I mean, Houston and Charlotte both sucked. Nashville is super boring and basically just asks their defensive minded players to be as boring as possible and not make mistakes, that’s it. Philly plays in a style that doesn’t fit Jones, fair enough. Sorry, but someone like Jack Maher (aka The Milk Man) basically has tenure in Nashville. Houston has had a revolving cast of misfits for years up until last season. Charlotte has been a two year dumpster fire. It’s not like he was playing for LAFC or something, he was playing on bad teams and the FO told him he wasn’t worth keeping. Fact. Hopefully Nancy can work some magic, but let’s not forget he couldn’t work his magic on a much younger Vallacilla. He couldn’t work his magic on Phil Quinton. JRR has yet to take the step from MLSNP MVP to MLS regular. Luis Diaz continued being bad. Nancy is great, but a certain amount of talent needs to be present, which I don’t think Jones has.
Season Preview from the peeps over at American Soccer Analysis My favorite part: "In 2023 no team allowed more goals in second half stoppage time than Columbus. Lest you think that this is a consequence of Wilfried Nancy’s unflinching attacking style, the Crew allowed the same number of goals, six, in 2022 under Caleb Porter, who never saw a lead that couldn’t be protected (or lost) by a parked bus." https://www.americansocceranalysis.com/home/2024/2/20/zqo48ybt8i4nhg842tf32pdree9x5v
Once Camacho came in, in the playoffs we were solid late. I’m not worried about it this season at all.
OK, update time. 2 big things. First, Farsi has been signed to an "extension" thru 2027 with an option for 2028. https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/columbus-crew-sign-mohamed-farsi-to-contract-extension Why the quotes? Well, given that we are one day from compliance day and still don't have 18 Senior Roster spots, I am gonna,break with my usual custom and assume Farsi's "extension" is more of a reworked deal rather than a true extension. Meaning his salary bump and Roster status both will elevate this year, rather than next. Ditto Zawadzki. Hard to argue both do not deserve it. Even so, my guestimate still has us at 17 Senior players. Maybe Bez eats the $90k fine. Or maybe someone else is (has been) bumped up (Schulte, Sands, JRR, Arfsten). We'll have to wait until salaries come out to say for sure. Second, the 2024 MLS Roster Rules & Regs are out. The links and boilerplate language for each section have been updated accordingly. I. Senior Roster (1-20). 17 (15?) of 20. Counts vs the salary budget of $5,470,000. Max salary budget charge is $683,750. Teams not required to fill spots 19 & 20. A minimum salary budget charge is imputed vs the club for unfilled spots below 18. https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/2024-mls-roster-rules-and-regulations Rank, Player, Pos, Age, DOB, HT, WT, Nat, Desig(s), Base $$/Guar $$ 1. Cucho Hernandez, CF, 24, 4/20/99, 5'9', 161. Colombia, DP, INT#1, $2.6 mil/$2,886,000. Thru '25. 2. Diego Rossi, WF, 25, 3/5/98, 5'7", 143, DP, GC, Uruguay, $2,625,000/$2,677,000. Thru '26, '27 O. 3. Darlington Nagbe, CM, 33, 7/19/90, 5'9", 165, USA/Liberia, DP, $???/???. Thru '25. O '26. 4. Steven Moreira, D, 29, 8/13/94, 5'10", 159, France/Cape Verde Islands, INT#2, $700k/$782,708?. Thru '25, O '26. 5. Yaw Yeboah, M, 26, 3/28/97, 5'9", Ghana, INT#3, $600k/$663,750. Th '24, O '25. 6. Aidan Morris, M, 22, 11/16/01, 5'10", 158, USA, HG/U22('24), $500k/$562,500. Thru '26. 