Crew SC Need a Solid Performance

One more match for Crew SC before the league takes a knee for Copa America this weekend. It's tough to say if it's coming at a good or bad time for the team.

With Saturday's result, they have climbed from 16th on the overall combined table to 14th this week - and on the form table (last 6 games) they are 9th. Pointed in the right direction, but still mid-table, and not quite good enough to get them solidly positioned in the Eastern Conference playoff picture.

At this point last year, the combined table was shouting at us, telling us who stunk. In fact, it couldn't be more clear. The four Eastern teams bouncing around the bottom of the table at this point last year were never able to climb back into the playoff picture.

2015 East Table, June 9th, 2015
PPG : Team... GD (per game)
1.75 : DC United... 0.31
1.58 : Toronto FC... 0.25
1.40 : New England Rev... 0.00
1.40 : Montreal Impact... -0.20
1.31 : Columbus Crew... 0.00
1.21 : New York Red Bulls... 0.00
-----------------------------------------------
1.14 : Chicago Fire... -0.07
1.08 : Philadelphia Union... -0.23
0.94 : Orlando City... -0.44
0.79 : New York City FC... -0.43

2016 East Table, May 30th, 2015
PPG : Club... GD (per game)
1.54 : Philadelphia... 0.31
1.46 : Montreal... 0.15
1.36 : New York... 0.29
1.29 : New York City FC... -0.43
1.23 : Orlando City SC... 0.15
1.23 : D.C.... 0.00
-----------------------------------------------
1.23 : Toronto FC... -0.08
1.17 : Columbus... -0.17
1.14 : New England... -0.43
0.92 : Chicago... -0.33

The expectation is NYCFC to drop out of the position they are in. Who replaces them, though? Is it Toronto's talented group? Or how about New England. In either case, this is a spot that Columbus does not want to be.

The good news is that Anthony Precourt and Gregg Berhalter have started working on the problem. Kei Kamara has been moved (which, one could argue, is a player the Crew didn't expect on having this year) out and position battles are finally happening.

Is it enough? The severe issue we saw on display this past weekend against Real Salt Lake was a complete lack of discipline in a desirous attempt to get Ola Kamara a bucket full of goals.

After going up 4-l late in the game Crew SC were not willing to lock up the shop and take home the victory. It was a frustrating watch as attack after attack was still being made deep into the 2nd half. It exposed a makeshift defense and nearly allowed for another 3 goal comeback from a visiting team.

It was to the point at the end of this match, after RSL scored goal three, that it felt like a loss. You could even see it on the player's faces.

Columbus travels over to Philly on Wednesday to take on a flat Union side. You never want to place too much importance on a single game, but it is critically important that Crew SC have a good game. One that they control. After an out of control first dozen games, it's much needed.

MLS 21 and Under

MLS turned 21 this year, so let's take a look at the top players 21 years and younger. What I did was take the median player rank (of all in MLS) of WhoScored.com, Squawka and my very own. Any player ranking north of 200 is doing alright.

