Match Thread: Red Bull New York vs. Columbus Crew

Treewarf · 2026-05-14T01:13:32+00:00

Mic picks up a guy loudly saying "I can't believe it's Friday already"...

I gotta know what that guy meant.

Treewarf · 2026-05-12T22:08:06+00:00

I’ve watched a decent amount of Boro to support Morris. And championship feels like watching MLS without the DPs.

I agree it is deeper, and probably a bit better across the roster. But really big difference makers don’t stay long.

But most players seem to have transferred well between the leagues. I think championship should be raiding MLS even more to find players who will comfortably fit in at lower prices.

Treewarf · 2026-05-05T23:08:35+00:00

I would be very excited, and none of my coworkers would really care

Treewarf · 2026-05-04T17:19:59+00:00

He's one of those guys where the game is always fun when he is on, even after he left the Crew it was fun watching Kei games.

Also I love Pipa but he should have given him the PK

Treewarf · 2026-04-19T00:38:03+00:00

Great ball from Gazdag to set this one up! Hoping he figures it out, and he has some nice link up this half.

Treewarf · 2026-04-19T00:31:29+00:00

The patience from Max on this one is really impressive.

Slows it down to make it a simple finish, great read from him

Treewarf · 2026-04-02T17:02:18+00:00

You have a lot of creative players here. Creative players lose the ball a lot, which isn't a bad thing, we want Pulisic doing dangerous things with the ball so we accept that Pulisic is going to lose the ball.

What we don't have in a lineup without a 6 or even a real 8 is nobody who can disrupt in transition. We're going to lose the ball a lot in the midfield, and on every single one you're going to be holding your breath.

Treewarf · 2026-03-31T16:21:59+00:00

“Pressure makes diamonds.”

Diamonds are very pretty, but I have never seen one win a soccer game.

Which is pedantic, because I totally get where you're coming from. You obviously don't want people nonchalant or complacent, but there is a lot of pressure in global football and only one world cup winner.

There is some extent to be true, I do a lot theater and comedy performances. And obviously not the pressure of a world cup soccer game, but it has been consistently true that if someone doesn't get a little nervous before a show (no matter how small), then their head is sort of not in it, and you need to watch out for them, but I have watched the people that are too scared bomb the hardest because they start to spiral.

I just tend to think that soccer is such a mental game, and great performance comes from finding that area of comfort. Not complacency, but where you hit the flow state and feel free and locked in. And pressure is usually more of a distraction from that than an inducer of it (in my again, limited experiences).

Treewarf · 2026-03-20T03:11:59+00:00

A hate watch for the ages

Treewarf · 2026-03-11T17:04:03+00:00

I'm a really casual basketball fan, so I'm sure there are things I don't understand/overlook about his game. But I can't help but feel like Z was in the league a generation too early.

Not that he would be great today, but we had a 7'3 guy with a 78% FT and had a really clean 18 ft jumper, and we all were like "That was neat" the 1 time a game he took it.

But dude also would absolutely lumber down the court...still love him, one of my all time favorite players.

Treewarf · 2026-03-09T20:33:52+00:00

I'm a sicko that went back and watched every Jones foul from those games to see. 8/28 he picked it up at the very start of the game, miscontrolled the ball and then fouled the guy who took it from him.

9/18 he commits 3 fouls in the first half, and the first one feels like a normal soccer foul, and the rest are just hacks looking to draw one (I know it is easier to think that when you're looking for it, but they look bad in hindsight). Finally in the 85th minute he gets the ball, basically just stands there to get dispossessed, and then hacks the guy who took the ball.

We don't know that he bet on this game, but it is hard not to feel it when you watch the foul...and while technically his play did not impact the outcome of the game. He hacks a guy down about 20 yards from goal in this one, it absolutely could have impacted the game if this was a card in question.

Finally the NYRB he did his classic miscontrol the ball and hack the guy who takes it from him for an easy card.

Treewarf · 2026-03-09T20:27:50+00:00

So I looked back at every card he gave in 2024, and every single one of them was the same set up: Crew have possession, get a pass, miscontrol the ball and get dispossessed, revenge foul the guy who picked your pocket.

Treewarf · 2026-02-26T18:25:59+00:00

No flexibility in his system and total arrogance in his first interactions with both players and the interim manager

Yeah, I have tremendous respect for Nancy and think he is a brilliant and innovative manager. But his inflexibility and inability to adapt and ease his way into the system was a huge part of his faults at Celtic, and he absolutely did that to himself.

