Barring unforeseen circumstances, the Crew must cut one roster player today. (Actually, as myshap pointed out, this will only bring us down to 19 but BMB doesn't count at the moment) So there are a number of candidates to hit the bricks today: Dante Washington - Veteran goalscorer, his muscle game in the middle has always been a good complement to McBride's aerial game and Cunny's flash and dash. The numbers up front may make him expendable and his salary is an issue, but don't count the shiny head out yet. Daniel Torres - After a good start has consistently had difficulty covering the quicker forwards. Not really a threat in the attack, not the best one-v-one, an essential if we're going to commit to the attack from the back. Also would free up an SI spot, and if he's not going to start then it's tough to keep an SI around warming the bench. Lucchi Gonzalez- Could be the odd man out on a forward-rich team; has a better chance to stick if Greg thinks he can play wide, less if he has to play in a very crowded Crew front two. Doesn't seem to bring anything unique to the mix, but works pretty cheap. Tom Presthus - Would seem a lock since there's not much of anybody else around if Busch gets nicked up; don't discount a last minute move, however; Andrulis knows his keepers and isn't afraid to trust his instincts on an unproven guy (see Busch, Jon). If Tom Terrific has some trade value, it's possible he could be moved for a draqft choice.
The situation may be that the player has already been told, they just haven't published the list yet. Either way, I think it would be a great loss to the team should Dante not receive a contract.
I'm gonna dig your ten bucks, man. I'm with you on Dante though. I think he can make a real contribution. If it was up to me, I'd send Torres back to the third world. I just think the guy sucks.
I have a feeling Dante is gonna make the team. Didn't he originally just sign a ten day contract when they were going over to portugal? Well he's still with the squad, and Lucci is apperently gone. Also, with Cunny out for the next champions cup match I would expect to see Dante get some good minutes, though i don't think he's really needs a great game to make the squad, Greg knows what he brings to the table game in and game out. As for Torres, does anyone else just see a Regis situation....he comes over with so much hype...plays well for the first few games, then the mistakes started coming, and they just didn't stop, and like Arena lost confidence in Regis you get the feeling that Andrulis has lost confidence in Torres. Denton was supposedly banged up going into yesterday and he still got the start over Torres. If he were to be cut, I wouldn't shed a tear.
Cutting Torres The thing that would really tick me off about having to cut Torres is the fact that we got him and lot Tenywa go a couple of seasons ago. While I don't know that it was necessarily one or the other but it seemed as though if we had not gone after Torres then we could have found room for t-bone.
i'd like to see a list of players that are currently on the roster. you guys are good at creating really workable lists with who counts toward what. have at it. as for torres, i'm sticking with him. everything seemed on the up and up for the Crew and DT when he came here then there was that dispatch article about him living with that bible thumper family and...
This was in another thread, but for the sake of this particular discussion m-y is right that it's worth reposting: Busch Presthus Denton Dunseth Torres Clark McCarty Hejduk Oughton Paule West Walsh Martino Maissoneuve Garcia Buddle Gonzalez Washington Cunningham (McBride) Non-Roster: Akwari P-40 Ritch Dev Uelteschy Dev Perea Dev (Abrahamson and Treager are still around, but would be Dev players if anything. Also, the Crew.com roster STILL lists Gonzalez as a P 40. Somebody here has said before that it's not true, and I don't know.)
maybe his host parents didn't pray hard enough? i'm just ready to cut our losses with torres. Think about it. If Andrulis sticks with his plan of wanting outside backs who can get forward thats a strike against torres. Denton is much better getting forward into attack and with service of the ball. He also is better defensively. This leaves Torres on the bench. And with the signing of Paule we got three players pushing for time at d-mid (Oughton, Paule, Mais). Do we really want to look at the possibility of two of our SI's sitting the bench?
But Torres was picking up cards for grabbing and hacking at the beginning of the season (recall the match with the Rotmasters as one of those).
If Lucci is gone, it wouldn't surprise me at all. With Dante you know what your getting and you know he will contribute. If he's willing to take it up the ass financially to stay on the team, all the better. Lucci hasn't really shown anything this preseason. I hate to see a young player go down, but that's the way things go. Maybe some time in the A-League, waiting for 2005 expansion will do him some good.
The Lucci thing is news to me but I would have definitely let go of Torres at this time instead of him. We may be very thin in June/July with McBride, Jeff, Buddle and Martino in the US Nats picture AND Fredy playing for Guatemala in the Gold Cup. Although Dunseth and McCarty have also been called into camp, I doubt they'll make either squad considering that it will include European players as well. My cuts would have been: Torres and West, with Dante, Lucci, Presthus and Maze in the next group. And before everyone asks, I have Maze in there because of consistent injuries over the past few years combined with the fact that he's closing in on 30. If Everton won't pay for a healthy, contributing 30 year old, why would we exempt someone from the "it's put up time or shut up time" list when he's the same age and consistently injured (including at the present time)?
I'm so happy that none of us are GM for Crew. To me it's a no brainer, Torres played with the team last year, Lucci didn't, Torres has been capped, Lucci hasn't, Torres played more games in one season, than Lucci has in two. Not only that but am I the only one that noticed down the stretch Mais was one of our best players? No way he gets cut. Same with Dante, as a starter or sub, he gets the job done, bottom line. I don't even know why I'm bothering with this, it's a done deal.
oh my god i understand now. no team can be competitive without all 3 SI's on the field!!! get off your knees already with this SImuststartorhe'sawasteoftime shite! and don't forget to add busch to your list of penalty providers... (you'd think torres was the only person EVER to give up a PK in a crew kit...)
If we're going for the Cup, we keep Torres and Dante due to experience, IMHO. Dante has good situational awareness, plays D, and works well with JC or McB. I bet Dante wants to go out a Champion. I'd like to celebrate his contribution to the Crew in their lean years -- with a Cup. Torres already fits in, has all the physical skills, AND this will be his 2nd yr in the league. If he can't cut it this year - Adios. SJ cut Lucci when they needed some forwards and wings. Why are we so high on him?
If you can only have 3 Senior Internationals on your squad, wouldn't you want to make your SI spots count and have these SI's be a major contributor to your team?