The Columbus Crew were certainly a surprise team last season. After cutting ties with a number of veterans and going with a roster that looked lacking on almost every part of the pitch, head coach Robert Warzycha coaxed a great ...
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Photo by Michael Janosz/ISIphotos.com

A day after locking up centerback Chad Marshall for the foreseeable future, the Columbus Crew may be on the verge of losing a key figure from its attack.

Winger Robbie Rogers is closing in on a deal with Leeds United, according to a report from England.

The Columbus Crew underwent a successcful rebuilding period in 2011, as they parted ways with several veterans and brought in a group of new faces that exceeded expectations last season.

One of the few familiar faces to remain was Chad Marshall, and all he did was help anchor the stingy Crew defense for yet another season.

Columbus goes into the offseason with some questions for their expansion draft lists. (Getty Images)

The Columbus Crew had many questions going into the 2011 season mostly due to the amount of veteran players that were let go by head coach Robert Warzycha. But as the season went on the Crew began to find their footing and were actually in contention to win the Eastern Conference.

And here you go.

And let the second guessing begin.

First some bullets:

• Had an extremely difficult time for the Best XI as you might imagine. We were committed to choosing four defenders (who plays three defenders in MLS?) The toughest calls were: (1) Osvaldo Alonso (narrowly beating out Kyle Beckerman), (2) Sheanon Williams (narrowly beating out Chance Myers), and (3) Mauro Rosales (narrowly beating out Landon Donovan and Sebastien Le Toux.

We wanted to do a bigger expose on MVP, but alas we've run out of time for stating the case.

Though if you've been following along at home, you know who TSG's frontrunner is.

Help us decide:

Will DeRo walk away with the award?

Volkswagen 2011 MLS MVP: (Most Valuable Player in MLS during the 2011 regular season.

And moving on...

2011 MLS DEFENDER OF THE YEAR:

Best defender in MLS during the 2011 regular season.

Candidates:

Marshall was a big part of the Crew's surprising success...

Corey Gibbs Chicago Fire

Gonzalo Segares Chicago Fire

Ante Jazic Chivas USA

Heath Pearce Chivas USA

Chad Marshall Columbus Crew

Julius James Columbus Crew

Drew Moor Colorado Rapids

Marvell Wynne Colorado Rapids

Ugo Ihemelu FC Dallas

George John FC Dallas

Andre Hainault Houston Dynamo

Todd Dunivant Los Angeles Galaxy

Omar Gonzalez Los Angeles Galaxy

A.

Duncan Fletcher of Waking the Red, SB Nation's Toronto blog, and I chatted ahead of this afternoon's Union-TFC match.

tBG: How about yourself, what do you think the game will be like?

WtR: Though we should be looking to Tuesday's CCL game, a part of that is the fact that we've had two weeks off, so I'd expect to have the first team out there to shake the rust off and practice.

KC's games are really starting to get a deja vu felling to them, because so often the script is the same. Go at the opposing team, pressure early (some times get a goal, sometimes now), start to see back a little bit, defensive error gives opponent a great opportunity (that they may or may not put away).

By GARRETT DAVEY

The first time Sporting Kansas City walked off the field after a match at Livestrong Sporting Park, back on June 9th, the club was mired in a ten-match winless streak and buried in last place in the Eastern Conference.

On Tuesday night, with those rough early days firmly in the rearview mirror, Sporting KC completed a 15-week climb up the standings, into sole possession of first place.

With the 1-1 draw against Philadelphia on Friday and the way other results went this past weekend for Sporting KC, the Wizards face a game that's become even bigger than Friday's game. The team the Wizards are tied with for second place, the Columbus Crew come to KC for a Wednesday night league game.

Another week down, another week with the top clubs remaining on top. The playoff race in Major League Soccer is certainly hotter than it has ever been.

I'll keep the intro nice and sweet too. Here's how I see things after this week.

Team Rank Record (W-L-T) Comments 1 (1) 16-3-10 58 pts.

On a chilly night in Chester against a listless first place Columbus Crew team, a goal from the resurgent Sebastien Le Toux was all the Philadelphia Union needed to earn their first victory since July 17. In an effort to breathe life into his team, coach Peter Nowak rang in the changes, most notably bringing 16-year-old Zach Pfeffer into the starting lineup for his first MLS start.

