I don't remember, will WAA's injury be potentially healed at all by the end of the season or during the post season? I don't remember the projected date. If there is a chance he could be well for post-season and they can't line someone up before the decision date, that might be why they don't dump him.
Yeah, that's always the hope. I'm sure it's statistically possible for someone to return from an injury that quickly, but how often do you actually see it happen? And teams never want to rush someone back. Plus, the injury announcement said he'd "miss the remainder of the 2026 season" due to the injury.
The midfield still isn't a set thing, we spent a lot of money there, I have to hope that Gomes will get stronger, but he's a little older, who knows how fast he can get acclimated to the league.
That's what I thought, but it made me question if he would be available for the post-season. Hopefully Bez will be back by then to make the decision.
How awesome would it be if he comes back deep in the playoffs and scores a hat trick in MLS Cup like a white knight? If we're dreaming, why not dream big?
That was last year's dream. He has no shot to play this year. None. Given the severity of the injury and the timing, I think the dream should be for him to be ready for 2027. 9-12 months is the typical recovey time for ACL + meniscis injury. Surgery was 4/23/26. 12 months wouid put him at 4/23/27. We don't have form dates yet, but we know the regular season ENDS in April. Playoffs in May. Getting him back before next year's playoffs would be a good outcome. But he woukd not have much time (if any) to get up to speed before they started. 9 months would put him at 1/23/27. Just before the regular season starts. This year? 6 months out? No shot.
Seven months was kind of a record for an ACL, Stephon Diggs. There is a fairly long recovery, in part because there is a long period of time during recovery when your leg is strong enough to reinjure the new ACL. Depending on the surgery done (patellar tendon or hamstring tendon), there is also some time spent on tendonitis. The hamstring remains tight, the patellar requires more time on crutches, but probably has less impact on running. It takes quite a while to “feel” normal, regardless which surgery is done. With the chances of reinjury, nobody will be eager to get him on the field this year. BTW, l’ve had the patellar tendon surgery (1998) and a cadaver ligament surgery (allograft) in 2004.
I had my ACL repaired with my patellar at Grant back in the late 90s - Raymond Tesner. He had a picture of Crew stadium on his office wall from.the opener. My brother's was fixed with his hamstring. Allegedly the patellar is a stronger fix than the hammy, but a longer recovery. My rehab was a year where my brothers was shorter. Both had to use a CPM - constant passive motion machine. Velcro your leg in and it constantly bent your knee to a specific angle to keep scar tissue down and facilitate making it flexible. As you progressed, you increased the angle of the CPM. Getting the fluid drained from the knee was always fun. LOL Worked great for me as I've never had any issues with it - only downside is the scre heads protrude from my kneecap a bit and are quite sensitive. EDIT: You can see the bottom screw in this Xray.
Early spring (or late winter— haven’t seen a date yet) of 2027 starts the 14-match “Sprint Season” or whatever they’re calling it. And I don’t know (has anyone heard?) how the playoffs work for that? The first fall-spring season will start end of July 2027. So, at 12 months (end of April 2027), Wes could rejoin the lineup sometime presumably ~2/3 of the way through the “Sprint Season.”
Back in the day, there was some German(?) doctor who was apparently light years ahead of the rest of the world with ACL/MCL surgeries. I wonder what happened to the dude. Did the rest of the world catch up? Is he still ahead of everyone else? Did he retire?
Same thing that happens to anything that reduces profits - it's bought up and buried by the person with the most money.
The meniscis damage slows the recovery timeline. Treating it as just ACL is missing the boat. As for the 14 game 2027 regular, we don't have firn dates, but it said Feb to April, playoffs in May. Late April is almost end of the regular. Look, I am all for being optimistic, but Wes is gone for this year and we'll be lucky if he's back for the start of next year. A setback and he'll miss next year, too.
Rossi is signed thru 2026, we have an option for 2027. WAA and Gazdag are signed thru 2027 with an iltion for 2028. Am assuming those are calendar years, but am not certain.
Summer 2026: Buy out Gazdag Move Abou Ali to IR Sign two new DPs Winter 2026/27: Keep Abou Ali on IR for the sprint season Decline Rossi's option Sign a short-term TAM level deal with an unwritten agreement attached to it Summer 2027: Give Abou Ali a few games to show he's healthy again Trade or transfer Abou Ali with no salary retention Give Rossi a two-year extension with DP money
I do want Rossi, but you can't fit four DPs on the roster unless you're Miami. If the Crew do what I want them to do this summer, they'd be at three active DPs plus Wessam. These machinations would keep the Crew roster compliant until they can get rid of Abou Ali. I've maintained that WAA should be the odd man out; even when healthy, a pure target forward is not the guy to build around if you want to win trophies.
