Crew relish opportunity to get healthy
Week off just what doctor ordered for banged-up Columbus
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He was frustrated by the 1-1 tie with Colorado and wanted nothing more than to get back on the field as soon as possible in search of the team's first win. But he also knew having this weekend off comes at the best possible time.
The Rapids got the equalizer in the 82nd minute after the Crew had shown glimpses for the first time this season of the form that led them to the 2008 MLS title. Yet, the Crew (0-2-3) suffered a fate similar to that on March 28 when Toronto FC secured a draw with an own goal on the 84th minute in Crew Stadium.
"It's not a good feeling," Moffat said. "If we won this game it would have been OK going into the bye week, but you want to make up for this as soon as you can. Now we've got to wait two weeks to get that victory that we should have gotten (Saturday). We're going to work hard for two weeks and get ready for Chicago."
By the time the Crew play visiting Chicago on April 25, the team's mental and physical outlook could be better.
"We're hoping by the next home game we'll have 24 fit players. If not we'll have more than 17 players," Moffat said in reference to the active roster for the Colorado match.
Actually, coach Robert Warzycha had an 18th name on the lineup card but forward Pat Noonan (herniated disc) was nowhere near ready to play and won't be for weeks.
If anything, the Crew might feel blessed they produced a tie against the Rapids considering their current state. Jed Zayner made his fifth career start at right back while rookie Eric Brunner from Ohio State made his MLS debut at center back in place of 2008 MLS Defender of the Year Chad Marshall. Moffat made his first appearance since May 2008 after recovering from knee surgery.
Still, going into the bye week winless after five games is not what the Crew wanted.
"It does feel different. Our hearts were on that field. One ball doesn't bounce our way and that's what happened," Zayner said. "We're going to work at it and next game we're going to be even more (ticked) off."
The Crew will have time to regroup before the rematch of last year's Eastern Conference Championship. This is the first time the team has been in Columbus for consecutive weeks since the start of training camp on Jan. 29.
"For a lot of us who have been traveling quite a bit it's just good to sleep in our own bed and see your family and people you care about," forward Alejandro Moreno said.
The Crew will not be slackers during the bye week. A reserve match is scheduled for Wednesday against Marshall University at the Crew's Obetz training facility as part of a full week of training.
Even as the team scrimmages and trains the priority remains getting healthy. Defender Frankie Hejduk and midfielder Robbie Rogers are recovering from hamstring strains and Marshall's status is unclear after taking an elbow to the face against Chivas USA on April 5. All three starters did not play against Colorado but are hopeful of being ready for the next match.
Forward Jason Garey (ankle sprain) will be out at least another month and midfielder Cory Elenio (hamstring) and Noonan are unlikely to play against Chicago.
Craig Merz is a contributor to MLSnet.com.
