2011 Columbus Crew season

Columbus Crew

2011 season
Owner	Clark Hunt
Head coach	Robert Warzycha
Major League Soccer	Conference: 4th Overall: 8th
MLS Cup	Wildcard round
U.S. Open Cup	Third round
CONCACAF Champions League 2010-11	Quarterfinals
Trillium Cup	Runners-Up (3 - 5)
Lamar Hunt Pioneer Cup	Runners-Up (2 - 2)
Highest home attendance	21,203 vs. Los Angeles Galaxy (24 September 2011, Major League Soccer)
Lowest home attendance	7,148 vs. Seattle Sounders FC (7 May 2011, Major League Soccer)
Average home league attendance	12,185 [1]
Home colors Away colors
← 2010 2012 →

The 2011 Columbus Crew season was the club's eighteenth year of existence, as well as their sixteenth season in Major League Soccer, and their sixteenth consecutive season in the top-flight of American soccer.

Columbus began its 2011 campaign by hosting Real Salt Lake in the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal on February 22, 2011.^[2]

Background[]

Review[]

The Crew opened its 2011 campaign with a Champions League quarterfinal fixture against fellow MLS competitor, Real Salt Lake. The match, the first leg of a quarterfinal series, was at Crew Stadium on February 22, 2011 and ended in a 0-0 draw. Columbus was trying to advance past the Quarterfinal stage after falling to Toluca 5-4 on aggregate last season.

On March 1, Columbus traveled to Rio Tinto Stadium and fell to Real Salt Lake by a score of 4-1, thus ending the Crew's run in the 2010–11 CONCACAF Champions League.

Two and a half weeks later, Columbus opened up its Major League Soccer campaign by traveling to Washington, D.C. to take on D.C. United on March 19. The club's MLS home opener was one week later, when the Crew hosted Red Bull New York on March 26.^[3]

Roster[]

As of September 3, 2011.^[4]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  USA William Hesmer 2 DF  USA Rich Balchan 3 MF  USA Josh Williams 5 DF  USA Danny O'Rourke 6 MF  CMR Tony Tchani 7 MF  VEN Bernardo Anor 9 FW  USA Justin Meram 10 FW  PER Andrés Mendoza 11 MF  USA Dilly Duka 12 MF  USA Eddie Gaven 14 DF  USA Chad Marshall 15 MF  USA Kevin Burns 16 DF  USA Eric Gehrig 17 MF  NGA Emmanuel Ekpo 18 MF  USA Robbie Rogers

No. Pos. Nation Player 19 MF  USA Cole Grossman 20 FW  VEN Emilio Rentería 21 DF  CHI Sebastián Miranda 22 MF  SRB Dejan Rusmir 23 DF  USA Korey Veeder 24 DF  USA Ben Sippola 25 GK  USA Alex Riggs 26 DF  TRI Julius James 27 FW  USA Aaron Horton 28 MF  ARG Santiago Prim 29 DF  JAM Shaun Francis 30 GK  USA Andy Gruenebaum 31 MF  USA Josh Gardner 32 FW  USA Tom Heinemann 33 FW  USA Jeff Cunningham

Position	Staff
Head Coach	Robert Warzycha
Assistant Coach	Ricardo Iribarren
Assistant Coach	Mike Lapper
Goalkeeper Coach	Vadim Kirillov
General Manager	Mark McCullers
Technical Director	Brian Bliss
Director of Team Operations	Tucker Walther
Strength/Fitness Coach	Mike Tremble
Athletic Trainer	David Lagow
Equipment Manager	Rusty Wummel

Competitions[]

Preseason[]

Atlanta Pro Soccer Challenge[]

Columbus won the Atlanta Pro Soccer Challenge round-robin tournament title with a 2-0 record.^[5]

MLS[]

Standings[]

Eastern Conference[]

Pos	Team v t	Pld	W	L	D	GF	GA	GD	Pts
2	Houston Dynamo	34	12	9	13	45	41	+4	49	2011 MLS Cup Conference Semifinals
3	Philadelphia Union	34	11	8	15	44	36	+8	48
4	Columbus Crew	34	13	13	8	43	44	−1	47	2011 MLS Cup Play-In Round
5	New York Red Bulls	34	10	8	16	50	44	+6	46
6	Chicago Fire	34	9	9	16	46	45	+1	43

