I keep forgetting about Taha lately when making XIs. I still do not know where to put him. He does good things, but he is a little too finese for CM in a 343 and not dynamic or productive enough to start wide in a 343. But given what we have currently, he has to start or be the first attacker off the bench.
This may sound crazy because we need more Centerbacks mainly in the middle of 3 man line but Amundsen is short and Morerira is short. I would look to replace them. Stock has never been higher i would move Moreira ONLY if someone made a good offer. But not if we don’t find a central CB. I think Zawadzki would be best suited there and a left footed guy at LCB which for now is Amundsen . Need 2 good CB additions no matter how you slice it. We have to upgrade this position AND i can’t believe they haven’t identified options , likely they are working on deals rn. Just need to find the right fit.
And, I'll point out that "you never know". Different sport, but who thought Cam Atkinson would be as good as he was coming in as a 6th round pick.
"And with the one-hundredth ninety-ninth pick in the 2000 NFL draft..." It's easy enough to laugh at the Cleveland Browns being happy with Tim Couch, but you're right. You never know. It's also a lot of different pieces having had to come together to make someone a good player. In reality, had the Browns or another terrible team drafted him, the odds are much greater of Tom Brady playing 2-3 years and being forgotten about than being a Hall of Famer. FWIW, the Eagles had Koy Detmer and Donovan McNabb as their first two in 2000. Their first pick? A guy named Corey Simon who played in Philly for four years and was done after the 2007 season. If he was drafted by another team, he might be closer to legendary status.
So by all means, lets compare the NFL draft, which has as its raw material, literally every single solitary player in the entire world in a given age and/ or eligibility group and has a vast, virtually unlimited pool of candidates, with the MLS draft, which consists mostly of leftovers, aged-out college players who werent quite good enough and combine invitees who will be working Swatch watch kiosks in six months because anyone who can play is already in Europe, has been tagged as a homegrown or came out after their freshman year. Because theres really no difference.
Matt Doyle released an article this morning “Wishcasting a *realistic* World Cup target for each MLS team” His pick for the Crew is John Stones. Says it was hard to pick one for us bc he can’t tell at the moment what kind of team we’re building, but if we buy out Gazdag it’s an easy fit, as Stones is out of contract. shrug. Im expecting a much lower priced center back signing, that no one has ever heard of, and then another DP attacker who’s more versatile. Also someone no one has ever heard of. My basis for this belief is 30 years of history.
You'd think someone who's covered the Crew and MLS for so long would have a clearer sense of the roster rules. But, if so, you'd be mistaken. I think Adams and Presthus are in the new-ish "Off-Roster Homegrown Players" category, but those are still first team contracts, not MLSNP.
Don't worry, CBJ writers fvcked up the specifics of a contract the other day for a new guy. It's embarrassing when they don't know stuff they should know:
Not to change the subject on a wonderful post but had to ask. I will be in Berlington visiting family in about 3 weeks. What are some good places to eat, see while I'm there?
You are correct. But that is a new rule for this year, I believe. Though with the loans for Zengue and Elliot, there should be Supplemental spots open. At least one.