Couple of organizational moves made by new Crew head coach (and "Sporting Director") Gregg Berhalter.  One involving off-the-field personnel and the other involving on-the-field players.  Here's the off-the-field moves:  The Crew announced that Asher Mendelsohn will join the organization as the Director of Soccer Operations and Josh Wolff will join as an assistant coach to Berhalter.  More about this at the links below:

 

http://www.massivereport.com/2013/11/22/5132596/mendelsohn-and-wolff-join-the-crew-as-berhalters-first-two-moves

 

http://www.thecrew.com/news/2013/11/wolff-easy-decision-reunite-ex-teammate-gregg-berhalter-crew-staff

And now, here are the moves involving the roster:  Six players had next year's contract options declined by the team.  The three biggest names were Jairo Arrieta, Danny O’Rourke and Glauber.  These were salary cap moves for all three - so there is a chance they might return next year at a lower salary.  Arrieta is the most likely to return - his agent and Arrieta's twitter account are reporting that they are in negotiations with the team.  Glauber is probably more 50/50 to return.  While O'Rourke looks like he might end his 7-year run with the Crew.

 

With Gaven's retirement, the earlier move to cut Sanchez and now these three moves - 5 of the Crew's top 10 highest paid players from last season are now "off the books".  That will give Head Coach/Sporting Director Gregg Berhalter lots of flexibility to remake the team into his image (whatever that may be).  More about this at the links below:

 

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/sports/2013/11/23/arrieta-orourke-among-cap-cuts.html

 

http://www.thecrew.com/news/2013/11/crew-exercises-options-contracts-14-players

More roster moves:  The Crew made two moves to help stablize their shaky defense from last season.  The biggest name was Josh Williams.  The Crew used some of its new cap space to re-sign Williams after his rookie contract expired.  Williams started 25 of 34 games last season and was an emerging young player who filled in at all three defensive positions last season.  It is thought he could be the team's starting right d-back next year.

 

The second biggest name from yesterday's roster moves was the signing of 23-year-old Waylon Francis from Costa Rica.  It is thought that Francis will compete for the starting left d-back position next year.  More about these moves at http://www.massivereport.com/2013/11/28/5154096/four-added-to-roster-as-williams-returns-and-francis-arrives-from

 

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Massive Report also had a nice ode to long-time Crew player and general good guy, Danny O'Rourke.  State champion from Worthington Kilbourne in central Ohio, NCAA champion at Indiana and MLS champion at Columbus.  Sad to see him go, but time catches up with everyone - and professional sports is brutually efficient at figuring that out.  Here's hoping he catches on somewhere else in MLS or returns to the Crew in some capacity.  More at http://www.massivereport.com/2013/11/23/5135450/danny-orourke-gone-but-not-forgotten

 

 

The Crew re-signed its leading scorer from last year, Dominic Oduro.  As per MLS policy, there's no info on contract length or amount.  But here's articles from the Crew and MLS about the Oduro re-signing below anyway:

 

http://www.thecrew.com/news/2013/12/crew-re-signs-forward-dominic-oduro

 

http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2013/12/09/many-overseas-suitors-dominic-oduro-columbus-crew-are-happy-we-got-deal-done

 

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No longer Crew news: MLS also had news at their site that former Crew technical director and interim head coach Brian Bliss was named technical director of the Chicago Fire - http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2013/12/06/chicago-fire-name-longtime-columbus-crew-fixture-brian-bliss-new-technical-d

Wow! Did not see this one coming:  The Columbus Crew today announced that it has traded defender Chad Marshall to Seattle Sounders FC in exchange for allocation money and a 2015 Third Round SuperDraft selection.

 

More about the Chad Marshall trade from theCrew.com:

 

http://www.thecrew.com/news/2013/12/crew-trades-chad-marshall-seattle-sounders-fc

 

http://www.thecrew.com/news/2013/12/decision-trade-marshall-wasnt-easy-gives-crew-resources-moving-forward

Two goalkeeping roster moves by the Crew yesterday:  http://www.massivereport.com/2013/12/17/5217648/gk-shuffle-andy-gruenebaum-heads-to-kansas-city-as-steve-clark

 

- The first involved former starter Andy Gruenebaum.  The Crew traded his signing rights to current MLS Champion Sporting Kansas City.  He then signed with SKC.  The Hebrew Hammer will become SKC's starting goalkeeper next season - as their previous starter, 36-year-old Jimmy Nielsen, retired after making key saves in the MLS Cup PK round to lead SKC to this year's title.  Way to leave on top!  It's a great opportunity for Gruenebaum in another way too - he's from Kansas City.  Good luck to the Hebrew Hammer (except vs. the Crew).

 

- The second move involved acquiring the signing rights to Steve Clark from Seattle.  27-year-old Clark was a starting goalkeeper for the past 4 seasons in Norway's top league.  He will compete with 24-year-old Matt Lampson, who was the Crew's starting keeper for the final third of last season, for next season's starting job.

Another roster move.  This one was less of a surprise, but it was still very good to see.  Forward striker Jairo Arrieta re-signed with the Crew for the 2014 season.  This was after the team had declined an option in his previous contract to return for 2014.  At the time, it was thought that the Crew might re-sign 30-year-old Arrieta at a lower salary than his previous contract allowed for.

 

Arrieta made a big impact in a partial 2012 season when he scored 9 goals with 4 assists in 18 games.  During 2013, he struggled with only 3 goals and 4 assists in 26 games.  In 2013, he bounced back-and-forth between the Crew and his Costa Rican national team - which seemed to affect his performance for the worse.  But he was still a hard-working high-energy player that always gave maximum effort.  That, and the hope that a fully committed Arrieta might regain his 2012 touch, is certainly worth bringing him back at a more cap-friendly salary.

