Soccer / Vin Lowe / 02 October 2009 / Leave a comment Bet Now

It took the Columbus Crew 13 seasons to hoist the Philip F. Anschutz Trophy as MLS champions - something they finally experienced last November after dispatching New York, 3-1, in the MLS Cup final before a sell-out crowd of 27,000 at Home Depot Center in Carson, California, writes Brian Heard.

It's looking more and more like the Massive Yellow Machine won't have to wait very long to do it again.

People will say stuff like that about you when you've lost just twice in 22 matches. After starting the season 0-2-2 (a championship hangover?), Columbus is a league-best 12-4-10 (46 points) and is the only club to have clinched a playoff berth. By weekend's end it might have already clinched the Eastern Conference and the No. 1 seed in the MLS Cup playoffs.

"We don't have a reserve team," Crew head coach Robert Warzycha said after his team cruised by the Galaxy, 2-0, on Saturday. "We have 23 players right now that can step up any time on the field and win any game. ... Everybody here on this club is contributing. We have a very deep squad. I can go with any player and as long as we are playing as a team, we can be very successful."

The facts bear out that depth and the seamless, team-oriented way the Crew goes about its business every week. Seven players have two or more goals and seven have two or more assists. Eighteen players have two or more starts and 17 have played 200 minutes or more. Even when stars like attacking midfielder/forward Guillermo Barros Schelotto (12 goals, 3 assists) and wing defender Frankie Hedjuk (1 goal, 3 assists in just 12 games) have missed time with injuries, Columbus hasn't missed a beat.

Attacking midfielder Eddie Gaven (6 goals) has been terrific, scoring the opener (and ultimate winner) against L.A. The White-Afro-ed (which has earned him the nickname Goalfunkel, after Art Garfunkel and his curly locks) Steven Lenhart (3 goals, 2 assists) is also rounding into form up front and netted the Crew's other goal.

It's not as if Columbus is prolific in its attack, but it is efficient. Actually, it's been out-shot on the season by opponents, but tellingly has placed more shots on goal and has a plus-12 goal differential, the best in MLS.

Maybe the strength of the team is on defense with stalwarts Gino Padula, hometown hero Danny O'Rourke, Eric Brunner and Chad Marshall; they don't give up much and never gave the David-Beckham-less (out with an ankle injury) Galaxy anything cheap Saturday in a game L.A. desperately wanted - it could've gone top of the table in the West with a win. In 26 games Columbus has yielded just 28 goals.

The Crew have their fanatic followers - with nicknames like "The Crew Supporters Union", "The Hudson Street Hooligans" and "La Turbina Amarilla" - thinking repeat. They have a lot of other folks thinking that too.

This week's games

It really is now or never for many teams in the hotly contested playoff chase. There are amazingly still 10 teams within eight points of each other at the bottom of the playoff pyramid. Yes, Columbus has clinched and Houston can do the same with a win this weekend - though wins in Space City have been hard to come by recently - but there's still much to play for for the majority of the league, and we've only got three weeks left! Should be good stuff.

This week's look ahead:

Game of the Week

Friday, Oct. 2

Chicago Fire (10-6-11) at Los Angeles Galaxy (10-6-11)

Galaxy have some injury concerns in midfield (Beckham, Demo Kovalenko and Eddie Lewis are all questionable) and oddly don't play well at home (5-4-4) at Home Depot Center, but they have got to start building momentum for the playoffs - and make sure they get in to end a three-year absence. With losses in two of three, it's time to question how much heart this team has.

The Fire, destined for second in the East unless they collapse, also need to sure-up playoff credentials, and have been in much better form on the road (6-2-5) all season. Chicago hasn't won though since Aug. 23, and could find going forward tough if Cuauhtemoc Blanco and Chris Rolfe are unavailable - both are questionable with injuries.

The winner (if there is one, after all these teams have combined for 22 draws) breathes a sigh of relief; the loser (if there is one) starts clenching their teeth with a little more vigor. L.A. won the first meeting, 2-0.

Saturday, Oct. 3

Chivas USA (11-9-5) at D.C. United (8-7-12)

Chivas has some breathing room with games in hand with everybody in the playoff picture. But for the Black-and-Red it's about as must-win as a situation can get. They're at home where they've been good (6-2-5), playing against an offensively challenged opponent - Chivas has a league-low (other than the Red Bulls but we're not counting them as league members anymore) 26 goals scored - and in a desperate position. They'd be out of the playoffs if they started today.

It's time for the old vets, forwards Luciano Emilio (30) and Jaime Moreno (35) and midfielders Christian Gomez (34) and Fred (30), to find the young legs one more time.

D.C. will be without Bryan Namoff (concussion) and Rodney Wallace (caution accumulation).

Seattle Sounders FC (9-7-11) at Columbus Crew (12-4-10)

Seattle's struggles to find the back of the net (just six goals in nine games) probably won't be eased this weekend. The Sounders have to hope to carve out a 1-nil win or something of that ilk, because at 38 points their playoff lives are on the brink - they could really use three points.

New England Revolution (10-9-7) at Colorado Rapids (10-8-9)

Aside of Conor Casey and his 15 goals, the Rapids never seem to do anything to make you sit up and say "Wow!". No long winning streaks (or losing streaks for that matter), no goal explosions. And yet, they're on 39 points in solid playoff position with a chance to leapfrog L.A. and get into second in the West. Sneaky, very sneaky. Of course, a loss and solid suddenly becomes slippery.

The Revs. What can you say? Every time you think they've taken a step forward, they take one back. A huge 2-1 win on two second-half goals by an in-form Shalrie Joseph over Seattle on the weekend was tempered by the 1-0 loss to Dallas at midweek. They'll need to come up with a big effort and some oxygen machines in the thin mountain air of Denver where the Rapids have only lost twice in 14 matches.

New York Red Bulls (4-17-6) at San Jose Earthquakes (6-12-7)

No, this was not in consideration for Game of the Week.

Sunday, Oct. 4

Kansas City Wizards (8-11-7) at Houston Dynamo (12-8-7)

With just five points from six games, the Dynamo have been walking in quicksand. But second-place L.A. hasn't been moving real fast either, so somehow Houston is still the best in the West and could clinch a playoff spot with a win. Wouldn't be a bad thing either for them to start putting together some quality performances leading into the postseason.

But it probably won't be an easy day for the Dynamo against a surging Wizards club, which has 10 points in five matches.