Monday, March 12, 2012

Two Hour Hooky: Crew v. Notre Dame

Ricardo Iribarren barked orders as the Columbus Crew's Olman Vargas put in two. It wasn't enough for a win though because Notre Dame managed to pull the game back with two late ones of their own.

Vargas, new to the Crew in 2012, displayed glimmers of intelligent skill during the attacking moments of the friendly between the MLS professional side and a bunch of college kids for South Bend, Indiana.

Watching matches like this should tell the rain soaked die-hards a lot. Most importantly: Who were the "men amongst boys?" As in: the guys playing like they should be playing when playing inferior talent.

Here are those players:

1 : Benardo Anor
Iribarren shouted orders to him and Cole Grossman throughout the entire match as well. Anor was calm in the middle and played confidently. His fitness seemed to be tops as well. One thing a lifetime of sports has taught me is that if the coach is barking at you, than he cares. If not? Worry.

2 : Olman Vargas
Iribarren had him out wide in the 4-3-3. Most impressive on the day. Starting to think he is more Mirosevic than Mirosevic. Really impressive distribution and patience.

3 : Tommy Heinemann
Yeah, Tommy. He has a innate savvy for the ball. Almost to a fault. I caught Korey Veeder shouting at him to fall back and help him after he (Veeder), himself made a positional mistake. Veeder was kinda a dick, to be truthful. Heinemann had been pulling back to help him time after time while still getting forward. Veeder got beat and pointed blame. No goals were scored against the Crew when Tommy was on. Or when Veeder was on, for that matter. Maybe it's a love/hate Honeymooner's thing between the two.

4 : Justin Meram
Good to see him play. He got on late but when he did he cut the kids up. Had a couple real good chances and one gorgeous turn that made a lunchtime in the rain worth it.

Last spot here goes to Eric Gehrig. The guy had the captain's armband on today and played the role well during - and after the match. He plays with an intensity above and beyond the other guys. I'm glad that the coaching staff see's that.

Gehrig is the one I'm most happy with here today.

TRIALISTS:

Aaron Schoenfeld seemed to be the reason for the entire exhibition. He played up top and in the middle of the 4-3-3. Lots of hustle. "Over playing," as they say. He got injured a couple times and was finally, mercifully subbed off with about 20 mins left. Tommy and Olman tried their darnedest to get him something.

Nemanja Vukovic is STILL with the Crew. He must be staying at Robert's house. He looked fine. I could tell he wanted to make something happen. Didn't look as good today as he did against Chicago a few weeks ago, but good enough to fill that left back spot.

THE OTHER GUYS:

Veeder is a good player. Intense. Same with Josh Williams (center back). Both seem to be "edgy". Or angry. Whatever. Immaturity seems to be outweighing skill here though as Williams' most noticeable involvement was knocking Notre Dame kids to the ground and then yelling at the ref for calling a foul.

Aubrey Perry saw some time at RB and had a nice assist but then ran out of gas and let Notre Dame get a goal back. Kevan George played at CDM, holding. Not great but not bad. Needs size. Aaron Horton got in late on the right up top and didn't do much. Not his spot.

Lastly, Jamie Finch got in and played well. My first look at him. He tucks his shirt in so I know he means business.

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