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Not a fan.  I think the uniforms would be more appealing if Crew SC highlighted their checkered pattern more.  That is, if they absolutely need a new look because what they have is already appealing. But that's just me.

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  • MuRrAy HiLL
    MuRrAy HiLL

    Congrats on the title! Columbus Crew win 2nd MLS title, beating Seattle 3-0   https://sports.yahoo.com/columbus-crew-win-2nd-mls-034801910.html

  • Columbo
    Columbo

    A MASSIVE WIN!!!  ⚽ 🎆

  • KJP
    KJP

    Seriously?? A Cleveland guy is the first one to post this?? You slippin' C-bus!  

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A few more articles about the new 2016 away/alternate kit and one more photo:

 

http://www.massivereport.com/2016/2/10/10961840/columbus-crew-sc-unveil-for-columbus-kits-at-city-hall

 

http://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2016/02/10/columbus-crew-sc-release-new-columbus-jersey-2016

 

http://www.massivereport.com/2016/2/10/10964206/photos-2016-secondary-jersey-reveal

 

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I wanted to include the above photo because, from some sources, the shorts look bright aqua blue.  From other sources (like the above photo) the shorts look light blue.  I don't know which blue hue is more accurate - but I suppose we'll find out during their first televised game.

 

Although, which blue hue is more accurate is largely irrelevant - since the total kit is getting near universal condemnation from Crew fans and non-Crew fans.  And rightly so.  Those blue shorts combined with an already questionable shirt design create an embarrassing overall look.  However, there might be a silver lining.

 

In the photo for this new kit that ran in today's print Dispatch, the caption for it said "These uniforms will be retired after the 2016 season".  This is the first I have seen this - and I'll be looking for confirmation elsewhere.  But if true, this is very good news.  Even before this I've been wondering if we would be seeing this new away/alternate kit very sparingly during the upcoming season.

 

Because I remember another away/alternate kit that was introduced for 2013 season.  This kit was all-white except for a black & gold checkerboard pattern on the front chest between the shoulders.  It didn't look as bad as this 2016 kit, but it still looked pretty awkward.  In the 2013 season the Crew wore this kit a few times in the first few games, but very little during the rest of the season.  And that kit just faded away after that, never to be seen again.

 

Hopefully, this new 2016 away/alternate kit will follow that same pattern.  The bottom line is this: The shirts are questionable, the blue shorts are worse, together they are a disaster.  But it looks like we won't be subjected to them for very many games.  And if someone decides to ditch those awful blue shorts for some white or yellow shorts during 2016 - all the better.

 

Crew SC released its own version of "Mean Tweets" - the recurring sketch from Jimmy Kimmel Live - in which Crew players read terrible things Twitter users wrote about the new city flag inspired alternate uniforms.  You gotta give the Crew credit for not ducking the criticism and having some fun with it.

 

Below is an MLS.com article about how Gregg Berhalter and the Crew have constructed their roster:

 

http://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2016/02/05/columbus-crew-sc-after-value-players-every-continent-thats-key

 

The Crew have never spent heavily on high-priced big-name free agents.  They've looked for the value player - effective but affordable.  And its been that way throughout the Crew's 20+ season history.  Coach Berhalter has taken that value player philosophy worldwide over the past two seasons - particularly in Europe/Scandinavia.

 

Berhalter's had alot of hits with this strategy (Giancarlo Gonzalez, Sauro, Afful, Francis, Saeid, Cedrick) and a few misses (Pogatetz, Steindórsson, Grana).  But because the contracts are affordable, even the misses don't hurt the team much.  They just move on to another value signing.

  • 2 weeks later...

YES!!!!!!!!!!!    THIS NEW TV DEAL IS EXACTLY WHAT WE NEEDED!!!!!!!!!

 

From http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/sports/2016/02/26/0225-crew-tv.html:

  • All 31 Crew SC games not televised nationally will be available on Time Warner Cable SportsChannel as well as on one of three local stations operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group through a new simulcasting agreement.

  • The new deal replaces a much-maligned, two-year agreement with Time Warner that limited viewership to those with access to Time Warner Cable Sports Channel and alienated much of the fan base.

  • 25 games will air in high definition on Ch. 53, the local CW affiliate.  Two more games will be available on Ch. 28 (Fox) and one will air on Ch. 6 (ABC).

  • The remaining three midweek games  will air on Ch. 6.2 (My TV Columbus), a digital subchannel available over the air and on some local cable and satellite providers, including Time Warner, WOW and DirectTV.

  • Local Time Warner subscribers will be able to watch games on Time Warner Cable SportsChannel as well as the Sinclair stations, and Time Warner remains the official cable television partner of the team.

