Lack of TAM level squad depth at positions outside of WB. But I'm not sure who gets that blame. Nancy, Tall, Bez, MLS?
I think the length of the season just finally caught up to us. We played two pretty good games, but our lack of finishing killed us. If the Crew were able to put the ball into the net at their normal rate, we'd have had two comfortable wins. Today especially, hard to blame Nancy, as our first goal was scored by a sub moments after he came on, and the stoppage time equalizer was also scored by a sub. We also had the lead in penalties, and players just didn't execute kicks.
This is why a lot of teams threw the USOC. At least we won Leagues Cup! MLS rosters are not built to go for everything...you just can't.
NYRB's second goal came off of JRR's first touch, which was a give away. I wouldn't mind not seeing him ever again.
Win as a team, lose as a team. Although it's hard, for me at least, to blame players like Cucho who appear to give everything every match and have the drive to win, and Nancy who is still a good coach, and few others that played well. I'm sure this will get thoroughly dissected over the coming weeks and months.
The decision to deviate from what's worked for two seasons in game 1 is on Nancy. I would love to be a fly on the wall to hear why they chose a two-forward formation instead of starting JRR or AZ or Chambost as the 3F. This roster may not have been good enough or healthy enough to win it all, but it should have been plenty good enough to advance past the Red Bulls. Nancy's stubbornness about keeping a small rotation and not filling out the senior roster is also the root of why this team wore down in the last two months. Nagbe, Moreira and Rossi got run into the ground because he didn't want any depth players to spell them. Zawadzki is a very good player but he's no Hector Jimenez. "Play Sean wherever we need a warm body tonight" was a half baked plan at best. He needs to learn to play one position well instead of just being a serviceable "minutes eater" at four positions. Derrick Jones is about as serviceable at CM as Zawadzki. If Sean is going to be here long-term he needs to be playing full-time at CB, ideally rotating starts with Cheberko and whomever we sign to replace Camacho.
Redbull was able to exploit our biggest weakness in this series which was you can now press our midfield and force us into turnovers. Not getting a replacement for Aidan or putting too much trust into Sean that he could replace Aidan right from the jump did it in with the early exit. Think Sean's best position for us will be a center-back replacement for Camacho, or we can see what a full off-season as the starter in center-mid does for him. At the end of the day, being unable to break the Red Bulls low block or hit them on the counter put a fork into us. Curious to see what pieces we get in the off-season.
Early this morning, my husband asked me: “How much do you think Don Garber paid Camacho to throw last night and the Miami game?” … not sure which stage of grief we are in currently.
Injuries played a huge role to losing in playoffs but I blame the front office for not getting more players and limiting guys minutes to keep fresh for playoffs. We added some depth in summer and 1 starter level talent but didn’t address the positions we really needed a upgrade at CM after Morris left and CB the entire season
What are we looking to blame folks for? During the 2024 regular season, Columbus recorded Club records in points (66), wins (19), away wins (nine), goals (72), goal differential (+32) and unique goal scorers (18). Twenty-one different players recorded a goal contribution for the Black & Gold in MLS play, tied for the Club's single-season record (1998, 2012, 2017, 2024). Additionally, the Black & Gold this past year became the first MLS team to reach three tournament finals in a span of nine months, claiming two trophies at home in the process during the 2023 MLS Cup Final and 2024 Leagues Cup. The Crew reached their first-ever Concacaf Champions Cup Final in June.
Because it's the natural course of events for some people and I can't blame them. If they must blame someone, I think it'd make more sense to blame the league for not being forthright on the Club World Cup spot, as I think someone(s) said elsewhere. If the coaching staff knew how the CWC spot was going to be assigned, maybe they don't go all-out in the Leagues Cup knockout round or maybe different lineups are used at various points in the season. As I was typing that second paragraph, I was reminded of when MLS announced the playoff format very late in the season. Of course, the Galaxy made the playoffs that year because it was all about "Let's see what we need to do so LA can make the playoffs."
Yes, and that's disappointing. But overall I have to see this season as a success. Resounding. On all counts except for one.
No question this was a very successful season. But I think most agree that the ultimate prize is MLS Cup and those that disagree would say the ultimate prize is the CCC. We lost one of those because of food poisoning (accidental or malicious—you be the judge [or follow the money]). In the other, we were one of the favored and got knocked out by the seventh seed. Only one thing puts another star on our jersey.
Don't get me wrong, I'm disappointed that my 2025 Black Crew jersey won't have a 4th star on it. But I think that to go finger-pointing and looking for someone to blame smells like sour grapes or spilt milk or some such. This season, by literally every measure, was more successful than every season that came before it, except for winning the MLS Cup. The future is bright, the Crew is going to be fine. The Crew is already fine.
Since we are killiing time now until Crewsmas .. I cast the first "Other" vote. Am speculating that Ownership is to blame. With the potential to have the greatest season in MLS history and possibly be viewed as the greatest team ever ... spending was reduced. According to Spotrac ... 20.5M in 2023 to 17.3M in 2024. That made them drop from 6th to 19th in league spending as the arms race heated up. Add in: - Crew only making a profit for the first time ever last season (reportedly) - Game(s) potentially being moved to Cleveland for more revenue - Morris being sold and not replaced By seasons' end ... I think most here agree the squad Nancy trusted was small and likely worn out. That is a fail by Ownership in a Window of Contention. I could see the Front Office/Nancy wanting to conduct an overhaul this winter and being told, "sell before you can buy." (Cucho).
I will say….if Cucho does want to remain in Columbus and the owners are being shortsighted about not paying him, that will be the most notable mistake they will have made.
Depends what the "ask" is from Cucho's camp. I can see a case where the "ask" is just too high, especially given that they have to pay other players, who will use Cucho's salary as a benchmark for their own negotiations.
And that would be stupid of them. Your value is pegged by the cost of replacing you. With Cucho, it's provable that there are a lot of less productive players making substantially more than he is. Asking for fair market value is not out of line. On the other hand, someone like - picking at random - Farsi saying "Well, Cucho got a raise to six million so I want a million" is a good way to end up traded to San Jose.