My thoughts at the end of last year: Off season moves-what to do? RW year 2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- RW and his staff: I am probably taking a contra approach but I think he deserves a pass. There were questionable fomations and sub patterns through out the year but he did not lose the locker room this year and finally got things right with his fomation and personnel on the field. Unlucky injuries to Reneteria, Hesmer and O'Rourke probably lost them the Cup. He has to continue to grow and jell but he seems to be doing that. GBS: He should have his option renewed. Also I believe GBS should be brought into the organization as an assitant/recruiter of some type. He likes Columbus so better not to lose him. That would be foolish. Finishing: As I said last year, the team needs to hire a finishing coach to work with the players in the offseaon. Finishing is as much mental as fundamentals so obviously this is a key and a special trainer to work with some of the key guys in the offseaon will reap huge dividends. Keeper: I like Hesmer but he is not a Rickets or a Keller. Crew would be samrt to spend money in this area. CM and wings: Is Ekpo the answer or maybe Gaven or maybe Rogers? These three need to work interchangebly throughout the middle. I feel this is the best group in the MLS. They had their ups and downs but when they are firing in the right formation they are unstoppable. Sigi knew this. I think RW finally has figured it out. However, I believe Ekpo and Rogers have one year left on their contracts so the Crew is vulnerable there. Backs-very vulnerable there. Gino's legs are giving out. Frankie is still wonderful but will have his share of injuries. Francis is very very green and hard to play with. Danny O can play there but I wonder about his health. Team needs a back. Also, Rogers should get some experience there in a few games. It would be another place to have versatility and allow your key guys on the field at the same time. Its time to start over for year 3. My thoughts for 2012: RW -I say its time to say good bye. Maybe promote him to a desk job. Rogers, Ekpo, Gaven, Mendoza signings as contracts are up. Ekpo is not worth $200k plus. Offer him $150,000 or tell him to hit the road. Robbie I doubt he will stay unless the Crew pay him around $275-300k. Gaven, pay him his current wage and sign for 4 more. Mendoza, decline his option and sign for current wage. Need: Team needs a creative mid. Ekpo is not consitent and his right foot limits him. Team will need a wing. Team will need another forward as Renteria cannot be depended on health wise.
Fire Warzycha. Hire GBS. We still need a creative mid, cause Duka seems to be hot and cold. We will need a winger if Robbie leaves. Left back is also a area of need, I'm not sold on anybody there. Maybe Veeder/Balchan at right and move Seba left. Too many D-Mids, sell/trade a couple to make room for a YOUNG, good finisher. Heinemann and Jeff gone. If somebody blows us away, sell Marshall. If so, O'Rourke/James centrally.
Pierogi Bob is a major part of the problem, but I personally would also eyeball the whole system, top down. This is a sports franchise and the ultimate measure of success is when that sports franchise wins a major trophy. In soccer, teams are fortunate to win a few trophies of major merit. To not win any of these during a season is the epitome of failure. A team can have a winning record, beat heated rivals, and even make the playoffs, but if there's no trophies/cups coming home, well, it was just a wasteful season. The team wasted the people's time and money. Not settling for less than second best is how successful people with massive ambitions, goals, and standards live life. Sadly, major parts of society chooses to comfortbaly accepts just getting by and being okay with mediocrity. That all being said, this club IMHO needs to first start the off-season going into the next with a solid mission statement. I'm sorry, but we can't live on "America's Hardest Working Team" alone. Dare to Be Massive is snazzy, but in writing, explain HOW you as a soccer club are going to Dare to Be Massive. They need to really examine that slogan also, because Dare is a power word in itself. To take a dare is to take a risk. Are you willing to dare yourself and make moves, even if it means severing a buddy buddy thing i.e. firing staff and players who underachieve? Are you willing to dare and think outside the box in terms of hirings,scouting procedures, or supporter culture? Are you willing to dare to focus more on the soccer side of HSG instead of looking to be some wannabe competitor to AEG with the entertainment side of the house?
This is what we're dealing with: http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2011/10/26/playoffs-profile-year-redemption-crews-bliss You see, for the FO, this season was a success. I say we get rid of everyone except Gaven and maybe Miranda, including the entire coaching staff. I'm tired of this crap. I'm tired of the acceptance of mediocrity, and it's not going to change until we have a quality coaching staff off the field and real leadership on it.
Hope to be Massive? Hope to be Mediocre? Hope to be better than Toronto, Chicago, and DC? Kick it forward and Hope that someone scores? Hope it isn't too hot in Las Vegas?
We need true CM's.....that simple. Burns sucks, O'rourke never healthy, Epko out of position......we have had the worst CM pairings in the league this season with out a doubt.
