I’ve already specifically answered this and we absolutely need more quality players. Iron sharpens Iron. We have a good core when healthy but nobody goes through this many games unscathed . We saw Columbus win a cup and make very few changes then fall apart. You have to keep building your roster, you can’t polish your trophy and expect to win again with the same players. There are a ton of quality teams in MLS. The East is very difficult and we didn’t dominate MLS and win the shield. We were very good and very healthy and caught fire at the end of the season. We all want to keep winning but currently we have had a lot of draws and the roster depth has had a lot to do with that. To deny that just seems extremely naive my friend.
The roster is not “ loaded and deep at every position.” And we’re not talking about signing players to supplemental slots. We have several open senior roster spots. We know that Nagbe can be bought down, allowing us to sign another Designated Player. Personally, I’m curious about Morris’ status, who we all assume is U-22. But as there’s no transfer fee involved with that player, the only advantage we gain, roster-wise, with him is the difference between his actual salary and the lower roster budget hit that U22 players have; presumably a few hundred thousand dollars. Bottom line, here, is that I don’t see why we couldn’t just move Morris into a standard senior roster role and sign another new U22. This team has been extremely fortunate that it’s had so few injuries the past two seasons. Zawadski being out a couple of weeks basically wiped out our starting quality backups at several positions. Is Sands really good enough to be number two on the depth chart at LWB, or Arfsten on the right? Is JRR coming in as another forward option off the bench good enough? Is that the best we can do? MLS allows clubs to have 30 man rosters. We now have 24, with a supplemental roster player away on loan. To me, it’s bizarre to imply that we couldn’t be a better team with some of those roster spots filled. Put another way, last summer Bez said we had the budget space to keep Lucas when we signed Rossi. What was needed was MLS allowing us to buy-down Nagbe’s salary to below DP level, which the league refused to agree to (recall, his salary last year was about $150K) higher than the league-defined threshold for buying down contracts). Would we be a better team now with Lucas Zelerayan on the roster?
REPORT: 1 of 4 best teams on the continent actually not that deep and talented, just fortunate Probably not. Because Lucas would likely expect to play every week and wouldn’t be able to. How does that go over in the locker room? And while Lucas is certainly wildly talented, him being on the field changes the way the team plays completely in attack and defense. So while having another talent like him sounds great in theory, in practice there are a number of issues that it can bring. Look, obviously it’s not a perfect roster. It’s MLS. I know there’s room for improvement. It’s been soooo long since this team won a game gahh! What a nightmare! But I am once again begging people for some perspective here. Concacaf semifinals. Hanging in the top of the stronger conference in the league. Chill out with the roster hand wringing and whining.
Let’s just go position by position: Goalkeeper Schulte Bush Hagens Obviously, no need to sign someone. Right Back Farsi Arfsten Back up right back would be nice. Centerback Moreira Camacho Amundsen Cheberko Zawadzki Jones We have six options, and this isn’t even talking about Crew 2 caliber guys like Hughes. It’s set. Left Back Yeboah Sands Amundsen It’s set. Central Midfield Nagbe Morris Zawadzki Jones Matan (in a pinch, Nancy has done it multiple times) I’d like a CM with some offensive skill as a game-changer off the bench. Forwards Cucho Rossi Ramirez Matan JRR Hinestroza That’s 6 forwards for 3 spots, and Yeboah can play there in an emergency as well. Cucho and Rossi are guaranteed starters. Could we get a DP #9? Or a TAM/U22 level guy? Sure. If Matan leaves (he’s in his final year) I could see it. We also just got Hinestroza though. For a $3 million fee, he should be a guaranteed starter. He’s been disappointing so far. Conclusion So we could use a backup right back, a backup CM, and maybe a starter level forward if/when Matan leaves. Other than that, where are we supposed to add? Where are we lacking options?
Apparently you don’t like facts. We are dropping points in CCC as well. The line up would be different if we didn’t have MLS games but we do just like our opponents have Liga MX games. Tigres rested 9 starters before that second leg and lost to a lesser team. Balancing Champions league is tough for everyone but with roster rules it’s a bigger disadvantage for us. Lucas ain’t coming back so it’s not really worth talking about. Building depth is an actual concern. You can say what you believe but we’re not going to stop taking about it. We never said anything about being fortunate. We have a very good starting XI when healthy even a good core of 15 but we have been missing some pieces and we don’t have a deep roster compared to Liga MX teams with no spending limits. Stop living in fantasy land and discuss the topic or just keep sounding like your lost.
