COLUMBUS, Ohio – Columbus Crew SC were shorthanded, debuting a new style of attack and playing one of the Eastern Conference’s best teams Saturday night, but they still felt they should have done better than a toothless 0-0 draw.
With Ola Kamara battled a hamstring injury, only making the team’s bench, Head Coach Gregg Berhalter opted to start winger Ethan Finlay up top for the club. Finlay played as a striker in college at Creighton, but has never played regular minutes there in MLS.
Meanwhile, Mohammed Saeid stepped into a playmaker role in place of Designated Player Federico Higuain, who will miss at least five weeks after Hernia surgery.
Despite the changes, Berhalter said he was “surprised” his team didn’t generate more, and says they’ll improve with repetition.
“Our objective was to move them around more than we did,” he said. “Give them credit for a good defensive shape, but we should have had them moving much more. It was slow ball circulation; it was guys not (having the correct) body shape receiving the ball; it was positioning between the lines. All those things could have been a little bit better.”
Finlay admitted that an ever-changing lineup due to injuries and roster moves has been challenging, but said he and the team need to adapt to the roles they’re capable of playing.
“That’s what the top players do; I’m starting to learn that,” he said. “There’s a sense of accountability that we have for each other and the coaches have for us. The reason I was put in that role is because they know I can play it, and it’s the same for other guys. They know there’s potential there.”
Berhalter and goalkeeper Steve Clark both praised a much-maligned Crew SC defense, however.
Though they didn’t have to deal with the injured Ignacio Piatti, Columbus completely stifled the Montreal attack.
“Any time we step on the field, we want three points, especially at home,” Clark said. “Having said that, the defense did a really good job…and overall, I’m happy about the shutout. We move on.”
Columbus is still four points out of the playoff picture and lagging behind everyone in the East but the Chicago Fire. But Finlay said the team still has confidence, and won’t be making excuses as they battle injuries.
“This is still a very good team,” he said. “This maybe wasn’t the team, six months ago, that we thought would be starting this evening, by any means. But it’s still a team that could easily have won this game tonight. So going forward, I think it’s a positive.”
And Clark, one of the team’s locker room leaders, says the summer holds good things for the club.
“We’re very cohesive and united as a group to accomplish what we have at hand,” he said. “We’re looking forward to the Red Bulls coming to town and this stretch of games in the summer. We love playing in the summer. Overall, I’d say we’re a very united team right now.”
