Columbus Crew

A few quick notes to take your mind off the circus that is David Beckham and remind you that he isn't the only thing going on in American soccer:

Sean Mitchell reported today that strength coach Steve Tashjian will be leaving the team. He will be joing the fitness staff of Everton FC in the EPL. That's a huge promotion for Tashjian and quite a compliment to to the Crew. To have a player bought up by a European side is one thing, but when a member of the staff gets invited across the pond it means the whole organization is doing things right.

I've met Coach Steve a couple of times and he has always been really gracious to us as fans, an all-round nice guy. He is also one of the few staff members to come shake hands with the Nordecke after game.

Best of luck, Steve.

In other Crew news:

• It looks like Guillermo Barros Schelotto is going to miss another week with his bad hamstring. He's actually not even in town, but rather in California filming a commercial. Images of Bill Murray in Lost In Translation come to mind.
• No one knows anything regarding the health of Alejandro Moreno or Adam Moffat. If you ask me both of these guys can stay hurt (Moffat can just leave town), we're doing fine without them.
• Jason Garey is up for Goal of the Week. But I think in this case it should be "Assist of the Week" for Steven Lenhart.
• With GBS out we're likely to start the 4-4-2 against when Toronto FC comes to town this weekend, with Lenhart and Garey again running point. I am quite literally giddy with anticipation, watching Steven muscle his way around the TFC defense should be very entertaining.
• Speaking of the Terrible Football Club, the buzz around BigSoccer is that their fans aren't making the trip to Columbus this weekend. Too bad, we hate it when we scare away visiting fan groups. HA!

So that's the news from around the Crewniverse. Unless we sign a first-rate striker or something equally earth shattering happens, I'll be back Sunday with the post-game report. 

On Saturday the Crew invited Real Salt Lake over to The House That Lamar Built for a little game of soccer.

The hometown side was trying to tie the league record for longest home unbeaten streak, not to mention keep their playoff hopes alive.

Not a big deal until it you take into account that The Crew were going to play without it's (and the league's) top scorer Guillermo Barros Schelotto, it's workhorse forward Alejandro Moreno, and the current MLS Defender of the Year Chad Marshall.

Oh, they would also play without right wing/stud Robbie Rogers and Olympic silver medalist Emmanuel Ekpo. No big deal right? Wrong, those five guys count for 17 of the Crew's 22 goals this season.

Uh oh. 

Enter Steven (Cabbage Patch) Lenhart and supersub Jason Garey, two of Columbus' top young guns. Add in a little of Duncan (The Kiwi Cannon) Oughton and you've got a recipe for a game that was a flat out joy to watch. These guys decided to go out and, well, play. 

You could tell by the fifth minute that the three of them, and the other eight Columbus starters, were having some fun. Garey was making runs like his life was on the line, Lenhart was getting his blonde head on every ball within 10 yards, and Oughton was passing like a 32-year-old master, seeing everything on the pitch and choosing his moments wisely.

Even defender Danny O'Rourke took a shot in the 25th minute.

The 12,922 in attendance waited just 23 minutes for the first payoff. Duncan played a quick ball to a sprinting Frankie Hejduk who crossed it into the box and Steven hammered it home from there. It was his first goal of the season, though it should have been his 300th. The kid is everywhere.

As he ran back to midfield for the restart, the huge grin on his face said, "Ohmygod that was fun let's do it again!" 

And they did, nine minutes later. Eddie Gaven served up a cross to Lenhart but his header went straight up into the air. "No problem," said Steven as he headed it again, but this time it was deflected by RSL keeper Nick Rimando. Deflected straight to Garey, and the ball quickly found the back of the net. A massive chest bump between Lenhart and Garey followed, with "old man" Oughton looking on like a proud papa.

The fun continued for the rest of the half, which ended with the Black and Gold sitting on top, 2-0. The last time the Crew took a two goal lead to the locker room was back in April against Chicago, when the Fire stole two goals in the last five minutes to force the draw. But we weren't thinking about that in the Nordecke, we were too elated to breathe. 

The second half was much like the first as Duncan lead the way with masterful through balls, and everyone else doing everything humanly possible to put the ball in the net. Steven almost killed himself at one point, laying out to try and put his head on a cross but nearly putting his head on the post instead.  