  • The club also announced that a local blackout for Crew SC games on the MLS Live streaming service and Direct Kick television package in place under the terms of the previous, Time Warner-only agreement had been lifted.

  • Outside of Central Ohio, games will be made available on Time Warner SportsChannel and via the MLS Live and Direct Kick packages.

I wish they would either 1) give Cleveland a team, or 2) make Crew games more available for viewing here, if we're supposed to be part of the Crew market. 

I wish they would either 1) give Cleveland a team, or 2) make Crew games more available for viewing here, if we're supposed to be part of the Crew market. 

 

Outside of Central Ohio, the 31 Crew games not already broadcast nationally are available on Time Warner SportsChannel and via the MLS Live and Direct Kick packages.

 

So Cleveland residents have availability to Crew games via 1) Cable (thru TWCSC); 2) Internet (thru MLS Live); and 3) Satellite (thru Direct Kick).  If that's not enough access for you to be a Crew fan, then you're not going to be a Crew fan.

 

YES!!!  No contract holdout for Kei and the Crew.  Kamara will be with the team for Sunday's season opening at Portland:

 

Crew: New deal for Kamara might pay him $1 million

By Shawn Mitchell, The Columbus Dispatch

Wednesday, March 2, 2016 - 5:17 AM

 

It is believed that the Crew and Kamara have agreed to a contract that will make him the team’s second designated player, ending a saga that started publicly on Jan. 25 with a Washington Post report indicating that Kamara was in a contract dispute with the Crew.  The deal is expected to include a one-year extension, keeping Kamara under contract as a designated player through the end of the 2018 season.

 

His status as a designated player would pay him at least $1 million per season, based on Major League Soccer rules.  The designated-player rule, adopted in 2007, was put in place in part to allow the Los Angeles Galaxy to sign David Beckham.  It allows MLS teams to pay up to three players more than the maximum salary ($458,000 this season), with the difference paid by individual teams.

 

Kamara, 31, was paid $537,000 last season, according to figures provided by the players’ union, and he was slated to be paid the same this season and in 2017.  The Crew used allocation money to buy down his salary cap hit, which also kept Kamara from being a designated player. ... In a league with a soft $3.6 million salary cap, paying Kamara as a designated player would represent a significant commitment on the part of Crew owner Anthony Precourt, but it could prove to be a wise investment.

 

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/sports/2016/03/02/new-deal-for-kamara-may-pay-him-1-million.html

-- Confirmation of the deal in this update from the Dispatch:  http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/sports/2016/03/02/kei-kamara-signed-as-designated-player.html

 

-- And some analysis from Massive Report:  http://www.massivereport.com/2016/3/2/11145382/report-kei-kamara-and-crew-sc-reach-new-deal

 

Kamara joins Higuain as a designated player on the Crew roster.  This is the first time in team history that the Crew has had two DP's on its roster.  The Crew’s only other DP's were 2008 MLS MVP Guillermo Barros Schelotto, who carried that status during the 2009 season, and Peruvian forward Andres Mendoza in 2011.  Federico Higuaín became a designated player for the Crew in July 2012.

Havent posted in a bit.

 

Granted I havent seen any of them play, based off of their past teams, im excited about the depth we signed this year. Ola, Larsen, Tarek, Casey, Ashe....as well as draftees Savaria and Minter.

 

Glad they paid Kamara. Im not exactly sure what hes worth. Weve only seen one season of him killing it at center forward, and it seems early to practically double his salary. I could have seen raising him from 500 something to like 650-700 something, similar to successful proven scorers in MLS like Wondolowski or Wright-Phillips....but i can also see that hes the whole reason the Crew were so successful last season and hes at LEAST as valuable as Higuain whos on 1.1 mil......so i can see why Kei would push for that kinda money. Just glad they could reach a deal without drama.

 

TV deal doesnt help me because i live in Toledo but i just fork over the money for MLS Live, and its fine. Im definitely happy for everyone local who was screwed by the blackout though. Good on the front office for at least making the team available, by some means, to everyone.

 

About the new secondary kits... Upon first sight, i wanted to throw up. My thoughts are that i can appreciate Precourts commitment to making the team "authentically Columbus" but this was a little overkill and they probably should have got some opinions before attempting something that risky. Oh well. I actually dont hate the shirt...i dont care for it but i can tolerate it. Its the blue shorts that are ridiculous. If they could switch them to white or yellow or something it would be much easier to look at. Luckily the black is the primary now, and those kits are outstanding. Also luckily, were only stuck with them for a year.

  I would like to see a kit similar to the Croatian national teams with the checkers. The checkers in the badge represent the fans so the jersey design would have relevance. Yellow shirt, black checkers on the torso, and black shorts. Just my opinion.

