With a quick glance at the current MLS standings, the Columbus Crew, at 0-2-5 and the last MLS team looking for a win, look like the type of team against which the Kansas City Wizards should be able to get a solid road win.
However, keep a few things in mind before writing it off. This is the defending MLS champion Crew, with a roster virtually unchanged from a year ago. Injuries that decimated this team at the beginning of the season, and are viewed as the primary reason for Columbus' slow start, are now healed for the most part.
"They're defending champion and they've had some injuries, but they are full strength going against us," Wizards head coach Curt Onalfo said. "And, all the way through, they are very, very good."
In most cases, it would be easy to discount the statements as little more than coach speak for a team looking for its first win, but Onalfo's reasons are sound.
"They have Chad Marshall, who is one of the best central defenders in the league," Onalfo said. "He's lethal in attacking set pieces. Frankie Hejduk, who, for me, was a pleasure coaching with the national team. I love him. I think he's a winner. He'll be back in the lineup (coming back after missing six games with a sore hamstring) flying down the right side. Robbie Rogers, who is probably the fastest player in Major League Soccer, is now 100 percent. Alejandro Moreno, who is probably the most underrated forward in the league."
That doesn't include another two of three players that Onalfo went on to name as "best in the league" types with Columbus, which paints well enough the challenge facing Kansas City.
This is no ordinary oh-fer.
It is a challenge that comes at a time when the Wizards are facing another -- putting the finishing touches on scoring plays.
In recent outings, the Wizards have seen scoring chances begin in the their own end and streak the length of the field, only to fall apart in the final third. Onalfo mentioned it in his postgame comments following the team's 1-1 tie last Wednesday with D.C. United.
He was asked a day later what, if anything, could be gleaned from his team's ability to score goals late in games (eight of the team's 10 goals this season have come in the second half; five in the final 15 minutes) and applied to other parts of the game.
"That's a good question," Onalfo said. "I would say that at the end of games, things open up. We also make tactical substitutions that help us. But, I think the underlying thing is we wind up getting the ball wide an awful lot and getting more service in the box. I think that's something we could do earlier in the game that will help us."
Wizards forward Davy Arnaud, who is tied for the team lead with three goals after his score tied the game against United, said the lack of conversion couldn't be attributed to anything specific -- other than, perhaps, the fact that there are just a lot more obstacles in the way the closer you get.
"It's a real fine line," Arnaud said. "It's tougher down there. The spaces aren't as big. The timing of runs has to be exactly right. If it's a little off, it's not going to work out. But, we just have to be a little bit sharper.
"Having said that, even if we haven't been as sharp as we maybe could be in the final third, we're still creating opportunities."
The Wizards will have to earn their opportunities this weekend as the Crew are expected to start the same backline that started in last year's MLS Cup Final against New York. If that happens, it will be the first time this year the unit has been intact.
Whatever lineup Columbus uses, it shouldn't surprise Kansas City. The Wizards' season ended last year with a 3-1 aggregate loss to the Crew in an Eastern Conference Semifinal Series that was one of the better ones overall.
The game plan that nearly moved Kansas City past Columbus a year ago is one that Onalfo plans to use again if things play out the way he thinks they will.
"We have our scouting reports from last year in terms of what we tried to accomplish in the playoff games, and that's going to be a similar thing assuming those (Columbus) players are on the field," Onalfo said. "My assumption is that it will be the same lineup that we played in the playoffs last year minus, maybe, their goalkeeper and Brad Evans, who went to Seattle.
"We know what they bring, and we know it is going to be a hard-fought game."
The all-time series between Kansas City and Columbus is tied 16-16-5 all time. Columbus is 10-7-3 against Kansas City at home in those matches.
Curtis Kitchen is a contributor to MLSnet.com.
