Porter has pretty much always been a coach who is concerned with ball control/possession. After a couple of Portland seasons he eased off of it a bit because he wasn't getting the results. How many times do we string together 18 passes and the ball ends up in the back of the net? I realize possession is supposed to "wear" teams down but with more subs than ever I don't think that seems to actually be as true anymore. The sign of a good coach is evolving and adapting and he just really has never done that.
The inflexibility infuriates me. Especially when you look at the goals we've scored (and a lot of the chances we've created) have come when we play quickly. Yet Porter is always shouting at the players to "Keep it!" A quick outlet to the left, a big switch to the right to find Diaz or Moreira, send 4 attackers into the box, cross it in and take your chances. We've banged in a decent amount of run of play goals like this. We just refuse to play quickly in transition far too often and I don't know why.
In the end, there's nothing more entertaining than watching your team win. BUT, the quick, decisive type of play you describe is also thrilling to see unfold. It's athleticism on display, and is fun for the fans to watch. Come on, it's really the only reason why Diaz is on the team; the guy is insanely fast with the ball at his feet. And so when you do see an aggressive counter, see Diaz break down the right side of the touchline anticipating a long, cross-pitch or quick outlet pass, while other attackers sprint downfield in anticipating of a cross, pass or rebound... it's exciting. Slow possession, punctuated with lots of backpasses and mostly culminating in a cross into an area with lots of well-positioned defenders... not so much. It might also be an ineffective way to actually score. But it suffers by being boring to watch.
I don't really disagree with anything you say in this post - but I do agree with Porter that our guys certainly don't come off as hungry when it comes to scorers. Gyasi is a rarity when it comes to "nice guy" strikers - just look at how many of people are still pining over Kamara and the emotional/professional disaster he is just because he's got the attitude with a killer instinct. Porter's largest failing by far, IMHO, is his inability to figure out a way to play quicker like a lot of you think. This tiki-taka, control the possession style just isn't working with who we have. The tiki-taka style requires people with oodles of finesse and ability to make the opportunities presented to them count - and we certainly don't have those kind of players. Converting a low percentage of high-quality chances with the perfect pass/dribble isn't working, we need to start creating more lower-quality chances and fighting to put them across the line.
re: Diaz, I know that comparing players is a fools game but I do recall Robbie Roger's. To me, the guy simply couldn't play. Went to Europe, stunk, came to the Crew, scored goals and won the Cup, looked so good that he got another shot in Europe, stunk, was out or contract until Garber strong armed LA into picking him up almost entirely because he was openly gay and Arena quickly turned him into a left back. That stretch in Columbus worked because Sigi didn't ask him to do anything complicated; God would see open space behind the right back and he'd quickly send the ball there while Robbie out ran everybody to the ball, got there 3 yards ahead of the defender, took a touch or two and fired a shot before anyone could catch up with him That's all he did. Over and over and was an All Star. But the fact is he was a mediocre-to- crummy soccer player. Didn't matter. In Europe they expect you to be a soccer player and Roger's couldn't pull it off. Sigi knew that in MLS you get what you get and work with it. Giving Diaz the ball.40 yards out is a waste of time. Giving it to him in space where he can use his legs: that would be brilliant. Trying to turn a marginally talented player into a ball wizard is just stupid, but the difference is the coach. Sigi could see a player, figure out what he did well and work his skill set into the attack. Porter insists that everyone conform.to how he wants to play regardless of whether it suits your game. And it's getting old.
Recall that Warzycha decided that he also wanted Rogers to track back on defense. I mean, sure, all players should be willing to defend, when necessary. But making RR into a box to box midfielder only really served to kill what had made him effective under Sigi's system.
I think it's time the Crew takes a shot at signing Josh Cohen, the American keeper for first place Maccabi Haifa. He's 29, was the Israeli league's PotY last year and is available on a free this summer. Reportedly New England was interested in him as a replacement for Turner and Atlanta is now hot on his trail to replace Guzan.
I agree we should be looking for another keeper but just giving Room an extension says they really believe in him still. He has ben bad for 2 years now. Really misjudging his talent.
What are the actual chances we’ll get somebody with talent signed this summer? Bez talked all winter about how we could potentially sign a DP if needed. I’d say we need it. How many more losses, including Porter’s job, are necessary before it’s obvious? Molino has about a month to prove he’s worth anything, otherwise cut him and sign somebody. Desperate times ahead.
You can only buy out a contract in the off season. That ship (and Kitchen’s version of it) has sailed.
The only noteworthy position I can see us making a signing at is LB. By now plenty of time has gone by for them to find another suitable candidate, and seeing as we probably wont ever see a DP winger signing until Molino leaves the team (or maybe Santos).....a reliable, actual career LB would at least allow Porter to use Santos as an option further up the field again, pushing/threatening guys like Etienne and Yeboah. I dont know if it's enough to get the team in form again, but its really all I'm expecting, at least til the offseason.
The fact that Etienne is once again starting on this team is a total joke. Shameless horrible roster building.
And as long as a guy like Hurtado even has a uniform, it's literally impossible to take this team seriously. They blew this last off season. Spectacular fail. If they had done what was painfully obvious needed to be done - start rebuilding the side - they wouldn't now be looking at jettisoning maybe 8 starters next year. Columbus fans are pretty sophisticated, and they wouldn't mind much if management had tossed some of the dead weight and was now trying to integrate some young talent into the team. Now, they've postponed that painful season for another year, meaning it'll be 2024 before this team is even remotely competitive. In which case, they should fire Porter now. Today. At this rate he's not the guy to oversee the rebuild and he'll be fired long before this team is a contender again.
JFC $300K? If this isn't followed up by a major signing, well, I'm going to have a lot more free time on my hands this summer.
Was at work so couldn’t post this but it reeks of us clearing salaries to get a new DP honestly we should get 2 a winger and striker who are CANT miss guys who will bury all these chances we keep missing
I can confirm @JeffreyCarlisle report that Gyasi Zardes is heading to the Rapids.Sources have told me the Rapids are taking on Zardes’ entire budget charge and #Crew96 will be in search of a new DP, likely a striker, this summer. Story coming soon.— Jacob Myers (@_jcmyers) April 22, 2022 This makes it sound like we don't have anyone lined up, but we'll go shopping...later. We wait until the summer window. We're throwing this season away. Lucas gets older.
I don't think anyone believes Zardes is the problem but I do believe we are running into a cap space issue and trading him moves the necessary salary to open up a salary for a player who can help fix our issues.