The 3rd DP this year could be a TAM level guy for the Spint 2027 if we eat the entire acquisition cost in the summer instead of spreading it out. That way, we'd have Rossi as a DP locked up, 1 new DP locked up, 1 TAM level DP we can keep as a DP if Wes is IR'd again or buy down with TAM if we need to and/if Wes can play the sprint 2027. Same thing you suggested, really. With the new DP a TAM guy instead of Rossi.
Before i go through what I would do, a gentleman’s agreement with Rossi would be great but seems unlikely and we have other options.
Now that Bez is here #1 is helping Issa Tall or replacing him. We mostly expect him to stay as he was a friend and it’s more likely he gets guidance than forced to another role or club. Focusing on the Roster: Several things need done during this rebuild some have already been mentioned by TrueCrew who often reads my mind when talking about roster moves. Typically we agree a lot on how to improve the roster etc… Abou Ali to IR to free up space before July 13th is a no brainer. Multiple options on what we do afterwards by either getting a DP guy on a expiring contract or getting a guy and then eating the acquisition this year so he is TAM level next year , You could even change your model to the 2 DPs & 4 U22s Cut dead weight this summer: Daniel Gazdag - If we can’t get someone to take on his full salary than I would use a contract buyout and end this debacle. Letting him eat cap space and play for another MLS team while we pay most of his contract seems really stupid to me. Yehven Cheberko- can’t beat out Camacho makes this simple but to me he should be staring not Camacho. But if LC and the organization doesn’t seem him as a starter then you have to let him go as he takes a intl spot. Then find a starting CB this summer no excuses. Andrés Herrera- let contract expire and he will be the problem of River Plate who over pays him and wants too much for us to even purchase him due to MLS rules as of now. He takes a intl spot and doesn’t start regularly. Most of his starts have been by default due to Farsi being injured. Now if River Plate terminated his contract and we could get him for free I would definitely offer him a reasonable contract. IF anyone wanted the following players on expiring contracts I would free up spots and get better players : Amar Sejdić-29yrs old on bench with not much potential Rudy Camacho - takes intl spot is 35 and slow doesn’t fit what we need anymore. Jamal Thiaré- 33 years old doesn’t fit what we need in a rebuild play young guys or get better players only one starts and he absolutely shouldn’t be starting. GK- Not a pressing need, roll with who we have but 5 is way too many keepers so if we can’t find a place to get playing time for Lapkes in USL perhaps his time is done here. Pruter is playing for Crew2. I don’t think we need them both it’s not a big deal until you need a roster spot. Forwards - We need a play making guy who scores as a DP. We can’t expect another Cucho but we need that type of player and should look for one. Long term that would pair best with Abou Ali. Ali will be a huge talking point next year on do we keep or do we try to sell him. There is no way we add a striker unless it’s a DP starter . Play the young guys for now but we better find a great player this window if we are a truly ambitious club who aspires to be top 4 in east. Midfielders - we have too many mediocre guys , we are probably stuck with Gomes who i actually like but he is a bridge the gap kind of player. I like him for depth over Sedjic but we have too many old slow guys. If we had more dynamic attackers Gomes would make more sense even if it was off the bench. If we can come close to selling Gomes or trading him to maybe NYCFC by breaking even then you could keep Sedjic who is cheaper and invest more money on a young (but talented starter) long term midfield option. But again we need a starter level player or it’s not worth adding anyone to this group either. Defenders- This is where we need to build a foundation we need a starting CB to pair with Zawadzki or in a 3 man back line which we appear to be going back to with Zawadzki & Moreira. I personally like Cheberko on left and do not like Amundsen but either way you need to upgrade the CB room. I’m not sure anyone wants Amundsen so we may be stuck with him. Cheberko has to go if he is not a starter. We need a starter and not a back up which is a reoccurring statement that is 100% true. outsideback is a non issue to me. If Arfsten leaves we will lose a serious attacking threat but we have two capable youngsters in Brown & Presthus and Farsi is locked in on the right. Unless we immediately identify a starter level replacement for Arfsten you go with youth on defense. I think for now Picard starts and would take Arfstens role he is a high energy kid. Play the kids !!!
here's an option≥.. Josef Martinez has left his team per this article... could be a possible 2 year signing? josef-martinez-dejara-xolos-tijuana-regresa-a-mls_0_sxexSwveRF.html Translates:V. enezuelan striker Josef Martinez has reportedly concluded his relationship with the Xolos de Tijuana, in a move that puts him back on the radar of the transfer market in North America, especially in the face of the possibility of a return to Major League Soccer. Josef Martínez: end of his brief stint in Tijuana Martinez arrived at Club Tijuana in January 2026 as a free agent, after finishing his contract with the San Jose Earthquakes, signing an initial one-year agreement with an option to extend. His incorporation marked his first experience in Liga MX, after a long career in American soccer.
Max one year. That being said, this club seems to like strikers that help in buildup, so I'm not sure he helps there.
One year with an option. There’s zero chance I’d take him at a DP level and even a TAM level is pushing it IMO.