The good news is that the road trip is over, the bad news is it ended in a way that was reminiscent of our first four games. I thought we had a chance to win this one after a string of ties but instead we got a 2-0 drubbing at the hands of the Crewzers (anybody else notice the ‘We love you Crewzers sign’ - how fantastically gay) where we asked Lombardo to replace Jeff Cunningham (muscle pull) after Dichio was left out of the starting lineup. Don’t really see why Dichio’s out of the lineup, the All-Star week couldn’t have been that grueling on the poor guy. So with our two best offensive players safely on the sidelines it was left to Lombardo and Samuels to make something out of nothing and they truly did get nothing from the midfield in this one. Maurice Edu was suspended so that added to the offensive woes.

My old man keeps telling me, ‘Son, strikers are paid to have nanosecond reactions and that’s what separates the good ones for the bad’, turns out he’s got a point because once Lombardo did find himself in the clear on one occasion, he actually waited for the ball to bounce and settle nicely and snugly next to his feet which is when he had planned to kick it. Unfortunately for him and us the Crew defender managed to poke it away quite easily due to Lombardo’s reliance on father time to help him out. That was our chance of the half. Seeing us play without Dichio and Cunningham made me appreciate even more just how significant those two are to our success, without them we’d score fives goals a season.

Before we talk about the two goals, let me divulge myself into talking about the Crew. I had discounted them for this game and was wrong about it, they were playing like you would expect TFC to play: free-flowing football, holding striker play, timely runs, etc. We didn’t manage to do anything to slow the tempo of the Columbus game or to contain their forward runs, instead we got sucked into defending way too much and it was only a matter of time when one of their many crosses found a deserving finish. The Crew were actually entertaining to watch tonight, kudos.

So to the first goal, it’s one of those goals where you just forget to mark a guy for whatever reason. Can’t really blame one person but if you put a gun to my head I say it’s Marvelle Wynne, he should’ve bodied up on Schelotto, it’s not like he had anything better to do. The goal did come after a barrage of Crew runs were being barely cleared by TFC leading me to almost predict the goal. The defense was leaky today, not leaky as in the bathroom’s flooded, but leaky as in the gum can’t plug the holes no more. Maybe its the weariness of the road or the Holiday Inn food by Boyens, Wynne, Brennan (yes, even Brennan) were just not taking care of simple business such as simple clearances or forcing runs towards the sideline instead of the middle today.

I don’t know what to think of Tyrone Marshall, he loves to create a mess and then proceed to clean it up. I can’t stay mad at him for too long, for example when he gave the ball away so charitably to Schelotto only to run him down just inside the area. He’s like a kid who shits in his pants and then does his own laundry - at the end of the day the positives even out the negatives. But I do know what to think of Chris Pozniak: he has two left feet! He also likes to pass backwards more often than forwards. Mo Johnston shouldn’t rely on him to supply ammunition for our strikers because it just won’t get delivered, I say pull him back and play him as a holding midfielder.

Let’s talk about Mo Johnston before we talk about the second goal. I have never disagreed with a MoJo substitution, it’s the timing that gets me to scratch my head so that trickles of blood start coming out. So you’re down 2-0 with Lombardo doing gymnastics without the ball and you wait till the 70th minute to finally bring in Dichio. What gives man? Seriously, WTF gives? When Dichio finally did come in he had a decent impact and almost setup O’Brien and Robinson for chances. I’m not going to harp on this but it’s almost like MoJo thinks correctly but thinks too late.

Finally we get to the second goal. This one was the result of a freekick where Schelotto was just trying to hit the target, he even would’ve settled for a harmless save but Srdjan Djekanovic wouldn’t have any of it. No sir he wouldn’t. I haven’t seen that big of a mess since the Family Guy puke scene. MoJo needs to get a cannon in practice and just start firing it towards a naked Djekanovic (he must be naked!). Until he saves 15 in a row the cannons must continue to be fired, only way for him to get his footing and positioning right.

I have to say kudos, respect, high fives, tip your cap to the Red Patch Boys for making the trip. They finally got some serious airtime and recognition this broadcast. I am humbled by thee passion. So humbled that I am forced to stop writing.

Just one more thing, be sure to subscribe to this feed, I promise to keep it riveting. Thanks for reading.