Another year, another Conference Finals loss. I could go back and check exactly how many times this has happened, but I'd just as soon not dwell on it.
The first question is, what happened? Who can we blame for this? Surprisingly, neither Crew goal was Wilman Conde's fault, and he was the only member of the Fire backline who didn't succumb to Terry Vaughn's excessively itchy yellow card finger. I didn't see a replay of the Segares foul that earned him his card and then led to the first Columbus goal, but the one to Soumare in the first half wasn't even a foul, let alone a card. From there, it's hard to second-guess what happened. Yes, McBride is as good an option covering Marshall as Conde or Soumare. Marshall just got over him. Schelotto served in a great cross.
As for the second Columbus goal, I think the midfield got caught a bit too far upfield on that particular play, and once Schelotto managed to beat Baky in the air (!), it was just a numbers game. Conde and Segares both had marks. Brandon Prideaux tried valiantly to make up the ground and stop Eddie Gaven, but there was a lot of ground to cover. If I go back and watch it again, I'm going to look for Justin Mapp, Logan Pause and John Thorrington to see why they weren't able to help out.
On the other end of the field, I think Denis Hamlett's hands are tied by his superstars, because he's obviously reluctant to take Blanco or McBride out of a game. They're proud, fierce competitors, and they're the guys who can and will come through in the clutch if given the opportunity. I get it. Nyarko for Prideaux was obvious. In retrospect, Pappa should have come on before Banner, but Pappa hasn't shown enough after coming back from injury to make that obvious. Except maybe to Frank Klopas, based on some conversations I've had with him. And Chris Rolfe has been a big-game guy lately, so I understand Hamlett's hesitation there, too.
It comes down to their MVP candidate creating two goals, while ours created one with the quick throw-in to Justin Mapp, setting up his cross to McBride. I can't really argue with that too much, which is different from not being happy about it.
The second question, now what? I'm seeing rumors that Blanco has signed an extension. We know Diego Gutierrez is done, but he ended up as a role player and spot starter at the end of the year anyway. Of the starting lineup last night, the guys I think might not be back next year are Conde (please please please), Prideaux and maybe John Thorrington, even though I thought he ended up being the heart of the team this season.
On the bench, Frankowski is almost certainly gone, along with Lider Marmol and probably Andy Herron. A big question mark is what Hamlett does with Marco Pappa, as he could conceivably start over Mapp or maybe Thorrington in that second defensive midfielder spot. If he hadn't gotten hurt, I think Mapp would have been on the bench for much of the late-season run.
At this point, I don't think anyone other than Conde has European aspirations. There might be a little concern for Sega or Baky flying the coop, but unless Rolfe starts tearing it up with the U.S. Men's National Team, I don't think anyone else is in that category.
Anyway, we've got four months to speculate about all of this, as I'm sure real information will arrive at a snail's pace. In the meantime, go RSL! Go Dema!
I never did get around to saying anything about last week's Fire playoff win over the Revolution, but having not had time to go back to the recording, and having missed twenty minutes of the first half because of traffic and twenty minutes of the second waiting to buy a beer, I don't really have much to say, except for two things:
First, the Fire front office seems to have figured out the playoffs. Full credit to them for packing the joint on a Thursday night on a week and a half's notice. That was a huge and welcome surprise, long beer line notwithstanding.
Second, I'm glad Wilman Conde had a strong game, with a goal and a goal-line clearance to his credit. Why? Because it will enhance his trade/transfer value in the offseason. I just hope he doesn't make any more boneheaded, goal-yielding, game-losing mistakes before this season is finally over to diminish his value.
Could that season end tonight? My crystal ball is a little fuzzy, on account of not really knowing enough about the Crew. I just hope Denis Hamlett doesn't make any lineup changes out of fear, particularly on the flanks. Let Gonzalo Segares and Brandon Prideaux worry about Eddie Gaven and Robbie Rogers, and let Justin Mapp and Chris Rolfe play their games. If Stephen King is in the starting lineup and no one is injured, the Fire will lose.
Some things we learned today:
The Dynamo had their chances, but in the first half, they just couldn't convert. Barrett had that strong run into the box with a shot just wide, and Ching wasn't able to latch onto that misplayed ball from Danny Cepero. Unfortunately for Houston, it was the last mistake Cepero would make, as the Red Bull goalkeeper came up big on about a half-dozen second half chances for the guys in the orange shirts.
New York's defense, despite this anomaly, still doesn't inspire much confidence, and if Houston had clawed back to 2-1 during that early stretch in the second half -- I think it was between the 55th and 60 minutes or so when they were putting the pressure on -- either Goldthwaite or Boyens would have picked up a second yellow and the whole thing would have gone sideways for Juan Carlos Osorio's team. But they didn't and now we've got a really odd matchup of New York and Salt Lake next week at Rio Tinto.
Have Luke Sassano and Sinisa Ubiparapovic been the answer for the New York midfield all along? Will Javier Morales prove more of a test for that suspect backline than DeRo did? Will Dema get his revenge? Will the Fire get to end Osorio's season once and for all in Carson? Does Chris Wingert really wear number 17 because of the Winger song? Tune in next Saturday to find out...