The Crew have a symmetrical record, three wins, three losses, and three ties. The twelve points collected have them tied for fifth in the Eastern Conference. This team has been consistently average through the first two months of the season, but also inconsistent.
Columbus had a four game unbeaten streak earlier this year, but no win streaks longer than one. Sixteen other teams have had back to back wins since the Black and Gold did it.
To find the last Crew multi-game winning streak, you have to go back to September 2012 when they won four in a row.
Only two other teams in the league have gone longer, the Seattle Sounders and Toronto FC. It’s unenviable company - one has never made the playoffs and the other is going through their worst start in club history.
The offense has 12 goals, tied for sixth in the league on offense - but even that stat is misleading. The Crew have produced half of their goal total in just two games, and have been shut out twice on the year. It’s hard to win consistently when the offense only shows up sporadically.
Designated Player and offensive focal point Federico Higuain exemplifies this, with a four-game dry spell mid-season. There is more to Higuain than goal and assist stats, but the club and fans certainly would prefer to see him in his expected form.
Higuain isn’t the only offensive player battling with consistency. Eddie Gaven and Jairo Arrieta were the joint goal scoring leaders in 2012, but have combined for a single goal this year. Gaven missed two games due to injury and Arrieta was replaced in the lineup by newcomer Dominic Oduro for three. Much like Higuain, they contribute more than just stats, but more was expected when the season opened.
The Crew retooled the backline down the stretch last season and the results have improved. The defense has only given up eight goals this season, tied for third best in the league. While the team is stingier, they’ve still struggled to keep teams off the board entirely. They have two shutouts in 2013, allowing a single goal in six other games.
That kind of defensive performance will keep teams in the game, but makes winning difficult. With the inconsistent offense, the Crew have three ties and a loss when scoring a single goal. They have two losses when being shut out.
There are ten teams that have more shutouts than the Black and Gold. With the offense struggling to consistently score, the back line is under stress to be perfect - any slip and the Crew’s record drops considerably.
It really shouldn’t be surprising that the Crew have struggled with consistency with the offseason turnover. A third of the minutes Columbus players have logged are by players who weren’t on the team last year. Four of the team’s eleven starters are new to the team. In a lot of ways, this team is still learning to play together.
Center backs Chad Marshall and Glauber have only played nine games together, slowly building a partnership. Dominic Oduro has four goals on the year, but is only developing a rapport with Higuain. Tyson Wahl and Agustin Viana are also working to build understanding of how their new teammates play.
Building that familiarity takes time. As the team goes through weeks of practice and gets more game time together, those missed defensive assignments start to happen less. The squandered passes will start to connect. The team performs just a little bit better.
The Crew have played a little over a quarter of the season, and are still within reach of the playoffs. If they are able to smooth out inconsistencies of the start, they can start shutting out opponents. They can score more than a single goal a game. They can put together winning streaks rather than unbeaten streaks. This may be a team that can make the MLS Cup run that Crew President and General Manager Mark McCullers predicted in the preseason.
