Thursday, July 12, 2012

The Captain and #10

There is an uneasy feeling floating around the Columbus Crew right now because he club is just about halfway through the season and disappointingly in battle for a playoff spot with no sign of a consistent starting group on the horizon.

This inconsistency in lineup is most glaringly obvious with Crew's appointed "field generals," Mirosevic and Marshall. Both were absent during most of the successful six game run that saved this season so both of them are well below team averages in every major statistical category (Marshall finishing last in most of them).

It is a real problem that Mirosevic (the team's number 10) and Marshall (team Captain) aren't playing in every game. Mirosevic has missed 4 of 16 starts already (with another missed start coming this weekend) and Marshall has missed 8 of 16.

We are talking about two really good players here but combined they have missed nearly 40% of the season. Put that together with poor results when they are in the lineup and you have a host of problems.

Player profile pieces and "can't see it in the numbers" quotes from the team staff on the club's website and in the local paper aren't going to change results.

Their effort level and performances haven't met expectations but Mirosevic and Marshall have to be on the field each gameday because they have been chosen by the club to lead.

So they better damn well get out there and do just that.

No comments: