With a 1-1 draw in Colorado Friday, the Columbus Crew have played four straight MLS matches to a tie. And despite the extension of their winless run, head coach Gregg Berhalter is still okay with the result, and the way his team is playing.
"I'm extremely proud of the team right now," he told MLSsoccer.com after the match. "You don't often see teams go into Denver and in the second half completely dominate the opponent. You have the altitude, they're in [third] place in the west, and we really turned it on in the second half."
Berhalter said he thinks his team's mindset is good, but winger Ethan Finlay told reporters he wasn't happy with another draw.
"It's a tough place to come to play, but if you ask the group as a whole, it's still a little bit frustrating," he said. "That's quite a few ties in a row now. We had a lot of chances tonight, and it didn't quite go our way. If we put some of those early ones away, maybe we win that game."
The only goal the Crew allowed on the night came against the run of play, and Berhalter stuck to his mantra of playing the same style whether at home or on the road.
"We wanted to be aggressive," he told reporters after the match. "We're the type of team that, at home or away, we want to be aggressive. We really want to take it to them, it doesn't matter where we're playing.
"We feel like the best form of defense is offense. To put them on their heels, to press the ball when we lose it right away, those are things we focus on."
At this point in the season, Berhalter said he's pleased where his team sits, and cited their style of play as a positive indication.
"I think we play good football, and that's what I'm happy about," he said. "I think the fans that came to the game today were entertained."
But regardless of how positive he felt about the match's outcome, a cloud over the result is the health of Hector Jimenez, who was injured by a reckless tackle from Vicente Sanchez that drew a yellow card. Berhalter is unsure of the extent of the injury, but wasn't optimistic.
"[Jimenez] is on crutches and wearing a knee brace," Berhalter said. "We're waiting on an MRI. But he can't put weight on it. It's not good."
While Berhalter wasn't willing to discuss the call, he admitted that he's pleased that the MLS Disciplinary Committee is around.
"Thankfully the MLS technical committee enacted a rule where they auto-review a play where the player leaves injured," he said.
