The aftermath of a 4-4 tie with Montreal in Mapfre Stadium on Saturday in which Crew SC blew a 4-1 lead in the second half has not been pretty. It is time for the Crew to grow up, goalkeeper Steve Clark said. Coach Gregg Berhalter addressed his team's situation on Sunday.

The aftermath of a 4-4 tie with Montreal in Mapfre Stadium on Saturday in which Crew SC blew a 4-1 lead in the second half has not been pretty.



Star striker Kei Kamara lashed out at his fellow designated player, Federico Higuain, in the locker room, publicly exposing a rift of the type that must be healed if the ninth-place Crew (2-4-3) is to climb out of its early-season funk.

"I categorize that as an immature performance," coach Gregg Berhalter said. "We're better than that, and we didn't show it."



A prolonged on-field argument between Kamara and Higuain over who was to take a penalty kick in the 53rd minute was embarrassing, and Kamara played a sloppy, edgeless game after he lost the debate.

>> Bob Hunter commentary | Crew: Squabble reflects badly on coach Gregg Berhalter



It is time for the Crew to grow up, goalkeeper Steve Clark said.



Montreal's third goal, scored by Ignacio Piatti only two minutes after Didier Drogba converted a penalty kick to cut the lead to 4-3 in the was a stunner. Dominic Oduro's stoppage time equalizer was a knockout.



"We have to be more mature," Clark said. "We have to get our shape back and reset. We are just lacking maturity. You saw great things from us tonight, and you saw the worst of us tonight."



It is the latter that resonates, and Berhalter addressed his team's situation on Sunday.



Dispatch: Was last night a fitful night? Was it one of the tougher nights of your tenure?



Gregg Berhalter: I think the way things developed overall, it was just a disappointing evening. It was set up to be just the opposite, and we let it slip away. And then you have the other incidents, which certainly put a damper on it.



D: The "other" incidents got most of the attention from the media, certainly what was said afterward. Kei Kamara did not hold back. What did you make of what he said?



GB: The first thing is that it is an emotional game. Competing and being a professional athlete comes with a lot of emotion. So I understand that part of it. But there is a time and a place where you have to collect your emotion and you have to be able to give productive information. IN this case, we have a policy where we don't want to be talking about our teammates or the club in press (settings) like that. I think it was uncalled for.



D: So where do you go from here with Kei? Will he subject to some sort of discipline?



GB: We're in the process of dealing with it, the whole situation. There is no rush on this. We want to gather all the information and then make an appropriate decision. I think that is the most important thing.



D: Is this a situation where a player could be disciplined, maybe suspended by his own team?



GB: I think there are a number of scenarios. So we're going to look at them all. We're going to look at which best fit this case and what is best for the team. The most important thing is this club. That's the most important thing. It's not an individual.



D: The issues that Kamara brought up, were you aware of them? They seem to be longstanding. He's never spoken about them so directly. Was it a surprise?



GB: What I would say is that within a team you have many different personalities and they don't always have to mesh perfectly for a team to be successful. That's managing. That's people realizing that when you're on the field and you're being paid to be an athlete, you have a job to do. Your job involves 10 other players and you need to make that work. It's something that isn't all uncommon in sports. It's just managing it, and getting teammates to work together in the most efficient way.



D: Is the rift between your two designated players one that can be healed?



GB: Sure. Listen, I think yesterday it certainly came to a head. But when you think about the year and a half they've been playing together, there has been a lot of productivity out of all those guys. So it certainly can (be healed).



D: Are you confident in the leadership in your locker room? Do you feel like there are some guys who need to take stronger tact in there?



GB: We're all in this together. It's not about singling one guy out. It's about everyone doing their job. We have a good team. We have a good team, and that's the funny thing about it. We're not concerned about quality with this group. We have a strong team. So it's about putting everything together and being able to move forward.



D: As for the penalty-kick argument, does it concern you that Higuain did not seem to take into consideration that his teammate was sitting on the first hat trick of his career? Does that bother you?



GB: You would want that to be handled in a much more professional manner. I think that's what I'm concerned about, and that's the heart of the matter. I said yesterday that I take full responsibility for that. I didn't handle it the right way. I designated two shooters and left it up to them, and that was my mistake. I've certainly learned from that.



D: Kamara talked about selfishness, but you can look at what he said and see he might have contradicted himself. Does that bother you? Do you get where he is coming from, but also see the other side?



GB: We worked extremely hard to create a culture that is about the team and not about individuals. That is our playing style. Our playing style is the collective. That's what I'm concerned with. I'm concerned with the guys understanding that. The most important thing is the club and how we play and getting everyone involved. It's not about the individual.



D: Kamara indicated that his desire to play for the club has not waned. Do you feel you need to shake up the roster? Do you think your two star players can coexist or do you need to shake something up, whether it involves those two or anybody else?



GB: We're going to do what we feel is best for the team to be successful, whatever that may be. And we're going to take some time to evaluate it.



D: When you have players of that caliber, designated players, how tough would it be to part ways with one of them?



GB: With any player, we care for each and every one of these guys. Decisions like that are never easy. It's something we will consider very carefully. And again, the ultimate (factor) will be "what's in the best interest of this football club?"



D: What did you do today?



GB: We did a regeneration session and had a great session with the guys that didn't play. The mood was surprisingly upbeat. The guys, especially the guys that didn't play yesterday, put in some really hard work, about an hour-and-a-half training session. The guys that played did regen. IN the meantime, we had conversations with guys. It was overall a good session.



D: Did you have individual conversations with Kei and Federico?



GB: No.



D: The team is off on Monday. Was there a team-wide meeting? A players-only meeting?



GB: The group was addressed. But again, this is something where we want to take some time and get all the information. That is the most important thing right now, is just gathering information. I think there are two aspects to this story. One is the penalty incident, but the other is that we tied the game. We should be talking about that a little bit also. But those are the two things we are evaluating and we will discuss them on Tuesday.



D: To give up a three-goal in the second half, are you more disappointed with that than anything that is going on in your locker room right now?



GB: No, not really. Because in the end it's about the team. It's about our team concept and our team culture. When you see things like that, it's disappointing. You've been chipping away something for the last 2 ½ years and you hope that guys understand that it's not about the individual. It's about this group and the sum of these parts. They make the individual much better. But when you see something like that, you realize you still have work to do.



D: It's May, but are you are worried that it's getting late early?



GB: Have you seen the standings? That's the issue. That's the problem. We're right in this thing, and that's the crazy thing about it. As unhappy as we are with the situation, we're right in this thing.



D: But you're the defending conference champion, and you have two wins in nine games ...



GB: And the Supporters' Shield winners (the 3-6-1 New York Red Bulls) have how many wins in how many games? Again, we're in this thing. We have good team, and we're in it.



smitchell@dispatch.com



@smitchcd