The numbers are the same as last season after nine games, but because they are in a different order the Columbus Crew are faced with a critical as well as interesting week with a home match Wednesday against San Jose and a long anticipated first meeting at Seattle FC three days later.
A year ago, the Crew were 6-2-1 entering the game that marked the one-third mark of the schedule. Reverse the digits (1-2-6) and that's where the defending MLS champions now stand.
"Since preseason I've stressed that we've got to be careful with relying too much on what happened last year," forward Alejandro Moreno said. "Every year is different. I've been part of teams that won championships that struggled out of the gate the year after that.
"The fact is in order to win a championship you have to be good throughout the course of the year but you have to have some good fortune as well. Sometimes that turns around the next year and you expect things to bounce your way again and they don't and all of a sudden you have to react a little differently."
There is no panic yet among the Crew because there's a hope that the rough patches teams go through are out of the way. Time will tell but it should be noted that while the team had an impressive run to start last season it was at this point in 2008 when it went four consecutive matches without scoring.
It survived that team-record drought to start its steady climb up the standings to an eventual Supporters' Shield.
Forward Guillermo Barros Schelotto said this year's team is as good as that one.
"We have only one game we lose badly, with Salt Lake," he said. "The other game we lose to Chivas but we played better than Chivas. We've had to deal with one less player many times."
The Crew were embarrassed 4-1 on national TV at Real Salt Lake on April 2 then lost 2-1 at Chivas USA three days later after Andy Iro became the first of three defenders to receive a red card this season. In the other two instances the shorthanded Crew had late leads but tied, including a 1-1 draw at Los Angeles in their last match on May 17.
Columbus has blown possible wins past the 82nd minute on five occasions in contrast to last season when it seemed to relish trailing at the half before gathering points. Still, midfielder Robbie Rogers is not pining for the old days.
"I don't want to play like that," he said. "Those are both bad habits. Those games where we went down and had to fight our way back to get a tie or a win -- we came back from 2-0 against both Kansas City and Chicago -- are tiring. I'd rather take a 1-nil lead in the first half."
The Crew are 1-0-4 in their last five matches and will look to extend their long unbeaten streak at home against the last team to win in Crew Stadium. Since the Earthquakes' 2-0 victory on June 7, the Crew have gone 10-0-5 at home in the regular season and playoffs.
However, a 1-0-3 mark in Columbus this season -- all ties came after leading late -- has upped the importance of getting three points Wednesday vs. the Earthquakes.
"Any game at home is a must win," Rogers said. "I'm pretty confident. We still have a great group of guys."
The need to win offsets any thoughts of overlooking the worst team in the league -- with a 1-6-2 record. (There are those numbers again). The Crew are tied for last in the Eastern Conference with New York, a point behind fifth-place New England, but will make up a game in hand on the top four teams.
"Our attitude remains positive aided by the fact that none of the teams at the top are running away from us," Moreno said of the nine-point gap to Chicago. "They're keeping us in it and we need to take advantage of it."
While the focus is on San Jose the match at Seattle is looming.
It will be the first encounter with coach Sigi Schmid, who left Columbus after guiding the club to its first MLS Cup in November. The expansion Sounders FC are 4-2-4.
"We've had a decent month and it's important we close out this month with a win against San Jose first then obviously we have a big match at Seattle that I think all of us are looking forward to," Moreno said.
At least he talked about it. Many players have said they won't discuss Seattle until after Wednesday's game.
The matchup of Schmid against his replacement, Robert Warzycha, is big enough but the Crew know the match is crucial for another reason: national team duties will strip the team of starters Moreno (Venezuela) and defender Frankie Hejduk (U.S.) and reserve midfielder Duncan Oughton (New Zealand) for the June 6 game at Kansas City and possibly beyond.
"The next three games are very important," Schelotto said. "Maybe after those games we can see how we are among the field."
Craig Merz is a contributor to MLSnet.com.
