Columbus wants to improve team but MLS's hurt feelings might get in the way

The Columbus Crew want to improve their team by bringing in a quality player from Norway's first division. So what's the problem? The player is Pat Noonan.

Noonan left the New England Revolution after the team decided not to offer him a respectable contract extension at the end of last season (they offered him less money then he made in 2007). Because he was out of contract, Noonan was able to move to Norway without a transfer fee, which means the Revs retained his MLS rights.

For their part, the Crew are willing to pay Noonan a salary similar to what he was earning previously in the US, plus pay a transfer fee to his current club and give the Revs something for his rights, however MLS is not happy. Why? Coach Sigi Schmid has the answer:

"A player that can turn down an offer from the league, go overseas on their own volition and then we as a league have to buy them back," Schmid said. "That's bad business and MLS doesn't want to be in the habit of doing bad business. That's completely understandable."

Schmid is playing the good sport here because really the only thing bad about this whole situation is that New England tried to hardball him in the first place (they would not trade him, thus he had to take their deal or get out of the country).

Noonan is a quality American striker who wants to be treated with respect. The fact that the league and the Revolution failed to do so should not be held against him or the Crew.

Instead the league should get past the hurt feelings caused by someone calling their bluff and do what is best for the sport.

The idea that a team can hold back a player that they no longer have under contract is one that must change or we can expect to see more young American players skip over their domestic league in favor of third tier competition overseas.

Brian McBride coming home to MLS

Brian McBride has decided to leave England and return stateside. Fulham hoped McBride would stick around for another season, but he decided now was the best time. He made over 150 appearances for the Cottagers and netted 40 goals.

"After much consideration with my family, we have decided to leave Fulham after four and a half fantastic years," the 35-year-old forward said in a statement Wednesday on the club's Web site. "I have always stated my intention to return to America at some stage and this seems like the right moment in my career to move on."
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"I take great pride in the fact that my last appearance for Fulham saw the club maintain its Premier League status," McBride said. "I leave with some wonderful memories from my time at Fulham, and the club will always be in my heart."

As I said a couple weeks ago, I would have preferred he stay in England because he was a constant bright spot for American's aboard, however that is a very selfish reason. McBride is an outstanding player and a wonderful person who has more then earned all the praise that comes his way. His desire to return home to give his final quality years to his nation's league speaks volumes.

As far as his future home in the MLS, who knows where he might end up. Toronto has his rights, but Chicago is often mentioned as his landing spot (he grew up in the area). I'm sure ever Fire fan would love McBride teaming up with Blanco, but as a commenter said, 'in the grand scheme of what is right and wrong, his place is in Columbus.' It would be very strange to see him in MLS and not in a Crew uniform. Still, if he wants to play for his hometown club, I think even the hardest Crew supporter would understand.

So welcome home McBride, I, like thousands of other US soccer fans, look forward to watching you play.

Columbus Crew still looking for striker

The Crew have talked a lot about adding a threat up top this off-season, but so far, nothing has appeared. To prove this theory of need, look no further then their 1-0 defeat by the Premier Development League's Ventura County Fusion. For those who do not know, the PDL is the fourth-level in American soccer.

Yes, it was just a pre-season game, but to come up empty against such a lower level team is worrisome.

"Am I happy (with the lineup)? Put it this way: We're still looking," said assistant coach Robert Warzycha, who was instrumental in courting Polish forward Maciej Zurawski before he signed with a Greek team in February.

"There has been progress with this group. But in the long run, we're looking for a forward who can score a lot of goals."

The Crew are not the only team that has been searching for a striker the past few months, however, unlike most others, they have yet to find one of their own.

If the Crew do not land some quality in offense, one has to wonder if 2008 will just be another replay of 2007. Will the team's decent defense be enough to string together an endless amount of tie games to start things off? And will an injury or two combined with a lack of a bench cause those ties at the start to becoming defeats as the season continues? Unless something changes for coach Sigi Schmid, it probably is a safe bet.

Talking about Schmid, how long with the owners give him to try and piece something together this season?

