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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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 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)