[PODCAST] Red Card in Helltown: Season 2, Episode 10

David Burgin and Larry Johnson join host Rick Gethin this week for another episode of RCiD. Great show this week with one of the best Crew SC segments we've ever recorded. Enjoy!

01:05 - SOCCER HEADLINES
► US Women's National Team win 3rd World Cup
► Better than the '99 team?
► Game way more enjoyable to watch now
► FIFA updates, Chuck Blazer banned for life
► CNN report on FIFA, Blazer LINK
► CONCACAF Gold Cup update
► How meaningful is the Gold Cup and to whom
► Steven Gerrard introduction, Pirlo, Lampard

15:40 - COLUMBUS CREW SC NEWS AND NOTES
► Montreal blank Columbus 3-0, early goals!!
► Dwight Burgess and Neil Sika losing their minds!
► Lack of emotion from coach extending into the team (a calm?)
► Crew lost part of what was developing last year, ability to control pace
► Predictable approach
► Aging group with nothing behind them on the bench
► Debate sparked over Berhalter's role, team needs
► Bench Parkhurst? New captain? Berhalter brave enough?
► Conversation continues on Berhalter's work load

35:10 - GENERAL DISCUSSION, RULE CHANGES
► Target Allocation Money (TAM)
► Adding difficulty to finding players
► Who benefits? Who does it hurt?
► How TAM impacts the Crew and other teams
► Parity as a sales pitch is gone
► Watching good teams is fun!
► 2015 LA looking like best team in MLS history
► Fix the cap

49:30 - QUICK HIT, WRAP UP
► Question of the week: How can you tell you're watching a bad MLS team
► Points worst indicator of good team in MLS...
► David breaks down what equals a good game
► Summer distractions for MLS
► Schedule needs to change

Really fun show, thanks for listening!

“USSF and MLS appear to behave in a conspiratorial manner"

“USSF and MLS appear to behave in a conspiratorial manner, acting side-by-side to deny U.S. youth soccer clubs any training compensation and solidarity fees because they are afraid that the dam will burst and MLS will have to pay training compensation. Although not specifically relevant to the relief that Crossfire and the U.S. youth soccer clubs are seeking here, the Executive Committee may wish to explore the seemingly improper relationship between USSF and MLS shown here. The facts are clear that the two are closely aligned in an anticompetitive manner in the U.S.”

- Letter from Development Academy club Crossfire to FIFA, asking it to address the alleged interference of MLS and U.S. Soccer into the Seattle area club receiving FIFA-mandated payment of solidarity contributions from the sale of former Crossfire youth player DeAndre Yedlin by the Seattle Sounders to Tottenham. (SI.com)

Messa Da Requiem: Ethan Finlay

MLS Cost per Point, per Goal

MLS is just a hair over 50% complete with the season, so what better time to look at cost per point earned and cost per goal scored. Keeping it simple - take the total wage bill for each team (as reported by ESPN earlier this year) and multiply it by the percentage of the season complete to get how much each team has spent thus far.

Example; Columbus has a reported yearly wage bill of 4.2 million dollars this year. They are 18 games in, which is 53% of the season complete. That means they have paid 2.22m in salary so far.

First up is Dollars per point earned...

74,118 - DC United
76,688 - Sporting Kansas City
87,627 - FC Dallas
92,000 - San Jose Earthquakes
92,647 - Columbus Crew
94,301 - Vancouver Whitecaps
105,882 - Colorado Rapids
106,357 - Portland Timbers
106,905 - Real Salt Lake
112,745 - Montreal Impact
113,445 - Houston Dynamo
132,353 - Philadelphia Union
166,275 - Chicago Fire
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170,255 - League Average
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178,922 - New England Rev.
218,290 - Seattle Sounders FC
293,478 - New York Red Bulls
297,794 - Orlando City
306,831 - L.A. Galaxy
397,059 - New York City FC
419,437 - Toronto FC

...and here is dollars spent per goal.

82,353 - Columbus Crew
82,824 - Sporting Kansas City
101,471 - Montreal Impact
105,882 - FC Dallas
108,289 - Houston Dynamo
112,788 - DC United
114,305 - Philadelphia Union
121,053 - San Jose Earthquakes
131,202 - Vancouver Whitecaps
136,134 - Colorado Rapids
136,601 - Real Salt Lake
138,562 - Chicago Fire
149,866 - Portland Timbers
171,765 - New England Rev.
--------------------------------
188,578 - League Average
--------------------------------
279,412 - Seattle Sounders FC
293,478 - New York Red Bulls
306,831 - L.A. Galaxy
310,742 - Orlando City
397,059 - New York City FC
438,503 - Toronto FC

PODCAST: Red Cards in Helltown: Season 2, Episode 9

Host Rick Gethin and analyst Larry Johnson go over the latest in the world of, in and around soccer in the US. Enjoy!

