The Pioneer Cup…and Why It Scared Me

By: Jeff | March 13th, 2007

If you didn’t catch Sunday’s airing of the Pioneer Cup on Fox Soccer Channel, you joined what appeared to be tens of thousands from the Dallas metro area. But what you missed struck me, in my capacity as a New England Revolution fan, as significant: the Columbus Crew’s second-half rout of home side FC Dallas.

It’s fair to note upfront that few would mistake Dallas’ defense for the best in the league; Google “untimely gaffe” and you might see one of Clarence Goodson’s early-season own-goals from 2006 (no, not literally). In any case, Dallas’ unfortunate knack for surrendering costly goals aside the Crew simply outplayed the Texas team and all over the field at that. Even if it took them a while to get their game going - I’d say Dallas controlled the first 20-30 minutes of play, even if ineffectually - the Crew did a lot of things right during their time on the back foot: pressuring the ball all over the field and, most crucially, giving very little away in their defensive third. Once they took charge of the game, though, they could have scored five goals - at least.

There’s also some risk, of course, in reading too much into a preseason result; on the FC Dallas side of the ball, the defensive shocker might have tallied to nothing had it not fit the pattern from years past. And the Crew won a lopsided game or two last season - one of those against the Revs. But it’s the possibility that the Crew have come out of the dreaded “transition” - i.e. that their younger players have matured sufficiently to become a decent team - that makes me worry most about them as competition for playoff spots.

The Crew did make an eye-catching acquisition or two, most notably (at time of writing) picking up Andy Herron from the Chicago Fire. Herron may pay off, but it’s the progress of players like Jason Garey and Kei Kamara, who, in conjunction with midfielder/forwards like Joseph Ngwenya and Eddie Gaven settling into the side, that suggests the worst of the Crew’s scoring woes may be a thing of the past (see goals for in last year’s standings). The playmaking spine of Duncan Oughton and Ned Grabavoy - who really looked sharp last Sunday - looks well capable of managing a game and all that still leaves unmentioned guys like Jacob Thomas, Danny Szetela, Ricardo Virtuoso, and Danny O’Rourke. New-guy Robbie Rogers enters the picture as an unknown quantity (in MLS terms anyway), but enough people think enough of him to make one think it’s a question of when, not if, he cracks the starting line-up. All in all, this raises the possibility that even last year’s curse - a vicious injury bug - may not knock this bunch off-stride in a meaningful way. (If you want to ponder the Crew roster on your own, here it is.)

It’s the question of whether the same thing can be said for the Revolution that sets me to worrying. New England, along with the Chicago Fire, essentially decided to stand pat this off-season - the Fire, for the time being, anyway - and instead filled out their roster with college draftees. The year of “seasoning” for the Crew’s young players shows as wear on a few key Revolution players - think Steve Ralston, Joe Franchino, and Daniel Hernandez; against that, though, there’s something good to be said for what 2006 did for players like Andy Dorman, Jeff Larentowicz, and…hopefully, Willie Sims(?). And it’s not that the Revs don’t have quality players - Shalrie Joseph, Taylor Twellman, Michael Parkhurst, and, when fit, Pat Noonan - stack up well against any team in the league. But what happens if and when these guys go down? Because the Revs built through the draft alone, greener players will replace them. This doesn’t mean failure is inevitable. It only means it’s harder to view this comfortably.

Major League Soccer has again monkeyed with the playoff format, which may or may not bring relief (seriously, what kind of arcane mush govern seeds 3 and 4?). And it’s not so much that the Crew is going to run rampant as they’re looking something like competition this year. Throw what looks like an improved Red Bull New York into the mix, a more settled Kansas City Wizards, and top that off with a DC United team that, unsolved defensive issues aside, looks set to repeat as Eastern Conference champs and the question of what happens with New England in 2007 looks anything but settled. And I’m not the only one seeing an improved Columbus team - though I’m compelled to admit I’m possibly the only one to treat them as serious playoff competition.

At this point, I’m confident the Revs will place above Toronto FC (or am I?), but that’s about it. Anxious season ahead.