The Harfang's Perch

The Crew snapped their four-game winless streak with a 2-1 victory over the Burn by using the most maligned formation in all of soccer, the 3-6-1.  For those who aren't formation wonks, this system of play involves 3 defenders, 6 midfielders, and a lone target striker.  The purpose of this scheme is to flood the midfield with players and stretch the field to its maximum width through the use of its numerical advantage by breaking down the defense and scoring goals through the creation of mismatches and confusion about marking assignments for the defense.  The reason this scheme has gotten so much bad ink in the past is because Steve Sampson wedded our National Team to it in preparation for the 1998 World Cup without knowing exactly HOW his six-man midfield needed to be staffed.  Fortunately for us, Greg Andrulis did a slightly better job of addressing the various needs and as a result we were able to bring home the three points to keep pace with the Metrostars in the East.  My review:

*Tactics were better.  Fozzie finally put Manny Lagos and Kyle Martino together in attacking midfield, but left Jeff Cunningham out of the first XI to do so.  Their ability to run into the corners and play like additional forwards opened up the field for Simon Elliot to do more playmaking and allowed Chris Wingert to get into more-attacking positions in the first half.  The first goal came as a result of a pair of Dallas defenders BOTH not marking Buddle, with the second coming on a quick counter created by KMart stripping a player, dumping the ball back to Simon and then sprinting for the corner all while Buddle ran to a specific spot to which Elliot's pass was excellently stroked.  The only criticism I have to the set-up is that we were unable to adequately mark out O'Brien and Davis on the flanks because Wingert and Hejduk had to provide more offensive support than normal.

*KNEE-JERK substitutions.  Andrulis replaced players after Dallas trimmed the lead to 2-1 as though his life was on the line.  He inserted Maissoneuve for Lagos and thus cut off the tap of offensive pressure on the Burn.  Wingert's knock brought Den-TON onto the field, another scared move.  No criticism on the third sub except that I would have left Buddle on and brought on Testo for Martino in order to add back a bit of striking bite to secure the win.

*First 60, PRETTY GOOD.  Last 30, BAD!  The whole gameflow went south once we brought Mais onto the field.  Five more minutes at 2-0 and I have a feeling Sutton or Barclay might have found the pitch and the score could have finished 3-0 or 3-1.  When Greg gets the first XI mix right, this team can play with anyone in the league, but once he tinkers with that good mix the game goes nowhere but downhill and we are in a fight to keep the three points earned by the collection of starters.

This scheme might have been a one-off, but if we see it again, this would be my preference for the first XI:

As if the Crew hadn't gotten their "go for one" philosophy perfected the past two weeks, the Hunt Park outfit put together a third straight draw, this time 0-0 against the Colorado Rapids.  Despite a more offensive starting line-up than past weeks (Manny Lagos manning the left flank in place of Chris Wingert), the Black-and-Gold were unable to put the ball past Joe Cannon.  The final of my nerves for the lack of heart on this team came with ten minutes remaining when once-stellar-and-now-useless Brian Maisonneuve was brought on in place of Kyle Martino and was told "send it to the corners and kill off the game" by Mr. Wakka-Wakka-Wakka himself.  The recap:

*NO BALLS!  This team lacks a saq.  Colorado made two subs at the half in search of offensive firepower and had to spend their third midway into the second half due to an injury to Joey DiGiamarino, so naturally we should have been able to add attacking players in order to take over the game.  WRONG!  The bench yesterday consisted of David Testo, Eric Denton, Maisonneuve, and Chris Wingert.  ONE offensive-minded player out of four substitutes available, with Testo replacing an ineffective Edson Buddle around the hour mark.  Thus, with a 0-0 game and a Rapids side out of subs, we literally CANNOT push the attack in any meaningful way due to not having the players available to get it done.  THAT decision rests at the top, which means....

*Fozzie must GO!  No more chances to mess this team up!  We jumped to second place in the Eastern Conference as a result of the single point (moreso because DC got manhandled by Dallas and the Metro decided to take advantage of our contentedness with draws to deliver a win against Chicago and move five points out in the East), but that does NOT get this bum off the hook for his lack of knowledge, lack of tactics, and lack to juevos.  He has consistently played defense-first this season, has continued to play Buddle despite his lackadasical attitude towards fitness and play, and will NOT take chances when three points seem to be available for the taking.  A winning attitude starts in the locker room and MUST be exhibited by the manager in who he plays, who he has on the bench, and how he wants his team to play.  Sadly, that attitude has been non-existent for the past two years and it's high time a change be made lest we miss the playoffs again.

