It’s somewhat difficult to get the most accurate gauge for how the entirety of the Columbus Crew SC season will pan out when we’re only 1/17th of the way through it. With the club on a bye this coming weekend, fans and analysts alike will have to wait until next Saturday’s home clash with the New York Red Bulls for more data in this regard. Nevertheless, what little pieces of the puzzle we do have indicates that this is a team with good things ahead of it as 2015 progresses.
After their 2-0 win over Toronto FC on Saturday, many experts have begun to take note. The club has risen significantly on many websites’ power rankings. ESPN FC had Crew SC ranked tenth before Saturday’s game and now has them fourth. SI.com ranked them 12th after falling to Houston the week before and has vaulted them up to seventh.
The soccer statistics website Squawka.com is even more bullish on the Black and Gold, giving them the highest cumulative performance rating of all 20 teams in the league (565). Their metrics take into account all aspects of the game, including defensive, attacking and possession-related data.
While it’s true that they’re currently .500 with the road loss in Houston and home victory over their Trillium Cup rivals, the team’s play was positive in both games. Head coach and sporting director Gregg Berhalter is fond of playing a heavily possession-oriented style and it has certainly showed so far.
The Black and Gold currently lead the league in possession percentage (60.2%) and passing accuracy (83.5%). Their Squawka possession rating (139) is a whopping 140 points ahead of the team ranked second, Orlando City SC. Yes, if you do the math that means they’re the only team in the league that gets a positive number in that category.
Though being able to out-possess your opponent and pass the ball all over the place are no guarantee of success if you can’t finish, it certainly helps to have players of requisite technical quality on your roster. The offseason was characterized by improving this quality as well as adding that weapon in front of the goal mouth. Suffice it to say that in the short amount of time we’ve had to observe them in the regular season, they’ve been impressive in their own unique ways.
New Crew SC Signings Making Their Presence Felt
Here I’ll feature four Crew SC newcomers for 2015 and how their play over these first two matches has distinguished themselves.
27 Hernan Grana, right back
Grana is a do-everything wing back who has showcased an immense work rate in his first two starts for the club having come from Argentina’s Boca Juniors. His play epitomizes what is required in Berhalter’s system where the outside defenders can’t be bashful about pushing upfield during attacking opportunities. In many ways, he is to Crew SC’s right flank what Waylon Francis is to the left.
These next two images detail Grana’s distribution and his ability to recover the ball from the opponent. The latter is demarcated by the triangles outlined in orange. Key passes that played a part in an opportunity at goal appear in yellow. Both in Houston and at MAPFRE Stadium for the home opener, the Argentine was hugely effective down the right setting up his teammates with quality services.
Recoveries are essential to any side that wants to effectively move the ball, especially on counterattacks. If you can’t consistently win the ball from your opponent in that transition area between your middle and defending third, you’re missing a crucial dimension of being able to create chances downfield.
I mentioned Squawka.com’s performance data earlier. It turns out they’re also highly sold on Grana from an individual standpoint. His performance score (76) rates highest among Crew SC players and is fourth best amongst all defenders in the league.
Oftentimes, your number six defensive midfielder is the recovery master so to speak and Wil Trapp certainly possesses this skill as part of his game among other things. Grana kind of functions like a hybrid six/eight who can win balls and deliver those accurate balls downfield but can also play a box-to-box role on the back line. In fact, the more accurate term to describe his energetic play might be more like “goal line-to-goal line.”
8 Mohammad Saeid, right defensive midfielder
Saeid was a bit of a revelation against TFC. Making his first start for the Black and Gold in place of the suspended Tony Tchani, it’s safe to say the newcomer from Sweden had a successful debut in his 76 minutes of play before being subbed out. He demonstrated a healthy mix of technical passing ability and tenacious tackling.
Have a look at this distribution chart to get a good idea as to how crisp Saeid’s passing was throughout virtually the entire middle third against the Reds. That unsuccessful through ball to the right of the box that went for a goal kick came achingly close to getting centered inside for a possible goal-scoring opportunity.
It was fun to watch the diminutive Saeid and Michael Bradley go after 50/50 balls throughout the course of the game. He gives up a good seven inches to his 6’4″ counterpart Tchani. In many ways, he’s similar to Trapp in stature and the two complemented each other quite well in the Crew SC defensive midfield.
7 Kristinn Steindórsson, left attacking midfielder
Like Saeid, Steindórsson arrived in Columbus after having played in the Swedish domestic league. His impressive play during the Crew SC preseason, combined with Justin Meram’s opening game suspension, earned him the start at left mid in Houston.
The Icelandic attacking midfielder had a solid 80 minutes of play at BBVA Compass Stadium. Him and the aforementioned Grana connected on what would have been a pretty goal if not for a phenomenal save from Tyler Deric in the 65th minute. Deric did a lot of that in ensuring the 1-0 win for the Dynamo.
Meram reprised his role as starter against Toronto FC and returned to the form he realized late last year. Him and Ethan Finlay partnered on the opening goal of the game where Meram delicately headed the ball past TFC goalie Joe Bendik off a well-timed Finlay cross. Steindórsson would come on as a late-game substitute for Grana in the win.
23 Kei Kamara, forward
Is Kamara the number nine this club had been missing for the most part in 2014? In both matches, but particularly the Toronto FC game, he has given us indications toward the affirmative. The Sierra Leone international has shown that he has the capability to assume that role of the workmanlike target forward.
Two games in and we’ve seen Kamara do the dirty work associated with winning aerial balls and adding a distributive dimension to his game. Crew SC has three proven goal-scorers right behind Kamara and if he can get them involved while appearing regularly on the score sheet himself, this club can be a true beast of the East.
You’re going to get a high volume of shots on goal from this side on a game-in game-out basis. Already they’re averaging 19.5 total shots per game and have outshot both opponents they’ve faced so far by ten. Kamara has accounted for nearly 30 percent of those shots.
In closing, it should be noted that Kamara has promised a wide array of interesting goal celebrations and he didn’t disappoint on the first. After his 61st minute insurance goal last weekend, he went behind the net, picked up three hard hats he had stowed away there, handed them to two fans and gave a tribute to the old Crew SC logo.
Fans of the Black and Gold are hoping his production and the team’s as a whole become the catalyst for a run at MLS glory.
