I think we camped in their half -- and created some really good chances. We just didn't put the ball in the back of the net and ended up getting caught with a sucker punch on the counter attack."
• Added Jim Brennan: "We looked organized, we moved the ball around a lot," said Brennan. "It opened up some opportunities for us. I thought we created chances. That's a positive that we're going to take out of it and take it to the next game."
• "It won't get me down. I said to the players in the dressing room, 'don't be disappointed, go back to work on Monday,'" Carver said. "We are really close to one or two things happening to improve this squad. I don't have to stand here like a rocket scientist and tell you what we need because I think it's obvious. We need creative players that can put the ball in the back of the net."
• After the break, the Reds nearly got their first goal of the new year when a Brennan shot off a corner kick was parried by Crew 'keeper Hesmer - then cleared off the line by Robbie Rogers.
• "We work very hard to get those opportunities. It just seems we did the difficult part, but putting it in the back of the net is some just something that's been right out of our reach," said Marvell Wynne. " ... It was good play, especially in the second half. We created opportunities. We had decent possession. We went out for it. Good play, good movement. I think that will all combine to be a solid soccer team that scores goals and win games."
• Brian Edwards, the club's second-round pick in the 2008 SuperDraft, was given the start in his professional debut. "It was the hardest decision I had to make about the team [starting Edwards ahead of Greg Sutton]," Carver said. "I thought he did quite well." Said Edwards: "I think I did all right, I definitely learned a lot from it," he said. "It's everything you dream of, your first pro start in a game like this. I'll definitely take a lot from it and move onto next week."
• As well, Carver kept striker Danny Dichio on the bench for the opener, bringing on the big striker with 25 minutes to go. "Danny's got a big part to play for this club," he said. "I went with (Cunningham and Samuel) because I thought their pace might cause one or two problems, and at times it did."
• Unfortunately, the nearly 2,400 TFC faithful that came down from Canada for the first match were sent back home on their 8-hour journey without a victory to celebrate. "Absolutely incredible. I'd heard all the rumors about the fans. I'd seen it on TV myself," Carver said. "That didn't surprise me. I'm just disappointed we couldn't give them something better to go home with."
• On Wednesday, TFC announced the signing of French midfielder Laurent Robert, who was last with Derby County of the English Premier League. The 32-year-old played with Montpellier and Paris Saint-Germain in his homeland before moving to Newcastle United in a £9.5 million deal in 2001, where he played four seasons. He appeared a total of nine times for France, scoring once in France's 4-0 win over Turkey on Nov. 15, 2000.
• "The team is going to evolve over the next month or so because we're looking to bring players in and improve," said Carver to The (Toronto) Sun. "We're trying to bring the standard up: as you saw there were two big names not involved (against Columbus). But, who's to say they won't be in the next game. I'm going to think about it, reassess it."