 

http://www.thecrew.com/news/2013/12/crew-re-signs-forward-jairo-arrieta

 

http://www.massivereport.com/2013/12/19/5226610/columbus-crew-re-sign-jairo-arrieta-for-2014-season

The Crew roster keeps getting a makeover - this time its the defense.  Veteran USMNT defender Michael Parkhurst was signed yesterday by the Crew after a trade with the New England Revolution.  Parkhurst has been playing in Europe for the last five seasons, but the Revs held his MLS signing rights.  The Crew traded this year's 1st round draft pick and some allocation money for his signing rights.

 

http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2014/01/13/columbus-crew-sign-usmnt-defender-michael-parkhurst-following-trade-new-engl

Spring must be on its way because MLS soccer is ready to begin.  The Crew starts its 2014 season at D.C. United on Saturday.  Followed by a one-week break (?) and the Crew's first home game on March 22 against Philadelphia.  Full schedule at http://www.thecrew.com/schedule

 

It's a season of "new's":  New coach, new owner, and new players.  Here's a rundown of the full roster from starting 11 to the rest of the game-day 18 to other contributors from the Columbus Dispatch at http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/sports/2014/03/07/0307-crew-bios.html and at http://www.thecrew.com/players. 

 

Goalkeepers:

With last year's starter Andy Gruenebaum getting traded away and former starter Will Hesmer retiring, this year's starting job in the net is between Matt Lampson, who started 13 games last year, and newcomer Steve Clark who was brought in from Norway.  Coach Berhalter has not named an opening game starter.  But it seems like Clark will get the start.  After that, each start will likely be based on game performance until either Clark or Lampson emerge as the primary GK.  The excellent Massive Report website has analysis of the Crew goalkeepers at http://www.massivereport.com/2014/3/3/5467970/columbus-crew-preview-goalkeepers

 

Defenders:

This is where the Crew roster had the most changes.  Gone is long-time veteran Chad Marshall and newcomer Glauber in the center.  Josh Williams, who played at center and the wings last year, is the only defensive starter from last year expected to start in the opening game.  New acquisitions are USMNT veteran Michael Parkhurst and Costa Rican internationals Waylon Francis and Giancarlo Gonzalez.  It looks like Francis and Williams will start on the wings and Parkhurst and Gonzalez in the center of the defense.  Formers starters Barson and Wahl look to be the primary reserves.  More analysis of the Crew defenders at http://www.massivereport.com/2014/3/4/5472544/columbus-crew-preview-defenders

 

Midfielders/Forwards:

This is where the Crew roster had the least changes.  Eddie Gaven suprisingly retired.  Danny O'Rourke wasn't re-signed.  Homegrown rookie Wil Trapp emerged as a bright spot in the defensive midfield.  But the rest of the expected starting midfielders and forwards are holdovers from last season.  Trapp, Tchani and Anor are expected to anchor the defensive midfield.  Oduro, Higuain and Arrieta are expected to be the offensive midfielders and forwards.  The team is hoping that Trapp, Higuain and Oduro (who broke out big last year) continue playing well.  However, in keeping Tchani, Anor and Arrieta, the team is hoping they improve from last year.  Particularly Arrieta, who had 9 goals in 18 games during 2012 but only 3 goals during 26 games in 2013. -- Hector Jimenez (acquired from L.A), Meram, Viana and Finley are the primary reserves.  More analysis of the Crew midfielders/forwards at http://www.massivereport.com/2014/3/6/5476696/columbus-crew-preview-midfielders and at http://www.massivereport.com/2014/3/7/5482984/columbus-crew-preview-forwards

So there's this year's team.  But there's something else.  One more "new" for the Crew this year is a new TV broadcaster.  The two-year contract with FoxSportsOhio expired.  This year the Crew's broadcaster will be the Time Warner Cable Sports Network.  Which is good news is you have Time Warner Cable (mostly).  However, if you've got satellite or another cable provider, you won't get TWCSN.

 

Even worse, if you live within the blackout zone of 75 miles around Columbus, you are barred from viewing the games on Direct Kick or MLS Live.  So, Cleveland, Cincinnati and Toledo - you're okay.  Dayton, Zanesville, Newark, Mansfield, and Lancaster are inside the zone and out of luck.  Even if you have Time Warner Cable, you still may not have TWCSN.  TWCSN is only available on a special higher-priced sports package and not on the standard package like FSO is.

 

More about this new TV deal at http://www.massivereport.com/2014/3/6/5478754/crew-announce-multi-year-deal-with-time-warner/in/5242787 and http://www.awfulannouncing.com/2014/march/columbus-crew-fans-revolt-against-team-s-new-television-deal.html

Fans always wonder if the preseason exhibition games have any relevance to the regular season.  Crew fans in particular, because they were dominant in their preseason matches going 4-0-1 and outscoring opponents 13 to 6.  They also won the preseason Disney Pro Soccer Classic over last year's MLS champs Sporting KC - http://www.massivereport.com/2014/3/2/5464724/columbus-crew-down-sporting-kansas-city-in-final-preseason-clash.

 

Maybe those preseason results do translate to the regular season.  Because the Crew dominated host DC United last night with a 3-0 win.  The starting lineup was as excepted - only without Oduro because he was serving a one-game suspension for a red card he got in last season's final game.  Newcomer Hector Jimenez filled in for Oduro.  Jimenez started the game's scoring in the 18th minute when his pass found Josh Williams making a run up the right side.  Williams fired a quick crossing pass onto a sliding Jairo Arrieta in front of the DC keeper the first goal of the night. 

 

The second goal came in the 27th minute when newcomer Michael Parkhurst was dragged down in the box on a corner kick.  Higuain converted the penalty kick to put the Crew up 2-0.  After that the Crew held off DC until Higuain scored the Crew's third goal in the 90th minute.  This Higuain goal during the run of play off a crossing pass from sub Justin Meram.  So, are the Crew this good - or are is DC this bad.  It could be the latter.  But we won't get a chance to find out until March 22nd.  In the meantime, enjoy the game highlights at the MLS link below.

