An angry Gregg Berhalter ripped into his Crew SC team in the locker room after Saturday's 2-2 draw against Orlando City FC and threatened to jettison players if peformances don't improve.

"He was animated," captain Michael Parkhurst told The Dispatch. "The message was he wants winners and right now he doesn't see it and if he doesn't see it you're not going to be on this team much longer.

"That was the apex (of his anger) this year and rightly for so."

An angry Gregg Berhalter ripped into his Crew SC team in the locker room after Saturday's 2-2 draw against Orlando City FC and threatened to jettison players if peformances don't improve.

"He was animated," captain Michael Parkhurst told The Dispatch. "The message was he wants winners and right now he doesn't see it and if he doesn't see it you're not going to be on this team much longer.

"That was the apex (of his anger) this year and rightly so."

The Crew is riding an eight-game winless streak (0-3-5) that's seen it drop seven points off the playoff pace. The team heads to Toronto for a game Sunday before a bye week at which time changes could be made.

It's believed the club is still looking to add an attacking player in the transfer market, which closes Aug. 3.

"We'll have to see," said the coach and sporting director, who hinted of lineup changes Saturday night. "Guys are gonna show they want to be here and want to be part of this (with) how they train and how they play in the games."

Goalkeeper Steve Clark understands his coach's frustration.

"It's unacceptable what's happening and we need to change our attitude and get a little bit tougher," the keeper said.

Berhalter's voice was booming and clear Tuesday afternoon as the squad returned to practice after Saturday's 2-2 draw with Orlando City FC.

He emphasized defense and created scenarios in which one unit in 11-v-11 was trying to protect a late one-goal lead. Sound familiar?

"Dig in," he screamed on several occasions. At least twice he pulled the group together and lit into players, pointing out defensive lapses that could cost the team a goal.

"It was a chippy session," Berhalter conceded.

Multiple reasons have contributed to the Crew's 3-7-10 record.Lately, the inability to maintain second-half leads has been most maddening. Columbus blew advantages in each of its three games on the recent homestand, settling for ties in all cases. The team squandered a two-goal lead versus Orlando City.

Berhalter said Tuesday's training set "the tone for what needs to happen in the game. I'm showing them video clips of challenges we're losing that we should be winning."

The Crew is an MLS-worst 2-2-6 when scoring the game's first goal.

"The emphasis was on defending," Parkhurst said. "We talked about how it needs to be better collectively and individually. To start winning games we need to do better defensively in different situations. We're in every game. It's just little things here and there where we don't make plays."

The repeated lapses appear to be a sign of mental fragility. The Crew plays well for 50 to 60 minutes and during the first sign of serious trouble players lose confidence and trust in each other. The stretch doesn't last long, but the impact is often a tying goal.

"It shouldn't derail us psychologically if the other team has the upper hand for a couple minutes," Berhalter said. "No problem. Stay organized. Deal with it and move on."

Couple other quick notes from Tuesday's practice:

--- Center back Nicolai Naess is back home in Norway picking up the work visa he was granted. He'm m m m 1 s expected to start training with the club later in the week. The guess here is we won't see him until at least the Aug. 13 match against New York FC.

--- New goalkeeper Zach Steffen watched practice but did not participate. He did some "testing" on Tuesday, the coach said.

--- Nothing new on potential transfers. Berhalter said he expects to work right up to the Aug. 3 deadline. It's believed the team is targeting another attacking player.

--- Interviewed Federico Higuain today. Look for story posted later at Dispatch.com

treed@dispatch.com

Twitter: @treed1919