Marshall Out, Paladini In on Busy MLS/Crew Day

In somewhat of a surprise move, Chad Marshall was sent to Seattle this morning for an unspecified amount of allocation money (likely close to $150k) and a 2015 SuperDraft pick.

Marshall's salary of $360k guaranteed (and closer to $400k in 2014*) was just too large a block in the overall league mandated $3.1 million budget.

Marshall likely has one more year on his Crew "legend" contract that the previous ownership signed (saddled) him too (with) that Seattle is okay with paying.

Team watchers have noted that Marshall's overall form has dipped significantly over the past two years.

DANIEL PALADINI

Also today, the Crew announced the signing of three year Chicago Fire player Daniel Paladini for a fourth round SuperDraft pick.

Paladini made $87k in 2012 and is likely to receive a modest 5% jump in pay for this upcoming season. His 4 Goals and 5 Assists over 1515 minutes (0.53 G+Ap90, well above average) in the past two seasons made him one of the best "values" on the draft list.

Paladini is a MLS veteran and will be a game day 18 player for the Crew in 2014.

MY THOUGHTS on CREW MOVES

With Glauber and Marshall gone, the Crew have no regular starter from 2013 to fill the CB role. Many expect Josh Williams (a regular in the role in 2012) to become the main man but Gregg Berhalter has expressed a desire to get him forward on the right.

It would appear, however, that it will be Chad Barson, Josh Williams, XX and Waylon Francis / Agustin Viana in the back line for right now.

The addition of Paladini is a solid one for the Columbus Crew. They get an experienced player at basically a league minimum veteran's contract.

Gregg Berhalter and company did a good bit of business within the MLS fishbowl today but fans are looking for a signal that says the defensive minded Berhalter is looking to improve on the offensive side of things.

I'll take an analytic look at what exactly this could mean for the 2014 Crew in the next few days as more moves are likely.

OTHER MLS MOVES

DC United lead the way today with a couple re-entry picks to go along with signing Davy Arnaud from Montreal recently. While they may be expensive, these transactions do instantly improve a horrid 2013 United defense.

Another big name taken off the draft board before the draft yesterday with Chivas USA made a great pick up in Mauro Rosales from Seattle. Rosales was arguably the best player available.

There were a number of players that withdrew from the re-entry draft process before it started. Sometimes this indicates the player is working on / or has some other options. Notable: Kenny Cooper, Bobby Convey, Tommy Heinemann.



Here is how the 1st round of the Re-Entry draft went:

Pick #...Drafting Team...Player...Position...Former Team
1- D.C. United...Sean Franklin...D...Los Angeles Galaxy
2- Portland Timbers...Steve Zakuani...MF...Seattle Sounders FC
3- Toronto FC...PASS
4- Columbus Crew...PASS
5- FC Dallas...PASS
6- Vancouver Whitecaps FC...PASS
7- Philadelphia Union...Corben Bone...MF...Chicago Fire
8- Chicago Fire...PASS
9- San Jose Earthquakes...PASS
10- Montreal Impact...PASS
11- Colorado Rapids...Marc Burch...D...Seattle Sounders FC
12- New England Revolution...PASS
13- Seattle Sounders FC...PASS
14- Los Angeles Galaxy...PASS
15- New York Red Bulls...PASS
16- Houston Dynamo...PASS
17- Chivas USA...PASS
18- Real Salt Lake...PASS
19- Sporting Kansas City...PASS

(Teams that picked in the first round can pick again)
1- D.C. United...Bobby Boswell...D...Houston Dynamo
2- Philadelphia Union...PASS
3- Colorado Rapids...PASS
4- Portland Timbers...PASS

There are a number of players left that will carry over to the 2nd round this time next week that can be signed for a lesser amount.

For the Crew, Danny O'Rourke and Konrad Warzycha are still out there. There are also a few center backs to be had as well that Columbus could look at (Heath Pearce).

There will likely be lots of moves betwixt now and then, however.

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*The Crew's official website is claiming that Marshall clears more that $500k budget/cap space. This is either his $350k salary + 150k in allocation money from Seattle. Or just the Crew making the medicine go down a little easier.

