Know Thy Enemy: Revs vs Crew Goosebumps Edition
The Crew were absolutely scary when they played the Revs last year, can Porter's revamped side turn the tides against the monsters of the East?
Okay, the really terrifying individual known as Cucho Hernandez is gone, off to torment La Liga with Real Betis. But the Columbus Crew should still have more than enough firepower when they visit the New England Revolution at Gillette Stadium tonight (7:30 pm EDT, MLS Season Pass/Apple TV+ Free Game).
The Crew played without Cucho in the late regular season game last year and still put four goals past the Revs, Alexandru Matan with a hat trick and some guy named DeJuan Jones with the opener. In fact of the nine goals the Revs gave up to the Crew last year, Cucho only had one of them…and two assists in the first matchup, which was a 5-1 win at Gillette. Diego Rossi, who is still around and scored twice last week, basically took over in the second half of that game last year and piled on two assists in the second half to go with his goal right before halftime.
The Crew are good — this is not a secret — and we get a very interesting benchmark for the Revs in their home opener. How much have the Revs improved? Well if they don’t lose by four, it’s an improvement. Not exactly helpful, but an improvement nonetheless.
In two games against Columbus last year (according to MLS dot com whose xG numbers are sometimes weird but whatever), the Revs recorded a combined 16 shots, seven on target, and one goal against a total of 1.4 xG across two games and just 0.3 in the October game in Ohio. Comparatively, the Crew notched 40 total shots, 15 on target, and nine goals against 5.3 xG by overachieving in the first game by scoring five against a measly 2.4 expected total.
TL;DR - The Crew were good last year and the Revs weren’t. The fact the Revs had a lead against Columbus for all of 10 minutes thanks to Ema Boateng is actually remarkable given the gulf between these sides last year.
So we get to see very early on how much progress Caleb Porter and his revamped roster have made. In the season opener against Nashville there were some positives like the defensive organization and the passing efficiency of new centerback duo Fofana and Ceballos. The attacking play left a lot to be desired as did a lot of unmarked headers inside the area on the other end.
But we need to see this team start taking major strides and quickly, because the schedule is not getting much easier. The Revs next three games after tonight are vs. Philly, at NYC, and vs RBNY. And something like 8 points through five games doesn’t sound like a lot, if the Revs lose tonight they’ll have to win their next two home games and get a road point on a baseball field or they could start of another year in a deep hole in the standings.
Anyway, as we wait and see if the Revs have turned upwards towards relevancy in the East, we turn to our good friend Tyler Fisher of Massive Report for all things Crew. No, I did not ask him if he played the Windows 96 Classic “Goosebumps: Escape from Horrorland” which was a point-and-click adventure game in the interactive movie genre, which I assume his how they got Jeff Goldblum, yes that legend, into the game as a vampire. Bad job by me, yes only my cousin is going to get that reference.
But I did ask Tyler about the Crew’s Goosebump kit which is absolutely dope and some other soccer things that aren’t as important. Be sure to check out their site for my answers to Tyler’s questions.
1) Alright, I know this one hurts...Cucho isn't walking through that door. Diego Rossi had a brace against Chicago to help ease the pain, but who else is going to have to pick up the scoring load for Columbus?
1.) Diego Rossi and Jacen Russell-Rowe. Simple as that. Diego Rossi now has the weight on his shoulders to replicate what Cucho Hernandez did for Columbus in his own way. The brace is a good start, but now the question is, can he keep it going? For JRR, he's going to be getting more significant minutes than he did last year behind Rossi, Cucho and Christian Ramirez. We know he's capable of scoring, but he needs to channel his MLSNP days and get those goals that he did then, this season.
2) Congrats on your first round bye in the whatever we're calling the CCL now, here's LAFC in the Round of 16. Doesn't seem very fair, how do you like the Crew's chance for another deep run in here and in the League's Cup this summer.
2.) I think it's going to be a dog fight to be honest. We're a different team, LAFC is a different team; It's going to be wild. We've outscored them in our last three meetings 10-3, so the pressure is on them. But, they have our number so they're going to be looking to knock us out and silence our magical few years of winning trophies. If we can defeat LAFC and move on, I think we're in for a good year in both CCC and defending our League's Cup title.
3) Columbus allowed two quick goals before pulling away from Chicago, did something go wrong that the Crew adjusted for or is Brian Gutierrez just good at soccer?
3.) Well first off, saying Brian Gutierrez is good at soccer is like saying Brad Marchand is good at hockey; He has support around him to make him look good. Chicago got lucky because Steven Moreira got a little too forward in the attack, leaving the empty pocket of space behind him, in which was then occupied by a speedy Jonathan Bamba. Now, the connection between Gutierrez and Bamba is going to be a problem, but let's face it.... it's the Chicago Fire, and Gregg Berhalter. Both are easily predictable. The Crew adjusted the back three to not push up too far all the time, but to pick and choose the moments in which they were to attack. It's just simple soccer, that we forgot how to play.
Bonus - Goosebump Jersey Thoughts!
The Goosebumps jersey is elite, and there's nothing nobody can say to make me change my mind. I want one for myself, but I don't have a blue light at home, and I'm currently saving up for a $3k Amtrak round trip to Seattle in July for Crew/Sounders. Best jersey in MLS at this moment (sorry Portland).
Lineup/Injuries/Predictions/Etc.
LINEUP: Schulte; Moreira -- Cheberko -- Amundsen; Arfsten -- Zawadzki -- Nagbe (c) -- Farsi; Chambost -- Rossi; Russell-Rowe
As Caleb Porter said, "last time we played them they embarrassed us." And that is what I think is going to happen again, but not as bad. I'm going 3-0 Crew with a Diego Rossi hat trick, and I'll see you at the bank.