Median  MLS Rank	NAME	HB	WS	Sq	TEAM	POSITION	BIRTHPLACE
61	Jordan Morris	54	191	61	Seattle	Forward	Seattle, Washington
75	Cyle Larin	42	75	78	Orlando City SC	Forward	Brampton, Canada
128	Diego Fagundez	84	246	128	New England	Midfielder	Montevideo, Uruguay
132	Ronald Matarrita	132	29	180	New York City FC	Midfielder	Alajuela, Costa Rica
135	Carlos Gruezo	115	135	259	FC Dallas	Midfielder	Santo Domingo, Ecuador
137	Kellyn Acosta	137	279	131	FC Dallas	Midfielder	Plano, Texas
139	Justen Glad	139	147	81	Real Salt Lake	Defender	Pasadena, California
142	Tommy Redding	181	142	110	Orlando City SC	Defender	San Diego, California
145	Kekuta Manneh	116	173	145	Vancouver	Midfielder	Bakau, Gambia
163	Cristian Roldan	163	193	54	Seattle	Midfielder	Artesia, California
172	Fraser Aird	158	172	405	Vancouver	Midfielder	Scarborough, Canada
174	Rafael Ramos	126	174	388	Orlando City SC	Forward	Santa Marinha, Portugal
178	Rodrigo	178	102	211	Chicago	Defender	Juazeiro, Brazil
190	Marco Delgado	194	184	190	Toronto FC	Midfielder	Glendora, California
210	Jordan Allen	210	249	144	Real Salt Lake	Defender	Rochester, New York
222	Tommy Thompson	268	222	214	San Jose	Midfielder	Loomis, California
227	Lucas Ontivero	227	288	226	Montreal	Midfielder	Catamarca, Argentina
229	Luciano Acosta	175	229	387	D.C.	Midfielder	Buenos Aires, Argentina
285	Alvas Powell	285	154	420	Portland	Defender	Portland Parish, Jamaica
311	Alex Muyl	326	311	251	New York	Forward	New York City, New York
312	Tyler Adams	405	297	312	New York	Midfielder	Wappingers Falls, New York
317	Oalex Anderson	317	359	308	Seattle	Forward	Barrouallie, St. Vincent & Grenad
335	Jordan Hamilton	387	335	305	Toronto FC	Forward	Scarborough, Canada
339	Marco Bustos	424	339	319	Vancouver	Midfielder	Winnipeg, Canada
347	Kianz Froese	401	347	284	Vancouver	Midfielder	Havana, Cuba
347	Kyle Fisher	400	294	347	Montreal	Defender	Easley, South Carolina
351	Jack Barmby	369	321	351	Portland	Forward	London, England
358	Matheus Silva	358	374	286	San Jose	Midfielder	Sao Paulo, Brazil
366	Ariel Lassiter	383	366	306	Los Angeles	Forward	Turrialba, Costa Rica
376	Sam Adekugbe	407	353	376	Vancouver	Defender	Manchester, England
381	Jesse Gonzalez	274	381	411	FC Dallas	Goalkeeper	Edenton, North Carolina
390	Zachary Herivaux	429	390	318	New England	Midfielder	Osaka, Japan
395	Mauro Manotas	403	395	349	Houston	Forward	Sabanalarga, Colombia
395	Collin Fernandez	395	401	316	Chicago	Midfielder	Downers Grove, Illinois
396	Jack Harrison	427	396	342	New York City FC	Midfielder	Stoke-on-Trent, England
399	Bradford Jamieson IV	399	400	358	Los Angeles	Forward	Los Angeles, California
416	Anatole Abang	372	424	416	New York	Forward	Yaounde, Cameroon
425	Deybi Flores	425	432	381	Vancouver	Midfielder	San Antonio, Honduras

More basic info...

Rank	NAME	MINS	Goals	Assists	Salary
61	Jordan Morris	964	4	1	$190,500
75	Cyle Larin	803	7	2	$177,000
128	Diego Fagundez	1115	3	2	$165,000
132	Ronald Matarrita	970	0	2	$175,000
135	Carlos Gruezo	1000	0	0	$686,500
137	Kellyn Acosta	866	0	3	$240,000
139	Justen Glad	725	1	1	$111,000
142	Tommy Redding	725	0	0	$102,500
145	Kekuta Manneh	927	4	2	$157,000
163	Cristian Roldan	817	0	1	$117,000
172	Fraser Aird	1014	0	0	$58,625
174	Rafael Ramos	844	0	2	$96,000
178	Rodrigo	830	0	0	$84,000
190	Marco Delgado	677	1	1	$102,500
210	Jordan Allen	517	2	1	$110,000
222	Tommy Thompson	389	0	0	$155,000
227	Lucas Ontivero	532	1	2	$440,000
229	Luciano Acosta	656	1	3	$429,273
285	Alvas Powell	540	0	0	$103,700
311	Alex Muyl	191	1	1	$66,500
312	Tyler Adams	45	0	0	$81,042
317	Oalex Anderson	234	0	0	$51,504
335	Jordan Hamilton	31	0	0	$78,650
339	Marco Bustos	45	0	0	$67,350
347	Kianz Froese	141	0	0	$70,500
347	Kyle Fisher	90	0	0	$73,375
351	Jack Barmby	205	1	0	$73,800
358	Matheus Silva	94	0	0	$52,500
366	Ariel Lassiter	67	0	0	$51,500
376	Sam Adekugbe	111	0	0	$75,000
381	Jesse Gonzalez	450	0	0	$76,875
390	Zachary Herivaux	4	0	0	$62,500
395	Mauro Manotas	106	0	0	$85,000
395	Collin Fernandez	8	0	0	$77,000
396	Jack Harrison	33	0	0	$160,500
399	Bradford Jamieson IV	38	0	0	$63,000
416	Anatole Abang	137	0	0	$62,500
425	Deybi Flores	45	0	0	$68,385