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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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Crew head coach Gregg Berhalter finished third in MLS Coach of the Year voting.  D.C. United's Ben Olsen won MLS Coach of the Year after he led them from a worst-to-first season this year.  Former Crew head coach Sigi Schmid finished second in the voting after leading Seattle to the MLS' best regular season record.

 

http://www.massivereport.com/2014/12/2/7323289/columbus-crew-sc-coach-gregg-berhalter-finishes-third-in-coach-of-the

Wednesday is the MLS Expansion Draft for the two new 2015 clubs - Orlando City SC and New York City FC.  This means all of the other 18 MLS teams have some important roster decisions to make in preparation for this draft.

 

The full rules for the expansion draft are at http://pressbox.mlssoccer.com/content/2014-expansion-draft-rules and at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_MLS_Expansion_Draft.  But it basically breaks down like this:

  • Each team can protect 11 current roster players from this draft;

  • Current roster players who were developed as homegrown players are automatically protected from this draft;

  • Whatever current roster players remain are considered "exposed" and eligible to be chosen by Orlando and NYCFC in Wednesday's Expansion Draft;

  • Orlando and NYCFC will alternate picks until each team has selected 10 players (20 total players will be selected via this draft);

  • Once two players have been claimed from a team, that team is eliminated from the expansion draft and cannot lose any further players.

Up to two players might possibly be lost from the current Crew roster in Wednesday's expansion draft.  And since the Crew has lost at least one player in every MLS Expansion Draft (2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011) they understand that is not just a possibility but a likelihood.  So, with that in mind, the Crew made two trades yesterday:

Both of these moves can be traced to the upcoming expansion draft.  Both Anor and Williams are valuable players that were likely to be lost via this draft.  Midfielder Anor had a bit of a breakout season in 2014 appearing in 27 games with 18 starts to finish with a career-best six goals plus one assist.  While Williams has been a versatile defender for the Crew since 2012, although limited to only 14 appearances and 13 starts in 2014 due to a blood clot issue.

 

Both Anor and Williams were traded for allocation funds.  These moves free up protected spots for other Crew players and add allocation money to the team treasury.  This will allow the Crew to target International and/or Designated Players for their 2015 roster with these additional allocation funds.  Two players the Crew are reportedly looking at signing with these funds are Omar Gaber, a 22-year-old Egyptian right-back defender, and Mix Diskerud, the 24-year-old USMNT midfielder the Crew tried to sign over the summer.

So finally - with the Bernardo Anor and Josh Williams trades made by the Crew.  And with all those MLS roster protection rules applied by the Crew.  Here is the breakdown of who is protected and who is left exposed from http://www.massivereport.com/2014/12/8/7356461/mls-unveils-protected-list-for-expansion-draft and from http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2014/12/08/mls-clubs-release-2014-expansion-draft-protected-lists-heres-whos-available-:

 

Protected Players

Steve Clark

Ethan Finlay              

Waylon Francis              

Romain Gall                            

Federico Higuain              

Hector Jimenez                            

Kei Kamara                            

Justin Meram                            

Michael Parkhurst                            

Emmanuel Pogatetz                            

Tony Tchani    

 

Automatically Protected

Chad Barson

Ross Friedman

Matt Lampson

Wil Trapp

Matt Walker

Matt Wiet

                   

Players Exposed to the Expansion Draft

Jairo Arrieta

Fifi Baiden

Adam Bedell

Eric Gehrig

Kevan George

Daniel Paladini

Aaron Schoenfeld

Ben Speas

Brad Stuver

Ben Sweat                                                                 

Agustin Viana

Tyson Wahl

A bit more from MLS on today's 2:00PM Expansion Draft:  http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2014/12/09/mls-expansion-draft-listen-live-new-york-city-fc-orlando-city-sc-build-out-r

 

I would guess that Gehrig and Speas are the most likely players the Crew might lose in this draft.  Schoenfeld and Wahl might also be vulnerable, but I'd put them on a lower-tier to get picked.  Quality veterans like Arrieta and Viana are also enticing choices, but since they're both out-of-contract, teams wouldn't need to use an expansion pick to acquire them.