Photo: Nicolae Stoian

Union

Keon Daniel update: a report in the Trinidad and Tobago Guardian says, "Daniel's agent Andre Fortune said [the] Union's immigration attorney was assisting in the player's visa problem (which prevented him from playing for the club last weekend) and the [Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation] may be asked for assistance.

Photo: Nicolae Stoian

Union

Keon Daniel update: a report in the Trinidad and Tobago Guardian says, "Daniel's agent Andre Fortune said [the] Union's immigration attorney was assisting in the player's visa problem (which prevented him from playing for the club last weekend) and the [Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation] may be asked for assistance.

If there is one voice in American soccer concerning concussions, it is Taylor Twellman. It is a voice that he understands grates on players and fans at times, but one that he will not stop using. He is currently moving from his personal Twitter and media crusade to raise awareness to the creation of a clearinghouse website for concussion related information, data and resources at ThinkTaylor.

Photo by Andrew Katsampes/ISIphotos.com

By ALAN LEDBETTER

After back-to-back weeks with many teams off, there will be a full slate of MLS matches this week. Many players have been travelling a bunch with their respective national teams, which could affect their play as they return to MLS.

Sometimes statistics lie. Saturday's Seattle Sounders-Columbus Crew match is a perfect example. If you just ignored that little score detail, you'd see that the Crew actually dominated the Sounders, outshooting them 19-13, holding 53 percent of possession and even outpassing the Sounders 79-76. This is one of those matches where watching the highlights gives you a much better picture.

By CALEB SONNELAND

An impressive hat-trick from Lamar Neagle sealed a big result for Seattle coach Sigi Schmid in a wild 6-2 victory over Eastern Conference top dogs Columbus Crew.

Columbus, missing Julius James through suspension, elected to replace the defender with Rich Balchan.

The Columbus Crew as a franchise has been historically kind to the Seattle Sounders in their short MLS history. They've never beaten the Sounders, either at home or away, and their losses have been some of Seattle's most memorable wins. Last season, a 4-0 win over the Crew in Columbus was the most emphatic of the season.

Photo: Nicolae Stoian

Game time: Saturday, 7:30pm ET

TV: The Comcast Network

Do not feel bad if after taking a look down the Columbus Crew roster for Saturday's showdown you find yourself scratching your head.

In a league designed to be dominated by superstars, the Crew have taken the industrious path alongside team's like Real Salt Lake and Dallas.

After each match the contributors to New England Soccer Today will rate the performances of the New England Revolution players who made an appearance on a 1 to 10 scale (1 horrendous, 5 average, 10 perfection). This week Sean Donahue contributed ratings for the Revs 3-1 loss to the Columbus Crew.

Photo by Jose L. Argueta/ISIphotos.com

By ALAN LEDBETTER

Dwayne De Rosario seems to have finally found his home in DC. De Rosario was a threat to the attack in Toronto and New York but looks to be a different, more influential player since coming to D.

A 2010 postseason rematch is set to take place in the Mile High City, as the defending MLS Cup champion Colorado Rapids host the surging Columbus Crew (9:30 p.m., Fox Soccer Channel).

The Rapids have found new life after the Achilles' tear that ruled star striker Conor Casey out for the rest of the season.

When Amadou Sanyang was announced as a Seattle Sounder signee the first question was "Why is he a free?" Toronto FC had let him go as he recovered from a significant concussion. An issue that is also in light for the Sounders as Terry Boss is still recovering (3 to 6 days) from his during the Manchester United friendly.

A lot of changes will be made by new head coach Jurgen Klinsmann. (Photo via MLSSoccer.com)

Yeah go ahead and throw this one on the massive pile of other stories similar to this one. I've stayed away from the Klinsmann talk for a few reasons, mainly lack of time on my part to devote to discussing it is the biggest.

Admit it - you can't wait until Jurgen Klinsmann reveals his first U.S. national team roster.
I can't either.
It could either be a completely different new set of names or a lot of the old standbys. Or a mix of both. Since it's an international fixture date, Klinsmann won't be limited with his choices.

