Columbus Crew

GOALKEEPERS (2): Brad Guzan (Aston Villa: 2/2 SO), Troy Perkins (Valerenga IF: 0/0)
DEFENDERS (6): Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA: 0/0), Danny Califf (FC Midtjylland: 2/0), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew: 13/1), Michael Orozco (San Luis: 0/0), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock: 6/0), Marvell Wynne (Toronto FC: 0/0)
MIDFIELDERS (7): Freddy Adu (AS Monaco: 3/0), DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers: 20/6), Maurice Edu (Glasgow Rangers: 3/0), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA: 4/0), Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado Rapids: 11/0), Danny Szetela (Brescia Calcio: 1/0) José Francisco Torres (Pachuca: 1/0)
FORWARDS (3):  Jozy Altidore (Villarreal C.F.: 1/1), Charlie Davies (Hammarby IF: 0/0), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew: 0/0)

After looking at this list, all I can say is one thing: finally!

Finally, Bradley will give the younger guys a shot.

Well, I’m hoping anyways. If Pablo, Frankie and Beas play the whole game, I will fail to see what the point was of dragging all the youngsters away from their respective squads. 

I do like this roster though. I think a lot of the guys who will be contributing in 2010 are on it. Here’s what I would do if I were Bradley: 

I’d put Altidore and Rogers up top together. Altidore is a rare talent with great speed and Rogers never seems to tire. I think they could develop some explosive chemistry.

I’d like to see Adu in the attacking midfielder role simply because he appears ineffective everywhere else. He is a good AM though, so let him do what he does best, I say. I would tuck Edu in the back at defensive mid. Then, I’d put Kljestan and Szetela out on the wings, and stick Wynne, Bornstein, Orozco and Califf in the back.

I’d put the Guz in goal too. He’s played well so far, and I have a lot of confidence in him. Perkins is an able backup, but probably will not see any action.

I doubt we’ll see that lineup though. I expect Beas, Frankie and Pablo to start, but give way to the youngsters in the second half. I don’t know why Bradley will insist on continuing to play these three. We’ve secured our spot and there are so many young players who we need a chance to evaluate. Pablo & Frankie will not be there in 2010 and we know what the Beas can do.  

Hopefully, Bradley will start some of the youngsters and give them a chance to impress.

As the MLS season winds down, World Cup qualifying is beginning to heat up. Next weekend, the US Men's National Team takes on Cuba in Washington D.C. to begin the last leg of their push towards the finals of the CONCACAF group.

Coach Bob Bradley named his squad for the upcoming qualifiers, and it thankfully includes a much-needed injection of youth. Jozy Altidore and Freddy Adu will return to the senior national team and hopefully provide the attacking flair that has been absent for several matches. Altidore figures to grab a lot of playing time due to the US' woes at the striker positions.

Bradley also named a lesser-known player who regularly performs well for Mexican club Pachuca. The attacking midfielder Jose Francisco Torres joins the US squad. This is a big capture for Bradley because Torres was eligible to represent either the US or Mexico. Torres chose the US despite some strong overtures from Mexico, and will only help an already-solid American midfield.

Some other notable youngsters called up to the American squad are Charlie Davies (Hammarby), Troy Perkins (Valarenga), Danny Szetela (Brescia) and Michael Orozco (San Luis.) The influx of young players for the upcoming qualifiers is an encouraging sign for American fans who had been disappointed by how certain veteran players *cough* Eddie Johnson *cough* were performing.

Joining the youngsters will be Brad Guzan, Tim Howard, Carlos Bocanegra, Danny Califf, Steve Cherundolo, Jay DeMerit, Frankie Hejduk, Oguchi Onyewu, Heath Pearce, DaMarcus Beasley, Michael Bradley, Maurice Edu, Sacha Kljestan, Brian Ching, Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey.