Your counting guys twice problem is they can play multiple spots but when you rotate the squad they can’t play both at the same time and when injuries occur like to Zawadzki & Matan it severely limited our options. We need to improve at every position group except GK & LWB. All other spots could use another good player. GK for example : Even if Bush (who i hear is out for a few months ) doesn’t come back this season we are ok because we still have a starter and a capable experienced back up. I complained about Bush last year because I didn’t think 2 GK was enough depth. I also think you need GK that fits your style of play ( I was ok if Bush was 3gk) and Hagen needed to beat out Bush. Bush did a really good job so he deserved to be #2. If Hagen does well Bush may be stuck at #3. Bush can’t be your #2 forever because his age. So I think Bez & Nancy also identified we needed GK depth and they went out and got Hagen. For now we are set and don’t need a keeper so I agree. CB: Now with that in mind we need some young CB because we got some older guys and while Zawadzki & Jones can help there.Until they permanently make a switch to CB as a primary position it’s fools gold. If they play CB it hurts your CM depth. So overall you just need more numbers. We can’t be over reliant On Zawadzki being the back up at every position. The reality we have 4 good CBs but Camacho is getting up there in age and when you need to rotate for congestion we can’t count on Zawadzki & Jones if they are also helping CM. Someday someone will take Camachos spot and that day might be sooner than we would like or maybe we are fortunate and he plays out his contract maybe even extends it. I don’t think Cheberko is a long term solution in the middle but he certainly is capable in the middle. Even on the right side Moreira needs a back up. The left side is definitely good with Amundsen and Cheberko. With 3 CB starting each game I would add 1-2 players at CB. Competition brings out the best in everyone. Not bringing guys in and running your team into the ground is absurd. Nancy made due with what he had but Quinton & Hughes are not in the plans , therefore the rebuild / transition is not complete. I would love to see Jones moved to CB similar to Moreira from RB to RCB. Zawadzki is better than Jones and I think he could replace Camacho or Nagbe. But we need to groom some younger CBs on a lower salary. Our Crew2 team is young but maybe we add one of them if they show themselves worthy. We already dumped Vallecilla & Quinton ( most likely Hughes is next to be gone. I don’t see how anyone thinks we have enough CBs. I think it’s a delusional outlook to say we don’t need to add one. CM: I honestly think we do not need a CM at all we have 5 guys for 2 spots. Now if you permanently change Zawadzki or Jones than perhaps we do. But the rumored Steuckers is a good young prospect and anytime you can add that talent you do it. Nagbe isn’t going to play forever and Morris could be sold ( all things we don’t have the privilege to know about conversations between Bez& Nancy with Nagbe , Zawadzki & Morris ) So while we might not appear to need a CM at the moment if you get a good young player at a good value then you take it but Steuckers seems like more of a attacking player than a 8. RWB : we absolutely need another guy in the mix. Is Arfsten going to truly become a RWB or is he holding things down until we can find one. When Farsi was hurt it was a major problem. Arfsten could develop like Yeboah but even if he does, one injury and you’re down to one guy. Matan could play there too if he was healthy. But he is not and his long term contract status isn’t s unsure. Attacking players/Forwards: We only have 2 target forwards Ramirez is older and hurt and JRR is a developmental prospect. We definitely could use an upgrade here. Otherwise we have pretty good depth but Matan contract status is still unclear. It looks like Hinestroza may grab that 3 starting spot with Cucho & Rossi. Steuckers may fit in this group more than backing up Nagbe & Morris. He seems more of a 10 type than a 8, very similar to Matan who he might be replacing. so again: 1-2 CB (one at starter level ,one prospect) 1 RWB 1 ST (target guy) i would add all these at a minimum and these 3 would give us 20 full roster spots. Funny to imagine some of yall think Bez won’t add players at all. It’s comical really if you think the lack of depth hasn’t been an issue.
As I said a couple pages ago, the only must-have imo is a DP-caliber target CF. JRR and Ramirez are both 70' sub options, they are not starting material in any games except the occasional Wednesday night heavy rotation match. The Crew's offense has become far too dependent on Cucho to generate goals. Rossi will chip in during big moments (ECF and Tigres) but he's more comfortable being an assist man. Cucho is best, and by extension makes the Crew most dangerous, when he can roam and take the ball on the edges or start a combination on attack. The missing piece is a pure goal scorer who can finish chances when the ball goes into the box. It draws defenders which opens up passing lanes through the channels. Those openings allow for the line breaking passes that Columbus feasted on last year.