 

Game 1 recap: http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2014/03/08/dc-united-0-columbus-crew-3-mls-match-recap

No Crew game this weekend - they are off until next Saturday when they have their home opener against Philadelphia.  So, here's a couple of reports about last weekend's game from the Massive Report website.  It was a promising start to the 2014 season - it's too bad more fans couldn't view the game with the team's new TV deal:

 

More about the 3-0 Crew victory: http://www.massivereport.com/2014/3/9/5488670/columbus-crews-new-attack-blossoms-in-season-opener

 

More about the Crew's new TV deal: http://www.massivereport.com/2014/3/11/5487198/crew-tv-deal-blacks-out-majority-of-local-fans

Maybe this really is a new era for the Crew.  With their 2-1 win over Philadelphia yesterday, they are now 2-0-0.  Starting the season 2-0-0 is something they have never done in their previous 18 seasons - even the 2008 MLS Cup season.

 

The Crew scored first and often in the opening half.  First it was Bernardo Anor with a header off a Higuain corner kick in the 24th minute.  Then it was Anor again in first half stoppage time.  This time with a booming kick from 35 yards out. -- The Crew held the 2-0 lead until Philadelphia scored in the 62nd minute.  Philadelphia had some great chances to tie it back up later in the game, forcing Crew goalkeeper Steve Clark to make some key saves.  But the Crew held on to win their home opener. 

 

Recap and video highlights at http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2014/03/22/columbus-crew-2-philadelphia-union-1-mls-match-recap and full game stats at http://espnfc.com/us/en/gamecast/384820/gamecast.html?soccernet=true&cc=5901

Surprise shake up in the Crew's front office.  The Columbus Crew announced today that they have parted ways with team President Mark McCullers.  After 15 years with the Crew, McCullers will finish his tenure April 30.  Team owner Anthony Precourt will assume the role of club President and take over day-to-day operations as a national search begins for McCullers' replacement.

 

MORE:  http://www.massivereport.com/2014/3/24/5542540/columbus-crew-part-ways-with-president-mark-mccullers

The Crew's amazing early 2014 season continues with a dramatic 2-1 win at Seattle.  Recap and video highlights at http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2014/03/30/seattle-sounders-1-columbus-crew-2-mls-match-recap and full game stats at http://espnfc.com/us/en/gamecast/statistics/id/384810/statistics.html

 

It didn't look amazing for the Crew in the first half.  Seattle scored first on a breakaway in the 22nd minute.  And Crew goalkeeper Steve Clark had to make numerous saves to keep it 1-0.  But the game turned on a play in 57th minute.  Oduro got free with the ball just outside the 6-yard box and was fouled by a Seattle defender.  The play resulted in a red card for the defender and a penalty kick for the Crew.  After a delay involving Arrieta replacing the injured Oduro, much complaining from the Seattle players and much booing from the raucous Seattle crowd - Federico Higuain calmy drove home the PK to tie it 1-1.

 

Despite Seattle being down to 10 men, they held off the Crew for the remainder of the second half and the game went into 4 minutes of stoppage time.  It looked like Seattle might escape with the draw.  But the Crew had a final corner kick.  Higuain hit a quick short corner to an unmarked Justin Meram at the edge of the 18-yard box.  Meram's shot into the upper far corner of the net won it for the Crew on the last shot of the match!

Well, the Crew's unbeaten streak was broken by Toronto FC.  The reworked Toronto team faced the revitalized Crew team last night and left with a 2-0 victory.  The game-winning goal came from high-priced off-season acquisition Michael Bradley in the 11th minute.  Bradley took a pass to the right of the Crew goal and hit a stunner of a shot from a nearly impossible angle at the endline.  His shot beat Crew goalkeeper Clark through his legs for the goal.

 

The Crew had much of the possession in the second half and a couple of good chances to equalize.  One was an Anor free kick in the 49th minute saved by the Toronto goalkeeper.  The other was a 83rd minute melee in front the 6-yard box that featured two shots blocked by Toronto defenders before they cleared it.  In the 85th minute, a Toronto counter-attack led to their 2nd goal to clinch the win.

 

Recap and video highlights at http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2014/04/05/columbus-crew-0-toronto-fc-2-mls-match-recap

 

Both Toronto and Columbus are now 3-1-0 and atop the Eastern standings in this early season.

The Crew played host San Jose to a 1-1 draw yesterday.  Columbus got the first goal late in the first half on a 44th minute goal.  The Crew had a nice build-up that resulted in defenseman Waylon Francis getting the ball deep.  As the San Jose defense focused on him, he sent an cross pass back to an open Higuain, who deftly left-footed the ball from 12 yards into the goal.

 

That beautiful play to gain the lead was undone only five minutes into the second half by some lax defense on a San Jose corner kick.  Wondolowski's header tied it up in the 51st minute.  Each team had some close calls in the remaining second half - the closest from an Oduro header that hit the crossbar in the 82nd minute - but the match ended 1-1.  Recap and video highlights at http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2014/04/13/san-jose-earthquakes-1-columbus-crew-1-mls-match-recap

 

The Crew gets one road point for the draw and, at 3-1-1 and 10 points, holds a 1 point lead over Toronto in the Eastern Conference standings.

Another 1-1 draw for the Crew - this time at home against D.C. United.  From the Dispatch reporter's game review at http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/sports/2014/04/21/goal-by-jimenez-helps-struggling-offense-earn-tie.html:

 

"An impressive individual play by Wil Trapp and clutch finish from Hector Jimenez helped put a positive touch on what was an otherwise frustrating 1-1 tie with D.C. United on Saturday.  Much like the Crew’s last home game, a 2-0 loss to Toronto, the Crew struggled offensively after allowing a first-half goal.  The offense is slowing after a strong start to the season, but coach Gregg Berhalter was pleased with the grit the Crew showed in coming back to earn a point against D.C."

 

Recap and video highlights at http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2014/04/19/columbus-crew-1-dc-united-1-mls-match-recap.  My favorite part was head coach Gregg Berhalter's celebration of this late tying goal. #INTENSITY!!!

