The Columbus Crew are the No. 1 seed in
the Major League Soccer Cup playoffs after finishing the regular season with
the league's best record, using consistency on both sides of the ball to get
where it is today.
The New York Red Bulls, meanwhile, just squeaked into the playoffs in the
eighth spot, being forced into the Western Conference bracket as the last
seed. They had an up-and-down season marred by inconsistency at nearly every
position.
The Crew's Chad Marshall - who earned MLS Defender of the Year - and fellow
central defender Danny O'Rourke have been a solid tandem since the first game
of the season, while fullbacks Frankie Hejduk and Gino Pedula have well over
two decades of experience between them. Holding midfielder Brian Carroll has
been rock-solid all season, and winger Robbie Rogers had a breakout season
interrupted by his participation in the '08 Summer Olympics.
Columbus forward Alejandro Moreno also had a breakout campaign, scoring
nine goals while being the perfect complement to Guillermo Barros Schelotto,
who is a finalist for the league's Most Valuable Player. Also, Will Hesmer
was a finalist for MLS Goalkeeper of the Year, after starting 32 of his
team's 33 games this season.
New York central defender Diego Jimenez didn't start the season on the roster,
and in the past two playoff games his partner in the middle of the Red
Bulls defense has changed, with Andrew Boyens and Carlos Mendes seeing time.
None of the three finished the regular season in the starting lineup. The
team's most experienced defender, Jeff Parke, and goalkeeper Jon Conway were
suspended 10 games and fined 10 percent of their salaries for violating
the league's substance abuse policy in October. The team's best holding
midfield option, Seth Stammler, has missed the playoffs after suffering a
season-ending injury this summer and his replacement, Juan Pietravallo,
was benched after the regular season. Sinisa Ubiparipovic and rookie Luke
Sassano have combined to help fill the role in the playoffs.
Speedy Red Bulls winger Dane Richards has been a difference-maker in the
playoffs after having an injury-interrupted regular season, while John
Wolyniec has been a solid complement to striker Juan Pablo Angel up top
after going scoreless in just five starts in the regular season. Goalkeeper
Danny Cepero has also played just five MLS games in his career after having
spent most of the season on loan with the Harrisburg Islanders of the United
Soccer League's Second Division.
Even with all those differences, among many others, the Red Bulls and Crew
currently find themselves in the same position - one game away from the first
MLS Cup in their respective franchise histories.
The key for the Crew has been the consistency from day one of coach Sigi
Schmid's third season with the team.
"Our team has played very well all season. We've been very consistent, which
is the thing I'm most happy with," Schmid said in a conference call on Monday.
"We've got a great mix of young players that have done very well, like Rogers
and [Eddie] Gaven and Brad Evans and Danny O'Rourke. And then the veteran
players represented by Frankie and Schelotto, and Pedula, and Moreno and
Carroll and those guys. So it's been a tremendous mix, and that's been our
success. We hope to continue it. And we want to do it for one more game."
The key for the Red Bulls has been the ability of reserve players to plug
holes in a lineup that has changed a number of times in Juan Carlos Osorio's
first season with the club.
"With the new players coming in, we always keep training as much as we
could including everybody," Osorio said in a conference call on Monday.
"That's the key, you have to include all the players that are not in
the first team, because whenever you need them they have to be sharp and in
top form. I think that has been very important to us, as he has proved to be
the case for Danny, for Luke Sassano and for Sinisa and for John Wolyniec and
hopefully that will be one of our strengths."
While the Crew seem to be clear favorites in the MLS title game, which will
take place at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. on Sunday, they would be
wise not to overlook the Red Bulls. New York is coming off back-to-back
shutout wins over the two-time defending MLS Cup champion Houston Dynamo and
Real Salt Lake, both on the road.
"I think there's a general buzz around the club after we made the playoffs,"
Cepero said in Monday's conference call. "And I think the guys in the locker
room are excited to have a clean slate and a fresh start going forward and
playing a great Houston team, and the general focus, our approach to the
matches in the playoffs, have been great.
"The results have spoken for themselves. I think we carry that into Salt Lake
into a very hostile environment. Tough to play there at that altitude in front
of 20,000 screaming fans. But we did the job, did what we had to do. It may
not have been the prettiest soccer, especially in the second half, but we
hunkered down and were able to hang onto that 1-0 lead."
The Crew topped Kansas City and Chicago en route to their first MLS Cup final
appearance.
"Obviously we were pleased to win the game and be the Eastern Conference
champions," Schmid said. "Chicago was for sure a quality opponent. Very tough
game. I think our team showed its resilient nature in being able to make up a
deficit again, and that's been something that's been very important to our
success this year for sure."
It doesn't matter that it will be a consistent lineup vs. an ever-
evolving lineup, the top seed vs. the bottom seed, experience at key
positions vs. youth at key positions, or any of the other differences
between the two MLS Cup finalists.
What does matter is that on Sunday, one of the two teams will hoist its first
MLS Cup.
"We feel, like I said, we have one more goal that remains to be taken and
that's the Cup," Hejduk said on Monday. "And we're going there to try to win
it so it should make for an exciting game."
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