Spend the cash. get 1 Striker 1 CAM and 1 CB Spend the cash. We have enough talent in enough positions, but those three are my first priorities.
"Dare To Be Average" Sign Ben Speas and Chad Barson as Home-Growns and don't be afraid to trade later-round draft picks. If we can get ANYTHING out of rounds 2-4(are there 4?), do it- we can get anybody to fill those last few spots on the roster and never touch the field. Don't re-sign Mendoza. Find a striker to play with Renteria. Find another competent backup striker who can contribute off the bench and start for Renteria when he inevitably gets injured.
Assuming that blowing up the roster again is not an option, I would spend the most to import a defender to take charge of our back line. Sell Rogers for an MLS proven goal scoring midfielder Trade Gruenebaum (sp?) for a keeper that'll put Hesmer in the hot seat Invest in GBS's English education so he can take over soon. If we could bring in some leadership in the back and prevent even half of the really stupid mistakes, we'd be in first place holding all else the same. This is the most important aspect that must change on this team. Stupid mistakes cause everyone on the field to roll their eyes and give up.
No no no no no. This forum obsession with Renteria is fascinating. Sure, he's a more charismatic player than Mendoza but I don't care about that. I care about goals, and Renteria can't stay healthy long enough to score the goals we need. Mendoza is too expensive, I agree, so I say we ship them both out.
Must spread. I agree. I defend Renteria over Mendoza all the time, but ultimately neither should lead our attack. If Renteria was healthy all the time, he would probably not be playing for the Crew, and would be worth a hell of a lot more.
Lets slow down a little bit..... It's like a girlfriend, never get rid of your current girlfriend before already having a back up plan!!!! If we got rid of both, combined 20+ goals, then we better be bringing in people to replace them and know who they are before we let them go! How does Heinemann and Meram or Heinemann amd Cunningham up top next season sound? Not very prolific. Just like getting rid of GBS and Carroll last season.....we had no back up plans and we sucked because of it. And BB should be blamed even more than RW I would imagine.
Covered. I soooooooooooort of get the attraction of being emotionally attached to players, coaches, whatever, but reality can sometimes trump the overly emotional mentality. Cut and dry, black an white if your claim to fame is being a forward you are paid to score goals. If you are not scoring goals, and in the Columbus case, at least being part of the process of chances, consistency,well then it's on to the next one. Reality bites, but this isn't Candyland.
I'd expect Cunningham, Rogers, Rusmir, and perhaps Mendoza or Ekpo to not be back. If Tchani and Duka are still GA next year, the team should have plenty of cash to spend. I'd think GK is someplace we could upgrade at not a lot of expense. Hesmer is an average and averagely paid keeper. We could do better. I hope Bliss is out scouting forwards before we have to make a decision on Mendoza. We have lots of MLS quality players, just no difference makers. If we can find one of those we'll be fine. We might see a starting lineup of: Hesmer/new keeper Miranda-Marshall-James-Gardner Tchani-Ekpo Gaven-Duka Renteria Mendoza/new forward That leaves us depth of Gruenenbaum, Balchan, Francis, O'Rourke, Meram, Anor, Heinemann, Burns, and new guys
Cunningham will retire Rujmir will be let go Burns will be let go Mendoza will be let go Rogers will leave Williams will be let go Trade Gruenenbaum Get a young GK who can challenge Hesmer Get a CB or 2 (Benson and some one else) to Challege James. (one preferable a vertran with leadership skills). Midfield we are good aslong as everyone stays healthy. (at least 2 deep at all 4 positions.) We need a Striker that can score and put fear in Defenses to play next to striker 2 (Renteria, Heinnemann, Horton, Meram, and Prim). We have alot of young players that i believe will step up next year. almost half our team is rookies or 2nd year players. Big key is getting an Assistant Coach that can be the strengths to RW weaknesses.
All this talk about being healthy and whatnot still points to the loss of Steve Tashjian to Everton after 2008. Steve kept the team healthy and fit and that is something we just don't seem to have anymore. The fact that he was snatched up by an EPL team speaks volumes for his work... anyone around here follow Everton? I'd be interested in knowing how their team fitness has been since Steve got over there... Renteria is a striker in the mold of Alejandro Moreno, same playstyle etc. I would not mind seeing us try to get Ale back, and I know some people have poo-pooed the idea of getting JPA but the guy still knows how to score and work hard...
Jim, that was a quote *before* the playoff game. All things considered, they did do ok with such a big overhaul to that point. They made the playoffs, and at the time the article was written, anything was still possible. Oddly enough, they finished exactly where I said they would back in the spring. 4th in the East. But as was noted on the Jackets thread, we do live in a town where the last "losing" season this town's major sport had was 1999. I think that colors our expectations somewhat.
