A Great Atmosphere, But the Crew Disappoint. LA Galaxy 1, Columbus Crew 0 9/24/11

It was great to see a sold out match at Columbus Crew Stadium. The Plaza in front of the stadium was packed. There was a huge line to get into the Crew store. The Nordecke was in full throat! And the weather was perfect.

The Nordecke Was Awesome Last Night!

I would like to think the crowd came to cheer on the Major League Soccer Eastern Conference leading Columbus Crew against the Western Conference leading LA Galaxy. But I do understand that the casual fans who came out wanted to see the Galaxy's Landon Donovan, David Beckham and Robbie Keane. As it turned out, David Beckham flew back to Los Angeles earlier this week as he was being rested, Robbie Keane had a minor injury that kept him out of the 18 for the match, and Landon Donovan didn't start.

But the fans were absolutely treated to a very exciting match that ended with the Galaxy scoring a second-half extra-time goal to give them a 1-0 victory. I hope the fans make it back to more Crew matches!

Crew Coach Robert Warzycha started the match in a 4-5-1 formation, which didn't make a lot of sense to me when the Galaxy's two best midfielders, Donovan and Beckham weren't in the match. Predictably the Crew couldn't produce quality chances in the first half, although they played very well defensively.

It was only when Coach Warzycha brought on Emilio Renteria in the second half, switching to a 4-4-2 formation that the Crew started getting great chances at goal. But ultimately they couldn't finish.

And when the Galaxy's Chad Barrett knocked in a deflected Landon Donovan shot in the 93rd minute (both were second half subs) the Crew were left with a home loss, and find themselves in 2nd place in the Eastern Conference.

Left defender Shaun Francis had a horrible match, giving the ball away on multiple occasions. The Crew also missed the injured Eddie Gaven as a stabilizing force in the midfield.

The Crew are in trouble and may not make the MLS Playoffs. They are currently playing worse than all of the other MLS Clubs based on their last five matches. They have four matches left, with only one of those at home. They will be lucky to get 4 points total out of those matches if they don't play better.

I'm an optimist when it comes to my favorite sports teams (the Columbus Crew, the Cincinnati Reds, Ohio State and Purdue football) but I'm not real confident we are going to see the Crew in the playoffs come the end of the MLS regular season.

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Breathe...Toronto FC 4, Columbus Crew 2, 9/10/11

Final score, Toronto FC 4, the Columbus Crew 2. At COLUMBUS CREW STADIUM!

Breathe, deep breaths...

Tell yourself everything is going to be OK with the Columbus Crew.

Tell yourself that giving up 10 goals in their last two matches is nothing to be concerned about.

Tell yourself that seeing William Hesmer play his worst game...ever...is nothing to be concerned about.

Tell yourself that the starting back four of Sebastian Miranda, Chad Marshall, Julius James and Josh Gardner will communicate better in their next match.

Trillium Cup Goes to Toronto FC (Getty Images)

Tell yourself that the Crew midfield will not fail to connect on their passes like they did last night.

Tell yourself that losing to Toronto FC...FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER is only a blip, the Crew will recover.

Tell yourself we will see Eddie Gaven return to the line-up.

Tell yourself that the Crew will get things together in time for their Wednesday night home match against the Houston Dynamo.

Tell yourself the Crew will still be in playoff position after their next five matches, where they play four other teams in Major League Soccer's Eastern Conference who are in playoff position (the Houston Dynamo, Philadelphia Union, Sporting Kansas City and DC United) and the best team in all of Major League Soccer, the Los Angeles Galaxy.

Breath...

My Man Crush for Emilio Renteria! Crew win 1-0! 7/23/11

It's the 24th of July and we find the Columbus Crew tied with the Philadelphia Union on points for first place in the Major League Soccer Eastern Conference. How about that!

Crew Goal Scorer Eddie Gaven and Emilio Renteria!

Another Budweiser $1 draft night at Columbus Crew Stadium last night drew 11,246 people to the match, which was pretty boring and uneventful until the 66th minute when Emilio Renteria entered the match as a sub for an ineffective Jeff Cunningham.

Maybe it was the $1 drafts, but immediately after Renteria entered the match, the energy in the stadium increased 10-fold, and the Crew, feeling the love, began to play with a sense of urgency that ultimately lead to a goal by Eddie Gaven and a 1-0 victory over the Portland Timbers.

It's very obvious that with Emilio Renteria on the field, the Crew are a different team. He is a handful for defenses to deal with, and when he is on the field, good things just seem to happen! I have to admit I have a man crush for Emilio!

The Crew's defense have only allowed one goal in their last four matches. And quite frankly the goal that the LA Galaxy scored last week would have been saved by William Hesmer last week if the shot hadn't been deflected by Eric Gehrig.

