RSL v. Crew: One Missing Piece

By: Jeff | April 16th, 2007

Even if you happen to disagree with what comes below, let it not be claimed that I didn’t compare my opinions about the Columbus Crew’s 0-0 draw against Real Salt Lake (RSL) with other readings. With that, here goes…

ZZZ…zzz.zz..zzzzzz…snort….cough, cough…

Man, oh man. Did I sleep through Sunday (well, obviously not)? So, how’d the Columbus game end? 0-0, huh? Figures. Last thing I remember was RSL starting to sneak back into the game. Mehdi Ballouchy looked particularly sharp; a couple of their other players managed some moments, but only Ballouchy seemed able to make RSL attack cohesively. Was Freddy Adu even in that game? Oh wait, I remember now: he had that one move into the area where he just would not shoot with his right foot (thanks, Sensory Overload, for the assist with the memory). That’s something to work on, son.

So the Crew sputtered to a second goalless draw. I have to say, man, I feel less “jiggy” after this game than last week’s go at Red Bull New York. The difference has to do with momentum: see, against Red Bull, the Crew got stronger as the game went on, while the opposite happened with RSL. I’ve read word here and there about RSL’s coach John Ellinger bringing his midfielders inside and that was the difference. Whatever it was, it worked, man, ‘cause RSL rode pretty strong into the end of the game.

But that first half? All Columbus. I kept smirking to myself: “Who’s the home team?” They played the ball so well, they had good movement off the ball, players had their heads up, looking for runs, looking for passes, providing great support, etc. Everything looked really smooth – till they got to RSL’s defensive third at least. Even there, though, right on the top of the area the Crew found space and slipped in some clever passes. And the beautiful thing? The players running onto the pass saw it too; they were making the right runs and everything was looking pretty dangerous – right up till the final ball, anyway.

Long story short, this is 2/3 of GOOD team. If they can get their final-third thing sorted out, Columbus will make the playoffs – no question in my mind. But that “if”? That’s bigger than the city of Columbus itself. As a lot of guys on the Crew’s BigSoccer post-game thread pointed out, Kei Kamara looked much better than Jason Garey. Garey, so far as I saw, stunk up the joint. If Crew coach Sigi Schmid has any other options, it’s time to try them.

But the happy thought for the day comes with the Crew’s midfield. Just superb out there; at times, these guys looked like honest-to-God professionals, pinging the ball around the middle of the field almost at will. Their defense also looks pretty good right now. Very solid, very tough, but it plays pretty clean at the same time, which means no stupid fouls and resultant set-plays. And the ‘keeper? Andy Gruenebaum. He’s playing pretty well and definitely bravely; he took a shot to the pills and popped up like nothing happened.

The question becomes, what next? I keep hearing about Guillermo Schelotto, who’s suddenly being dubbed a forward. So be it. The Crew needs all the help they can get up there. If he can’t cut it, they might consider trading a quality midfielder in order to get a proven goal-scorer on board. Then again, maybe it’s too early to panic. The clean-sheets do count for something; it’s a damn good foundation for the rest of the season if nothing else. But, for all the improvement from 2006, there’s unquestionably a missing piece to the Crew team – and, wouldn’t you know it, it’s the same damn piece. But the bottom line for the Crew front office: do not break up this team. It isn’t broken. It’s just got a part, maybe two parts, missing.

Further reading:
MLSnet.com: Match Report from RSL site
MLSnet.com: Love for Gruenebaum
MLSnet.com: Love for RSL’s defense

And the rest of ‘em are embedded. Back tomorrow.