Fight the Power: Come Out Thursday. Do It.

By El Luchador
Thursday's home playoff match against the violent, undeserving thugs of Real Salt Lake is more than just an epic battle of good versus evil. It is an opportunity for thinking soccer fans who bleed Black and Gold to step up and show the mainstream establishment of Columbus that we do not subscribe to their way of life.

Among Columbus sports fans, there is a long-standing tradition, promoted by the Columbus Dispatch and perfected to an art from by Buckeyes: when the going gets rough, shit all over the coach.

The Dispatch's Mike Arace is trying this week to bring this tradition to the Columbus Crew. Don't let him do it.

In a screed published on Tuesday, Arace asks: "What was coach Robert Warzycha thinking?" He goes on, predictably, to answer that whatever Our Coach was thinking, it was wrong, and it's going to prove fatal, yada, yada, yada.

As is typically the case with the hamburger heads at "Ohio's Greatest Hometown Newspaper," Arace went for the low-hanging fruit, questioning Warzycha's decision to bench Guillermo Barros Schelotto in Game One at RSL.

Employing the Donald Rumsfeld Socratic method of asking sarcastic rhetorical questions, Arace writes: "Isn't that going too far? Was he giving his team its best chance to win? How so?"

This is the same type of Monday-morning whining that goes on every week across Ohio, as Buckeye Fans hammer the coach for every perceived misstep. Fueled by the pundits at the Dispatch and on stations like 610 WTVN, Buckeye fans funnel every disappointment and failure of their own personal lives into thoughtless criticism of their coach.

In Crew Soccer Nation, we stand by our coach. We do not subscribe to the fair weather approach of our Buckeye Brethren. We know that football is a fickle lover, that strategies and tactics are not a science but an art, and that history favors the winners.

Come out Thursday and show the world that we support the Crew through good times and bad. Show Warzycha that we understand and support his decision to start Luchadores Lenhart and Renteria up top in Game One. Show the Man that we shall not be moved by sedition. Show your Buckeye friends how real men and women stand up for their team and their coach in times of difficulty.

El Luchador's prediction: Crew 2-0 RSL. Robert Warzycha 1-0 Michael Arace.

Do it. Columbus 'Till I Die!

Sigi’s Prodigal Return Brings Justice and With It Heartache

By El Luchador

The same man who started the longest home unbeaten streak in MLS history, has now ended it.

Former Crew Skipper Sigi Schmid triumphantly returned to Columbus on Saturday night to beat his former assistant Robert Warzycha in a dramatic and erratic 1-0 jamboree before a large and boisterous crowd at Crew Stadium.

On June 7, 2008, the Columbus Crew lost 2-0 at home to the San Jose Earthquakes. No one knew at the time that it would be nearly 16 months and 22 home games before the Crew would lose again in C-Bus. How uncanny that this defeat would come at the hands of the who man started the whole streak to begin with on that warm summer evening last June, the man who brought Columbus her first ever professional championship just last year, the man who was dissed by Crew General Manager Mark McCullers, the man who is the most Massive coach in the MLS?

This match was a cautionary morality tale on two levels. First, if you fuck people as hard as McCullers fucked Sigi, there will be consequences. What comes around goes around. This is why El Luchador did not bet on this game. It was writ large in the heavens that sooner or later McCullers would have to look down from his luxury box to see the Fat Man laughing.

But second and more importantly, you can only take the pro wrestling, South American style of football so far before the cosmic balance of justice and karma comes back to restore equilibrium in the universe.

Even as a devoted fan, El Luchador could see clearly that Alejandro Moreno and Guillermo Barros Schelotto both tried to dive their way to glory in this game, as they have so many times before. Ryan Kozlowski wrote at Crewture recently about how in the last few weeks, the Black and Gold relied on a penalty kick to give them a 2-1 win over Houston at home, a penalty kick to give them a 2-2 away tie against Chicago, and nearly used a penalty kick to take them to the CONCACAF Champions League knockout round this week.

Finally it caught up with us on Saturday as the gods reached down and pushed the wizard Schelotto’s 83^rd minute PK wide left.

This wasn’t a simple loss that we witnessed my brothers and sisters. This was Manifest Destiny.

This loss was as hard on El Luchador as it was on any living, breathing fan of the Yellow Soccer Team. But two things make it easier to swallow: 1) We saw that this was an inevitable consequence resulting of our own wicked behaviour. And 2) We didn’t lay any money on this one.

Columbus till I die.

A Look At the Limey Opposition

The Crew have four more away pre-season exhibition matches starting this Sunday, March 1, when they take on the reserve squad of new Coach Robert Warzycha’s old club, Everton Blues at Halton Stadium in suburban Liverpool, England.

El Luchador takes a look at these final games in the home stretch of the preseason campaign. Today, we look at the English leg. Later, we will look at Austin Aztex FC.