Well we also need another Cb, RWb and if Matan is not coming back or even if he does it makes sense to get Steuckers who is a very similar player. But yes some of us mentioned ST a long time ago before that but we are all in agreement on ST. But that’s definitely not the only need but it’s definitely a top priority. If Farsi were to get hurt like I mentioned last time it also would be a top priority. 1a ST (target F experienced) 1b RWB (experienced / competition for Farsi) 3 CB (strong in the air- Camacho replacement) 4 a replacement for matan if he is indeed leaving 5 CB a young prospect or a crew2 guy for mop up duty ( Quinton’s replacement)
Wouldn't count on a Crew 2 guy at CB anytime soon. Almeida isn't starting, and Rogers needs more development and a growth spurt. CBs don't come along as quickly as midfielders and forwards.
Yeah but we might purchase a young guy and put him there, I agree nobody currently on Crew2 looks remotely close. Almeida is he injured I’ve noticed he only played in 2 games. If not injured was he that bad ??
We don’t have 6 CB we have 4 if Zawadzki started and moved to cb that would be 5 Hughes is not around , Jones is learning CDM and could be used there but his comments he strongly worded he was a 6. I doubt we see him at CB this year unless injuries force it. I would love to have Jones back up Camacho Zawadzki is better player and can play any CB position. I would not want Jones anywhere but in the middle and CDM .
Rossi is more of a 3rd DP than a #2 guy. We just aren’t getting production out of him. I’d like to see a talisman DP that can slot in with Cucho and Rossi and score goals. Matan can battle it out with Rossi or Nagbe for playing time. That said, Ramirez has precious few minutes this year and I think he is who we miss the most.
Ramirez is more of a target forward and Nancy doesn't use forwards that way. If he did, he should have kept Gressel, who is perfect alongside that kind of attacker. I figured that Ramirez would be used to sort of change the look sometimes because he's exactly the opposite of Cucho/Rossi. But it hasn't come to pass.
I'd say we've missed Matan the most; our $3M U-22 signing who, on paper, should be an upgrade to our attack, second most; and Ramirez third. Obviously, we know the most regarding what Matan and Ramirez bring to the game, while Hinestroza remains something of a mystery. He's played all of 172 minutes in MLS matches; fewer than Sands. Finally, while we (logically) whine about JRR's propensity to not take advantage of goal scoring opps, his 455 minutes played and two goals are more than I'd have expected out of him at this point in the season. That passing percentage, though... The lowest of any field player, just below Cucho. Who, of course, makes up for his sometimes questionable passing in other ways. I can't see Nancy sticking with a player who only connects in 71% of his passes.
I think Hinestroza will be fine after he gets comfortable, I think he starts tomorrow or splits time with Matan after Matan starts. Hope we get a Ramirez on the bench who can play a few minutes at the end and therefore keep JRR off the pitch.
One note about Ramirez. He scored nearly all of his goals for the Crew last year before Gressel was acquired. Obviously, that pair made all the difference in the playoffs versus FCC. But, predominantly, Ramirez somehow managed to knock in nearly all of his goals last year with other players surrounding him. He scored two against ATL last March playing alongside Matan and JRR (with Lucas and Cucho being out); he and Lucas each scored one vs. DC last April, with Ramirez's goal assisted by Farsi; he scored two vs. Charlotte last June, paired with Lucas and Cucho, assisted by Cucho and Arfsten And so on. He scored with and without Lucas. But he also scored all eight of his regular season goals last year before Gressel was acquired. They connected in the playoffs, sure, but I think it's unfair to Ramireiz - and inaccurately flattering to Gressel - to argue that his effectiveness as a forward is linked to a player we no longer have.
You might want to try reading what I actually wrote which, contrary to your posit, does not say that Ramirez scoring was somehow dependent on Gressel. What I said - again, read it for yourself - is that Gressel is a player who works well when your offense is directed around a target forward like Ramirez. You can say that I'm wrong about that, but instead you built a straw man around some imaginary hypothesis that the Ramirez-Gressel connection was the reason Ramirez scored 8 goals. I said no such thing.
Fair enough. Others have made the connection, which I (obviously) think is counter-factual. My apologies for lumping you into that group. Personally, I'm glad Gressel off the roster as he's over-paid, slow, getting old, and doesn't remotely fit our style. I wish Ramirez got more playing time, based on his previous production with the club, but who am I to argue with an MLS Cup winning coach?