Photo Credit: Don MacGregor/Windy City Soccer
Columbus, OH- The Major League Soccer trade deadline was last night at 1:00 am. Within minutes before that time, Kei Kamara went back and forth from Columbus to Vancouver, rumors and fake tweets were flying in the world wide web. When the countdown stopped his destination was unknown but far away from Ohio.
This morning the Club made it official: The Sierra Leone striker ended up being traded to the New England Revolution in exchange for General Allocation Money, Targeted Allocation Money, New England’s highest first round MLS Superdraft pick in 2017 and … let’s focus on the money for one second. According to Shawn Mitchell from the Columbus Dispatch, the Black and Gold will receive an amount close to the $ 500,000. Enough cash to bring a quality player to the team when the next transfer window opens in July 4th.
It was a tough decision for Head Coach and Sporting Director Gregg Berhalter, arguably the most difficult call he had to make since he arrived at the club. But it was the right one: “We didn’t take this decision lightly. It was a lot of deliberation, in the end we chose what we felt was in the best interests of this soccer club, to put us in the best position to win not only this year, but win in the long -term.”
The transfer window deadline couldn’t come at a better time. It doesn’t matter how talented the players are on a team, the leader can’t let the harmony and the chemistry leave the locker room. Once these two elements are gone, they hardly ever come back. That’s why Berhalter put the team first:
Last Saturday night, Kamara mentioned that he didn’t need Higuaín to score. They were “his” goals, “his” shots, “his” records. It was all about him. Today, Berhalter explained how the team generates those goals:
“Most of our goals, most of our good play comes from four, five, six players getting on the ball and being influential. Is not about one guy; It’s never been about one guy, I think this puts it all in perspective for us”
There was a sense of grief on Berhalter’s face on Thursday. In 2014 Kamara was buried in England, he went almost the entire year without having competitive minutes on the pitch. Crew SC boss believed in him and brought him to Columbus. In 2015 Kei scored 25 goals and the team reach the MLS Cup finals. In 2016 the forward renegotiates his contract according to the “elite player” he is in the League, it was granted. Now he had to let him go.
The question now is who is going to fill in that position? Ola Kamara is the natural replacement with Conor Casey as a backup. They are the only true forwards on the team. Ethan Finlay could play on top too with Cedrick Mabwati on the wing. There are a few more scenarios, but with Kamara gone they lost that constant aerial threat in a system that throws tons of crosses.
Columbus will have to adapt and move on fast, very fast. Half of the season is almost gone and the club is still in the basement of the Eastern Conference (2-4-3, 9 points). Will they ever do it in 2016?
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