Crew Rd 17. Incomplete Team, Loss

After going up +1 in the first half, Sporting Kansas City were able to respond each time the Crew pulled even in the second. The game ended +1 in favor of the home side.

1ST HALF
Sporting controlled most of the half through the midfield. Part of the reason for this was because the Crew went with a striker on the left side in Jairo Arrieta. KC had a number of opportunities that they were wasteful with.

The Crew never seemed to be able to get into this one in the first half.

2ND HALF
The coaching staff of the Crew decided to make an adjustment by moving Arrieta from his left mid spot to the top and shift Oduro back into the midfield (on the left). This didn't necessarly improve the team in the midfield but it did put a very good striker back into his natural (trained whole life for) role.

The change seemed to catch Sporting a little off guard and ripped open the game. It only took three minutes for Arrieta to reward the change when he took the ball 60+ yds down the pitch for a goal.

Two minutes later Chance Myers whipped in a cross from the right side that skimmed off Tyson Wahl's head right to Claudio Bieler who slotted away a nice shot past confused Crew GK Andy Gruenebuam.

Three minutes after that another goal. This time from a bad Seth Sinovic back pass to Jimmy Nielsen. Oduro did what hes does and was there for the steal and goal. Sinovic would be subbed shortly after.

The game settle a little from there and looked more like the first half. KC found their rhythm again and easily out possessed a Crew team that couldn't put more than a couple passes together.

Late on in the 80th, Wahl again managed to deflect a header in to the path of an alert Bieler who headed to Kei Kamara for a goal.

Crew went into berserker mode after that. Unsurprisingly, it didn't work.

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FINAL THOUGHTS
You don't have to lead common statistical categories like Shots, Time of Possession, Corner Kicks and the like to win. In fact, these types of things can often be more misleading than anything but for this game? 62% possession and 24 shots from KC forcing 5 big saves from Andy Gruenebaum? Very telling for this particular game.

Save for the chaotic first 15 minutes of the 2nd half this game was in KC hands. They were the better team fighting off scrappy poorly organized team.

Looking the updated true table I see the Crew have now slipped to 15th with zero goal difference. Columbus is in a deep hole and need more than just hard work to get out of it. There needs to be a tactical change with this team. This two holding midfielder thing is not working.

A couple bounces didn’t go our way. We fought and battled hard, but we weren’t dangerous enough offensively. Defensively we definitely didn’t do enough. It kind of gets repetitive after awhile." - Andy Gruenebaum

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ME COMPLAINING:
1. Change tactics if runs thru Tyson Wahl.
2. Bernardo is left footed, put him on the left.
3. Danny O'Rourke can handle the CDM spot on his own.
4. Chad Barson should not be an option.
5. Arrieta and Oduro should never be in MF
6. Arrieta and Oduro shouldn't play left MF

ME HELPING:
1. Change tactics.
2. Put in Eric Gehrig over Barson.
3. Replace redundant DM with Speas, Anor, or Finlay.
3a.Will help Federico Higuain
4. Bench Oduro, bring in as sub.
4a.Oduro as leading scorer has you in 15th place.

Here is a lineup suggestion.

This still leaves the team a little weak at left CB and right in the middle but this improves the left and right fullback positions and helps Higuain shake some markers.

I do not dislike Tchani as much as some others might. If you look up and down the roster he is pretty much the one midfielder outside of Anor, Speas and Higuain that gives you any chance going box to box. Sanchez does not, O'Rourke doesn't either.

But this is what I mean by "incomplete team". Where are the midfielders? Why was Viana played in a holding mid spot for so long at the start of the year and not at left back? Why was Arrieta benched when he came back. Why is Oduro playing a midfield roll?

Predictions: Crew (A) v Sporting

Good Morning,

The Columbus Crew are down in Kansas City today to take on Sporting. Game start is 830 PM EST, 730 CT.

GAME NOTES
-CLB: 3 Wins, 2 Draw, 3 Loss Away is above avg
-CLB: Wins away against weaker teams (Chivas, TFC, DC)
-CLB: Looking to mix up lineup, start coach's son
-CLB: Matais Sanchez suspended, YC accumulation
-SKC: Looking to get on track at home
-SKC: Have outscored opponents 11:7 at home
-SKC: 6 pts in last 5 (Crew 5 pts)
-SKC: CJ Sapong serving RC suspension

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PREDICTIONS
Opening up with Bet365 today because we have some heavy odds for the Home team today at 4/7. Draw at 11/4 and Crew 5/1. Correct Score line had KC 1:0 (5/1) followed by 2:0 (at 11/2). Overall leaning SKC in large way.