As far as what can the Crew do, with pre-season coming to an end, I think they are going to be forced to turn to players other MLS teams have cut. A Francis Doe, Santino Quaranta (although DC seems ready to bring him back) or someone from the Chicago Fire (with 6 forwards on their roster, 1 is likely to be released) might give them something. In the end, its looking like another long season for fans in Columbus.

Columbus fail to get their man

Polish captain Maciej Zurawski is heading to Greece instead of Ohio tonight to play for first division side Larissa. Zurawski earned Celtic a £500,000 ($1m) transfer fee.

The move seems to be a result of the Crew and owners Hunt Sports getting outbid, which is a shame as Columbus could really use a true striker up top. Last season the team's 5 forwards only combined for 11 goals.

If there is one plus side, Zurawski would have been gone during Euro 2008, so at least the Crew won't use a very valuable player for a month in the middle of the season.

Columbus in final negotiations for Celtic forward

The Columbus Crew have found the man they want to be their designated player, but will their ownership group find the money needed to make it happen.

Columbus wants to sign Polish Captain and Celtic forward Maciej Zurawski, but Hunt Sports (the owners of the Crew and FC Dallas) have yet to agree on a transfer fee for Zurawski. For his part, Zurawski seems ready to play in MLS. Neither side has disclosed the fee request, but the speculation is it is $1m or less.

Celtic recently signed a number of players including Greek striker Georgios Samaras (on loan from Man City), which would seem to indicate that they are ready to let Zurawski go.

Zurawski is a very talented forward and will bring the team some serious power in attack, as long as he stays healthy. His playing time with Celtic has been less of late due to injuries, but if the Crew can get him back to full health, they should have a wonderful striker up top. He should also work well with Guillermo Barros Schelotto, provided he stays with the squad.

The transfer window closes at midnight tomorrow, so we will know soon if the Hunts are willing to take the financial dive on this one.

Chicago Fire 1-1 FC Dallas - How not to kill off a match

Chicago Fire 1-1 FC Dallas

So what do you think the Fire coaching staff is talking to Calen Carr and Paulo Wanchope about today? If it is anything but how to keep the ball and waste time at the end of a match, then the Fire are doomed. This was not a pretty game as neither side had much ball control. Again and again, passes were intercepted and knocked out of bounce.

Dallas did start strong, but then they faded. Carlos Ruiz is getting a lot of cheer for the late goal, but he was absent for much of the rest of the game. It is great to see Toja back, but his skill is not yet at the level it was before the injury. Then there is Denilson who didn't really do anything for the full 90. He is still new to the club, so he is trying to find his flow, but I was surprised that he didn't pop to life at some point. But somehow it was all okay as Dario Sala had a really strong performance in front of the net while Clarence Goodson carried most of the heavy lifting. Sure Goodson is a bit of a hot head at times, but he does know how to do what needs to be done (a little like Michael Bradley).

Chicago has got to be kicking themselves over this one. On a night where Blanco finely looked his age (not a good thing), they still managed to hold a 1-0 lead deep into stoppage time, only to see two points disappear. Matt Pickens had a good night between the posts, CJ Brown made some big moves and Chris Rolfe's blast was heart stopping, but other then that, the side was flat. But the thing that confused me the most was the way they ended it. Calen Carr has tons of energy, but why didn't he go to a corner and force a foul? Did he not get any instructions from the coaching staff telling him to hold it? If not, what were the coaches thinking.

Dallas is not a dominant team like DC, but there is one thing they know how to do much better then just about anyone in the league and that is come back late. I can think of at least three games where they have got stoppage time goals and a couple others where they scored late in regular time, so if it was the coaching staff that failed to initiate the 'kill the game' strategy, one has to wonder what hope the Fire have.

So how bad is it that Chicago failed to get the full three points? They are only two points up on Colorado for the final playoff spot with five games remaining, but two of those games are against DC, one is at home to New England and one is on at Chivas. There is a good chance that they will get 3 points or less from those four matches. The only good news for them is they end the season with LA.

The Crew have a slightly easier time as they go to Toronto, face LA and Dallas at home and then end on the road to New England and DC. This schedule should allow them to get 6 points (and maybe a couple more) for the rest of the year.