The Philadelphia suburb of Chester has received the necessary building permits to begin construction on their new soccer stadium. Artists' renderings of the stadium look stunning. The stadium is expected to cost $115 million and seat 18,600 fans, including a 2,000 seat section for Philly's already-vocal fan section The Sons of Ben. Kudos to Philly for getting in on the soccer-specific stadium movement.

The Columbus Crew are making campaigning for Argentinian midfielder/striker Guillermo Barros Schelotto to win the MVP award. Schelotto has been out of action since last month with a strained hamstring but his pre-injury numbers are quite impressive. He has scored six goals and created 18 others for his teammates while leading Columbus to the league's best record as of today.

As the final push towards the MLS playoffs begin, we have one of the tightest races for playoff spots in league history. No team has been mathematically eliminated yet. Toronto FC is farthest adrift from a playoff spot and are only six points out with four games left on their schedule.

Be sure to keep your eye on the standings as the last few MLS games of the 2008 regular season wind down.

I often ask myself the question whether the Columbus Crew has the possibility of reaching the MLS Cup Finals and maybe win it.

My attitude used to be that the following: “It remains to be seen what will happen in the following games against the New England Revolution and the LA Galaxy”.

I have the feeling that the Columbus Crew will defeat the New England Revolution and the LA Galaxy.

I also have the feeling that the ColumbusCrew may have what it takes to reach the MLS Cup Finals and win it. My belief in a ColumbusCrew Victory in the MLS Cup was reinforced by the fact that their record is currently 14-6-5 and the game they played against the New York Red Bulls [whose record is 9-8-8].

The following is my opinion and a personal reflection of what happened when the Columbus Crew played against the New York Red Bulls on the eighteenth of September 2008 at the Columbus Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio.

The New York Red Bulls appeared to be winning after the first goal by Juan Pablo Angel. The Columbus Crew responded with an equalizer by Frankie Hejduk and two more goals by Robbie Rogers and Eddie Gaven.

The Columbus Crew was a disciplined team that managed to surprise the New York Red Bulls with their precision at kicking the ball and moving it in different areas. Eddie Gaven was able to score his goal by a direct kick to the goal post to the surprise of the New YorkRed Bulls Goalkeeper with some help from Frankie Hejduk and Pat Noonan.

The New York Red Bulls made many mistakes and missed opportunities to score which the ColumbusCrew used to their advantage. It also did not help that Andrew Boyen and Gabriel Cichero received a yellow card for tactical foul followed by another yellow card for Dane Richards for Persistent Infringement.

The New York Red Bulls suffered a humiliation when Kevin Goldthwaite received a red card and was ejected from the game for his foul play of a serious nature for kicking Richie Roberts in the calf area.

I am of the opinion that Kevin Goldthwaite deserved his red card since he may have intentionally kicked Rogers out of frustration since his team was losing. Maybe the New YorkRed Bulls could enlist Kevin Goldthwaite in Anger Management Classes.

I would like to congratulate the Columbus Crew for a job that was well done and wish them the best in their upcoming game against the New England Revolution and the LA Galaxy.

There are seven games left in the regular season for most teams and we here at STO have identified four MLS records that may fall before the season’s final whistle. As usual, the chase to break these MLS records hasn’t received much publicity, but here at STO we have our eyes firmly set on these marks so no true fans of the league will miss a moment of league history in the making.

• All-Time Saves

Kevin Hartman of the Kansas City Wizards is almost certain to eclipse Tony Meola’s all-time record of 1136 saves. The only question is whether he does it this year or next. Hartman needs just 22 more saves to break the mark, so he would need to average only a little more than three saves a game down the stretch to become the all-time save leader. With KCW struggling as of late, Hartman could see a ton of work in the last few games, so I would put the odds of the record falling this year at 2:1.

• All-Time Hat Tricks

In eight MLS seasons L.A. Galaxy forward Edson Buddle has had four hat tricks, including two this year. If he can notch one more three goal game, he will tie Stern John and Diego Serna for most hat tricks in league history and if he can drum up two more, he will be the outright all-time leader. Barring a transfer abroad, Buddle will likely end up owning the record, but his chances of sitting atop the list at the end of this year are slim. I’d put the odds of this record falling at 99:1.

