I thought we had put aside the "not trying to win" BS when Mitrita was signed for an $8.5 million transfer fee, one of the largest in MLS history.
Not trying to win and not knowing how to win in MLS are different things. I think CFG wants to win in MLS. I don't think they know how to win.
Though our records under Vieira -- and our pretty good roster construction -- indicate to me they were close. Then they hired Dome. Listen, they made a mistake with the coach hire. We all see that. Hopefully that mistake can be rectified soon, but I don't think making a mistake on Dome's hiring indicates that they don't want to win, not when they just put down such a large transfer fee.
I think using Mitrita as the lone barometer of how invested CFG is in NYCFC winning is myopic. CFG *HAD* to sign a real DP considering the other two spots are taken by Maxi and Medina - essentially just a single DP - and to go in to the season with just Maxi would be the highest form of malpractice from both a marketing & competitive standpoints. So, whatever, they signed a guy for $8.5m, what about the rest of the team?
Conventional wisdom is that a Pro Team has to infuse it's ranks every off-season with new mercenaries. The goal is two-fold, to raise the quality/talent of the team's floor and ceiling. Typically, by raising the ceiling, the floor is also raised as byproduct, which is why teams try to bring in 4-6 new starters every year. New starters push the old starters down the pecking order to the bench, and that is a natural way of raising the floor.
And yet, NYCFC did not do this. Instead, they took the route of raising the floor, while leaving nearly every starter in place. This was an absolutely idiotic decision considering the team, while talented, was not the best team last year, and so if they go with the same starters who couldn't get it done while other teams are increasing their rosters, then NYCFC falls further down the rung with their starters. Sure their bench is better, but so what if the bench plays a fraction of the minutes compared to the starters. Lets review:
GK - Johnson - the one position we did not need to upgrade.
CB - Callens, Chanot (Ibeagha) - when both are on, they're the best combo in the league. The one area that raising the floor was appropriate, and yet we don't have a 4th true CB.
LB - Sweat (Mata) - Mata is a defensive liability every time he's on the pitch, and Sweat out-performed his contract the last two seasons, but not sure his new contract is worth it and yet his stock was soaring, so he was primed for a trade with proceeds going towards a new starter. The only feather is that he's an American starter which the team has had a small number of over the years, but still, the team missed an opportunity to raise the bar.
RB - Tinny (Scally) - Tinny's 4 goals last year are likely more an aberration than the norm. Defends decently but nothing lights out and went down the end of last year; his crossing leaves a lot to be desired. Can only imagine that the reason a starter wan't brought in to push him to the bench is that the team wants Scally to get minutes and being 3rd would kill it. Still, a missed chance to make an impact.
Midfield - Maxi and Ring were top quality last year, so no need to replace them. Herrera had to be replaced, and NYCFC brought in a bunch of depth but no guaranteed starter, with the most likely being Parks, but he's been pushed down the pecking order so that Ring can play more advanced (not exactly raising the bar since he's the best DMid) and so Sands gets minutes. I like Sands a lot, but I don't think our Midfield ability has increased by playing Ring out of position in order to get Sands on the field - one could argue that Sands is playing worse than Ring did last year and in turn Ring is playing worse than Herrera did, so a step back. Plus, Maxi may or may not even be playing in the midfield......
Forward - Mitrita is a push with Villa - has the potential to score a lot of goals and has the potential to try to do to much. ITS has been benched, Medina hasn't been replaced and he looks worse than ever, and Lewis lost his starting spot even though he got an assist vs Orlando. Taty being better than Berget is a tough argument, but at any rate, the CF position was not made better. So the change from ITS/Villa/Medina to Taty/Villa/Medina is a drop/push/drop. Sure the club is reportedly bringing in a new CF, but when and how long will it take to mesh????
So looking back, I can't find one position where CFG raised the talent level to make the team more competitive. We are literally the same team as last year, albeit one year older which is good for youngsters and bad for the older guys, that was solidly locked out of the top two spots. The team cannot score and has zero offensive flow. Throw in that we have a manager that is a tactical fool, and the team took a major step backwards.