 

All in all I still like everything happening with the team and the still upward trajectory i see this team following. For any little step backwards we take, we for sure take like, 3 steps forward so its all good.

I wish they would either 1) give Cleveland a team, or 2) make Crew games more available for viewing here, if we're supposed to be part of the Crew market. 

 

Outside of Central Ohio, the 31 Crew games not already broadcast nationally are available on Time Warner SportsChannel and via the MLS Live and Direct Kick packages.

 

So Cleveland residents have availability to Crew games via 1) Cable (thru TWCSC); 2) Internet (thru MLS Live); and 3) Satellite (thru Direct Kick).  If that's not enough access for you to be a Crew fan, then you're not going to be a Crew fan.

 

 

How about the Cleveland Crew Backers? Watch parties at a bar, couple of road trips to Cbus. Could be fun!

 

Hmm...I just so happen to know a guy who can help kick that off....

The 2016 MLS season begins today.  Here's a linkapalooza of season previews related to the Crew:

 

http://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2016/03/02/mls-2016-season-guide-eastern-conference-favorites

 

http://www.sbnation.com/a/2016-mls-season-preview/columbus-crew

 

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/sports/2016/03/04/meet-the-crew.html

 

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/sports/2016/03/04/five-questions-for-crew.html

 

http://www.columbusalive.com/content/stories/2016/03/03/2016-crew-preview-whats-changed-in-crew-land.html

 

http://www.columbusalive.com/content/stories/2016/03/03/2016-crew-preview-five-storylines-to-watch-as-crew-sc-pursue-history.html

 

 

And a couple of profiles on individual Crew SC players:

 

http://www.rollingstone.com/sports/features/kei-kamaras-american-dream-20160303

 

http://www.columbusalive.com/content/stories/2016/03/03/2016-crew-preview-wil-trapp-readies-for-a-new-mls-season.html

Not a terrible start, but we definitely have work to do.

 

With that said. The game was a disappointment, but the Pipa bike was decent consolation. Goal of the week for sure.

Yeah, that 2-1 result seemed awfully familiar.  And speaking of awful, those special away kits with the blue shorts(!)  Although I have to admit that once the shock wears off, you do kinda get used to it.  Portland still does american soccer pageantry better than anyone else in MLS.  Too bad it was at our expense, but it was still impressive to see.

 

As far as the how opening game went, not bad for the Crew.  They almost escaped with a road draw.  But that late goal for Portland was well deserved.  I'm not too concerned with a close loss at Portland.  They are one of the best in the west.  And their counter-attacking style seems to do well against Berhalter's attacking game plan

 

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS: http://matchcenter.mlssoccer.com/matchcenter/2016-03-06-portland-timbers-vs-columbus-crew-sc/recap

 

RECAP: http://www.massivereport.com/2016/3/6/11170616/columbus-crew-sc-fall-to-portland-timbers-2-1

 

BONUS GIF: http://www.massivereport.com/2016/3/6/11170540/federico-higuain-scored-an-incredible-bicycle-kick

Another appearance of the "For Columbus" kits with those periwinkle blue shorts in last night's home opener.  And another 2-1 loss.  Time to burn those ugly kits!!!!

 

The Crew dominated everything except the scoreboard.  Shots, shots-on-goal, corner kicks and possession all went Crew SC's way.  But some inattentive defense on a harmless looking throw-in at the very end of the first half swung the game to Philadelphia.  MLS veteran Chris Pontius went unmarked into the Crew's 18-yard box and got a fortunate deflection to give Philly a 1-0 lead going into halftime.

 

As the Crew pressed forward in the second half for an equalizer, Pontius struck again in the 71st minute to finish off a counter-attack and gain a 2-0 lead.  The Crew finally got on the scoreboard in the 87th minute with a 2015-vintage Kamara header off a corner kick.  But Philly held off a couple of late Crew chances to preserve their 2-1 lead.

 

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS: http://matchcenter.mlssoccer.com/matchcenter/2016-03-12-columbus-crew-sc-vs-philadelphia-union/recap

 

RECAP: http://www.massivereport.com/2016/3/12/11213122/columbus-suffers-2-1-loss-to-philadelphia-despite-late-surge

No goals for the Crew against Chicago, but they did get their first point of the season.  Familiar story for the Crew, dominating possession, shots and shots-on-goal, but can't finish.

 

Actually, the scoring changes weren't all that great.  The best in the first half came on a near-own goal by Chicago when a defender headed the ball over the Chicago goal that just barely cleared the crossbar.  The best in the second half came when Ethan Finlay ripped a shot from 25 yards out that forced Chicago goalkeeper (and former Crew GK) Matt Lampson into a diving save.