Chad Marshall, 2013

Crew Round 27. Money Talks in Loss

The Columbus Crew hot streak of six unbeaten was cooled off by a New England club who hadn't won any in their last ten.

1ST HALF
The Gillette Stadium turf made this a difficult watch from the outset but 1st year New England coach Jay Heaps had this team ready to go. His team was fully motivated and fearless in their approach to the Crew.

The Crew, on the other hand, seemed lethargic and borderline disinterested. The Revs deserved a goal in the first half but it didn't happen. Plenty of chances, but poor finishing from the rebuilding Eastern Conference club.

2ND HALF
The Revs got the goal they earned in the 53' (Congolese new boy Dimitry Imbongo) off some sloppy defensive play in the 18 yard box. From there the Crew still couldn't seem to get in the mood. 20 minutes of soccer balls skipping off the turf passed before Chad Marshall fumbled a headed back pass over the head of a charging Andy Gruenebaum and directly into his own net.

The final 15 minutes saw only one flurry of activity from the Crew and Federico Higuain's indoor soccer shoes. Game over. 0:2 Revs.

NOTES, MONEY
For the 2nd straight week Columbus started their "A" team. By that I mean; the highest paid. The only player in the top 13 on the club not to get a look is Olman Vargas. From there, the only players making over $100k to sit out where the injured Carlos Mendes and recently fined Julius James.

Last night's Crew "A" team values out at $2.2 million dollars* in annual guaranteed salary. New England's starting salary came in at under $1 million. Those numbers probably don't compute if you are a regular Crew club watcher.

Coming off a crowded August schedule Crew Coach Robert Warzycha banked on squeezing one more ounce of magic against a very weak side. It didn't work. In fact, the plan failed miserably.

20/20 hindsight, but you know what team could have given Crew fans something to cheer for and for less then half the cost ($900k)?

GK: Andy Grunebaum
RB: Eric Gehrig
CB: Josh Williams
CB: Danny O'Rourke
LB: Nemanja Vukovic
DM: Cole Grossman
RM: Justin Meram
CM: Eddie Gaven
LM: Ethan Finlay
CF: Aaron Schoenfeld
ST: Ben Speas

Plenty of excuses for the Crew last night... Heavy legs, bad playing surface, normal distribution of data. Fact remains thus: Championship teams with special players don't lose games like last night.

Disappointing not to see Williams in starting lineup.

* No official word on Federico Higuain's salary. I used $350k, which is the hit the Crew will take to salary cap next year with him on the roster.

The Captain and #10

There is an uneasy feeling floating around the Columbus Crew right now because he club is just about halfway through the season and disappointingly in battle for a playoff spot with no sign of a consistent starting group on the horizon.

This inconsistency in lineup is most glaringly obvious with Crew's appointed "field generals," Mirosevic and Marshall. Both were absent during most of the successful six game run that saved this season so both of them are well below team averages in every major statistical category (Marshall finishing last in most of them).

It is a real problem that Mirosevic (the team's number 10) and Marshall (team Captain) aren't playing in every game. Mirosevic has missed 4 of 16 starts already (with another missed start coming this weekend) and Marshall has missed 8 of 16.

We are talking about two really good players here but combined they have missed nearly 40% of the season. Put that together with poor results when they are in the lineup and you have a host of problems.

Player profile pieces and "can't see it in the numbers" quotes from the team staff on the club's website and in the local paper aren't going to change results.

Their effort level and performances haven't met expectations but Mirosevic and Marshall have to be on the field each gameday because they have been chosen by the club to lead.

So they better damn well get out there and do just that.

Josh Williams (talent+romanticism)

Chad Marshall took part in last Sunday's Reserve Game in NY which points towards a possible start this weekend in Montreal. He is likely to replace (Akron, OH born) Josh Williams.

Williams has become a favored player here at Helltown. In fact, I've got non-soccer watching co-workers and friends regularly asking me about how "the Cleveland guy" is doing (I've also heard "the BronBron guy" and "JWill" even "Ash's boyfriend" (long story)). No doubt that there is an incredible amount of affection for everything Cleveland around these parts and those that have that affection gravitate towards things from that area.