And replace them with what? Strikers do not grow on trees. Tell me who you would get and how much they would cost. Mendoza may be expensive (though I am not sure he is on the world market) but show me who is cheaper, that we can actually get. Right now--not some guys who other teams got lucky with. I'm sure there were some folks in MLS saying "why can't we get a GBS just like Columbus did". But there is only one. Now if you were talking about goalkeeping, I think there's plenty of places we could find adequate keepers, though we are not paying that much for what we have. But strikers are a different story. Some folks mentioned Ale. Well he had 5 goals this season (and 2 last year). Where do the other 16 come from? Now I agree with you about Renteria up to the point of getting rid of him. He alone is not the answer. And I, too, am concerned about his injuries. But I want something there before I dump what I have. And they *did* have somebody in place before they dumped GBS, BTW. We may not like their choice, but they did have Mendoza signed and under contract. I suspect they pretty much had Miranda lined up too before they dumped Frankie too. OTOH, I'm not sure Mendoza is worth his option price either. But if we can get him for what he got this season, I'd be ok with it. I also want to thank you for posting that Bliss piece. There was one note in there that was concerning: "Bliss knows the relative quiet from disapproving fans will return if the Crew do not win the MLS Cup this year, but they shouldn’t expect another massive turnover in personnel. 'We like the players we’ve got,' he said. 'We’re maybe a player or two short to be considered an upper-echelon team and that’s being in the top four. And second, we won’t have the resources in the cap or allocation money to be going crazy after international players.'" The bold faced part is really interesting. That seems to be counter to many of the thoughts on this board (including my own) about how much--or how little--we will have available for new players. I do think, however, that ther right DP could prove the first part of his statement correct. I think that missing part is a good attacking midfielder--not a forward. Give Mendoza someone who can set the table and I think he scores in bunches.
Maximum effort should be made to sign Gaven and Rogers. It would be wise to tie down the wings now. Duka-he is not wing material but possiblly a CM or DM. He has some grit, can win balls and make short passes. He is starting to shoot. He is not good in open space. O'Rourke-I suspect his career is close to done due to that damned knee. he has had a lengthy rehab and still mulitple problems. Bring in GBS as a South American recruiter and possible an assistant coach. His family loves Ohio so why not? Mendoza-I think he should get another year but not for $1,000,000 or whatever the option is. He is pretty decent but does not make the others around him better. Renteria-Sell him. He has some value but is injury prone. Use the money to get a good holding forward.
I think JPA was getting a million a year, yes? Looked it up--1.25 mil. For 10 goals. Tashjian may be a fair point. Sometimes it *is* the little things. I've wondered about the fitness/injury point myself.
For as much as I've said about Mendoza -- and I'll continue to say them, as the things that pissed me off about him will continue to piss me off if we keep him -- am I the only guy who thinks that the Mendoza/Renteria pairing is one we should keep going forward? Mendoza and Renteria both have their flaws, but when they've had the opportunity to play together they've more than produced. It's the midfield that's killing us, not the forward play. Yes, they've disappeared from some games, but tell me any forward on any team that doesn't have that happen to them on occasion. Burns and Rusmir were mostly wastes. O'Rourke was pretty good for the limited time he was in there, but his health will always be a question. Rogers was largely inconsistant (the only thing he's consistant about is his inconsistancy), Duka missed a good chunk of the season, and Ekpo just isn't the player we need him to be. The only midfielders on this team that I'd really be upset about losing are Duka and Gaven. THAT is where the improvements need to be. We need to find a playmaking CM, or we need to find another quality wing to allow Duka or Gaven to settle into the role on a more regular basis. (Not that playmaking CM's are easy to find.) On defense, I don't know if we have world-beaters, but I'm not nearly as worried about those guys as I am the mids. We need some depth, yes, but we've had much, much worse than Marshall, James and Miranda. In goal -- same story as always. Hesmer's adequate. If you can find an upgrade, take it. Don't waste a lot of time or money searching for one.
No, I agree with you. I think we should stick with Emilio and Andres up top. We have other much more important problems to fix, starting with the tactics we employ.
I like this because it is a win win for all crew fans. With GBS as an assistant he can groomed to become coach When the time is right. And it will give RW someone who can put pressure on him. Think Nichols/Mariner.
I do think the team was trying to do that (or at least bring him in as youth coach--but I also suspect (and there were some indications) that GBS wanted a lot more $$$ than can be devoted to that position. That's why he started his academy--and I wish him all the best with it as it can only help the kids around here.