Crew looking to refresh squad for 2010
Loss of Moreno in MLS Expansion Draft leaves strike options thin
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He departed just a year and two days after scoring the first goal in MLS Cup 2008 -- adding to his career-best nine in the regular season -- en route to a 3-1 victory against New York.
Moreno, 30, is by far the most accomplished player drafted by Union coach Peter Nowak. He made 74 appearances, 69 of them starts, and totaled 20 goals and 12 assists in three seasons with the Crew.
He has three MLS Cups and has played 200 career regular-season games with 43 goals and 28 assists. He will be rejoined in Philadelphia by former Los Angeles midfielder Stefani Miglioranzi, a Crew teammate in 2008 who was also drafted by Union.
Last year central midfielder Brad Evans was chosen by the expansion Seattle Sounders FC and his loss was felt throughout the Crew season because no one adequately filled his position.
The same could happen in 2010 despite numbers that suggest Moreno was expendable. The raw data shows he scored five fewer goals this season but there's more to it. Injuries, call-ups to Venezuela's national team and coach Robert Warzycha's rotation of forwards to keep them fresh through MLS and Champions League play severely cut his time.
Moreno played 823 fewer minutes (2,428 vs. 1,605) -- the equivalent of nine fewer games -- than 2008 so his numbers were bound to drop. Also, he was not paired as often with Guillermo Barros Schelotto, who had many of his 19 assists in 2008 to Moreno.
Schelotto this season upped his goal total by five to 12 in the regular season but had 16 fewer assists while playing 400 less minutes.
Judging by the fan forums, many people think forwards Steven Lenhart, Jason Garey or Emilio Renteria will help the team regain its scoring touch after seeing a nine-goal reduction in 2009 to 41.
"Some of the guys scored more goals last year (2008) than this year," Warzycha said. "It would be nice to have some consistency."
Fan favorite Lenhart hasn't proven he is the go-to scorer. He provided a jolt off the bench (he had 10 starts in 26 appearances) with his reckless abandon for the ball but it rarely resulted in goals. He played 787 more minutes (a total of 1,065) in 2009 than his rookie year yet his three goals were one fewer than 2008 although he did get his first two assists this season.
Garey fared a little better. He made 15 appearances (eight starts) and upped his minutes by 577 this season to 705. He scored four times, one more than the previous year, and had two more assists.
Renteria is an unknown quantity after the Venezuelan joined the team in late August. He made two starts out of five appearances (177 minutes) in the regular season and did not have a point. However, he scored off the bench in the Champions League match at Puerto Rico on Oct. 20 to send the Crew through to the quarterfinals.
He and Lenhart started the 1-0 loss at Real Salt Lake in the playoff opener for the Crew's third consecutive shutout and fourth in five games. The Crew lost 3-2 in the return leg of the aggregate-goal series.
The non-forwards also had mixed results in 2009. Midfielder Eddie Gaven doubled his goal output to six in 572 more minutes while Defender of the Year Chad Marshall equaled his four goals of 2008 despite playing 905 fewer minutes.
Wingers Robbie Rogers and Emmanuel Ekpo had varying degrees of disappointment. Rogers was a Best XI selection in 2008 when he had six goals and three assists. He played 625 fewer minutes this year and had one goal and five assists. He also took 33 fewer shots and had 20 fewer on goal.
Ekpo increased his minutes by 1,194 (to 1,936) but had two goals -- the same as 2008 -- while going from one to six assists. Although he had 24 more shots this season curiously his eight on goal were only one more than the previous year.
Warzycha said obtaining forwards is not his only offseason priority.
"Not really. I'm trying to put the best product on the field. I'm not looking for only one position," he said. "I would like to bring some new blood to the team. We have to get better. Other teams are bringing in new players so that's how they get better. We'd like to refresh the team a little bit. It's our feeling if we go with the same names it can be very good or not."
He would like to see more creativity from the center mid spot where Evans had five goals and an assist in 2008. Adam Moffat was thought to be his replacement but he had several setbacks from knee surgery in 2008 and played only 531 minutes this year and scored once.
Warzycha is still high on him.
"Adam was injured all season. He should get a fair chance to play over there. He is good enough to play," he said. "If your wingers are not going to have a good game, yes, the guy in the middle you're going to say he should be more offensive. If we get the wide guys to be more dangerous he doesn't need to be so offensive-minded in the middle."
Craig Merz is a contributor to MLSnet.com.