In a way, it's almost as if Williams is manufacturing mistake. Like a product of an Akron factory that normally only stamps quarter panels for the Chevy Cruze inadvertently stamping something that belongs on a Cadillac Ciel prototype.

Now, the guy Williams is filling in for is a Crew Legend and two time MLS defensive player of the year (Chad Marshall) who, in the off season, signed a contract that keeps him in Columbus till the end of his career.

There is no question that, when fully recovered, Marshall will start so the only remaining questions will be who starts next to him and who should start next to him.

First question is easy; Julius James will fill the other center back spot. The 2nd question? Who should start there? Let's take a look...

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) since the start of 2011

GAMES STARTED
50 : Team Max
40 : Chad
34 : Julius
10 : Josh

GOALS AGAINST PER GAME (when starting)
0.80 : Josh
1.12 : Julius
1.20 : Team Avg.
1.33 : Chad

GOALS FOR PER GAME (when starting)
1.20 : Josh
1.16 : Team Avg.
1.15 : Julius
1.15 : Chad

TEAM POINTS PER GAME EARNED (when starting)
1.60 : Josh
1.43 : Team Avg.
1.38 : Julius
1.28 : Chad

Summary Points:
• Josh has started in 20% of games since 2011 start
• Josh leads both Julius and Chad in every major KPI
• Josh leads team averages in every major KPI
• Chad is last in every major KPI

MONEY----------------

Chad Marshall is making $310k a year. He is the highest paid player on the Crew and 21st highest paid in Major League Soccer (in 95th percentile). As a defensive player, he is only behind Rafa Marquez in salary.

Julius James pulls in $100k a year. That puts him at 195th in the league in terms of salary. 13th on the Crew.

Josh Williams makes $44k a year... tied for 2nd lowest contract in the league (143 players make at or below him, ahh MLS you stifling "stack ranking" bastard).

TALENT AND ROMANTICISM

It only gets down right strange for Marshall if we just look at 2012 stats. Were he not Captain, I wouldn't put this much weight into such a small sample set... Chad's 7 starts saw the Crew only go for 2 wins, 4 loses and 1 draw. Williams 10 starts have seen 4 wins and 4 drawn, only 2 losses. You could even argue that Williams has seen better competition. All KPIs point in Williams favor to start somewhere on the first XI at the very least.

The Romanticism here comes from what Josh Williams is. He's a taller, athletic kid who looks like he belongs under center calling go routes on snowy Sunday afternoons off Lake Erie... or batting cleanup for the Tribe on hot summer afternoons... or bombing three's from the two spot in THE Q as the boys push for the playoffs. He is exactly the kind of athlete that the American Midwest creates time and time again for the major sports in this country, it's just that this time one has found soccer.

The future growth of this sport in this area is not in the teenagers filling stands on Saturday nights right now, but it is those same teenagers 20 years from now who are Jack swigging, pot smoking - proud Iron Workers Union - hellraisers filling the stands and taking their kids out to the game.

Williams, to me, represents the kind of player MLS needs more of. He doesn't, nor will he ever have his name in lights across some marquee on some 65k seat stadium. Instead, he'll be the guy that puts in 90' shifts required to guide a team to a championship and then shake the hands of the folks that gave him the opportunity afterwards.

It could be said that he represents an area that just lost power for a week and didn't loot nor riot nor scream for outside help but will take the power company guys out for beers after their 16 hour shift in 100 degree heat.

"He's what makes US Soccer have a chance of being special," is the the the quote I got from a non-soccer, daughter of a lifelong Browns fan and season ticket holder, regarding Josh Williams.

"Browns Season Ticket Holder" has 'special persons' status here at Helltown Beer.

Happy July 4th.

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Link to the conversation included in the illustration above.