Overall table[]

Pos	Team v t	Pld	W	L	D	GF	GA	GD	Pts
7	Colorado Rapids	34	12	9	13	44	41	+3	49
8	Philadelphia Union	34	11	8	15	44	36	+8	48
9	Columbus Crew	34	13	13	8	43	44	−1	47
10	New York Red Bulls	34	10	8	16	50	44	+6	46
11	Chicago Fire	34	9	9	16	46	45	+1	43

Results summary[]

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	Pts	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD
34	47	13	13	8	43	44	−1	9	3	5	27	18	+9	4	10	3	16	26	−10

Last updated: November 6, 2011
Source: MLSSoccer.com
Pld = Matches played; Pts = Points; W = Matches won; T = Matches tied; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference

Results by round[]

Match results[]

  Win   Tie   Loss

CONCACAF Champions League[]

U.S. Open Cup[]

With a fifth-place overall finish last season, the Crew secured direct qualification into the third-round proper of the U.S. Open Cup.^[6]

MLS Cup Playoffs[]

Statistics[]

Last updated on 22 February 2011.^[7]

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		MLS		CONCACAF Champions League		U.S. Open Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK	USA	William Hesmer	0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
2	DF	USA	Rich Balchan	1	0	0+0	0	1+0	0	0+0	0
3	MF	USA	Josh Williams	1	0	0+0	0	0+1	0	0+0	0
4	DF	ENG	Andy Iro	1	0	0+0	0	1+0	0	0+0	0
5	DF	USA	Danny O'Rourke	1	0	0+0	0	1+0	0	0+0	0
6	MF	USA	Andy Adlard	1	0	0+0	0	1+0	0	0+0	0
8	MF	VEN	Bernardo Anor	1	0	0+0	0	1+0	0	0+0	0
9	FW	USA	Justin Meram	1	0	0+0	0	1+0	0	0+0	0
10	FW	PER	Andrés Mendoza	1	0	0+0	0	1+0	0	0+0	0
11	DF	USA	Dilly Duka	0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
12	MF	USA	Eddie Gaven	1	0	0+0	0	1+0	0	0+0	0
13	MF	FRA	Leandre Griffit	1	0	0+0	0	1+0	0	0+0	0
14	DF	USA	Chad Marshall	1	0	0+0	0	1+0	0	0+0	0
15	MF	USA	Kevin Burns	1	0	0+0	0	1+0	0	0+0	0
17	MF	NGA	Emmanuel Ekpo	0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
18	MF	USA	Robbie Rogers	0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
19	MF	BRA	Cole Grossman	0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
20	FW	VEN	Emilio Rentería	1	0	0+0	0	1+0	0	0+0	0
21	DF	CHI	Sebastián Miranda	1	0	0+0	0	1+0	0	0+0	0
22	MF	SRB	Dejan Rusmir	0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
25	GK	USA	Alex Riggs	0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
26	DF	TRI	Julius James	0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
29	DF	JAM	Shaun Francis	0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
31	MF	USA	Josh Gardner	1	0	0+0	0	1+0	0	0+0	0
32	FW	USA	Tom Heinemann	0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
33	FW	USA	Jeff Cunningham	1	0	0+0	0	1+0	0	0+0	0
34	GK	USA	Ray Burse	1	0	0+0	0	1+0	0	0+0	0

Transfers[]

In[]

