Columbus are coming off a great season,however when playoffs began they were upset by Real Salt Lake and the great play of Robbie Findley and Javier Morales.The Crew finished the season first in MLS,so many people were when a team that barely snuck in the playoffs (and ended up winning MLS Cup) beat them in the second leg in Columbus.Columbus have had a decent offseason,picking up U.S U-20 and Rutgers standout midfielders Dilly Duka in the MLS Draft,and also picking up Colombian foward Sergio Herrera from Deportivo Cali.However,one loss going into the 2010 season for the Crew will be the loss of Venezuelan international foward Alejandro Moreno,the forward provided more than just goals,he also heckles defenders for 90 minutes and makes himself a pest.My prediction is Columbus will take first again in the east,and it will be up to these five factors if my prediction is right:
1.Can Guille still do it?-Each year he gets older but still leads this team perfectly by example.Expect Columbus to rest him a couple more games this year as his legs get tired more easily the older he gets.
2.Start the season running-Last season Columbus started the season awful,which almost led to Robert Warzycha getting fired.
3.Lenhart and Garey stepping up-Both fowards will be given more responsibity this year with Alejandro Moreno off to the Union.
4.The outside mids-Stacked with talented outside mids (Rogers,Ekpo,Gaven,Duka)Players like Emmanuel Ekpo will have to step it up ore if Rogers is away on international duty.(When Ekpo is on his game he is of the best wingers in MLS)
5.Chad Marshall-With Frankie Hejduk and Gino Padula getting older more goes on the shoulders of Chad Marshall,who is a great MLS defender but has had his struggles internationally with the U.S.
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