Illustration above includes: Lou Groza (place kicker and offensive lineman for the Cleveland Browns, born in Martin's Ferry, Ohio), Paul Brown (Cleveland Browns Coach, 1946-1962, born in Massillon, Ohio,, Otto Graham (Cleveland Browns, 1946-1955), Bob Feller (Cleveland Indians Legend) and Joshua Williams (Columbus Crew 2010- , born in Akron, Ohio)

Crew Rd 15, Win Storm (RSL)

Something called a "super derecho" tore across Central Ohio on Friday night leaving over half a million without power on a hot and humid 90 degree night.

Among those without power Friday night:

1. The hotel where Real Salt Lake was staying.
2. Me.

Among those with power Friday night:

1. Kyle Beckerman (didn't travel due to card accumulation)
2. Not me.

By the next day, like most in the Central Ohio area, Crew Stadium was still without power but the local electric company was able to get things up and running and the match was only delayed by 1 hour.

The Crew went on to win this game 2:0.

1ST HALF
Columbus seemingly ambushed RSL right from the first whistle. I was sitting low and on the north end so had a good view of the Crew Defensive line of Nemanja Vukovic, Josh Williams, Julius James and Sebastian Miranda and the RSL attack of... which included nobody. Columbus was rarely threatened.

Emilio Renteria seemed to have a speed advantage against the RSL backline (playing too high for a group that got no sleep) and he took it. In the 16' minute Renteria took off on a run down the right side and played a quick low ball across the mouth of goal that found Tony Tchani for a goal. Thirty minutes later Eddie Gaven finished a similar cross in from Josh Williams from a corner by Chris Birchall. It was the 44th minute to be exact. A time when tired teams give up goals.

2ND HALF
I moved to a better vantage point so I could see the full pitch but not a whole lot happened offensively. Columbus did stay positive and probably deserved another goal. RSL looked slightly more dangerous but generated nothing near good enough to beat Andy Gruenebaum.

THE END, NOTES
• Josh Williams completely frustrated one of the best players in the league in Fabian Espindola (6 goals, 3 assists on the year). He pushed him, tackled him, talked at him. Eventually Espindola was shown yellow and had to be subbed. Excellent performance by Williams.

• Danny O'Rourke... not many mentions of him for Man of the Match but he put in his best game of the year. Without Beckerman to counter him Danny controlled the middle and snuffed out just about every build up RSL tried to muster. I'm not sure I've seen a more dominate central defending performance this year from any player. CDM is such a key spot for what the Crew does. They need O'Rourke to stay healthy.

• Hard to find any week spots for the Crew after this one. Aaron Shoenfeld was pretty ineffective and tired easily, I suppose. It’s also important to note that he started over a healthy and higher paid Olman Vargas.

VANTAGE POINT + MAN MANAGEMENT:
When it came time for subs and Milovan Mirosevic came on I took note of a warming up but visibly frustrated Justin Meram and Olman Vargas. Once Kevan George came on it got a little more awkward as Vargas dropped his head and Meram started kicking plastic practice cones while getting encouragement from Eric Gehrig. Meram eventually came on for Renteria but only due to Renteria’s insistence on coming out. After the game Adam Jardy of the Columbus Dispatch noted that Reneria did not stick around for the postgame.

Not trying to turn this club into a soap opera but I manage a group of folks that balloons up past 100 often so I can’t help but notice attitudes in a work place and how employees react to change (Kevan sub being the change in this case).

A STORM COMING
A storm in the form of Chad Marshall returning to his assigned spot next to Julius James which, in turn, leaves Josh Williams out. A very popular, ticket selling / featured on the inside of the program, Josh Williams. Never underestimate the drawing power of an Ohioan on the team… especially talented one from NE Ohio.

Hopefully my power comes back on so I can tease apart the numbers on the Crew’s upcoming Center Back controversy competition.

Crew Center Back Improvement Over 2011

Short on time this week because of a move back to German Village from the Brewery District which, somehow, has meant a crossing of High Street twice in the past five years. As we ponder that fact, let us take a look at this year's league table and compare it to last year as it pertains to the Columbus Crew (note: I am using per game point averages in League and Conf positions to account for the discrepancy in games played).