The MLS Expansion Draft just finished up.  And it was one of those "could have gone better / could have gone worse" deals for the Crew:

 

- Orlando used their No. 6 pick to select FW Jairo Arrieta from Columbus.  Because of that selection, the Crew was permitted to protect an additional player.  The Crew moved to protect MF Ben Speas, who was no longer eligible for selection in the Expansion Draft. -- This was an odd selection by Orlando because the Crew declined a 2015 contract option for Arrieta and he was unlikely to be re-signed.  Orlando could have signed Arrieta outside the expansion draft process and used this pick on another player.  The good side of this selection was the Crew then got to protect Speas, a quality young backup midfielder.

 

- Orlando used their final pick (No. 10) to select D Eric Gehrig from Columbus.  With a maximum of two players claimed from their unprotected roster, no other Columbus Crew players can be claimed in the Expansion Draft. -- It looked like the Crew roster would emerge unscatched from this draft.  But then Orlando selected Gehrig with their final pick.  This one hurts.  Gehrig is a versatile defender capable of playing all four defensive spots and a defensive midfield winger spot if necessary.  Gehrig is a spot starter the Crew will miss next season.

 

One additional note about this draft:  In an article about the Crew's pre-draft trades at http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2014/12/09/columbus-crews-gregg-berhalter-says-recent-trades-part-expansion-draft-prepa - Coach Berhalter said the amount of transfer funds gained in sending Williams to NYCFC was more than if they lost him in the Expansion Draft.  When asked if an agreement that NYCFC wouldn’t select a Crew player in the draft was part of the deal, Berhalter said he was “not at liberty” to comment on that. -- Since NYCFC didn't select any Crew players in the draft, it looks like that was the case.

Another post expansion draft thought in the below excerpt from the Dispatch's weekly rumbings column:  Bob Hunter commentary | Rumblings: Expansion draft suggests what Crew thinks of players

A Major League Soccer team’s protected list for the expansion draft often speaks in ways coaches and general managers don’t, at least for public consumption: with blunt honesty.  So it was with the Crew's list, which included 20-year-old midfielder Romain Gall instead of homegrown player Ben Speas, a 23-year-old midfielder who was exposed to the expansion draft until after Orlando selected Arrieta.  Losing Arrieta allowed the Crew to return Speas to the protected list - a risk it wasn't willing to take with Gall.

 

Gall appeared in only 3 games with the Crew after he arrived via weighted lottery on Aug. 7.  But Coach Berhalter said he thought the team would have lost Gall if it had left him exposed.  Gall, who was just called up to be a member of the United States U-20 team, is in the Crew's plans for next season.  --  Speas also is expected to assume a bigger role in the future.  Although he appeared in only 13 games last season, six fewer than he played in 2013, Speas generally served as Higuain's backup.

A few of my post expansion draft thoughts:

 

- The Crew has now lost a player in every expansion draft - the only MLS team this has happened to(!)

 

- The pre-draft trades made sense.  Williams and Anor were prime candidates to be picked off.  So being pro-active and getting additional allocation money for them seems like a smart move.

 

- Still shocked Orlando didn't take Spears over Arrieta with their first choice from the Crew.  It's not that Arrieta isn't a quality forward - but he wasn't going to be re-signed by the Crew and Orlando could have just signed him as an FA.  Whereas Speas is a young up-and-coming possession-style midfielder that would benefit any team and could only be picked up via this draft.  But Orlando's selection of Arrieta was the Crew's gain, because it allowed us to protect an extra player - and that extra player was Speas.

 

- Orlando may have helped us in picking Arrieta (allowing us to protect Speas) but they hurt us in picking Gehrig.  Losing Gehrig leaves the Crew dangerously thin on defenders with only 6 on the current roster. (After the draft, Orlando traded Gehrig to Chicago)

Couple of post expansion draft roster notes.  One involves the Crew signing a new player for the 2015 roster.  The other is an update about a player rumored for the 2015 roster:

 

- From the Crew at http://www.thecrew.com/news/2014/12/crew-sc-signs-midfielder-kristinn-steindorsson.  The Crew have signed 24-year-old Icelandic wide attacking midfielder Kristinn Steindorsson to the 2015 roster.  Steindorsson has played the past three seasons in the Swedish League - a league where Berhalter coached prior to joining the Crew.