01:30 SOCCER HEADLINES
► Women's World Cup
► FOX Sports hashtag "#ScoreToSettle"
► WWC setup
► Standout players (Larry = Johnston, Rick = Heath)
► Jill Ellis approach (the Narrative)
► Copa America - Chile v Argentina final
► "There is no evil that lasts 100 years"
► Big name transfer rumors MLS, summer window

17:45 COLUMBUS CREW SC NEWS AND NOTES
► Crew record A SIGN
► Place on the table, where they always seem to be
► Kamara and Finlay leading league in key cats
► Impact of Cedrick's arrival, change in tactics
► Meram maturation, future with team
► MLS players kinda stuck, difference with NHL and other leagues
► TWC broadcast missed red card
► Crew bow out of US Open Cup vs Orlando City
► NY tired themselves out midweek against NY Cosmos
► Realistically the only path to CCL for Crew

38:45 GENERAL DISCUSSION
► The hard break
► Rick and Larry solve some MLS problems
► New "Core Player" rule
► Hard Cap a solution?
► Impact of the Designated Player looms large in today's MLS
► Playing a board game and the rules change halfway through
► How the Core Player works

50:40 QUICK HIT, WRAP UP
► Sepp Blatter not in town for the WWC Final
► 13th edition of the Gold Cup, news notes
► Going to be a couple games played in an inferno (like... Qatar? hmm)
► A look at where the games are being played


That's all! Don't forget we are on iTunes as well. Thanks for listening.

Turnovers in the Crew SC Midfield

It's important to not turnover the ball, especially when you play on possession style team like Crew SC. Here is a snapshot of how many times a player loses the ball, as a percentage, last three years with the defensive mids separated from the rest (TO = Turnover, DISP = Dispossessed).

% TO + DISP per TOUCH : NAME - YEAR (TOTAL TOUCHES)
9.78% : Ethan Finlay - 2015 (491)
9.57% : Ethan Finlay - 2014 (899)
8.53% : Dominic Oduro - 2014 (211)
8.48% : Kristinn Steindorsson - 2015 (224)
8.09% : Justin Meram - 2015 (618)
7.87% : Justin Meram - 2013 (508)
7.29% : Ben Speas - 2013 (494)
7.08% : Bernardo Anor - 2013 (1031)
6.23% : Justin Meram - 2014 (1076)
5.40% : Bernardo Anor - 2014 (1240)
5.29% : Ethan Finlay - 2013 (227)
4.84% : Federico Higuaín - 2013 (1963)
4.70% : Eddie Gaven - 2013 (532)
4.41% : Federico Higuaín - 2015 (1021)
4.11% : Héctor Jiménez - 2014 (1144)
3.69% : Federico Higuaín - 2014 (2248)
3.10% : Ben Speas - 2014 (323)

...and here are the Defensive Mids

% TO + DISP per TOUCH : NAME - YEAR (TOTAL TOUCHES)
7.32% : Dan Paladini - 2014 (164)
6.90% : Konrad Warzycha - 2013 (174)
4.69% : Tony Tchani - 2013 (1023)
3.60% : Tony Tchani - 2014 (2582)
3.43% : Tony Tchani - 2015 (990)
2.16% : Danny O'Rourke - 2013 (970)
2.16% : Kevan George - 2013 (231)
2.05% : Mohammed Saeid - 2015 (876)
1.90% : Wil Trapp - 2015 (210)
1.90% : Wil Trapp - 2014 (2366)
1.82% : Kevan George - 2014 (165)
1.69% : Wil Trapp - 2013 (1007)
1.53% : Matías Sánchez - 2013 (590)
1.14% : Kevan George - 2015 (175)

The lower the better. This confirms some of my hunches about Meram and Finlay. They are able to produce on the offense end but turn it over much more than a Eddie Gaven or Hector Jimenez (who I would prefer in the midfield right now).

Trapp, Saeid Compare (+Tchani, Tchani and Sanchez?)

There have been a lot of comparisons in Columbus between the 1st 17 games of last season and the same this year. While it is true that the team is sitting in basically the same spot on the table, it is also true that this year’s start is a major step down (and back) from an outstanding second half of 2014 - a back half that saw a league leading Crew SC earning almost 2 points per game along with 2 goals per game.

Perhaps the most surprising difference are the goals. Crew SC added Kei Kamara this year and he is already on 12 goals, which accounts for nearly half of the team haul. Last 17 games of 2014 saw 33 goals. What this means is with Aaron Schoenfeld and Adam Bedell scrambling around up top scored 30% more than a Kamara lead Crew.

How can this be? The team address a concern and he is doing great but the team is worse? A quick look at the log book shows that Schoenfeld and Bedell combined for only 5 of the 33 goals last half of last year. The other goals came from the mid-field that was clicking on a spectacular level. Such a high level that most pundits were pegging Columbus to be contending for the Supporters’ Shield this year.