 

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS: http://matchcenter.mlssoccer.com/matchcenter/2016-03-19-chicago-fire-vs-columbus-crew-sc/recap

 

RECAP: http://www.massivereport.com/2016/3/19/11270374/crew-sc-leave-bridgeview-with-a-0-0-tie-with-fire

I wonder what will happen when we dust off the yellow kits a few times. Blow teams out of the water like 5 - 0.

The Crew are taking this week off (along with most of MLS) for a round of international qualifying games.  Five Crew SC players received call-ups from their national teams.  Starting right forward winger Ethan Finlay got called-up to the USMNT 26-man roster and 22-year-old 2016 first-round pick midfielder Rodrigo Saravia got called-up to the Guatemala national team.

 

The U.S. and Guatemala face each other in a home-and-away series that will help determine the six teams in next year's final CONCACAF 2018 World Cup qualifying stage.  On Friday (3/25) they play at Guatemala.  The following Tuesday (3/29) they play in Columbus at Mapfre Stadium in a game broadcast by ESPN2:

 

25863997892_ea24a1188d_n_d.jpg25984829355_d4973ab451_n_d.jpg

Starting midfielder Wil Trapp was called-up to the USMNT Under-23 Team.  They play Colombia in a home-and-away series where the winner advances to play in the 2016 Olympics.  Friday's game at Colombia will be broadcast by FS1 and Tuesday's game at FC Dallas' Toyota Stadium will be broadcast by ESPN2:

 

25356144373_b213e43f1d_o_d.jpg

Starting right defensive back Harrison Afful was called-up by Ghana and starting midfielder Tony Tchani was called-up by Cameroon to play in qualifying games for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations:

 

25352151464_10bf46630c_n_d.jpg25352171224_5e35526af1_n_d.jpg

  • 2 weeks later...

Recap of the international matches for the Crew players:

 

- Wil Trapp started at midfield for the USMNT U-23 team in Friday's game at Colombia and Tuesday's game at Dallas.  The first game went better than the second as the U-23's tied 1-1 in Colombia but lost 2-0 back in Dallas.  Colombia advanced into the 2016 Rio Olympics and the U-23 team was eliminated.

 

- Ethan Finlay came on as a second half sub for the USMNT in Tuesday's 4-0 win over Guatemala in Columbus.  Finlay would have gotten his first international goal in that game if an erroneous offside call hadn't disallowed it.

 

- Rodrigo Saravia, the Crew's 22-year-old 2016 first-round pick, started at midfield for both of Guatemala's games against the USMNT - a 2-0 win on Friday and a 4-0 loss on Tuesday.

 

- Harrison Afful started at right defensive back for Ghana in their Africa Cup of Nations qualifying games.  Ghana won 3-1 over Mozambique on Thursday and then held a 0-0 draw at Mozambique on Sunday to advance to the next round.

 

- Tony Tchani played midfield for Cameroon in the first of two draws against South Africa.  The two draws advanced Cameroon to the Africa Cup of Nations next round.  Tchani's appearance also cap-tied him to Cameroon for future international play.  Tchani became a U.S. citizen in 2013 and was called up by the USMNT in January 2016 for a series of friendly games.  He made his U.S. debut on January 31 against Iceland, coming on as a second half sub.  However, this friendly appearance did not cap-tie Tchani to the USMNT.

Crew SC returned from their break to get another road draw - this time 1-1 at Dallas.  Normally a road draw against a strong team like FC Dallas is a perfectly acceptable result.  But if the Crew had their '2015 finishing touch' going, they would have got the win.

 

Meram started the scoring in the 9th minute with a great header off a corner kick.  He nearly got a second goal in the 28th minute when Finlay set up a Meram shot-on-goal.  But Meram's right-footed one-timer went directly to the Dallas keeper who punched it away.

 

That would become the theme of Crew finishing chances throughout the match.  Finlay had a couple of behind-the-defense one-on-one chances later in the half.  One he couldn't get a shot off before a Dallas defender tackled the ball away, the other was smothered by the Dallas keeper in the 43rd minute.  Kamara had his one-on-one chance in the 50th minute but struck it at the Dallas keeper who parried it aside.

 

Those missed chances came back to haunt the Crew in the 77th minute, when a turnover led to a long-range blast that hit the right goal post, deflected off Clark and lay in front of the Crew goal for a trailing Dallas player to tap in for the tying goal.