Ties-R-Us.  Or rather Draws-R-Us.  Whatever you call em, the Crew has had em for their last three results now.  Three straight 1-1 results in fact, after last Saturday's match with the New York Red Bulls in Crew Stadium.

 

Game recap with video at http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2014/04/26/columbus-crew-1-new-york-red-bulls-1-mls-match-recap

Some Crew analysis from MLS:

 

http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2014/04/26/columbus-crew-disappointed-draw-happy-build-another-strong-performance 

 

http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2014/04/26/armchair-analyst-three-levels-confidence-and-why-crew-and-red-bulls-hit-them

 

The Crew have two road games in four days next week.  Starting with a trip to Kansas City on Sunday afternoon.  Then to Houston for a Wednesday night match.  The Crew are still atop the Eastern standings with 12 points (3-1-3) - one point up on Sunday's opponent KC (3-2-2) and four points up on Houston (2-4-2).

The Crew started their two road games in four days stretch will a 2-0 loss at KC.  Losing the game also meant losing the Eastern Conference lead to KC as well.  Game recap with video highlights at http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2014/05/04/sporting-kansas-city-2-columbus-crew-0-mls-match-recap

 

The only positive takeaways from Sunday's 2-0 loss to KC were the following:

 

- The Crew looked better after giving up the early 10th minute goal.  Especially in the second half.

- This game was televised nationally on NBC Sports Network.  So you didn't have to find a bar or friend with Time Warner Cable to watch it.

 

Sporting KC and the Crew were kind of playing the same possess-and-attack based style in yesterday's match.  But KC has more experience playing this way (and they're the defending MLS Cup Champs).  Which led the Crew's head coach Gregg Berhalter to say after the match, "In all honesty, Kansas City is the better team right now".  More at http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2014/05/04/columbus-crew-boss-gregg-berhalter-all-honesty-kansas-city-better-team-right

  I'm a big futbol (OK call it soccer if you want) fan, especially when it comes to the international games.  One thing I noticed about soccer around the world, during the anthem ceremony at the start of the game, the players always bring their kids on to the field for the anthems.  Seems to me kind of a "cute" (for lack of a better word) thing to do to add interest to a largely ignored and perfunctory ceremony.

 

Why can't we bring the kids on the field here for baseball and American football? 

 

Haven't been to a Crew game for a few years, but I think we are doing this now at least sometimes... at least for soccer...so why not baseball and American football?

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kcSmkH6QXg

^ FYI those are not necessarily the players kids.  Especially for club games.  Usually these are the children of season ticket holders, who have either paid (for the bigger clubs) or volunteered their kids to walk out with the players.  Sometimes they are the players kids, just not often. 

 

I think this type of ceremony would work better for Baseball than American (;)) football.  Baseball has a similar reverence to the start of the game, whereas football is very amp'd up for player introductions.

 

The only positive takeaways from Sunday's 2-0 loss to KC were the following:

 

- The Crew looked better after giving up the early 10th minute goal.  Especially in the second half.

- This game was televised nationally on NBC Sports Network.  So you didn't have to find a bar or friend with Time Warner Cable to watch it.

 

Sporting KC and the Crew were kind of playing the same possess-and-attack based style in yesterday's match.  But KC has more experience playing this way (and they're the defending MLS Cup Champs).  Which led the Crew's head coach Gregg Berhalter to say after the match, "In all honesty, Kansas City is the better team right now".  More at http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2014/05/04/columbus-crew-boss-gregg-berhalter-all-honesty-kansas-city-better-team-right

 

Basically he's right.  But it is a long season that really just got underway.  If the crew keep their points per game above 1.5 they should almost be guaranteed a playoff spot.  Hopefully MLS doesn't change the playoff format (again) before then either.

What happens when the Crew plays a mid-week road game in Houston and holds 55 percent of possession and plays nearly 100 more passes than Houston and outshoots Houston 18 to 11 with five more corner kicks and two more shots-on-goal?  The answer is that Houston wins 1-0 on a header off a set piece in the 50th minute.

 

Recap with video highlights at http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2014/05/07/houston-dynamo-1-columbus-crew-0-mls-match-recap

The shine is wearing off Coach Berhalter's 3-0-0 start leading the Crew this year.  Since that three win beginning, the Crew have gone winless in their next six games (0-3-3).

 

More about this at http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2014/05/08/columbus-crew-feeling-stress-winless-run-after-loss-houston-were-exhausted-w

The Crew picked the wrong week to stop scoring.  They had 3 games in the past 7 days - and didn't score a goal in any of them.  The Crew's scoreless streak actually extends 321 minutes all the way back to the 1-1 draw with the Red Bulls on April 26.

 

If you're a glutton for punishment or need a cure for insomnia, the latest game highlights are at http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2014/05/10/columbus-crew-0-vancouver-whitecaps-1-mls-match-recap

You might not think a middle-of-the-MLS team like the Columbus Crew would be impacted by World Cup call-ups to national teams.  But the Crew is losing three key players to these call-ups.  Crew Defender Michael Parkhurst was one of the 30 players named to the U.S. preliminary roster.  Defenders Giancarlo Gonzalez and Waylon Francis were both called up to the Costa Rican National Team.

 

http://www.massivereport.com/2014/5/12/5711816/michael-parkhurst-named-to-preliminary-30-man-u-s-roster-for-world-cup

 

Parkhurst and Francis are already gone.  Gonzalez will be leaving the team after tonight's game at Portland.  All three players might be gone until the end of June.

Last night's late start in Portland tested the endurance of Crew fans watching back in Ohio.  Fortunately, the game wasn't a snoozer.  Although the game's beginning looked bad with the Timbers scoring first in the 5th minute.  But then the Crew finally stopped their scoreless streak in the 14th minute - which by then had extended to 335 minutes.  The Crew's first goal came on a cheeky chip by Federico Higuaín from 25 feet out that found the Timbers keeper off his line.  As one fan on Twitter said "you bring the salsa, Pipa brings the chips".