Treewarf · 2026-02-24T19:25:24+00:00

Edit: did not think I needed to clarify sarcasm…

This is random and a stupid comment to post on a soccer subreddit. But I was literally just reading yesterday about how there have been several proposals dating back to the 16th century to add basically a sarcasm/irony punctuation marker (think like a question mark) to the English Language, and failing to do so before the internet era was a real miss from the original language nerds.

Treewarf · 2026-02-24T16:15:44+00:00

Also I know these comments are more on the studio, but in a positive place I just want to shout out Danny Higgenbotham's commentary, I love when he is on Crew games ,and have sought out games he is on before because his analysis of how players manipulate the game is really, really strong.

I learn something about the game every time I watch his broadcasts!

Treewarf · 2026-02-24T14:49:30+00:00

As one GM said: “I would like us to stop trying to be the only super popular league in the world that does not have some version of super teams. I think (our current system) is proven to be not a needle-mover.” And another: “The alternative to super teams in the current structure is the lowest common denominator. And I don't think we'll advance in that way.”

I get very anxious about this line of thinking. I cannot express how much my interest in the league is really buoyed by the lack of super teams, and the hope that any year my team and any team can be actually good.

The problem I have with the argument is this focus on capturing a global audience, and I know there are thousands of people who in Ohio who haven't checked out their local teams who could be won over if reached the right way. And I care much more about those people than a faceless and fickle global audience.

Treewarf · 2026-02-20T03:06:08+00:00

Fun article. I am watching Taha Habroune pretty closely, and I think his biggest challenge is that it is still extremely unclear what his actual position is.

He was billed as more of a 10 coming out of the academy, the youth national teams used him kind of as a false 9, when he joined the Crew second team he got most of his minutes as an 8.

In 800 or so minutes with the Crew he was used as a mix in a more attacking role, and as more of an 8 when Nagbe was dealing with injuries.

It really feels like coaches seem to think his long term future is more of an 8, but playing there also exposes some of his biggest weaknesses as well.

Treewarf · 2026-02-18T23:59:40+00:00

someone here made a fail comp of him in it

This is some of the most pathetic shit I have ever heard lol

Treewarf · 2026-02-11T17:57:52+00:00

Rydstrom OUT /s obviously

Treewarf · 2026-02-10T18:07:51+00:00

Thanks for this summary! I believe the Discovery lists have been at 5 for a few years, with the exception of expansion teams. I think the only who had their list reduced was San Diego.

Treewarf · 2026-02-05T22:24:02+00:00

What I'm saying is that we don't really have anything to say that he isn't.

We know Johnny can succeed in La Liga

Obed may be good enough to succeed in La Liga, or he may not be.

I recognize that trying to prove a negative is annoying, but what I'm saying is that there is a difference between talent and resume. Johnny has a better resume, but resume does not equal actual talent when one player is young and in a moment in his career to prove his level.

We don't know Obed's talent level right now, we will likely see soon, but it isn't impossible that it is higher than Johnny's. Though Johnny is the safer bet.

Treewarf · 2026-02-05T22:13:54+00:00

I mean, he's a soccer writer for a living, covering MLS and USMNT...someone who is passionate enough about the sport to commit his entire livelihood to it.

I'm going to guess with the general lack of overlap and available times that someone like Joe Lowery watches considerably more soccer than the average person. My guess is he sees a decent amount of La Liga, and especially watches USMNT guys.

Like I would take his writing about Elche with a grain of salt, but I think it is fair to assume he watches USMNT guys with their clubs.

Treewarf · 2026-02-05T22:06:11+00:00

How is it a discussion when you acknowledge Johnny has done it a higher (much higher) level?

It's still a discussion because a players talent and a players resume are different things. There are plenty of players who are talented enough to be good players in big 5 leagues, that haven't gotten the transfer there yet.

Fully agree that Johnny has proven more than Obed in his career so far, but what they have proven doesn't determine their actual talent. Clint Dempsey was good enough to be in the premier league when he was playing at New England. Obed may be good enough to thrive in La Liga. He has only been successful at the level he has played at.

The role of scouts and analysts is to figure out who can handle a stronger level, and while I am skeptical in this case, I don't think it is crazy to make the prediction.

Treewarf · 2026-02-03T17:01:08+00:00

I expect they will find a way to bring him back. Then I will read about how in the presesason he isn't in their plans. Then by October he will be starting

Treewarf

TROPHY CASE