 

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS: http://matchcenter.mlssoccer.com/matchcenter/2016-04-02-fc-dallas-vs-columbus-crew-sc/recap

 

RECAP: http://www.massivereport.com/2016/4/3/11354538/columbus-crew-sc-still-searching-for-first-win-after-tying-dallas-1-1

 

I don't know if this helps out anyone here, but the Crew announced that their games will now be simulcast on BCSN2 for Buckeye CableSystem subscribers in Toledo and Sandusky.  This begins with the game at Dallas on Saturday:

 

http://www.columbuscrewsc.com/post/2016/03/31/crew-sc-extends-cable-television-distribution-reach-toledo-and-sandusky-ohio-areas

 

I live in Toledo and im super excited. I held off on paying for MLS Live this season just because i was waiting til i had some more money, and bam!....out of nowhere Crew announces the deal with Buckeye. Couldnt have been better timing for me!

 

Between the Crew TV deal, and the inaugural season of Toledo United beginning soon, being a soccer fan just got a lot better in Northwest Ohio this season.

The Crew's early season woes continue with a 2-0 loss at Montreal.  The Crew's finishing touch still isn't there.  Last week, the best scoring ended with shots directly at the goalkeeper.  This week, they changed it up by just kicking the best chances high over the Montreal goal.

 

Meanwhile, Montreal got their first goal early in the second half (48') on a corner kick headed in by a 6'-2" player being marked by 5'-7" Harrison Afful (quite the mismatch!) and finished off the Crew with another headed in goal in the 86th minute.

 

The Crew's best defender Gaston Sauro left in the 25th minute with a strained hamstring.  And they wore those stupid blue shorts again.  So it was a pretty much a terrible game all-around for the Crew in venerable Stade Olympique yesterday.

 

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS: http://matchcenter.mlssoccer.com/matchcenter/2016-04-09-montreal-impact-vs-columbus-crew-sc/recap

 

RECAP: http://www.massivereport.com/2016/4/9/11399644/columbus-crew-sc-remain-winless-after-2-0-defeat-to-the-montreal

Crew SC finally got their first win of 2016 in a wild 3-2 victory over NYCFC last night at Mapfre Stadium.  The Crew looked offensively sharp from the start.  In the 7th minute, Justin Meram got the ball wide left, took it to the end line and drove a crossing pass back into the NYCFC box.  The pass was deflected out to an on-rushing Ethan Finlay who blasted it into the net for a 1-0 lead.

 

Against the run of play, Spanish-legend David Villa tied up 1-1 on a forceful header from a long-range cross in the 15th minute.  After that, the Crew had multiple chances to take a lead into halftime.  In the 28th minute, Federico Higuain started a clever set play off a free kick where he passed the ball around the NYCFC wall to Finlay making an unmarked run.  Finlay's shot beat the NYCFC goalkeeper but hit the left post.  Then Kei Kamara had a good 1 v 1 scoring chance in 37th minute that went just wide.

 

But after halftime, Kamara wouldn't miss his next chance.  On a counter-attack, Meram found an unmarked Kamara with space to run.  Kamara was able to size up the keeper and blast a shot in goal for a 2-1 lead.  The game looked over in the 80th minute when Higuain found Finlay with space to run onto goal.  In a reverse of the first goal, Finlay drove to the end line and centered a pass back to an on-rushing Meram, who buried it for a 3-1 lead.

 

That looked like an insurance goal, but turned out to be the game-winning goal after a wild final few minutes to this game.

 

In the 86th minute, Mo Saeid (who had been playing well for an injured Tchani) sent a too-soft back pass to Michael Parkhurst.  Parkhurst was dispossessed by hulking NYCFC forward Kwadwo Poku, who then had a free run into the Crew's 18-yard box.  Tyson Wahl was forced to charge over to stop Poku and was called for denying a clear goal-scoring opportunity in the box - a red card foul and penalty kick.  (Bizarrely, Parkhurst was mistakenly sent off instead of Wahl - something that MLS should clear up during the week.)  David Villa easily converted the PK to cut the lead to 3-2.

 

With the Crew down to 10 men, NYCFC got a couple of great scoring chances in the final minutes.  The best was in the 93rd minute, when a long crossing pass found an on-rushing NYCFC player at the left post.  Crew goalkeeper Steve Clark made a diving save to deny a tap-in that would have re-tied the match.  And after that scare, the Crew were able to hold on for their first win of 2016.

 

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS: http://matchcenter.mlssoccer.com/matchcenter/2016-04-16-columbus-crew-sc-vs-new-york-city-fc/recap

 

RECAP: http://www.massivereport.com/2016/4/16/11445590/crew-sc-survives-late-drama-and-attacking-push-to-beat-nycfc-3-2

Crew SC are looking for their second straight home win tonight. (To quote Manager Lou Brown from Major League; "That's what's known as a winning streak, it has happened before.")  Also looking for their second overall win against a Houston team with an identical 1-3-2 record.  A Houston team that outside of a 5-0 win over Dallas in Week 2, has looked unimpressive and gives up goals.  With the momentum of last week's win, and tonight's opponent, anything less than a win would be a bad result for the Crew.