2nd Half 2014, 17 games : 33 Goals
Finlay : 7
Meram : 6
Higuain : 5
Anor : 4
Schoenfeld : 3
Arrieta : 2
Bedell : 2
Trapp : 1
Speas : 1
Gonzalez : 1
(own goal) : 1

That’s 25 goals generated from the midfield, absolutely amazing - practically Champagne Football. This year, through the same number of games it is 13. A 12 goal drop in the midfield (which happens to be Kamara’s take).

Crew SC still pass the ball more often than their opponents this year and are fielding practically the same players with the exception of Kamara up top and Wil Trapp in the central defensive mid. Kamara is doing his part for sure but the team has morphed into a more direct Finlay to Kamara, crossing team. It’s yielding gaudy individual stat lines but it’s not as effective as last year, nor is it yielding points.

Critically important to Gregg Berhalter’s tactics is the defending midfielders and with Trapp out we’ve seen Mohammed Saeid move into that spot alongside Tony Tchani.

Tchani is the constant so we can look at some of the key differences between Saeid this year and Trapp last year and come to some conclusions. It’s never one thing, of course, but it looks like Saeid is a much more passive / possession type player than Trapp.

Looking at the graphic you can see that Saeid’s pass completion percentage is statistically the same as Trapp but the number of forward passes is a lot lower, which in turn leads to less key passes (passes that lead to opportunity). A lot of this is reflected in Squawka’s “Possession Score” towards to bottom of the graphic and below that the night and day difference in the “Defense” score (it should be noted that Columbus allowed 23 goals 2nd half last year and 25 through same number of games this year).

I think Saeid is playing a critically important role for this year’s Columbus team but his approach to the game is drastically different than the relative force of nature that Wil Trapp was last year. It’d be interesting to see Saeid alongside Trapp for a few games but it’s hard to break up the successful pairing of Tchani / Trapp.

One thing to keep an eye on when Trapp returns is whether or not the team goes back to its diverse and dominating style or defaults to running Finlay down the wing and looking for Kamara.

If they want to climb the ladder they are going to have to do the former.

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If you would like to go compare players for yourself head over HERE.

Well Done Ladies, Well Done England

England reach the semifinals of the Women's World Cup for the first time. "So many great things from such a tiny island," as my grandmother often says.

Little in Reserve

It might have been an afterthought and a burden for Columbus at the time but the last iteration of the reserve league… worked.

Major League Soccer has never really quite found a stable place for players down the roster in the 20+ spots. In recent years we’ve seen two failed attempts at a Reserve League where teams would often play regionally or a day after the senior squad played. The most recent attempt at getting roster players time was the most aggressive yet - in that the league sent out a mandate that they either had to “affiliate” with a United Soccer League team or instantly create a “B” team that played in the league.

MLS history is littered with ideas like this “one size fits all” idea. This a league that obsessed with controlling every soccer dollar in the US and throwing every little thing at the wall to see what sticks all while trying to spend as little as possible via centralized control. Is the "B" (or II) working? For some, maybe. But not all. Senior teams still carry up to 28 players so the issue for some guys remains. It's certainly better than the affiliation program, but that could work well in the right conditions as well. Again, this is a big country with lots of people. More often than not, forced ideas, do not work.

Analyzing current state isn’t why this post exists though. It’s here because something did work here in Columbus more than other places and it’s come from the strangest of place: The Reserve League of 2011-2013. For certain, nobody is going to argue that it was a hotbed of developing superstars but it arguably performed more noble functions.

Here is a list:

1. Playing Time
It might not have been the most intense of environments, but reserve games often were competitive and several notches above practice in terms of intensity. It was valuable especially to college players trying to adjust to the MLS game. 

2. Place for injured starters to recover
It wasn’t unusual to see a starter getting a 45’ of action after coming off a few weeks of injury. Reserve games were invaluable to regular starters looking to ease back in. 

3. Out of Form Players
Life events, don’t like the city or a case of the yips… sometimes players lose form. You hear it in soccer all the time and the only way out of it is to play out of it. 

4. Trialists and Academy Players
Gave coaches a chance to see players up close and personal as well as valuable one-on-one time between coach and player. Can’t get that from videos. Think of it like hiring someone. You want an interview. 

5. Coaching Experience, Experimental Tactics
A good opportunity to give an assistant or two some experience running games also helps build relationships. This is undervalued. Reserve games are also a great place to test out a new formation or training a player in a different role. 

6. Soft Skills, Comradery
Last on my list falls in the nebulous place we call soft skills. Confidence, hard work, focus, teamwork, and general comradery. The latter saw the emergence of popular fringe players and developed fan attachment and familiarity. In other words, it added more color to the team.

