Post-match: Still Streaking - MLS MATCHDAY 22 CREW @ ARCA UNITED SAT JULY 30TH 700PM (CHARLOTTE FC)

Frasure?

 

Yeah, and I never understood why Marshall didn’t get much opportunity on the Nats.

 

Nagbe mad the decision to not play for the Nats because he wanted to be involved with his kids as much as possible. He is at every game/practice he can be at to watch Kingston.

I don’t think that shows a character flaw at all.

Marshall was playing CB when Mexico put what, 5? 6? On us in the Gold Cup and never got called up again, iirc. He looked out of place with a U.S. shirt on.

 

Nagbe started at the 2017 gold cup and was named to the tournament best xi.

Then the team went down the shitter and they didn't qualify for the WC as we all know.

It's true that he very much disliked the huge amount of time away from his family that the USMNT required. It's also true that he was very much disgusted with the way USSF is run and coached and he walked away.

Somebody want to explain. why he's wrong?

 

He's not wrong. He made a decision as a person has every right to do. I respect it. I missed a Crew game recently because I had gone to a concert the night before and I didn't want to be away from my family for 2 nights in a row. I do what I can to put my family first and I absolutely respect his decision to do the same.

His decisions do impact his work though. He's not a guy who's going to put in the extra work to try and hang on at the elite level for as many years as possible. He's a guy who shows up on time, does what is required, and then clocks out to go be a dad. Great for him, but it certainly impacts how we should be thinking about the future of our central midfield. I think we're stuck paying a guy $1.8M who is looking forward to retirement more than the grind of a 34 game season in 2023.

 

There is a tendency to pile on in here, sometimes warranted, sometimes not.

Darlington Nagbe is a professional. He is a very important part of our midfield. He doesn’t do the bare minimum and the “go be a dad”.

Sometimes I wonder what you guys are watching because it certainly isn’t the same thing I am.

 

Nagbe is good at what he does.

However, what he does and porter's style do not mesh with the attacking options that we have.

 

Nagbe is good on one side of the ball, let’s just be real since we’re being honest here. Why he is always left on the field at the end of games and Artur/Morris is subbed out I’ll never know, but I can guess. Has he ever won a header? Ever?

Nagbe isn’t the complete player some try to make him out to be. He is quite literally one dimensional. That one dimension is very good, but that’s it.

 

I havent been able to read all the comments but I wanted to note that both our DP's missed glorious chances to make it 3-1. *Our defense late in games is clearly a problem but what would help that is scoring more goals.

*Former defender bias

 

Darlington Nagbe is probably one of my two or three favorite players on our current roster. I agree that Darlington Nagbe is a professional. I agree that he is a very important part of our midfield.

Unfortunately, it's the latter that's the problem. He's a very important part of a midfield that isn't good, that rarely creates chances or manufactures exciting football, for a middling mid-table team that is far off the league's best sides.

He's far from untouchable, and if the team is looking to upgrade his performance and salary make him a prime candidate for the team to move on from.

 

I agree with this take. A players valued is tied to how much we pay him and how he fits into the overall structure of the team. If we had two really dynamic wingers and a more progressive attacking coach then what he provides is really valuable. However, in the current system, with the current player and his current pay then its easy to see why it feels like we are not getting enough from him

 

I’m not arguing Nagbe is untouchable, just that he gets mostly unwarranted criticism.

I would bet most of the complaints about his backward passes and maintaining possession are based on scheme.

 

Nagbe isn’t a progressive player, how does a progressive coach help him?

Porter wants to tiki taka all day long and have 60% possession, as does Nagbe.

The problem isn’t that they don’t compliment each other, it’s that they both want to play a style that doesn’t mesh with our other attacking players.

 

Nagbe’s preferred style of play and Porter’s tactics are one in the same. It’s a vicious feedback loop that helps only them, and not our pacey aggressive attackers.

 

I think this is right.

 

I do think Nagbe is a big problem when we are in the last 15 minutes, up a goal or tied and absorbing pressure. He is not a defensive attack animal that goes into hard takes or closes out space like Aiden or Artur. Time after time our defensive mids are not closing out space like they should and this is on the guy who has been in every one of those game in Nagbe. His style of play doesn't close out games when we are under pressure.

 

Expecting a player who has played the same way for most of his career, and who definitely has settled into this version of Nagbe over the last half decade, to suddenly unleash and bring hidden levels of dynamism to his game in his age 33 season under a new manager and new system is some true Sunshine Brigade optimism.

