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Crew Roster Begins to Take Shape

The Columbus Crew announced today that it has exercised the contract options on 14 players from its 2013 roster, while four others were already under contract for next season, giving the club a roster that currently features 18 players.

The Crew picked-up the options of goalkeepers Matt Lampson and Daniel Withrow; defenders Chad Barson, Eric Gehrig and Tyson Wahl; midfielders Bernardo Anor, Ethan Finlay, Kevan George, Justin Meram, Shawn Sloan, Ben Speas and Tony Tchani; and forwards Ryan Finley and Aaron Schoenfeld.

The Black & Gold simultaneously announced that it has declined the contract options of defenders Drew Beckie, Glauber, Kyle Hyland; defender/midfielder Danny O’Rourke; midfielder Konrad Warzycha; and forward Jairo Arrieta. Contract options were also declined on midfielder Matias Sanchez and forward Aaron Horton, a move that was previously announced in October. Both players are eligible for next week’s MLS Waiver Draft, taking place on Monday, November 25.

“The process of building our 2014 roster is now underway,” said Crew Sporting Director and Head Coach Gregg Berhalter. “Unfortunately, as part of that process difficult decisions are required. While we’ve declined options on certain players, we will continue conversations with those individuals to potentially return to the club next season. We look forward to shaping the team in the weeks ahead of preseason training camp.”

O’Rourke is eligible for the MLS Re-Entry Process, which begins after MLS Cup on December 7. A full list of players eligible for the Re-Entry Process will be announced by MLS at a later date.

Goalkeeper Andy Gruenebaum, forward Dominic Oduro and defender Josh Williams are out of contract. The Crew is currently in discussions with all three players, and future roster announcements will be made in the coming weeks.

The Crew’s current roster follows:

Goalkeepers (2): Matt Lampson, Daniel Withrow

Defenders (5): Chad Barson, Eric Gehrig, Chad Marshall, Agustin Viana, Tyson Wahl

Midfielders (8): Bernardo Anor, Ethan Finlay, Kevan George, Justin Meram, Shawn Sloan, Ben Speas, Tony Tchani, Wil Trapp

Forwards (3): Federico Higuain, Ryan Finley, Aaron Schoenfeld

Crew’s Postseason Hopes Diminish in Loss to SKC

Photo Credit: Jeff Gossel/ISNSoccer.com

The Columbus Crew’s playoff surge of late looks to have ended with a disappointing 1-0 loss to Sporting Kansas City. After Philadelphia’s win over Toronto, the Crew now sit 4 points off the final playoff spot, having played a game more than the 3 teams above them.

Kansas City were the better team throughout the first half and the key to this was the lineup of 5 central midfielders, enabling them to win the midfield battle. The Crew were playing a 4-4-2 formation, but with Dominic Oduro and Bernardo Anor both pushing high up the pitch, it left the midfield duo of Wil Trapp and Tony Tchani outnumbered and unable to have time to find their passes.

The deciding goal came in the 17th minute and in controversial circumstances with Agustin Viana on the ground with a suspected head injury. He fell after an initial challenge with Ike Opara from a corner kick. The ball was recycled and sent in again and this time Opara was free to head in at the far post.

Photo Credit: Jeff Gossel/ISNSoccer.com

The other main talking point of the 1st half was a suspected injury to Federico Higuain early in the half. After falling awkwardly challenging for a ball, he spent most of the half holding his hip, though Crew head coach Brian Bliss was reluctant to remove his talismanic captain.

The second half did not bring a change to the pattern of the game and the Crew were relying on long balls to their front men. The Crew duo of Jairo Arrieta and Oduro were lacking discipline to wait in making their forward runs and were caught offside 5 times between them. The second half introduction of Ryan Finley only increased this number to a total of 8 times between them.

A couple of half chances came and went for the Crew with the best coming from the head of Marshall on 62 minutes, but his header was just wide. A final push for the equalizer finally came in stoppage time with a great play from the substitute Ben Speas as he set Finley free, but the ball did not settle and Sporting’s defense cleared.

Match Photos