 

Then the Crew's fortunes improved in the 34th minute when a Portland defender was sent off with a red card for a hard foul that sent Chad Barson head over heels.  In the stoppage time of the first half, another Portland defender took down Giancarlo Gonzalez on a Higuain corner kick.  That resulted in a penalty pick that was converted by Higuain to give the Crew a 2-1 lead going into the second half.

 

Despite their one-man advantage, the Crew couldn't hold the lead.  Portland tied it up in the 80th minute.  Only to see the Crew re-take the lead on the very next possession in the 81st minute when sub Ethan Finley's shot deflected off a Timbers defender into the goal.  But once again, the Crew couldn't hold the lead.  In the 85th minute, Portland scored the final goal of the wild night to re-tie it at 3-3.

 

Match recap and video highlights at http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2014/05/18/portland-timbers-3-columbus-crew-3-mls-match-recap

Columbus Crew forward Federico Higuain was voted MLS Player of the Week for last Saturday's two-goal performance at Portland.  Well deserved honor for Pipa - especially for that first goal chip:

 

http://www.thecrew.com/news/2014/05/columbus-crew-forward-federico-higuain-voted-mls-player-week

 

Before tonight's MLS game against Chicago, a focus on friendlies:

 

- The Crew's annual summer international friendy will be with Crystal Palace from the English Premier League at Crew Stadium on July 23:  http://www.thecrew.com/news/2014/05/crew-host-barclays-premier-league-side-crystal-palace-fc-crew-stadium-july-23

 

- And the Crew had a mid-week friendly with their USL-affiliate, the Dayton Dutch Lions.  Last Tuesday's match at Dayton provided Crew head coach Gregg Berhalter with a chance to get players minutes and see the depth of his team.  Especially as it concerns his defensive back four.  The Crew will be without 3 of their 4 starters due to international World Cup call-ups.  Although, Michael Parkhurst didn't make the final 23 for the U.S. roster, so he might be available for the Chicago match:  http://www.massivereport.com/2014/5/21/5737034/mid-week-friendly-with-affiliate-allows-for-unique-opportunity

Solid 2-0 win over Chicago last night.  Federico Higuain followed up last week's two-goal match with a two-assist performance against the Fire. 

 

- The first came in the 10th minute on a perfectly placed pass to a perfectly timed run by Ethan Finlay.  That run got behind the final Chicago defender and drew the Chicago out.  Finlay deftly moved the ball around the keeper to score.

 

- The second assist came in the 25th minute on another perfectly placed pass from Higuain to another perfectly timed run - this time by Jairo Arrieta.  Arrieta drove to the net and powered a shot thru the keeper's legs for this goal.  The victory takes the Crew to 4-4-4.

 

The only downside to this game was that Higuain got a yellow card in the second half.  This means that Pipa is suspended, because of yellow card accumulation, for next week's match at Toronto.  Game recap with video highlights at http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2014/05/24/columbus-crew-2-chicago-fire-0-mls-match-recap

The Crew knew that going into Saturday's match at Toronto they'd be without their team MVP Federico Higuain because of a yellow card accumulation suspension.  It turns out the Crew would also be without key defensive midfielder Wil Trapp as well.  Trapp suffered a knee-on-knee collision in practice.  And with a 3-game-in-8-days stretch starting at Toronto, the Crew held him out as a precaution.  As it turned out, Higuain's and Trapp's replacements factored positively in the game for Columbus.  Unfortunately, so did one of the defensive replacements for the Crew's two World Cup call-ups.

 

- Higuain's replacement, Justin Meram, finished off a series of quick moving passes with a well placed shot in the 18-yard box to the upper right corner of the net in the 18th minute.  Unfortunately, only 3 minutes later, defensive replacement Tyson Wahl fouled TFC's Jermain Defoe in the box.  He converted the PK to tie it 1-1.

 

- In the 65th minute, Trapp's replacement, Agustin Viana, headed in a goal from a Ben Speas crossing pass following a Crew corner kick.  It looked like the 2-1 lead would hold up for the Crew until Jermain Defoe scored his second goal in the 81st minute.  Then it looked like the 2-2 tie would hold up for the Crew until Toronto won it 3-2 on a header in the 92nd minute (2 minutes into a 4 minute second-half stoppage time).

 

So the Crew went from a possible 3 points on the road, to a possible 1 point road draw, to taking zero points home.  All that and the 2014 Trillium Cup goes to Toronto because they won the first 2 of the 3 regular season games against Columbus.  Game recap with video highlights at http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2014/05/31/toronto-fc-3-columbus-crew-2-mls-match-recap-0

Getting some standings points at Toronto would have been great because that was the first of 3 games within an 8-day stretch.  The next game is Wednesday when the Crew host Real Salt Lake.  Then next Saturday, June 7, the Crew travel to D.C.  After that MLS takes their World Cup break and the Crew don't play their next MLS game until June 28.

Wil Trapp was still out of the lineup with a knee injury.  Federico Higuain returned from his one-game suspension.  However, the Crew didn't get much from Pipa in this match.  In the 11th minute, Viana was dragged down going for a header off a Crew corner kick.  Columbus was awarded a penalty kick.  But it didn't lead to a goal because Higuain's PK shot sailed high over the crossbar.  Higuain came up lame with a pulled hamstring later in the first half and needed to be replaced before halftime.

 

Real Salt Lake eventually scored first in the 56th minute.  After that the RSL goalkeeper (the backup because their starter was called up to join the USMNT) made save after quality save in the second half to keep RSL ahead 1-0.  It looked like it would end with that score until the 88th minute.  Ben Speas hit a nicely paced through ball to a well-timed run by Ethan Finlay that got behind the last RSL defender.  The RSL keeper came out to challenge but was caught too far from Finlay to stop a shot and too far from the net to save it.  Finlay deftly chipped it over his head into the goal for the 1-1 draw.

