Columbus Crew vs NY Red Bulls
- Red Bulls are the lowest seed to ever advance to an MLS final and only made the playoffs because Columbus knocked out DC United in the final regular season match. There has never been such a gap between finalists as Cbus led the league with 57 points and a +14 goal differential while NY had just 39 points and a -6 goal differential. They're just the 3rd team to make the finals with a losing record and negative goal differential with the other two teams (Colorado in 1997 and New England in 2002) losing in the finals. The Crew are better offensively (scored 50 vs NY's 42) and far superior defensively (NY 3rd worst defense in the league) and they accumulated 22 away points to NY's 9. That is important because the match is on a neutral field in LA which has a natural grass surface. The Crew play their home games on grass while NY play on artificial turf. There are no new injuries or suspensions but it's important to note that the Red Bulls keeper, Danny Cepero, has one month of professional experience since their starting keeper was suspended for drug's last month.while the Crew's Will Hesmer has started in 52 of the Crew's last 53 matches.
Coaching-wise this will be the 4th MLS Cup final for the Crew's Schmid and the first for NY's Osorio. Experience-wise 4 Crew starters have played in an MLS Cup finals while no Red Bulls player has ever seen the field in a finals match. Also, In the midweek, just one Crew player traveled for international duty (Moreno to Venezuela) while 3 Red Bulls had to travel (Richards to Jamaica and both Rojas and Cichero to Venezuela) so the Crew should be a bit fresher as well. The only advantage New York has in this game is Juan Pablo Angel since he is the best player on the field. Aside from him every advantage is on Columbus' side and I can't see past them as the title holders in MLS Cup 2008. Don't expect an easy win though as 4 of the past 7 finals have seen extra time and only once since 1999 has a team won by more than 1 goal.
- Red Bulls are the lowest seed to ever advance to an MLS final and only made the playoffs because Columbus knocked out DC United in the final regular season match. There has never been such a gap between finalists as Cbus led the league with 57 points and a +14 goal differential while NY had just 39 points and a -6 goal differential. They're just the 3rd team to make the finals with a losing record and negative goal differential with the other two teams (Colorado in 1997 and New England in 2002) losing in the finals. The Crew are better offensively (scored 50 vs NY's 42) and far superior defensively (NY 3rd worst defense in the league) and they accumulated 22 away points to NY's 9. That is important because the match is on a neutral field in LA which has a natural grass surface. The Crew play their home games on grass while NY play on artificial turf. There are no new injuries or suspensions but it's important to note that the Red Bulls keeper, Danny Cepero, has one month of professional experience since their starting keeper was suspended for drug's last month.while the Crew's Will Hesmer has started in 52 of the Crew's last 53 matches.
Coaching-wise this will be the 4th MLS Cup final for the Crew's Schmid and the first for NY's Osorio. Experience-wise 4 Crew starters have played in an MLS Cup finals while no Red Bulls player has ever seen the field in a finals match. Also, In the midweek, just one Crew player traveled for international duty (Moreno to Venezuela) while 3 Red Bulls had to travel (Richards to Jamaica and both Rojas and Cichero to Venezuela) so the Crew should be a bit fresher as well. The only advantage New York has in this game is Juan Pablo Angel since he is the best player on the field. Aside from him every advantage is on Columbus' side and I can't see past them as the title holders in MLS Cup 2008. Don't expect an easy win though as 4 of the past 7 finals have seen extra time and only once since 1999 has a team won by more than 1 goal.