Everton March 1. Everton’s senior squad currently sits 6th in the highly competitive English Premier League, just 10 points below the coveted 4th spot and the UEFA Champions League. One of the most storied clubs in English football, Everton have played more seasons in the top flight than any other English club. Of course, the Crew’s skipper, Warzycha figures prominently in that history, and his return to Merseyside will be an interesting opportunity for the Polish Rifle to showcase his new charges at his old stomping ground.

After a good start to the season, the Everton reserves squad has had a poor run of form lately in the FA Premier Reserve League, having not won a game since Nov. 18, when they beat the Newcastle Reserves 1-0 at Newcastle. They are 4-5-5 overall and sit in 5th place. They have scored just 14 goals in 14 games, conceding 17. Look for the Crew to win this one, but it will be hard fought, as the boys will still be fighting jet lag.

Guiseley AFC March 3. (EDITOR'S NOTE: THIS GAME WAS RAINED OUT.) Guiseley is a small town outside Leeds in the county of West Yorkshire, England. At 2:45 p.m. ET, March 3, the Crew take on Guiseley AFC at their home ground of Nethermoor Park, a tiny grandstand with a capacity of just 3,000. Guiseley are currently in 7th place in the Unibond Premier League, a semi-pro division of English football. They have earned 45 points in 28 games with 12 wins, 9 draws and 7 losses. They lead the league in offense with 61 goals, but also have given up 46 goals placing them in the bottom half of the league in defense. Look for this to be a high-scoring affair with the Crew eking out the win.

Unibond is part of the system of teams that play one level below the Football Conference, itself the fifth level of English football. In other words, Guiseley are six divisions below the English Premier League. In Case you were wondering, yes the league is named after tile grout.

Since 1990, Guiseley have reached the 4th Qualifying round of the FA Cup six times, reaching the 1st round of the knockout tournament just once in 2002-03, when they lost 0-4 at Luton Town. Every man on their roster is English, except goalkeeper Peter Skiba of Poland.

Crewture has a good recent video of the Lions in action.

Liverpool March 5. Liverpool Reserves play in the Barclays Premiership Reserve League, where they won the division championship in 2000. The Crew take them on at their Halliwell Jones Stadium, the home ground of Warrington Wolves RFC.

Coincidentally, the most recent match for both Everton and Liverpool reserves was against each other where they tied 1-1 on a freak goal.

Legendary Liverpool manager Bill Shankly, famously once trash-talked local rivals Everton by declaring, “There's only two teams in Liverpool: Liverpool and Liverpool Reserves.”

Liverpool reserves currently sit 9th in their 13-team division. They have only 13 points in 13 games played with 3 wins, 4 draws and 6 losses. They have scored only 11 goals on the season while giving up 13. The Crew win this one handily.

What do you think? Am I too optimistic calling this Limey series 3-0 for the Black & Gold? Columbus Till I Die Brothers and Sisters.

Crew Notch Two Shut-Out Wins in Final Florida Exhibition

The Crew will head home from Florida Thursday with a 3-2 preseason record after defeating the University of Tampa and the University of Central Florida in a double header of 60-minute exhibition matches at the IMG Academies in Bradenton on Wednesday.

Tampa went down 2-0 in the first game on goals by midfielders Emmanuel Ekpo and Brian Carroll. Kenny Schoeni recorded the clean sheet in goal.

The second match was a lopsided 6-0 affair with Central Florida looking like school boys matched up against the Black & Gold, even with Coach Robert Warzycha mixing up the line up considerably.

Trialists Ty Shipalane and Jordan Seabrook both scored. Hebrew Hammer Andy Gruenebaum got the shutout.

The Crew head to Liverpool, England on Wednesday, Feb. 25, to train at the facility of Warzycha’s old Club, Everton and play exhibition games against the Everton and Liverpoll development teams.

Sigi Will Take Crew Players If He Can; Moreno at Top of His List

On the day the Crew announced Robert Warzycha as the new head coach, Sigi Schmid made his first national television appearance since his less-than-amicable departure from Columbus. Interviewed live in the second half of “Fox Football Fone In,” Sigi emphasized the positive and focused the discussion about his decision to leave Columbus on the opportunity in Seattle and not on anything negative in C-Bus.

But, one doesn’t have to read too much between the lines to see that he feels scorned, and he made it clear that he would have no qualms about stealing talent from the Black & Gold if given the chance.

On the contract negotiations, Sigi admitted for the first time publicly that the Crew made an offer before he met with Seattle and that the offer was on par with his expectations and with what others could do. But it was too little too late.

“It just got dragged on. And it’s just like if you’re negotiating a contract, you expect something to happen like within a week or two weeks, and it didn’t happen in that time frame. And by the time an offer came in that we felt was compatible and was close to what we were hoping for, it was at the end of the season and I said, 'That’s it I’m this close to the end, I want to see what’s out there.'”

He joked that one factor in his decision to leave was his memory of being summarily fired by LA in 2004 while holding a winning record: “I didn’t want to get kicked out of town like last time.”

