Yep, all this. Zelarayan is on $2 million. I know in Turkey, they give soccer players tax breaks to incentivize them to come, so Larin is keeping a big chunk of that $1.8 million, and Istanbul is probably a pretty good place to live. We could easily give Larin $2 million, and on a free transfer we could raise that to $2.5 or $3 million. No way he gets that in Europe. Just depends what Larin wants. The best striker in CONCACAF (arguably), in his prime, for half the salary of guys like Higuain, Vela, and Chicharito. Larin was already one of the very best strikers in MLS three of four years ago, for a not great Orlando. Imagine what he could do here. Just need to get him service.
Another guy who is out of contract is Ambroise Oyongo. Name sound familiar? He was at NYRB and Montreal before he left for Montpellier in Ligue 1. We need a left back, he can also play midfield in a pinch. He’s a current Cameroon international. He’s 30, turning 31 this summer. Could be a guy we get for a year or two. He’s very attacking, but that’s no different from Pedro or Valenzuela. Just a thought. Cameroon’s current staring left back? It’s Nouhou in Seattle.
6 games into the season and we lead in expected goals at 12.86 and are 3rd in goals expected against at 6.85 It's almost like our offense need better finishers of the chances that are created
So my guess is that the now-certain top to bottom rebuild of the Crew this off season ( the one which should have happened last winter) will mean the replacement of at least six current starters and possibly as many as eight. Surely Bez knows this better than I do. I just think the time to start is fast approaching. This side as currently constructed ain't gonna win damn thing, not now, not ever. I'm not being Debbie Downer here I'm just stating facts.
Yep, summer transfer signing of a player that can contribute now and be around for a few years is imperative. I strongly feel that a DP winger is the fastest way to improve this team. I threw out the name Konrad de la Fuente a while back. Out of favor with both USMNT and his club, only 20 years old. What better way to get back into form than to replace xG black holes like Etienne and Yeboah? But, if not him, someone in that vein, young, SPEEDY, winger. Start there and then work on replacing the other over 30 guys.
I'm not as down on this team as many. They are dominating possession and not giving up many shots. Problem has been Room not making critical stops early. I think goals will come and they may likely come in bunches. I do think Porter's assessment is spot on. Guys need to be hungry to score. One person I see with that is Matan. I'm not yet calling for him to be a starter. But boy when he comes in to games, he attacks. I'm also totally over Sanch at LB. I wasn't a fan last year but it was a necessity. Philly saw him as weakness and kept attacking his space the few times they gain possession. The wingers are doing a decent job of executing Porter's style - although they need to be sharper on the balls they deliver into penalty.... and we need Gyassi in there finding spaces in the defense rather than Berry just standing next to CBs with his hand in their pocket.
Our offensive stats are highly misleading. They combine goodly stretches when up a man with long stretches of opponents bunkering when up a goal. Because why wouldn't they if the Crew can't score against it?
I don't think striker is the issue. I still believe the issue is getting goals from anywhere other than Lucas. We are so one dimensional and not dangerous in wide areas. I like this type of a deal but I would rather it be for a wide player
I agree striker isn’t our biggest issue, but if Zardes is gone by the end of the year, it will be then.
I think the most annoying part of all this is the constant complaints that we can't break down a low-block and score. Guess what? People play the low block because it works! It's SUPPOSED to be hard to break down and score on. This is not a uniquely Crew or Porter/Bez problem - the vast majority of teams/coaches, when playing against a low block, can't break it down or find it very difficult to score. So, constantly using this as a metric by which to measure lack of success is being less than honest.
How many coaches in this league would you rate as able to consistently break down a low block and score goals against it based on how the team is coached to play ("style") vs moments of individual brilliance (LZ FKs, etc)?
If I were to say none, then would you agree it’s irrelevant who our coach is if everyone just plays a low block against us? Also, if a low block is so rock solid against everyone, then why doesn’t everyone play it? Honestly, the Porter debate needs to go no further than this: - He took a championship winning team (take that however you like) and he turned it into a regular season failure (twice, here and Portland). - He’s so erratic as a coach, he’s never made the playoffs (which half the league qualifies for) two years in a row. - His solution to our scoring issues is to say our strikers need neck tattoos and to be pricks. - He wants to purposely play slow, allowing teams to recover and get into this impenetrable low block you’re talking about. Surely, one way to beat a low block is to not allow your opponent time to get into it, correct? Which means being quicker than them and not being concerned with ‘dominating’ teams with useless possession, correct? I’m a believer in stats, but they’re not perfect, sometimes they do lie. In this case, they’re lying (or more accurately, we played against the worst two teams from the west with 10 men and have a small sample size currently).
