Columbus Crew SC, much like many of the other 19 clubs in Major League Soccer, will be missing a few players this weekend due to international duty. The league’s decision to schedule a full slate of matches on one of FIFA’s international fixture windows pretty much ensured that was going to happen. All in all, a total of 58 players will be unavailable due to call-ups to their respective national sides.
The Black and Gold will be without the services of three regular starters for Saturday night’s match with the New York Red Bulls. Left back Waylon Francis along with midfielders Justin Meram and Wil Trapp will not be taking part in the second home match of the year for Crew SC due to international obligations.
Columbus Crew SC International Call-Ups
Francis will be on Costa Rica’s roster for friendlies involving Paraguay at home and Panama on the road. Those games take place on March 26th and 31st respectively.
Meram, fresh off a fourth place finish in the 2015 Asian Cup with Iraq, has traveled to Dubai where he will join the national team once again for a pair of matches against Democratic Republic of Congo. His future Crew SC teammate Cedrick Mabwati, who played on the DR Congo team that finished third at the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, was not named to the roster for these matches.
Trapp was named to the United States under-23 roster that will continue their preparations for the 2016 Olympic qualifying tournament with two games in Europe. The team’s first training camp of the year got underway in Tuzla, Bosnia-Herzegovina and culminated with a 5-2 win over the home side’s U-23s on Friday. Next up is a northward trek to face Denmark on March 31st.
Trapp will depart after the game against RBNY but picked up a calf injury in training and so may still not be available on Saturday.
It’s always a bit worrying when crucial components of your usual starting lineup are unable to show for a game due to national team duty. The situation this week has generated quite a bit of discussion amongst coaches, players and pundits alike. Different teams have been hit in different ways by the call-ups.
Despite the three forthcoming omissions, Crew SC aren’t in the situation Orlando City SC find themselves in. Factoring in the six players they’ll be missing due to international duty along with early-season injuries and the Lions are reportedly finding it difficult to put together an 18-man roster for their game with the Montreal Impact on Saturday.
FC Dallas is in a similar predicament. Off to the hottest start in the league with three wins from three, they’ll be hard pressed to make it four on the trot when Seattle comes to Frisco for the weekend. A handful of key players have received international call-ups, including Blas Pérez, whose three goals is tied for the league lead. Pérez’s native Panama has two friendlies scheduled against Trinidad & Tobago and Costa Rica.
Without dwelling too much on the travails of other sides in the league, what can we expect to see Saturday when the Red Bulls come to town on Saturday? This is a team that should be brimming with confidence after a decisive 2-0 victory over rivals D.C. United last weekend. Will the absences of Francis, Meram and Trapp play a significant role in the final result?
Team Depth Will Undoubtedly Be Tested
Plenty of teams were active on the acquisition front in the offseason and Crew SC were no different. Head coach and sporting director Gregg Berhalter has continually reiterated that adding depth at certain positions was hugely important if this club was to build on the success from 2014. That depth will certainly be put to the test this weekend.
The biggest concern I have, even more so than the possibility of Trapp not being around in the defensive midfield, is the potential void at left back in the absence of Francis. Expect Chris Klute, acquired from the Colorado Rapids as part of a SuperDraft deal, to get his first start of the campaign in his place. Klute was targeted due to his versatility as a wing back being able to play either side of the field.
That versatility will be on full display if indeed he does get the start. Klute was utilized primarily on the right side of the back line during his tenure in Colorado but will be expected to line up at left back. Much like Francis, he’s proven during his career that he can create chances. He led the Rapids in assists in 2013 and scored a goal during the preseason albeit against fairly overmatched competition.
If Klute does indeed get the start, he will have his hands full trying to contain two key players on Saturday. The first is prolific target forward Bradley Wright-Phillips but possibly even more so he will need to be sharp at neutralizing right attacking midfielder Lloyd Sam.
Both Englishmen appeared on the scoresheet for the Red Bulls against D.C. United but Sam’s came as a result of a defensive breakdown that, if the same thing occurs on Saturday, Klute will at least be partly responsible. He already has two goals on the year including a perfectly placed shot from outside the box that found the upper 90 two weeks earlier against Sporting Kansas City. Sam had a mere four goals in the regular season all of last year.
If Trapp’s unable to go, his replacement is likely to be Mohammad Saeid, who was mightily impressive in his first start filling in for the suspended Tony Tchani in Crew SC’s 2-0 win over Toronto FC. He’ll likely be joining the Cameroonian in the defensive midfield and both will be charged with being that first line of defense in Berhalter’s 4-2-3-1 before the Red Bulls can attempt to get the back line on their heels.
The towering Tchani is certainly the more physical of the two and will look to use this to his advantage as he looks to disrupt Wright-Phillips’ fluidity and rhythm above the box. He’ll just need to do so in a good way so that he doesn’t incur the wrath of the disciplinary committee like he did in week one.
With Meram out, Berhalter will likely go with Kristinn Steindórsson at left attacking midfielder who got the start in Houston. The Icelandic international has all the qualities to be a fine addition to the attacking midfield. The interplay between him and Klute (assuming he starts at left back) when the latter embarks on overlapping runs will be a crucial element towards getting the ball at goal down the left wing.
For the visitors, this will be a year in which Wright-Phillips is intent on proving to the league that he can continue to score goals with regularity without having now retired legend Thierry Henry as provider. If last week was any indication, newly named captain Dax McCarty may be able to fill that role quite comfortably.
Saturday’s clash at MAPFRE Stadium is between two charter members of the league who began their existence contesting games in cavernous football stadiums. Both have since moved into their own soccer-specific facilities and have relaunched their brand identity at differing points in their history. The artist formerly known as the MetroStars enter their tenth season under the ownership of Red Bull (it’s hard to believe it’s been that long) while for Crew SC it’s their first under their new rebrand.
In the end, this game will function as a litmus test of sorts to see whether or not the depth that the Black and Gold were so intent on adding in the offseason is actually there. The two most important circumstances over the course of a given season that test such depth are international call-ups and the old injury bug. This weekend, the impact of the former will be on full display throughout the league.
It’ll be interesting to see how much that impact will be felt in Columbus with three crucial cogs in the Crew SC starting cast assuming their own roles on the international stage.
News and Notes:
- Saturday will mark the 61st regular season meeting in the history of the series with Crew SC sporting a 25-26-9 overall record and a 15-11-4 mark at home.
- The Red Bulls will be missing three players of their own due to international duty with Karl Ouimette (Canada), Kemar Lawrence (Jamaica) and Dane Richards (Jamaica) expected to be unavailable. Only Richards has seen time for RBNY this season, coming on as a 65th minute substitute against DC United.
- This weekend’s game will kick off at 7:30 pm and can be viewed on Time Warner Cable Sportschannel Ohio, MSG+ and MLS Live.