That's it.  Nothing more to say about the match or this team.  If you're thinking about going to Wednesday's game against Dallas, take my advice and save your money (unless you're one of those who just HAS to see Danny Szetela's debut) because you can probably have more enjoyment for your dollar than the two hours you spend being put to sleep by this squad.

The Crew has picked up Danny Szetela in the weighted lottery and seem willing to hold on to him until and unless an acceptable offer is made by the Metrostars comes to the table.  Bully to them!  There is NO reason the Crew should bend over backwards (or frontwards) just to get this player into a "more comfortable" environment and to appease The Powers That Be in New York.  Less-fashionable teams (Dallas, Kansas City, Columbus, Colorado) get repeatedly ripped-off in the name of getting publicity-laden players onto teams in major television markets with little in the way of appropriate compensation.  IF a trade must be made, then this is what the Crew should be asking for:  two starters of reputable quality (Joselito Vaca and Mike Magee, for example).  If the Metro is serious about wanting him, if Danny is serious about wanting to play in the Swamp, and if MLS is serious about being Major League and not roto-league, this is what it will take for the Crew to part with their newest acquisition.  The league has gotten better in terms of allowing the luck of the bouncing balls (or draft order, Freddy Adu notwithstanding) to determine the fate of players, with the in-season player movement precedent being the player dump required of the Galaxy when they wished to sign Luis Hernandez (three starters [Steve Jolley, Joe Franchino, and Clint Mathis], all of whom have gone on to have more productive if not better careers in their future venues).  If Columbus is made to cough up Danny Szetela for players on the order of Kenny Arena and Mark Lisi, color this fan GONE!

The Crew delivered another dose of Mochaberry Latte Soccer (trademarked to Scott Tann) in a depressing, walk-in-the-park 1-1 draw against New England.  The frustration from this writer's perch just below that of telling your five-year-old over-and-over to pick up their toys and wash their hands and look both ways before crossing the street.  Despite one great move, the Crew got whooped and reneged on a chance to move forward in the Eastern Conference race (thankfully, the rest of the East is playing crap football at the moment).  The recap:
 
*Denton got pulled!  Fozzie finally made a good decision by getting Eric Denton out of the game in favor of Chris Wingert once it became apparent that Baker and to a greater extent Ralston were kicking his backside all over the pitch in the first 25 minutes.  Nevermind that it is after the substitution that those two hooked up on a play to set Dempsey free for the opening score (due primarily to Jeffro's lack of desire to forecheck Ralston once the ball got back to him), but this move has been long overdue.  But Andrulis still has...
 
*NO CLUE!  The subs at the end of the game were highly-questionable.  Lagos for Cunningham followed by Ritch for Buddle might look OK on the surface if we had another player on the field who could be pushed up to the striker position, but together this was dumb.  Either straight-up subbing if Jeffro/Edson were gassed (Scott or Testo instead of Lagos) or pull one of the central midfielders at the end and leave Buddle on the field.  This requires the coach to have his team with...
 
*Attitude!  And sadly, the Hunt Park side has none.  Ties at home are an acceptable result?!?!  As the illustrous Doctor Chuck stated, the value of 3 points over that of one is immense enough that a team in this league SHOULD be trying to win a lot more often than they do because the pay-off of 1-1-0 is better than that of 0-0-2 in the table.
 
*MEDIOCRE!  At the end of the day, the Crew are just that, mediocre.  At the halfway point, we stand on 5 wins, 5 losses, and 5 ties.  Bland, unimaginative, head-above-water-but-not-swimming.  But hey, at least Big Greg can say his team is in a playoff position with two games in hand on the rest of the conference and have results from 2/3 of their matches.  And that is what we are left with, a team that desires nothing more than a playoff appearance.  PLAIN SAD!
 

The Crew battled out an eventuful 0-0 draw with the Dallas Burn and AGAIN failed to keep pace with the conference leader. Even though we have games in hand on the Metro, points are the ultimate measure of value in the league, and we sit on 19 at the moment, three back of the leaders. The recap:

* The result flattered both sides. This game could have been 2-0 either way based on the chances generated by both sides and would have been a fair result.

* Edson and Jeffro are the stud! The last two games have produced the best attacking in the final third of any matches this season, and it is all due to having this pair on the pitch. Granted, we weren't able to cash in a goal last night, but that is more due to the fact that...

