You'll see a new-look Columbus Crew team of sorts on Saturday at PPL Park, but not by choice: Sporting Director and Head Coach Gregg Berhalter must replace both central attacking midfielder Federico Higuain and leftback Waylon Francis due to suspension. It's a difficult predicament for the Crew boss given the magnitude of the match and the relatively good form that both Higuain (two goals over his last three matches) and Francis (five assists over his last nine matches) have been displaying.
With the Crew's depth having been a strength all season long, the club now has a "good problem" in the sense that there is no obvious fill-in for either player, but particularly for Francis. It would seem that the club has two main options to replace its leftback, based on the tandem that filled in while Francis was with Costa Rica at the 2014 FIFA World Cup: Bernardo Anor or Chad Barson, with the former providing an offensive slant and the latter a defensive lean.
Gregg Berhalter acknowledged those two as options but also added that Ben Sweat could be in the mix.
"[Sweat] is a little green, but he's been doing well in training," said the Crew boss. "There are a number of options."
With the news that Francis is out for two matches due to yellow-card accumulation and a separate red card suspension, the Crew has to replace Francis for longer than originally thought, but that doesn't change the thought process of who plays on Saturday at Philadelphia, according to Berhalter.
"We look at this particular match-up, what will be the best for us in this particular match-up. It's unfortunate that Waylon's missing these two games. He was in good form. It's too bad."
There is also the wild-card option of having Emanuel Pogatetz make his debut at central defense and shifting Tyson Wahl wide left, or possibly even playing Pogatetz alongside a different leftback. Berhalter said today at training that Pogatetz is fit and is a full-fledged option for selection.
Meanwhile, from Higuain's standpoint, it would seem that Ben Speas is the like-for-like replacement, but Berhalter said he was considering a lot of possibilities, including a subtle formation shift to play two strikers.
"We consider a lot of things. I think that means a number of players in that position," said Berhalter. "We can go with two forwards, we can go with Bernardo [Anor] there, we can go with Ben Speas, we can go with Romain [Gall]. There are a lot of alternatives in that position."
No matter who lines up under the Commodore Barry Bridge Saturday evening, the fact remains that by this point in the season, Berhalter and the Crew's coaching staff have a good idea of what each player gives them tactically. Still, the Crew boss acknowledged that it was an open competition of sorts throughout this week.
"We have a pretty good idea of what the guys can offer. It's probably about 60% based on history and 40% based on this week of training."