 

Going into tonight's match, Crew SC got two bits of good news:

 

- The first bit of good news involves MLS cleaning up last week's "moment of bad officiating":

  • The MOBO came when Parkhurst was incorrectly given a red card on a PK foul by Wahl.  After the game, the red card (and automatic one-game suspension) was transferred to Wahl.  The Crew then appealed the red card call to MLS.  MLS then reviewed the call and rescinded the red card.  MLS determined that when Wahl knocked the ball away on the PK foul, goalkeeper Clark was also in close proximity - and therefore it did not constitute an obvious denial of a scoring opportunity worthy of a red card.

  • So both Parkhurst and Wahl will be available to start tonight.  Good news because our only other experienced central defender (Sauro) is still injured and not available to fill in.

 

- The second bit of good news involves the way Crew SC will look tonight:

  • The banana kit is back!!!!!  The Crew will be wearing their fan-favorite all-yellow uniforms for the first time in 2016!!!

  • As announced via the team twitter feed:

It wasn't a "beautiful win".  But you gotta take early season wins however you find em.  A 1-0 win on Saturday night improved the Crew record to 2-3-2.  And to show just how volatile early season standings are, the win vaulted Crew SC from dead-last 10th place into a 6th place playoff spot in the Eastern Conference!

 

The game was set to be an offensively-minded match-up.  The Crew was predisposed to push forward to generate scoring chances, even at the expense of giving up chances defensively.  And Houston had the second-most goals-scored plus the third-worst goals-scored-against going into Saturday's game.  But that offense match-up got sidetracked early.

 

In the 18th minute, a quick series of passes got the ball to a wide-open Federico Higuain at the edge of Houston's 18-yard box.  The Houston goalkeeper (making his first start of 2016) aggressively came out to stop him.  But Higuain kept the ball away, was running past the keeper and got taken down by the keeper when he grabbed Higuain's ankle.  It was an obvious foul in the box (which netted a PK) plus a "denial of obvious goal scoring opportunity" that also netted a red card for the Houston goalkeeper.

 

Kamara calmly converted the PK to put the Crew up 1-0.  With Houston down to 10 men, they bunkered in defensively.  The Crew dominated possession, shots, corners and just about every other stat.  But Houston was successful in preventing the Crew from generating good quality scoring chances.  They kept frustrating the Crew attack by sitting behind midfield, clogging up space and stymieing the Crew into nine offsides.  One offside in the 60th minute negated a second Crew goal that was set up with a quick series of passes from Trapp to Meram to Higuain to Francis to Kamara to Meram to GOAL! (But alas, Kamara was offside)

 

It wasn't pretty strategy, but it kept Houston in the game with only 10 men and gave them a chance for a road draw if they got lucky or if the Crew made a big mistake.  But neither one happened and the Crew grinded out the 1-0 win.  And beautiful or ugly, a win is a win:

 

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS: http://matchcenter.mlssoccer.com/matchcenter/2016-04-23-columbus-crew-sc-vs-houston-dynamo/recap

 

RECAP: http://www.massivereport.com/2016/4/23/11496254/crew-sc-wins-1-0-slugfest-over-houston-on-kamara-pk

Crew SC travels to Seattle today for an afternoon match.  Seattle always provides great atmosphere and huge crowds in their 'NFL-stadium-that-seems-perfectly-suited-for-soccer' venue.  The only drawback is the artificial turf:  http://www.massivereport.com/2016/4/29/11540186/which-disappointing-team-will-be-least-disappointing-when-crew-sc-and/in/11307737

 

As Massive Report hi-lights above, both teams are having disappointing starts in 2016.  Although Crew SC is riding a two game winning streak and Seattle is 2-1-1 over its last four.  So it looks like both teams are beginning to round into form.

 

The Crew will likely have the same starting 11 as in their past two wins - except for a midfield shuffle.  Mohammed Saeid has started the past two games while Tony Tchani was out with a calf strain.  However, Saeid got hit in the head with an illegal elbow in the 72nd minute of last week's game (MLS issued a one-game suspension to the Houston offender).  Saeid immediately left the game and is questionable with concussion symptoms.  If healthy, Tchani should return to the lineup.  If not, rookie Rodrigo Saravia might get his first career start.

- The Crew could have had a road win in Seattle yesterday with some better finishing of their scoring chances.

 

- The Crew could have had a road draw by hanging on a few more minutes and denying Seattle a goal.

 

- But instead it was a road loss with Seattle getting the game-winning goal in the 88th minute.  Maybe a bit of an unfair result, with the ball bouncing Seattle’s way on that goal - but that’s the way it goes sometimes.

