Post-match: Long Time, No Sea(ttle) - Crew v Seattle Sounders - Match 26 - 9/7/24 7:30 PM

https://www.dispatch.com/story/spor...ie-vs-seattle-sounders-explained/75132247007/

McKay comparing what the team and league have said about not being able to use Lapkes or Johnson as a backup keeper.

 

No sub, no fun.

Can you offer a synopsis?

 

"The Crew claim they did everything possible to avoid the situation. That included trading $50,000 in general allocation money to Los Angeles FC for Romero on the final day of the MLS secondary transfer window. Crew coach Wilfried Nancy said the trade was made explicitly to ensure Columbus had at least one eligible goalkeeper for this past weekend.

Still in need of a backup, the team looked to call up Cole Johnson or Stanislav Lapkes from Crew 2, but the Crew ran into an issue: Both goalkeepers had already signed the maximum four short-term contracts allowed in a season. A short-term contract is an agreement used by an MLS club to call up a player from its affiliated MLS NEXT Pro team and retain the rights to that player for four days.

Lapkes was called up for two regular-season matches, a CONCACAF Champions Cup match and the Crew's friendly against English Premier League team Aston Villa. Johnson was called up for two regular-season matches and two Champions Cup matches, including the final.

In the week leading up to the Seattle game, the Crew asked MLS for an exemption in order to call up one of their goalkeepers a fifth time. The league denied the request and, according to general manager Issa Tall, told the Crew, "the rules are the rules."

Why did other clubs get exemptions to call-ups, but not Columbus Crew?
MLS roster regulations state that teams may be granted an "extreme hardship" waiver when fewer than two goalkeepers are available for a match. An MLS spokesperson told The Dispatch that an extreme hardship exemption still has to follow limitations set out in the collective bargaining agreement. Such limits include calling up a NEXT Pro player more than four times.

Other teams have called up a NEXT Pro player more than four times this season. In a particularly striking example, the New York Red Bulls have called up Omar Valencia seven times.

According to MLS, the Red Bulls were allowed to make three of those call-ups during the Olympics. When negotiating the CBA this year, the MLS and MLS Player's Association came to an "Olympic call-up" agreement: For matches played during the Olympics, one designated NEXT Pro player could be signed to short-term contracts without it counting against their season total.

MLS claims that the Crew failed to designate a player for this exemption, which would have protected Lapkes' from using his final call-up against Aston Villa.

Nancy countered that the Crew "did everything" when asked why the club declined to designate Lapkes, and he offered no further explanation.

Why did Columbus Crew have three goalkeepers on the bench during Champions Cup?
Champions Cup tournament guidelines state that clubs must have two goalkeepers on their game-day rosters. The Crew had three on each game-day roster, and for most of that run that third goalie was Evan Bush. However, Bush broke an arm in an April match against Real Salt Lake, and so starting with the quarterfinal series against Tigres the Crew had to rely on Johnson or Lapkes.

There was a reason Columbus chose to have one more goalkeeper on the game-day roster than was required. According to Crew spokesperson Rob McBurnett, those rosters had to be submitted 44 hours ahead of each match. Having three goalkeepers ensured there was a backup if something happened to one of the goalkeepers in the almost two days between the time the roster was due and kickoff.

In the meantime, Bush suffered a setback. He broke his arm again on June 24, pushing back the timeline for his return even further. The Crew's hope is that Bush returns sometime this season, Nancy said, and that's why he hasn't been placed on the season-ending injury list.

If he does not return relatively soon, there could be an issue. With another rescheduled match, this time against the New England Revolution set for during the FIFA October window on Oct. 12, the Crew could face this same problem. Nancy said "you'll see" when asked what the Crew has planned to avoid a repeat of Saturday.

"Everything's going to be fine," Nancy said. "We'll make sure of that."

Why didn't Columbus Crew sign Cole Johnson or Stanislav Lapkes to a first-team contract?
Without an exemption, the only other option the Crew had to have a backup goalkeeper against Seattle was to sign Johnson or Lapkes to a first-term contract. According to Nancy, this was a route the Crew were unwilling to take.

"Why are we going to sign a young player to a professional contract for one game, knowing that this is not the moment to sign this player?" Nancy said. "What is going to happen (when) we sign this player? He's going to come in the locker room, he's going to be part of the group but he's not ready for that."

 

Other teams have called up a NEXT Pro player more than four times this season. In a particularly striking example, the New York Red Bulls have called up Omar Valencia seven times.

According to MLS, the Red Bulls were allowed to make three of those call-ups during the Olympics. When negotiating the CBA this year, the MLS and MLS Player's Association came to an "Olympic call-up" agreement: For matches played during the Olympics, one designated NEXT Pro player could be signed to short-term contracts without it counting against their season total.

MLS claims that the Crew failed to designate a player for this exemption, which would have protected Lapkes' from using his final call-up against Aston Villa.

Nancy countered that the Crew "did everything" when asked why the club declined to designate Lapkes, and he offered no further explanation.

Now I heard elsewhere that the NYRB were granted the extreme hardship because their roster was full and they would therefore have to cut someone in order to sign another player.

 

The Crew didn’t do everything they could’ve, they failed to designate someone for the Olympic exception. If they would’ve done that, then this literally wouldn’t have happened. Common sense. The only other explanation is that they did use the exemption, but then didn’t put him on the bench for some unknown reason, which would make absolutely zero sense. So clearly, they didn’t designate someone.

They fvcked up, it happens. The end.

 

This is the deadest horse to ever have died.

 

What can't be beat? A dead horse and a fully loaded crew team.

 

Yes.
They rolled the dice and lost. It sucks. But it was probably a decent calculated risk to take. Only other option would be calling up Andy Gruenebaum, or somethings/someone, and seeing if he wants to come out of retirement for a short stint or something.

 

There's still disagreement on the facts between the league and team. Someone is doing CYA. May well be the team but the league had to be embarrassed too by an outfield player in goal in a rescheduled match. Not sure why they couldn't retroactively count Lapkes appearance during Schulte's absence as an Olympic fill in.