The Columbus Crew are Like My Psycho Girlfriend! Crew 1, Whitecaps 0, 7/6/11

Jeff Cunningham Scores the Winning Goal!

June 4th: Psycho girlfriend, "Let's go out, your kinda cute!" (Crew get a dramatic draw at the New York Red Bulls.)

June 8th: Psycho girlfriend, "That was fun, I really like you! Let's go out again. " (Crew beat Real Salt Lake 2-1 at Crew Stadium.)

June 12th: Psycho girlfriend, "I hate your guts, don't talk to me..." What did I do? (Crew play an uninspired match at home and lose to the Chicago Fire.)

June 18th: Psycho girlfriend, "I am so sorry, please come over." Huh...OK. (Crew shutout the Houston Dynamo at their place 2-0.)

June 26th: Psycho girlfriend, "Oh you are so nice to me, I don't know what I would ever do without you." (Crew demolish the Colorado Rapids 4-1.)

July 2nd: Psycho girlfriend, "You're so mean, don't touch me." What did I do this time? (Crew get demolished in Dallas 2-0.)

July 6th: Psycho girlfriend, "Why are you mad at me?" (Jeff Cunningham heads in the winner in the 90th minute to earn the Crew 3 points at Vancouver.)

Game story: http://www.thecrew.com/news/2011/07/recap-crew-vs-whitecaps-fc

With the win, The Crew maintains 3rd place in the MLS Eastern conference. (Tied for 2nd on points with Philadelphia, but 3rd in the standings due to goal differential.)

It wasn't pretty last night. The Crew fielded a ramshackle line-up due to suspensions (Emmanuel Ekpo, Andy Iro) and injuries (Rich Balchan) to regular starters. William Hesmer saved a PK. But they got the job done, and in a league where 40% of the matches end in draws, getting an away win is gold!

And what better way for Jeff Cunningham to tie the MLS career record for goals (with Jaime Moreno) and become the Columbus Crew's all time goal scoring leader (topping Brian McBride) by scoring the game-winner!

Yeah, my girlfriend is psycho, but she's worth it.

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 Steal a Point at Red Bull Arena! 6/4/11

Rich Balchan Celebrates His Goal!

I usually only post my Crew game recaps if I actually attend the match, but I was pretty excited about last night's draw with the New York Red Bulls.

Briefly:

The Red Bulls fielded a relatively weak line-up against The Crew, with several of their starters out on National Team duties. The Crew were missing Robbie Rodgers who was called in to the US Men's National Team for the CONCACAF Gold Cup and yesterday's friendly versus Spain.

Side note: Robbie started against Spain last night and played the first half. Spain drubbed the US Men's team 4-0.

The Crew/Red Bulls match was a back and forth affair, with The Crew giving up a goal in the 9th minute to Mehdi Ballouchy. The Red Bulls had the better of the first half possession, but The Crew recovered in the second half and created several scoring opportunities for themselves in the second half. Andres Mendoza, who I thought had righted himself with his two goals last week against Chivas USA, right-footed a cross from his right wide of the goal and 8 minutes later headed a open-netter wide left. Back to his old form.

Justin Meram entered the match for The Crew in the 74th minute, and in extra-time received the ball on the left, crossed the ball on the ground into the box, which fellow rookie and Big Ten alumnus Rick Balchan finished to earn the draw.

Demoralizing for the Red Bulls, but just maybe the type of result that The Crew can build on.
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$1 Beers and Good Weather! Columbus Crew 3, Chivas USA 3, May 28, 2011

Finally! The weather was great for a home match at Crew Stadium last night.

And The Crew had $1 Bud and Bud Light drafts!

And The Crew scored a first half goal!

The only thing missing was a Crew victory.

The match won't be mistaken for the quality of soccer that I saw this morning watching the DVR'ed UEFA Champions League Final. But six goals (three scored by The Crew), a red card and a back and forth tempo made the match very entertaining. And the $1 drafts made the crowd in section 132 very entertaining too. (Big drunk dude trying to pick up on a girl who kept telling him she was gay.)

