Photo: Paul Rudderow

What: Philadelphia Union vs Columbus Crew
Where: PPL Park
When: 3:30pm ET
TV: NBC Sports (formerly Versus)

The Columbus Crew have six points. The Union have one.

Clearly, points don’t tell the whole story.

Not that the Union deserve many more points than they have, but Columbus fans must wake up every day going, Six? Us???

Columbus? Not very good.

In losses to Colorado and New York they have been outplayed in almost every way. Only Omar Cummings’ mastery at missing chances kept the Crew’s opener against the Rapids from turning ugly, and three weeks later Kenny Cooper and Thierry Henry had no such trouble putting a combined four into the Columbus net.

Then where did the six points come from? Three came from Mark Geiger, whose atrocious handling of the match between the Crew and the Impact handed Columbus a face-slapper of a penalty before dropping a strange red card into a game that hardly needed it. The other three points are from a win over lowly Toronto, on a fortuitous goal that popped off a defender and settled back at the feet of the attacker who misplayed it in the first place. It wasn’t pretty but that’s what happens when you challenge a defense (hint-hint, Union).

Aside from the Toronto blunder and the laughable Geigergoal, the Crew have only netted twice this season. The first came against 10-man Montreal on a fine cross from Shaun Francis. The second was a corner in the dying seconds against New York, after the Red Bulls had grown fat and happy.

To summarize, the good news is that the Columbus Crew are not very good. In fact, there is an easy way to beat them.

The bad news? It requires doing something the Philadelphia Union have not done in 2012.

The gaps will be gaping. Use them.

When a team gives up four goals, and starts giving them up before the fifth minute, it’s worth looking at what the other guys were doing. Kenny Cooper’s second tally is a great example of the major weakness in the Columbus side that the Philadelphia Union can easily exploit. Ostensibly, the Crew play in a diamond 4-4-2 with Kirk Urso sweeping the midfield. In reality, this is rarely the case. Against both Colorado and New York, the Crew midfield became a flat line that rarely supported the first defender. This leaves a clear gap between the midfield and the back line, and if a player can sit in that gap, or if a good move can beat the first man: Chaos.

Kenny Cooper’s second goal is a perfect example. Dane Richards skips by his man and finds… nothing! The back four had actually dropped back to the penalty spot even though Richards had a man in front of him. The two left-sided defenders desperately try to adjust and step up but can’t get out of each other’s way. Richards decides to shoot even though a simple low cross would have created a 3 on 2 at the far post. A fortuitous bounce off a defender combined with the entire back line turning off allowed Kenny Cooper to finish the move anyways.

Henry's first against Columbus

If you are thinking, “Take on and beat a defender, then take a shot?? That’s not the Union I know!” then you really won’t like this second scenario.

While it’s easy enough for Dane Richards to beat his man, it’s even easier to make a pass into the enormous gap between the lines. New York’s third came on an incredibly simple play that shows how vulnerable the Columbus back four are if you attack them on the dribble. The midfielder in the center of the park has made a run past his defender and the Crew defense can’t figure out how to close him down while keeping an eye on Henry (top left). Their solution is to steadily back pedal until Gandalf shows up to save them. It won’t work. An easy ball to the striker would send him in unchallenged for the third goal of the match.

Attack with speed

Now, while it may be easy to find the big flaw with the Columbus setup, that doesn’t mean they will be easy to beat. This is not a defense that will hand you goals Tim Ream-style. You have to attack them and force these issues out into the open. Not exactly Philly’s strong suit.

The Union are likely to welcome Freddy Adu back into the first eleven. Either wide or up the middle, Adu must move to the gaps behind the midfield when the Union attack. And this isn’t attack in the typical Philly sense, where the ball must travel 1300 meters and touch every defender’s foot twice before it can go forward; attacks must be made with speed.

To this end, I issue a plea: Somebody sneak Amobi Okugo onto the field. I don’t care if he lowers the pass completion percentage a few points. The team needs a central midfielder who can work the ball forward with short passes while keeping an eye out for the long cross-field ball. I do not doubt that Gabe Gomez could fill this role, but the man who dinked balls over the US defense for Panama has had instructions to be within touching distance of Carlos Valdes when Philly brings the ball forward. If Gomez is going to be an out-and-out defensive midfielder, so be it. But that has to open the door for Okugo to become the link player that allows Adu, Keon Daniel, and Michael Farfan to receive the ball on the other team’s half of the pitch. That means the ball can be pushed forward before it is pushed wide. Everyone knows the Union don’t drive forward through the middle. The team – and Okugo – can use that to their advantage.

About those misfiring strikers…

Ditch ’em. A few years ago, Luciano Spaletti’s Roma went on a tear playing what amounted to a 4-6-0. Totti was ostensibly a striker, but he dropped so deep that there was no clear leader of the line. The Union have the personnel to pull this off even with Roger Torres out for two months.

Congratulations Keon Daniel. Your poise on the ball has earned you the title of semi-striker in this new format. With Brian Carroll sweeping behind Okugo and Gomez, the Union can keep Marfan on the left and let Adu drift around on the right.

If the ball comes into the center, Daniel checks wide, the wingers check inside, voila! Instant runs! If the ball is wide, Okugo, Gomez and Daniel are flying into the box. Meanwhile, the Columbus back line has nobody to mark! Pandemonium!

Maybe it won’t work. But maybe it will. And it can’t be worse than what we’ve seen so far this year.

Starting Lineups

Union

• GK: MacMath
• DEF: Williams, Valdes, Califf, Garfan
• MID: Adu, Gomez, Carroll, Okugo, Marfan, Daniel
• FWD:

Crew

• GK: Andy “Serkis” Gruenebaum
• DEF: Sebastien “Le TwentyOne” Miranda, Chad “U.S.” Marshall, “Rhymin'” Eric Gehrig, Shaun “Steve” Francis
• MID: “Captain” Kirk Urso, “Team” Edward Gaven, “Dodge” Milovan Mirosevic, Bernardo “Bernardo” Anor
• FWD: Olman “Young Legs” Vargas, Emilio “The Mighty Duck” Renteria

Injuries

Union

• OUT: FW Krystian Witkowski (concussion); MF Roger Torres (L knee MCL sprain);
• PROBABLE: DF Danny Califf (L hamstring strain)

Crew

• OUT: FW Ben Speas (sports hernia rehab); DF Rich Balchan (sports hernia rehab); FW Tommy Heinemann (L knee internal injury); DF Julius James (illness); GK William Hesmer (R ankle sprain)
• QUESTIONABLE: DF Carlos Mendes (R hamstring strain); MF Danny O’Rourke (L ankle sprain)

Suspensions

None