Moreno says Crew needs to reach another gear
The Crew was subjected to a spate of positive COVID-19 tests that disrupted training, denied the team use of its starting goalkeeper (Eloy Room) and starting right winger (Derick Etienne) and thinned the bench to the point of snapping. Yet, they persevered.
The Crew needed extra time to beat expansion Nashville 2-0 in an MLS Eastern Conference semifinal at Mapfre Stadium on Sunday night. The game in a nutshell:
The stout visitors largely controlled the
(slow) tempo and had the better chance to win in regular time. Then, in the 99th minute, Crew winger Pedro Santos scored -- and Nashville’s Football Clubbers suddenly remembered how tired they were after playing three games in 10 days. And that was it for the Football Clubbers, who had no one on the same level of Gyasi Zardes, Lucas Zelarayan, Darlington Nage, Luis Diaz or Santos.
Alejandro Moreno – who scored the first Crew goal in the 2008 MLS Cup championship game (gracias, Lord Guillermo) – provided color commentary on Crew-nashville from the ESPN studio Sunday night. Moreno dedicated a portion of his pregame analysis predicting the threat of Santos.
It took nearly 100 nervy minutes, but Moreno ultimately nailed the call. When reached on the phone Monday morning, he did not wax Tony Romo. Ale has a sense of humility.
“If you study the tendencies, it’s not difficult to figure out,” Moreno said with a laugh. “We watched a lot of tape and marked it.”
Zelarayan’s pass into space (out of a triple-team, using the outside of his right foot) gave Zardes a chance to run onto the ball in the left channel. Zardes made a wonderful cross. Santos finished with a
one-timer with his off foot.
Four minutes later, Zardes got behind Nashville’s normally impregnable back line and finished off a long, diagonal feed from Diaz.
It is a verity, to the point of being trite, that the best players are the key to winning (or losing) in a win-or-go-home soccer tournament. Sunday night, Columbus’ superior talent came to the fore. Give the Crew full marks. Bravo.
Now, they have to get better. A lot better.
Their opponents in the Eastern Conference final is the New England Revolution. The teams will meet Sunday at Mapfre Stadium.
Not only are the Revolution in possession of talent that is superior to Nashville’s, the Revs might just be the hottest team in the league – and they have a coach, Bruce Arena, who has been flipping a playoff switch for decades. Arena has won five MLS Cups, beginning with the first one, 24 years ago.
“Nashville really did create some issues and made the Crew really uncom
fortable,” Moreno said. “The game faded into one that suited Nashville. It was a comfortable a game as Nashville could have hoped for. How many opportunities, how many clear chances, did Columbus have?
“(Nashville midfielder) Dax Mccarty hits the crossbar (off a corner kick in the 27th minute). If that goes in, that game is 1-0 and the Crew are out. Season’s over.”
At one point during the telecast, Mrs. Arace posited something about the ESPN announcers being too critical of the Crew. Three of her sons turned and looked at her, stunned. One of them said, “Mom, what game are you watching?” Mrs. Arace prefers homers.
“This season is all about survival of the fittest,” Moreno said. “The Crew has been though a real rough patch and they were able to get to the other side. Now is the time to take advantage, and seize on the momentum.
“If I’m a Crew fan, I’m excited. I’m thinking there’s a true opportunity to win a title. If I’m the Crew, it’s MLS Cup – that’s all I’m thinking. Period. If I’m Caleb
Porter, I’m thinking ‘I’ve got an advantage – a great opportunity with the conference final on my home field. Now, I have to improve of what we do, what makes us who we are.’ “
Moreno didn’t see enough of that identity against Nashville. In sum, he didn’t see enough clean passing, enough possession-and-transition, enough quickness going forward to create opportunities. These qualities, Moreno believes, put the Crew’s best players in position to dictate a game.
“A lesser version of the Columbus Crew will get them into trouble against New England,” Moreno said. “They have to do better.”
And if they do?
“The way it has worked out, it’s now in the hands of the Columbus Crew,” Moreno said. “They probably didn’t expect to host the conference final, but now it’s in their hands and it now depends on how they handle the role of being favorites. Embrace the role. Don’t shy away from it. Execute it.”
marace@dispatch.com