Great piece, Joe. The wheels in motion for this downtown didn’t just happen overnight.
When your main strategy is to develop through your academy and fill the senior roster with established senior players who are undervalued, you need to continue to actively move players in and out of your team while generating a positive net transfer spend. Unfortunately for the Union, Covid froze up so many mid-tier teams in Europe from buying players which dried up the demand for players like Wagner, Carranza, etc where it made sense for the U to cash out. So because of their limited salary and transfer budget, the Union had to access the MLS market by using non-cash mechanisms like TAM, GAM and draft picks in order to supplement their existing senior roster.
Further compounding the problem was that they properly compensated players like Gazdag, Elliott, Glesnes and Wagner by giving them all big raises. Without an increase of either transfer or salary spending, these raises (while well intended) turned the Union into a distinctly average team with limited depth (especially in Curtin’s eyes). This dynamic makes it harder to compete with teams like Columbus, LAFC and Cincy who operate under a similar strategy, albeit with a higher budget.
And the only reason Wagner came back to the Union was because after his racist comment, no other team wanted to offer him a decent contract while he was free agent.
As an older person and a diehard, I can see value in this perceptive take. The older person wants to see the young academy and young transfer talent play meaningful minutes in this stretch and rise to the situation they and the team are in. The diehard would still rather watch the U than MIA$$$ but that’s what diehards are and that doesn’t grow the fanbase like investment would. If we had season tix we would be angry with management. Since husband’s health precludes the night games for the most part, our family room is a remote SOB section eschewing apple commentary for Leno, Williams, LeToux: all have voiced constructive criticism. LeToux especially on coaching choices in game. Hope Jim can take and learn.
Great article Joe but I don’t know how we can fairly evaluate talent on the team when Curtin never substitutes. He clearly only evaluates through training sessions and then stubbornly sticks to his plan during matches. Blake has carried this team for an along time .
This is an amazing and perfect summation of the frustration that a lot of us have been feeling, Joe. Great work.
Great piece, Joe. The wheels in motion for this downtown didn’t just happen overnight.
When your main strategy is to develop through your academy and fill the senior roster with established senior players who are undervalued, you need to continue to actively move players in and out of your team while generating a positive net transfer spend. Unfortunately for the Union, Covid froze up so many mid-tier teams in Europe from buying players which dried up the demand for players like Wagner, Carranza, etc where it made sense for the U to cash out. So because of their limited salary and transfer budget, the Union had to access the MLS market by using non-cash mechanisms like TAM, GAM and draft picks in order to supplement their existing senior roster.
Further compounding the problem was that they properly compensated players like Gazdag, Elliott, Glesnes and Wagner by giving them all big raises. Without an increase of either transfer or salary spending, these raises (while well intended) turned the Union into a distinctly average team with limited depth (especially in Curtin’s eyes). This dynamic makes it harder to compete with teams like Columbus, LAFC and Cincy who operate under a similar strategy, albeit with a higher budget.
Agree completely.
And the only reason Wagner came back to the Union was because after his racist comment, no other team wanted to offer him a decent contract while he was free agent.
As an older person and a diehard, I can see value in this perceptive take. The older person wants to see the young academy and young transfer talent play meaningful minutes in this stretch and rise to the situation they and the team are in. The diehard would still rather watch the U than MIA$$$ but that’s what diehards are and that doesn’t grow the fanbase like investment would. If we had season tix we would be angry with management. Since husband’s health precludes the night games for the most part, our family room is a remote SOB section eschewing apple commentary for Leno, Williams, LeToux: all have voiced constructive criticism. LeToux especially on coaching choices in game. Hope Jim can take and learn.
Great article Joe but I don’t know how we can fairly evaluate talent on the team when Curtin never substitutes. He clearly only evaluates through training sessions and then stubbornly sticks to his plan during matches. Blake has carried this team for an along time .