This Saturday the Crew travel north from San Jose to face Portland on the second leg of their west coast swing. The Crew had a terrible loss at San Jose; we all want to forget this loss and shoot for a win in Portland. This is easier said than done because Portland has recorded all four of their wins at home. With that being said the Crew have not been spectacular on the road, 0-2-2 with a scoring record of seven against and two for, the Crew. The Crew need to represent themselves better on the road and to do that they need to score goals. The scoring record shows that this has not been happening. The scoring is happening in the second half this season but it seems that they want to challenge the record New England holds for fifteen straight games of not scoring in the first half. As it stands now they have tied the MLS record for consecutive games without a goal in the first half for the start of the season at nine, currently held by the Houston Dynamo. To break out of the habit of scoring in the second half the Crew need to be more dynamic in the forward position.
Robert Warzycha agrees with what I have been saying all year long, “We have to be more decisive, basically, with the last pass…Whoever we have on the field-whether it’s two forwards, three forwards or two wingers and a forward-we’re creating chances but we’re not scoring the goals. The chances are very, very clear. We have to be sharper in front of the goal.” Well he at least agrees that the Crew needs to be better in the final third; the formation is a completely different story. With the loss against a struggling team of San Jose I would like to see the Crew come out in a 4-4-2 formation instead of the 4-2-3-1. As of late the Crew has had some sloppy play in the defensive back four. Chad Marshall reiterates this when talking about the loss last week, “We just didn’t match their intensity. We had a lapse for about ten minutes and they finished their chances. It’s unfortunate. Overall, they didn’t have tons of chances, but they converted the ones that they got…” Again a member of the Crew is saying what I have been harping on all year. Are they reading this web site? I wonder?
To beat Portland the Crew needs to do what four other teams have not been able to accomplish against the Timbers, find a way to win. East coast teams have done terribly this year against west coast teams. Portland have been able to follow the Seattle model of expansion teams and make their home pitch a fortress. For the Crew to win, or draw, they will have to tinker with the formation. Sometimes a strong offense will bolster a struggling defense. The Crew may not have the lapses in defense if they could get better performances from the forwards in the final third. Robert Warzycha if you are reading this then take my advice, put two forwards on the pitch. You have the talent. The defense is solid. They just need a little help because they are having to defend for long periods of time. If you give them a break with having two forwards then the lapses will not happen. I said before that they have been susceptible to lapses in formation and teams prior to San Jose have not capitalized. You have proven me wrong with sticking to your guns and keeping the 4-2-3-1 but let’s be a little dangerous and try something new. Go 4-4-2 and see what happens. If the Crew are able to break out of the funk then look for a win, but if they are stuck in the same rut of not scoring in the first half and poor performance in the final third, the Crew will be lucky to get out of there with a tie.
(image courtesy of Getty Images)
