OBETZ, Ohio – When they fly to Los Angeles Saturday to take on the LA Galaxy, Columbus Crew SC will be in search of their first win streak since April. But to find a second win in a row, the team’s most difficult task may be assembling a starting XI.
Playing through an international break, Columbus will be without defender Harrison Afful (Ghana) and midfielders Justin Meram (Iraq), Tony Tchani (Cameroon) and Rodrigo Saravia (Guatemala), who will all be with their national teams.
Meanwhile, playmaker Federico Higuain is recovering from “inflammation” in the area of his hernia surgery and the team is taking it as slow as possible with Wil Trapp, who suffered a concussion in Saturday’s win over the San Jose Earthquakes.
“It seems like we have ten guys training out here,” defender Michael Parkhurst said with a laugh at Crew SC training Tuesday. “So it’s definitely a little stranger when you huddle up before training and you look around and it’s a little thin. But we don’t feel like we’re going into the weekend with an, ‘Oh, shoot’ mentality like we’re in trouble here. We’ve got two wins out of three and we need to continue to pick up points.”
Gregg Berhalter isn’t making any excuses ahead of the LA trip, and is sticking by his depth. He says he’s confident with the players he’ll have on the field, whoever they may be.
“It’s a next man up kind of mentality,” he said in a conference call Tuesday. “We’re going to need all the able bodies this week…and we have to get a lineup on the field that can compete. We’re confident that we can do that.”
Parkhurst and other players know “some guys may have to play out-of-position a little bit,” but the team captain says everyone is willing to step in when needed. Players like Hector Jimenez, who has played as a fullback and winger on both sides of the field as well as central midfield, may have their versatility tested.
“The joke around here is that we don’t have any idea where Hector is going to line up,” Parkhurst laughed. “He might be in goal, for all we know.”
But despite the shifting lineup and ever-changing team availability, Berhalter says he won’t change what he expects from his players. And while he admitted a change in formations – perhaps to a 3-5-2 he’s experimented with in the past – is possible, it won’t change the team’s identity.
“To alter our style of play, I don’t know why we would do that, based on missing guys,” he said. “If you’re referring to [the idea that] we won’t have enough quality to play the way we want to play, I’m not sure that’s the case. I think we’ve still got quality guys and we can still execute our style.
“We may change our formation to accommodate the bodies that we have, but we’re certainly going to look to be aggressive and play soccer. That’s been our M.O. since day one. And to be honest, that’s what Columbus fans expect from us.”
