Prior to Wednesday's match at Houston, Crew midfielder Wil Trapp featured in the club's starting lineup for every match since July 4, 2013—24 starts in all.
While the 21-year-old called it "frustrating" to have to watch his teammates play from a skybox against the Dynamo, he also took the opportunity to improve his game in a unique way.
"I got to take a different point of view from the game against Houston, and see some things that maybe I wouldn’t be seeing if I was on the field," said Trapp. "You have to find the silver lining sometimes."
Considering that Trapp has rapidly ascended as a holding midfielder on the field for Columbus, the thought of him finding additional ways to improve his game off the field is certainly encouraging for the Crew.
"Organizational things," said Trapp, when asked what he saw in observing the Houston match. "When you’re up watching [the match], you can kind of see the field a little bit more, and how we could have broken down Houston a little bit better. I think I can apply that to [the Vancouver match], and going forward."
Trapp is available for selection on Saturday after serving his one-match red-card suspension, and the Crew figures to need him to help contain a fast group of Whitecaps FC attackers. Trapp says that the Crew need to stay organized vs. Vancouver—precisely the element he says he observed from above in Houston.
"They have lots of skill guys in the front half of their team," said Trapp. "They’re very explosive, very quick, [they have] good one vs. one players, and they’re good around the box.
"We have to be disciplined in pushing numbers forward, because if the ball turns over, they’re going to fly at us. That’s just a team shape sort of thing. We have to be reading those situations ahead of time, and be able to put out the fires before they even happen. We just have to get pressure, cover around guys who are skillful one vs. one, and crowd them out."