The most beautiful Crew goal of the season, certainly that I've ever seen in person, came in the 53rd minute. Oughton and Garey traded one-touches and then found Lenhart, who back-heeled it right back to Garey. Then Jason did something no Crew player except Schelotto has done all year: Finished. 

The back heel from Lenhart had the Nordecke going nuts, so much so that I almost didn't see the goal. I know I saw it, but I don't remember seeing the shot leave his foot. I just remember seeing the ball in the net and screaming my head off. Everyone around me was in agreement: Goal. Of. The. Year.

That made it 3-0, and Royal Salt Lake ran around lost for the next 20 minutes. They couldn't have scored in a brothel. But even a broken clock is right twice a day, and Raphael Cox got the visitors on the board in the 76th. Props to him, it was his first career goal.

Steven ran out of gas somewhere around the 80th and was subbed out for Kevin Burns, who had a few good touches of his own. Utility guy Jed Zayner came on for Jason Garey in the 86th but by then the party had started. We, as Crew fans, know never to count our chickens but we didn't care, it was a 3-1 home victory and it put us one step closer to first place in the East.

Afterwards, as Frankie came over to the crowd for his post-game beer, chants of "Toronto's next" could be heard throughout the section. The Crew is back, baby, and this time we're doing it with the young guys. Yeah, the veterans are valuable, but our future is bright.

And if our subs can beat up on a team like this now, what are they going to when they're the starters?

The sky is falling.

At least, thats what a few people who have recently attended professional soccer matches would have you believe. They are so convinced that the world is spiraling into moral oblivion that they have written letters. Yes, letters! Can you believe it's come to this?

Mark, Heidi, and Andrew & Laurie all think that the behavior of soccer fans in America is reprehensible. They all three think that the fans curse too much, are completely disrespectful (of both other fans and opposing players) and that the stadium atmosphere is going to be the downfall of the game in these United States. They are basically saying that the atmosphere is too mean. They even say that, because of the moral depravity, they won't be returning to their respective stadia to take in a game. Even Columbus Dispatch Sports Editor Ray Stein thinks things are out of control.

Later folks. Drive safe. Thanks for coming.

The late, great Confucius once said "it is better to be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt." These "fans" have just proven him right. All of them claim to be sports fans, not just soccer fans. All three claim to have attended many of the events they now sweat to boycott. And all of them claim to be adults.

I don't know about you kids reading this, but I've seen and heard worse things at high school football games than I do at any Crew games (I can't speak for the Timbers as I've never been to Portland, but I assume the same is true). I also know for a fact that the atmosphere outside of an Ohio State football game is much more intense than anything that has ever occurred inside Crew Stadium.

The MLB has this "problem" (try wearing a Red Sox hat into Yankee Stadium, or the Bronx in general). I'm sure that hockey has rowdy fans, I mean, the sport itself encourages fighting. And let's not even talk about the NFL, lest someone mention the fact that Veterans Stadium in Philly had a jail in it to house the fans who got a little to rowdy.

But let's not look too deeply at sport, because that sample size is too small. What these concerned denizens of planet Earth are really saying to us is "hey guys, you're hurting my feelings and making me uncomfortable, and maybe someone else feels the same way."

These are the same type people who pushed to ban dodgeball from schools because it's unfair and exclusionary. Same goes for duck, duck, goose, and tag, and other playground games. Some will tell you that these games are unsafe, but most believe that little Johnny just can't handle the pressure of being "it."

I bet they also believe that youth sports shouldn't keep score, so that the game and fun are emphasized and not the winner or loser (because we're all winners in life, aren't we?). One guy I know once said "why are we gonna play if we aren't keeping score?" And that's the jist of it: people have been keeping score, in life and in sport, since the beginning of time. You can't avoid it, so why try to change it?

I hate to break it to you all, but life just ain't fair sometimes. In the real world, there are winners and losers, people will make fun of you, you will get singled out, and there will always be someone bigger and/or better than you. And the sooner we learn this as children the better we'll be able to cope with it as adults.