But the Fire's real concern is Colorado who have two matches against Real Salt Lake and one at home against Toronto FC, plus road games at New England and Chivas. Real is improved and Toronto can always surprise, but of the three in the race, the Rapids have the best chance on paper. It is not hard to image the club getting 9 points from this schedule and beating Chicago for the final spot by just one point.

If the Fire misses the playoffs this year, the final five minutes in Dallas will be one of the major reasons why.

Goals: CF: Chris Rolfe (5) 56'
FCD: Carlos Ruiz (7) 93+'
Attendance: 15,059

2007 MLS Mid-Week 12 Prediction

Kansas City Wizards (6-2-2) vs. Columbus Crew (1-4-6)
7:30pm ET/4:30pm PT
TV: Direct Kick
Internet: MLStv
Can Kansas City continue to develop their Eddie Johnson free offense? Will the Crew build on their great second half from Saturday night? The Wizards come to town looking for a win to retake the top spot in the East. Their last three matches have been against New England and New York (twice) and they managed to get 7 points from them, so they are looking alright. Coach Curt Onalfo toyed with a 3-4-3 setup in the second half against New York and it paid off, but the Crew had a breakout second half of their own over the weekend. The Wizards should have a number of chances in Columbus but if they relax, the Crew will make something of it. By the way, if KC get three points, Onalfo will coach the MLS All-Star team against Celtic FC (the coach of the team with the best points per game after this Sunday will get the honor).
Predictions: Me KC 2-1 CC, Wife KC 1-1 CC

Crew lose to LA, Andy Herron suspended and other disciplinary news

The Los Angeles Galaxy got their first win of the season with a win over the Columbus Crew in their US Open Cup match. LA needed just one goal to knock Columbus out of the tournament. Goal: Nate Jaqua 17'

Hopefully forward Andy Herron enjoyed the match, as it will be his last for a while. The Disciplinary Committee has awarded Herron a four match ban along with a $3000 fine for the elbow he introduced to New England's Jay Heaps in last Thursday's match. It really was an ugly thing to see and Herron deserves this penalty.

Shalrie Joseph, who reacted to Herron's foul play by pushing him in the face was fined $500.

In other disciplinary news, Chivas USA's defender Sacha Kljestan has been suspended for two games and fined $1000 for a serious foul he committed against Real Salt Lake's Andy Williams. I was shocked that Kljestan did not get a red card during the match as this was a bad play. Hopefully Williams will make a quick return.

MLS US Open Cup qualifying - LA vs. the Crew

Qualifying for the greatest cup competition in the US continues tonight as the Galaxy travel to Columbus. I have no idea how this will end up, but one team will finally get their first win of the year. The good news for the Crew is they stand a great chance of being that team as LA has not won a road US Open Cup match since they beat San Jose on August 25, 2005. That stat sounds really powerful until you realize they have only played one US Open Cup road match since that day (last year's final in Chicago).

It will be interesting to see just how committed the Galaxy are to finally getting a win. In 2005, LA used the Open Cup to start a late season rally that took them to the MLS Cup. In 2006, they used the Cup much in the same way, but still failed to make the playoffs. With 2007 off with a bit of a stumble, could they use this game to improve their stride?

For the Crew, they have been playing smart but not in a powerful way. Perhaps a win or go home match is exactly what they need to flip the page and finally start winning some of their games.

If you want to view this game, your only choice is to get to Crew Stadium as no televised version of the game is available. There will be an audio feed for those who have subscribed to MLS's match day audio feeds ($4.95).

New England 2-2 Columbus Crew - Recap

For a second week in a row the Thursday night match has resulted in an exciting 90-minutes of play. Let's hope this is a trend that continues for many more weeks to come.

Columbus needed to shut down New England in the middle and for most of the night they did just that. In addition, they applied lots of early pressure and forced the Revs to make mistakes.

Right from the get go Ricardo Virtuoso and company were pressing against New England and sure enough it resulted in some good chances. This attack caused NE to get sloppy and that lead to Ned Grabavoy's goal in just the eighth minute.

