Three simple questions: Columbus Crew

We resume our series of MLS ill fate by combing through the rubble of the fallen champs. To do this we need someone willing to get his hands dirty. Now, this may seem like an easy find in Columbus, but we didn't just want anyone. We wanted notorious yet oddly lovable BigSoccer curmudgeon Bill Archer. Why test the rest when you can have the best?

NSC: What went wrong?

BA: The short answer is "nothing". What happened to the Crew happened a month or so earlier and the playoffs were just the end result.

Between MLS and CCS games they knew they had to play 7 times in three weeks beginning in mid-September. Warzycha couldn't send his best 11 out that many times and have anything left for the post season.

So he began juggling his lineup around from game to game and somehow, no matter who he sent out there, they couldn't seem to lose. With the playoffs (if not indeed the shield) in the bag, he decided to put the priority on becoming the first MLS side to reach the CCS Quarterfinals.

The key was beating Saprissa at Crew Stadium on September 29. If they could do that they'd be through to the next round and could send their Academy team or their bowling buddies to Puerto Rico and spare the veterans one more long trip and one more match, keeping them fresh for the last game in the set, which was 10/3 vs. Seattle.

They beat LA in 2-0 in CCS on the 26th - the high point of the season - but then drew Saprissa 3 days later, forcing them to send the full squad to PR and then fly back and play the Sounders three days after that.

They ran out of gas, they lost at home for the first time in over a year, never found the net, never found any rhythm and, though nobody knew it at the time, they fell off the cliff.

In their next five straight games they scored exactly one goal, on a fluke DFK from the left back. The defense held up fine but the offense was just never in sync again and was unable to find an answer.

Soccer is just a funny game. When the wheels fall off and you start chasing the game, nothing works. The Crew ran out of gas.

As for individuals, two stand out: Frankie Hejduk, the heart and soul of the team, was just bad all year. The team played much better without him but when he finally got healthy they put him back out there - how do you not? - and he was not just invisible he was a big, big negative.

And Schelotto, after all the time off, never got back in sync with his teammates.

What went right?

BA: The Crew found some terrific young players in Brunner and Zayner on the back line. Combined with Rogers, Gaven, Marshall, O'Rourke, Hesmer and Carroll, that's the kind of solid young "core" that successful MLS teams are built around. That's eight guys any team would happily send out any day.

NSC: What, if not who, does the team need to acquire?

BA: Since 2006 when Sigi took over, this side has needed an up-front hitter. They're still looking.

As we all know, that's the hardest position to fill, but the "offense by committee" that they've been getting away with just got exposed. They got away with it because of the incredible Argie in the middle pulling the strings, but when that finally stopped working they didn't have anything else.

Just one scary forward, with speed, who can take people on sometimes, combined with the incredibly solid young defense, would make this a perennial contender.


- Greg Seltzer