Early 2016

Gall Waived, Crew Trim Roster

Doesn't appear that the official MLS account of Columbus Crew SC has announced it yet, but there appears to be a number of roster moves made yesterday. Patrick Guldan over at Massive Report, uh, reported that the outlet cut a few guys.

And here, I had just put together my team budget summary. Goodness. Turns out, now that the dust has settled, the changes don't really impact the overall salary spend.

There is one player that is a bit of a surprise though (at least for me, and perhaps many youth USMNT watchers) - Romain Gall.

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Players Cut:
Romain Gall (1.5 yrs with team)
Sergio Campbell (1 yr with team)
Kyle Parker (2016 draft pick)
Vincent Cicciarelli (2016 draft pick)
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Gall was (is?) a rising star in the US National Team system. When Gregg Berhalter got him in August 2014 through a weighted allocation process (sigh) it was seen as a right place, right time masterstroke. A year on now tho, it's all come apart and I'm not sure how much Gall had to do with it.

Things with Gall reached a boil back in May 2015 when USMNT U20 Head Coach Tab Ramos left him off the roster due to lack of playing time in MLS. At the time, it was seen as a shot lobbed in the direction of Gregg Berhalter and company.

“Now they’re just constantly losing fitness, and when we call them into the U-20 national camp they come in and I feel they can’t handle the training. With the fitness coach, we can’t do double sessions when we come in every day, because if we do double sessions by the third day these guys are dead and won’t be able to play on the weekends.” - Tab Ramos

Not sure how it plays now that Crew SC made it to the MLS Cup final. It does raise a bunch of questions about development of talented players (of which Gall is/was).

Gall scored in three of his last four games with the Austin Aztex (USL) in over half his apps with the U20 Men's national team. Not sure what's next for him. My advice? Get out of MLS.

Dropping in on the Crew SC Budget

Let's get something out of the way real quick: Columbus Crew SC budget matched the largest increase as a percentage of any team in MLS, YE 2014 to YE 2015. My records show it at +60%. I'm not sure I've mentioned that before. That's a big deal.

Of course, it's a difference in scale. The LA Galaxy, for example, jumped the same percentage but they are going from $13m to 21m. Their 2015 wage matching what Columbus has spent in last six years combined.

Okay. Now that's done. Let's take a quick, high-level look at where Crew SC stand right now going into the 2016 regular season.

1. I expect Anthony Precourt's team to spend around $6m to start the season. This includes estimated pay increases for over performing players and incoming transfers. Why $6m? Educated guess. After the last CBA in 2010, median increase for MLS teams popped +20%. Same thing happened last year. Same %. Year after 2011, the league median increase dropped to 7% (YoY). Last year was kind of a "catch-up" year for Columbus. I expect them to fall around the median this year.

2. On the transfer front, unless Kei Kamara's situation deteriorates, Crew SC are likely all finished. That's not to say they haven't made a boatload of moves. They have. And for quality players. Emil Larsen, Amro Tarek and Ole Kamara are inspired acquisitions. The only question is how they integrate into the squad.

3. Berhalter isn't fixing most of what isn't broken. The starting eleven that took him to the MLS Cup Final is still 100% intact (a remarkable feat). The challenge in doing this is absorbing the pay increases of players like Ethan Finlay and Kei Kamara, while at the same time, working in some experienced players like Conor Casey and Corey Ashe.

4. And here's the roster, by position. From what I can tell, Tarek is more of a utility pickup that can play across the backline during the absence of a few players this summer for international callups. It addresses the issues of depth the team had there last year, though. Overall the roster is solid, right now.

Keep in mind, I'm estimating a bunch of these players (new and est. wage increases). Probably should round the figures but leaving as is.

POSITION	PLAYER	WAGE
D	Gaston Sauro	$611,502
D	Michael Parkhurst	$306,000
D	Amro Tarek	$200,000
D	Corey Ashe	$193,545
D	Waylon Francis	$173,570
D	Harrison Afful	$165,000
D	Tyson Wahl	$101,660
D	Chad Barson	$61,200
D	Sergio Campbell	$53,550
F	Kei Kamara	$547,400
F	Ole Kamara	$250,000
F	Conor Casey	$180,000
GK	Steve Clark	$192,100
GK	Brad Stuver	$61,200
MF	Federico Higuain	$1,198,500
MF	Cedrick Mabwati	$258,825
MF	Ethan Finlay	$249,375
MF	Tony Tchani	$214,500
MF	Emil Larsen	$200,000
MF	Justin Meram	$192,500
MF	Wil Trapp	$180,950
MF	Mohammed Saeid	$121,000
MF	Hector Jimenez	$91,800
MF	Ben Swanson	$88,458
MF	Romain Gall	$64,688
XX	Chase Minter
XX	Kyle Parker
XX	Marshall Hollingsworth
XX	Rodrigo Saravia
XX	Vincent Cicciarelli

Last Night: Mediocrity, by MLS

The argument for sports in the US goes; "Well, that's to keep it fair." Which is true! But the resulting effect is mediocrity. Over time, say 20+ years, and you get what we saw last night.

