Crew vs. Rapids: Match Report

By: James | June 28th, 2008

Crew 2, Rapids 1.
Columbus: Schelotto (PK) 53, Ekpo (unassisted) 70
Colorado: LaBrocca (Casey) 60

Wow. There were some nice surprises tonight, but on the other hand, it finished ugly. I liked the staffing and position decisions made on defense, but that’s clearly where more work needs to be done. O’Rourke played on the left side rather than as a central defender while Andy Iro played 90 minutes alongside Chad Marshall in the center. This had some nice effects, especially in the first half. First, it mitigates the risk from those occasions where Danny valuable aggressiveness becomes reckless and it puts Iro behind him when he gets beaten or loses a step on a opponent. O’Rourke was more effective on the left than Junge and made an effective bridge from Hesmer and the central defenders forward to the attacking midfielders. He also refused to cede those yards in the midfield he’d given ground on in earlier games. I like Danny on the left and hope he stays there.

I’ve been hoping to see Andy Iro and think he looked pretty good in his first 90 minute game. His height is an asset and he seemed to have a good sense of the game. His clearances seemed to be directed at offensive targets more often than I’m used to seeing- especially Ekpo. The chemistry with Marshall seems strong if immature. He made some errors of his own, and probably shares some blame on LaBrocca’s goal but looked strong for his first showing.

The defense looked strong in the first half. Around LaBrocca’s goal in the 60th minute, and from the 75th minute on though, the Colorado’s Cooke, Clarke, Casey, and McManus owned our defense. Hejduk seemed tired for the first time in history, Iro and Marshall seemed to lose chemistry, and O’Rourke was often out of the picture. Carroll usually can pick up this slack, but the whole team seemed overwhelmed by the Rapid’s attack. It got pretty dicey by the end. Moreno dropped back on the right pretty effectively at times, but he shouldn’t need to do that. Mastroeni or another Rapids defender served several balls from midfield to dead center at the top of the box, and the Crew struggled to manage the attack. It seemed like Hesmer handled more volleys in the last 15 minutes that he did in the rest of the game. Despite that, Frankie Hejduk really laid into William Hesmer several times in the ugliest minutes of the game. He seemed to feel that Hesmer needed to come out to meet more balls that were crossing the 28 whether they were in the box or not. He also seemed to want Hesmer to manage the central defenders better, but he didn’t offer direction or complaints to Marshall or Iro as far as I could see. Hesmer didn’t seem to talk back, but he clearly wanted to stay in front of the goal rather than come out aggressively like he did in L.A. Final note on defense: Schmid wisely subbed in Junge for Schelotto in the 90th minute and went to a 5-3-2. The defense clearly needed relief, but the fact that he added a man rather than subbing a defender shows how much they struggled. I’m not sure how they’ll address this for coming weeks.

On the offensive side, the most notable change was seeing Emmanuel Ekpo on the right side where Nico Hernandez played last week. Shawn Mitchell is reporting that Nico was waived Saturday afternoon. I think Ekpo is the stronger option, and it’s possible Nicowas waived to open a roster spot for a DP. Even if that’s not the case I think Ekpo’s showed himself as a strong presence on the right side, and may be that missing fourth man in the attack. Ekpo challenge well and made some great tackles. His ball-handling talents are there, but his value lies in his ability to see play as it develops and make the right pass, run, or step to build a quality chance. On the offensive side we’ve had that in Rogers, Moreno, and Schelotto, but Schmid has struggled though the last two seasons to get this in an offensive player and most of his remaining options have been here a year. Eddie Gaven has the potential to be this player but he seems frustrated by how often his play ends in an almost: shots almost on frame, passes almost on target, runs almost to great crosses. I think Ekpo is a good acquisition and would like to see him keep the start.

On Ekpo’s goal: Holy hell. It’s a goal of the week contender in my book. The fact that he could pop a ball back over his own head then turn and run with absolute confidence that the ball would be waiting exactly where he wanted it completely floored me. That he ran it down for a well-taken goal made me wish I’d worn Depends.

Despite making its goals in the second half, the attack the Crew crafted in the first half showed inventiveness, tenacity, and clear evidence that all of the contributors were on the same page. Where crossed balls were unmet in the box last week, each pass seemed to find a target. Where last week saw more lateral passes, this week showed passing that advanced the ball, broke the defense, and flowed organically toward quality tries.

The breakdown of the defensive effort in the second half hurts the statistical match-up against Colorado’s offense, but the Crew looked like the better formed offense for the first 70 minutes of play.

Rogers continues to grow. Colorado’s Ihemelu had trouble marking him. And Robbie has expanded made a better target than in those games where he was shut down by harsh physicality. More importantly, he brought several runs down the sideline and crossed into attacking players that had kept up. The last three weeks show strong development in the offensive effort.

Brad Evans continues to develop, and anticipated his role in attacks as they developed better than in previous weeks. He still plays best in the second half.

Corner kicks didn’t come as plentifully as in previous weeks, but Schelotto’s corners were much more shallow, geared to finding a gap at the near post or just behind the keeper. I liked it. I don’t know what to say about Guille. I’m awed. And somebody should write a song about Alejandro Moreno. Maybe Jack White…

Colorado found a rhythm the Crew couldn’t break as the clock ran down, but even then, Steven Lenhart - who came in for Ekpo (I would have thought to replace Evans) - made a great target for Schelotto. He anticipated passes, and worked some strong give and go balls. Lenhart doesn’t seem to have lost anything by cutting off the ‘fro. Overall, there was some really gorgeous offensive football played by the Crew.

There’s more to work on for the defensive side this week. I think the offense looks strong, and will find ways to build even more pressure and creative chances.

Sigi won’t be coaching the All Stars. While the Crew won, New England won too. Steve Nicol takes the honor. Still, Sigi’s coach was off Nicol’s mark by just two hundredths of a point. The Revs play no MLS games in July. The Crew plays 4 times and is only 4 points out from the top of the table. How do you like their chances?