Crew prepares for strike duo of McInerney and Di Vaio

McInerney Di Vaio

The Crew defense has faced a strong run of opposing strikers in recent matches: Deshorn Brown, Bradley Wright-Phillips, Thierry Henry and Dom Dwyer have all lined up against the Black & Gold in July alone. The road doesn't get any easier on Saturday as the Montreal Impact visits Crew Stadium. The Impact boasts the duo of Jack McInerney and Marco Di Vaio, two of the most dangerous strikers in the League.


Montreal Head Coach and Director of Player Personnel Frank Klopas hasn't always started both McInerney and Di Vaio together, but he has done so in two consecutive matches after not starting the pair together for all of June.


"They both move very well off the ball," said Crew Sporting Director and Head Coach Gregg Berhalter on the duo. "When they're both playing, you have to look out. There's certainly some danger with movement. When they're both not on the field, it lessens that and they become a little bit less dangerous."


If the strike tandem does line up together at Crew Stadium on Saturday, the Black & Gold need to watch out: no two current teammates have more goals over the past two seasons than McInerney (who spent 2013 and the early part of 2014 with Philadelphia) and Di Vaio:

<u>Players</u>
<u>Team</u>
<u>Goals</u>
<u>Shots</u>
<u>Shots on Target</u>
<u>Matches Played</u>
<strong>Jack McInerney/Marco Di Vaio</strong>
<strong>MTL</strong>
<strong>42</strong>
<strong>211</strong>
<strong>114</strong>
<strong>91</strong>
Robbie Keane/Landon Donovan
LA
38
158
88
74
Mike Magee/Quincy Amarikwa
CHI
35
143
84
72
Alvaro Saborio/Javier Morales
RSL
31
124
60
71
Thierry Henry/Bradley Wright-Phillips
NY
31
170
84
71
Obafemi Martins/Lamar Neagle
SEA
29
156
80
83
Eddie Johnson/Fabian Espindola
DC
27
150
78
79
Chris Wondolowski/Atiba Harris
SJ
27
199
92
97
Will Bruin/Giles Barnes
HOU
27
233
98
100
Lee Nguyen/Diego Fagundez
NE
27
144
84
98
Diego Valeri/Will Johnson
POR
27
173
83
97
Dom Dwyer/Claudio Bieler
SKC
27
151
66
71

Speaking to what Berhalter said about their movement, only one other duo (Houston's Will Bruin and Giles Barnes) has more shots, and nobody else has as many shots on target. Movement creates chances, and Montreal's McInerney and Di Vaio figure to be a test for the Crew's re-bolstered backline, which did a good job against Dom Dwyer on Wednesday and needs to be ready again on Saturday.

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