 

- More about this signing at http://www.massivereport.com/2014/12/11/7376737/kristinn-steindorsson-reportedly-signs-with-columbus-crew-sc.  This Massive Report link also contained an update regarding an earlier rumor that the Crew was looking to add Omar Gaber, a 22-year-old Egyptian right-back defender, to the 2015 roster.  --  According to a report in that link: "Berhalter has said they are still looking to bring in players and Crew SC was recently linked with Egyptian right back Omar Gaber, but according to (Dispatch reporter) Jardy's report, the player may have been offered to the team instead of a bid lodged."  --  So the Crew might be looking elsewhere for additional defenders for its 2015 roster.

So, the Crew are selling tickets to the opening match ($49 for two tickets and a $25 gift card for merch), but there is still no date set.

 

It seems MLS really dropped the ball on getting the schedules released in time for Christmas presents.

So, the Crew are selling tickets to the opening match ($49 for two tickets and a $25 gift card for merch), but there is still no date set.

 

It seems MLS really dropped the ball on getting the schedules released in time for Christmas presents.

 

MLS set the opening dates for the 2015 season today.  The Crew will kick off with a road match at Houston on Saturday, March 7th.  The first home game is on Saturday, March 14th against Toronto FC.  The full 2015 MLS schedule is expected to be announced sometime in the next few weeks:  http://www.columbusunderground.com/columbus-crew-announces-2015-season-openers and also at http://www.thecrew.com/news/2014/12/columbus-crew-sc-open-2015-home-schedule-march-14-versus-toronto-fc

 

But I have to agree that this is cutting it too close to Christmas Day (plus right in the middle of Hanukkah) for many gift givers.

  • 3 weeks later...

And some very good news involving Crew designated player Federico Higuain.  Pipa has been the dazzling spark and heart of the Crew since he was signed as a DP mid-season in 2012.  He led the team in goals and assists in the following two full seasons in 2013 and 2014 - and was the team MVP both years.

 

But there was some speculation that Higuain and the Crew might part ways in 2015:  A new head coach and new offensive concept somewhat took the spotlight off Higuain in 2014; plus the new head coach moved the captaincy from Higuain to Parkhurst; plus Higuain is turning 30; plus the emergence of younger midfielders like Trapp and Speas in 2014; plus the signing of Swedish midfielder Mohammed Saeid and Icelandic midfielder Kristinn Steindorsson for 2015.

 

All that seemed to indicate that the Crew might be edging Higuain out.  However, since the end of the 2014 playoffs, the Crew picked up Higuain's contract option for 2015 and protected him from the recent MLS expansion draft.  Yesterday, the Crew signed Pipa to a new DP contract.  The two sources below don't tell the length and value of the new contract (as per league rules).  But the Dispatch is reporting at http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/sports/2015/01/06/Crew-0106.html that Higuain's new DP deal is for two years and at the higher salary than the previous deal.

 

http://www.thecrew.com/news/2015/01/crew-sc-signs-federico-higuain-new-designated-player-contract

 

http://www.massivereport.com/2015/1/5/7495567/federico-higauin-signs-new-designated-player-contract

MLS announced their full 2015 schedule yesterday.  This will be Season 20 for both MLS and Columbus.  (Has it really been that long since the league’s inaugural season in 1996?)  This is also a "20 in 20" season.  Two expansion teams (NYCFC and Orlando) bring the league to 20 teams for its 20th season.  NYCFC and Orlando City SC join the Eastern Conference, while Houston and Kansas City move to the Western Conference for 2015.

 

MLS also announced an expanded playoff format for 2015.  A sixth team from each conference with be added to the playoffs plus a second knockout game has been added.  Teams finishing 3rd thru 6th in their conference will play in a knockout game.  The winners of the knockout games will then face the 1st and 2nd place finishers in the Conference Semifinals in a 2-game aggregate goal series.  Then the winner advances to the 2-game Conference Championship.  The Eastern and Western Conference Champions will advance to the MLS Cup.  More about this at http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2015/01/07/major-league-soccer-unveils-2015-schedule-decision-day-finale-and-expanded-p and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_Major_League_Soccer_season

 

Schedule_DL.jpg

 

FULL SCHEDULE: http://www.thecrew.com/news/2015/01/2015-columbus-crew-sc-schedule-unveiled

 

MLS has the Crew facing six Eastern Conference teams three times (Chicago, D.C., NY Red Bulls, Orlando, Philadelphia and Toronto) and two matches against each of the three remaining Eastern Conference teams (Montreal, New England and NYCFC).  To round out the schedule, the Crew will play each of the ten Western Conference teams once.  Some matches of note:

 

- March 14 / March 28:  For those who like to freeze while watching their soccer, the first two Crew home games are a good option (3/14 vs. Toronto and 3/28 vs. NY Red Bulls)

- April 18:  The Crew face their first 2015 expansion team when they host Orlando City SC;

- May 9:  Former longtime Crew defender Chad Marshall returns to Columbus with his new team Seattle;

- June 13:  Defending MLS Champs LA Galaxy come to Crew Stadium;

- July 4:  Fourth of July and NY Red Bulls - fireworks on and off the Crew Stadium field;

- July 15 / July 18:  Quick turnaround away-and-home series with Chicago;

- August 19:  NYCFC comes to C-BUS;

 

Then, five of the final six regular season games are against Eastern Conference teams - ending on October 25 with the Crew hosting D.C. United.

The Crew will begin their preseason training camp in January - with a mid-Feburary trip to Austin, Texas to join their new minor-league affiliate team - and a late-February trip to Florida to play in a tournament hosted by IMG:

 

http://www.massivereport.com/2015/1/12/7536135/crew-sc-preseason-plans-include-img-tournament-in-florida

 

But without two key roster players (and that's a good thing):

 

- 22-year-old midfielder Wil Trapp was invited to the U.S. Men's National Team's training camp.  Trapp will train with the team starting on January 12th and will remain with the U.S. team until camp breaks on February 8th.  The USMNT plays in Chile on January 28th and plays Panama on February 8th in California.  A well deserved honor for an up-and-coming young U.S. (and Crew) player:  http://www.massivereport.com/2015/1/9/7522321/wil-trapp-called-into-u-s-national-team-january-camp

 

- 24-year-old midfielder Kristinn Steindorsson - a new signing for the 2015 Crew - was invited to the Iceland National Team training camp.  He joins the Icelandic team as they prepare for two games against Canada on January 16 and January 19 in Orlando:  http://www.massivereport.com/2015/1/9/7523545/kristinn-steindorsson-called-into-iceland-senior-national-team-squad

And some MLS Eastern Conference news that affects the Crew.  One involving Mix Diskerud, a player the Crew attempted to sign last summer:

 

- Mix D to NYCFC:  http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2015/01/12/new-york-city-fc-ink-usmnt-playmaker-mix-diskerud-ahead-mls-expansion-season

 

- MLS's Toronto FC and Sunderland of the English Premier League have agreed on a deal to swap strikers - with USMNT-player Jozy Altidore heading to Toronto and Jermain Defoe heading to Sunderland:  http://www.espnfc.com/story/2242968/toronto-fc-agreed-to-acquire-jozy-altidore-from-sunderland-for-jermain-defoecash

 

- And former Crew forward Jairo Arrieta is headed from Orlando (where he was selected in the expansion draft) to DC United for an international roster spot:  http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2015/01/14/orlando-city-trade-costa-rican-forward-jairo-arrieta-dc-united-international

Thank you for keeping this thread updated. It is greatly appreciated... by me, at least :)

Thanks musky.  Always appreciate the compliment.

 

I know there are many other places to get Crew news (MLS.com; thecrew.com; Massive Report).  But since we've got a thread here at UO, I thought I'd at least try to give some updates.  It gives me an extra reason to watch the Crew games and follow their news.  Plus, for me at least, it helps organize the history of the team.

Speaking of updates:  The MLS SuperDraft happens later today - http://www.mlssoccer.com/superdraft/2015

 

Here are the Columbus SuperDraft selections: #14 (1st Round), #35 (2nd Round), #55 & #60 (3rd Round), #69 (4th Round).  Given the history of the SuperDraft and where the Crew are selecting, its unlikely that this year's selections will impact the 2015 roster.  But sometimes they do - if not now, then in later seasons.