7. Rudy Camacho, CB, 32, 3/5/91, 6'1", 174, France, INT#4, $500k/$554k. Thru '25. 8. Alexandru Matan, M, 24, 8/29/99, 5'5", 135, Romania, U22, INT#5, $450k/$483,250. Thru '24. 9. Marino Hinestroza, AM/W, 21, 7/8/02, 5'7", 132, Colombia, U22, INT#6, $???. Thru '26, O '27. 10. Christian Ramirez, F, 32, 4/4/91, 6'2", 187, USA, $400k/$445,833. Thru '24, '25 O. 11. Yevhen Cheberko, CB, 25, 1/23/98, 6'0", 166, Ukraine, INT#7, $370k//$418,250. Thru '26. 12. Malte Amundsen, WB, 25, 2/11/98, 5'10", 179, Denmark, $300k/$338,700. Thru '24, O '25. Not INT. Green Card? 13. Derrick Jones, DM/CB, HG, 26, 3/3/97, 6'4", 176, Ghana/USA, $???. Thru '25, '26 O. 14. Nicholas George Hagan Godoy, GK, 27, 8/2/96, 6'4", 176, Guatemala/USA. $???. Thru '24, O thru '26. ---------Reserve/Supplemental Eligible---- 15. Evan Bush, GK, 37, 3/6/86, 6'1", 187, USA, $88,200/$88,200. Thru '24. -------Extensions making Senior?--------- 16. Sean Zawadzki, M, 23, 4/21/00, 6'0", 160, USA, HG, $88,200/$93,200. Thru '27. 17. Mohamed Farsi, D/M, 23, 12/16/99, 5'10", Canada, INT#8, $67,360/$74,735, Thru '27, O '28. ------------------ 18. Open 19. Open 20. Open ----------------------- II. Supplemental Roster (21-30) (7 of 10) Does NOT count versus the salary budget of any team. All Generation Adidas players are Supplemental Players during the initial guaranteed term of their contract. A. Spots 21-24. (Supplemental). 2 of 4. All players in Slots 21-24 must make a base salary at least equal to the Senior Minimum Salary ($89,716 in 2024). These slots may be filled with: Senior Min players ($89,716) which may include: i) Gen Adidas, ii) designated Superdraft eligible players, or iii) Homegrown players who may or may not earn more than Sen Min due to the HG Subsidy. Players in slots 21-24 must make at least $89,716. *Please remember, the salaries are from 2023, so may appear to be under the MIN. Rank, Player, Pos, Age, DOB, HT, WT, Nat, Desig(s), Base $$/Guar $$ 21. Patrick Schulte, GK, 22, 3/13/01, 6'5", 200, USA, GA, $88,200/$103,178. Thru '24 + O? 22. Will Sands, D/M, 23, 7/6/00, 5'10",150, USA, HG, $85,444/$91,694. Thru '24, O '25. 23. Open (Zawadzki) 24. Open Zawadzki signed an extension in Feb and could be a Senior roster player if it kicks in this year rather than next. That is my working assumption. --------------------- B. Slots 25-30. (Reserve). 5 of 6. Must be paid a base salary of at least the Reserve Min salary ($71,401). Must be 24 years of age or younger during the league year (by year of birth). May be filled with Reserve Min players ($71,401) which may include GA's earning Reserve Min, HGs, or HG's earning more than Reserve Min via the HG subsidy. Cannot be filled with Sen Min Players (unless a HG earning more via HG subsidy). Rank, Player, Pos, Age,DOB, HT, WT, Nat, Desig(s), Base $$/Guar $$ 25. Jacen Russell-Rowe, CF, 21, 9/13/02, 6'0", 161, Canada, HG, $67,360/$74,749. Thru '24, O '25-'6. 26. Max Arfsten, F/W, 22, 4/19/01, 6'1", 172, USA, $67,360/$69,205. Thru '24. O '25/'26 27. Philip Quinton, D, 24, 11/16/99, 6'6", 205, USA, $67,360/$67,360. O's thru '26. 28. Taha Habroune, M, 17, 2/5/06, 5'8", 168, USA, HG. $$???. Thru '27, O '28. 