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Saturday, the Crew played at home against the Seattle Sounders and came away with a tie, preserving their undefeated streak. Though the Crew kept up their streak, it was kind of a disappointing match. Granted, the weather sucked (I know, I was there), but you would think that the team would be used to playing in downpours- it is Ohio after all. Seattle was able to take an early lead, with Montero scoring in the 7th minute. The Crew were not able to equalize until the second half, when Chad Marshall was taken down in the box. Renteria took the PK and scored his fourth goal in three games. The team really stepped it up after they scored and continued to pressure Seattle’s defense and goalie Keller until the final seconds of the match. Despite that effort they were unable to score a second goal and came away with one point at home.
From a fan’s perspective, there are a lot of places for improvement on the field for the Crew. As I often like to do, here’s a list of things I would like to see happen in the (near) future.
- Give the entire game 110%. For a team that has scored all their goals in the second half, and most of them off of PK’s, this is something I feel they need to improve. The players need to put their all into every minute, every second of the game. What I’m seeing is a team that plays it safe during the first half, comes out roaring in the second half, and by the end of the game is usually dominating. There have been exceptions, but for the most part the Crew can’t seem to get it together during the first half. Wear out the defense, pressure the goalie, and stop giving up possession on bad passes. Overall passing has improved but, from where I stand, there are still a lot of turnovers that could be avoided.
-Keep up the clean playing. One thing that has made me quite happy is the lack of yellow cards the Crew has been getting. The team is playing a much cleaner game than their opponents and a lot of the other teams in the league. It’s nice to see in the stats after a game that the Crew only gets one or two yellows, usually compared to five or more by the opposing team, especially since the league is cracking down and trying to curb the overly physical play. I want to see it kept up and I would like to see the Crew set an example for the rest of the league.
- I really want to see Robbie Rogers continue to play with drive and intensity. He has really shown this season that he is an asset to the team. He is quick and has good ball skills, and those two things combined are a real threat to the other teams. I would also like to see him score another goal. Or two.
-Another clean sheet. Those 414 minutes without letting a goal in were the the most exciting 414 minutes of Crew soccer I have watched this season. It couldn’t last forever, but a small part of everyone hoped it would. So give us fans a few more. The defense is solid and the few mistakes they have made are easily remedied with better communication and better awareness of one’s position and the opponents position. Stay aware. Things will only get tougher as the season goes on so the defense needs to stay on top of things and Hesmer needs to stay on top of his defense.
-Goals. Like any fan, I want to see more goals scored. I’m sure the players and the coaches would too. The mentality ‘a win is a win’ is great, but the team is sitting at the bottom of the league on goals scored this season. The team needs to be more aggressive. Playing defensively- minded is great, but goals need to be scored to win.
This weekend, the Crew will be on the road at San Jose. Right now the San Jose Earthquakes are not doing that well, sitting at the bottom of the Western Conference with 5 points total for the season. Being on the road is difficult for teams, especially with such a large time change, but this game should be one that the Crew can walk away from with 3 points. If the team comes together and doesn’t get over- confident, I can see this being a turning point and a confidence boost for the team as a whole. I hope to see a solid, aggressive team out there on Saturday. A shutout would be nice too.