So you're saying that all the money I gave the Crew to hold for home playoff tickets through the Conference final is as good as back in my pocket?
Correction: Higuain's prime came as a Napoli starter and club legend who scored 36 goals in the 2015-16 Serie A campaign, winning the Capocannoniere and matching a league record set in 1929. He was subsequently sold for €90 million to (evil foes) Juventus, which still stands as the most expensive transfer in Italian football history. He had a shocking decline at Juve, resulting in mediocre loan spells at AC Milan and Chelsea, neither of which extended the loans, resulting in his return to Juve where his #9 jersey was no longer available to him. Juve eventually agreed to cancel his contract allowing him to freely transfer to Inter Miami in MLS. I'm not sure how many players have declined so steeply without significant injury, but Higuain's form in the mid-10s was amazing.
Lucas is visibly frustrated and worn down from two years of getting no help, no rotation, and no joy from Porter's gameplan and Bez's roster. A big part of Cucho's early success was that Lucas was rejuvenated by the prospect of no longer needing to be the hero every night. He was hopeful that the Crew would now be able to play more direct and quick to open up some lanes for him and the attack, and he could pick his spots instead of having 10 other guys standing and watching him do everything. Alas, CB9K nipped that in the bud quickly by continuing to stress mindless possession by the back line and Nagbe for the first 70 minutes and then bunkering (read: conceding) in the final 20 minutes. The rest of the roster sans Cucho still has no idea how to make runs, utilize space, or be decisive on the few occasions when Lucas can try to create chances for them. And he's tired and fed up with it, resigned to having his game neutered by mind-numbing and ineffective tactics. All of this leads to Cucho now being in the same position as Lucas has been of needing to don the cape every night for the Crew to have a chance. But at least we dominate in passing accuracy. I'm sure that reversion to the mean long foretold by Caleb, where such comprehensive dominance translates into averaging 2-3 goals per match, will happen any time now.