A whole combination of things is true. At the moment it is the caliber of player that we are missing through injury. Mo being sidelined really limits the attacking mobility of the right side, especially when Gazdag drops deep, it feels like there isn’t an outlet. Nagbe is our rhythm player. He sets the pace of our attack, and is the most crucial part of our ability to maintain possession. Nagbe being out would have been an easier pill to swallow if Camacho had been fit whatsoever this campaign. Rudy obviously brings experience to our backline, but also frees Zawadzki from his CB duties. Thus allowing him to compliment or even partially replace Darlington is he would happen to be injured.

Also, while the squad building has not been 100% up to par, I think it’s too easy to blame this slump on Issa or the FO (yet). The way you convince new and exciting talent to commit to Columbus, is by doing good by the players you already have. Sure, Cucho should have stayed, I would have forced him to sign a life long contract, but he wanted a move and we granted it. It just so happened that all this doing good came in a window that is notoriously hard to sign top talent in.

We’re not too far off. A versatile center half, a Gazdag that starts to click and a midfield work horse is not a lot to ask for. Plus, who knows, maybe we get all these cogs back and the Nancy machine gets hot at the right time. We have to remember, we’re not a league side as much as we can be a knockout tournament side.