We need both. All finishers is no good either. Guys who can do both is preferred. More depth is always welcome. But double digit assists from a guy who only costs you 200k vs the cap is fantastic value. Would I like him to be more goal dangerous? Sure. But we are VERY productive with him in there. Matan is not a problem to fix in my view. We got some pretty good G/A production from MF this year. All comps: 1) Cucho: 36/36; 3,195, 23/16, PK 7 2) Zelarayan: 21/21; 1,778, 11/7, PK 2 3) Ramirez: 39/24; 2,132, 13/6 4) Rossi: 15/13; 1,261, 5/6 5) Matan, 39/34; 2,964; 3/12 ------- 6) Yeboah, 41/30; 2,679, 4/7 7) A. Morris, 40/38; 3,339, 4/7 8) Amundsen, 32/30; 2,768, 5/4 9) Moreira, 42/41; 3,780, 1/8 10) Nagbe, 43/41; 3,625, 4/2 11) Farsi, 41/29; 2,697, 1/5 12) Zawadzki, 41/22; 2,228, 4/0 13) Gressel, 16/12; 1,164, 1/2 14) Sands, 7/7; 488, 0/2 Goals + Assists/90: 1) Cucho: 1.38 2) Zelarayan: 0.91 3) Ramirez: 0.80 4) Rossi: 0.79 -------- 5) Matan: 0.46 6) Yeboah: 0.37 7) Sands: 0.37 8) Amundsen: 0.29 9) A. Morris: 0.29 10) Gressel: 0.23 11) Moreira: 0.21 12) Farsi: 0.20 13) Zawadzki: 0.16 14) Nagbe: 0.15 I'd note that if you take out Lucas' 2 PK goals, he and Rossi are virtually identical from the run of play in G+A/90 (0.81 to 0.79).
Just as I thought, there will be no 4th DP added to MLS rosters next season. It’s not even been a topic of discussion: https://theathletic.com/5123584/2023/12/08/don-garber-mls-state-of-the-league/ We won’t know more details until after the BoG meeting next week, but my bet all along is that MLS stays the course in terms of how the CBA defines the roster budget, GAM, TAM, etc.
Not surprising. I don't think the other owners would change the rules over the opposition of the cheapskates like Kroenke. If we get an increase in allocation money and more flexibility in roster building, that would be good. Our current ownership is willing to spend money and has hired a good chief soccer guy in Bez. That's about as much as we can ask from them. The article mentions LAFC is about to play their 53rd match of the season. We'll face that problem next year. I wouldn't be surprised if next year's versions of Medranda or Valecilla bump people down the pay structure to where the Jake Morris's don't have a spot on the senior side.
Staying the course completely wastes the Messi bump. He’s a once in a generation type player. Take advantage of it. Maybe no 4th DP, but if they can add more TAM/Gam, or lower the DP cap hit, that would allow more $1M -$1.5M players. I think that is where the quality comes from. More Gressel and Moriera. Less Medranda and Vallecilla.
I read they might open all 3 U22 spots for all teams, which seems shitty for teams that constructed their roster properly.
Lot of interesting roster decisions will be made. But I think we only get better but it seems it will only get harder with so many games next year. We stayed relatively healthy other than Sands injury. Nancy is just such a wonderful coach I think he made the biggest difference but Bez certainly was able to get the pieces (specifically in that last summer window ) Nancy needed. All around wonderful finish to the season. Took awhile to correct our road form but even when losing we were very competitive. Soon as we stopped dropping road points so often late in the season I think it really gave the players the confidence that they could do it. Nancy is the COY and I don’t care what anyone says.
Regarding the mystery of Amundsen's non International status, over at The Athletic a commenter says he has a green card. No idea how authoritative that person is but it makes sense.
"Would that require raising the salary cap? Let's create another DP slot and invent five more types of GarberBux. We can't have a tiny podunk team embarrassing a sexy team two years in a row." --Dawn Garbage.
This will be a fun thread over the next couple of months. Probably this week, the Crew will announce its roster decisions. It’ll come as a gut punch to a handful of players whose options are declined or contracts expire and where the club isn’t interested in retaining them. It may be a while until we know fully the fate of players like Gressel and Molino. Hopefully, the rumored re-signings of Moreira and Camacho get wrapped up quickly. As I think Mr Archer once said in here, championship teams aren’t preserved in amber. It’s temping to look at this club and conclude that it ain’t broke, so why bother fixing it this off season (see: Berhalter, Gregg, 2015-16 off-season). But 2024 won’t be like 2023. We’ll need a deeper roster, certainly. I pray we’ll remain as healthy as we did the last half of this season, but there’s no guarantee of that. Sands will return from injury. Williams and, presumably, Medranda will be gone. There are quite a few supplemental roster players who’ll need to log minutes next year and we’ll likely see some rollover there (we’ll also have a few Next Pro kids who’ll be pushing for those slots). Overall, we’re in remarkably good shape going into next year. I have no reason to distrust Arace’s reporting about Camacho and Moreira re-signing. If so, our obvious starting XI (IMHO) includes: Schulte Amundsen Camacho Moreira Nagbe Morris Rossi Cucho Personally, the areas where I’d be curious about upgrades or greater depth are (in order of concern, greatest to least): Matan Yeboah Farsi Matan had a breakout year. For him. Still, we need someone in that role who’s a legitimate scoring threat, and Matan simply hasn’t developed that capacity (yet). Lots of touches, lots of assists (no small achievement). But also lots of errant passes and questionable decisions. Also, no one already on the roster who’s really a viable backup. Seems harsh to bring up Yeboah after his game winning goal. But remember Derrick Etienne? Like Matan, Yeboah performed for this coach in a manner none of us anticipated, based on their careers to that point. Yeboah’s position, like Farsi’s is just so demanding and difficult in Nancy’s system. So, really, for both of these players, does Nancy see potential for future growth in them or not? Farsi has no downside at this point. A Next Pro player one year ago, very young, virtually no budget cost, absolutely tireless. Whether or not the Crew retain Gressel plays a big role, here, though of course he plays that position very differently than does Farsi. We’ll need far more than eleven starters to compete and win again next year, of course. Ramirez seems just too productive and affordable for the club to try and replace. As mentioned, Gressel’s future with the club is a huge variable, in part because he’s paid a decent salary. Cheberko seems to have settled in defensively. I love Zawadski. Hopefully, Sands returns to full fitness and keeps developing. Which brings us to Molino. Really, for both him and Gressel it’s going to be about salary and whether they could be seen - and would accept - as only substitutes and occasional starters. To say the Crew have a solid core going into ‘24 would be a huge understatement. But I think we need a lot more depth and for a couple of this year’s starters to build in their 2023 performances OR for the team to have other players on the roster who can be seen as viable starters in those roles.