 

If the rest of the team is playing a more progressive style then his keep the ball, retention focus style is a complementary piece and not a cog in a slow machine

 

Nagbe is just a lazy player. His game is fine in some leagues that value possession and making the most of limited chances but in MLS, the best teams play attacking soccer with quick transitions through the midfield to generate a lot of shots and scoring chances. The midfielders in this league are supposed to either start the break with direct passes or join the attack as the ball moves forward. Darlington won't do that. He will forgo a forward pass that has a 60% chance of being completed to make a lateral pass that accomplishes nothing other than stat padding. You would almost think by watching him play that a big portion of his compensation is tied to how many passes he completes. He essentially plays most of the game as an extra center back (minus the height and strength) that is taught to hold possession and eventually funnel it out to the wingbacks. Porter's system sucks but in any system Nagbe is absolutely a liability that should be playing behind Aidan at this point.

 

Since we're susceptible to piling on, I'll continue to pile on.

Of 26 players in MLS that play the DM position and have logged 2000 minutes or more, Nagbe ranks 25th in both avg. distance of his passes (18.32 yards) and verticality, the distance forward his passes travel (1.97). I agree with @Kyle Crew that this is feedback loop between Nagbe's well established skill set and Porter's tactics.

 

Nagbe is more of a central midfielder than DM. Artur or Morris fill that role.

 

You’re being pedantic.

But here’s some numbers…

Goal creation attempts per 90 (two actions leading directly to a goal)

1) Zelarayan - 0.69
2) Diaz - 0.56
3) Molino 0.46
4) Hurtado - 0.43
5) Moreira - 0.40
6) Etienne - 0.29
7) Santos - 0.24
8) Cucho - 0.22
9) Sands - 0.14
10) Yeboah - 0.11
11) Morris - 0.10
12) Igbekeme - 0.10
13) Nagbe - 0.09
14) Artur - 0.06
15) Williams - 0.06

Shot creations attempts per 90 (two actions leading directly to a shot):

1) Zelarayan - 5.98
2) Cucho - 3.50
3) Etienne - 3.10
4) Diaz - 3.00
5) Yeboah - 2.96
6) Moreira - 2.62
7) Igbekeme - 2.40
8) Hurtado - 2.14
9) Morris - 2.06
10) Berry - 2.04
11) Santos - 1.97
12) Molino - 1.61
13) Nagbe - 1.28
14) Artur - 1.20
15) Sands - 1.13

Defensive pressures per 90:

1) Morris - 25.9
2) Igbekeme - 23.0
3) Yeboah - 20.7
4) Artur - 17.6
5) Cucho - 15.2
6) Hurtado 14.9
7) Berry - 14.4
8) Santos - 13.7
9) Zelarayan- 13.3
10) Moreira - 13.0
11) Etienne - 11.9
12) Sands - 11.5
13) Molino - 10.7
14) Nagbe - 10.1
15) Diaz - 9.75

Tackles per 90:

1) Morris - 4.17
2) Santos - 3.78
3) Igbekeme - 2.70
4) Artur - 2.51
5) Yeboah - 2.27
6) Sands - 1.83
7) Degenek - 1.68
8) Molino - 1.63
9) Moreira - 1.46
10) Diaz - 1.19
11) Nagbe - 1.16
12) Etienne - 1.12
13) Zelarayan- 1.05
14) Mensah - 0.76
15) Cucho - 0.67

xA (expected assists) per 90:

1) Zelarayan - 0.32
2) Yeboah - 0.30
3) Etienne - 0.18
4) Diaz - 0.17
5) Moreira - 0.11
6) Santos - 0.09
7) Cucho - 0.09
8) Hurtado - 0.09
9) Igbekeme - 0.08
10) Berry - 0.06
11) Nagbe - 0.05
12) Artur - 0.04
13) Williams - 0.03
14) Sands - 0.03
15) Morris 0.02

Ariel duals won per 90 he’s 10th.

Interceptions per 90 he’s 11th.

Touches in the attacking third per 90 he’s 15th.

Touches in the defensive third per 90 he’s 9th.

Do I need to keep going? He dribbles, passes sideways, and does jack shit defensively. And he’s the third highest paid player on the team. Not ideal.

 

I just checked, and, yes, verticality is a word. Now, continuing the shitposting

He is also the only player on our team to make the All-Star game. I just wish we could get All Star production numbers out of the two players who make more than him.

 

I think he does what his coach tells him to do.

Going forward with the ball through the halfway, he is a scary weapon. Staying home like a deep, deep sweeper he is not nearly as effective.

And blaming him for all those square passes is asinine; everybody back there does the same thing. It's clearly what they're instructed to do. He does it a lot because he has the ball a lot.

What he does is how the "offense" is designed. It wastes his considerable talents and is just stupid.