Andy Gruenebaum got the starting nod at keeper last night after it was determined that William Hesmer's quad was too hurt to make a go of it. Between him and the Crew's back-line of Sebastian Miranda, Chad Marshall (who in my opinion is the biggest MLS All-Star game snub this year), Julius James and Josh Gardner the Timbers could not reach the back of the net.

I feel very optimistic about the Crew right now. With two legitimate starters missing from last night's line-up due to injury (Andres Mendoza and Rich Balchan) the Crew still found a way to win. And this Crew team knows how to play defense, which should serve them well going into the final third of the MLS season.

The Crew hit a pretty rough part of their schedule over the next two weeks. First, a Tuesday night friendly versus Newcastle United of the English Premier League, and then two tough road matches at Real Salt Lake and at the Colorado Rapids. Getting 2 points minimum out of the matches at Rio Tinto and Dick's Sporting Goods Park would be a great result.

A Plethora of Goals! The Columbus Crew Win 4-1! 6/26/11

I have always wanted to use the word "plethora" in my blog. Seems pretty apropos (another word I have wanted to us) to use "plethora" to describe last night's Columbus Crew victory over the Colorado Rapids. Four goals in one match? Yeah, The Crew did that.

I missed the last home match against the Chicago Fire, so I didn't blog about that debacle. But last night was a very inspired performance by The Crew. After giving up an early goal to Colorado's Conor Casey (who was later red-carded after going in hard on a ball saved by Crew keep William Hesmer) The Crew racked up four goals, two by Andres Mendoza (who received a standing ovation when he was subbed off in the 68th minute) and one each by Eddie Gaven and Tommy Heinemann. The Crew got a measure of revenge against the Rapids, who eliminated The Crew from the 2010 MLS playoffs on penalty kicks last November at Crew Stadium.

If Mendoza continues to convert his scoring chances, The Crew fans will learn to appreciate him. He clapped for the fans when he came off the pitch. Maybe he has learned a little to show a little appreciation for the fans. We really aren't hard to please.

I really thought Emmanuel Ekpo played one of his best matches of the season. He controlled the midfield and made very good decisions with the ball. I also continue to be impressed with Rich Balchan as a holding midfielder. And Sebastian Miranda has turned into one of the best outside backs in the MLS. The guy just doesn't make a mistake.

There was some interesting goings-on in the Nordecke last night. During the first half, the whole group moved to the upper deck. I was trying to track what was going on via twitter during the match. Looks like Chris LaMacchia of the MassiveReport.com captured what happened here:

http://massivereport.com/content/nordecke-takes-vacation-corner

It will be interesting to listen to the Massive Report's podcast tonight, as Crew President and General Manager Mark McCullers will be the guest. I'm sure Nordecke-Gate will be discussed.

Two wins in a row for The Crew now finds them tied for second in the Eastern Conference with the New York Red Bulls with one game in hand. The Crew are playing some quality soccer right now, and I'm enjoying it.

Columbus Crew 1, Sporting KC 0 (4/16/11)

My wife Tammy, my youngest son Michael and my daughter Mallory joined me and 7,695 of my closest friends who braved the horrible weather last night to watch our Columbus Crew get a very good victory over Sporting KC, 1-0.

Check that. My wife and daughter sat in the Upper 90 club (no longer the best kept secret at Crew Stadium) and watched the match on TV, while my son Michael and I braved the elements and stood on the Upper 90 club's porch and watched. I drive from Cincinnati for every match, so if I'm going to make the effort to drive up, I'm going to stand in the crappy weather.

OK, I was standing under a canopy.

Robbie Rogers and Eddie Gaven Celebrating Robbie's Goal (http://www.thecrew.com/ Josh Couper/Skyler Schmitt)

This was the 4th straight shutout for the Crew's defense. Sporting KC entered the match as one of the highest scoring teams in the MLS. Once again, the Crew's central defense of Julius James and Chad Marshall led the way with solid goalkeeping from William Hesmer.

Coach Robert Warzycha started Emilio Renteria up top, with Eddie Gaven right underneath him rather than at his traditional outside midfield position. Dilly Duka went the full 90 minutes and earned an assist on Robbie Rogers' second half goal. I give coach Warzycha a lot of credit for conjuring up this inspired line-up. It definitely worked.

Man of the Match? Robbie Rogers, both for his goal and his outstanding midfield play. He continues to play well following his benching in the Crew's first match of the year. Coach Warzycha obviously knew how to light a fire under Robbie.

Big Win! Columbus Crew 2, FC Dallas 0-April 1st, 2011

Last night's game was big for the Columbus Crew. After last week's disappointing draw with a weakened New York Red Bull side, the Crew came back in a big way with a 2-0 victory against FC Dallas.

