MLS Season Preview: Columbus Crew

By: Bob | April 4th, 2007

We are racing towards the start of the 2007 MLS season and it is a sprint not a jog. Today we put on our running shoes and take a look at the Columbus Crew. Leading us in the run is Jeff, who spends his waking hours writing for the Columbus Crew Offside as well as It’s a Simple Game. His season preview can be found after the jump.

Nuts and Bolts

The 2007 season will mark the second full season in charge for former-UCLA, former-LA Galaxy head coach Sigi Schmid. The hope is that tomorrow will be brighter than yesterday and, as not a few observers have pointed out, that shouldn’t be hard: light bulbs on your Christmas tree burn brighter than the Crew has for the past two seasons. They were the worst team in MLS by five points last season, when they failed to make the playoffs for the second consecutive year; to top it off, they managed the lowest goals-per-game average in league history by “banging in” only 30 goals over 32 regular season games.

Another thing believed by not a few observers is that the Crew look much better heading into 2007. It’s not only the strong finish to 2006, not to mention the strong 2007 preseason, so much as the upside of the team’s younger players enjoying a year to find their feet on offense. Also, on the principle that lightning rarely strikes in the same place twice, the Crew shouldn’t have to endure the savage injury bug that left their 2006 available playing roster looking like scenes from Atlanta in Gone With the Wind.

The stars

Because the Crew hails from Ohio, there’s something antithetical about the word “stars.” This is, or rather was, “America’s Hardest Working Team.” Still, a couple names not only stand out but also fit that image:

Duncan Oughton - As Sigi Schmid recently told ESPN, Oughton “bleeds the colors of the club.” Oughton leads by example - when he can at least; he only returned the club in the middle of last season after over a year off. But his combative arrival did coincide with the team’s last-gasp run at a playoff spot.

Chad Marshall - The heart of the Crew’s defense, which proved the best and most consistent piece of the team last season. But even Marshall had some injury issues.

Eddie Gaven - Sort of. That no player emerged from the past two seasons as a “go-to” player poses a problem in dubbing anyone the team’s “star.” Gaven slips in here based mainly on name recognition, but the reality is any number of Columbus’ field players could take the honors this season by separating from the pack and scoring the (badly) needed goals, whether Ricardo Virtuoso, Jacob Thomas, Joseph Ngwenya, Danny Szetela, etc. etc. Perhaps this will be Jason Garey’s breakout year? (Or perhaps not.)

The newcomers

Andy Herron - Then again, it could be a new guy who seizes star status on the Crew - and Herron makes as likely a candidate as anyone. His habit of going missing for stretches of the season aside, Herron scored a career-high 9 goals in 2006 for the Chicago Fire. And it looks as though Schmid views him as the key piece in the offense.

Robbie Rogers - Unproven as he is at the professional level, Rogers is without question the Crew’s highest-profile acquisition. Rogers’ history with the U.S. U-20s earned him a contract in Europe, even if he didn’t stick around for it. Still, the consensus view holds that this kid has the tools - it’s a question of temperament.

Danny O’Rourke - Not the biggest guy on the field, but he looks like one hell of a scrapper, one that add some bite to the Crew midfield and more cover if a player like Oughton goes down.

Stefani Miglioranzi - He’s kind of a forgotten player in spite of playing professionally in England for first division clubs. That’s due mainly to some injury problems, but he’s with the Crew now and seems to be healthy heading into the 2007 season. And the notices on Wikipedia read favorably enough.

Keep an eye on

Ned Grabavoy - For as long as I’ve watched the Crew (admittedly out of one corner of my eye) they’ve always looked a bit ragged and random going forward. Grabavoy possesses the passing ability to bring some welcome cohesion and patience to the Crew’s overall game.

Ricardo Virtuoso - Of all the players to bubble up during the Crew’s late-season rally to respectability, few drew the positive vibes of Virtuoso, who displayed blazing pace and more flash than one typically associates with Ohio’s club. He’s a smarter bet than most for the “star” role.

We’ll win the league if…

…the Crew can produce a midfield alignment that clicks well and consistently enough to establish a true first team; the ample competition waiting below should to plenty to keep that first-choice bunch sharp. But the midfield will likely need to carry a good chunk of the offense for the green and, at times, inconsistent forwards

We’ll be in trouble if…

…a first-choice goalkeeper isn’t established early in the season, or doesn’t stay healthy. Also, the Crew will be hurtin’ if the lack of depth in defense is exposed.

The Beckham Factor

There’s no denying the Crew made a lot of their September 30 home game against the Beckham-toting Los Angeles Galaxy in their promotional literature. The single-game tickets for that game sold out pretty quickly, but Beckham continues to dangle as a lure for selling season ticket packages; if you buy the full season or one of the half-season packages - specifically, the “Best of MLS Pack” - you still get to see Beckham in all his glittering glory.

You might not know

1. Joseph Ngwenya - As a native of Zimbabwe, Ngwenya suffers the distraction of watching his home country live under major-league nut job called Robert Mugabe. If you think George W. Bush is bad, he’s nothing next to that guy.

2. Buck-a-Brat night - They use sausage to lure the locals on the weeknight events. Not a bad idea, though I think cheap beer would do more…except for the whole driving thing…though I’ve been known to get sleepy after eating too much of the divine, blended meat.

3. The Crewzers - America’s hardest working dance team!

Follow the exploits of the Crew all season long on the Columbus Crew Offside.

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Next preview: New England Revolution