MLS Columbus Crew SC

Crew Stands out in Several Key Statistical Categories

June 27, 2014 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Columbus Crew SC News Release


Although the USA isn't done at the 2014 FIFA World Cup, our nation's top League has wrapped-up its break, and the Crew is set to continue MLS play on Saturday when FC Dallas visits Columbus. It's been an up-and-down first few months for the Black & Gold, but the club is in fine position entering thede factosecond half of the season. Columbus is currently tied with New York Red Bulls for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference and will look to bolster its placement with a strong performance against the Hoops this weekend.

That being said, let's dig a little bit beneath the surface to find out what (and who) has gone well for the Crew this season.

Possession

The Crew, aided by Sporting Director and Head Coach Gregg Berhalter's newly implemented style, has been a possession monster in 2014. The Black & Gold currently rank second in MLS with 56.16% total possession in all matches, trailing only Sporting Kansas City in that regard.

In fact, the Crew has only played two matches this season where it had less than 50% of the ball, and in one of those occurrences (May 4 at Sporting Kansas City), it checked in at 49.94%.

Passing

The Black & Gold has been a passing machine this season. The Crew has attempted 7,189 passes, exactly 350 more than its next closest competitor (Sporting KC). With 479.27 passes per match, the Crew sends out, on average, just over 20 more passes per clash than any other MLS team.

Here's the really impressive part: not only does the Crew attempt more passes than anyone else, it succeeds on more passes than anyone else. The Black & Gold's 82.46% passing accuracy leads MLS, and the club has completed over 300 more total passes than any other club.

Who's been the driver of this distributive success? As you might expect, it has been the tremendous central midfield triangle of Federico Higuain, Wil Trapp and Tony Tchani. All three rank in the League's top 10 in successful passes:

Player Successful Passes Accuracy Passes into Final Third Chances Created

Osvaldo Alonso 895 90.31% 131 10

Vincent Nogueira 818 85.92% 131 20

Tony Tchani 742 83.56% 113 7

Benny Feilhaber 724 85.28% 147 30

Juninho 719 90.55% 108 12

Dax McCarty 718 83.88% 137 6

Javier Morales 704 80.83% 147 50

Wil Trapp 701 87.84% 90 11

Gonzalo Pineda 683 82.89% 126 23

Federico Higuain 667 82.96% 184 44

In the above chart, you can see Columbus' "midfield big three" and how influential they have been. Of note: Higuain's 184 passes into the final third leads the League by 26.

It shouldn't come as much of a surprise that the Crew has been a possession and passing stalwart this season. That's how Gregg Berhalter wants his side to play, and it has showed through the first few months of the season.

Check out the Columbus Crew SC Statistics



Major League Soccer Stories from June 27, 2014


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