Eddie Gaven Down the Sideline (Josh Couper, www.thecrew.com)

The Crew dominated possession in the first half against a very strong FC Dallas side. Eddie Gaven, my man of the match (I had made that decision even before his goal in 2nd half stoppage time) played with an intensity we have come to expect from him, with outstanding runs down the right-hand side. In my stupidity I dropped Eddie Gaven from my FC Manager fantasy team ESPN.com. Going to have to correct that.

Also, for the third game in a row, Robbie Rogers played very well as Eddie Gaven's complement on the left side, earning an assist on Gaven's goal.

This was the second clean sheet in a row for the Crew. William Hesmer had to make several saves and the back line of Rich Balchan, Chad Marshall, Julius James and Sebastian Miranda held off a strong offensive push by the FC Dallas front line, although much of that push in the 2nd half was due to give-aways by the Crew's defense (see below). Even though the Crew had a one man advantage for almost 57 minutes after Jackson Goncalves of FC Dallas was ejected for a second caution, the 2nd half was a 50/50 affair, with the outcome never until Gaven scored the Crew's 2nd goal in stoppage time.

I like the line-up the Crew started with last night. It was the same as the match against the Red Bull last Saturday, essentially a 4-2-2-1-1. The same personnel started, with the only change being Miranda and Balchan switching sides. The Crew created plenty of chances, although they still struggle getting off quality shots in the penalty box. But first order of priority is to stop the other team from scoring, and the Crew are accomplished that.

A few other thoughts:

- The defense, especially James and Balchan, gave the ball away much too often in the second half. This allowed FC Dallas to continue to aggressively counter-attack.

- The return of Emilio Renteria was huge for the Crew. His energy and drive provided a real spark in the second half.

- FC Dallas started Ruben Luna, one of their home-grown signees and a graduate of their US Soccer Development Academy program team. Last time I saw Ruben Luna was against my son Michael's Development Academy team last Fall. Kind of cool.

Big win for the Crew!

Columbus Crew 0, New York Red Bull 0 March 26, 2011

Luke Rodgers, RBNY Sebastian Miranda, Crew (www.newyorkredbulls.com)

Wow, it was brutally cold at Crew Stadium this afternoon.

The Crew played to a 0-0 draw with the New York Red Bull today. After last week's debacle against DC United getting 1 point out of the Red Bulls today was OK. Problem was that the Red Bulls were missing several starters due to National Team call-ups. Also, Thierry Henry was ruled out due to injury. This was a perfect opportunity for the Crew to get 3 points from a weakened Red Bull side, but they didn't take advantage.

I thought the line-up Crew coach Robert Warzycha started was interesting and effective. The midfield combination of Eddie Gaven, Robbie Rodgers, Kevin Burns and Dejan Rusmir controlled overall possession for most of the first half. Emmanuel Ekpo was effective as a withdrawn forward.

The problem for the Crew this afternoon was poor crossing and finishing. Several of the Crew newcomers had great opportunities to serve the ball to teammates in the box, but their crosses were hit off target. Both Dilly Duka, on as a late substitute, and Andres Mendoza tripped over themselves when they had great scoring opportunities and were unable to get effective shots off.

Ultimately the Crew should be pleased that they dominated possession and demonstrated an overall good effort. By all rights they should have been able to get a victory in the match, but that's soccer.

An additional note: Only 10,306 people showed up for today's match. It was the home opener! I know it was cold, but c'mon Crew fans, show up!

I have to give the Crew Supporters groups credit...the Nordecke was packed and in full voice once again!

Crew Nordecke, 3/26/11 versus Red Bull New York! (Skyler Schmitt, www.thecrew.com)

Columbus Crew lose 4-1 at Real Salt Lake

This one was ugly. The Crew got it close early in the 2nd half on an Andres Mendoza goal off a cheeky pass from Eddie Gaven. It was 2-1 at that point.

But Real Salt Lake scored two more times (the first should have been disallowed due to a missed offside call) and clinched a spot in the CONCACAF Champion's League semifinals.

Rooting for Real Salt Lake to win The Champion's League, and they definitely have a shot as it seems no one can beat them at Rio Tinto Stadium.

Don't know what to make of The Crew. Thoroughly dominated tonight. Defense porous, very few chances on goal. It's early, the MLS season hasn't even started, but I'm worried.

Crew man of the match? Eddie Gaven for the assist. Mendoza played well too.

Not so good? Robbie Rogers, Jeff Cunningham, Ray Burse and Andy Iro. Ray Burse is the third goalkeeper on The Crew, so expectations are low for him anyway. But the other three need to step it up.
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