Crew vs. Rapids: Match Preview
By: James | June 28th, 2008The Crew face the Colorado Rapids tonight in Columbus with a chance of returning to the top of the table by the midway point of the season. Also on the line is Sigi Schmid’s chance to coach the MLS All Stars against West Ham on July 24. High stakes like those can lead to an anxious, undisciplined play even against a struggling side like Colorado, but the team seems composed and prepared.
There has been a glut of player and coach interviews this week, and to a man they seem focused and on point.
Being a new voice, I need to say how impressed I’ve been by ability of Schmid, Warzycha, Lapper, and Kirillov review each game and respond to the weak spots in the Crew’s game. One example: Early on in the season, Columbus was fifty-fifty on balls served forward by Hesmer, at best. He hit for distance with no clear strategy for holding possession or moving to attack. By the time they faced New England, Hesmer still hit for distance, but the field players were arranged on the right side from the center circle to the top of the Rev’s penalty box. The improved on the rate of possession on Hesmer’s kicks, but that change coincided with the goal drought…
Against L.A., Hesmer pitch the ball to a defender and counted on them to advance the ball. I like that focus on constant improvement.
Some of the things I’m looking for against Colorado have already been discussed. There is a clear need to do better on kick off and on restarts after goals. That’s been true all season. It has typically taken the Crew 20 minutes to get the rhythm of the game, where they need to set the tempo from the first touch. The Galaxy helpfully underscored this problem.
In the first half against the Galaxy, there were flashes of genius and clever play from Schelotto, Moreno, and Rogers that didn’t grow into fully-formed chances. There were too many balls that went all the way across the box with no Crew players to take the shot. We’ve struggle a bit on personnel with a fourth attack player. Moffat is missed. But with Sigi not having a ninety minute player here, I’d like to see them intentionally burn an attacking midfielder in the first 45 minutes. My charge to Nico, or Ekpo, or Gaven would be: Don’t pace yourself. Somebody has to get to these balls early and try to convert. Evans takes about 60 minutes to get his stride. I’d insist he get it done in 45 as he continues to start in a central position. Alternately, I’d look for the experienced Oughten to see the opportunities when they arise and make the right runs. He should be game fit soon, although his caps will limit his availability.
We create a lot of corner kicks, but haven’t had the quality crosses or on field formation to capitalize on them. I think we might see a new formation tonight with someone on the back side of the box to field loose balls. I’d also like to see some creativity on the crosses like the brilliant free kick against the Galaxy where Schelotto went to Hejduk instead of across the box, which led to a goal. I think we might see changes here tonight.
Also, I’d happily trade some of those corner kicks for shots on goal.
On defense, I still worry about errors from O’Rourke, and his ability to keep his head after he’s made an error. He actually recovered well against LA despite the high cost of his one real error and his one imagined error.
More importantly, against Chivas and L.A. both the defense seems to concede the entire field from the center circle to the top of the box if the attack player holds onto the ball. I was worried about the fast forward passes Beckham – Donovan have made so brilliantly, but those were handled well. Instead, we struggled against slower attacks. I actually expect to see the back line give Colorado thirty yards to define their attack and allow some unearned, but dangerous chances.
Finally, I think we’ll see the 4-4-2 most of the game with a switch to 3-5-2 for part of the second half. I think Sigi has as much as said so. The difficulty with starts and restarts requires that 4-4-2 for a good portion of the game.
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Category: Match Preview
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