Crew's offense looks to be improved in '07

Editor's note: This is the fourth of 13 MLS team previews by ESPNsoccernet for the 2007 season.

2006 record and finish: 8-15-9 (last place in the East)

Key additions: GK Will Hesmer, M Danny O'Rourke, M Stefani Miglioranzi, F Andy Herron, F Robbie Rogers.

Key losses: F Sebastian Rozental, D Ritchie Kotschau, M Jose Retiz, D Chris Leitch, GK Jon Busch, GK Noah Palmer

Greg Bartram/WireImage

Jason Garey was a disappointment during his rookie season.

Key questions facing team:

1. Did the Crew find a productive striker in Andy Herron?

Columbus has produced just one 10-goal scorer since 2003; Edson Buddle struck for 11 in 2004. Since then, Buddle led the club with nine goals in 2005, and two players tied for the lead with just five last year.

So Columbus addressed its most glaring need with the league's biggest draft-day trade, collecting Andy Herron from Chicago. Herron scored nine last year in 18 Fire starts and has 15 goals in 44 MLS games overall.

The Costa Rican international is versatile enough to play anywhere along the three-man front line. And he'll be pushed by a gaggle of promising talent, the likes of Eddie Gaven, Robbie Rogers, Ricardo Virtuoso, Kei Kamara, Jacob Thomas, Jason Garey and Joseph Ngwenya.

But none have such high expectations attached. Plus, Herron has a little baggage to overcome. He didn't always get along with Chicago boss Dave Sarachan, and he was suspended for six games after making contact with a referee to finish the 2005 season.

2. Can manager Sigi Schmid pull the right levers?

With a sudden wealth of attacking ingredients, it's Schmid's job to mix and match and get the soup just right.

Schmid says Kamara has matured, listening now instead of resisting constructive criticism as before. Thomas was effective when healthy last year but broke down after playing extensively without a break. U.S. U-20 international Robbie Rogers is best as a winger, right-footed but comfortable on the left.

Ngwenya, Virtuoso and Ned Grabavoy can have an impact on the attack in different ways. And what of Danny Szetela, who has not yet reached 20 years old but already has labored through two injury-ravaged MLS seasons? Schmid's job is to keep 'em all happy and squeeze the most production from the group.

"It's a matter of choosing guys who are playing well," Schmid said. "When we're healthy and firing on all cylinders, we have tremendous pace up front."

3. Does the club have reliable goalkeeping?

The Crew's injury situation in 2006, damaging all over the field, was absolutely ridiculous in goal. Five players took turns starting.

Jonny Walker retired in the offseason (after missing all of 2006 with a back injury). Then Schmid rolled the dice by releasing veteran Jon Busch, who holds most Crew goalkeeping records. (Busch was sour about his March 2 release, telling the Columbus Dispatch, "I will never work for Sigi again.")

Schmid believes Will Hesmer, a backup for Kansas City in 2006, is up for the job. Or he could turn to two-year MLS backup Bill Gaudette or emerging Andy Gruenebaum.

Schmid says he's quite comfortable with his situation in goal. Clearly he believed the team had reached its plateau behind Busch, who was a swell team guy but appeared to be in physical decline and didn't always distribute the way Schmid preferred. Busch was a fan of the long ball; Schmid fancies a controlled build from the back.

Biggest X Factor: Duncan Oughton

Few athletes ever recover from Oughton's type of knee surgery. Following the 2004 season doctors performed a fairly radical procedure, where cells from knee cartilage are removed, grown in a lab and then later reinserted.

The central midfielder missed all of 2005 and then played with limited effectiveness nine times last year. Now he assumes his place once again as the club's emotional fulcrum, a fearless fighter, a guy who radiates strength and conviction.

"He bleeds the colors of the club," Schmid said. "He would cut off his arm for a teammate. That's important, because he can share that [mentality] with other players."

But is he the same player physically? Schmid said during preseason Oughton was about 75 percent of his previous level. The New Zealander is unlikely to ever regain the same foot speed. But he's a little smarter in reading the game and perhaps a little better passer now.

If Oughton, 29, can't get it done on the field, Schmid can turn to Danny Szetela. But the young Szetela can't prop up the team's fragile confidence the way Oughton can.

Breakout Player to Watch: Danny O'Rourke

Tough to pick out a guy on offense, because it's impossible to tell who will get on the field. On the other hand, Danny O'Rourke almost certainly will be counted upon to occupy one of the holding spots in a three-man midfield triangle.

O'Rourke has been surprisingly well-traveled since being drafted (fourth overall) amid much hubbub in 2005. He couldn't hold a starting spot once Ricardo Clark and Dwayne De Rosario bonded centrally in San Jose. (Certainly there is no shame in that.) He relocated to Houston but was shipped a week before the season to New York, where he started 27 games last year. Plucked in the expansion draft by Toronto, O'Rourke was dealt quickly to Columbus.

The Crew simply must be stronger down the middle this year. So much depends on Oughton's recovery -- but O'Rourke's ability to take command the way he once did as a Hermann Trophy winner at Indiana will have a lot to say about it, too.

Outlook:

This team has far more offensive ability than last year's injury-bitten lot (270 matches lost to injuries, according to the team.) The 2006 Crew flirted briefly with MLS records for fewest goals scored (Colorado with 29 goals in 2004), finishing with an anemic 30 in 32 games, easily the 2006 league-low.

The sprains-and-strains factor simply cannot be as dreadful in 2007. That plus the attacking additions will make Columbus a far stronger team with the ball. The club is sure to cause defensive headaches in a 4-3-3 setup.

Where the Crew ultimately lands, then, depends upon how the team stacks up defensively. It's not as deep along the back line, and two defenders (Ezra Hendrickson and Frankie Hejduk) are 32 or older. The goalkeeping situation? Who knows?

So Schmid's men are likely to be entertaining, score a bunch of goals, give up a few regrettable ones and finish somewhere in the middle of the Eastern pack. They'll help themselves tremendously if they make Crew Stadium a hard place to play once more; the Crew won as many games on the road (four) as at home last year.

Steve Davis is a Dallas-based freelance writer who covers MLS for ESPNsoccernet. He can be reached at BigTexSoccer@yahoo.com.