 

Here's the MLS SuperDraft analysis for the Crew:  http://www.mlssoccer.com/superdraft/2015/news/article/2015/01/11/columbus-crew-sc-superdraft-preview-step-step-second-time-around-ccsc-armcha

22-year-old midfielder Wil Trapp was invited to the U.S. Men's National Team's training camp.  Trapp will train with the team starting on January 12th and will remain with the U.S. team until camp breaks on February 8th.  The USMNT plays in Chile on January 28th and plays Panama on February 8th in California.  A well deserved honor for an up-and-coming young U.S. (and Crew) player:  http://www.massivereport.com/2015/1/9/7522321/wil-trapp-called-into-u-s-national-team-january-camp

 

Woohoo!! Congrats Will....AND GO ZIPS!!!!!!!

- Columbus swapped their 14th pick in the first round of the SuperDraft with Colorado for their 19th pick in the first round and "future considerations".  With the #19 pick, Columbus selected center back Sergio Campbell.  The 22-year-old Jamaican-born Campbell is a 6-4, 192 pound defender who played the last three years at UConn.  Drafting Campbell addresses the Crew's biggest area of need: Lack of depth in the central defense

 

- In the second round with the 35th overall pick, Columbus selected forward Sagi Lev-Ari.  Lev-Ari is a 25-year-old Israeli who played last year at Cal State-Northridge where he scored 11 goals in 19 games.

 

Full SuperDraft tracker at http://www.mlssoccer.com/superdraft/2015/tracker

Now we know what those "future considerations" were when the Crew swapped their (14th overall) first round pick with Colorado for their (19th overall) first round pick:  Colorado defender Chris Klute.

 

- Columbus completed their draft day trade with Colorado by sending an undisclosed amount of allocation money to the Rapids for 24-year-old defender Chris Klute.

 

Klute has played the past three seasons with Colorado.  The 6'-1" defender had 57 appearances (55 starts) and was named Colorado's "defender of the year" in 2013.  His numbers dipped last year after his standout 2013 season, something he attributed to a hamstring injury he suffered in the 2014 season opener.

 

Klute primarly played the left back defensive position with Colorado.  Waylon Francis is currently locked into the left back position for the Crew.  But apparently Klute can play either left or right back.  And the Crew are currently thin at the right back position in defense.  So Klute looks to be a possible starting right back for the 2015 Crew.  Or he could provide some needed depth to the defensive corps.  More about this below:

 

http://www.massivereport.com/2015/1/16/7560417/columbus-crew-sc-acquire-defender-chris-klute-in-draft-day-trade-with

 

http://www.dispatch.com/content/blogs/covering-the-crew/2015/01/klute.html

  • 3 weeks later...

Yet another international signing by the Crew.  This one is an attacking forward from the Congo, Cedrick Mabwati, who will turn 23 one day after the Crew's opening game on March 7.

 

Cedrick Mabwati (more commonly known as Cedrick) was acquired via transfer from Real Betis, a Spanish team playing in La Liga.  Cedrick must complete his current loan stint with Osasuna, a Spanish team playing in the Segunda Division, before joining the Crew this summer.

 

http://www.massivereport.com/2015/1/30/7954307/columbus-crew-sc-sign-attacker-cedrick

 

http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2015/01/30/columbus-crew-sc-complete-deal-democratic-republic-congo-international-cedri

22-year-old midfielder Wil Trapp was invited to the U.S. Men's National Team's training camp.  Trapp will train with the team starting on January 12th and will remain with the U.S. team until camp breaks on February 8th.  The USMNT plays in Chile on January 28th and plays Panama on February 8th in California.  A well deserved honor for an up-and-coming young U.S. (and Crew) player:  http://www.massivereport.com/2015/1/9/7522321/wil-trapp-called-into-u-s-national-team-january-camp

 

Woohoo!! Congrats Will....AND GO ZIPS!!!!!!!

 

Wil Trapp got his first cap (appearance) with the USMNT.  No doubt the first of many to come for the Gahanna native who also played for the Akron Zips:

 

http://www.massivereport.com/2015/1/28/7934149/wil-trapp-makes-u-s-national-team-debut

Wil Trapp hasn't been the only player on the Crew roster to get some national team experience before the start of the 2015 MLS season.  From http://www.massivereport.com/2015/2/3/7941021/6-thought-box-how-CrewSC-country-performance-Meram-Wil-Trapp-Gall-Clark-USMNT

 

-- Wil Trapp (USA): 1 app, 31 minutes, 0 goals, 0 assists

-- Romain Gall (USA U-20): 9 app, 7 starts, 4 goals (stats for 2014 and 2015)

-- Justin Meram (Iraq): 11 app, 0 goals, 0 assists (stats for 2014 and 2015)

-- Kristinn Steindorsson (Iceland): 1 app, 46 minutes, 1 goal, 0 assists

-- Cedrick (DC Congo): 4 app, 243 minutes, 0 goals, 1 assist

The Crew will play their first competitive game of 2015 later today when they open the ATX Pro Challenge.  This is a four-team tournament hosted by the Crew's 2015 affiliate club, the Austin Aztex.  Columbus, FC Dallas, D.C. United and the Austin Aztex are the four teams.

