Thing was the reinforcements we got in summer were intact good depth moves that we needed in the winter but I won’t blame them for getting more guys in summer because after winning the Cup it’s a short turn around and not much talent available in the winter window . But make no mistake we needed the guys much earlier than the summer but you absolutely needed a CM to replace Morris. Even if your plan is Zawadzki you still need CM depth and someone to fill his back up CM role. We were thin on CB the entire season and while we were able to put smaller more attacking guys to help at RCB , you needed a CB so compete with Camacho for minutes so you don’t run Camacho into the ground. If we had more CM we could have rested Nagbe more as well. So no matter how good anyone feels about the summer additions that we made , they simply were not enough. Some of us called it out at the time and were ridiculed but the bottom line we saw this coming. You can not have so many empty roster spots and then wonder why your aging players run out of gas. Ramirez , Nagbe & Camacho all 3 didn’t look like themselves for most of the end of the season. It’s a lot of running and the best way to reduce their minutes and still win is to have some guys on the bench that are capable of competing at MLS level. We did NOT address those issues up the spine and now we can’t act surprised when we all knew it was a possibility of the long season having this effect on some of our most important positions.
Honestly, I would prefer the way this season went down - making an honest effort at winning all five trophies we were in contention for, but falling short of everything but League's Cup - to a season where we send reserve teams to all the other tournaments and get bounced early, but end up winning MLS Cup.
"Yet toxic waste from the sky ends up in the soil all the time. Therefore, one can only extrapolate that the sky has, indeed, been falling all along." - Dr. C. Little, PhD
Haven’t had the heart to even read this thread until now. It’s amazing what a little time and Miami misfortune can do. Although there are a few contrasting views discussed here, I find myself agreeing with every single one. There is some level of truth in each comment.
And, yes, you should be concerned about Haslam Sports Group. Haslam’s are the majority owners and Jimmy very much likes to run the show. Edwards’ have to be strategic and pick their causes to be at all effective in the push back. Can confirm that the team’s profits are not what a lot of people expect, stadiums are very expensive and we’ve been scraping by. The Crew is not a passion project for the Haslam’s, so, unfortunately, try to temper your expectations. The new Browns stadium will take precedence and suck up a lot of cash that might otherwise come our way. I really hope I’m wrong about this, but it’s my educated take on the situation. It’s also a given that Bez had more influence than Issa. However, Issa was always going to be the one to take over. Some other sporting opportunities were being explored by the Haslam’s at one point which would’ve required Bez to switch posts and leave the Crew. Even back then, Issa was the one that was chosen to move up the ranks.
I have a feeling this part shouldn't be overlooked. Just because the word "were" was used doesn't necessarily mean it's permanently past-tense...or so I have a feeling.
Basically what I insinuated this summer that Bez was pushing them to buy a lower level team in Europe to use as a feeder to the Crew. Would be cool if they actually followed through on it.
Isn't the proposed new Browns stadium on hold until they figure out how to get $1.2 billion in public funding from governments which don't want to put up nearly that much? That could be a years-long process.
Not the best few months for Jimmy has it. Not sure why he bought the bucks. He looked miserable when the cavs beat them in Cleveland For reference
Jimmy is a smart businessman, the stadium move could even potentially be a game of chicken to get the state to pony up more money to renovate the existing stadium. Let’s be clear, I have NO knowledge/info on this, but it would be a very Jimmy move. Also, I should clarify that the Haslam’s do care about the Crew, Jimmy’s at most matches and is definitely involved (more than perhaps ideal). It’s just that he doesn’t like to lose money/his wallet takes precedence.
My understanding is that the foundation is so bad that if they renovate, it'll need lots of money and then they'll still have to move to burkes in 10 years pending FAA approval. That will cost about 4 billion total vs ~ 2. I still think the original Post Office site was the best location. In the city, near the high way, in the middle of the Gateway and Ohio City. My friend speculated that Jimmy might have been out because he wouldn't have his district or Gilbert owned much of the surrounding land. We haven't talked about it here yet, but Jimmy is building his own district like Astor Park around the expanded training facility in Berea. It will be like Jerry's World. It will host high school football playoff games and have a bunch of restaurants and mixed use stuff. For some inside baseball on Jimmy, I recommend NEOTrans and the Zac Jackson and Friends Podcast.
I'm sure there are innumerable ways you can categorize sports fans, but two obvious categories are fans who can enjoy the ride and spectacle of the game even if the end results disappoint, and those fans for whom results (or lack thereof) are the primary variable that defines whether or not a season was successful. Even that's too rigid a structure, of course. I mean, I'm very much in the latter camp, but 2023 was such a glorious gift, week in, week out, the pure beauty of the soccer on display was such fun to watch, and the playoff run so unexpected after the miseries of recent seasons that, had we not won MLS Cup, the season would still have felt successful. In any event, we did win MLS Cup in 2023, and therefore went into 2024 as one of the preseason favorites to win it again. Recall that 2024 was really the year that Nancy and FO were aiming for in terms of hardware. And undeniably we had a very good year. But again, coming from my camp, it was disappointing. Or, rather, there are two types of disappointment I'm experiencing post-season. The first is based solely on the CCC final. That match was just a brutally cruel situation. We were in such good form, had beaten top Mexican teams in Mexico, and were teed up to maybe do so again, in a match that would have arguably been the greatest achievement in team history. One dodgy meal later, and the whole thing fell apart. It just sucks. But then there's the way the season ended and really that last month or so. We looked tired, at times disjointed. We gave up too many bad goals. Guys were obviously tired, but then again, we chose or maybe felt forced to choose a small-ish roster knowing full well we'd be playing a ton of games this year. The players we added in general didn't end up starting. That is, we added quantify to the roster in the latter half of the season to take up some of those open roster spots, but no really impactful quality. Maybe D. Jones will be such a player next year. Maybe. But Jackson is at best a project. Chambost a budget signing. And of course we lost Morris. We won Leagues Cup, which ain't nothing, but is certainly a notch or two below what we'd positioned ourselves to claim this season. As I look back on 2024, leaving aside the CCC Final, what I see is a team that failed to rise to the occasion. We weren't beaten by better teams. We beat ourselves, and maybe that was inevitable based on MLS roster realities. But I just don't buy that. Whether is was fiscal frugality, shitty scouting (esp. with Hinestroza), other teams gearing up and adjusting to our 2023 style of play, or Nancy's approach to roster rotation, substitutions and his preference for a small, young collection of players, we just didn't enter the playoffs in the right physical or mental state of mind, IMHO. And as I se it, as-is, this roster isn't structured to be championship material in 2025, either. We need at least some new pieces to the puzzle, and guys making $400-500K on free transfers won't be good enough, especially as players like Nagbe and Camacho continue to age.
I agree with this in general, but I think winning Leagues Cup, though not as prestigious as MLS Cup, is much an accomplishment as winning MLS Cup. You have to get past the same MLS opponents, plus Liga MX opponents (though by chance we didn't face any).