29. Keegan Hughes, D, 23, 7/22/00, 6'3", 190, USA, HG, $85,444/$85,444, Thr '24, O in '25/'26. ---------- 30. Open (Farsi?) HG subsidy is $125,000 per year in aggregate. Plus $200k of GAM/TAM can be used to sign HGs to their 1st contract. I am assuming Farsi is now Senior. ------------- III. International Players (8 of 10) Each team gets 8, we traded with Seattle for +2. Hernandez, Moreira, Matan, Farsi, Yeboah, Cheberko, Camacho, Hinestroza. Again, the Amundsen mystery remains. New verbiage for 2024, do NOT need a Green Card. "For a player to be considered a Domestic Player in the applicable season, residency must be established, or the player has to have appeared for an immigrant visa interview by the opening of the Secondary Transfer Window." https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/mls-...new-sporting-initiatives-ahead-of-2024-season And we traded for +2 INT spots with Seattle. https://www.columbuscrew.com/news/c...onal-roster-slots-via-trade-with-seattle-soun ------------ IV. Green Card Holders/Counts as Domestic (3). Rossi (Green Card). JRR (International HG Rule). Hagan (USA parent/ passport). Amundsen does not count as an INT for reasons I do not understand. But he does not have a GC either as far as I know. I could be wrong about that. ------------ V. U22 Initiative Slots (3 of 3) If a team has an open DP slot, or the 3rd DP mafes under the max TAM buydown level ($1 mil over max budget charge), or is a young DP, a team has 3 U22 slots. Otherwise, they have 1. 1. Matan 2. Morris 3. Hinestroza U22 players count $200k vs the budget if the are aged 22-25. $150k is 21 or younger. U22 players must be on their initial MLS contract unless they are HGs (2nd), and must sign it before turning 22. Can continue to occupy the slot until the year they turn 25. Salary cannot exceed Max Budget unless it is a HG/Superdraft on 2nd contract, who can earn Max Budget +$200k. Clubs may pay acquisition costs without limit (out of pocket, no GAM/TAM). ----------------- VI. Unsigned Superdraft Picks (3) 1. Jayden Da, CF, Duquense. 6'4", 190, Junior. USA. 2. Zach Zengue, MF/F, Georgetown. 5'9", 160, Sophomore. USA. 3. Luke Pruter, GK, UC Irvine. 6'5", 200, Junior. USA. ------------- Again, fill me in on my screw-ups.
Re: Yeah, I'd be curious to see trend data on the Crew from throughout the '23 regular season. We play an aggressive style that will allow chances for opposing teams. Still, the personnel we have now coupled with the roster's understanding of their roles within Nancy's system are dramatically improved from where things stood during the first chunk of last season. I'm sure we'll still cough up late goals; all teams do. But I'd be surprised to see us do so at anything close to the 2023 rate.
I think Kyle's points about Jones are fair. Though dumped is further than I'd be willing to go. I'd save that term for guys who get released/waived. But it is also fair to say that Nancy's "pixie dust" seemed to work pretty effectively on more guys than Amundsen: Yeboah, Matan, Farsi, Schulte, Zawadzki, Sands, and Ramirez all played better than we expected. Moreira, too, at a new position. Not to mention Montreal two years ago (Camacho, Mihailovic). Point being, I think his record is considerably better than Amundsen yes but Medranda & Vallecilla no. Agreed? IDK what will become of Jones, but it seems a good bet to me. At worst he is a low cost, experienced, versatile backup in MF and in the back who has started at both spots. Something we needed. And if the pixie dust works and the light goes on and he realizes some of that potential, then you have a steal.
Yep. Plus Moreira, Amundsen and Zawadzki are not natural CBs either and should improve in year 2 back there. Throw in a more settled Cheberko, a healthy Sands, and Jones' height, and I think we should be better. Hopefully Schulte improves, too. A couple of those were on him.