 

The Crew probably played well enough for a win, but at least managed to salvage a draw point in the standings.  Game recap with video highlights at http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2014/06/04/columbus-crew-1-real-salt-lake-1-mls-match-recap

The Crew finish up their stretch of three games in eight days when it plays at D.C. United tonight.  As expected, Higuain is a no-go because of a pulled hamstring.  It also turns out that Dom Oduro won't be in the lineup either - because he was traded yesterday to Toronto.

 

http://www.massivereport.com/2014/6/6/5786510/dominic-oduro-traded-to-toronto-fc-for-alvaro-rey

 

http://www.thecrew.com/news/2014/06/crew-acquires-midfielder-alvaro-rey-toronto-fc

 

Dominic Oduro was acquired last year from Chicago for Dilly Duka.  Oduro had a quick rise and fall while with the Crew.  He scored 13 goals last year under Coach Warzycha's direct offensive style.  Dom is one of the fastest players in MLS and has a decent finishing touch.  But he had zero goals this year under Coach Berhalter's passing and possession style offense.  Oduro has appeared in 11 of the Crew's 14 games, but only started in six.

 

The player the Crew acquired from Toronto - Alvaro Rey - is said to fit the Berhalter offensive system better than Oduro.  The Spanish midfielder joined Toronto in the middle of 2013, starting 9 games.  This year he appeared in 7 games, starting 6, of Toronto's 10 games.

 

This looks like a straight swap for a player each team thinks is a better fit for them.  The Crew got a bit younger (28 vs. 25) and bit less salary ($250,000 vs. $200,000 according to Massive Report).  But there's no doubt the Crew lost out in the wild hairstyle and pizza eating department.  Dom was a great character.  It's too bad things went south this year in Columbus, but they might turn around for him up north.

Here's a little more about Coach Berhalter's reasoning for trading away Oduro.  The MLS article also mentions that the Crew might acquire an international attacking forward to replace Oduro's previous role with the team.  If this happens, it would likely occur during the MLS mid-season transfer window, which begins July 9 and ends August 8.

 

http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2014/06/06/gregg-berhalter-says-columbus-crew-market-striker-after-dominic-oduro-trade

The Crew and D.C. United had an ugly match last night that ended in a weird way.  It's too bad the match played out so dull (until the end) because it wasn't taking place in DC's usual home venue - the aging RFK Stadium.  Instead it was being played in RFK's replacement stadium, FedEx Field.  And it was played in front of 53,267 because it was the second game of a double header that featured Spain vs. El Salvador in a World Cup warm-up match.

 

Much of that large crowd had left by the time the Crew/DC match got interesting.  After 94 minutes (and well into the 5 minute stoppage time for the second half) DC had the ball barely inside the Crew's 18-yard box.  The DC attacker was driven away from the Crew goal and attempted a pass away from the Crew goal.  The ball seemed to unintentionally hit the arm of Crew defender Bernardo Anor.  But a hand ball in the 18-yard box equals a penalty kick.  So DC got a penalty kick to win the game in its dying moments.

 

Then it got really weird.  Normally the goalkeeper picks a direction to dive, hoping to somehow stop the PK shot.  Which is what DC's Fabian Espindola expected.  So he softly chips the PK shot down the middle.  Only this time, the Crew keeper Steve Clark stayed in the middle, and caught the PK as if someone had tossed him the ball!!  Saving the game for the Crew and preserving a 0-0 draw. 

 

Game recap with video highlights at http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2014/06/07/dc-united-0-columbus-crew-0-mls-match-recap.  Although dull, the 0-0 result did give the Crew a point on the road.  And with four key players out - Higuain (hamstring), Trapp (knee) plus defenders Francis and Gonzalez (World Cup duty with Costa Rica) - a road point was not a bad result.

Then it got really weird.  Normally the goalkeeper picks a direction to dive, hoping to somehow stop the PK shot.  Which is what DC's Fabian Espindola expected.  So he softly chips the PK shot down the middle.  Only this time, the Crew keeper Steve Clark stayed in the middle, and caught the PK as if someone had tossed him the ball!!  Saving the game for the Crew and preserving a 0-0 draw. 

 

Here's a little more about that end-of-game PK from the Crew's goalkeeper and goalkeeping coach:

 

MLS: Columbus Crew's Steve Clark explains PK save on Fabian Espindola: "I knew he was going to go there"

The Crew will be on their MLS World Cup break until June 28, when they host FC Dallas.  At 15 games into their 34-game MLS schedule, this is a good time to see where the Crew stand in the league.

 

The Crew started on fire winning their first three games.  Then won only 1 game in their next 12 games - going 1-5-6.  Despite that, the Crew are still in the hunt for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.  Going into the break, the Crew is tied with New York for the East’s fifth playoff spot.  Technically, the Red Bulls would get the spot on the 2nd tiebreaker.  But the Red Bulls and the Crew have identical 4-5-6 records that resulted in 18 points from 15 games played.

 

Full MLS standings at http://www.mlssoccer.com/standings and MLS Results Map at http://www.mlssoccer.com/results

During the league break, the Crew won't be totally idle.  They do have a U.S. Open Cup match on June 17 against the NASL's Indy Eleven.  The Indy Eleven advanced to this round after they defeated the Crew's USL-Pro affiliate, the Dayton Dutch Lions.  This game will be played on the campus of the University of Akron, at FirstEnergy Stadium.

 

More about the U.S. Open Cup tournament at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Lamar_Hunt_U.S._Open_Cup

One of the unusual aspects for fans following their MLS teams is the concept of parallel schedules.  MLS participates in national and international tournaments - like other club teams in other countries.  But for American fans, this is not something common among American pro sports franchises. (and I admit that it took me a while to get the gist of it)

 

Over the years, the Crew has participated in international tournaments sponsered by FIFA, like the CONCACAF Gold Cup and the CONCACAF Champions League Cup.  Plus every American MLS team participates in the yearly U.S. Open Cup sponsered by the United States Soccer Federation.  In 2002, the Columbus Crew won the U.S. Open Cup.

