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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Robbie Rogers-Man of the Match! Columbus Crew 2, Philadelphia Union 1, 8/20/11

I have had a love/hate fan relationship with the Columbus Crew's Robbie Rogers. At times I have been completely frustrated with his play, expecting more of an effort, better finishing, better final passes.

But after Robbie's performance in the Crew's 2-1 victory over the Philadelphia Union last night, I can now declare myself a Robbie Rogers fan.

Robbie assisted on the Crew's first goal with a nice cross into Emilio Renteria. Later in the match Rogers forced a handball in the box by Philly defender Sheanon Williams that was converted for a goal by Andres Mendoza.

It was obvious in the first half that the Union were not going to let the ball get to Rogers playing left midfield for the Crew. They overloaded their midfield on his side of the field, which allowed the Crew to work the ball up the right side. Early in the match, The Crew did have one very good opportunity in the from the right, a Justin Meram cross that Rogers almost converted for a goal.

Once the Crew figured out how to get Rogers the ball with space on the left, they became very dangerous. He had one shot he fired high, and then later in the first half made the cross that resulted in the Crew's first goal of the night.

Robbie Rogers is showing that he is one of the best midfielders in MLS and is playing up to the potential we all new he had. He's also pretty interesting on twitter. @robbierogers

The Crew now have a 5 point lead over the Houston Dynamo for first place in the MLS Eastern Conference.

This team gets better and better as the season continues. Michael Arace posted a great commentary this morning on the Columbus Dispatch's website regarding the Crew and their success this year. I love the last line, "Open your window and sniff. Is that a trace of Massive in the air?"

Check it out:
http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/sports/2011/08/21/big-names-in-new-york-la-but-crews-in-first.html

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 Rain Drenched Draw, Columbus Crew 1, Seattle Sounders FC 1, 5/8/11

When are the Columbus Crew and it's fans going to get a break from the weather? I walked into the match at about 7pm last night, went to the Upper 90 Club to have a beer, and then the torrential downpour began.

So my wife Tammy and I started the match on the Upper 90 Club porch, then move to the Southeast corner of the stadium and huddled under an umbrella for the balance of the first half.

We saw Fredy Montero of Sounders FC split Chad Marshall and Julius James with a very good run, and flick a header into the net from off a very good service from Erik Friberg. 1-0 Sounders.

And we left at halftime...stopping for pizza at one of our favorite spots, Rubino's in Bexley, before heading back to Cincinnati.

The Crew have had bad weather for 4 out of their 5 home matches this year. Both the Crew and it's fans deserve better.

The Crew earned a draw last night after Chad Marshall was pulled down in the box in the second half, earning a PK that was converted by Emilio Renteria. This match was the Crew's 7th straight without a defeat.

Emilio Renteria Scores the Equalizer! (Jamie Sabau-Getty Images)

But back to the weather. The Crew are a good team. They deserve our support. After yesterday's MLS fixtures they now stand in second place in the Eastern conference. It's admittedly tough to stand in a downpour to watch them play, but their style is very attractive, with a rock solid defense. They need to score more goals out of the run of play, (4 of their 8 goals this year have come from the spot) but they will come.

The Crew's next home match is Saturday, May 28th versus Chivas USA. The weather will be great! (I hope) And I will never again leave a match at halftime.

Note: My man of the match for last night's game is Rich Balchan. His offensive runs out of the back and crosses into the box were very threatening and kept the Sounders FC on their toes all night.

65 Minutes of Domination! Columbus Crew 2, Vancouver Whitecaps 1, 4/30/2011

If the Columbus Crew match last night had ended in the 65th minute, I would have been writing about the Crew's best performance of the season. The Crew dominated possession, scored two goals (both by man of the match Emilio Renteria) and didn't allow Vancouver their first corner until the 71st minute.

Getty Images

The game seemed to be in hand for the Crew until Emmanuel Ekpo turned the ball over in the Crew's defensive third in the 69th minute. This resulted in a Vancouver counter that ended with Vancouver's Omar Salgado heading a cross into the Crew's net. For the last 31 minutes the Crew had to work hard to hang on to the win, as the pressure that Vancouver put on to get the equalizer was relentless.

But the Crew persevered and took 3 points from the match. This was the Crew's sixth straight match without a defeat, and allowed them to keep pace with the the New York Red Bulls, Philadelphia Union and the Houston Dynamo, who all won home matches this week.

Emmanuel Ekpo had just been substituted in for Kevin Burns at a defensive midfield position when he turned the ball over that resulted in the Whitecaps goal. Strange decision by Coach Robert Warzycha, as Ekpo, who can be very dangerous offensively, is known to make poor decisions when the ball is at his feet. Kevin Burns had worked very hard during the match, and probably needed a substitute, but the choice of Ekpo turned out to be very poor. Coach Warzycha may have been boxed into a corner, as his only other midfield choice on the bench was the little used Leandre Griffit who ended up entering match in the 88th. But it's hard to be too critical of Coach Warzycha's decisions with the Crew getting 12 out of a possible 18 points out of their last 6 matches.

One other note. Last night was Omar Salgado's first start for the Whitecaps. He was the first pick in the 2011 MLS Soccer SuperDraft and is only 17 years old. He was a beast last night, and gave the Crew's defense fits, especially in the last 35 minutes. He's going to be a very good player for the Whitecaps!

The Crew's next match is against one of the hottest team's in the MLS right now, the Seattle Sounders. The game is at Crew Stadium this Saturday, May 7th at 7:30pm EST. I'd certainly like to see a full house for this match, as it's going to be a good one!

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!