A few people have mentioned that. Plus we were simply unlucky on a couple chances. But I think the problem that remains is when we look at what we have now in the front office, coaching staff and players we are watching our 2007 and future slowly muddy up. The Crew did play well even after early losses of GBS and Pierce. Ezra (for Pierce) did not look fully healthy so props to him for hanging in there. Thomas wasn't full 90 minutes to begin with so why the bloody hell did Sigi play him when there are healthier options? For what it's worth the Crew did play strong and nobody really quit out there. They simply didn't have the skill to get past a bunkering Chit defense and midfield. They didn't know how to use the wet surface most of the time (more outside shots, please) (no looping overhead balls that simply skip out of touch). Now Hejduk and GBS miss the next match due to yellow card accumulation (I forget, is Oughton out as well?). Pierce might not be healthy. Ezra is probably not 100%. So that leaves Migs and Gonzo as our anchors. Add to that anybody who fought the pouring, soaking rain for hours just to go home empty from a lucky counter; well, I can understand why there is a lot of mental and probably physical sickness when discussing it and the immediate future.
Until there's a column in the standings and points assigned for "clearly dominating, or at least outplaying" the other team, it's in my opinion extremely difficult to say many positive things about a team that hasn't won since July 22 (against the only team in the conference with fewer points than we have) and has gone from having a firm grasp on a playoff spot to currently looking through the knot hole. I'm sorry, but while "clearly dominating, or at least outplaying" the opponents is nice, or "at least we're generating chances but just not finishing" (the line from earlier in the season) is nice, this is a results-oriented business. Going almost two entire months without winning a game doesn't exactly make me search for the positive, mildly or otherwise. If such an attitude makes me a pessimist, a dick, or whatever, so be it. I want my team to win. Looking for positives in the continued absence of that is not going to cut it for me.
Currently, Columbus has more points (28) than only three other teams: Toronto FC (20), Real Salt Lake (18), and Los Angeles (17). For whatever it's worth - just as a factoid, I guess - the last time Columbus won against a team which currently has more points than us was June 30, a 1-0 win over New York.
OK great. Trade Gonzo and Marshall. Why not. Good center backs are a dime a dozen. And besides, I'm sure Mr Versatility and Rusty Pierce can do every bit as well. It's too early in the morning to be drunk. I did not see them "dominate" the game last night. As for outplayed, maybe by a small margin, but the bottom line is as I have been saying: the point of soccer is scoring goals. If you are not scoring goals then you are not playing well. Nobody is "unlucky" week after week after week after week. "Gee, we just didn't finish our chances" and "boy, we were so close a couple times" and "wow, we really outplayed those guys but just couldn't score" and "we didn't get the breaks" such is all utter nonsense when used game after game. One game two games, yeah sure, you might have been unlucky. 24 games, you're not unlucky, you just stink.
I hate this team. I am fully on board the Sigi and McCullers must go bandwagon. If by some fluke we make the playoffs we do not have enough in the team to win a 2 legged gam This team needs a complete housecleaning from top to bottom.
And, if I'm reading the newspaper correctly, both Buddle and Martino scored yesterday in LA's away win! over Colorado, a team we tied at home. And Jaqua got a hat-trick. Isn't he the guy Sigi wanted and he refused to come to Columbus? Why? I suspect we didn't try enough money to change his mind.
Jason Garey needs to start. He is full of hustle and attitude, and he has skills too. I saw the reserve match vs the Crapids, and he was non-stop energy. But of course the FATMAN won't look beyond his dinner plate. speaking of plates, here's something I truly want to see on a platter:
Do you really want to go through the last two years- again? I'll agree with you that there are multiple players who are not capable of playing at the level of MLS, but to do another housecleaning would simply be insane. Not insane as in "Dear Lord please let this work out" or "Holy crap that's some outside the box thinking"; insane as in "the stupidest mistake you could possibly make- again". It's fine if you want Sigi and MM gone, but to get rid of everyone and start over is simply ludicrous.
and that's why Robert is the answer. He knows the talent that we have and how to use it. Plus, he bleeds the colors. So does Lapper, so they go nowhere... sorry Pettyfog, but it's true.
FYP And just as I'm watching the Science Channel's show on Hawking's 'Information Paradox'... the crux of which is anything going through a black hole ultimately disappears forever and the outgrowth of that is we cant be sure of anything we think we know or remember. Summa you geeks might see the connection.
The last 2 years? Try the last 4. There are some players I would build the team around. Marshall, Gonzalez, Guillermo and one or two others. The rest of them have mostly they do not have what it takes to be a success in the league. We keep rewarding failure. Unfortunately we will need to move one or two of our better players to get different players in. Our drafts have been disasters recently. The talent evaluation in the coaching staff and the front office is very shaky.
So Warzycha and Lapper have been here the whole time and have tons of great ideas that Andrulis and Schmid have just never listened to?
Well, to be fair, they take orders from Sigi who is not known for giving up much control over anything. It's probable that the two of them have some input, but it's also clear that Sigi calls the shots and they are expected to fall in line. That said, I think we need to clean the whole festering putrid bunch out. Sweep the place clean. Fumigate. Hose it down. I don't think we should keep the equipment guy, the girls who work in the souvenir shop, the ushers or the guys who scrub the rest rooms. Fire 'em all. Every last salesman, every last secretary, every last intern. The groundskeepers. The official photographer. The ball holders. Everybody down to the last man-jack of 'em. Then take every last file cabinet, every scrap of paper, every piece of office furniture, every chair desk and conference table and make a big pil in the parking lot. Clean out the locker rooms too - towels, old uniforms, balls, condom machine, everything. Pile it all up and set a torch to it. The only way to kill this kind of infestation is by burning it out.
If the front office i.e. McCullers had any sac, he'd would have Sigi saying 'yes baaaaws' or better yet, would have pulled a Donald Trump card by now.
Hey now BA, fotobass is a good guy and not part of the problem! So leave him and Dennis the grounds guy and maybe Danny O'Rourke's brother (don't want to piss off Danny). then you can fire the rest. and kick Sodexho the hell out of the building too.
Good thought. Even though he's one of the USA's biggest rivals, he'd sell a lot of tickets and score goals.
I guess I did find something positive out of last night game. Duncan Oughton continues to be a stand-up guy: Scott Tann: Why Crew Fans Love Duncan Oughton
Can we get rid of the friggin wild bean shootout while we're at it? there's the rising stench of USL about this franchise. we're minor league in so many ways.
Hey, man, i stayed out there through all that deluge last night...doesn't that give me any slack at all? Can't I at least get traded to a warm-weather team?
A team that's fixed on "luck" is a team going nowhere. How many freakin years do we gotta listen to this mindless, childish "luck" bullshit? Either you played well eough to win or you didn't, but we're now going on four years of constant "luck" talk. It makes me want to puke.
Your avatar gets more appropriate with every game. At least in 2006 we knew we had no chance. This year we got cock-teased.