Yes, we need to clean up the language in the stadium, but I'd say that's about it. We taunt and jeer because we want our team to win. We scream and tease because (we believe) that our team is better than yours. Do we need the f-bomb? No, it’s called the f-bomb for a reason: It should be devastating when you drop it.

But should we stop taunting opposing players? Stop calling out opposing fans? Relax the competitiveness? No, no, and no.

There are many lessons that kids, and humans too, can learn form sports that translate into life. There's teamwork, creative thinking, adaptation, perseverance, the ability to fight adversity, a little math, and the myriad of physical skills. I, for one, wouldn't be half the man I am today if it wasn't for the sports I played growing up and still play today. I'd probably be a lot more timid and less willing to take risks. I also probably wouldn't have fought tooth and nail to get the promotion I received earlier this year.

If these letter writers can't handle all of the "negativity" that occurs in the sporting world, how do they handle it off the field? And, maybe more importantly, what are they teaching their children about the big, bad world?

As many of you know, I joined the Crew on on their trip to Chicago this weekend as they took on the Fire, part of 250+ other fans that made the trek from our fair city to their sprawling metropolis to form Nordecke West. The on-field action was mediocre at best, ending in the least popular score in sports: the 0-0 tie.

It should have been a 1-0 victory for the good guys but the ref decided for a three-second span that soccer wasn't a contact sport, and called back a goal because Stephen Lenhart used his size and speed and hair advantages against Jon Busch.

Needless to say, we were—and still aren't—pleased with this temporary rule change.

It was a pretty ugly game all around, but as they say in soccer: win at home, tie on the road.

The crowd, however, was in top form. Well, at least we were. I'm not even sure if Section 8 was there. It seriously took me a few minutes to find them in the stands. Turns out that the venerable Section 8, who many have said is the strongest Supporters Club in the league, is just a couple (read: two) sections of fans behind a goal.

Granted, they have a really cool website, but that's about it. They aren't that loud, they have two banners, and they were nowhere to be seen before or after the match. Methinks they're weak. They did, however light some flares as soon as the sun went down, and that makes them edgy and cool and not afraid to break the rules, right? Right?

Right. It also makes them arrested. Idiots.

We, however, were a force in the Southeast corner of the stadium. For a full two hours we were chanting, singing, drumming, and generally raising hell. If not for the mics focused on Section 8 the people watching on TV would have thought the game was in C-bus.

Crew fans are deafening, it's that simple.

The local fans around us were obviously thrown off by the size and volume that we brought, and stadium security watched us like hawks (apparently we have a reputation). But it was to no avail, because in the 87th minute the smoke bombs went off and everything was covered in a yellow haze.

We brought the complete package to Toyota Park last night, and hopefully the league lets us put on a clinic in the offseason to teach the fans from Colorado and Dallas and KC how to support their clubs, both at home and on the road.

A note to sports fans in general: If, after a few too many shots of liquid courage, you decide someone needs to go pick on the opposing team's fans, and you decide that someone should be you, it's never wise to run through a group of a couple hundred of them to get to the biggest guy with the intent of stealing his cooler. You will get dropped. And then you will get drop kicked. It's true, I saw it happen.

Oh, and you will get arrested—while everyone laughs at you. Idiot.

All in all, it was an outing that can be counted as a success. There were downsides (not winning the game, three pukers on the bus before we got to Illinois) and there were upsides (completely shutting down the Chicago attack sans Defender of the Year, none of our guys got arrested).

And as with anything that is a "first-ever" in life there are minor details that I'll never forget (meeting these guys who threw me some shirts and a hat that made everyone jealous, ultra-late night dinner here).

I have to say this though: I've never been a huge fan of Chicago as a city, but somewhere around 2AM as I was with 10 of my closest friends sipping on some Dunkies coffee and waiting for the train I felt right at home. I'm a city boy at heart and in my opinion it doesn't get much better than that. Even after a tie.

Only 69 days until we return to The Windy City for round 2, and 96 until we invade DC. There is no way I won't be on those buses.

Maybe the aging veterans on Columbus' roster were just waiting for the weather to warm up.

The Columbus Crew spent the early part of the 2009 MLS season enduring the worst start ever by a defending MLS champion. They didn't take home all three points until their eighth match of the season.