The Columbus Crew's Andres Mendoza

On the field The Crew's defense looked very disorganized and ultimately very porous. Keeper William Hesmer and the back four didn't seem like they were on the same page for the first 60 minutes of the match. Interesting as last night's starting four of Sebastian Miranda, Julius James, Chad Marshall and Rich Balchan have started almost every match this year, yet have given up seven goals in their last 3 matches, as opposed to six goals in the first 8 matches of the season.

Andres Mendoza scored two goals last night, finally showing that he deserves the DP status (and corresponding salary) the Crew have given him. Emmanuel Ekpo also scored his first goal of the year.

So The Crew is now showing some offensive punch, but their defense is not looking good at all. With their next two matches against the New York Red Bulls away and Real Salt Lake at home they are going to have a tough time getting results. Luckily they are catching both clubs at a time when they are losing several players due to CONCACF Gold Cup call-ups, not to mention that that they are both on current runs of poor form. (New York Red Bulls 0 wins in their last 5 matches, Real Salt Lake a loss and 2 draws in their last 3 matches.)

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.

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!

DC United 3, Crew 1

Charlie Davies (Getty Images)

Had to watch this game on the DVR. Turned it off last night after Charlie Davies scored on a PK to make it 2-0.

Watched the rest this morning. Some quick thoughts, keeping in mind this is the first game of the year.

- DC United looks like a much improved team from last year. The additions of Dax McCarty in the midfield and Josh Wolff up top were certainly factors in the game.

- DC United and American soccer fans should feel great about Charlie Davies' return to competitive soccer. 2 goals, one on a PK and a second after he beat Chad Marshall were the feel good moments of the match, even for a Crew fan like me.

- The Crew have some work to do. The two goals scored by DC United during the run of play were off of defensive blunders by Rich Balchan and Chad Marshall. Both got beat one-on-one while losing their footing. Chad Marshall doesn't usually get beat like that. Rich Balchan is a rookie and is learning. MLS teams will continue to attack the right side so he will continue to be tested.

- The Emmanuel Ekpo experiment as a central midfielder should end now. Too many give-aways, no offensive creativity last night. He is best used wide.

- Robbie Rogers and Tom Heinemann provided offensive sparks off the bench late in the match. Admittedly the Crew were down 3-0 when they began to show life in the final third, but it is reason for optimism. Maybe Robbie Rogers got the message after not being in the staring 11 last night.

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Columbus Crew vs Real Salt Lake CONCACAF Quarterfinal First Leg-Opportunity Lost For The Crew

2/22/11: Sitting in my hotel room trying to warm up after attending the first leg of the CONCACAF quarterfinal match between the Columbus Crew and Real Salt Lake in Columbus, Ohio. Don't know what the temperature was, but at least it wasn't windy. I'm guessing 25 degrees at best.

I'm a Crew season ticket holder so please excuse my bias towards the Crew as I write this.

I really didn't expect much from the Crew this match. Their roster has changed dramatically since last season and based on the fact that Real Salt Lake was very strong last year and fielded essentially the same team as last year I felt that a 1 goal loss was the best that the Crew would do tonight.

I was pleasantly surprised and ultimately disappointed in how the match turned out. It ended in a 0-0 draw. Suprising in that the Crew was missing William Hesmer in goal, Shaun Francis at left back and Chad Marshall at centerback, yet played very well in the first half in dominating Real Salt Lake. Disappointing in that Real Salt Lake was a man down for the last 38 minutes of the match (a second caution resulting in a red card in the 52nd, then both teams receiving red cards in the 72nd) yet the Crew couldn't mount a sustained attack to get a home goal. They looked pretty tired in the second half.

The Crew will have a chance to advance when they play the second leg March 1st in Salt Lake City. Away goals are a tie-breaker in the elimination rounds this year, so a 1-1 draw would do the trick for the Crew in the match.

Who stood out for the Crew tonight? Rich Balchan at center back, Sebastian Miranda at right back and Emmanuel Ekpo in the midfield.

Who struggled for the Crew? Josh Gardner at left back

Match report: http://www.thecrew.com/news/2011/02/crew-rsl-finish-scoreless-testy-ccl-opener