Post-match: Trophy Wednesday #1! A Battle for A Cup - Crew @ Toronto FC - Match 28 - 9/18/24 7:30 PM

I was going to pick win by 2, damnit!

 

Fair enough.

Let me make a correction, two draws from Miami & a loss to us would open the door provided we win out AND maintain our GD edge (if we beat them & they draw twice AND we win out, that should happen).

 

Herrera got a big goal. Jones scored a massive goal earlier and the PK in LC was huge. Chambost scored in LC. Both he and Jones did in the AV friendly.

There has been some production. But I agree in the main. Jones is a FB, his offensive output will be closer to Farsi & Moreira & Amundsen than Arfsten or Yeboah.

In the main, I thought we failed to address our biggest needs in the window (CM depth, a right sided CB, and cover for Rossi in a speed guy outside).

Maybe Jackson fills that last role, and Chambost eventually finds his way to CM. And Jones or Herrera to RCB some days. It is early days, still. Putting them where they are most comfortable to begin with seems Nancy's way.

For me, Chambost is closest to Matan. He isn't as quick or tricky with the ball. But is a guy who drops back into MF & helps with possession, takes some FKs. Not a field stretcher by any means. Left footed and with better size.

 

That Spain team had a top 3 player in the world at every position (except left back).

The Crew don’t have a top 3 player at every position in MLS, forget the world, so I don’t think that comparison holds up.

Cucho is great. Take arguably the best player in the league out of their team, and rotate basically everyone else as well, and it’s not really a shocker if they have a kinda meh 45 minutes.

And Nancy is super important. Did we have the best offense in the league under Porter? No. Best goal difference? No. Multiple play off appearances? No. What has happened to Montreal since Nancy left? He’s great too. No one should expect a MLS B-team to blow away any MLS first team, that’s just ridiculous.

 

Games without Cucho:

@ Nashville 2-2 (No Matan or Ramirez, Sean at RAM/RF)
Tigres 1-1
@ RSL 0-0 (Red Card suspension for Cucho and rotated squad)
@ MTL 3-1 (Back inj.)
@ Chicago 3-1 (Back)
@ Orlando 2-0 (Back)
Seattle 0-4 (Int. Break, goalie bad)

Scoreless halves vs Philly and TFC with heavily rotated squads.

I think we just want something to worry about. We also played a weird formation in the first half. It was almost like a 4-2-2-2 at times. Everyone was out of synch.

 

It was, but that was also a heavily rotated line-up anyway.

 

Right, that's not really the comparison I was making. As good as Spain was back then, they were rather predictable. I would literally watch games and know in my head where the next pass (or two) was going. Iniesta was the wild card that could/would shake things up. That's not a knock on the rest of the team. They very well may have still won Euro and WC without him, they were a very good team overall (probably one of the best ever). The point/comparison I'm making is that Cucho seems to similarly play outside the system of the rest of the team. Maybe that's by design, but I get the feeling it's not.

Fair enough. I agree he is a good coach and has been very important.

Pretty sure I never said that was the expectation. Or if I did, it was poor communication on my part. Yes, Cucho is possibly the best player in the league. Rossi is also a top player in the league. Former golden boot winner. They did a straight swap of those two players and the difference was night and day. That's not a knock on Rossi, that's a mention of how important Cucho is. I'm questioning if Cucho is carrying more water than we give credit. I don't think have an answer for that question at this point.

 

By the way, not enough has been said about JRR's assist on that opening goal. The final pass itself might not have been anything to wrote home about, but making that run, winning possession, and holding onto the ball until Cucho could appear on the scene was all super important to that goal.

 

PS. Don't tell anyone, but the league's best defense got another shutout.

 

Sorry to come in late and just blast, but...

Cucho is my hero and the MVP of the league. But the reason we were anemic without him has more to do with the fact that we started so many new players who have had zero time to play together. Nancy, being able to strategically hold down the fort under such conditions, develop his new players, and deliver a supremely efficient a knock out blow is a continuation of his brilliance. We get three on the road and should be in good form for the next trophy. Another massive one IMO.

BTW, it is far to early, to pass any judgements, but our new acquisitions thus far feel like a net loss in exchange for Morris. Until Bernardeschi started mailing it in during the second half, he abused DeJuan. Frighteningly so. But I much prefer our system vs. bringing in big talent at the end of their run, who hope to be in the right spot at the right time.

I love Cucho. I believe he is the best soccer player the Columbus Crew has ever had. But I also believe Nancy will continue to score goals, even without Cucho, but with the guys who have been playing in the system