Stunned.
As much as this move was warranted and as much as many U.S. supporters wanted to see it happen, my first reaction to the news that Bob Bradley had been fired was that.
U.S. Soccer hasn't sacked a coach since 1998, and before that... well, that might as well be ancient history, right?

How Osvaldo Alonso was overlooked as a MLS All-Star is crazy. (getty Images)

Each year when the MLS All-Star Roster is announced there are always a mass amount of players that are usually more deserving of the honor than some of those that get to play in the game. For the most part I don't care a whole lot about the All-Star game but I did want to point out those who I felt got over looked in a big way this season.

When New York Red Bulls head coach Hans Backe named the game-day roster for the 2011 MLS All-Star Team, there were destined to be players who many MLS fans felt were snubbed. It happens every year, but this year there seemed to be more snubs than usual.

It is clear that some of Backe's selections were made with more consideration toward building a team capable of beating Manchester United rather than rewarding the league's best players through the first half of the season.

Photo by Brad Smith/ISIphotos.com

While 22 MLS players found out that they'll be suting up against Manchester United in the league's All-Star Game next week, there are quite a few others who didn't get the call that have a case, and that's even with players from Seattle, FC Dallas and Toronto FC being ineligible because of their CONCACAF Champions League commitments.

Hans Backe has spoken.

Sean Franklin...but you knew this picture was going here...

Below is his game-day roster to match Manchester United in the MLS All-Star Game July 27 at Red Bull Arena. That last statement was contradictory I know.

As long as Brad Davis was on the roster, it was mostly acceptable.

Pet peeve about most soccer awards processes: holding midfielders get very little love.

It really is such an important position. Show me a team with a good holding midfielder and a I'll show you a team with a great chance, at least, to go places.

But a holding midfielder will never be a league MVP, mostly because so much of their important work is low on the glamour scale.

Matin Shatzer, of SB Nation's DC United blog Black and Red United and SBN DC, and I exchanged three questions a piece ahead of today's Philadelphia Union-United match at RFK Stadium.

tBG: Does the addition of Dwayne De Rosario provide enough offense to make up for the loss of Dax McCarty's control of the midfield?

By JOSE M. ROMERO

Andres Mendoza is on a pretty good tear.

The big striker scored goals in each half off mistakes to lead an impressive performance by the Columbus Crew in its 4-1 win over the Colorado Rapids Sunday night at Crew Stadium.

Mendoza's first goal came in the 18th minute.

30 goalkeepers have seen action in Major League Soccer so far this season. 25 have a higher Goals Against Average than Faryd Mondragon. Of the four with a lower GAA, Donovan Ricketts and Nick Rimando are the only two with more than 90 minutes under their belts.

It's getting harder every week to find a league-related statistic without Bimbo stamped all over it.

The Chicago Fire and the Columbus Crew kick-off in less than half an hour. The action starts on MY50 Chicago at 3:00 PM CST. Over 400 Fire fans made the trip to the game and it will be interesting to see how far their voices carry.

The starting lineup for the Chicago Fire is a 4-4-2. Sean Johnson; Jalil Anibaba, Yamith Cuesta, Cory Gibbs, Gonzalo Segares; Dominic Oduro, Logan Pause, Baggio Husidic, Patrick Nyarko; Gaston Puerari, Diego Chaves.

In the off-season the Chicago Fire made the promise to Section 8 Chicago that if Section 8 had over 800 season tickets before the season started, the team would cover the fan buses for the Columbus road trip. The board, volunteers, and other friends of Section 8 all came together to not only match that mark but get the Section over 1,000 season tickets.

Photo by Michael Janosz/ISIphotos.com

By THOMAS FLOYD

The Columbus Crew has made a nasty habit out of surrendering the opening goal, having done so in each of its last six contests. But on the plus side, Columbus has battled back to earn a draw three times during that stretch, against Seattle, Chivas USA and New York.

The Columbus Crew have a knack for late game heroics recently. This past weekend it was Rich Blachan grabbing a goal late in stoppage time to salvage a tie with the Red Bulls. Last night it was a furious second half rally full of controversy that saw home fans booing the game-tying goal and Will Hesmer playing the hero late in stoppage time.