Eddie Lewis winds up for his goal scoring tie against the impenetrable Andy Greunebaum.
**To start out with, Eric Brunner is probably 20 times the player O'Rourke is. Lets just seal the deal on the O'Rourke saga and put Brunner in central defense as the full time starter. Brunner has better height, in all probability much better speed and skills, and definitely more patience. He is also less likely to put this team in a stituation to give up late minute red cards or penalty kicks.
Oh, and we still get that hometown feel. Probably the main reason O'Rourke gets a free pass as often as he does.
**Warzycha with the ties is starting to wear out his welcome. If we are dominating a game, keep playing at that same level. Instead of bunkering once we get a goal. We played a scared last 15 minutes against a team that has one(maybe two) good players in Donovan and Ricketts.
**I'm pretty confident that each late game tie we have had, or at least all but one has come after Guillermo has been subbed out. I don't know what that means, but it almost seems like the Crew hits the off switch as soon as Guillermo hits the bench.
**We need a real striker. We dominated a very poor LA Galaxy team all game. It should have been 4-0. But, our attack has no finishing ability. Moreno and Gaven like to beat the last defender and then fall down a lot(I guess it's easier to hope for a phantom PK foul then actually try to finish a good scoring opportunity). And, Moreno just does not have any speed. If the guy had speed he would be a dream striker, he would probably be the best striker in MLS with all of his other attributes. But, he is just too slow and can't finish.
Come July we need to find ourselves a 20 goals a year striker.
**Rogers needs to get confident again and not be scared to take on glorious defenders (roll eyes) like Tony "Big Cat" Sanneh.
**How was the opportunity with Guillermo in the 84th not converted? Whoever Guillermo passed it to, I think Moreno, needs to go to finishing school.
**Overall, maybe Warzycha is just a bad coach. It's not the end of the world. We all like the guy. But, some players are just good players and don't translate into competent coaches.
It's just hard to find anywhere else to point to when the Crew are 100 times the team based on skills and overall ability then the LA team they faced today. But, they can't finish any of their opportunities, finally finish a gift, then they bunker down and cower against a sh*t side instead of going for the juggular in the last 15 minutes.
The late ties, all six of them, sort of show that maybe, just maybe the game plan after we get a lead needs to be switched up. That means not to cower, but to play the same game that got you the lead in the first place.
One could say on our previous ties, as Mitchell did, that they were all against good sides. Well, LA is not a good team at all. They are awful in just about every facet of the game. It's just unacceptable to tie a game that your side has the ability to win 4-0. It's unacceptable to cower against crap sides, because even old foggies and USL talents are going to finish a chance at some point over 90 minutes if you do so.
5/17/09: Crew vs Galaxy- Shambolic Finish Once Again, Time For Some Ch-Ch-Changes.
5/17/09: La Turbina Amarilla Website
Wasn't aware that Turbina had their website up yet. But, they have a new one up as well. Has songs, pictures, tailgate information, and more.
Check out La Turbina's website here.
5/17/09: Vote For The All Star Game
Vote here.
My picks so far. Too bad that voting doesn't go towards the full season because I figure more Crew players would be in consideration then. I just couldn't vote for most of them so far:
GK: Kasey Keller
DF: Brian Namoff
DF: Jimmy Conrad
DF: Chad Marshall
MF: Guillermo Barros Schelotto
MF: Amado Guevara
MF: Pablo Nagamura
MF: Marco Pappa
MF: Brad Davis
FW: Josh Wolff
FW: Brian McBride
5/16/09: Mitchell's 5 Questions With Manu
Ekpo definitely has a unique taste in music. No rock, no hip-hop, just some good old Dolly Parton.
From the Dispatch, Five Questions With Ekpo:
Q: What's up with that goal celebration (in which he points to his name on the back of his jersey)?
A: That first goal in Toronto -- there weren't many Crew fans to celebrate with. So it was like 'OK, are you guys going to say my name?' They were all silent because it was all Toronto fans. So I was like 'OK, you can read my name.' I'm thinking of giving a dance sometime at a home game. It's kind of tribal, kind of Nigerian.
