Crew searching for offense vs. Revolution
Soccer Betting Lines
04/18/2007 - Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It will be a battle of Eastern Conference originals when the New England Revolution travel to take on the Columbus Crew at Crew Stadium on Thursday as Major League Soccer's Primetime game this week.
The Crew, who have yet to give up or register a goal this season, currently sit third from the bottom of the Eastern Conference table while the Revs, who are coming off a 4-0 win over Toronto FC at home, are just one point ahead. The Toronto win came after an opening weekend loss at Chicago in the team's opener.
There will be a lot of excitement buzzing around Columbus on Thursday after Wednesday's reported signing of Boca Juniors star Guillermo Barros Schelotto. The 33-year-old Schelotto will be a big addition to the Crew, who scored a league low 30 goals last season. Schelotto scored 87 goals in 10 years for Boca, Argentina's most popular club. The Crew need to work out Schelotto's international transfer clearance, a work permit and a loan agreement from Boca before he can join the club.
The Crew have been stressing finishing their chances and getting some offense going after two scoreless games this season.
"Obviously we need to finish chances if we are not creating chances," Crew head coach Sigi Schmid said. "I was disappointed that in the second half (against Real Salt lake last week) we were not creating chances, but we still in the 88th minute almost stole the game with the header by (Kei) Kamara. We need to be a little more definite in the final third. We need to do a better job of being clever."
"I think we are going to definitely work on finishing," Columbus midfielder Eddie Gaven said. "We're probably going to do a lot of shooting drills (to get ready for the Revs), because that's what this game is all about - putting the ball in the net. It doesn't matter how good or bad we play if we aren't putting the ball in the net."
Players like Gaven, Andy Herron, Jason Garey and Joseph Ngwenya will need to step up their offensive games for the Crew to break out of their scoring slump.
The bright side is the team has yet to give up a goal. Starting goalkeeper Andy Gruenebaum has made nine saves in two games to earn back-to-back clean sheets to start the season after making just two starts last year for the Crew.
"Defensively we played well," Schmid said. "Obviously we did a good job of cutting off (Jeff) Cunningham (last week), except for one time when he got through and Andy Gruenebaum came up with a good save. We gave away too many corners and free kicks, but Andy handed them well and that's one of the things our goalkeeping coaches work with him on is coming out and punching balls. You don't see a lot of goalies coming out and doing that."
The Revolution are a much more confident club offensively after their domination of first-year club Toronto on Saturday night. Star striker Taylor Twellman scored two goals while Sharlie Joseph and Andy Dorman each added one. Pat Noonan and Adam Cristman have also been strong up top. Noonan is working his way back into shape after sports hernia surgery in the preseason, while rookie Cristman has been filling in admirably for him as the starter.
"(Pat's) just lacking a wee bit of fitness, that's all," New England head coach Steve Nicol said. "He's not hurt, he's not in jeopardy. He just needs to get some more fitness done and get that sharpness back. I think (Adam) Cristman has done a great job filling in for him."
The Revs have only given up one goal in two games despite having a makeshift defense with leader Michael Parkhurst having missed the first two matches. He is listed as doubtful for this week with a separated shoulder.
"We were very solid with James (Riley) back there, it's a learning experience for all of us and I think we did a great job with our shifting and covering," New England starting goalkeeper Matt Reis said. "As a whole - as a defensive unit - top to bottom, we did [well]. The shots that they had were long-range stuff. There was nothing too troubling for us. I think, all in all, it was a great performance for us (against Toronto)."
Thursday's game will be the 43rd all-time meeting between the teams, with the Crew holding a 21-14 advantage in wins. This is the first of three meetings between the clubs this season, the only one at Crew Stadium. They next meet on June 16 at Gillette Stadium, with the series finale returning to Foxboro on Oct. 13.
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FOOTBALL TRASH TALK
NFL Football Trash TalkTrash talk has a place in every competitive endeavor (except baseball; those stirrup-wearers are too busy chewing on their sunflower seeds and their supplements to worry about what their opponents are doing).
Fantasy sports is no exception. Any intelligent discussion of the subject would probably start with a thesis statement or a definition of terms. Thankfully, this wont be an intelligent discussion.
Let me just say that I am happy to take a place in this space alongside my talented colleagues, even our commissioner. (You should see how she bleats like a demented paper boy about league fees on our fantasy site).
Trash talking, I would argue, is primarily about amusing your friends, their sheeplike demeanors and sloping foreheads notwithstanding. The best place I have found for football trash talking is at www.SportsAlarm.com.
Beyond the entertainment factor, though, I would recognize that the sophomoric ritual has one advantage, when properly applied. It magnifies your fantasy triumphs and mitigates your fantasy failures by transforming the eventual point total into an afterthought. Winning makes it seem like your opponent really is a truss-owning, lapel-pin-wearing nitwit. And in defeat, trash talk can be the air bag to break the fall from your hyperbolic heights. The plug-necked yahoos on your team, you can say, will be sacking groceries by the end of the season.
The best trash talk, in my view, is layered and nuanced. And it doesnt focus only on your opponents team. It picks apart your opponent. The idea is to create a shock-and-awe-scale blizzard of nonsense, and the goal is to make your opponent drop his hands from his keyboard in exasperation.
What team does your opponent root for? Accuse a Giants fan of having a Joe Namath pillowcase. Wheres your opponent from? Give a look of concern no matter his reply, then say, I'll try to type slower for you next time. Is your opponent into politics? Label everyone a tax-and-spend corporate shill.
Cap all that with a liberal application of irrelevance. For instance, dont just conclude by saying your opponent is a twerp who drafts like my grandmother. Say that your opponent is a sweater-wearing, eyebrow-plucking twerp who drafts his team about as well as Zsa Zsa Gabor gave acceptance speeches at the Oscars. By the time your foe makes sense of that, his starting running back will have had puppies.
But what about you? Hmm? Recall a memorable slam? Have a tried-and-true technique? Know someone who seems impervious to insult? Take a moment and tells us about it. Put together some (fit-for-publication) thoughts. You wont be too busy returning phone messages from your friends, Im sure, to reply.
In addition to the trash talking, the Sports Alarm has a huge gallery of high resolution pictures of beautiful women and models in bikinis. The most popular models are: Lindsay Lohan, Carrie Underwood, Alessandra Ambrosio, and Paris Hilton.