By Hilary // @hils4crew
Saturday, August 5: 2-1 Loss
At some point, it just stops being fun—watching your team lose a game that they could have won. As a Columbus Crew SC fan, it feels like it has happened a lot this year– points slipping through our fingers. It happened again Saturday night against the San Jose Earthquakes as Crew SC lost 2-1.
Some thoughts about the match:
- Even though he was scored on twice, Zack Steffen played a great game. In the 20’, he saved a Wondo header, and he denied Wondo again in the 46’. In the 87’, Steffen had a one vs. one save. I would imagine it’s hard to keep going if you are the Crew SC keeper when your defense hangs you out to dry, but Steffen plays with intensity and won my vote for man of the match.
- During the first 12 minutes and periodically throughout the game, I thought to myself, “Wow, we are moving the ball incredibly well.” There were a lot of first touch passes, and we controlled the field during those times. This is the team we have to consistently be in order to be successful.
- We had trouble finishing opportunities. Ola Kamara had a few chances prior to the 14’ that should have been finished. Raitala had an opportunity unmarked at the top of the box in the 20.’ In the 73’, Arthur had a pretty shot from distance. In the 81’, Kamara sent a nice ball to Meram who took a shot that the keeper couldn’t keep his mitts on, but there was no one at the backdoor to finish it off.
- Mensah was a mixed bag. He got a well-deserved yellow in the 26’. He was somewhat culpable for Wondo’s goal in the 57’, but he also headed the corner that led to Adam Jahn’s goal in the 75’.
- We did concede 10 corners in the first half, and after that, I stopped keeping track. It was surprising that none of San Jose’s goals came from them as we kept gifting them corner kick opportunities.
- The field was awful, awful, awful…. Crew SC players slid or fell at least 6 times during the game, usually in key moments that could have resulted in a cross for us or a defensive block against San Jose.
During away games, I try to keep up on twitter to see others’ responses. It always ranges. During and after this game, it was people ready to have Gregg fired, disappointed in our development of players, being frustrated at dropping points again, or unhappiness at the lack of movement so far during the transfer window. It was people finding the positives in Steffen’s play, cheering on Jahn for his goal, or being excited to see Cristian Martinez get some minutes.
I am not going to tell any Crew SC fan how to feel. I know I went through most of those feelings at some point during the game too. I did not want to sit down and write about another loss. But I will reiterate one of my tweets from last night. I appreciate fans looking for the positives in the games or being incredibly upset about the state of the team. It means we care about the team, that we truly bleed black and gold.
This team needs passionate fans more than anything, and I know on that we can deliver. Hopefully, they can deliver a turnaround on the season. They have done it before, and I’m not ready to count them out.
Featured image courtesy: @ColumbusCrewSC
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