Their record was an ugly 0-5-2, and they looked more like an overmatched team of eight-year old kids than the defending champs.

Since that eighth match, a 3-2 victory over Kansas City, Columbus has only tasted defeat once. They've beaten one of the best teams in the league (a 2-1 win over Chivas USA) while climbing to within one point of first place in the Eastern Conference, with a game in hand.

The recent revival has surprised quite a few people, but that shouldn't be the case. Despite a horrifically slow start, the road to the 2009 MLS Cup still has to go through the defending champions.

Is it any coincidence that Columbus' first victory coincided with Frankie Hejduk's return to the lineup? Injuries kept Hejduk out of the lineup until May 9, and the Crew sorely missed his calming, veteran presence in their lineup.

A back-line with Hejduk would not concede four goals to Real Salt Lake, and they would certainly do a better job of holding leads.

Hejduk has stabilized a defense that was fairly shaky in the early part of the season. Gone are the foolish mistakes, and they've been replaced by a very talented right back who can also get forward and aid in the attack.

The rest of MLS would do well to prepare for an onslaught from Columbus in the coming months. Yes, they've been on a hot streak in the last month or so, but they aren't playing anywhere near their best.

Yes, a team that is rapidly closing on the top of the standings is in poor form.

Just take a look at the offense. Last season's MVP, Guillermo Barros Schelotto, finished the year with 20 assists despite being injured for a lengthy spell just before the playoffs. This season? He's registered just a single assist in 17 appearances.

Most fans will point to the fact that Schelotto has scored 10 goals to make up for his lack of assists, but to me that signifies a problem. Last season he only scored seven times in 31 appearances.

Such a lopsided goals-to-assists ratio in 2009 suggests that nobody else on the Columbus roster has stepped up to provide offense. Schelotto is shouldering nearly the entire load.

Schelotto's teammates are still dragging their feet on the offensive end. Alejandro Moreno is second on the club in goals scored, and he's only hit the back of the net three times.

Eddie Gaven, Chad Marshall and Emmanuel Ekpo have two apiece. After that? A few guys with a single goal.

Robbie Rogers scored eight times last season, and is still searching for his first of 2009. Crew fans will be hoping that a taste of international duty in the Gold Cup will provide a spark in the second half.

When the rest of the Crew returns to form—and trust me, that will happen—Columbus should find themselves perched atop the East for the second season running.

Tomorrow, the Crew take on the Fire. The game will be played at Chicago's Toyota park. That is commonly referred to as an away game, see, because the team that I support is playing away from home. Get it? And here's the kicker: I'm going to be there.

This, to me at least, is a big deal because it will be my first time watching the Crew dominate their opponent outside of Hunt Park (in person I mean, I've seen plenty of games on TV). There are somewhere between 50 and 500 Crew fans making the six hour trek through Dayton and across Indiana with the intent of embarrassing Section 8 on their own turf.

We made them come here to get destroyed last year, so we thought it would be considerate of us to let them stay home for the beat-down this time. We're nice guys like that.

In all seriousness though, this is going to be a battle of Eastern Conference titans, with one point and two goals separating first place Chicago from the third place Crew. This is going to be one helluva matchup for two reasons.

Reason number one: Guillermo Barros Schelotto is going to be out for blood. GBS is a beast, but he's never really had a breakout showing against Blanco and the Fire. He had a stellar game in last year's Conference Final, but has yet to showcase his scoring ability. He'll be looking to show the fans who is really the best player in MLS.

Reason number two: Chad Marshall is wreaking havoc in the Gold Cup. And there's a Gold Cup game in Boston on Saturday. So Chad will be in Boston. Do you know where Brian (Judas) McBride will be? Anywhere on our half of the field that he wants to be. In last year's Conference Final, Chad owned McBride, scoring the game winner over him and completely shutting him down on his offensive end.

This weekend, without Marshall Law roaming the back line, the Crew are going to need to depend on six-foot-nothing Danny O'Rourke and rookie starter Eric Brunner to hold off McBride, who has been referred to as the hardest working American soccer player. Ever. 

