I wonder, is there reason for any hope at all this season after the worst off-season I have ever seen? I am a season ticket holder so maybe that pre-disposes me to hope, not sure. Schelloto is back for a full season, Gaven looks to be in great form, Rogers could have a break out year, Moreno up top looks solid, Carroll is a good addition, and Marshall and Frankie should anchor the back line. Am I crazy or does this look like a playoff team? Many will probably say I am crazy, but for me that is what supporting a team is all about, hope with a side of crazy. So I am going to put this off season mess behind me and show up at every game to cheer on my club. I love soccer, the Crew is my club, what else can any fan do but show up to show that support?
You know, the Crew is my club but I've lost the feeling of fandom. I come here and I go to a few games. I've had season tickets for many years and had them again last year. I also bought my son a half-pack when he moved back to C-town. But I believe that this is like marriage. The effort can't be all from one side. Both parties must do their part to make it a successful union. At this point in time, I HOPE that the Crew makes a change and commits to do more to cater to the fans. Zak is right that the new Clippers home will start-up next year. There's also indications that they may become an Indians affiliate. If the Crew continues to lose fans the way they have, soon we will be at KC and SJ-type fan levels and ripe for the move out of town. Again, I HOPE that the Crew does their part. I HOPE they do a better effort COMMUNICATING (again, like in a marriage; that's key). We need to be able to find out like other MLS teams do. Heck, even RSL has a list of trialists visible for everyone to see. We invite ours to Florida where no one can get to see them and where no one can get us info. The team's been there for 5 days now and we have heard diddly-squat from them. I HOPE they do a better effort in signing talent. The Balc debacle doesn't want me to follow this team. Follow up with the Zurawski debacle (although fault there also lies with the player). Where's plan B on the "DP signing" talent? Now we have the Rickens saga starting. I HOPE there's a team for us to support here in Columbus 5-10 years down the road.
I don't think this looks like a playoff team but it looks better than last year. We always say that and the problem is always other teams getting better at a faster rate but this year there seems to be a lot of duds. I don't know of Toronto making any big acquisitions (I haven't been paying attention to them so maybe I'm mistaken). RSL will be in the same boat this year. DC got rid of Christian Gomez (mistake) and kept Moreno. Sure, he's one of the best (if not the best) midfielder of MLS history but he's getting old. Other than Gomez, the Rapids look to have another craptastic year of disappointment and mediocrity. We have the expansion side SJ to beat up on. Most of those teams are in the West so that doesn't help a whole lot. What he have going for us here is KC without Johnson and NE losing few stars to Europe. OK, I've just changed my mind. If the Crew can play consistently good (that means past minute 85), then yeah I can see us sneaking in the playoffs. And if we had a DP that could score goals, I'd put money on it.
MLS is a weird league. The very nature of the (perceived?) parity we see in the league gives us hope. But unfortunately it is this perceived parity that I think creates the huge frustration we feel as fans of the Crew. It's not as if LA, NY, and DC are winning the MLS cup every season, and the rest of the clubs are just vying for a 4th place spot (which is what you see in most leagues around the world). As a Fiorentina supporter I've become quite accustomed to staring up the backside of Milan, Inter, and Juve. Conversely, as someone who follows Celtic, I've also gotten used to competing with rangers for the top spot, and seeing all of the other clubs vie for that UEFA Cup position, behind. But this doesn't happen in MLS. We really don't have a "Big 3" who, every year, are at the top. It varies....sure, Houston has been good of late, but DC went through their ups and downs, and it cycles. Problem is, we had a good run, then went down the toilet and haven't risen back. The fact that other teams seem to get their shot from time to time is what, I think, gives us both the hope and the cynicism we feel as Crew fans.
Remember: hope dies last. Somewhere, there is that little grain of belief that a so-so team on a good day can beat a good team on a bad day, and that there can be a string of good days.
The one single most point that gives me hope about this circus of a club is that we aren't relegated, well, we are relegated to an early offseason.
Odd thing is that I don't have much hope and don't see where any will come from, but I'm still a fan. I'll still be there pretty much every week, and I'll still cheer for them. It seems there are about 8 threads right now all hashing over the same general theme, but I just don't see where we'll be better this year. We have basically the same players, minus Grabavoy and Gonzalez, and adding Carroll. We can hope that the players we have improve, but there's no reason to suspect that they will improve to a greater extent than the players on other teams. Crew fans often say that we have a great group of youngsters that are poised for a breakout year. I'm no judge of talent -- is there some consensus among any group of "experts" outside this forum that our youngsters are any better than anybody else's? Do we have any reason to expect that we will suffer less from injuries than we have in the past? That Iro will prove to be an impact player in his first year? That Guille will stay healthy all season? That Gaven will continue to progress? Those are all possibilities, sure. But so are their opposites. I don't see where we've done anything to improve the team beyond hoping for the effect of time on development and maturation. I don't even want success anymore. I just want to get back to the level of mediocrity we used to enjoy. I want to get a playoff series, and have a chance to win it, and then who knows? I don't see why that would be a more reasonable expectation for this year than it was the last 3. Edit: Count me among those who wonder whether the threat of relegation might spur a more committed effort from the organization.