But the Revs were not the only team with sleeping defense as just two minutes later Andy Dorman left defenders in the dust and equalized for his side. And then came Taylor Twellman.

Twellman was missing for the first 30-minutes but when he found his place he made the bubble bees pay. He stole the ball from midfield, raced forward with it then slammed a shot in from 20+ yards catching Andy Gruenebaum flatfooted. This is the Twellman we all love to watch. He was confident and strong.

The second half saw tests on both sides of the ball, but it seemed New England's defense was the more disorganized of the two. I don't know if it was miscommunication between Matt Reis and his backline or what, but far too often they seemed out of place. Sure enough, this poor defended allowed the Crew to find an equalizer on an easy strike by Kei Kamara.

Kamara was sitting alone and unmarked in the middle of the area when Frankie Hejduk slipped a perfect low pass to him. The Revs should have stopped the pass and had Kamara marked, but their bad orientation caused them to end up as spectators to the final goal of the night.

In the end, the Crew more then earned their third tie of the season, while New England will go home wondering what happened.

I thought that if Columbus closed down Shalrie Joseph they would have a chance in this match and sure enough, that is what they did. That said, the Revs still could have won this game if they had marked their men in the box.

Both the wife and I were wrong with out predictions, which means I'm not 4-10 while she is 3-11. That is sad territory.

On a different note, I hope MLS reviews the tapes and slap Andy Herron with a one-game suspension. His elbow to Jay Heaps was deliberate and in retaliation. I like Herron but his actions were disgusting.

New England Revolution 2-2 Columbus Crew
Goals: CC: Ned Grabavoy 8', Kei Kamara 86'
NE: Andy Dorman 10', Taylor Twellman 38'

Thursday Night Soccer - New England v Columbus preview

New England Revolution (1-1-0) vs. Columbus Crew (0-0-2)
TV: ESPN2
7:00pm ET

There might not be a pre-game show but there will still be two good hours of soccer. The Revolution rediscovered their offense this past weekend while the Crew has yet to find net. On paper, this should be a walk for the Revs, but something tells me the Columbus will not just role over.

Columbus's defense is looking better and goalkeeper Andy Gruenebaum is making smart saves. This alone will prove more a challenge then what NE saw against Toronto on Saturday. Now the question for the Crew is can they get the offense clicking?

Andy Herron and Jason Garey threatened a number of times against Real put they just could not reach that final reward and facing a backline with Avery John and Jay Heaps is not going to make that much easier. They will need to snag balls in midfield and slam NE with numbers. If they can keep Shalrie Joseph playing deep, they will caught off a big pathway to Twellman and Dorman, thus open up their own offensive chances.

I have little doubt that the Crew will be able to do this for stretches over the fist hour, but I just don't think they have the fitness to make it last. They were able to contain Reyna during their first match but that was because he wasn't getting much help. With the Revolution, they will not be so lucky.

Predicitons:
Me: NE 2-1 CC
Wife: NE 1-0 CC

By the way, it's a shame there is not a pre-game show this week as that would be a great opportunity to introduce Guillermo Barros Schelotto to the American public.

When will the Crew announce the signing of Guillermo Barros Schelotto?

The rumors of Boca Juniors forward Guillermo Barros Schelotto signing with the Columbus Crew have been going strong for over a week now, but when will we finally get confirmation?

Initial reports said today would be the day for a press conference, however Schelotto himself called it off. There are a number of possible reasons such as visa requirements or not wanting to step on the Juan Pablo Angel news, but if he were to play on Thursday night, one would think the Crew would announce soon.

Could it be that Schelotto is having second thoughts? He told reporters that he had come to a financial deal equal to what he was getting with Boca, but had not decided either way.

For their part, the Crew is staying silent. With the MLS transfer deadline already past, one would think that if there is no news soon then this will be a fish that got away.

If Schelotto does come to the club, he stands a good chance of getting lots of minutes and being the main force in their attack. Like all the designated players, Schelotto is a little past his prime but he is far from totally spent. It would be a great thing for the league to see such a player in it.