Someone might have the genius idea of putting Andy Iro in central defense, but Andy—as much as I love him—is only good for one half. That leaves 45 minutes of waiting for McBride to shoot and hoping that Will Hesmer has a stellar game between the pipes.

That being said, here's my official gut feeling about this game: No Problem.

It doens't matter if McBride and Blanco combine to score 10, Guillermo will net 11 by himself. And then assist on the 12th just to spread some wealth. I'm not worried. The Crew will not let me down, my first road trip will not end in defeat.

In Guillermo I Trust. 

1. El Columbus Crew no pierde de local hace 17 partidos. Un partido más sin perder y hacen historia.
2. Guillermo Barros Schelotto es definitivamente una de las mejores contrataciones que la MLS ha hecho en su historia.
3. El mediocampista argentino Christian Gómez anotó el gol del DC United, su cuarto esta temporada.
4. Alejandro Moreno -delantero venezolano- (en la foto) fue el encargado de empatar el partido para el Columbus Crew. No sé cuántos lleva. Averiguo. O averiguen.
5. Ambos equipos son -hasta el momento- serios candidatos al título.
6. Cuando quise ver el partido, me di cuenta que ya había terminado.
   

COLUMBUS, Ohio, EE.UU. (AP) - El venezolano Alejandro Moreno anotó el gol del empate a los 59 minutos, y el Crew de Columbus logró así mantener viva su racha de 17 cotejos sin conocer la derrota en casa, al igualar el sábado 1-1 con el D.C. United.

Christian Gómez anotó su cuarto gol a los 33 minutos, para dar la ventaja al United (5-3-9), pero el Crew reaccionó para ampliar su buena racha de local.

La foja de 11-0-6 que lleva el Columbus en el Crew Stadium está a un partido de igualar la más larga de un equipo invicto en casa en la historia de la MLS.

Columbus (5-3-8) empató el marcador cuando Steven Lenhart, quien ingresó a la cancha al comienzo del segundo tiempo, recibió un centro de Emmanuel Ekpo y colocó el balón para Moreno.

Columbus Crew v DC United, MLS, July 5, 2009

The highlight of the next round of matches in the MLS sees a top of the table contest in the Eastern Conference as the current MLS champions, the Columbus Crew, host DC United at the unimaginatively named Columbus Crew Stadium.

The celebrations of the 4th of July Independence day should give a boost to the matchday atmosphere with the crowd set to be treated to a special post-game fireworks display to close out the holiday weekend.

The Crew arrive to the game after claiming a narrow home win over the New York Red Bulls last weekend. The match was scoreless until the 45th minute when defender Chad Marshall headed his second goal of the season, assisted by Guillermo Barros Schelotto. Schelotto has already bagged a league leading 10 goals this season as well as contributing with three assists.

Marshall and midfielder Robbie Rogers were recently called by the U.S. National Team for Gold Cup duty, leaving the Crew without two of their better players this weekend. On the plus side defender Frankie Hejduk and goalkeeper William Hesmer returned to the Crew’s starting lineup in the last round after missing extended playing time due to injury.

DC United, who are currently in first place in the Eastern Conference, won’t give up their top spot easily, especially after their last league match when they lost 3-0 to Colorado Rapids.

Striker Chris Pontius is the player Columbus must keep an eye on with United coach Tom Soehn recently publicly praised his forward: “His versatility continues to make us a better team, we can move him around in spots where we think he can help us. We’ve moved him around everywhere and he continues to adapt to wherever he has to play.”

Columbus Crew 10/11; Draw 11/5; DC United 11/4

101predicts: Columbus Crew 2 - DC United 1

Coming off a dream 2008 season, it was fair to expect another fast start for the Columbus Crew prior to 2009. With all but one starter returning from last year, the defending champions were expected to pick up from where they left off.

Their only notable losses were head coach Sigi Schmid and Midfielder Brad Evans, both heading West to ply their trade with Seattle Sounders FC, the newest MLS team.

Fast forward to the present. Seven games in, and the Crew's struggles are one of the major story lines of Major League Soccer in 2009. Through seven matches, they've managed five ties and two losses, good for second to last in the Eastern Conference, equal on points with their 2008 MLS cup foes, the New York Red Bulls.

