I'm not saying fire him right now either, but if results and play don't improve over the next month, and in fact continue to deteriorate, questions should be asked at a minimum.
I am sure this has been covered already but my biggest gripe is I have a really hard time seeing what we are actually trying to do. What is the actual system of attack or play? Based on everything I read before the season started I got a sense of positionless, extreme overloads, and tight passing. I am not sure I have really seen that thus far. Also, Gazdag getting the started one week and then nothing is an odd man management decision.
I won’t try to articulate the first part, Im not that smart, but the Gazdag thing I can make sense of. He was in the shop window for SKC, imo. He obviously had a garbage preseason, wasn’t good enough to start coming into the year. But SKC is crap, and the hope was he would get a tap in or 2 and we could entice them to fork over a couple GarberBux for him. Alas. He duffed a sitter and was really bad overall. Back to the bench. He’s not good enough in any phase of the game, it’s over for him here, and the only questions left are how and when will he leave.
I don't think thats fair to Rydstrom at all. He's clearly playing a formation he doesn't prefer and trying to be pragmatic with our defense due to a lack of players who can play his style. He IS compromising.
My question is this then: if he doesn't have the players to play his style, then: 1) why did he take this job? He here just to get a check and kill time until he can bring his guys in? I hate the mentality that "I can't play my style until the team makes half a dozen signing." 2) why did Issa hire Rydstrom if the current roster can't play the way Rydstrom wants to?
See Wilfried Nancy’s tenure at Celtic for why a coach shouldn’t change the system/formation too quickly. How soon we forget the lessons of history
Rydstrom had a preseason, that's a huge difference. Then Rydstrom is just doing what we did last year, which he was critical of throughout the preseason, critical of into the season, and pretty much everyone on this board will tell you was crap last season. If the idea is to not change, should've just made Courtois the coach, which I would've preferred personally. I'm just not sure what the plan is. Last season was a flop, nothing has really changed. Rydstrom can't change without more players, so what are we doing here? I'm so confused. To me it sounds like we're just blowing off the first half of a home world cup season, which seems less than ideal.
What? Nancy came to Columbus and immediately changed his formation and tactics to do what he wanted to do. The two aren’t even close to comparable. You can’t get relegated in MLS, so what is the pressure to get immediate results? Rydstrom should’ve ripped the band-aid off and went to his preferred 433. Instead, he said it himself. He is slowly going to implement his system week by week
Iirc, one of the arace interviews the week before the season, believe Henrik said he had only worked with the players in-person for 10 days or so.
Correct, Rydström was dealing with his father’s death, so he didn’t have a full preseason with the team. Courtois took over in his absence.
Last year, we were mad that Nancy was sticking to the system in the face of injuries and a limited roster. Im fine with the pragmatism. He said he wanted to win most of all. Tread water and implement it slowly as a teacher would do until the WC break. Then come out of it looking like Fluminese.
I would like to see a 4-3-3 soon. Think that will solve some midfield and final third problems, but it could create some backline assignment issues. None of our "CBs" have played well (or at all) as CBs in a true back 4, except at the end vs SKC.
Farsi is unlikely to go all out for the Crew before the World Cup and risk an injury. Saves himself to showcase with Algeria at the WC and then a move to Europe in the summer. Arfsten and Farsi move in the summer, maybe Gazdag gets waived. That gives the roster spots and financial space for Rydstrom to add guys he wants and reshape things for the second part of the season.
I dont think the solution for having a 3 man line full of marginal-to-lousy performers is adding one more marginal-to-lousy player to the line. Its the quality of the personnel thats the problem. Looking down the roster, ISTM that the coach is sending out his 11 best guys. What else can he do? In past ( sucessful) years the Crew has started a team chock full of guys who we all agreed would be starters anywhere in MLS. How many of those do we have right now? A couple? Maybe. Coach or not, formation or not, this is just not a very good team.
I think the team can look pretty good if we get a good CB, 6, and attacking midfielder or winger (aka gazdag replacement). That will improve the spine of the team, gain control, and add creativity. The latter two needs might have arrived this weekend (Nariman and Gomes). Track record of Issa, U22s, and weak 6s in this league tells me that wont be the case. The CB is still inexplicably missing.
Aliyu back to Houston. We have an open u22 and senior roster spot Sources: The Houston Dynamo are acquiring Ibrahim Aliyu in a trade with the Columbus Crew.Dynamo sends $250k GAM + $500k GAM add ons, per sources.Aliyu was traded from Houston to Columbus last year… now back with Dynamo as wingbackHouston expecting to add another wingback pic.twitter.com/epO57nuBvE— Tom Bogert (@tombogert) March 10, 2026
Got no problem with him being traded, but the fact that he’s headed right back where he came from, less than a year later, is pretty bizarre. Oh well.
I will give Tall credit, He does not believe in the sunk cost fallacy, for the most part. Or, at least he’ll offload players that his coaches deem surplus faster than most other GMs
This was an express wish expressed from above before the start of the season, Tall had a little push. Gazdud was mentioned at the same time, but no luck there as of yet.
I'm quite sure that Gazdaddy's stock is in the tank these days after his performance last year. Unloading him domestically is going to be a challenge.