Keys of The Game: Crew Need To Get Moreno Going Again and Need to Stop NE's African talents from scoring early.New England Revolution:
The Revolution come into Saturday's contest looking like a hot commodity with wins over Chivas and then San Jose. One could say it's just Chivas and San Jose. However, Chivas looked good against DC United last weekend and San Jose looked light years better then they have been looking against the Houston Dynamo last night (note to San Jose & Yallop: Ryan Johnson over Shea Salinas, makes their attack way more dangerous.) Additional to the wins, New England is also starting to get more healthy as Ralston is back in the mix and Twellman who received considerable time against Chivas should be good for some second half minutes.
Probable Revs Lineup:
-------------------Reis-------------------
----Albright-----Parkhurst------Heaps-----
---------Shalrie------Larentowicz---------
----Nyassi-------Ralston--------Castro----
----------Mansally-----Dube---------------
Twellman for Dube around 65th minute
This is possibly the best lineup the Crew has faced this year, until we play the Fire (and that might be up for debate with how the Fire got schallacked last weekend by the Dynamo at home.) Best lineup or not, the Revolution overall are pretty solid and it's finally starting to pay dividends on the scoreboard with two straight wins. The Revs so far this season have captured 16 out of a possible 27 points.
The lineup that has been giving the Revs success lately breaks down like this. The Revolution look strong in goal with Reis of course. The Revolution additionally look strong in defense with Albright, Parkhurst, and Heaps all strong MLS defenders. Shalrie Joseph teams up with Larentowicz in front of the back three. Larentowicz has really came into his own in the middle of last year and now is a real benefit to the Revolution's team. In front of them Ralston is the midfield general and he is flanked by Nyassi on the right and Castro on the left. Ralston is proven while Nyassi and Castro are still trying to get used to MLS. Nyassi and Castro have both had a couple of great games but their performances haven't been exactly consistent as of yet. And, up top you have Mansally who has looked like another promising young African talent and Dube who scored six minutes into his first start last week. Dube also hails from Africa.
Africa is one area where the Revolution and the Crew have a lot in common as both lead the way in taking the hammer to that gold mine. As the Revolution have Nyassi, Mansally, and Dube. While the Crew have Emmanuel Ekpo who might just be more talented then those three combined once Emmanuel gets on the field consistently.
New England's Keys of The Game:
*Get Rogers out of the game. As it's recently been for the Crew as Rogers goes the Crew goes. Not the usual as Schelotto or Moreno goes the Crew goes.
*Good defense as the Crew will probably look to outscore the Revs at home and not be as defensively conservative as they were last week against TFC.
*Score early. The Crew has scored in the first half within the first 20 minutes of each game at home. By the time the away team gets on the scoresheet it's usually already game over as a result.
Columbus Crew:
The Crew need to shake off their conservative mentality that they brought to Toronto as it didn't seem like the Crew were actually going for the win but were instead okay with the tie. Even with that in mind the Crew need to look at last Saturday as a positive result. This is because not alot of other Eastern Conference teams have been able to go up North lately and come out of their with a tie. The Crew need to move on and just shake off that tie. They have to be like, "okay were at home, only good things happen at home, which means another victory." So far this season the Crew have only missed out on five points, garnering a total of 19 out of 24.
And, the Crew should be helped out with the fact that the injured Crew players are getting healthier. Padula still might not be ready until next weekend which means we will have one more Saturday of attempting to get by with Ezra. However, Moffat has made a speedy recovery from a torn miniscus that required surgery and could start. If Moffat doesn't start definitely expect him as a second half sub. And, man wouldn't that be a good sight. Additionally, Duncan Oughton should be able to provide some depth as he is once again healthy from his injury (nevertheless since Oughton was put on the six week DL until June 3, he might not be eligible to play until that date.)
Crew probable lineup:
-------------------Moreno--------------------
-----------------Schelotto-------------------
---Rogers---------Moffat*-----------Gaven----
-------------------Carroll-------------------
--Ezra-----O'Rourke-----Marshall----Hejduk---
-------------------Hesmer--------------------
*Just because I want to will it to happen
The Crew to win this game needs to get their attack flowing again at home. We need to get Alejandro Moreno another goal as he hasn't scored in a long time, I believe since the Houston game. We also need to tell Schelotto to spend more time attacking this weekend, and less time diving all over the pitch. Whether he did or not last weekend against TFC is a moot point. We just need him to be trying to score goals instead of trying to get a gift goal. Because we are home now, we don't need any gifts to win in front of the Nordecke and the rest of the Crew fans.
And, how pumped is everyone to be back in the Nordecke? It's been about three weeks. I can't wait. Additionally, overall it's supposed to be a good sized crowd according to Mitchell which probably means 10,000. :-)
Keys to the Game for The Crew:
*Get Alejandro Moreno back in the mix
*Spring Rogers early and often against a slower Albright
*Control the midfield with Carroll and Moffat
*Score a shit ton of goals
*Send the Revs back to where they belong, by that I mean six points behind us
*Trip up Heaps a couple of times to make him angry. It might result in a red. Seriously, add him to the list along with Razov, Wingert as just players that Crew fans hate.
Prediction: 3-2 Crew
I was going to predict 3-1 but we always only win by one goal so it's 3-2. Goals by Schelotto, Moreno, and Moffat. Goals on the other side by Mansally and Ralston.
Attendance Prediction: 17,500
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