With nagging injuries affecting regulars like Pat Noonan, Frankie Hejduk and Will Hesmer, the excuses are there. Guillermo Barros Schelotto hasn't been able to recapture his MVP form of last year, and with that the offense has struggled.

Despite the lackluster start, panic has not been prevalent in Ohio. New head coach Robert Warzycha looks to be patient, and the results are slowly tipping in their favor.

They played perhaps their best game of the season in a 2-2 draw against Chicago Fire, and despite blowing a 2-0 lead, should be happy with everything except the result. Coming away from feisty BMO Field with a point is something to be proud of, even though they blew a 1-0 lead and wasted a number of opportunities.

Confidence could be low as the only winless team in MLS, but the signs are there for the Crew. The championship swagger of last season may be gone, but the players are already in place to right the ship. As soon as they pick up that elusive first win, look for the Crew to go on a run to vault themselves back into the upper echelons of the league.

The bounce of the ball has started to go their way, and in a long MLS season there is plenty of time to recover and make the playoffs.

Columbus is now five games into their 2009 campaign and are still winless in their quest to defend the MLS Cup. Not only have they avoided taking home maximum points in 2009, they have looked positively anemic in doing so.

Crew fans have to be feeling disappointment when they think about how the season has gone thus far, but should they be in panic mode?

Absolutely. A five-game winless streak from the defending champs is plenty worrisome, but it looks even worse when you consider that aside from Chivas, they really haven't played anybody from the top tier of MLS.

Comparing this season to last, I've pinpointed a few possible reasons for the struggles.

1. The absence of Frankie Hejduk

Hejduk is one of the best defenders in MLS, and he's been absent from the Crew lineup since their opener due to international duty. He's been brilliant for the national team during World Cup qualifying so it's easy to see that Columbus is missing his spark.

With Hejduk in the lineup, Columbus becomes a very effective offensive team. Hejduk is able to rampage up and down the right wing for a full 90 minutes, causing the opposition a lot of problems. His crosses have led to a lot of goals for both the United States and Columbus.

In the first five games on 2009, with Hejduk in the lineup for only one match, Columbus has scored only five times. In 2008, with Hejduk involved for all of the first five games, Columbus scored nine times, including four in one game against Chivas USA.

2. The loss of Sigi Schmid

Manager Sigi Schmid led Columbus to their first ever MLS Cup title in 2008, and then was inexplicably let go by the club. I don't like to put a ton of stock in a manager's ability to influence their club, but it's impossible to avoid here.

We've got a very easy comparison to make here. Schmid's old team has gone winless in five games without him in 2009. Schmid's new team, Seattle Sounders FC, hasn't lost a game, and hasn't even conceded a goal.

Schmid is pressing all the right buttons with his new club, and Columbus seems a little lost without him. They've just been out of sync at both ends of the pitch without his leadership.

3. An over-reliance on Guillermo Barros Schelotto

This may seem like a ridiculous argument, but bear with me here. The 2008 MLS MVP, Guillermo Barros Schelotto, has been scoring too much in 2009.

For the Crew to be successful, Schelotto needs to be a passer first. His vision created 19 goals for others in 2008, but only seven for himself. When he is distributing the ball to Columbus' forwards, it tends to spread out defenses and leave them open for Columbus to strike.

Sure, he should score a goal every once in awhile, but he shouldn't be leading the team in goals.

In 2009, that's exactly what he's doing. Through five games, he's tied for the league lead in goals with three. Perhaps even more telling is the fact that he hasn't registered a single assist.

Perhaps his forwards simply haven't stepped up like they need to, but whatever the reason, having Schelotto remain as the Crew's primary scorer will only hurt the club.

4. Resting on the laurels of 2008

Columbus must have thought that they could repeat as champions with the same roster that they had in 2008, because they didn't make enough improvements when compared to the rest of the league.

Toronto added Dwayne De Rosario and Adrian Serioux. Chicago gets a full season of Brian McBride. Chivas has a full season with Zach Thornton. FC Dallas added Dave Van Den Bergh. LA even added Greg Berhalter to shore up their defense.

Nobody of note joined Columbus' ranks in the offseason. They kept their talented core of players together but that won't be enough due to the improvement in the rest of the league.