 

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS: http://matchcenter.mlssoccer.com/matchcenter/2016-04-30-seattle-sounders-fc-vs-columbus-crew-sc/recap

 

RECAP: http://www.massivereport.com/2016/4/30/11546072/late-goal-drops-columbus-crew-sc-to-the-fourth-loss-of-the-season

  • 2 weeks later...

Well, that was a doozy of game against Montreal.  Great if you like goals.  Not so great if you like Crew home wins.

 

It started out okay, with the Crew scoring first in the 16th minute on 2015-esque crossing pass from Meram that was brilliantly headed in by Kamara.  Then Montreal tied it 1-1 in the 26th minute on a masterful touch and kick by Piatti.  Then the Crew got a break at 45'+ (first half stoppage time) when a long ball from Parkhurst to Kamara got misplayed by the Montreal keeper - allowing Kamara to tap the ball past him and give the Crew a 2-1 halftime lead.

 

It started even better in the second half when, in the 48th minute, Afful's shot pinballed between two Montreal defenders and bounced to Higuain who maneuvered around the keeper for a goal.  In the 53rd minute, Meram was fouled in the box and the Crew got a PK.  After some contentious discussion between Kamara and Higuain - (more on that in the next post) - Higuain converted it to give the Crew a 4-1 lead.

 

So it's rainbows and unicorns for the Crew as they cruise to an easy victory, right?  Wrong!  Only four minutes later, a Montreal player gets fouled in the box and Drogba converts the PK.  Now it's 4-2.  One minute later at 58' Oduro finds Piatti, who slickly by-passes the Crew defense for another goal.  And now it's 4-3.

 

But even with all that, the game settled down for the next half hour.  And it looked like the Crew would hold on to a one goal victory.  But in the dying moments of the match, a 93rd minute throw-in got headed forward by Drogba, bounced around in the box, and found it's way to Oduro for a game-tying Montreal goal and a 4-4 final!  Defensive collapse complete!

 

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS: http://matchcenter.mlssoccer.com/matchcenter/2016-05-07-columbus-crew-sc-vs-montreal-impact/recap

 

RECAP: http://www.massivereport.com/2016/5/7/11617710/columbus-crew-sc-tie-the-montreal-impact-4-4

The MLS highlights video didn't include the Kamara-Higuain argument over the penalty kick.  But they did provide this YouTube post of it:

 

 

It looked like Kamara wanted to take the PK (and get a 3rd goal for the game).  Higuain looked like he was trying to explain that since he's the normally designated PK taker, maybe he should - you know - take it.  (Drogba coming in to knock the ball away was a nice trolling touch.)  But the Kamara-Higuain disagreement lingered so long that team captain Parkhurst had to run in from midfield to sort it out.

 

Eventually, Kamara walked away with the ball, refusing to hand it Higuain.  Instead he handed it to Parkhurst and ignored him as he tried to talk to him.  Finally, Higuain did the least contentious thing in whole video and easily converted the PK to put the Crew up 4-1.

 

Certainly, emotions get ramped up during a game.  But the Crew were up 2 goals at this point and were about to go up 3 goals.  This should never have happened.  And Kamara didn't defuse the situation after the game.  This bears watching:

 

http://www.massivereport.com/2016/5/7/11622640/penalty-kick-debacle-issues-between-kei-kamara-federico-higuain

 

http://www.massivereport.com/2016/5/8/11635822/gregg-berhalter-calls-the-columbus-crew-sc-draw-an-immature

Link to today's article from Shawn Mitchell, The Dispatch's Crew beat reporter, on the Kamara suspension and on trade rumor speculation surrounding Kamara and Higuain:

 

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/sports/2016/05/11/0510-kamara-suspended.html

 

Mitchell notes a number of interesting points regarding the trade rumors surrounding Kamara and Higuain, who are both DP's (designated players):

 

- Trades of DP's are rare but not unprecedented in MLS and neither player has a no-trade clause in his contract.

- 12 of the 20 MLS teams are already carrying the maximum of three DP's allowed on their roster.

- An existing MLS transfer/trade window closes today, after which teams cannot trade or transfer players until a new window opens July 4.

 

So it looks like any near term trade is unlikely, due to the complexity of trading a DP in MLS.  But after the summer trading window opens on July 4th?  Well, that might depend on if this Kamara situation gets better or worse by then.

http://www.columbuscrewsc.com/post/2016/05/12/crew-sc-trades-forward-kei-kamara-new-england-revolution

 

From Crew SC:  "Columbus Crew SC today announced that it has traded forward Kei Kamara to the New England Revolution.  In exchange for Kamara, the Black & Gold received General Allocation Money, Targeted Allocation Money, New England's highest First Round MLS SuperDraft pick in 2017, New England's highest Second Round MLS SuperDraft pick in 2018 and one of New England's international roster spots for the 2016 season."

