'19 Carolina Cup Grades, Rd 1

Long live the Carolina Challenge Cup. Believe it or not, this year marks the 15th consecutive year for this little four-team tournament that always manages to get a strong effort from players and coaches. This year sees hosts Charleston Battery (15th appearance) face up against the Columbus Crew (6th app), Chicago Fire (4th app) and FC Cincinnati (1st time).

Last night the 1st games of this mini round robin kicked off. Columbus took on Chicago and Charleston took on FC Cincy.

As far as season projections: I've got Columbus finishing near the top of the East, with Chicago and Cincinnati finishing near the bottom.

Results aside here's team grades based on performance vs what I expected:

B : COLUMBUS CREW
A sloppy tackle by Wil Trapp saw him get sent off, but it sent this game into an interesting direction. With most of the team returning, I was looking to see if Crew players were engaged. Playing with 10 men for 60 minutes was a great way to measure that. They were. I was also interested in seeing new ideas from Caleb Porter, but we'll get an incomplete on that via red card.

C : CHICAGO FIRE, CHARLESTON BATTERY
Chicago looked like they have for the past few years. A handful of talented players mixed in with a bunch of guys that have no business being out there. They played hard and desperately wanted another goal to put away Columbus. Perhaps if they were facing any other MLS team they would have gotten it but the Crew pretty much brought everyone from last year back. It was pretty much like facing a season ready team.

Another thing from Chicago I was looking for was a plan. They didn't seem to have one. Their coach seems like a nice guy, but that's about it. "Get forward, play tough defense, look for the break" is not coaching.

Charleston gets a C grade for playing up to their competition, which they usually do in this tournament. FC Cincy was looking to come out of the gates firing here but the Battery soaked it up and played competitively.

D : FC CINCY
In a few ways, they are being built like the Chicago Fire. Half the starting XI is good, the other half bad. I wasn't looking for much last night. The effort was great, but there was no clear plan. Facing an inferior team of players should afford you some latitude in trying out stuff. Even if it doesn't work, it's a great opportunity to work on it. Cincy just went out and played general soccer (if that makes any sense). I don't care if they made mistakes, just wanted to see some structure in what they were doing. There wasn't much. About what I expected, I guess.

The season starts in a couple weeks. Major takeaways from last night for each team:

1. Columbus: Are ready to go
2. Chicago: Good effort, bad coach, sloppy roster build
3. Cincy: Sloopy roster, no plan

Next round of games are on Wednesday.

Rained out at Blackbaud

Below: Yours at Buddy Roe's Shimp Shack. Dave Gunnells... where are you brother. Chucktown's Finest!


Even though the final game of the Carolina Challenge Cup was cancelled I still had a great time in Charleston. I said it before and I'll say it again: they know what they are doing down on Daniel Island.

Because I'm in the pirate mood... Tommy Heinemann goal video I put to Hans Zimmer music last year. GO!

Crew Preseason: CCC Round 1 (Battery)

The Columbus Crew faced the Charleston Battery (USL Pro) last night in the first round of the three round Carolina Challenge Cup.

Warzycha's Crew side trotted out 17 total players, five went the full 90. Being able to go the full time at this stage says these particular guys are close to fully fit. Which is a very good thing. Durability is the name of the game right now. Below are the folks who finished the race.

GK: Gruenebaum
D: Miranda, Marshall, Mendes, (LB)
MF: Gaven, (CDM), (CAM), (LW)
F: (F), (F)

IN THE MID-FIELD
Mirosevic and Finlay both played over 80 minutes a piece last night as well. Mirosevic (CAM) is certainly being pegged as a starting regular while Finlay (LW) is taking advantage of Duka's absence with the U23 team and Justin Meram's injury. Benardo Anor did not play last night.

Finlay, Tchani, Gaven played well together last night. The Crew bright spot was possession around the center circle. Solid passing peppered with a couple long field switching gems that looked crisp and improved over last year. The Crew's open play goal came from that type play as well with Finlay finding Gaven in the middle about 5 minutes in.

FORWARD PLAY
It is nice to see Mirosevic finally play. He helped in controlling the MF but had a hard time trying to link up with Renteria and Vargas. Renteria didn't appear comfortable 20-30 yards out (tended to rush) from goal and Vargas' game is in the box. That said, Vargas did impress me the few times he did touch it between the top of the box and the center circle. Patient, solid first touch and smart distribution.

Vargas also had a couple good crosses come his way, barely missing on one. He was subbed at half time for Kirk Urso. Heinemann came on to replace Renteria with 20 minutes left. It was hard for me to pick out Urso on the grainy feed but Heinemann looked to find free space so Urso must have been playing more withdrawn. The feed went out for the last 15 minutes so I wasn't able to see Heinemann's chance that was reported.

DEFENDING
The two/two scoreline suggests that the Crew back line was suspect when it really wasn't. The open play goal the Battery scored started on the left side with a bad Francis pass.

Hard to describe the circumstances of the pass other than it was Francis on the ball with no one around - he kicked (passed?) it towards the closest player to start build up - but it only made it half way to its intended target (who was only about 15 yards away). Predictably, a Battery player swooped in and things immediately got dangerous.

The ensuing 60 seconds saw a folly of panic, missed chances, whiffs, unable to clearances, two or three missed offside calls and finally... a Battery goal. All in the Crew box. Add in the stream quality, bizarre camera 1/camera 2 switching and it became a surreal almost avant-garde scene.

The Crew MF dictated much of the game so outside of that moment, there were few chances for Charleston.

FINAL NOTES
Long post about pre-season action, but first time I've seen v2012 team. Excited over here. Crew still a work in progress. Good to see Columbus making smart passes in the middle, possession.

Lingering question marks; Forwards. Still need a better first touch and improved decision making. Left Back play needs improvement.

Round 2 of the Carolina Challenge Cup is Wednesday at 5PM against the Chicago Fire.

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Updated Feb. 27th (including C of C friendly): preseason minutes and stats from scrimmages/friendlies (goals from penalty spot are not included, Mirosevic has two). LINK.

Blackbaud. Helltown. Amen.

Tickets are booked. Carolina Challenge Cup 2012. Helltown Cometh. March 3rd weekend. Right after I watch the Crew beat up on DC United a bit, I'll watch the Battery take apart the Chicago Fire (one limb at a time).

Major League Soccer Needs The Charleston Battery

Throwing my hat in the ring for the 20th MLS team here. Major League Soccer needs to be careful of being too heartless. Too demographics driven. Too Florida has to work right? conclusions.

I heard a giant price tag was put on the 20th MLS team. Something like 100 mil. To the highest bidder? Massive mistake.

The rumors about Columbus leaving need to stop. You want to rip one of the beating hearts of the league out of the league? Go for it. This state has been conditioned for that type of disappointment.

The most passionate fans I've ever met are Browns fans.

I now go to "Browns Backers" games at a bar down the street on Sundays. Not so much because I'm a huge Browns fan, but because their fans are the best I've ever met. The fathers of Crew supporters (if I may).

Cleveland lost their beloved team for years for Christ sake. Yet there they are; the fans, in their work clothes, walking in from the extra weekend 12 hr shift at the foundry, to sit down, take a load off, have a beer and cheer the goddamn Browns.

The Browns make the NFL better. The Crew make MLS better.

Bring on Charleston. Bring on magical sea swept evenings. Humid nights. Bring on a team in the South. Bring on some of that mythology.

Handbags can go to NY and LA. Yield to the educated in Seattle, soccer mad in Portland / Vancouver and hand over the fools gold to the rest of the Great White North.

Let the real work happen in other cities.

More heart, please.