 

The Crew kick off the tournament against Dallas at 6:45 pm EST.  This match will be broadcast on the Time Warner Sports Channel and streamed live at http://austinaztex.com/atxprochallenge/

 

The Crew will play two games in tournament.  After the Columbus/Dallas match, the Aztex will face D.C. United.  The losers of each game will play each other Sunday at 2:00 pm EST and the the winners of each game will play at 9:00 pm EST for the championship.

 

More about this at http://www.massivereport.com/2015/2/13/8034117/columbus-crew-sc-set-to-return-to-the-field-in-atx-pro-challenge

One player that will not be joining the Crew in the Austin tournament is Ben Sweat.  The 23-year-old defender was the Crew's 2014 1st-round draft pick, but never made an MLS appearance for the Crew.  Sweat spent most of 2014 with Columbus' affiliate club, the Dayton Dutch Lions, where he played in seven matches in USL PRO.  With the many recent defensive acquisitions made by the Crew, Sweat became an expandable player on the roster.

 

More about this at http://www.massivereport.com/2015/2/9/8008361/columbus-crew-sc-waive-defender-ben-sweat-from-preseason-roster

Originally, the plan was for the new 2015 Columbus Crew SC jerseys to unveiled on March 3 at The Bluestone (a great old downtown church turned into an events space).  But then apparently, the internet happened.  The new jerseys got leaked at various on-line sports apparel sales sites (see below):

 

http://www.massivereport.com/2015/2/7/7995989/columbus-crew-sc-jersey-leaked-early

http://www.massivereport.com/2015/2/8/8003037/crew-sc-alternate-jersey-leaks

 

So the Crew was forced into a twitter unveiling of their 2015 jerseys: http://www.massivereport.com/2015/2/10/8009977/quick-thinking-turns-a-jersey-leak-into-crew-scs-jersey-unveiling

 

Now the March 3rd "unveiling event" is going to be a "celebration of the new jerseys event" at The Bluestone.  And the new 2015 jerseys are on sale at the Crew's official on-line store: http://crewscshop.com/collections/jerseys

Oh, and those new 2015 jerseys?  They look really good.  I particularly like the black alternate jersey:

 

16593116302_72dc99d5d9_o_d.jpg  16593759835_1e70dbc61b_o_d.jpg

Below is the Crew lineup that played during their pre-season game with the Costa Rica U-23's:

 

Goalkeeper: Steve Clark

Defenders: Hector Jimenez (Chad Barson 62'), Michael Parkhurst (Kalen Ryden** 62'), Emanuel Pogatetz (Tyson Wahl 62'), Waylon Francis (Chris Klute 62')

Midfielders: Wil Trapp (Mohammed Saeid 62'), Tony Tchani (Kevan George 62'); Ethan Finlay (Ben Speas 62'), Federico Higuain (Ben Swanson 62')

Forwards: Justin Meram (Kristinn Steindorsson 62'); Kei Kamara (Adam Bedell 46') (Sagi Lev-Ari** 78') 

 

**indicates un-signed MLS SuperDraft selection

 

At the Crew website reporting this game, there was an interesting fan comment that this lineup looks like it could be the two-deep roster for the regular season.