The team played well at the end of last year, probably the best of anything out there. Why isn't there hope?
As others have said before, the same thing happened at the end of 2005 and 2006. Who was it that defined insanity as performing the same tasks but expecting a different result? For my 2 cents worth: We lost 1 solid player and 1 decent player this off season and added yet another mostly unknown quantity. Although, we saw some very promising action in the last 2 games last year from some of our younger players. (Rogers, Moffat?, etc) I don't know how much for the Zurawski "debacle" can really be blamed on the FO. From the reports out there neither the player or the agent did a good job of communicating what they really wanted with us. (A shorter contract offer) Where the FO can be faulted is not having a backup plan. (Assuming they truly don't have a backup plan once this all plays out) What makes it difficult is we never really know what is going on with these matters. I would not call this the worst off season is Crew history. Its certainly not the best, but there have been far worse. I'm willing to give it a few games to see what we really look like before I start calling for anyone's head.
No, we didn't play well at the end of last year. We slid right out of playoff position down the stretch. Unless you're counting a couple of exhibitions the last two matches after we were eliminated and our opponents playoff slots were determined. This team has added Brian Carroll, who DC wanted to get rid of, plus some college draftees plus some trialists. We have lost Gonzalez, Grabavoy, Kamara, Herron, Thomas, Pierce, etc. There is a lot of turnover in MLS every season, we just haven't seen any that favors us so far. Right out of the gate, we don't have any hope of finishing in the standings above DC or NE. Catching Chicago or NY looks unlikely too. Toronto will surely be better so only KC looks clearly weaker. If we finish ahead of them, that puts us in 6th place. It's just damn hard to get 3 points from a match when you're not much of a threat to score. If we plan to get lucky goals and win a bunch of 1-0 matches, our defense isn't good enough. Hesmer isn't going to get us 16 shutouts.
These players did anything to vault us into the post-season, so what does it matter that they're gone? Right now all teams stand at 0-0-0, that's what it comes down to. And regardless about what we all think about Sigi, he has hope in our youth. If somehow they all click and blow the top off of the mls, I won't have any other choice but to say Sigi knew what he was doing. On the other hand, if we can't score, lose in stoppage time, etc, then ******** it and Sigi. But I fail to see how I can damn a team before they've damned themselves.
Podincowtown: I have to disagree about the other teams in our conference. KC and Toronto won't finish ahead of the crew, NE has a lot of changes and Twellman is clearly unhappy, Chicago has not improved in the off season, in fact losing their coach is an argument for backwards movement. NY and D.C. look tough this year but that does not mean unbeatable. I also would not say our defense looks weak. Marshall and Heyduk I think make the back line above average, maybe even good.
Well, my hope rests on the glimmer that Guille and Moreno training with the rest of the team can result in a more cohesive attacking group, and perhaps that can propel us to better places. Plus, as my wise ticket rep Mr. Wilson just reminded me on the phone, Will has the better part of a season behind him now as does Robbie Rogers. Gaven perked up at the end of last season, and one would hope it woud carry over into this season. So I've got enough hope that I finished my last payment on my season ticket, and moved it over to 101. That's my hope.
I don't think we're anywhere near DC, or even NY for that matter; I think NE will be better than everyone thinks, because Noonan was basically a part-time starter the past few years due to injury and Dorman had lost his starting spot by the end of the year last year (although a pissy Twellman might give them some trouble); and Chicago is going to have an entire season of Blanco (of course we hate him, but it doesn't diminish his skill). Even with KC bleeding talent and Toronto still expansion sucking, I don't put us better than 5th, and that's about where we were last year. Sometimes hope gets smashed by reality.
ou9601: I guess we just see a different reality. Schelleto is every bit a match for Blanco in chicago, who else on chicago scares you? NY and D.C. will be hard, but not impossible to surpass in the standings. Twellman is always dangerous for NE but with all their losses and no new gaines(except albright), it is not far fetched to say we can finish in 3rd ahead of NE. Then with the playoff structure as it is anything can happen.
So your logic is that we missed the playoffs with the guys we're counting on plus some others, therefore without the others we'll make the playoffs? If you're going to make the addition by subtaction argument, explain why we're so much better off without those guys, or how one of the trialists or rookies will turn out to be the scorer we've been looking for the last several years.