• Single Season Assists

Guillermo Barros Schelotto has looked really good this season. It’s hard to imagine someone having more than the 18 assists he’s notched for the Columbus Crew this year. But, back in 2000, my all-time favorite MLS player, Carlos Valderrama of the now defunct Tampa Bay Mutiny, had an astonishing 26 assists. To eclipse that mark, Schelotto would need to average a little more than an assist a game the rest of the way. While he has been on a tear lately, CMB just announced Schelotto is injured and will miss at least this week’s match. Due to the injury, I doubt Schelotto will topple Valderrama’s record. I’d put the odds he can do it at 99:1.

• Single Season Goals Against Average

Just last season, Pat Onstad posted a seemingly unbeatable 0.82 goals against per game average. The Dynamo’s defense was so dominant and Onstad was so solid in goal it seemed improbable his GAA record would ever fall. Well, only one season later, Jon Busch of the Chicago Fire is currently in position to break Onstad’s record. Busch is currently perched at 0.78 goals against per game and needs to avoid multi-goal games in his last seven appearances to take the single season title. I’m betting he gets it done so I’m putting the odds at even money.

Last week, the top two teams in MLS, the Columbus Crew and the New England Revoultion, met in a match that would be critical to this year’s race for the Supporters’ Shield. And Guillermo Barros Schelotto, or as I will call him for brevity’s sake “GBS”, absolutely embarrassed New England.

He had a goal. He had two assists. He did as he pleased and it seemed to please him greatly. 4-0 was the result.

GBS was, and always is, the difference for CMB. He’s got a whopping 18 assists this season now. And six goals to boot. In order to lose the MVP race this season, he would have to do something drastic…like Britney Spears.

He’s the best Argentine soccer player in MLS, which basically means he’s also the best player in MLS. Hey, say what you want about the prose of Jorge Luis Borge, but those guys can really play some soccer. Seriously. They’re good.

And he’s one of their best. Ever. GBS is the most decorated player in Argentine soccer history. More trophies than Maradona. He’s really that good. It’s crazy. And he’s recently been gracing all of us with his dominance. But no one seems to be noticing. He is certainly not a sweetheart of the national media.

But GBS is better than America’s sweetheart, David Beckham. In fact, it’s not really even that close. But it’s too late for MLS to try to turn people on to GBS. MLS is already all-in on Becks despite the fact the “Beckham Balloon” in popularity the league had promised proved to be a bag of hot air. He filled the seats in the cities he played in, but the TV audience still wasn’t there.

Meanwhile, the playmaker they could build the league around (the kind that can get the casual fan to say “wow, what an amazing athletic play”, instead of “wow, why do people say soccer is low scoring, Beckham’s Galaxy team is losing by a baker’s dozen”) is actually quietly toiling his way to an MVP in Columbus rather than playing in the bright lights of the HDC.

If you watch commercials nowadays (I try not to), you know MLS has unfortunately gone Beckham-or-Bust. While Becks should receive some focus from the league because he freaking sells their product to millions of potential fans and still turns in decent performances (his team sucks, he does not), the fact Becks has 100 commercials and GBS has none is indicative of MLS’s overall strategy—which is to put flash over substance, and formulaic play over truly creative soccer.

People like to watch Beckham. But they like to watch good soccer even more, and Beckham’s bunch ain’t playing a lot of good soccer. I say, push GBS on the people. He’s that good. It’s like even as he gets older, he never gets tired. He is indefatigable. His vision is unparalleled in the league and it always seems like he has fresh legs at the start of every second half.

It’s almost impossible. Like he’d have to be two men to be so good.

Wait a minute…

GBS has a twin brother he played with professionally in Argentina.

Gustav?

Was that you last week in the second half against the Revs?

It’s official. I need to stop watching The Prestige.