Q: Your buddy and former roommate Ezra Hendrickson has retired and become an assistant coach in Seattle. You said once that he was an old guy, but he liked to have a good time while you were more of a homebody. Are you still that way?
A: I'm more of a homeboy. I hang out with Stanley (Nyazamba). Alex (Grendi) and Andy (Gruenebaum), too. They live nearby.
Q: You've been here for more than a year now. What stands out to you most about living in Columbus?
A: The lifestyle. The setup is very organized compared to back home. Everything is different. Driving, the food, the people. The suburbs are cool, and that's where I live but I'm more of a city guy. The city is more like where I grew up in Calabar.
Q: According to the Crew's media guide, your favorite music is country and blues. Is that true?
A: Yes. I like reggae, too. I like blues and country in the evening. Dolly Parton I really like. The reggae, I like Lucky Dube, Bob Marley. Celine Dion, too.
Q: When are going to see African supporters group in Crew Stadium?
A: I would like to see more African supporters, but I'll let the Crew take care of that. There are a lot of Somalians, Ethiopians, Ghanans, Nigerians. I need to get myself introduced to the community leaders. They need to get to know me, and then we can start from there.
5/14/09: 7 Minutes With The Nordecke- Crew vs. KC Version
Video by Zach Closson- A.k.a. "Droppingnuggets" :-)
5/14/09: Legendary Duncan Oughton
Duncan is 9th on the Crew's all time games played with 128. (Pic by Reuters)
From Craig Merz's Article, Oughton Makes His Mark In Columbus:
Duncan on Columbus-
"In retrospect, at the time of the draft it was a big move for me but now it couldn't have gone any better," he said. "I've met some amazing people in Columbus through soccer. I met the woman of my dreams, now my wife (Carly), and live in a great place.
"The people here are pretty friendly. It's comfortable. It's a very nice spot. It reminds me, besides not having any beaches or sea around, a little bit of New Zealand, the way the people are."
Duncan on his role-
"I feel like I'm playing pretty well right now. I'm battling for a starting spot. I'm pushing the guys who are in front of me. I want to be on the field as much as anybody else," he said. "Whenever I'm called on in whatever role it will be I'll be ready. I'm training as hard as I can and trying to keep everyone in front of me honest."
Warzycha on Duncan-
"In the last game I brought him in because he has leadership and knows how to close the games. Maybe I didn't do that before and I should have," Warzycha said. "He didn't have to play and you don't have to start to be a leader. That's what I'm looking for from him.
"With the schedule we have with the Open Cup and the Champions League it's not going to be possible to play the same team all the time. You're going to have to rest some guys and rotate. Who you have on the bench is going to be very important and Duncan will be needed."
Duncan with New Zealand vs. New Caledonia, September 10th 2008
5/13/09: Gaven Move To Middle Of Pitch Paying Dividends For Crew
Eddie "Shaggy" Gaven feeling it in the middle.
In a move most Crew fans saw around week 2 or 3, and has finally happened two to three weeks late against Toronto FC and now Kansas City. Eddie Gaven has switched to the middle where he plays the best and Emmanuel Ekpo has been switched back out to the wing where he plays the best. The result is a slick looking attack.
Excerpt from Craig Merz's "Gaven Thriving In Central Role":
"It's jelling. He's had good games against Toronto and the last one," Warzycha said of Gaven. "His endurance is unbelievable. He can run forever. He's always active. He's got a good first touch and he just works, works, works. That's what you need."
Warzycha said the move of Gaven to the middle was not out of desperation but inspiration.
"More than anything we were trying to put the best team on the field. With Robbie and Ekpo playing well, Eddie Gaven was also playing well so we were trying to keep him on the field," he said. "Obviously, with Ekpo being inside that didn't work as well we thought it would. That was a switch that probably was necessary."