 

Massive Report seems to agree with this assessment in an article that focused on three position battles.  The one exception to the above lineup is they think Hernan Grana will get Hector Jimenez's spot on defense.  (Grana was on a leave of absence for the birth of his child in Argentina, so he didn't play in this game):  http://www.massivereport.com/2015/2/24/8103865/midway-through-preseason-crew-sc-starting-lineup-nearly-set

From the not-necessarily-relevant-but-still-interesting department.  Vegas recently posted the odds for each MLS team to win the 2015 MLS Cup:  http://www.massivereport.com/2015/2/18/8064423/2015-mls-cup-odds-released-where-is-columbus-crew-sc

 

The defending champs (even without Landon Donovan) are the 2015 favorite.  Followed by the Western Conference runner-up (Seattle), the Eastern Conference champs/MLS cup runner-up (New England) and the East's regular season point leader (D.C.).  The Crew sit in a four-way tie for 6th place with Toronto and, interestingly, both the established NYC team and the expansion NYC team:

 

LA Galaxy                  3/1

Seattle Sounders        9/2

New England Revs      8/1

D.C. United                9/1

Real Salt Lake          12/1

Columbus Crew SC    15/1

New York City FC      15/1

New York Red Bulls    15/1

Toronto FC                15/1

FC Dallas                  20/1

Sporting Kansas City  20/1

Portland Timbers        25/1

Orlando City SC          25/1

Vancouver Whitecaps  30/1

Chicago Fire              40/1

Houston Dynamo        40/1

Colorado Rapids        50/1

Montreal Impact        50/1

Philadelphia Union      50/1

San Jose Earthquakes 50/1

Possibly some bad news for the Crew (and MLS):  'MLS opens on Friday and the Crew SC play on Saturday; it's just days until the Black and Gold kick off the 2015 season... if the Collective Bargaining Agreement is hammered out in time.  The MLS Players Union and the league haven't agreed to a new deal and time is running short.  No deal - no games.'

 

http://www.massivereport.com/2015/3/2/8131497/strike-looms-over-opening-week-of-mls-season

Possibly some good news for the Crew:  'Columbus Crew SC announced on Monday morning it will make "a historic announcement on Tuesday, revealing a stadium naming rights partnership."  The Black and Gold will hold an announcement ceremony at Columbus Crew Stadium on March 3 at 10:00 am ET.'

 

http://www.massivereport.com/2015/3/2/8133731/columbus-crew-sc-to-reveal-naming-rights-details-on-tuesday

 

It's true!  The Crew finally got its long sought after naming rights for Crew Stadium.  Spanish insurance giant Mapfre (whose name is pronounced MAH-fray) will be the naming rights partner for the stadium.  The facility will now be known as Mapfre Stadium.

 

This is good news for the financial stability of the Crew franchise.  Since new owner Anthony Precourt bought the Crew two years from the Hunt Sports Groups, he has achieved two of three long-term goals that the previous ownership had for the franchise.  First, a jersey sponsorship with Barabol.  Now, a naming rights deal for the stadium.  And the third goal of boosting home game attendance took a big step forward last year.

Here's the stadium naming rights news from the media sources:

Possibly some bad news for the Crew (and MLS):  'MLS opens on Friday and the Crew SC play on Saturday; it's just days until the Black and Gold kick off the 2015 season... if the Collective Bargaining Agreement is hammered out in time.  The MLS Players Union and the league haven't agreed to a new deal and time is running short.  No deal - no games.'

 

http://www.massivereport.com/2015/3/2/8131497/strike-looms-over-opening-week-of-mls-season

 

This very bad news has been avoided:  http://www.massivereport.com/2015/3/5/8153869/we-have-an-mls-season-details-of-the-leagues-new-collective

This means the 2015 MLS season will officially begin as scheduled on Friday.  And the Crew's opening game will be Saturday (8:30PM EST) at Houston.  So how about some season previews:

 

http://www.massivereport.com/2015/3/2/8132013/6-thought-box-what-we-learned-from-the-preseason

 

http://www.massivereport.com/2015/3/4/8144345/bonus-6-thought-box-things-that-can-go-right-for-crew-sc-in-2015

 

http://prosoccertalk.nbcsports.com/2015/03/04/2015-mls-season-preview-columbus-crew/

The opening match at Houston had almost everything Crew SC could want (ball posession, shots on goal and scoring chances).  It was just missing one thing for the Crew (goals).

 

If not for two dynamic saves from Houston's goalkeeper on a Kamara header in the 53rd minute and a Steindorsson shot in the 64th minute, and then a crossbar stopping a Higuain shot in the 71st minute, the opener could have gone to the Crew.  Instead, it was a Houston goal in the 66th minute, against the run of play, that gave them a 1-0 win:

 

MATCH RECAP WITH VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS: http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2015/03/07/houston-dynamo-1-columbus-crew-sc-0-mls-match-recap

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