 

This year, the MLS teams join the U.S. Open Cup tourney during the MLS World Cup break.  Last night, the Crew played their first Open Cup game.  It was against the second-division (NASL) Indy Eleven.  And the game was being played at the University of Akron's soccer facility - FirstEnergy Stadium.  Very nice facility and capacity crowd on hand in Akron to welcome Crew supporters (i.e. Nor on Tour) and a smaller band of Indy supporters.

Last night's Open Cup match against the Indy Eleven was streamed on the Crew website.  I don't normally watch non-broadcast Crew games, but I was gonna be around the house anyway.  Plus I was curious if the webcast would work well.  (It did)  And I'm glad it did because it was a wild opening to the Open Cup for the Crew.

 

Despite the Crew winning the U.S. Open Cup in 2002, recent Open Cup matches have not gone well for the team.  Last year's Open Cup match was a particular low point.  Not only did the Crew lose their opening game, they also lost Eddie Gaven to an ACL injury that ended his 2013 season. (It also turned out to end his MLS and Crew career when he retired after the 2013 season finished.)  So it's always a balancing act between using starters vs. reserves during these opening games against lower division opponents.  A push-pull between winning and advancing in the Open Cup tournament versus keeping your best players healthy for MLS games. 

 

Although it can be an opportunity for teams to play reserves that don't get much MLS playing time.  And so it likely seemed a smart move for the Crew to start young Adam Bedell, a 6'-7" forward who was selected this year's MLS draft.  Bedell had only played in 53 minutes during relief appearances in 6 MLS games this year.  So Bedell joined the Crew lineup of mostly starters, although top starters Higuain and Trapp were kept out because of nagging injuries.

 

It looked like the Crew might have an easy Open Cup game against Indy when Bernardo Anor headed home a Ben Speas corner kick in the 4th minute to give Columbus an early 1-0 lead.  It looked the Crew were cruising along nicely until the afore mentioned Adam Bedell got a straight red card in the 34th minute for a dangerous foul.  Now it was the Indy Eleven vs. the Crew Ten.

 

Even down one man, the Crew held onto the lead until Indy tied in the 63rd minute.  The Crew managed to keep the game tied through the end of the second half.  Because this was an elimination game in the Open Cup tourney, the game went to 30 minutes of extra time.  If the game was still tied after the extra time, then it would be decided by PK's.

 

In the game's 110th minute, the Crew lost another player when another little used reserve Daniel Paladini became was given a straight red card for elbowing an Indy player.  Now it was the Indy Eleven vs. the Crew Nine!  Despite being down two men, the Crew managed to stay on the attack and Ethan Finlay earned a penalty kick when he was brought down in the box.  Substitute Jairo Arrieta converted the PK in the 115th minute to give the Crew a 2-1 lead.  And then held on for other 9 minutes to get a hard-fought Open Cup victory.

Below are the reports on the 2-1 Open Cup win from the Crew website, MLS and the Dispatch.  The Dispatch reporter noted that "including stoppage time, the Crew played 106 minutes with 10 men and 24 minutes with nine"!  Crazy game:

 

http://www.thecrew.com/news/2014/06/us-open-cup-match-recap-columbus-crew-2-indy-eleven-1

 

http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2014/06/18/us-open-cup-columbus-crew-delighted-earn-gritty-win-despite-pair-red-cards

 

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/sports/2014/06/18/crew-records-short-handed-open-victory.html

The Crew will be facing the Chicago Fire in the next round of U.S. Open Cup play.  Chicago knocked out the third-division USL-Pro Pittsburgh Riverhounds to advance.  Ironically, while the Crew played a marathon 140 minute match against Indy, Chicago's game was cut short after 49 minutes due to lightning moving into the Chicago area during their match.

 

http://www.thecrew.com/news/2014/06/crew-visit-chicago-fire-fifth-round-lamar-hunt-us-open-cup-june-25

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Lamar_Hunt_U.S._Open_Cup

The Crew's streak of U.S. Open Cup strangeness continues.  Last year saw Eddie Gaven go down with a season-ending injury (and career-ending too as it turned out!).  Last week saw go down to 9 men vs. 11 (against a team called The Eleven!) in a marathon match.  Tonight's Open Cup match seems like an MLS game at Chicago.  But the Open Cup strangeness crept into this game because the Crew will be extremely short-handed for it.

 

According to the Dispatch's Crew reporter at http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/sports/2014/06/25/slim-pickings-to-fill-roster-for-u-s--open-cup.html - injuries, suspensions and quirks in the Open Cup eligibility rules are whittling down the Crew roster:

 

- Injuries to Higuain and Trapp will keep them out.  They probably could play, but with the MLS season restarting on Saturday, it's better to keep them healthy for that (remember Gaven?).  Midfielder Viana, defender Baiden and backup goalkeeper Lampson are also recovering from injuries.

 

- The red cards that forward Bedell and midfielder Paladini got in last week's match mean they are suspended for tonight's game.

 

- Defenders Gonzalez and Francis are on the Costa Rica team in the World Cup.  And since Costa Rica has advanced into the Round of 16 (congrats Ticos!), they can't return to the Crew just yet.

 

- Normally, the Crew could call up the 4 players on loan to their USL-Pro affiliate in Dayton.  However, since the Dayton Dutch Lions played in an earlier Open Cup round, Open Cup rules make them ineligible to play for the Crew during the tournament.

 

- But the strangest Open Cup rule quirk affects newly acquired midfielder Alvaro Rey.  He was acquired in a trade with Toronto earlier this month for Oduro.  But because Rey played for Toronto in their Canadian Cup, the rules also deem him ineligible to play for the Crew during this U.S. Open Cup tournament - more about that at http://www.massivereport.com/2014/6/23/5836348/will-he-or-wont-he-alvaro-reys-eligibility-for-the-u-s-open-cup-is-in.