Behind the play of MVP candidate Guillermo Barros Schelotto, the Columbus Crew downed the New England Revolution 4-0 at Crew Stadium on Saturday night, their fourth consecutive win—increasing their lead in the Eastern Conference to five points ahead of the Revolution.

Schelotto, the MLS Player of the Month for August, continued his string of contributing to Crew goals, with a goal and two assists from the first three scores. It gave him two goals and eight assists from the last 10 Crew goals.

With Schelotto resting on the bench for the final seven minutes, his streak ended when ex-Revolution midfielder Pat Noonan set up substitute forward Jason Garey for his second goal of the match in the 90th minute.

The Crew took a 2-0 lead into the break thanks to Schelotto. He put Columbus ahead in the 39th minute with his sixth strike of the season and added his league-best 17th assist in the 45th minute when his free kick was headed in by rookie defender Andy Iro for his first goal.

Columbus dominated the weary Revolution in the first half but had nothing to show for it until a sloppy play turned golden. Robbie Rogers got free down the left side and pushed a grounder into the box for first-year forward Steven Lenhart, but Lenhart was marked and the ball rolled through.

Schelotto raced in and got to the errant ball first and had a hefty strike from about eight yards that left goalkeeper Matt Reis with no chance to make the save.

Schelotto and Iro connected in stoppage time for the two-goal cushion. Schelotto lined up 25 yards left of goal and lofted a service into the box where the 6-foot-5 Iro was left open for a snap header.

The Crew had 16 of the 18 shots in the opening 45 minutes and eight of nine that were on goal.

Columbus did not let up in the second half and Garey took a pass from Schelotto off his chest, settled and put a left-footer home for his second goal of the season. The 18th assist for Schelotto moves him into a third-place tie for most in an MLS season.

New England came in battered and tired from a busy summer schedule of SuperLiga, U.S. Open Cup and CONCACAF Champions League matches. Its 32nd game was a 4-0 loss Tuesday to Joe Public of Trinidad and Tobago that eliminated the Revolution from the Champions League. Meanwhile, the Crew played their 27th match in all competitions on Saturday.

The Crew were missing U.S. defender Frankie Hejduk and forward Alejandro Moreno (Venezuela) from the first 11 and the Revolution were minus starting defender Gabriel Badilla (Costa Rica) because of national team duties.

However, New England did have forward Taylor Twellman in the lineup after taking a shot to the face Aug. 30 in a collision with Los Angeles goalkeeper Steve Cronin. Twellman has been a Crew killer with nine goals, the most of any Revolution player in the rivalry.

For the Crew, Danny O'Rourke returned from suspension for yellow card accumulation to take Hejduk's place at right back. Also, Lenhart took Moreno's spot for his second start but first in five matches. He went 42 minutes against Colorado on July 27 before earning a red card and a two-game suspension for throwing an elbow. Lenhart nearly ignited the late-arriving crowd in the seventh minute after Schelotto headed the ball to him. Lenhart did a bicycle kick that Reis parried over the bar.

The Crew came close again six minutes later but the pipe proved to be the Revolution's ally twice. First, Schelotto sent a free kick from 25 yards toward the upper left corner. Reis made a leaping save but the ball smacked the crossbar and came back to Brad Evans at the edge of the goal box. His header was on target but it also kissed the bar.

New England absorbed more pressure in the 19th when Brian Carroll unleashed a strike from 19 yards that Reis had a clear vision on to makes the save. The Revolution finally had a scoring chance in the 27th with Twellman turning around Iro at the top of the penalty area before firing into the midsection of goalkeeper Will Hesmer.

Noonan made his first appearance against the Revolution in the 74th minute. His rights were obtained from New England after his return from Norway's Aalesunds FK last month. Noonan then sent a through ball to a streaking Garey to put an 90th-minute exclamation mark on the victory that saw Columbus hold a 27-4 advantage in shots, including 14-1 on goal.

