I thought this would be a good time to retrieve this thread. This whole mess falls directly on the man in charge. It's, you know, his job. Issa out.
Uh, is this serious? End of the day, we weren’t winning the shield, in a playoff league getting in is all that matters. This could possibly become the best season in MLS history for a single club. Let’s not let one freak game make us lose sight of that.
Am I serious? Probably not yet. But Bezbatchenko put this team together. It's nice that as noted he invited Tall to sit in on meetings and stuff, but those days are gone. Last night shows a distinct lack of competence. Period. No, I'm not particularly upset because the Crew lost. As you say, the Shield wasn't going to happen anyway. Last night was not Romero's fault, he shouldn't have been there. And it's not Garber's fault, since if you're not Miami you have to follow the rules.
I kinda think Nancy was the one who didn't want the 5th keeper. Some of the comments allude to Issa telling Nancy the rules and Nancy not agreeing with them or not wanting to add more players to the roster. Still, we didn't have to burn the callups in the CCC. I assumed we had to have 3 gks. But that is wrong. Hope they weren't just assuming either
I do think a good bit of blame falls to Romero, regardless of whether or not he should have been there. One can argue til the Red Bulls come home whether the card should have been red or yellow. But even for someone of his experience level he should know not to make boneheaded decisions which could cost his team. Well, he did. And it did. Edit: even so, to your point, why would the GM take the chance by carrying just one keeper? We should have had a proper backup. That’s on Tall.
I can see it for the games in Mexico. I mean, we all heard about what happened in the final. And I agree, it isn’t always the GM making the calls. I assume they never wanted to sign Romero in the first place, but had to. Some team in the EPL only had five guys to start a game on the bench earlier this season. These things happen. It’s a weird set of circumstances, shit happens, the end.
Romero shouldn’t have been there? I mean, we had to play someone lol. Clearly Nancy doesn’t like the Crew 2 goalkeepers, otherwise they just would’ve signed one of them instead of trading for Romero. That’s clear as day. Also, let’s not forget Bez was here as well for half the season. Those unnecessary CCC callups happened on his watch. Nothing Issa can do about that. Blaming Issa seems… strange. You are smart enough to know he’s not a king, multiple people make decisions, come on. Nancy likes a small squad, I’m sure he didn’t want four senior goalkeepers. He gets blame. Bez was here more than Issa, he oversaw those CCC callups. He gets blame. Issa was here for the AV friendly, shouldn’t have called anyone up for that. He gets blame. All three knew Bush was injured and the other two would play for national teams. All three of them failed to manage the roster appropriately in case of the worst case scenario happening.
And Bez. Bez was dealt a hand, and played it, then got up from the table and Issa had to make it work. That’s a tough spot to be in. And I bet if Nancy demanded a backup keeper, Issa would’ve got someone. I think there is blame for everyone.
Let's also remember... this was a regular season game. It wasn't a playoff game. It wasn't a CCC game. It wasn't even Leagues Cup. It was one game, with only three points at stake, and it wasn't even against an opponent from our conference. Thinking we were going to win the Shield was probably pie-in-the-sky, and the Red Bulls are far enough back that with our games in hand, we don't have to worry about losing ground in the standings, and we're favored to move ahead of Cincy. It sucks that we got burned, but I can understand the logic of not wanting to sign a player you really don't want to have on your roster to begin with, and choosing to take your chances for a single match.
Yes, I get that it would have been difficult, but not impossible, to win the SS - but we have basically taken ourselves out of contention.
So the rules are confusing. There are numerous places that say you need three goalkeepers, but I guess those rules are for the 35 man practice squad. And those were the rules that were quoted to me several times.
So the rules are confusing. There are numerous places that say you need three goalkeepers, but I guess those rules are for the 35 man practice squad. And those were the rules that were quoted to me several times.[/QUOTE] They shouldn’t be confusing for Nancy & Tall. Just call Bez if you have to but i myself have no idea on the roster rules because im not paid enough to look into it.
Might have been another situation where we should have had a Spanish speaker read the Spanish rules for clarity
The Crew took themselves out of contention for it in before May. They gave up an equalizer in Minnesota in the 95th minute, drew 0-0 at home against Montreal, and coughed up two goals in Nashville to only take a point against them. Columbus chose (rightfully) to prioritize CCC and MLS Cup over the Shield. In a salary cap league and with a system that necessitates turning young players into major contributors, teams have to prioritize. Not even this year's version of the Crew can win everything. The goal has always been to optimize seeding for the playoffs and make sure the roster enters them healthy with a roster capable of winning it all. Only four of the last 20 Shield winners have won MLS Cup. MLS Cup and Leagues Cup both have far more incentives, both financially and for future competitions, than the Supporters Shield. Finishing 2nd in the overall table with hosting rights for MLS Cup is still there for the taking. This is still a very real possibility for this: MLS Cup champion Leagues Cup champion Campeones Cup champion Concacaf Champions Cup runner up 2nd best record in MLS If that happens, no one will care that Miami won a few more regular season games.
Agreed. Had we lost MLS Cup 2008, which team would have been remembered moreso across the league? 2008 Shield Winners Columbus Crew or 2008 MLS Cup Winners New York Red Bulls MLS Cup remains the big fish. As a result, it's all about pacing oneself during the marathon of a season and peaking at the right time. Does anyone remember who won the 2020 MLS Supporters' Shield?
The MLS media has phrased it more and more like Dong submits recommendations to FIFA, but FIFA has the final say.
I'm sure Bez/Tall had all comps listed out in order of financial payout for the team/players as well. That probably isn't always at the top of the fans priority list but you know the Haslams find that kinda important.
It's just kind of ironic that the Shield, which the league tried to suppress and prevent, and then steadfastly ignored for years and years is now very possibly going to be cited as the reason why Miami should go to the CWC.
I just listened to the breakdown on Extratime. Sounds like the reason why the Red Bulls got an "extra" callup and we didn't was because of the Olympics. Every team is allowed one replacement player for a player that was gone for the entire Olympic window. Apparently, the Red Bulls used one player that was and designated him as such, and the Crew didn't. They spent like ten minutes breaking it down step by step. Ultimately, this is a CBA thing that you can't just adjust on the fly. The players' union doesn't want players who aren't getting paid to be top level players getting used as cheap replacement labor. Not only because it could be viewed as exploitation, but because you could game the system. Allowing the second-teamers to be used repeatedly by the big club circumvents salary cap rules. One thing they did suggest is that the number of call-ups can always be renegotiated if it's demonstrably not the right number. This is all kind of new. And any matches that happen during international windows should be exempt from this kind of stuff, which seems like a simple fix. Ultimately, the Crew could have chosen to actually sign someone and didn't. That's on them. Which I don't have a big problem with; if you're willing to take your chances for one match rather than sign a contract for a player who you don't think has earned it, sweet. Stand by your principles. But don't complain if you get burnt.
I heard otherwise on Massive Report , NYRB had no open roster spots they would have had to cut a player to add another therefore it was an emergency. The Crew with empty roster spots were not in an emergency situation according to MLS.