LEAGUE POSITION (-1)
8th: Last Year
9th: This Year

CONFERENCE POSITION (-2)
3rd: 2011
5th: 2012

GOALS FOR PER GAME (+1)
15th: 2011
14th: 2012

GOAL DIFFERENCE (+3)
11th: 2011
8th: 2012

GOALS AGAINST PER GAME (+6)
9th: 2011
3rd: 2012

We'll stop on this last one because the difference is significant. Warzycha's teams are already known for being stingy but this year they have allowed 2 less goals in the same number of games. That doesn't seem like a whole lot but consider this: goals are up nearly 10% this year in Major League Soccer. Columbus has CUT goals against by 13% (a 23pt swing against the league).

12 of the 18 clubs are allowing more goals than last year. An already stingy 2011 Columbus is made the 6th best improvement in Goals Against (KC, DC, VAN, POR, CHI better GA improvement, in that order) in 2012. This is something the team should be applauded for, absolutely.

Peeling back one more layer to see what might be contributing to this improvement, let's take a look at the Center Back pairings this year.

# of Starts Together : Names
3 : Marshall / Gehrig
2 : Marshall/Williams
2 : Marshall/O'Rourke
2 : Williams/Gehrig
2 : Williams/Mendes/Gehrig
2 : Williams/Mendes

Nothing in that. 13 Crew games and 6 different CB pairings. It's been by committee, right? Not really.

Marshall has the most starts at CB with 8 this year, Williams has 7, Gehrig at 5 (counting his half game subs of Mendes), followed by Mendes and O'Rourke at 2.

Marshall has 2 Wins, 2 Draws, 3 Loss. Williams is at 3 Wins, 3 Draws, 1 Loss... and Gehrig is at 3W-2D-2L.

You have to wonder if the loss of Chad Marshall's wing man (Julius James) hurt this team early on but it's hard not to point to last year and say that while Marshall and James were good, yes... but Williams / O'Rourke / Gehrig / Mendes are performing just as good, if not better.

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...at least to this point in the season. Long and Hot summer to work through. Gruenebuam has had a lot to do with the Goals Against improvement as well. Important to remember that Hesmer was no slouch either.

Back to moving...

Chad Marshall Signs 'Legend' Contract

Chad Marshall and the Crew agreed to a deal today that keeps him in town through the 2015 season (4 more seasons).

Marshall has already been with the team for eight years. He is 27 years old. I haven't heard the details of the pay but it was not announced that he was made DP. That means he is still not making enough for the team to tag him as such (for cap purposes). He was already making $320k so we can deduce that it is likely he is still in that range.

Based on his play last year I value him in the $260k range.

That said. What do you pay a guy who is about to become the player with the following:

- Most Minutes with the Crew ALL-TIME (needs 19 more games)
- Most Years with the Crew ALL-TIME (about to join Oughton with 9)
- Three Supporter Shield's and a MLS Cup

The group he is jumping in time with the Crew is impressive. Mike Clark, Jeff Cunningham, Brian Maisonneuve, Frankie Hejduk and Brian McBride. All with eight years in house.

Chad Marshall comes off as your typical stoic center back but in reality he is quite different. He is deceitfully quick and has incredible closing speed which you only really see on display when he his making up for another teammates mistake.


Mr. Marshall also isn't the same kind of player Crew fans are typically drawn to. You don't hear about him partying with supporters. No pictures of him at (defunct) Hudson Street or (not defunct) 4th Street drinking with the fans. He has no twitter account or any other real presence in social media. Nor does he go out of his way celebrating goals (most often from corners) in front of the North Deck. You never even really see much more then a clinched fist and a look of satisfaction when another player scores a goal.

It's almost like the typical stoic center back demeanor haunts him. He has all the parts that make one, yet he doesn't not show that last important part that finishes the cliche.

This contradiction could be one of the reasons he has been kept off the National Team in recent years. He should be that cliche, but isn't. It can be cringe worthy for me to hear some supporters and fans clamoring for his call up to the USMNT. Not sure why that is, really. Maybe that's part of what I'm writing. Me clumsily trying to figure out why that bothers me.