Next extension I’d like to see is Matan, but idk the rules about extensions and u22 status. I just don’t want to lose him for a free.
MLS makes it hard on fans. The Jones signing is 100% dependent on what we are paying him. If the cap number is low enough he is worth a shot if we are paying 400K then as Taylor Twellman says, "what are we doing?"
He was a starter elsewhere idk how much cheaper you’re going to get an experienced starter. Maybe 300k ? If he is overpaid it can’t be by much. But I agree not releasing the numbers right away makes it hard for fans and pundits to criticize or praise transactions. MLS likes to control everything , Garber is a narcissist apparently (smh )
Using how the Lutheran church year calendar handles 4th Sunday in Advent and Christmas Eve when they're the same day, i have developed a rubric for Aardvark Day and Crewsmas Eve Until sundown - Feast Day of Roster Compliance (aka Aardvark Day or Aardvarkmas) After Sundown - Crewsmas Eve
I think Aardvark day is in March sometime. Coincidentally, the word aardvark is actually South African and means "Earth pig", a term which can also be applied to Anthony Precourt.
Welp Hughes is loaned out for the season to Loudoun United. I guess tomorrow we will find out who is on the roster. Crazy end to preseason!
New update, Hughes loaned to USL Loudon United. https://www.columbuscrew.com/news/c...hughes-to-usl-championship-side-loudoun-unite No word on any signings. Hughes can ne recalled at any point. I'd note that neither guy omitted from the CCC roster (Molino or Hughes) is currently with the team. I'd note we are down to 23 players. Of a possible 30. But, but, all the congestion! So much we just added a mid-season friendly and have 7 open roster spots (but cannot play in USOC). I. Senior Roster (1-20). 17 (15?) of 20. Counts vs the salary budget of $5,470,000. Max salary budget charge is $683,750. Teams not required to fill spots 19 & 20. A minimum salary budget charge is imputed vs the club for unfilled spots below 18. https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/2024-mls-roster-rules-and-regulations Rank, Player, Pos, Age, DOB, HT, WT, Nat, Desig(s), Base $$/Guar $$ 1. Cucho Hernandez, CF, 24, 4/20/99, 5'9', 161. Colombia, DP, INT#1, $2.6 mil/$2,886,000. Thru '25. 2. Diego Rossi, WF, 25, 3/5/98, 5'7", 143, DP, GC, Uruguay, $2,625,000/$2,677,000. Thru '26, '27 O. 3. Darlington Nagbe, CM, 33, 7/19/90, 5'9", 165, USA/Liberia, DP, $???/???. Thru '25. O '26. 4. Steven Moreira, D, 29, 8/13/94, 5'10", 159, France/Cape Verde Islands, INT#2, $700k/$782,708?. Thru '25, O '26. 5. Yaw Yeboah, M, 26, 3/28/97, 5'9", Ghana, INT#3, $600k/$663,750. Th '24, O '25. 6. Aidan Morris, M, 22, 11/16/01, 5'10", 158, USA, HG/U22('24), $500k/$562,500. Thru '26. 7. Rudy Camacho, CB, 32, 3/5/91, 6'1", 174, France, INT#4, $500k/$554k. Thru '25. 8. Alexandru Matan, M, 24, 8/29/99, 5'5", 135, Romania, U22, INT#5, $450k/$483,250. Thru '24. 9. Marino Hinestroza, AM/W, 21, 7/8/02, 5'7", 132, Colombia, U22, INT#6, $???. Thru '26, O '27. 10. Christian Ramirez, F, 32, 4/4/91, 6'2", 187, USA, $400k/$445,833. Thru '24, '25 O. 11. Yevhen Cheberko, CB, 25, 1/23/98, 6'0", 166, Ukraine, INT#7, $370k//$418,250. Thru '26. 12. Malte Amundsen, WB, 25, 2/11/98, 5'10", 179, Denmark, $300k/$338,700. Thru '24, O '25. Not INT. Green Card? 13. Derrick Jones, DM/CB, HG, 26, 3/3/97, 6'4", 176, Ghana/USA, $???. Thru '25, '26 O. 14. Nicholas George Hagan Godoy, GK, 27, 8/2/96, 6'4", 176, Guatemala/USA. $???. Thru '24, O thru '26. ---------Reserve/Supplemental Eligible---- 15. Evan Bush, GK, 37, 3/6/86, 6'1", 187, USA, $88,200/$88,200. Thru '24. -------Extensions making Senior?