Date	Player	Position	Previous Club	Fee/Notes	Ref
December 15, 2010	Jeff Cunningham	FW	FC Dallas	Re-Entry Draft	[8]
December 30, 2010	Sebastián Miranda	DF	Unión Española	Undisclosed	[9]
January 12, 2011	Tom Heinemann	FW	Charleston Battery	Undisclosed	[10]
January 25, 2011	Kwaku Nyamekye	DF	Harvard University	2010 SuperDraft, 4th round	[11]
February 15, 2011	Korey Veeder	DF	Crystal Palace Baltimore	Weighted lottery	[12]
February 17, 2011	Rich Balchan	DF	Indiana University	2011 SuperDraft, 1st round	[13]
February 17, 2011	Justin Meram	FW	University of Michigan	2011 SuperDraft, 1st round	[13]
February 17, 2011	Cole Grossman	MF	Duke University	2011 SuperDraft, 2nd round	[13]
February 17, 2011	Bernardo Anor	MF	University of South Florida	2011 SuperDraft, 3rd round	[13]
February 21, 2011	Ben Sippola	DF	Butler University	2011 Supplemental Draft, 2nd round	[14]
February 21, 2011	Andy Adlard	MF	Indiana University	2011 Supplemental Draft, 3rd round	[14]
February 21, 2011	Josh Gardner	MF	Carolina RailHawks FC	Undisclosed	[15]
February 22, 2011	Ray Burse	GK	Unattached	Free; signed to short-term, hardship contract	[16]
February 22, 2011	Alex Riggs	GK	Missouri State University	Free	[16]
February 28, 2011	Julius James	DF	D.C. United	Free	[17]
March 9, 2011	Dejan Rusmir	MF	Farul Constanţa	Undisclosed	[18]
March 17, 2011	Eric Gehrig	DF	Unattached	Free	[19]
April 26, 2011	Santiago Prim	MF	San Lorenzo de Almagro	Undisclosed	[20]
May 17, 2011	Aaron Horton	FW	University of Louisville	Homegrown Player	[21]
July 15, 2011	Tony Tchani	MF	Toronto	Acquired for Andy Iro and Léandre Griffit	[22]

Out[]

Date	Player	Position	Destination Club	Fee/Notes	Ref
November 16, 2010	Guillermo Barros Schelotto	MF	Gimnasia La Plata	Option declined, free transfer	[23]
November 16, 2010	Duncan Oughton	MF	None	Option declined, retired, then joined the Crew front office as assistant to the technical director.	[23]
November 16, 2010	Gino Padula	DF		Option declined	[23]
November 22, 2010	Brian Carroll	MF	Philadelphia Union	Traded for allocation money and a 2nd round SuperDraft pick	[24]
November 24, 2010	Adam Moffat	MF	Portland Timbers	Expansion Draft	[25]
November 24, 2010	Eric Brunner	DF	Portland Timbers	Expansion Draft	[25]
December 3, 2010	Jason Garey	FW	Houston Dynamo	Traded for a 2015 4th round SuperDraft pick	[26]
December 15, 2010	Frankie Hejduk	DF	Sporting Kansas City	Re-Entry Draft	[8]
January 13, 2011	Steven Lenhart	FW	San Jose Earthquakes	Traded for allocation money and a 1st round SuperDraft pick	[27]
February 28, 2011	Kwaku Nyamekye	DF		Waived	[17]
March 15, 2011	Ray Burse	GK	Puerto Rico Islanders	Released, free transfer	[28]
June 30, 2011	Andy Adlard	MF		Waived	[29]
July 15, 2011	Andy Iro	DF	Toronto	Traded for Tony Tchani	[22]
	Léandre Griffit	MF

Miscellaneous[]

Allocation ranking[]

Columbus is in the #6 position in the MLS Allocation Ranking. The allocation ranking is the mechanism used to determine which MLS club has first priority to acquire a U.S. National Team player who signs with MLS after playing abroad, or a former MLS player who returns to the league after having gone to a club abroad for a transfer fee. A ranking can be traded, provided that part of the compensation received in return is another club's ranking.^[30]

International roster spots[]

Columbus has 8 international roster spots. Each club in Major League Soccer is allocated 8 international roster spots, which can be traded. There have been no reported trades involving Columbus international roster spots for the 2011 season. There is no limit on the number of international slots on each club's roster. The remaining roster slots must belong to domestic players. For clubs based in the United States, a domestic player is either a U.S. citizen, a permanent resident (green card holder) or the holder of other special status (e.g., refugee or asylum status).^[30]

Future draft pick trades[]

Future picks acquired: 2012 SuperDraft Round 2 pick acquired from D.C. United; 2015 SuperDraft Round 4 pick acquired from Houston Dynamo.
Future picks traded: None.

MLS rights to other players[]

Columbus maintains the MLS rights to Aaron Hohlbein as the club selected him in the 2010 MLS Re-Entry Draft and he instead chose to sign with a non-MLS club.

See also[]

• Columbus Crew
• 2011 in American soccer
• 2011 Major League Soccer season

References[]