IMO TFC is more likely to have improved than any other team in the conference. What a year ago was a collection of guys thrown together by Mo's various moves, is now a team with better defined roles. They had a decent draft, certainly better than ours, and should have better health at keeper and forward. I doubt they go 9 games without scoring again. Edu already looks better than any of our holding mids. Cunningham is always a threat to make a play. KC certainly looks weaker and I would think are the favorites to finish bottom of the standings. Unless some of their young players turn out well, but only Crew youngsters are considered to be the future, right? Chicago could go in the tank with a new coach and keeper but it's a veteran team with decent depth. Rolfe and Barrett backed by Mapp and Blanco are a more credible offense than the Crew possess. NYRB probably has the best forward tandem with Angel and Altidore. They need to figure out how to dump Reyna to free up their other DP spot. I don't see Osorio as a step down from Arena. DC looks loaded again, though they have a young keeper who might be exploitable. Gallardo is a nice consolation prize after not landing Veron. Emilio is a stud striker and if he is helped by Moreno, Fred, or Gallardo, their offense will roll. NE is a solid team. They have Twellman up front to score, Joseph in the middle to control the game, and Reis and Parkhurst in the back. Who do you consider our starting defenders? Marshall was hurt much of last year and is one hard blow away from missing the rest of the season. Hejduk was average at best. See the second LA game frex. I'd guess Ezra and O'Rourke are the other starts for now. Not exactly Nesta and Barese.
We'll see who the Crew end up getting as a scorer but we're beyond sloppy seconds here. Training camp has already started and we're still looking, unlike the teams that go get players before camp. This year's Crew aid better come with extra Thorazine.
Podincowtown: I guess we just disagree. In fact I disagree with almost your entire assesment of us and the eastern conference. TFC will be better but 5th place above KC is about all they are looking at. Great fans don't equal great team. No the crew youngsters are not the only ones considered the future, who said that? It is a stretch to say Chicago will have a better offense than the Crew. Rolfe and Mapp are streaky at best, Blanco is a great player but Schelleto is just as good, I would argue better. NY and DC I agree with you totally on, they are the class of our conference. NE is always solid but key losses with mediocre additions mean they will be weaker this season. Twellman is very unhappy in NE so his form may waiver making them even weaker. Marshall is 100% according to all reports, in fact the doctors said he was healed enough so it was like he never had any problems. Heyduk was average? Not sure what season you were watching.
I am brand new to this group. I am a long time season ticket holder who has not renewed for two reasons. One, I didn’t like Sigi’s statement that he thinks the team can make the playoffs with the current players. That’s too low a goal for the third year with a supposedly big name coach in a league where most teams make the playoffs, and in a league that promotes parity and quick rebuilding. Second. I am unconvinced that it is currently likely the team can even make the playoffs. I base that on the following reasons: A. The departing players scored over one-fourth of last year’s goals and represented a lot of games started (before you say that’s still not any great accomplishment, read the next 3 comments) B. The only established MLS player brought in to replace the departed players didn’t start last year, and was unprotected in the expansion draft C. A very untested rookie is slotted to replace one of the key departed players. D. None of the “waiting in the wings” players gave strong evidence in games that they were about to become stars (Rogers showed some flashes, but how good he will be this year remains uncertain) E. Two returning defenders are question marks (Marshall may be one header from retirement and Hejduk has reached a career stage where he could get old fast) F. A stable core is not being built (Sigi got rid of most of the team he inherited, but then he demoted and/or replaced a lot of the replacements; Heron is exhibit A, but there are plenty of others) G. There is no evidence that young talent can be developed here (an independent source said that 3 players from Sigi’s first draft were great acquisitions, but none has blossomed; also, we’ve never seen giant steps forward from any raw talent guys like Szetella, Ward, Virtuoso and others; some of the burden for improvement falls with the players, but to have nobody emerge in game performance raises questions) H. The team appears to again be slow at forward with nobody that can dribble in a wide field on counterattacks (Moreno is good at trapping long passes, but he couldn’t beat my 74 year old mother off the dribble on the run; Gary doesn’t seem much better and Evans looked inept in the little he played last year; if GBS plays forward, open field running is not his forte) I. The two short stretches of good play last year may have been an illusion (they beat teams at the end of the year that were not highly motivated, and beat teams in mid year that either weren’t that good or were down players due to national team call ups, suspensions and injuries) J. The team has not consistently played aggressive offensive soccer (in one game two seasons ago, with the team down a goal in the closing minutes, and a crew player carrying the ball into the box, 5 Crew players stood at or behind the center line; when I yelled a short lecture at them, Freddy Adu, who had just left the game, was very amused by my comments) Despite all I have said, the Crew may totally turn things around. However, at the moment, I am not willing to gamble my season ticket money on it happening.
Points B and C are key. We need to make some signings. We'll get shelled by the likes of Emilio and Blanco with O'Rourke in the back. Add to that the fact we don't have a gpalscorer, and the picture is not very bright.