Thursday, April 25, 2019

Crew Lose Again

Columbus lost 0-1 to DC United last night at Crew Stadium. It is their 3rd loss in a row and now only have 6 pts from their last 6 games. If 3 loses in a row looks strange to you, it's because it is. Only one other time in the past 5 seasons has it happened (early April last year).

It's pretty clear that the number one issue with the Crew is in goal scoring. It's probably the laziest analysis you can give about a team, but it honestly is with this group (saying "group" because this drifts into last season).

This isn't to say that "attacking play" isn't there as Columbus has all the necessary habits to create chances like possession, passing accuracy, balanced play, etc. All that stuff is fine. The problem arises when they start getting in and around the box for a good opportunity. Gyasi Zardes is basically a one tool guy. Look for him in front of the box and I'll get you an opportunity. Outside of that you have Justin Meram, Pedro Santos and Robinho trying to advance up and create opportunities, but it isn't happening. They are looking for the cross in to Zardes nearly every time and they need to get off that train.

The result? Columbus is not even getting off 4 shots on goal a game, near the bottom of the league.

The other issue we are seeing is that Artur seems to have drifted up to become more of a box to box central mid when he's not really that. It's taking touches away from Higuain, Santos and Meram/Robinho.

All in all, things with this team have gone flat. They are not terrible by any measure, just not great either.


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