MLSsoccer.com team likes KC across the board this weekend. Things seem to be flattening out for them with four of the six sitting on 45% accurate (they pick based on result Win, Draw or Loss).

% Correct : Name, Job Title
45% : Nick Rosano, Editor
45% : Andrew Wiebe, Editor
45% : Matt Doyle, Armchair Analyst
45% : Diego Pinzon, FutbolMLS editor
39% : Kristel Valencia, FutbolMLS Editor in Chief
39% : Jason Saghini, Director of Video

Drew Epperley over at WV Hooligan thinks it is "Time for this SKC squad to turn things up." Sporting KC 3 : 1 Columbus Crew.

Next up we zoom over to Goal.com where Zac Lee Rigg is in charge of this match up's game notes and single line summary: "Columbus travels well to Kansas City, where it has won four of the last five trips." The "Reader's Predictions" section seems to be short on votes but the few they have like KC.

Win Draw Win says there is a Small Stake on a Home Win, 1:0 (Sporting). The 'your vote' section also likes KC with 44% (19% Crew)

Adam Jardy of the Columbus Dispatch gets under the hood this week, writing: "...coming away with a point would be a victory for the Crew."

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MY THOUGHTS

For Anor? That is very nice.

Sporting KC is oozing with talent and should be in a better position at this point in the season. Their fans know that as well as the owner and coach. It has been four games since they have won.

Columbus isn't in any better shape but there are some signs that say this might be as high as they get in the standings this year (can't beat good teams). Of course the can be Sporting KC today in KC. They have enjoyed good results in recent years playing down there.

A draw does absolutely nothing for the Crew in this match. A decisive win is what the Crew need in order to hop KC in the standings (KC has one more goal on the year).

Standing in their way is KC's defense. While their home record isn't stellar they have kept opponents to under a goal a game (8 home games, 7 goals given up).

I tend to believe that Epperley might be right. At some point KC are going to lock back in at home and when they do...

Crew fans should hope that doesn't happen tonight. Enjoy the match going to be interesting.

West Facing Window

This is looking out my west facing window towards downtown from this past winter. Organizing photos and it came up. I like my little nook.

Crew Player Goal Differential, Updated

Here is each Crew player's goal difference when on the pitch this year (league games). I'm working on a much larger post over at Massive Report but it was getting cumbersome with explanations and all.

There's like a billion asterisks to something like this, but here are the numbers. On the left is 'goal difference per 90 minutes played' and on the right is total 90 minute matches.

Pulling out the players with over 5 (450 minutes) played thus far this year.

GD p90 : Name : 90 min
+0.48 : Danny O'Rourke : 10.5
+0.40 : Eddie Gaven : 10.0
+0.32 : Agustin Viana : 6.2
+0.29 : Josh Williams : 14.0
+0.25 : Chad Marshall : 12.0
+0.21 : Dominic Oduro : 14.4
+0.06 : Andy Gruenebaum : 16.0

+0.00 : Glauber : 13.0
+0.00 : Tony Tchani : 7.5
+0.00 : Tyson Wahl : 14.9

-0.06 : Federico Higuain : 15.8
-0.11 : Jairo Arrieta : 8.8
-0.14 : Ben Speas : 7.3
-0.29 : Matias Sanchez : 6.9

Here are the players less than 450 minutes. An important callout (which I'm working on 'splaining better at Massive Report) is that these players seem to be dragging the club down. Lots of part time / reserve type players here. This is different from years past in that there was not any sort of gulf between Senior team and 2nd team.

GD p90 : Name : 90 min
+4.74 : Ryan Finley : 0.4
+0.46 : Bernardo Anor : 2.2

+0.00 : Konrad Warzycha : 0.2

-0.49 : Chad Barson : 4.1
-0.50 : Eric Gehrig : 4.0
-0.51 : Justin Meram : 3.9
-0.54 : Kevan George : 1.8
-0.78 : Aaron Schoenfeld : 1.3
-1.22 : Ethan Finlay : 0.8

Barson should probably not be an option going forward. He seems like a nice kid but, like Gehrig and Meram, is approaching 5 games and deep in the negative. Not ready for primetime in this particular tactical setup Warzycha has.