This fascination some people suddenly have with "the low block" is hilarious considering that last year every body complained that we were unable to cope with "a high press" The real problem, as you state, as serious league observers have been saying for some time, is not the way our opponents play but rather the way the Crew plays, which can be summed up in one word: Slow. No matter the score no matter the personnel no matter the situation, the Crew is going to hold the ball, wait until everybody is in place and then basically walk it up the field. This gives the opponent all the time in the world to set up whatever defense they like and the easiest most idiot proof thing you can do is pack the defensive third, have a cigarette and a beer and wait for the Crew to eventually show up. The only difference comes when the opponent chooses to set up their defense just past the halway, to save themselves from all that running up and down. What everyone knows is that when playing the Crew there is a near zero chance that when we get the ball they're going to suddenly have to deal with a 100 mph, pants on fire, jailbreak, all out balls.to.the wall cavalry charge. It's what you get when you value posession over purpose. When is the last time you saw a defense back on their heels for fear of getting burned by the Crew? There are BS fans who've had babies that are now entering kindergarten since the last time that happened. It's why some guys, and I believe you're one of them - I certainly am - want to see Diaz out there. No he's not exactly Raheem Sterling but defenders have to give him space, give us room in the back for fear of ending up in a foot race with a guy who'll make you look like a plow horse. The Crew simply plays too slow. It's what the coach wants, it's what the coach is getting and all.the prison tattoos and scary attitudes in the world won't change it.
I tend to agree with this line of thinking. Plus, were you to ask me about Bez's role on this club, I'd have a hard time giving you an answer. He was brought in because of his proven skill signing big talent and his mastery of the league's roster rules. Lucas has been a great signing, to be sure. And we all seem to like Moreira. But beyond that, things just haven't worked out, and the list of those players has begun to get very, very long, indeed. And then there are the non-, or too-long delayed signings. We went into 2021 knowing that we needed a new right back, but we didn't end up signing one until late August, and Moreira didn't make an appearance until early October. The braintrust evidently valued signing Matan (for nearly a $2M fee) in March over addressing a glaring RB issue. Recall, too, the club initially claimed Hairston could learn RB (not so much, it seems). This year, we have other glaring issues at midfield and LB, and yet the responses to those have been (1) making some budget midfield signings and (2) further depleting our midfield - while not addressing the core issue in defense - by asking Santos to play in a new position. Not terribly inspiring. And not really what I expected from a Bez/Porter team backed by ownership that reportedly want to compete for championships.
I agree with the idea that we play too slow, I don't think that's an earth shattering opinion. The issue with going against the low block is hand in hand with this though. If we give up an early mistake, which we always seem to do, teams can retreat to their half or defensive third and simply clog everything up. And they do. This isn't unique, I see teams do it to Chelsea on a weekly basis and I watched Mourinho do it before that. It's a sound philosophy that is used throughout the world. How do you beat it? With creativity (Lucas), a FK (also Lucas) or with speed of play, which not many MLS teams are able to do well at all. We need to not have our goalkeeper throw the ball into our net. We need or strikers to sacrifice to score. The jokes about neck tattoos aside, it would be nice to have a dark arts striker, a Diego Costa type, instead of the two clumsy, nice guy strikers we have now. I think Diego Costa is out of contract
I’m really starting to wonder about Bez. People talk about him bringing in Giovinco and Bradley from Serie A, but since Bez has left they’ve bringing in Insigne from Serie A, and there were also serious rumors of them bringing in Criscito (sp?) from… you guessed it, Serie A. I think the owner or president or whoever just has a giant boner for big names from Italy honestly, probably just told Bez to get these guys. Bez might know all the rules, but what good does a boatload of GAM do for you if you’re starters are Miguel Berry, Derrick Etienne, Eloy Room, etc?
Good point, we can’t handle a high press, we can’t handle a low block. So, basically, we can only play against teams with coaches dumber than Porter who do zero scouting. Great.
And I would just like to point out to anyone who thinks I’m just a grumpy ass hater, I’ve consistently said our defense from open play is very good, elite level in the league. We’ve only given up one or two goals from open play this year, and one of them was the Room own goal. Porter is doing very well with that, no complaints. What is an issue though is set piece defending, the lack of diversity is our offensive tactics, and lack of neck tattoos (players problem tbf).
So sick of the RB not a priority shit. How many times do I have to remind you all that IM told us they had a brand-new RB all lined up and ready to announce when at the last minute they decided to stay overseas instead. So that's why there was no RB signing until Frenchie. Jesus Christ folks.
Yeah, but I don't care. It's their job to address these shortcomings. So the Plan A guy they wanted turned them down. Shit happens. Did they have a Plan B? Why did it take until Aug. 23 to sign another RB (who wasn't ready to play until Oct. 3, when it was really too late to do much good)? An unstated part of this is that I think they also thought Afful would be good enough until we eventually found another player. Sorta like they appear to think Santos is good enough in Valenzuela's role, until we eventually sign a true LB. We've said this before, but I think the bigger issue, too, is that the MLS regular season isn't a do-or-die kinda thing. Teams are primarily just wanting to get into the playoffs. And so the Crew (or any other club) can take its sweet time putting together a roster, maybe signing 1-2 players in the summer window who can make an impact as the regular season winds down and you enter the playoffs.