

Posted by

Steve Bottjer ,

March 13, 2015 Email

Steve Bottjer

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Fresh off playing spoiler against the Vancouver Whitecaps in their home opener last weekend, Toronto FC will now endeavour to do the same against their biggest U.S. rivals the Columbus Crew at Mapfre Stadium on Saturday evening. With one road win already to their credit, Toronto will likely arrive in Ohio with plenty of confidence. In addition to last week’s decisive comeback 3-1 victory over the Whitecaps, Bradley and company will also be buoyed by the fact that they won twice last year in Columbus against a Crew side that qualified for the MLS postseason. Both teams have plenty to prove this season and both are not only Eastern Conference contenders for a spot in the postseason, they are sides clearly aiming to do more than just qualify for the big dance. While Toronto is coming off arguably the most disappointing season in the club’s history, the Crew are coming off a 2014 campaign in which they qualified for the postseason for the first time in several years and impressed significantly under Head Coach Gregg Berhalter. Keep thinking

A quick look at the standings shows that Toronto will enter this match coming off an easy 3-1 victory, while the Crew are coming off an opening day defeat in which they were held scoreless. However, a closer look at those two results provides a different story. In reality, the Whitecaps essentially ran Toronto off the field in a dominant first half in which Vancouver could have finished off the game early had it not been for some very poor finishing. Toronto deserve plenty of credit for the manner in which they adjusted and pulled out a win in the second half, but realistically Toronto is still looking fully come together as a team and deliver something akin to a full ninety minute performance. On the other side of that equation, Columbus dominated every aspect of their game against the Houston Dynamo with the exception of the final scoreline. The Crew had 60 percent of the possession and outshot the Dynamo 18 to 8, with Houston goalkeeper Tyler Deric ultimately coming up big on multiple occasions. With both Berhalter and TFC Head Coach Greg Vanney favouring approaches in which their sides control the possession and take the match to the opposition, this fixture will be an interesting chess match in which whichever side is able to win the midfield battle will likely come away with all three points. With that in mind, something to watch is if Michael Bradley continues to play more of a stay at home role for the second match in a row. It will also be interesting to see if Warren Creavalle earns a second straight start at right back for Toronto. The former Houston Dynamo midfielder was caught out of position often against the Whitecaps and that type of weakness is something that a crafty Crew side will likely exploit should the opportunity rear its head again. While the book on the Columbus Crew in recent years has centered on shutting down attacking midfielder Federico Higuain, the Argentine maestro isn’t the only player that the Reds will need to keep their eyes on. Talented Icelandic midfielder Kristinn Steindórsson joined the team over the offseason and forward/winger Justin Meram is coming off something of a breakout campaign. Higuain is still the string puller for Columbus but the club did endeavour over the offseason to bring in talent to complement him. Most importantly, Berhalter will be hoping that striker Kei Kamara will turn out to be dominant striker that he needs up top. The 30 year old Kamara returns to MLS from the English Championship and brings significant Major League Soccer experience to the number 9 role.



With his pace and athleticism, the Sierra Leone International provides the type of presence that could cause trouble for a TFC back line that looked shaky last weekend. Kamara also offers an option for Higuain to go long should the Crew’s possession approach not achieve the requisite results early on in the game. Most would have noted that one of TFC's big weaknesses from Vancouver was the likes of Steven Caldwell getting caught out more than once, and Kamara will bring the same desire that Rivero did last weekend. On the defensive side of things for Columbus, a back line lead by U.S.A International Michael Parkhurst will likely have its hands full trying to hold Altidore and Giovinco in check. Add in the fact that Crew midfielder Tony Tchani will be suspended for the game and it’s clear that Columbus will need to be focused and at the top of their game to slow a Reds side with plenty of offensive talent. In the end

Expectations are sky high for Toronto after an opening week performance in which all three of Toronto’s Designated Players played very well and played key roles in the victory. That said, the Reds are still very much a new squad that is still coming together under Vanney. Columbus have already had a year to adapt to their head coach's system. While there is expected to be a sizable contingent of TFC support in Columbus, this game ultimately represents a very tough road fixture. While Vancouver only showed up for forty-five minutes last week, the progress that the Crew made under Berhalter last season suggests that Columbus will certainly be a side that will play Toronto hard for the full ninety minutes. Prediction

Toronto FC 1 – 2 Columbus Crew