I was going through MLS articles looking for something to write about. By accident, I went to a newspaper's website. There I found this article on New Zealand defender, Duncan Oughton.

I thought it was too good to change myself, so I just put the original here.  Here's that article in its original form.

Crew: Veteran Puts Team First

It appears that hooliganism is everywhere when it comes to soccer, even within the borders of the United States. Few incidents of fan trouble can be noted in the US, but you can now add a tally to the number of incidents that have occurred. 

A major confrontation took place during half-time at a pre-season friendly between the Columbus Crew and West Ham United. The trouble started when around 30 West Ham supporters entered the north-east corner of the Crew Stadium where the Crew’s most audible fans were located.

Provoking chants and some fighting between the two sets of fans broke out and it took the intervention of the Columbus police to break up the violence.

“East! East! East Lon-don!” were the chants coming from the West Ham fans.

The Crew supporters shouted back, “Co-lum-bus! Co-lum-bus!”

It doesn’t seem like enough to start a brawl, but in the end that’s what happened. The Columbus Crew are said to be responsible starting the scuffles which took place. More than 100 Crew fans were involved and it overshadowed what was otherwise a good match that ended with West Ham running out 3-1 winners.

It has been reported that the police were even forced to use pepper spray to help break up the fracas and have already made several arrests. Numerous fans were seen handcuffed outside the stadium after the game.

Soon after the brawl had occurred, West Ham fans then unfolded a banner that read “ICF, 30 years undefeated.”

The ICF stands for the Inter City Firm, which is one of the most disreputable hooligan groups in all of England.

Obviously there has been worse brawls in sports in the United States in the past, but that doesn’t change the fact that soccer hooliganism could well become a problem for soccer in the US.

If a fight could break out over something so simple in the Columbus Crew vs West Ham game, then I guess it wouldn’t take much for another clash to break out sometime soon.

I've seen hooliganism over and over again across Europe. I'll never forget the Champions League match between AC Milan and Inter Milan was abandoned with 19 minutes to go because of the violence created by the fans.

And then there was the incident between Manchester United and Roma fans before the first leg of their quarter final meeting in 2007.

Hooliganism is everywhere.

Following the match in Columbus, West Ham manager Alan Curbishley said, “It was a terrific game for us. We wanted to show people what we’re all about.”  

Well Mr. Curbishley, the only things you really showed us, thanks to your fans, is that us Americans have to deal with the problem of hooliganism.

Also, in a recent poll asking Americans if they thought hooliganism made soccer more interesting, 57% said "No" while 43%  answered "Yes."

• Derby and Birmingham are on alert after Everton midfielder Lee Carsley
  turned down a new contract, so he can move back to the Midlands. (Press Association)

• Real Madrid are on the verge of signing Racing Santander’s Argentine centre half Ezequiel Garay for eleven million Euros (eight million pounds), after Barcelona president Joan Laporta vetoed a move for the player. (Sky Sports News).

• Aston Villa are rumoured to be tracking nineteen year old Real Valladolid keeper Sergio Asenjo. The Spaniard has a buyout clause of about 3.3 million pounds. (Sky Sports News)

• Ex England boss Steve McClaren is in line for taking the reins at FC Twente next season. The Dutch side qualified for the Champions League through the playoffs beating Ajax in the final. (The Sun)

• Arsenal are in talks with AS Roma’s highly rated Italian international Alberto Aquailani over a move to the Emirates. (Setanta Sports News)

• Everton are interested in Bordeaux’s former Liverpool midfielder Alou Diarra, has a replacement for the departing Lee Carsley. (Various)

• Although they missed out on Garay, the Catalans have agreed a six million pound fee with Manchester United for Gerard Pique to take the Spanish defender back to the Nou Camp. (Daily Mail)

• Hungary captain Zoltan Gera could leave West Brom for Portuguese giants Benfica, after the midfielder’s agent received an offer from the Reds. (The Times)

• Paul Jewell has put the entire Derby County squad up for sale, following the Ram’s relegation from the Premier League. (Daily Record)