 

Of course, the Crew will have enough players to field a team.  But this severely limits the moves Coach Berhalter can make.  The Crew will only have 2 forwards, 6 midfielders, 6 defenders and 2 goalkeepers in fill out the starting 11.  That's 16 players - two short of a typical 18-player game-day roster.  And the backup keeper is an MLS-pool goalkeeper!  Fortunately, it is Daniel Withrow, who previously played for the Crew.

The Crew were eliminated from the U.S. Open Cup tournament with a 4-2 loss at Chicago on Wednesday night.  But not more Open Cup strangeness for the Crew...

 

Because of the aforementioned short-handed roster situation for this game, the Crew used a new 5-3-2 formation with a 5-man defensive back line.  Despite this, Chicago scored first in the 34th minute to lead 1-0 at halftime. -- The second half started much better for Columbus.  Arrieta scored in the 55th minute and Anor scored in the 70th minute to give the Crew a 2-1 lead. -- But the Crew just couldn't hold this lead.  Chicago tied it back up in the 83th minute to send this match to overtime.

 

Yes, a second straight Open Cup match going into a 30-minute overtime for the Crew.  If it was sudden-death, the match would have ended only 2 minutes into it when Chicago scored the ultimately game-winning goal.  But it wasn't so the overtime continued.  Seven minutes in, veteran Crew defender Michael Parkhurst received a straight red card for a late and dangerous tackle (the first red card of Parkhurst's long international career - see more strangeness).  After that the Chicago Fire tacked on one more goal for the 4-2 final score.

 

- Game recap at http://www.thecrew.com/match/us-open-cup-chicago-fire-vs-columbus-crew-june-25-2014

 

- Open Cup brackets at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Lamar_Hunt_U.S._Open_Cup

 

Columbus resumes their MLS schedule with a Saturday home game against FC Dallas.  This will be their Red, White and Crew fireworks game because the Crew will on the road for the following two games: July 4th at Colorado and July 12th at New York.

During the MLS break, team owner/operator Anthony Precourt had a mid-season review with Greeg Berhalter, the head coach and first-ever sporting director.  Precourt discussed this review with the Dispatch Crew reporter at http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/sports/2014/06/24/precourt-offers-his-takes-on-team-topics.html

 

- On potential roster acquisitions:  Federico Higuain is the Crew’s lone designated player, but Precourt said a second DP could be a possibility.  The MLS summer transfer window opens July 8.  Due to Berhalter’s experience in Europe, Precourt confirmed that the Crew is looking more there for player acquisitions than in South or Central America.  Precourt also said that the Crew has hired a scout who is looking exclusively in Eastern Europe.

 

- On the current television deal:  It appears that nothing will be changing regarding Time Warner Cable SportsChannel's distribution of the Crew’s games.  Asked what could be done to increase distribution, Precourt said, “We’re working on that. I don’t have anything to say other than we’re working on that.”  As for the frustration voiced by the fans, Precourt said, “I’ve heard it all, loud and clear. If the fans aren’t happy, the owner’s not happy. That’s all I can say.”

 

- On a rebranding effort:  When Precourt bought the Crew last year, he hinted in his initial press conferences about the possibility of unveiling a new logo as part of a rebranding process for the Crew franchise.  Precourt confirmed that the Crew is moving forward with this.  According to the Dispatch article, the Crew is working with MLS and Adidas have this rebranding ready for the 2015 season.

Daymn talk about bad luck. I hope the person survived that got hit by lighting.

 

 

The Dispatch's Crew reporter had the best coverage of the lightning incident on his twitter feed at https://twitter.com/AdamJardy and his article in today's paper at http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2014/06/28/fan-struck-by-lightning-at-crew-game.html. 

 

A massive pop-up storm hit the stadium area about 15 minutes before last night's 8:00 PM kickoff time.  First, it was a hard tropical-like downpour.  Then, lightning!!  It appeared it was the first bolt from the storm that struck the fan just outside the stadium.  After that officials made everyone take cover in the stadium concourse.  The game was officially postponed at 9:12 PM and was rescheduled by MLS to 2:00 PM today.

 

Below is a quoted excerpt from the Adam Jardy article about last night's lightning incident:

 

An off-duty Columbus fire lieutenant was in critical condition after being struck by lightning in the parking lot at Crew Stadium before last night’s scheduled game against FC Dallas. 

 

With heavy storms moving through the area shortly before the scheduled 8 p.m. kickoff, a bolt of lightning struck near the southwest corner of the stadium.  Several eyewitnesses said that it hit Stu Tudor, 54, who was unresponsive but had a pulse when emergency crews arrived.  He was revived as medical crews performed CPR, and was transported to the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.  As of mid-morning today, his condition is still listed as critical.

 

“We are sincerely sorry about tonight’s postponement, but your safety is of the utmost importance,” Crew investor-operator Anthony Precourt wrote on Twitter. “We will share more information as we can, but a member of our community was severely injured by the weather. Praying for him.”

 

In a statement, the Crew said, “First responders were called to Crew Stadium to address an incident surrounding the inclement weather that delayed tonight’s contest. Due to these extenuating circumstances, the match was postponed.”

 

Crew fan Don Lewis was taking cover during the heavy rain in one of three portable toilets on the parking lot when, he said, he felt electricity run through the air.  “All of a sudden, it was just a bomb that went off,” Lewis said. “I knew it was close. The electricity ran through me.”

 

A moment later, he said, a man in the toilet next to him called 911 and said that someone had been struck by lightning. Lewis said he opened the door and saw a man lying on the ground.  “He was purple and had his shirt ripped off,” he said.

 

Emergency medical personnel arrived about two minutes after the lightning strike, several eyewitnesses said, and were there for about 10 minutes.  It seemed to be the first bolt of lightning in the vicinity and, after it struck, fans were told to seek shelter inside the concourse until the storm had passed.