It would have been easy for Columbus Crew SC to get caught up in the excitement that was permeating MAPFRE Stadium after Saturday’s 3-2 win over Seattle Sounders FC.
In front of their ecstatic supporters, the Black & Gold had just claimed their fourth home win of the season and their third straight with three goals or more. They had defeated the Sounders for the first time ever at MAPFRE Stadium and snapped the three-game winning streak of a team that has been an offensive powerhouse this season.
For some, the match seemed like a statement. For Sporting Director and Head Coach Gregg Berhalter, however, it was just another day at the office.
"I think [the win] is business as usual. Obviously, I’m pleased with the game,” Berhalter said. “I told the guys to go out and entertain the fans and entertain the people watching, and I think they did that. I think it was an entertaining game and we put a lot of energy into it, and I’m pleased with that. But as far as we’re concerned, we know they’re a good opponent, but it’s another game.”
In his post-match comments Berhalter wanted to neither over- nor understate his team’s performance.
"I think we work hard and we try to make progress every week and when you see the progress, you’re pleased,” he said. “I don’t want to pretend that we’re not happy with the win, that it’s not a big win, that it wasn’t against a great team. It was. But we just keep working, keep plugging away."
Midfielder Justin Meram echoed Berhalter’s sentiments.
"Maybe people see it as a statement. For us, we just see it as, you know, a group of guys working really hard,” Meram said. “You don’t see us in the limelight every single day. It’s just a humble group from top to bottom with the coaching staff, the players, and we just love playing in big games. Teams don’t like to come here and play us, especially the way we keep the ball.”
Fellow midfielder Ethan Finlay stressed that the Black & Gold tend to do well against attacking teams like Seattle, which now is tied with Crew SC for second-most goals in Major League Soccer.
“Teams that come out and try to play us, we usually have good games against and we usually are on the beneficial side of that,” Finlay said. “When good teams come in here, we’re excited because we want to play them, we want to play the best, we want to beat the best. It was a great night for us."
After nine games, the Black & Gold’s offense is emerging as one of the most dangerous in the League. Crew SC has taken 143 shots and fired 51 on target, trailing only Vancouver Whitecaps FC in both stats (149 and 57).
“I keep saying that when [our team] plays together more, they are going to be dangerous because they combine and they look for each other,” Berhalter said about his team’s capabilities on offense. “They are dynamic. If you take [Higuain, Finlay, Kamara and Meram] and some of the guys that have come in and played that position and look at their qualities, they are so contrasting. But, when you add it together, it almost makes a perfect package.”
While that perfect package has been delivered repeatedly at MAPFRE Stadium this season, it has yet to arrive on the road. Crew SC has scored 13 of its 15 goals at home and is still looking for its first away win, as they travel to San Jose to take on the Quakes this Saturday (10:30 p.m. ET).
How does Gregg Berhalter prepare his team for that task following Saturday’s convincing win? Probably, the same way he prepared his side following the defeat in the last away match at D.C. United.
“You don’t get emotional,” Berhalter said, “you just keep working hard and just keep focusing on what we do and I think in the long run we’ll be fine.”