Do I think Meram and Gehrig might (particularly Meram) do better in a different system? Yes.

Stay tuned to Massive Report for more. Bourbon is running out and I've got some Rhett and Link to catch up on. Buies Creek y'all.



[update -1 year, still tho]

Crew Rd 16: The Best Crew've Got

From the final 2:1 scoreline, to the trade the Crew made putting the three key players in this match on their respective teams... The Chicago Fire beat the Columbus Crew in just about every imaginable way possible.

1ST HALF
As they have in recent weeks, Columbus came out playing well. At this point it's almost like a 'shock and awe' maneuver that the Crew do. To it's credit, it has worked in consecutive weeks. Dominic Oduro was able to draw a penalty on the Fire's Sean Johnson in the 6th minute and Federico Higuain put it away and put the Crew up 1:0 very early.

"I felt good in the game, even after that we had good confidence. We came into halftime, we talked about it and the team never gave up. The game is 90 minutes and we found another way." - Fire HC Frank Klopas

Staying true to form with last weeks Montreal game the Crew did not continue to pressure and dropped deep into defense. As the half wore on the Fire found some rhythm.

2ND HALF
Columbus came out of the halftime break in a similar mode, perhaps in expectation that they could withstand the Fire onslaught the same as they did the week prior.

"We needed to combine through the middle, we needed to play combinations, we needed to move the ball quicker – especially from side to side and get the ball to Dilly [Duka] wide in the channels. Once we get it there and he’s [Duka] on the field and we’re getting defenders one-on-on under pressure." - Fire HC Frank Klopas on halftime changes.

Chicago decided to attack the right side of the Crew's defense that was currently occupied by rookie Chad Barson. It paid off for them. MLS veteran Joel Lindpere was able to work in crosses twice past Barson who was not playing more than a few feet away from him. Both times, once to Dilly Duka and another to Mike Magee, were goals on back post runs.

Josh Williams could have probably done better but if you (Barson) are giving someone of Lindpere's quality and experience that much space and time to whip in a cross, I don't care who is playing in defense at the end of it. It's going to connect, it's going to go in.

From here the Crew seemed unable to quickly transition out of the defensive type mode and into an attacking one. Eventually they did and got off some excellent chances but Johnson was up to the task. Game over.

"...they’ve never given up, even through the slow start and adversity, there’s always been a belief in the team. The team is the most important thing with the group and you can see that no matter what happens, there are no regrets and they’ll leave everything on the field." - Fire HC Frank Klopas

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FINAL THOUGHTS

Klopas with fans at 2 AM

This game against Chicago was completely different from the Crew's early league match up in which the Fire won 1:0. Columbus looked lethargic and played uninspired during that game and Chicago was scrambling to find their feet.

Yesterday was two clubs in midseason form. It was Chicago at their best vs. Columbus at theirs. Chicago won. Is it a case of one team being more talented? I don't necessarily think so. Both Klopas and Warzycha have faced off enough times with completely different rosters and in different competitions over the years and Klopas usually comes out on top.

Even this year the Fire have beaten the Crew three times already in two different competitions.

“You know what? I saw it go in the back of the net and then I just looked at my players and was like, ‘we’re back in this’. I didn’t try to celebrate or anything, I didn’t care, I just wanted to get these points." - Dilly Duka, Fire Midfielder and Man of the Match.

Columbus travels to Kansas City next weekend to take on Sporting KC. Each game for the Crew here on out has to be looked at as a necessary 3 points in order to climb back in to the playoff hunt.

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I wrote lots of words on Dilly Duka shortly before his trade away from Columbus over at Massive Report. After spending some time going back through that I am happy for him in the way this game played out. It has been a long 18 months for him. You can read that HERE.

Predictions: Crew (H) v Fire

Good Morning,

The Chicago Fire are in Columbus today to take on the Crew. Game start is 8:00 PM Eastern. 7:00 PM Central.

