On Saturday, Vancouver makes its first visit to Columbus Crew Stadium at 7:30 PM eastern time. The Crew looks to extend their unbeaten streak against Canadian opposition. In the last game the Crew was able to stave off the attack of Toronto to draw against their bitter rival. Now with expansion Vancouver coming to town, the Crew looks to get back on track and get three points at home. Vancouver has proven to be a decent side but they are moving outside the confines of home. Now they have to face the roar of the Nordecke and the Columbus faithful. For me one question needs to be answered. Will Columbus play two strikers, Emilio Renteria and Andres Mendoza, up top or will they stick with the defensive minded 4-2-3-1?
I think that Robert Warzycha will go with the old axiom, “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.” I have harped all year that the Crew need to be more attack minded. Both Renteria and Mendoza are very talented players with a nose for the goal. I know that the Crew are coming off a streak of clean sheets, but I would like to see more goals; they have had three draws. They are keeping goals from being scored but they are not scoring them either. Top flight teams find ways to win. This has been proven over and over again. The Crew fancy themselves a top flight team and the only way to prove that is by scoring goals. Warzycha may be worried about letting goals in and that is why he continues to use the 4-2-3-1, but sometimes a defense can be shored up with having dynamic strikers threatening the opposing goal. That will keep midfielders and defenders from joining in an attack.
In the Championship year, 2008, Columbus scored 50 goals and conceded 36 goals; this was also Sigi Schmid’s last year. In 2009 they scored 41 goals and conceded 31 goals and last year they scored 40 goals and conceded 34 goals. This trend shows that the defense has been steady but the goals have been declining. The Crew has plenty of scoring power but it has just not been shown. Vancouver has allowed twelve goals this year and hopefully the Crew will be able to capitalize on this trend. If Warzycha decides to open the attack tomorrow then look for goals. In regards to defense, look for another clean sheet.
(image courtesy of Josh Couper/thecrew.com)
