I mentioned this elsewhere that although we are doing alright with the academy, Cincy, Philly, Miami, NYC, and the Revs are passing us. We need to win more recruitment battles and maybe help out the feeder clubs
No no no. He’s an American Rudi Camacho, big and physical but also slow and clumsy. And isn’t he 30ish? Nah, I’ll pass. Also, he can’t really pass, so doesn’t fit the system.
The fact we have not done well with u22 players and not found more is discouraging. We have done well with our academy , landing DPs etc… but we need to be hitting on all cylinders ! So we have to find some young studs who can start at a 200k budget. Also if we aren’t after u22s we need to go 4/2 on DP/u22s because you need to maximize every opportunity. Miami , LA are going to keep trying to get better. We need to do the same.
Ok well buy down Nagbe and it’s kinda 4 but technically 3/3 is the route we should go , we sure as hell don’t need 4 u22s the way we can’t seem to find any worthwhile.
Agreed, he is not an upgrade to Rudy. There should be a focus on replacing Rudy with a younger version of him. A rough & tough defender w/ good passing skills. I think Rudy has one more decent season in him.
You throw stuff like this out there like it's simple. But Darlington Nagbe has earned every dime of his contract if there's any Crew player who has. Yeah, he's starting to show signs of wear, but we've also had an abnormally busy season and he's not the only one. Low-balling Nagbe would be an insult.
What are you talking about? There is no low-balling here. Darlington is getting paid handsomely and will continue to get paid for the duration of his contract and for any extensions he may agree upon with the Crew. Using Garberbucks to adjust the accounting so he's not classified as a DP is maximizing the roster rules to allow for signing another premium player. It doesn't mean Nagbe is taking a pay cut or being demoted. He's still the captain and he's still getting his money. The only difference is the Crew can go get another great player without needing to worry about their cap hit.
Correct. Nagbe gets paid the same. Using Magic Garber bucks, how his salary counts against the salary cap is lowered. Last year Nagbe made 100k more than a Miami DP, Miami bought their guy down we were told we couldn't buy down Nagbe, that's how Miami got 4 DP's on their roster. This year the rules shifted and Nagbe's salary fell into the range we were allowed to buy him down. But the Crew has not. Again Nagbe's actual salary doesn't change. Just how it counts against the books.
You don’t have to lowball him you simply buy him down and get another DP Nagbe is a team first guy who wants to be in Columbus and be close to family. He is not here to milk us for money. I’ve only mentioned giving him a new contract at a lower rate in past because it helps the team. If we aren’t going to actually go do that than there is never a need to change his contract and with the rule changes it’s no longer necessary. But we need to get better so we better start getting some more talent. We addressed depth in summer window at most positions but we haven’t added any top tier talent while other teams like Miami continue to add top talent. You either want to be the best or you’re ok with just being good. Can’t live off of past success. What Nagbe needs is a better player to run the midfield with him. Zawadzki is a good promising kid, but that’s not going to be enough long term. A lot of us feel Zawadzki is better off as a CB. Which would kill two birds with one stone. Now we don’t even have a true CM to pair with Nagbe because Sean’s injury.
Had we. been able to keep Morris, we likely win this year too. And yes, I understand why it was time (just s*cks in the middle of a season). Without? I'm less hopeful.
By the way, they love him at Middlesbrough: https://www.gazettelive.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/aidan-morris-helping-solve-long-30120092
Yeah I wish Morris the best but it really sucks for us to lose him. If it was a PL team it would be different but it doesn’t seem like that great of a move to me for him or us.
we got 4mil and proof of a player pathway to a better league. Great recruitment tool not only for the academy but for signing younger players in general as well.
Aidan's move plus Adams injury and Johnny injured/not playing well put him into the national team picture
Porter was a great college coach, 100%. He is inconsistent as an MLS coach. He sank us after we won MLS Cup.
Obviously Nagbe was Porters guy, he probably wouldn’t publicly answer who is the better Coach. But we all know it’s Nancy
Regarding Matan, there seems to be a general assumption that he’s gone after this season. I wouldn’t take the erratic social media posts from his girlfriend as being proof of anything. All we really know is that his contract expires in December. And we know Nancy thought enough of him last year to play him as a starter on an MLS winning club. If we wants to consistently start, or want to be back in Europe, closer to home, then fine. Maybe his future is somewhere else. But I assume the Crew organization is interested in giving him a new contract, if he’s also interested. His U-22 status would disappear, so he’d require a bigger salary budget hit. Still, his salary isn’t going to be large enough for that to matter. I hope he sticks around and that Nancy stops expecting him to be a CM when he’s always been more of a playmaking, attacking midfielder.
Yeah it’s up to Mățan, until he earns a starting XI role he has to accept his role. But after this season he could definitely start for some other MLS teams (possibly abroad but idk where) perhaps San Diego. I think we should keep him but he might want a opportunity to get more minutes. In MLS he has the 13th most minutes on the team. Partly due to his health at the seasons start. But he has appeared in 27 matches with 16 starts. Only 3 guys who have been here all year have played less … Yeboah, JRR & Derrick Jones. He has 1,369 minutes which is less than last year. Stats are from fbref.com so take any inaccurate stats up with them.
Yeboah has improved but doesn’t really fit. His current contract definitely not worth the production. Alex has come and contributed but he needs to improve to be a regular starter which he never truly was. He was starter by default he had 1 G 8A last year Ramírez is better but doesn’t have the legs to start regularly. Again I hope the lil Vampire comes back but we will see. Yeboah isn’t needed his option better be Declined. Hopefully San Diego takes him. I don’t think we have done well with U22s , we have done Ok at best. I would give us a grade of C or C-
I don’t have the exact quote, but I read a week ago or two that Matan said he would only play for the Crew because it is the best club in MLS and this is where he wants to be.
Where ? and do share , while encouraging it could be that he leaves the United States which he can do on a free. In MLS he can’t go in free agency to another club. Also if we don’t protect him San Diego could take him in expansion draft.