How big of raises can we give the underpaid guys like Schulte and Farsi? Does their youth help us keep them in certain roster categories regardless of pay? With the ability to buy down Nagbe to a non-DP level, we can add some U-22 talent. I have doubts about Quinton ever becoming an above average starting MLS CB so that's probably our biggest need presently. Camacho is already long in the tooth and prone to a few WTF plays a match.
We'll get hints this week (maybe as soon as tomorrow) when the off-season roster decisions are announced. Of the various things we'll learn from that wil be the lsit of players already under contract for 2024. I really have no idea what Farsi and Schulte's contract status is. But even with a raise (i.e., a new contract) it seems likley they'll not affect the salary budget. Here's the relevant rules: Senior minimum salary for 2024 is $89,716. So, for example, Schulte, whose base salary was just over $88K this season, could be paid just under $215K next year and still remain a Homegrown/supplemental player whose compensation woudln't count toward the salary budget.
I think you’re right. Good catch. That said, the team could assign all of it to one player, or split it between just one or two. And, of course, we don’t know if any of these guys are already under contract for next season.
Schulte is not a homegrown, he is Generation Adidas. By definition, he is not a,Senior Roster guy as long as he is on his GA contract. IDK for certain, but another GA player (Kessler for NE) who was 2 years before Schulte signed an extension this off-season,,so my guess is Schulte has a year left. We have options on Farsi, this year & next. Now, perhaps that option bumps him up off Supplemental? IDK. But even if it does, he'd be a cheap Senior roster guy. As best as I can tell, the contract situations are in the roster updates.
We would seem to be very well positioned for next year in terms contractual status and the salary budget. Bez, of course, has to think in longer terms. Fortunately, 2024 is really the last belt-tightening year of the current CBA. All budget numbers go up, but not dramatically. Starting in 2025, however, those numbers (base salary budget, total Garberbux, the DP budget threshold) begin to rise more quickly, making it easier to keep a deep roster together.
Good point. We have a lot of contributors from our Supplemental spots. Schulte & Farsi both start. Sands did before he got hurt. Zawadzki did for long stretches, at multiple spots. JRR and even Arsten regularly made the gameday roster & chipped in multiple goals each. That is 6 guys. Throw in the Morris will be a U22 guy next year ($200k salary hit), and Matan will be too, if he has an option. That is 4 or 5 starters and only $400k of budget used. And 4 or 3 very useful reserves. 8 total. 35% of the team. We will have a ton of games next year. Assuming Camacho & Moreira are back, we still need adds. Could use more depth everywhere (CM in particular).
Sands. Damn. We lost him so long ago in the season, that I totally forgot that we were doing this without him. He looked like he was going to be a major contributor, and we just sort of plug-and-played our way right along.
Here are the rules. A lot is happening this week: Clubs competing in MLS Cup presented by Audi must submit exercise option decisions to the MLS league office on December 10. All roster decisions will be publicized by the individual clubs. Wednesday, December 6 – Saturday, December 9 - MLS College Showcase The fourth edition of the MLS College Showcase will take place from Dec. 6-9 in Phoenix, Ariz. The closed-door event will give technical staffs from every MLS club an opportunity to scout top collegiate prospects in the nation, including players with remaining NCAA eligibility. Monday, December 11 - Trade Window Opens (9 a.m. ET) Following a three-month roster freeze, MLS clubs may begin adjusting their rosters by conducting trades with other MLS teams. All roster decisions will be publicized by the individual clubs. Tuesday, December 12 - End-of-Year Waivers (5 p.m. ET) The End-of-Year Waivers process is conducted in reverse order of 2023 season finish, considering postseason performance. Eligible for selection are players who do not meet the minimum requirements for Re-Entry Process or Free Agency. The End-of-Year Waivers process will close on Thursday, December 14 at 5 p.m. ET. End-of-Year Waivers Rules & Procedures The list of players eligible for the End-of-Year Waivers will be released by MLS Communications on Tuesday, Dec. 12. Wednesday, December 13 - Free Agency Opens (1 p.m. ET) Clubs may engage with players, other than their own, that are eligible for Free Agency. Free Agency eligible players are out-of-contract and option-declined players who are at least 24 years old and who have completed a minimum of five service years. Free Agency Rules & Procedures MLS Communications will make the complete list of Free Agents available on Wednesday, Dec. 13.