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Columbus Crew Unspectacular team aims to improve on woeful 2000
Updated: Friday April 06, 2001 2:37 PM
By Michael Lewis, CNNSI.com Efficient, but not spectacular. That might be the best way to describe the Columbus Crew, the self-described hardest working team in the league. The team has a number of solid pros, but hard work can take you only to a certain level. Is Crew talented enough to get over the hump of MLS mediocrity and worse? Not surprisingly, the Crew faces questions galore: Did the team make enough offseason changes to improve itself? Will injury-prone forward Brian McBride ever play a full season? Will coach Tom Fitzgerald last through the year? On the top of the list of endangered MLS coaches, Fitzgerald cannot afford to slow start for several reasons. The team is coming off an awful 11-16-5 season, failing to make playoffs for the first time in five years. Moreover, the Crew collapsed in the stretch run, losing five consecutive matches. Attendance also was down by 2,000 a game after opening Columbus Crew Stadium in 1999.
Fitzgerald and the Crew face a whirlwind opening two weeks. Columbus started off on the wrong foot, dropping a 2-0 decision to host Saprissa of Costa Rica in the CONCACAF Giants Cup on April 4. The Crew is host to the Chicago Fire in its MLS season opener on Saturday and to Saprissa on Wednesday before traveling to Tampa Bay on April 14. "It's a huge challenge especially coming out of preseason into those games," said Fitzgerald, who realizes his two Brians -- Maisonneuve and McBride -- must remain healthy if the Crew wants to do something. "If we can keep everyone healthy -- we have some talented players -- our objective is to do much, much better than last year," Fitzgerald added. "You can't make excuses. You have to go on the field and win games, regardless who is available to you." Losing in the cup competition certainly wouldn't be the end of the world. But two league losses on top of that could very well seal Fitzgerald's fate, injuries or not. "I don't think about it at all," Fitzgerald said. "As a matter of fact, it's a challenge for me. I know were not as bad as we were last year. I know we are a better team this year. I know we will be better." During the offseason, the Crew tried to solidify its defense -- it allowed 58 goals in 2000 (10th in the league) -- by acquiring Pittsburgh Riverhounds defender Tenywa Bonseu, who acquitted himself so well for the Chicago Fire during the playoffs. But is that enough? Bonseu joins Mike Clark, Todd Yeagley and Mike Lapper in the back as the Crew moves from a 3-5-2 to a 4-4-2 formation. They're efficient, although not spectacular. The Crew also has two solid keepers in Mark Dougherty and Tom Presthus, who was obtained during D.C. United's fire sale at the SuperDraft. They're efficient, but not ... well, you get the message. The return of Maisonneuve, who missed the 2000 season with an ankle injury, has to fortify the midfield. Robert Warzycha, Ansil Elcock and defensive midfielder John DeBrito form an efficient but again unspectacular midfield. At the moment, Colombian John Wilmar Perez is the odd man out in the new formation. But given Maisonneuve's injury history, it certainly doesn't hurt to have him around. "It was a big blow for us last year when we found out that Brian Maisonneuve was not going to be available to play," Fitzgerald said. "He is a big, important player in the midfield. He is very good on the ball. He is a very, very good defensive player as well. It allows everyone else to be a little more free and play their game." Defender-midfielder Mike Duhaney, the 1997 rookie of the year who played with the Crew on a one-game contract in the loss to Saprissa, hadn't signed with MLS, but was negotiating with the league. The Crew enter the season with both starting forwards (they both can be efficient and, for a change, spectacular) on the sidelines. McBride, who, like it or not, has forged a reputation for being as injury- prone as he is dominant in the air, has been lost for a month with a sprained right knee. Dante Washington, who enjoyed a 15-goal, career year in 2000, has been bothered by a hamstring pull. Fitzgerald will be forced to use promising Project-40 developmental player Edson Buddle slightly earlier than planned, alongside Jeff Cunningham up front. "The good news is we could find out how good he is right off the bat," Fitzgerald said. Buddle is among several young players who hope to be MLS regulars someday, including Project-40 midfielder Mario Longo and three youth internationals -- Trinidad & Tobagan defender Kevin Adams, Bolivian midfielder Roland Aguilera and New Zealand midfielder Duncan Oughton. But whether Fitzgerald is still around to enjoy their fruits remains to be seen.
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