Columbus.- The first night without Kei Kamara was just like Ohio weather: Awkward and cold. After all the drama with the trade of the Sierra Leone striker to New England, CrewSC faced a very organized (and tall) Colorado Rapids defense. Cedric Mabwatti was electric, Ola Kamara ran for his life but didn’t create enough chances to become a threat. The hosts know it will take awhile to get this offense where it needs to be, that’s why earning a point against the Supporters Shield leader doesn’t sound that bad, Does it?
“I Thought it was pretty good. These guys had a tough week. You can see it, you can see we were tight, It wasn’t us” Berhalter said in the post game press conference.
“Give Colorado a ton of credit, this is their third game in a week. The energy, the power that they had, the aggression I thought it was excellent. Pablo [Mastroeni] is doing a fantastic job with this group, just to see that. They came here and they competed, they didn’t give up at all. They made it extremely difficult for us, they broke our rhythm time and time again. Every time we got our rhythm they would press us or they would foul. They broke it up really well, give them credit”
It is true that the rapids neutralized the offensive approach of Columbus with pressure but also with size: Leave Ola Kamara out and their front court is small (Higuaín, Mabwatti, Saeid, Finlay and Trapp, none of them reach 5’9”). So it was a physical mismatch that they couldn’t overcome.
Without Kei Kamara, the way Berhalter laid out his offense was to use Cedric Mabwatti on the left wing, moved Justin Meram and Ola Kamara on top with Higuaín behind. This is the first of many more formations that we’ll have to witness in the near future. Expect next week to have Mabwatti again from the get go but with Finlay on the right wing, this will add more speed and will create more chances. The question is how long is going to take to adjust?
“We’ll get there” Berhalter said “I think Ola’s [Kamara] movement it’s exceptional: very good movement off the ball and it’s up to us to start finding him with crosses, in the run of play because he will stretch the defense, he will get behind, but again today we play against an opponent that was very, very aggressive, they pressed us very hard, a lot of 1v1 situations and made it very, very difficult for us.”
The main adjustment Crew SC has to make is to redefine how and when they going to cross the ball. In the last fifteen minutes, they bombarded the rapids box and got absolutely nothing out of it. But when Meram, and before Mabwatti penetrated the defense from the left and look for the shot they found angles that could hurt Colorado. They have the skills and the speed to make it happen. On the right wing, they have to find a way to set up shots for Afful, they have to start firing from every position, diversify the attacking risk is the key from now on.
It is impressive the discipline of the Colorado Rapids. They move their lines, offensively and defensively, with such order that is complicated for any team in this league to break their balance, they continue to struggle to get victories on the road, but they don’t lose either, so everything adds up and they are still the Supporter’s Shield front-runners.
For Columbus, it was their first date after a breakup. You know those are never great, but it’s the first step towards something new, and they have to keep moving forward, with a different forward.
Columbus Crew
Colorado Rapids