Marshall grew up in Southern California. Looking at the map, his Rubidoux High School (black and gold, incidentally) seems to be just a bit outside of L.A. Seems sort of like a Greensboro is to Research Triangle, a Fredericksburg to DC or a Circleville might be to Columbus. Yet, the mere connection between him as an equestrian and his Stanford University spell tell a much different story.

And that different story is the one that lead me to writing all this in the first place.

Proud to have Chad Marshall signing on with the Crew for a few years longer. If parts of Crew Stadium weren't already earmarked to have his name etched on them, they certainly will be by 2015.

A FK Goal in Seattle

I was checking up on Josh Gardner's excellent free kick goal tonight and something struck me. And it wasn't the extraordinary, world class, kick. It was how the whole Columbus Crew team reacted to that kick. Check out the goal again. Maybe again after that one time.

Now again.

What I noticed was the post goal reaction. Not just that of Josh Gardner. But of the whole team. I can't tell you how many sports games I've watched where the team getting destroyed gets a goal/point/touchdown and then proceed to celebrate like they just won the Champions League. Sadly, it happens often.

But curiously. Not after Josh Gardner's particularly fantastic goal last weekend. Not the Crew. Not this team.Gardner. The strike taker. Goal Scorer of something worthy of "top 10". Simply turns around. Head down. And slaps hands with a couple other players and lines back up.

Burns. Burns enters the picture after the goal goes in. He simply trots back to mid-field to restart the game.

Renteria. He reached out to Josh after the amazing kick only to retract after he realizes Josh wants nothing of it. Emilio understands and resumes spartan stance.

Tommy. Oh Tommy. After the strike he sprints into the goal mouth like a bat out of hell to retrieve the ball for restart. For a brief second you can see his arm and fist pump in celebration but it happens as he is running full tilt to grab the ball even though the team is still down by three goals. Amazing heart. Amazing belief. Retain this kid.

Finally. Our Captain. Mr. Marshall. Hands firmly on hips through out the whole event. No sliding on the turf. No giant bear hug. Just a simple "we have been beat. i know you have this in you already. seen it in practice. we are better then this. let's get this over with."Maybe I'm digging into a short moment a little too much. Perhaps Crew players would tell me that Gardner's goal is something to be expected. I like to think that. Ultimately. All I know is that I've watched many a blow out game where my favorite team shows their ass celebrating a meaningless moment late in the game.

Refreshingly, the Crew players didn't here. The game was lost. It was a magnificent worthless moment not to be celebrated.

It's a rare event, this.

Mini Drama Unfolds, Mendoza nails it

A lot can be gleamed from this short sequence of events that happened during the Columbus Crew's win yesterday. In a strange way it reminds me of Blackpool's Charlie Adam's penalty kick drama during the last weeks games in the EPL.

After missing his first one Blackpool got another. With relegation on the line Adam grabbed the ball and rushed to the PK line to take the shot. Surely to make amends for his missed on earlier. The confidence to do this comes from a place somewhere deep inside that most people don't have. Adam lined up, showed himself a true captain, and nailed it. I'm not sure if I've ever really seen anything like that in sport. The fire that burned in him was uncontrollable.

The penalty kick that equalized the Crew game yesterday was the complete opposite. The result may have been the same, but the moments leading up? Completely different.

Miranda running up to discuss with Mendoza what he was doing, Cunningham, readying his gear to take it, to Marshall running all the way in to pull him off it so Cunningham could match the MLS goal record only to have Cunningham himself pull (captain) Marshall away. That reads all messy like, because the moment was messy-like. To me, right now, it says a lot about where the team is off the pitch and lends credence to what some are saying is going on in regards to Mendoza.

Is this a leadership problem? Should Marshall, as captain, had the final say? I'm going to have to yield to bleeno on this one.

As I said, the end result was a goal. Crew went on to win.

I'll take that for the moment.

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As an aside; Gaven pulls Mendoza quickly after the goal preventing the "thumb sucking" thing he does. Thank you Eddie.