I gave myself the better part of two days before committing this Galaxy-FCD postmortem to the foreverness of the internets because I wanted to get past the bitter taste of frustration lingering in my mouth after Saturday's excursion to Frisco. I wanted to see if that would change what I had to say.

Why wouldn't MLS players dominate the January MLS Camp though?  MLS season is long over and doesn't start up anytime real soon.  On Wednesday, February 11th the US MNT plays in Columbus against rivals Mexico in the first game of the last round of World Cup qualifying.  The US has had good success against Mexico in Columbus and should continue that success in next month.

Picture by Saed Hindash from the Star Ledger

And those words are: Don't get cocky.

That's 4 wins in a row for the Galaxy, which is not the longest win streak since 2006. (The dismal 2007 season featured a 5 game winning streak from September through October.) All of a sudden the team is tied for third in the West and sitting pretty in a playoff spot (granted it has still played a game more than most of the West) and it is surging rather than falling.

This is the third installment of a position by position look at the 2009 edition of the Columbus Crew. The reigning MLS Cup Champions begin to defend their title on March 21st in Houston and then come home to Columbus to take on Toronto. Let's examine what the black and gold will be working with [...

Excerpt courtesy of the Columbus Dispatch:

The last-place San Jose Earthquakes came to town tonight to take on the defending Major League Soccer champion in a game the Crew expected to win.
It did win, 2-1, but the victory came at a cost.
Midfielder Brian Carroll suffered a dislocated shoulder during a scrum with 'Quakes midfielder Simon Elliott and might undergo surgery Thursday.

And those words are: I'll take it.

The Galaxy put together their longest winning streak of the year at three, all 1-0 victories, all against tough teams (Houston, New England, Chivas), though you could argue that this is turning out to be a kind of lost season for the Revs. The scoreline is starting to remind me of the increasingly iconic 2-0 result that the US MNT always seems to get in huge games.

Some quotes, but not much new information.

A collective-bargaining proposal made by the league last week was "very disappointing," said Crew goalkeeper William Hesmer.
"Based off of what was last proposed, this doesn't end well," Hesmer said.
. . .
The union also is pushing for greater economic benefits, including higher minimum salaries, but Crew midfielder Brian Carroll said monetary considerations are secondary.

Thanks to Crew BigSoccer poster B-M-T for the photo Unfortunately, I was not able to go to the Crew Fan Forum held at the Claddagh Pub tonight in Columbus that had General Manager Mark McCullers, Coach Robert Warzycha, Brian Carroll, Robbie Rogers, and Danny O'Rourke attending and answering the questions of Crew fans, but here is [.

Why wouldn't MLS players dominate the January MLS Camp though? MLS season is long over and doesn't start up anytime real soon. On Wednesday, February 11th the US MNT plays in Columbus against rivals Mexico in the first game of the last round of World Cup qualifying. The US has had good success against Mexico in Columbus and should continue that success in next month.

In their continuing efforts to prepare for the upcoming MLS season, the Crew were victorious in two 60-minute matches against local colleges Wednesday. The Black and Gold beat the University of Tampa 2-0 and the University of Central Florida 6-0 respectively. Robert Warzycha looked to solidify his starting line up, as most of [.

Matt Bernhardt correlates the success of the Columbus Crew to having 4-6 players play 90% of the season:

Regardless of the reason, however, a look at history shows that the Crew has done the best when it has been able to keep a larger core of players on the field for the majority of the season.