By: Drunken Crewzer
Crew SC took on Seattle Sounders in an instant preseason classic. We all know that once you start winning its hard to stop, so hopefully we don't let this get to our head. Berhalter put out the strongest lineup of the tournament and it did not disappoint. While we failed to find the back of the net until late, the chances were endless.
You could really see that we've worked on our passing lanes and aren't as reliant on our wide play as we have been. I could complain about the fact that Jahn didn't finish a few chances, but he gets a pass since it's preseason and his defensive work was top notch for a center forward. He was a great off the bench striker last year, scoring some toe-poke goals in games we were already out of. However, the season hasn't started and there is plenty of time to work on finishing... maybe he's just trying to play coy by not showing too much, too early. Overall, the fact that there were so many chances is definitely a bright spot.
Other bright spots were Jonathan Mensah, Mohammed Abu, and Harrison Afful, the Ghanaian Trio, who all looked quick in the ball. Afful's touch and experience is amazing, Mensah's performance against Seattle is something we've been looking for from a Columbus center back, and Abu distributed well from the middle.
Raitala and Hansen crushed it; Hansen really got at defenses when he had the ball. His first shot in the Sounders game was impressive and getting the goal is only going to help with his confidence.
Defensively we look better than last year and hopefully we don't give up too many set piece goals... Cough... Pipa is still out there doing Pipa things and we're praying to all the Argentinian gods that he stays healthy all year.
Zach Steffen is going to be a fun keeper to watch; he made at least two Brilliant saves to keep the clean sheet.
There's a lot of hustle in this team and we're really excited for this season. All signs are pointing in a positive direction and obviously everyone will burn the ship at our first loss... So on that note, I predict we win every game this season.