 

"Additionally, Crew SC will retain a percentage of any future transfer fee for Kamara should he be transferred to a club outside of MLS.  The agreement was executed prior to the close of Major League Soccer's 1:00 a.m. ET transfer window today, Thursday, May 12."

^ I think that was the good move.

^ I think that was the good move.

 

I think this trade may have been the best chance for the Crew to save the 2016 season.  We'll see if this move turns out well for the Crew.  But at least it lets the Crew do a sort of season reboot for 2016.  2015 Kei Kamara was awesome and spectacular.  But 2016 Kei Kamara had been the opposite.  Something seemed "off" with the 2016 offense.  Was it Kei?  We don’t know.  But Kei may have been a bigger behind the scenes problem than anyone realized.

 

It looks like whatever happened behind the scenes got to the point where it was better for both the Crew and Kamara to move on.  And it is certainly not too late to recover and reach the playoffs - if they start getting positive results (i.e. home wins & road draws).

 

We’ve still got Higuain, Meram, Finlay, Cedrick, Afful, Francis, Saeid, Tchani (maybe), Trapp, Sauro, Parkhurst and Clark.  If Ola Kamara can be a productive striker, then the 2016 season could turn around for the Crew.  If Ola isn’t the answer, then Berhalter just got a bunch of allocation money and an extra international roster spot from NE to bring in another striker after July 4.

 

Will it work?  Who knows right now.  But the Crew just couldn’t keep doing what hasn’t been working in 2016 and hope to reach the playoffs.  Ultimately, the standings will determine if the Crew made the right decision here.

So, that game against the league-leading Colorado Rapids on Saturday.  It turned out to be another one of those "could've been better"/"could've been worse" games - ending in a 1-1 draw.

 

The Crew started out strong.  Higuain made two beautiful passes to set up Afful for two nice scoring chances in the 6th and 17th minutes.  The 6' chance skimmed just left of the Colorado net.  The 17' chance was stopped by the Colorado keeper with a point blank save.  The Crew finally broke through in 23' with a nice build-up to the left that Cedrick took into the Colorado 18-yard box.  Cedrick's initial shot was blocked and it deflected over to Afful.  Then, as the Colorado defense focused on him and two other Crew players near the net, Afful wheeled back and passed to an on-rushing Cedrick, who found a small gap in the defense to shoot the ball in for a 1-0 lead.

 

The Crew lost momentum after that and took the 1-0 lead into halftime.  Colorado took the initiative to start the second half.  And after they earned a corner kick in the 55th minute, the old Crew bugaboo of defending set pieces cost them again when that corner kick was headed in to tie it up 1-1.

 

After that it was a pretty even match in the second half.  Steve Clark made two game-saving stops within 3 seconds in the 73rd minute on a long-range blast first, and then on a point blank rebound shot.  The Crew pressed for their own late game-winner - but it seemed like each time a Crew player had a half-decent look toward goal, two or three Colorado were blocking any direct pass or shot.  The Crew's best late scoring chance was an Ola Kamara header attempt in the 82nd minute.

 

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS: http://matchcenter.mlssoccer.com/matchcenter/2016-05-14-columbus-crew-sc-vs-colorado-rapids/recap

 

RECAP: http://www.massivereport.com/2016/5/14/11677092/columbus-crew-sc-ties-colorado-rapids-1-1

Massive Report's analysis of the new-ish Crew SC against Colorado:  http://www.massivereport.com/2016/5/15/11678926/6-thought-box-new-ish-crew-turns-out-to-be-ok-against-colorado

 

And it wasn't just "no Kei Kamara" in the starting lineup, as there were a number of lineup changes (see below):

26778533290_589a6ed28a_z_d.jpg

  • Ola Kamara replaced Kei Kamara at striker.

  • Cedrick Mabwati replaced Meram at left forward and Meram moved over to right forward (replacing Finlay).  To start the second half, Meram went back to left forward and Cedrick switched to right forward.  Finlay then replaced Cedrick in the 60th minute.  Emil Larsen came on in the 79th minute to replace Meram.

  • Saeid again started in Tchani's midfield position.  Saeid is a quality midfielder, but the exact status of Tchani remains a bit of a mystery.  Tchani had been nursing a strained calf, but he wasn't listed on this game's injury report.  Plus Tchani was the subject of trade rumors last week.

  • Corey Ashe started for the second start week in place of Francis at left back.  Francis was not listed as being injured, so this seems like a coach's decision.

  • Central defender Sauro returned after missing nearly one month due to a leg injury.

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