So, how did this work out for Columbus Crew SC for the three years it was in operation? The best way to answer that is to look at the players that regularly participated.

Ethan Finlay - Top Goal + Assist man in MLS last 18 months
Justin Meram - Regular starter at Right Mid
Tony Tchani - On of the league's best Defensive Mids
Ben Speas - Regular in the 18

Eric Gehrig – Regular starter for Chicago Fire
Nemanja Vukovic – Starter on 2014 USL winner Sacramento FC
Cole Grossman – Playing for Bob Bradley’s Stabæk
Josh Williams – Playing for NYCFC
Bernardo Anor – Regular for Sporting KC
Tom Heinemann – Ottawa Fury FC
Drew Beckie – Ottawa Fury FC

Gregg Berhalter gets a lot of credit for bringing out the best in Finlay, Meram and Tchani but how much of that was those players having a foundation built in the hard work they put in during reserve matches? Without those minutes, they are different players.

This tree bore fruit. It is an impressive list of players that fill day to day, game to game needs for teams all over North America. They might not be superstars (a couple seem to be bubbling up) but they are filling important team needs that are particularly hard in MLS because of roster restrictions and budgetary concerns.

CURRENT STATE, COLUMBUS CREW SC

More than anything, the mandate the league dropped on MLS teams to start a USL side or affiliate was a bit of bad timing for Columbus.

After initially deciding on the affiliate option with Dayton Dutch Lions the Crew changed operators to Anthony Precourt and company. Shortly after the Lions USL team folded and they moved on to affiliate with new USL side Austin Aztex where only Kalen Ryden is getting regular time. What this means is that there are 7-9 players going idle (for lack of a better word).

As time goes by “bad timing” becomes less and less a viable excuse for not having a place for players down the roster to play games. One of the higher profile failures of not having this situated is with USMNT U20 standout Romain Gall. Once pegged as a rising star, he has now slipped to being nearly forgotten and possibly, now, out of shape.

There are others that would benefit from regular competitive action as well. Goalkeepers, obviously, like Matt Lampson coming back from injury or keeping Brad Stuver sharp. In the midfield, we see that Kristinn Stendorsson is having trouble adjusting to MLS play and could use some 90-minute matches against other players in similar spots. Ben Swanson, who has the world in front of him could be getting a head start and let’s not forget about Wil Trapp needing to get back into the swing of things after a long layoff from concussion.

Not having a place for these guys to get time is going to end up (and possibly is) costing Gregg Berhalter and Anthony Precourt down the road. Plucking out guys like Mohammed Saeid and Steindorsson can get expensive for a team on a budget like Columbus. There are no Justin Meram’s or Ethan Finlay’s on the team right now and certainly no place for the next Tony Tchani to rebuild confidence.

The well is drying up and unless it’s address here soon we may see a Crew SC team burning through a litany of signings and college draft picks that don’t go anywhere because there is no place for them to learn how to adjust after playing in that bastardized version of the sport.

Was the 2nd iteration of the MLS the right thing for the league as a whole? Of course not. Again, the one size fits all approach is not a sound one but for Columbus it turns out that there was some real work being done there and meaningful experience being gained.

WHAT TO DO

The current situation Crew SC find themselves in with Austin is not working and, in all likelihood, will not work going forward. Cost, distance, the aspirations of Austin's ownership all add up to a dead end.

The situation in Columbus isn't quite right to do anything radical as well. Precourt bought into a team that didn't have an existing NPSL or PDL side (like DC and NY have, for example). Nor did the team have particularly strong relationships with the Michigan Bucks (affiliation by name only) or others in the region like Detroit City or even Cleveland Internationals and Derby City Rovers.

It's clear that Columbus is also in revenue growth mode and not particularly focused development of competitive side of things. Setting up teams in the PDL or NPSL costs money. Setting up a "II" in the USL costs even more money.

As previously mentioned, having to rely on the draft or buying mid-range guys (foreign and domestic) is not a financially sustainable practice in a team-on-a-budget city like Columbus. The competitive avenue that Crew SC is going to have to take is developing strong relationships with teams in the region in the near-term and working towards fielding teams in the PDL and NPSL longer term.

This might not solve the challenges in getting down roster guys time but it does setup some semblance of a developmental pipeline for players 18-23 years old.

Honestly, I'm not sure now to get the back end of the roster time right now outside of scheduling the odd Indy 11 match or college scrimmage. My dream scenario is that we link the pyramid so the Crew can trim the roster down a few guys and then track the others in regionally structured lower divisions while they get time to develop. I've been told that's crazy talk though, and that having a completely broken system is better. Regardless, Columbus is going to have to figure out how do deepen the roster without breaking the bank. It's an issue that needs solved soon, overwise the team will always be spending and always tripping up with the schedule gets jammed during the summer. Or, in other words, stuck mid-table purgatory.