An already thin Crew SC roster got thinner today when coach and sporting director Gregg Berhalter revealed that midfielders Rodrigo Saravia and Emil Larsen were called into their national teams and will miss Wednesday's game at Philadelphia.

Saravia will join Guatemala for a friendly against Venezuela on Wednesday in Fort Lauderdale.

Larsen, 24, will join Denmark's Under-23 team as an overage player for an Olympic tune-up tournament in Korea that will include Denmark, Nigeria, Honduras and South Korea and run from Thursday through next Monday.

Their departures left the Crew with...

An already thin Crew SC roster got thinner today when coach and sporting director Gregg Berhalter revealed that midfielders Rodrigo Saravia and Emil Larsen were called into their national teams and will miss Wednesday's game at Philadelphia.

Saravia will join Guatemala for a friendly against Venezuela on Wednesday in Fort Lauderdale.

Larsen, 24, will join Denmark's Under-23 team as an overage player for an Olympic tune-up tournament in Korea that will include Denmark, Nigeria, Honduras and South Korea and run from Thursday through next Monday.

Their departures left the Crew with 16 healthy players today at practice.

Already missing because of injuries and call-ups: Harrison Afful (Ghana), Cedrick Mabwati (DR Congo), Gaston Sauro (knee), Tony Tchani (calf), Tyson Wahl (concussion), Marshall Hollingsworth (concussion) and Matt Pacifici (concussion).

In all, that's six potential starters. Oof.

"There are no excuses," Berhalter said. "When we start making excuses for ourselves, we're in trouble. We want to try to win a game on Wednesday. We're not making any excuses for who we have or may not have."

The bright side?

"There might be a little more leg room on the bench," midfielder Justin Meram said.

Meram won't have to worry about that at the start. He'll be in the lineup, hoping to continue a stretch of games that have rivaled any he has had during his tenure.

But outside of captain Michael Parkhurst, the defense appears to be one giant question mark.

Wahl remains questionable because of concussion symptoms that worsened as last week went on. Saravia, a midfielder, started in his place in a 4-3 win over Real Salt Lake on Saturday.

Chad Barson, primarily an outside back, could fill that role on Wednesday. If he does, it would mark his first start since Aug. 1.

Meanwhile, utility man Hector Jimenez is expected to fill in for Afful at right back. Corey Ashe or Waylon Francis, or some combination of the two, should slot in at left back.

Or, the Crew could play with three defenders.

"I honestly have no idea what (Berhalter) is thinking right now," Ashe said. "It's just one of those games where you have to be ready for anything because there are so few subs."

Tchani worked on the side during the latter stages of practice today but has not played in a month.

Berhalter said "it would be nice" if Wahl was capable of returning on Wednesday, "but who knows?"

So the Crew, on short rest, with a short bench, will head to Philly on Tuesday to play the top team in the Eastern Conference on Wednesday.

Piece of cake.

"Sometimes it's just better to get in a groove and play games," Meram said. "You don't have the whole week of training, the tough days. We're keeping it short and sharp. That can be positive for us, just staying with it.

"Sometimes we do better that way. I don't see it as a problem."

Neither does MLS.

The league allows teams to "call up" players age 25 or under from its USL affiliates for MLS games via 4-day contracts, but only in cases of "extreme hardship." The Crew's case is not one of extreme hardship, according to the rules.

"Extreme Hardship exists when an MLS club has fewer than 15 total players available or when an MLS club with three goalkeepers on its roster has fewer than two goalkeepers available."

MLS teams are allowed to sign 4-day deals with players 25 or under for other competitions (CCL, Open Cup, exhibitions) at any time, no matter the extremities of their hardships.

Free kicks

--Berhalter had intended to leave homegrown midfielder Ben Swanson with USL Pittsburgh last weekend but instead summoned him to Columbus, where he was unused sub on Saturday. Berhalter said the Grove City teen "might have to play a role" against Philadelphia. If Swanson plays against the Union, it would mark his MLS debut.

--Former Crew forward Aaron Schoenfeld is back at Obetz, taking the club up on its offer to use its facilities. Schoenfeld scored eight goals in 12 games for Hapoel Tel Aviv in the Israeli Premier League last season after passing up an offer from the Crew in the offseason. He made only one start as Kei Kamara's backup in 2015. "Anytime a guy can go from where he was here to now earning significant money playing a significant role for a team we're happy for him," Berhalter said of Schoenfeld and his multi-year deal with Hapoel. "That worked out really well."

--Shawn Mitchell

smitchell@dispatch.com

@smitchcd