--------- 16. Sean Zawadzki, M, 23, 4/21/00, 6'0", 160, USA, HG, $88,200/$93,200. Thru '27. 17. Mohamed Farsi, D/M, 23, 12/16/99, 5'10", Canada, INT#8, $67,360/$74,735, Thru '27, O '28. ------------------ 18. Open 19. Open 20. Open ----------------------- II. Supplemental Roster (21-30) (7 of 10) Does NOT count versus the salary budget of any team. All Generation Adidas players are Supplemental Players during the initial guaranteed term of their contract. A. Spots 21-24. (Supplemental). 2 of 4. All players in Slots 21-24 must make a base salary at least equal to the Senior Minimum Salary ($89,716 in 2024). These slots may be filled with: Senior Min players ($89,716) which may include: i) Gen Adidas, ii) designated Superdraft eligible players, or iii) Homegrown players who may or may not earn more than Sen Min due to the HG Subsidy. Players in slots 21-24 must make at least $89,716. *Please remember, the salaries are from 2023, so may appear to be under the MIN. Rank, Player, Pos, Age, DOB, HT, WT, Nat, Desig(s), Base $$/Guar $$ 21. Patrick Schulte, GK, 22, 3/13/01, 6'5", 200, USA, GA, $88,200/$103,178. Thru '24 + O? 22. Will Sands, D/M, 23, 7/6/00, 5'10",150, USA, HG, $85,444/$91,694. Thru '24, O '25. 23. Open (Zawadzki) 24. Open Zawadzki signed an extension in Feb and could be a Senior roster player if it kicks in this year rather than next. That is my working assumption. --------------------- B. Slots 25-30. (Reserve). 5 of 6. Must be paid a base salary of at least the Reserve Min salary ($71,401). Must be 24 years of age or younger during the league year (by year of birth). May be filled with Reserve Min players ($71,401) which may include GA's earning Reserve Min, HGs, or HG's earning more than Reserve Min via the HG subsidy. Cannot be filled with Sen Min Players (unless a HG earning more via HG subsidy). Rank, Player, Pos, Age,DOB, HT, WT, Nat, Desig(s), Base $$/Guar $$ 25. Jacen Russell-Rowe, CF, 21, 9/13/02, 6'0", 161, Canada, HG, $67,360/$74,749. Thru '24, O '25-'6. 26. Max Arfsten, F/W, 22, 4/19/01, 6'1", 172, USA, $67,360/$69,205. Thru '24. O '25/'26 27. Philip Quinton, D, 24, 11/16/99, 6'6", 205, USA, $67,360/$67,360. O's thru '26. 28. Taha Habroune, M, 17, 2/5/06, 5'8", 168, USA, HG. $$???. Thru '27, O '28. ----------- 29. Open (Hughes loan) 30. Open HG subsidy is $125,000 per year in aggregate. Plus $200k of GAM/TAM can be used to sign HGs to their 1st contract. I am assuming Farsi is now Senior. ------------- III. International Players (8 of 10) Each team gets 8, we traded with Seattle for +2. Hernandez, Moreira, Matan, Farsi, Yeboah, Cheberko, Camacho, Hinestroza. Again, the Amundsen mystery remains. New verbiage for 2024, do NOT need a Green Card. "For a player to be considered a Domestic Player in the applicable season, residency must be established, or the player has to have appeared for an immigrant visa interview by the opening of the Secondary Transfer Window." https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/mls-...new-sporting-initiatives-ahead-of-2024-season And we traded for +2 INT spots with Seattle. https://www.columbuscrew.com/news/c...onal-roster-slots-via-trade-with-seattle-soun ------------ IV. Green Card Holders/Counts as Domestic (3). Rossi (Green Card). JRR (International HG Rule). Hagan (USA parent/ passport). Amundsen does not count as an INT for reasons I do not understand. But he does not have a GC either as far as I know. I could be wrong about that. ------------ V. U22 Initiative Slots (3 of 3) If a team has an open DP slot, or the 3rd DP mafes under the max TAM buydown level ($1 mil over max budget charge), or is a young DP, a team has 3 U22 slots. Otherwise, they have 1. 