Asked by host Steven Cohen whether the failed contract negotiations and the way he was treated by management in Columbus left him with a sour taste, Sigi had this to say:

“It is what it is. I’m not going to worry about that. I’m not going to have hurt feelings or anything else. I enjoyed my time in Columbus. I thought it was great that they were patient with me and allowed me to build the team and we were able to reward and have a great season. I’m going to miss the players because I always have attachments to them. I’m going to miss my staff because I thought we had one of the best staffs in the league and it was great cooperation, but it’s not important whether my feelings were hurt, it’s just important that I’m on to the next adventure.”

Does he have regrets that he will not be able to lead the Crew in the coming CONCACAF Champions League campaign?
“Definitely, I mean anyone that knows me knows that I am a very competitive person … but I have to weigh everything, and it didn’t carry enough weight at the end of the day.”

Does he plan to pillage players from the Crew and take them with him to Seattle?
“Unfortunately, the way the rules are you can’t really grab all your old players. But as players become available, just like I brought Alejandro Moreno to Columbus and he was very helpful to me, if people become available and I think there’s somebody who can help the team, I will do it.”

What about the Columbus coaching staff? Will he take some of them with him? The rules are more lax there.
“All my (assistant) coaches (in Columbus) are under contract … It’s not like in Europe a lot of times where the assistant coach goes with the head coach … That’s just not something that happens in the MLS. You’ve got to build all over again.”

Sigi also offered a strong vote of confidence for Warzycha as he takes the helm.

Watching this guy with his soccer knowledge, his class and his control, it’s clear that the Crew really let the best coach in America slip away, and it’s clear that while he has too much integrity to say so, he’s not entirel happy about how it all went down.

Mob Boss McCullers Makes His Move

As he is about to rub out a rival gang leader, Michael Corleone in the Godfather famously tells his assistant, Sonny: “It's not personal, Sonny. It's strictly business.”

Mark McCullers is channeling his best Michael Corleone this week as he takes the knife to Consigliere Sigi Schmid.

The Dispatch reports this morning that Schmid made his decision not to return to the Crew after Boss McCullers filed tampering charges with the league office in an attempt to screw Sigi out of the coaching job at expansion Seattle Sounders. Sounds personal to El Luchador.

“Just because your contract expires doesn’t mean your obligations do,” McCullers told Shawn Mitchell. Obligations to do what? Kiss the Mob Boss’ ring?

Schmid clearly is leaving with a bad taste in his mouth, and who can blame him? The way McCullers and the other capitalists at the Crew Factory have handled this is shameful.

Now McCuller’s game is to hold Sigi’s Seattle candidacy hostage and shake down the Sounders for loose change. If McCullers has any class at all, he will drop this “tampering” charge immediately, announce Robert Warzycha as the new head coach and move on to the next play.

El Luchador is very upset with these developments: "Say hello to my little Friend."

McCullers Concedes Loss of Schmid

What El Luchador predicted two weeks ago has now come to pass. Sigi Schmid is leaving. Crew president Mark McCullers issued this statement Tuesday:

“Sigi Schmid has formally declined our last contract offer and will not be returning as head coach of the Columbus Crew. Sigi was the ideal person to turn around our competitive program and create a championship mentality within our club. As a result, we are well positioned moving forward and toward continued success. We respect his desire to seek the next challenge and wish him nothing but the best.”

In an interesting twist, the print edition of the Dispatch (not online yet), reports that Crew management have filed a complaint with the league against expansion Seattle Sounders for holding talks with Schmid, when he has a one-year non-compete clause in his contract. If this is true, not only has the Crew let slip the MLS Coach of the Year, but they are also screwing him on his way out the door.

Everyone seems to think it is a done deal that former Crew player and current top assistant Robert Warzycha will get the job. Not so fast comrades. Remember, a couple important facts: 1) Warzycha would be a good choice and McCullers is incompetent. 2) Last time there was a vacancy, Warzycha was made interim, then passed over for Schmid. Odds are 50-50. The one thing Warzycha has in his favor is that he would come cheap. McCullers and the Hunts are nothing if not tight wads.

The hard working men and women of Crew Soccer Nation deserve better than to lose their Great Leader. The struggle will continue without him. Let us put our support behind the Polish Rifle and persevere in the Black and Gold.

Sigi Interviews in Seattle

Sigi Schmid spent Thursday in Seattle and will remain there today as he prepares for his inevitable move from Columbus, the Seattle Times reports.

It is truly odd that Clark Hunt and the other capitalists at the Crew factory seem to have no qualms about letting go the man who took them to the Promised Land. Goal.com agrees with El Luchador on this point.

Will Robert Warzycha be named the permanent head, or will he suffer the indignation of another interim stint as the men who control the means of production at Crew Stadium look elsewhere for a leader of the club?

The Polish Rifle deserves the support of all working men and women of Crew Soccer Nation.