• Arsenal could turn to Blackburn’s Paraguayan striker Roque Santa Cruz if Emanuel Adebayor leaves for AC Milan, although the Gunners are confident that the Togo captain will stay in North London. (The Times)

• Arsenal will also sign Portsmouth’s Croatian midfielder Niko Kranjcar for ten million, if the south coast club sign former Liverpool winger Harry Kewell, who is a free agent after leaving Anfield. (Daily Mirror)

• Celtic will try to sign West Brom captain Paul Robinson if Lee Naylor leaves for Portsmouth. (The Herald)

• Fulham saviour Brian McBride is considering returning to the States this summer with former club Columbus Crew and Chicago Magic interested. The former USA international is out of contract this summer. (The Times)

• Lassana Diarra has a gentlemen’s agreement with Portsmouth that will let him leave the south coast if a top Champions League club comes in for the France International. (Daily Mail)

• QPR hope to bring West Brom Striker Kevin Phillips and Wolves’ Striker Freddie Eastwood to Loftus Road as the club’s first choice strike partnership next season. But the hoops will face competition from four other championship clubs for Eastwood’s signature. (Daily Mirror)

• Derby have had a half a million pound bid for Swansea’s Dutch midfielder Ferrie Bodde turned down. (Sky Sports News)

• Daniel Alves says that he feels the time is right to leave Sevilla for another challenge, Barcelona are the favourites for the match winning right back. (Sky Sports News)

• Hearts winger Neil McCann has left Tynecastle and signed for Falkirk. He joins fellow veterans Lee Bullen and Jackie McNamara in making the move to Falkirk Park. Hearts have also released French centre half Ibrahim Tall. (Sky Sports News)

• Shaun Wright-Phillips has denied that he wants to leave Stamford Bridge, despite his lack of first-team chances with the Blues. (Chelsea.com)

• While highly rated striker Karim Benzema will stay at Lyon despite the French international being chased by some of Europe’s biggest clubs. (Sky Sports News)

The Columbus Crew beat defending MLS champion Houston Dynamo, 1-0.

The Columbus Crew (4-0-1) are now in first place in the Eastern conference after their win at home over Houston. With the win, the Crew passed Kansas City and New England for sole possession of first place. Columbus is off to their best start in 10 years.

In the 22nd minute Alejandro Moreno cleaned up rebound right in front of the net to give the Crew a 1-0 lead. A header was blocked and Moreno was in the right place at the right time to score the game’s only goal.

The win was the 100th career MLS win for Columbus head coach Sigi Schmid, who is only the second coach in the history of the MLS to pass the century marks for wins.

When asked about his milestone after the game Schmid said, “It just means that I have been around for a while. But really what it means is that I have had the privilege of coaching some good players. Players who have helped me achieve that. Obviously some guys have been out there for more of the wins, I am proud of that fact—but I am more proud of the fact that it shows that I have had some good players.”

Crew goalie William Hesmer stopped 6 shots for his eighth shutout of his career and second of the young season. The biggest save by Hesmer came in the 89th minute as Houston was pressing to even the score when Wade Barret sent a scorching shot on goal from 22 yards out, but Hesmer made a great two-handed diving save.

Both teams had several good chances in the game but neither team could find the back of the net. Most of the game was played in the mid-field.

Defending champion Houston (0-2-3) is not off a to a good start and has yet to win a game this season.

“You don’t expect to be 0-2-3," Houston head coach Dominic Kinnear said. "We are disappointed right now but I can’t say it’s because we aren’t playing good soccer. It’s just sometimes you get the breaks, and sometimes you do not. And we are getting punished for mistakes.

"We have to stick together and I know this group and we will bounce back. The pressure to win is within and the expectation is to win. Right now, things are not going the way we want.”

Houston’s next game is next Saturday at home against Chivas USA, while Columbus hosts Kansas City at home on Saturday in a big early season match up of two of the top teams in the Eastern Conference.