* Fozzie STILL doesn't get it! I have spoken time and again in this column about how the Crew SHOULD be playing in this three-back scheme, yet somehow no one has clued in Greg as to this. With defensive-minded wingers, ALL of the central midfielders need to be attack-minded (simple math...five offensive players, five defensive players to start the game). With Elliot taking up one of the central midfield positions, that leaves us starting on a regular basis six (or 6 1/2 if Paule also starts) defensive players and requires some luck to score at all (we're keeping clean sheets doing this, but that guarantees you only one point a game). As a result, Martino is LOST on the pitch as the only player besides the strikers who will go all-out at the other team's net, and frankly he isn't good enough to be the only offensive support player in the midfield. Someone in the organization with soccer knowledge needs to sit Andrulis down and spell out the simple math of the formation and why it is not working as well as it could be. Thus, to paraphrase James Carville, if you want to pin our lack of wins on one thing...

* IT'S THE MIDFIELD, STUPID! We are not getting proper midfield play to sufficiently support either the strikers or the defenders. Thus, we face more shots per night than necessary and do not generate nearly enough offensive chances to make the opposition fear us. Now, I do not have a preferred means of play, but if we are wedded to the 3-5-2, the five needs to be either:

Elliot--Paule
Hejduk----Martino----Lagos

OR

Hejduk-----------------Wingert
Paule-Martino-Lagos

The only reason Hejduk plays either way is because we have few options to get more offensive on the roster (no attack-minded right midfielder, and no one else on the left so that Manny can be moved to the right). For all of the changes made in the off-season the two players this team misses most right now are........Brian West and Freddy Garcia. Surprising? Despite their foibles, these guys attacked at will from the flanks and gave us width in the offensive third. At the moment, the only width we generate is if Buddle, Cunningham, or Martino push out of the center to get the ball.

Next week the Revolution visit Estadio Crew and perhaps we can heal what ails us by winning. Then again, the Rev has gotten results despite losing more man-games to injury thus far than Arsenal PLAYED the entire 2003/2004 season (including cup competitions) and we still have Fozzie trotting out his best example of "let 'em play" soccer. No thought, no match-ups, no fitting-the-scheme-to-your-strengths. Just simple, honest, throw-out-11-and-hope-they-win. But we're on a streak (unbeaten in two) and that will quiet down some of the faithful, but is it enough, or should I stock up on Lithium for Saturday?

The Columbus Crew finally put together a solid showing in delivering a clinical 2-0 victory over the Chicago Fire. I don’t know whether to give this team a standing ovation for what was a rare performance or a year’s supply of Prozac to deal with its mood swings. With two games in hand and only two points back of DC United, the push to the front of the conference could not have come sooner (heck, in this conference, ANY push is enough to get you near the top). Onto the recap:

* It’s amazing what a healthy striker can do! For one of the first times this season, Edson Buddle and Jeff Cunningham started up top for Columbus and it showed. The attack had much more bite with this pair that it has had with varying striker combinations and they forced the Chicago backline to stay at home or get bitten by them.

* The midfield WORKED! Despite my pleadings to attack into the gaps behind the wingers, it wasn’t until last night that Andrulis got the message. Ross Paule and Kyle Martino took advantage of the aggressive play of Beasley and Mapp to get balls into dangerous positions and play onto the skillful frontrunners. The long ball into space for Edson and Jeffro also brought some scares to the Fire defense.

* Fozzie’s twin is lost. Despite a better-than-normal showing last night, Eric Denton still doesn’t prove he has the wherewithal to compete at this level. The Crew has several other options at his position (Wingert looked good in his first MLS start even though he was playing out of position, Lagos or Testo can provide better attacking, even Hejduk can be moved to the left in a pinch) and thus Denton should be resigned to picking some splinters out of his backside based on form (nevermind his flipping-off a portion of the home crowd on Wednesday night). If either Sanneh or Charles make their way onto the Columbus roster, Denton’s days in Cowtown could be numbered.


The pattern of the season for the Crew has been pretty well set. Win one, and they will run off a few. Get beat (or even manage to squeak out an unflattering draw) and they will hit the skids for several matches. This form of schizophrenia is not a problem in MLS, because only one team in each conference misses the playoffs, and the Eastern conference is so tightly packed (DC on 20, Metro on 19, Columbus at 18, and the Fire at 17) that a couple of wins in a row can move you from the bottom to the top (or a short run of bad results can do the opposite). Let’s hope the Crew takes its new-found form into Dallas next weekend against a less-than-full-force Burn side and can return back to Soccer Mecca with three more points in the bag.