. Their masterpieces make me so proud to be a Crew supporter.

 

I wasn't so sure he was dropping back by design or whether in fact he was just showing a lack of aggressiveness. Most of the time he's just jogging around out there. God forbid he should get out front. He might break a nail.

 

He’s more of a combination guy at the MLS level. He had the physical traits at the MLSNP level to beat guys, but his physical tools in this league are just average. Seems to me he’s using his creativeness and passing more here to compensate.

 

I was disappointed to see that his passing accuracy was the worst of the bunch yesterday, only about 72%. Slightly lower than Cucho's. Of course, Cucho scores tons of goals, took 8 shots, and 3 on goal yesterday. JRR took 3 shots, none on goal, though of course one hit the post.

 

A 21 year old was shot dead at point-blank range by his mom in Columbus.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crim...killing-her-son-on-southeast-side/ar-BB1iylr7

 

This is why we need to sack @LaMacchia.

 

So no one knows why there was supposed to be a moment of silence? Or whose idea it was? There’s something like 200 murders a year in Columbus.

If there is this much confusion amongst people who follow the team closely, then people can’t be upset when it doesn’t happen.

I’m just gonna assume this is someone trying to be a big shot (pun not intended) and making everything about themselves.

 

It doesn't help that the club's social media following is very disjointed now. With people boycotting Twitter, reddit, and Meta. I'm not joining the Nordecke discord cause that will be a mess.

 

Oh, we know why, but was it clearly communicated to all?

 

Wait...what about a boycott here?

 

Overreaction ! Not a good preseason ? We saw like 5 minutes total with glimpses here and there. Nancy wasn’t sure about him defensively and mentioned him as an attacking player. It’s a complicated system and he will likely need to learn one role at a time. I like others have repeatedly said he is more of an attacking player. Could he defend ? Sure and it’s very reasonable to speculate like Doyle did when his source said he will be a wingback. But Arfsten was not good defensively and he is use to the system already. Yeboah came along slowly and just kept getting better. We have Farsi banged up so maybe the staff has to change their plans
( which we don’t even know anything other than what Nancy said)

It was a typical sloppy opener with fitness/lingering injury for Matan and probably precautionary on Moreira who just got back. We have 1 week to prepare for Minnesota. Moreira and Matan will be fine but we play again on 3/6 so fitness could be an issue and we need to be careful not to overwork them or Farsi. Even if it’s a sore ankle I would rest Farsi against the Loons. Coming off the bench is best case scenario for him.

Also 4th spot behind Ramirez for Matan? You sir don’t pay attention. I like seeing JRR over Ramirez. Ramirez is going to do better if he comes of the bench he in peak form didn’t go the full 90 a lot. Great player but his role is not going to be an everyday starter.

I concur with JRR he just needs more experience at this level. As fans we are too quick to say a guy will never amount to anything or after 1-2 games praise them to be the next star. Overall great post with a proper perspective.

Good post but I disagree on the not a great sign for new guys. I mentioned before Bush would likely be ahead of Hagen. Hagen will definitely be the back up guy at some point. But learning the system and being eased into it is smart. Hagen will be on the bench whenever Bush starts. Once Hagen gets comfortable he should certainly overtake Bush. Jones who we think might play multiple positions needs to learn one. I expect to see Jones & Hinestroza vrs Minnesota as Nagbe & Morris aren’t likely to go 90 on March 2nd & 6th. Not sure where Hinestroza mixes in but I would have liked to see him but we only get 5 subs and Nancy doesn’t like to use them all just to see ppl play. I would have subbed him in for Rossi but I’m not half the coach that Nancy is. I also don’t know how well he is adapting and if he isn’t ready I wouldn’t have put him in unless forced which seems to be the case considering the circumstances of the game.

Absolutely agree up only one goal lean on experience and chemistry in the dying moments of a game.

Wise words from a vetran poster !

It’s not just you although I don’t fail to see it as a possibility. I just think he won’t regularly be seeing minutes at RWB but like you said similar to Matan playing in a pinch ( If his defensive abilities warrant it , Nancy basically hinted they currently do not)

Agree On Taha he likely gets the most Crew2 minutes, Hope Quinton gets a bunch also.

They are grooming Hagen to be the back up but right now that’s still Bush. My wife is from Guatemala but any true soccer fan from Guatemala knows the players on their team are not going to go toe to toe with the best players in the world let alone in MLS. He started a lot for a average at best Norwegian club HamKam (Hamarkameratene) in 2022. Then in 2023 he went to Israel for Bnei Sakhnin F.C. and they weren’t good he played 4 games.

so bottom line he is a young (27) experienced developmental type of player tying to get better. Everyone should pump the breaks he isn’t going to beat out Schulte so when he is ready for opportunity let’s see how he looks.
But lowering your expectations would probably help. Bush isn’t going to play forever and if he can’t beat out Bush he will be gone by the end of the season. He is only guaranteed one year with options on 25 & 26.

Absolutely hopefully he becomes more and learns from Ramirez.