1. Matan 2. Morris 3. Hinestroza U22 players count $200k vs the budget if the are aged 22-25. $150k is 21 or younger. U22 players must be on their initial MLS contract unless they are HGs (2nd), and must sign it before turning 22. Can continue to occupy the slot until the year they turn 25. Salary cannot exceed Max Budget unless it is a HG/Superdraft on 2nd contract, who can earn Max Budget +$200k. Clubs may pay acquisition costs without limit (out of pocket, no GAM/TAM). ----------------- VI. Loaned Out (1) 1. Keegan Hughes, D, 23, 7/22/00, 6'3", 190, USA, HG, $85,444/$85,444, Thr '24, O in '25/'26. ------------ VII. Unsigned Superdraft Picks (3) 1. Jayden Da, CF, Duquense. 6'4", 190, Junior. USA. 2. Zach Zengue, MF/F, Georgetown. 5'9", 160, Sophomore. USA. 3. Luke Pruter, GK, UC Irvine. 6'5", 200, Junior. USA. ------------- Again, fill me in on my screw-ups.
I continue to be astonished at what a shitty job MLS does about updating their roster info. Ours is, in some ways (Hinestroza is listed) but not in others (Habroune is not). In fact, according to MLS, we have only 14 senior roster players right now, which of course is wrong. One tidbit of info that is new on the public roster listing is that Quinton is now tagged as a senior roster player. Assuming that’s correct, I assume it just means he’s been bumped up to senior roster minimum salary and is on that 1-20 roster simply to make us compliant with having at least the minimum number (18) players on it.
I suspect several guys are moved to SR roster to avoid the fine and when we add ppl will simply be put back 21-30 spots. It is kinda crazy if we only have 23 guys. But maybe we have a bunch of summer targets which means you can’t just add fringe players and cut them later. If we stay healthy it’s a non issue but it’s not ideal to be this thin with so many games coming up.
That isn't news. He was a Senior all last year on the MLS site despite making less than Senior Min. If MLS kept accurate records of the rosters, this thread would be unnecessary. At least the roster portion would be. Anything is possible, but if I had to bet on a player being designated Senior, it needs to be a guy making vet min or more: Schulte and Sands were there last year.
Please correct me if I'm mistaken but as I understand it the final roster has to be handed in 24 hours before the first game. But as far as I know there have been no draft choice signings for the Crew. I believe all three of them were with the team during preseason, but we haven't heard a peep. Does this mean they've been tossed out of the boat? They did however sign an undrafted GK out of SMU to CrewToo named Cole something. Seems odd to be signing undrafted seniors but not the teams own draft picks. And if there's something it would seem they don't need more of its keepers. Like this Pruter guy who they drafted. Now maybe the draftees will be signed to CrewToo which is where they belong anyway probably. Is it too much to ask for a little information?
We needed to be roster compliant by Feb. 23. The roster freeze date isn't until Sept. 13. We could sign numerous players to MLS and Crew2, and I certainly hope we do. I agree that the draftees are far more likley to end up in Crew2, if they're ever signed at all. We hear so little about these draftees, it's a mystery to me why one sticks and so many others don't. With MLSNP, it doesn't matter so much anymore since so few of them take up space on the first team roster.