Morning Afterthoughts: Real Stupid Loss

As the Crew stumbled out of the Rocky Mountains last night with no points after their 2-0 loss to Real Salt Lake, one has to wonder if they gave any thought to how they'll vote this November. After all, one of the biggest issues for many voters concerns the management of our environment. While this writer will not be bold enough to specualte as to which candidate offers the best solution for those issues, no doubt the Crew players would do well to consider buying a lobbyist to petition for one "green agenda": real grass in every MLS stadium.

Sure, there is a shopping list of things we could blame the Crew loss on, such as:

- Uninspired play
- Unsinpried subs
- Poor luck (how many crosses and shots have been knocked down or glanced off the woodwork?)
- RSL not being all that bad
- Everyone in Columbus being generally disturbed after seeing the new Ricart commercials.

All are valid reasons the Crew lost. And usually, I'm not one for government intervention into minute details of how privately held organizations are run. But in this age of "Fair Play" and banning streamers that "affect the run of play," how can MLS still allow legitimate games between legitimate teams to be played on fields that your dog wouldn't take a piss on? How can the standings be taken seriously when such an obvious advantage is given to teams that choose to play on poor fields?

I realize both teams have to play on the same field. But one team is used to the inherent bounces, hops, and skips the Real Fake Pitch is bound to have. Realize that RSL's pitch is not anything like the Field Turf you'll find at OSU, or one of those hybrid grass/synthetic mixes. Rice-Eccles's pitch makes concrete look like the 18th green at Pebble Beach. Is it any coincidence that RSL is unbeaten at home in the first season they got a "marginally" decent team?

Bottom line: let's not worry so much about the way we played in this game, as that's just a flat-out waste of time, considering the field. Instead let's look at the tactics used by the Sigi, which indicate what we're doing right and what we're doing wrong.

1. Using Brad Evans for 90 minutes.
Bad Idea
When the book gets written on Brad Evans' career (OK, so maybe "pamphlet" is more accurate), it will read roughly like this: Child player who was always quicker than everyone else, who became high school player who was faster than everyone else, who became college player who was one of the speediest guys on his team, makes it to MLS where he learns that he's not fast enough to cover for the fact that he is never in the right position. Every time I see Brad Evans he's doing one of two things: Busting his ass to catch up to his man who ran right into the open space he vacated, or putting his hand up to receive the ball on offense. Those are the only two definable skills the man has, and yet Sigi continues to rush him onto the field. Oh, wait I almost forgot his ability to mis-hit sitters inside the 18-yard box.

I realize Adam Moffat and Eddie Gaven aren't helping the situation by being injured, but would anyone really be that worried about Stefani Miglioranzi in that position? He's not as fast as Evans, but has better awareness, and has some decent aerial skills. Plus, he can play defense. Evans needs to see the bench, for Miglioranzi now and for Gaven when he's healthy. Why Sigi has to rush Evans out there time and again I don't understand.

2. Subbing out a left back (Junge) for another left back (Miglioranzi) when down 1-0 at home.
Bad Idea
So, last week, we were down one and Bobby Rifle sticks his neck out and puts Lenhart in for Iro. Lenhart scores the winning goal, and has one of the best goal celebrations in Crew Stadium History. This week, Sigi subs in defense for more defense when we need a goal to take points on the road. What happens? We concede another goal and score none of our own.

This is a serious question: Can we see about getting Sigi to be our director of player personnel and give the team to Robert after this season? Sigi has done some good and found some great players, but he seems stuck on certain tactics that just don't work. On the road, late in the game, I'd rather push for the tying goal and lose 5-0 than sub in more defense and still not get any points. Can't the Sigmeister at least pretend we're going for points on the road?

Fortunately, Brad Evans was on the pitch the entire game.

3. Putting Danny O'Rourke in as a center back.
Bad idea.
Danny O'Rourke wears the badge as proudly as anyone has. But he is not cut out for the middle of the defense. Put him out wide, let him get forward, and let's let Iro's fresh legs get some play while we're in the middle of the hottest part of the season. Sure, Iro's not there yet, but I'd rather get him there for later in the season, let him have his lumps now, and get it figured out. I've personally all but given up on seeing Padula for any meaningful stretch of time this season, so why not get the twin towers in the back working together, and let Danny and Frankie roam the sidelines?

Or, and here's a wild idea, maybe we should seek some kind of replacement for Marcos Gonzalez. You remember, our best defender last year? Just a crazy thought.

Personally, I'm in agreement with those that say let's put this one behind us and get ready for another huge primtime win on ESPN Thrsday night. But let's also bear in mind that there are some legit problems we have right now, and hope that Sigi can address them. And, let's stop worrying about RSL. We'll show them what real grass is all about when they come back here.