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The US Men's National team wrapped up the month long "B-team" camp last night with a largely uninspiring 1-0 win over Canada. The one goal was scored by Toronto FC forward Jozy Altidore and assisted by Columbus Crew SC's Ethan Finlay.

The game was filled to the brim with MLS players last night on both sides. January camps are usually this way because the better players are playing important soccer right now while MLS is in the heart of her offseason.

There was a graphic early in the match last night that said around 30 players between the two teams were playing in MLS. In years past this might have stirred a sense of pride for those close to the league. For those that have been watching MLS closely, though, it was more of a disclaimer.

"Professional Driver, Closed Course."

"Don't try this at home."

"Rated MA. Ages 18 and Up."

Those are the thoughts that went through my head when I saw the graphic. Sure enough, a game filled with MLS players... looked like a MLS game. Actually, sort of worse than a MLS game. Imagine taking out the foreign talent for a normal match - that's what it was last night.

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On a philosophical level, last night is exactly where MLS wants to be. What do they expect to happen when teams cannot build a roster of even 11, let alone 18, above average players?

In general, people do not become great by being surrounded by mediocrity. Nowhere in life does this happen and I don't get the argument otherwise.

Imagine the London Philharmonic Symphony only being allowed to have a certain number of good musicians or elite military units fighting on the front lines being forced to place Army personnel in their ranks. Sessions change. Training changes. Do it on a large scale and the overall level of quality declines.

Think of it in terms of your own personal experience. Where you work, even. If an important job needs to be done and you are tasked with completing it, do you want to be forced to include poor performers? What is the result if you are? Contrast that to the result you get with the best folks.

For the past 15 years, I've worked in a pure performance based business. A place where careers are made and destroyed by output. By numbers. Manufacturing, Distribution, Production. You need to have an environment where you are putting the best people with the best people to get things done. If no such environment exists? You're done.

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For whatever reason, "sports fans" in the US largely accept mediocrity. What does greatness look like in your favorite team sport? We've never certainly never seen it in MLS. Check the record books.

How about in the NBA? Maybe when Team USA gets together? It's been generations since we've seen it in the NFL. Step back and watch objectively. The sport you are watching isn't what it could be. College sports, the freest of markets in the US... Imagine being able to see a league made up the best programs every year.

Last night was a showcase of some of the better US and Canadian MLS players. The result might not be the product MLS wants but it's what their process creates.

Mixed Messages on Kamara

Excellent reporting on the Kei Kamara contract situation by Shawn Mitchell in today's Columbus Dispatch as he was able to get quotes from both sides. Let's run down them real quick...

Gregg Berhalter:
- Kamara returned from Sierra Leone with "a slight illness that limited his training."
- "As far as I'm concerned he was full in with what he is able to to right now"
- "Our goal is to build him up to full strength. We're not going to rush him back."
- Won't "confirm or deny" negotiations.
Kei Kamara:
- Confirmed that he is in a contract dispute.
- "It's not something to hide"
- "We are talking contract. But we have not agreed to anything. When we do, then mentally I'll be good to go. 100%. But at the moment we're still talking."
- "under contract and that's why I'm here and not holding out. I've been paid to be here. But at the same time, I've done what I can do... for my team and I feel like I should be rewarded for it. So that's what I've asked the club to do."

It's a little bizarre that Berhalter is still talking this way. It's been speculated since the beginning of January that Kamara may be looking.

Berhalter, like any coach or anyone responsible for player contracts, would clearly rather this be not out in the world (and certainly not mentioned on a USMNT broadcast, like it was tonight). In the past, he's used excuses for players not happy or seeking a new deal. Same goes for Kamara but this time, it's got him reeling a bit.

Another rough going sign here is that Berhalter is still not being forthright about the situation when Kamara is. Mitchell mentioned that Kamara was offered an additional $140,000 for next season, but that seems like hush money seeing how the team is wanting this to not be about a contract.

Kamara is acting as his own agent, according to the article. That may end up hurting him ultimately, but he is in the right. He just had the best offensive season in Crew history and one of the best in MLS history. On top of that, he likely knows that Columbus is up the creek if he decides he is done.

Things sound like they are calm at the moment, in regards to communication. Since he's on a deal right now, MLS corporate is probably just shrugging their shoulders and ready to hit the dump button if he keeps holding out.

We shall see. Needs to be resolved quickly because these things jack up early seasons, especially with the missed training. Crew already are missing three to the USMNT, this just sorta backs things up even more.

(keep up)

Crew Sign Casey

Crew SC announced today the signing of 34-year-old Conor Casey. With little by the way of team coverage, the acquisition came a bit abruptly, but not sure it moves the needle much either way. Still though, the first news anyone got of this was through the team site. Take from that what you will.

Also of note is the circumstances surrounding this pick-up. Contract trouble surrounds co-league leading scorer and promotional friend to most in each town he's played - Kei Kamara.

Sounds like MLS and Columbus have worked this one out. Crew will have Casey, regardless.