He's not wrong. Media outlets need to stick to facts. There was a time when 10TV had a line about "Other outlets will be first, but we'll be accurate. Sure, it make take us extra time to gather the facts, but we won't get them wrong because we don't need to be first."
I also don't think having open spots on our roster is a good thing, that was my point about why should we worry about shipping people out when we get someone new in, when we have the open spots.
Yet every team does it, as nobody has a crystal ball on future performance, unless you drop huge money on a historically prolific performer, but even that can be a dud. And also, every blind squirrel, broken clock, that sort of thing, too. I think a system like Nancy's can involve choosing players that, when scouted, look like they might be a good fit, but in practice, end up not working all that well in the mix. And that's ok, too. That's life. Not every employee hired works out. Heaven knows our coaches over the years have just let people go for not even a bag of balls because they wanted to be seen as the good guys.
Also, remember, the Crew beat reporter is someone who is thrown into that position from no soccer background usually, with no contacts anywhere, and told: swim. And just when they start doing well, boom, they head off to another department, or another paper. Our beat is the 15 year old paperboy position of the sports department. Sometimes the reporting gets stuffed down the storm drain. You can't compare it to Bogert, or Doyle, or really to someone like Goff in DC, who has been covering DCU since 1996. Her position is the Rodney Dangerfield position. She's doing her best with a limited reach. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if she doesn't have people like Bogert, Tannenwald, and Goff as her sources.
I would also add we forget about the the person doing the leaking. Do I want to give it to the local reporter who might change in 6 months or to the Bogert's of the world who have a larger and more consistent reach.
You need to learn to read the news with a more skeptical frame of mind. They often don't know what they're writing about, and that's being charitable.
I again heard today that Tiny Vampires mother said that Elena is pushing for him to leave Columbus. Wonder what kind of offers he can actually get outside of MLS worth pursuing.
Yes, I don't follow her on the gram, but Romania media reported about a post of hers that she doesn't like the violence in Columbus . . .
League Cup squad list is here. Guessing the MLSNP callup rule doesn't apply. Lots of reports that Hinestroza is leaving. Also RE Mc Kay. The Dispatch will hint at things in their podcasts. I haven't listened to the most recent one yet.
Riiiiight. Like Matan lives in the Bottoms. Don’t a lot of the players live in New Albany? Matan’s guaranteed compensation this season is close to $500k. I have a hard time believing he’s affected by “the violence in Columbus.”
You live in a bubble? Remember the mass shootings in the short north over the last few weeks? What if she and Alex were in the area that night?
Lest this Matan discussion veer into something political, which would serve no purpose, especially since it's based on, what, a supposed post or comment by his girlfriend in Romania? Let me just propose that "violence in Columbus" has little to nothing to do with this situation. If it is a real reason (and I have my doubts), it strikes as being a bit like a "you can't fire me, I quit" moment. As if Matan staying on the Crew was somehow totally up to him. It's been an odd season for Matan. He picked up that nagging quad strain right before the season started, which seemed to take forever for him to fully recover from. He then disappeared for a short while, and Nancy said something about him dealing with some personal issues. And then, of course, there's the simple reality of his performance and contract status. He's a U-22 player in the last year of his contract who hasn't really developed into someone who seems to have any reasonable path to ever being a consistent starter here. If he signs a new contract, we'll have to absorb his full budget charge. His production has been okay, in terms of assists, but his goal production has been pathetic. He's a solid passer, and seems to fit well within Nancy's system in that regard, but his defense is sub-par. He's okay in playing a roving attacking midfield role - as long as you can accept his lack of goal production - but seems incapable of slotting into other roles effectively, like RWB or CM. He's not weak on the ball, necessarily, but he's also a paltry 5'6" on a team that sometimes doesn't match up physically against opponents. As I've previously said, I wouldn't mind having him on the roster as an offensive back-up, occasional starter; we certainly have the roster space. I have no idea if he'd accept that role, however. I also have no idea what the Crew might be willing to offer him, salary-wise and if that aligns with his sense of self-worth. In any event, as his U-22 status runs out, the Crew certainly should have the capability of replacing Matan with an upgrade. Last point: Nancy said that he met with every player during the off-season and told them what he expected out of each of them. And in no case was that they replicate what they did in 2023. Each player had to grow in some, defined way. I haven't seen many signs of growth in Matan. And for a player with his contractual status, that's a challenge.
I think Matan never was able to live up to the hype (at least the hype I had for him lol) after his experience with the youth Romanian national team. I thought he was going to be a bust signing after he seemingly only had the one move (the same highlight goal he scored with Romania) that he kept trying to pull off in his first few games with us. And then Porter sent him off to the season-long loan. To his credit, I think he turned into a pretty decent player who was more well-rounded under Nancy and he developed his game. He contributed plenty last year and even helped us in our Champions Cup run. I don't think he turned out to be a bad signing, but probably just an average one that has ran its course. I have no ill will towards him, but won't be devastated if he moves.
Matan is just meh. He’s half a step above Luis Diaz. He had one good season, and three where he was either bad, meh, or exiled back to the old country. He’s just not all that. If he wants to be a star, go back to Romania or a lesser league.
Hinestroza we hardly knew ye. The Columbus Crew loan Marino Hinestroza to Atlético Nacional of Colombia’s Liga BetPlay Dimayor.#Crew96 | #VamosColumbushttps://t.co/SdLgQZlQ8l— The Crew (@ColumbusCrew) July 26, 2024