I think Etienne is a non-issue. He doesnt seem like hes Marschs type of player. But, if they wanted to move on from Sacha and give Adams or Davis a shot at that role, thats not tanking or throwing away a season. Would you expect to win MLS Cup? No, to be fair though, I dont know who they would bring in that would make me feel that way.
TFC brought in the best player in MLS plus two high earning DPs and it still took them 3 years to be dominate in th regular season.
I'm not seeing how TFC continuing to improve as they sign high quality players (like Vasquez this year) supports Red Bulls being OK by continuing to not sign high quality players, especially when we're literally seeing our results decline alongside our ambition in the transfer window.
I guess I'm nuts here but I can't believe how casually you guys think we can replace a guy who has been top of the MLS assist charts over the last three seasons and still compete at a similar level. Whether its Felipe, Davis, Adams, Etienne, or anyone else on the current roster, all of those guys would have to make a huge jump to carry the entire team's attack like Kljestan has. I don't buy the argument that more energetic pressing makes up for the only creative passer on the team either.
This just sounds like complacency and overconfidence to me.