GAME NOTES
-CLB: Crew coming off 2:0 win over Montreal.
-CLB: Big crowd tonight for Fireworks postgame.
-CLB: Viana close to back, possible last start for LB Wahl.
-CLB: Williams and Marshall should be CBs, tough to beat.
-CHI: Unbeaten in last four (2 wins).
-CHI: Magee helping to salvage season, 3rd in MLS goals.
-CHI: Beaten CLB twice this year already.
-CHI: Busy schedule. US Open Cup match Wed.
-CHI: Only 2 goals on road this year (6 games)

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PREDICTIONS

Starting off with MLSsoccer.com this week. The 'pick 'em' team over there is thinking Draw (4 votes). Another two pick the Crew. Lean goes to Home side.

Next up is Mr. Drew Epperley of WV Hooligan and SB Nation's Big D Soccer. Epperley believes this to be a Draw saying, "they have to show they can keep the momentum going for a second weekend in a row."

Goal.com still looking for votes on their page but even right now. Keith Hickey's comment; "The Fire have surged under Mike Magee, and a trip to Columbus is a potential six-pointer in the playoff scrap."

BET365.com is giving fairly normal odds for a game like this. 11/10 to home side (Crew), 23/10 Draw and 5/2 Fire.

Over at WinDrawWin.com the indicators suggest the Columbus Crew will run away with this one. The "Your Votes" section is heavy on the Crew side with 69% win. Draw 23% and only 7% for Chicago (that is a notably low number, interesting). Large stake is on 1:0 Crew win.

Adam Jardy of the Columbus Dispatch asks a question this week: "Was it a one-night mirage or the start of a turnaround? This game will help provide the answers." Look for your Dispatch where you normally find papers for sale around Columbus.

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MY THOUGHTS

11th is an achievable goal.

Even though we've got one team on the rise here (Chicago) and another sort of stagnating (Columbus) I don't think the rising club can overrun the Crew. Mike Magee has really been finding his way to goal but overall the Fire have been poor on the road. Tonight would be their first win on the road, actually.

Something else complicating the game for the Fire tonight is the US Open Cup match the have against Orlando City this week. Chicago is taking that tournament very seriously. Mathematically, it is probably the right thing to do given their current place on the Eastern Conference table.

In order for them to have a chance a pulling within striking distance of the final spot they will need a win today. It's not a stretch to think they can overtake the Crew through the 2nd half of the year but they will still need to over take Philly and New England.

Don't expect this game to look like the Montreal game in terms of possession. This one will likely be more 'start stop' type MLS action and evenly matched.

More on Wahl

I spent some time this week looking at Crew LB Tyson Wahl's involvement in each game this year. The reason for this was because it seemed, over the last handful of games, that his teammates were passing to him less and less in the opponents half.

The numbers (Opta) sort of confirmed my observation. What I did was go through game by game and pull out each action Opta recorded for Wahl. Early in the year he was in the top three, in terms of on the ball activity. Now, 15 games later, is down around 7th. Is that good? Bad? Take a look.

Crew to Host Wigan Athletic

FA Cup Champion Wigan Athletic announced today that they will be traveling to the United States this summer for training. They are scheduled to take on the Crew Saturday, July 13th.

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News via Wigan's official site:

Owen Coyle’s men will now be facing MLS side Columbus Crew at the Crew Stadium on Saturday July 13 and 3rd Division side Pittsburgh Riverhounds at the Highmark Stadium on July 19. A further game could also be scheduled within the ten day trip Stateside.

Coyle said: “The opportunity came up for us to go to the States and was too good for us to turn down.

“The players will love the facilities over there which are first class and it is a great way for us to begin our pre-season preparation in readiness for August 3.”

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Always exciting for me when an English side comes to Columbus. Wigan had one of the more memorable seasons of any Premier League club this year. It will be great to catch them here in town.

Australia Qualify for '14 World Cup

Australia qualified for next year's World Cup in front of 80,000 at Sydney's Olympic Stadium on Tuesday June 18, 2013. The World Cup is a thousand times better when the Aussies are involved.

That's current NY Red Bull and Everton legend, Tim Cahill in there. What shouldn't be lost here is that Cahill (middle; exhausted, draped over fan in black) is an entire world away whilst in the middle of his league season. Damnit. I could watch this Vine forever.