The mid-season summer transfer window has been open for some time now, and teams throughout MLS are expected to make moves, both as buyers and sellers, before the August 8 deadline. Whether it’s a big splash through a high-priced designated player signing, or bringing in a promising young talent to fill a team need, the overarching idea for playoff contenders will be to improve their capability of making a run at MLS Cup.
If you’ve followed the Crew since late May, it should be readily apparent that there is a missing piece preventing this team from being a legitimate threat to make the playoffs in the Eastern Conference. Their 3-2 win over Chicago on May 24 was the last time Columbus came away from a contest with the full three points. Between now and then, they’ve played six games, have gone 0-3-3, played to two consecutive goalless draws at one point, and have been outscored 10-5.
You read that right. The Crew have scored just five goals in their last six games, meaning they’re averaging less than a goal per game in that span. Clearly, attacking flare has dried up. Nobody has consistently stepped up to give team leading goal scorer Federico Higuain any help in terms of offensive firepower. Even Higuain himself has only managed 6 goals in his 16 appearances this year. To sum up the scoring problems, their only goal on Wednesday against Sporting Kansas City was initially credited to Higuain and then later changed to an own goal by SKC defender Igor Juliao.
There is a desperate need for more quality in the attacking third if Columbus wants to finish the season amongst the East’s top five teams. The three leading scorers, Higuain, Ethan Finley, and Jairo Arrieta, have only managed a combined 13 scores through 19 games, and Arrieta will be unavailable for the next three to four weeks after injuring his hamstring in last Saturday’s 4-1 defeat to the New York Red Bulls. 6’7” forward Adam Bedell has potential, but experience is an issue with him and he still has yet to start.
When asked about it in recent days, first year head coach Gregg Berhalter has been fairly noncommittal on the franchise’s plans when it comes to dabbling in the transfer market to address the dearth of scoring. Speaking with Massive Report’s Pat Murphy on Thursday, his comments on the matter were circuitous at best, stating simply that ‘they’re working’ and that a big name signing is unlikely at best.
Does Giancarlo Gonzalez have a role to play here? The Costa Rican centerback had a phenomenal World Cup for the Ticos, and was vital on the back line in their Cinderella run to the quarterfinals. Though this is his first year in Columbus, you have to think that his transfer value has skyrocketed in the past month. The Crew would do well to look into the interest he’s received from top-level clubs on the other side of the pond.
I think that the Crew could afford to lose Gonzalez if it means being able to invest the proceeds from that transaction on a proven weapon up front. The back line is not all of a sudden going to turn into a goal-conceding machine if he leaves for Europe. Fellow countryman Waylon Francis and US national team veteran Michael Parkhurst are two valuable cogs in the unit who are more than able to pick up the slack. Keep an eye on central midfielder Wil Trapp as well, who in a short period of time has established himself as one of the most accurate long ball passers in the league. If there’s anything he’s missing, it’s another quality striker who can adeptly control his services from the central midfield and finish them.
If there’s one name that keeps appearing in my head in terms of a specific forward that could help, it’s Jozy Altidore. Not only would he infuse some much-needed energy up front, he would energize the fan base and bring more people to Crew Stadium this year, where attendance is second worst in the league and around 18% less than what it was in 2013. As Gonzalez makes his first weekend appearance for the Crew since his World Cup heroics, we’ll see if an above average crowd comes out. If not, it lends credence to the theory that if your star player is a defender from Costa Rica, you’re not going to draw well. I guess we’ll see.
Transfer window talk is almost always speculative at best until the transactions finally take place. Every MLS-based player who had a solid World Cup, from DeAndre Yedlin of Seattle to Matt Besler and Graham Zusi of Sporting Kansas City, have been linked, however slightly at times, with moves to European clubs. Inevitably, the same thing is happening with Gonzalez.
If the Crew are going to part with him, they need to find an attacking player with comparable value in return. Otherwise, the theme from this season is increasingly going to center around a ‘bend but don’t break’ or a ‘play not to lose’ mentality that almost always leads to being on the outside looking in come playoff time.
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