2011 Columbus Crew season

The Crew opened its 2011 campaign with a Champions League quarterfinal fixture against fellow MLS competitor, Real Salt Lake. The match, the first leg of a quarterfinal series, was at Columbus Crew Stadium on February 22, 2011 and ended in a 0-0 draw. Columbus was trying to advance past the Quarterfinal stage after falling to Toluca 5-4 on aggregate last season.

On March 1, Columbus traveled to Rio Tinto Stadium and fell to Real Salt Lake by a score of 4-1, thus ending the Crew's run in the 2010–11 CONCACAF Champions League.

Two and a half weeks later, Columbus opened up its Major League Soccer campaign by traveling to Washington, D.C. to take on D.C. United on March 19. The club's MLS home opener was one week later, when the Crew hosted Red Bull New York on March 26.^[1]

As of September 3, 2011.^[2]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  USA William Hesmer 2 DF  USA Rich Balchan 3 DF  USA Josh Williams 5 DF  USA Danny O'Rourke 6 MF  CMR Tony Tchani 7 MF  VEN Bernardo Añor (INT) 9 FW  IRQ Justin Meram 10 FW  PER Andrés Mendoza (INT; DP) 11 MF  USA Dilly Duka 12 MF  USA Eddie Gaven 14 DF  USA Chad Marshall (captain) 15 MF  USA Kevin Burns 16 DF  USA Eric Gehrig (SUP) 17 MF  NGA Emmanuel Ekpo 18 MF  USA Robbie Rogers

No. Pos. Nation Player 19 MF  USA Cole Grossman 20 FW  VEN Emilio Rentería (INT) 21 DF  CHI Sebastián Miranda (INT) 22 MF  SRB Dejan Rusmir (INT) 23 DF  USA Korey Veeder (SUP) 24 DF  USA Ben Sippola (SUP) 25 GK  USA Alex Riggs (SUP) 26 DF  TRI Julius James 27 FW  USA Aaron Horton (HGP; SUP) 28 MF  ARG Santiago Prim (INT; SUP) 29 DF  JAM Shaun Francis (INT) 30 GK  USA Andy Gruenebaum 31 MF  USA Josh Gardner 32 FW  USA Tom Heinemann 33 FW  USA Jeff Cunningham

Position	Staff
President/General Manager	Mark McCullers
Technical Director	Brian Bliss
Head Coach	Robert Warzycha
Assistant Coach	Ricardo Iribarren
Assistant Coach	Mike Lapper
Goalkeeper Coach	Vadim Kirillov
Strength/Fitness Coach	Mike Tremble
Athletic Trainer	David Lagow
Assistant Trainer	Skylar Richards
Director of Team Operations	Tucker Walther
Equipment Manager	Rusty Wummel

Summarize Timeline Top Qs Fact Check

The Crew started preseason in Columbus and played games in Arizona, Tennessee and Georgia before returning to Ohio. The Crew brought in the following trialists during training camp: Caleb Patterson-Sewell, Mark Blades, Neri Bandiera, Pat McAfee, Ray Burse, Alex Fraga, Alex Riggs, Josh Gardner and Eric Gehrig.^[4][5]

Unsigned draft picks Rich Balchan, Justin Meram, Cole Grossman, Bernardo Añor, Ben Sippola and Andy Adlard also joined the team for preseason.^[6]

Summarize Timeline Top Qs Fact Check

Competition	First match	Last match	Starting round	Final position	Record
					Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
Major League Soccer	March 19, 2011	October 22, 2011	Matchday 1	9th	34	13	8	13	43	44	−1	038.24
MLS Cup Playoffs	October 27, 2011	October 27, 2011	Wildcard Match	Wildcard Match	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1	000.00
U.S. Open Cup	June 28, 2011	June 28, 2011	Third Round	Third Round	1	0	0	1	1	2	−1	000.00
CONCACAF Champions League	February 22, 2011	March 11, 2011	Quarterfinals	Quarterfinals	2	0	1	1	1	4	−3	000.00
Total					38	13	9	16	45	51	−6	034.21

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
2	Houston Dynamo	34	12	9	13	45	41	+4	49	MLS Cup Conference Semifinals
3	Philadelphia Union	34	11	8	15	44	36	+8	48
4	Columbus Crew	34	13	13	8	43	44	−1	47	MLS Cup Play-In Round
5	New York Red Bulls	34	10	8	16	50	44	+6	46
6	Chicago Fire	34	9	9	16	46	45	+1	43

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts
7	Colorado Rapids	34	12	9	13	44	41	+3	49
8	Philadelphia Union	34	11	8	15	44	36	+8	48
9	Columbus Crew	34	13	13	8	43	44	−1	47
10	New York Red Bulls	34	10	8	16	50	44	+6	46
11	Chicago Fire	34	9	9	16	46	45	+1	43

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	Pts	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD
34	47	13	13	8	43	44	−1	9	3	5	27	18	+9	4	10	3	16	26	−10

Last updated: November 6, 2011
Source: MLSSoccer.com
Pld = Matches played; Pts = Points; W = Matches won; T = Matches tied; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference

With a fifth-place overall finish last season, the Crew secured direct qualification into the third-round proper of the U.S. Open Cup.

Pos	Club	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Columbus Crew Reserves (C)	10	9	1	0	29	10	+19	27
2	D.C. United Reserves	10	5	1	4	21	14	+7	19
3	New England Revolution Reserves	10	4	5	1	14	22	−8	13
4	New York Red Bulls Reserves	9	2	5	2	10	20	−10	9
5	Toronto FC Reserves	9	2	5	2	15	15	0	8
6	Philadelphia Union Reserves	10	2	7	1	9	17	−8	7

Summarize Timeline Fact Check

Under "Apps" for each section, the first number represents the number of starts, and the second number represents appearances as a substitute.

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		MLS		MLS Cup Playoffs		U.S. Open Cup		CONCACAF Champions League
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK	USA	William Hesmer	33	0	32+0	0	1+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
2	DF	USA	Rich Balchan	22	1	18+1	1	1+0	0	0+0	0	2+0	0
3	DF	USA	Josh Williams	0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
5	DF	USA	Danny O'Rourke	7	0	5+1	0	0+0	0	1+0	0	0+0	0
6	MF	CMR	Tony Tchani	1	0	0+0	0	1+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
7	MF	VEN	Bernardo Añor	14	1	6+7	1	0+0	0	0+1	0	0+0	0
9	FW	IRQ	Justin Meram	20	0	4+13	0	0+0	0	1+0	0	0+2	0
10	FW	PER	Andrés Mendoza	32	13	25+4	13	1+0	0	0+0	0	2+0	0
11	MF	USA	Dilly Duka	24	2	16+6	2	1+0	0	0+0	0	0+1	0
12	MF	USA	Eddie Gaven	29	5	26+0	5	1+0	0	0+0	0	2+0	0
14	DF	USA	Chad Marshall	33	0	32+0	0	1+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
15	MF	USA	Kevin Burns	20	0	15+4	0	0+0	0	1+0	0	0+0	0
16	DF	USA	Eric Gehrig	9	0	4+4	0	0+0	0	1+0	0	0+0	0
17	MF	NGA	Emmanuel Ekpo	34	1	29+3	1	0+0	0	0+0	0	2+0	0
18	MF	USA	Robbie Rogers	31	2	24+3	2	1+0	0	1+0	0	2+0	0
19	MF	USA	Cole Grossman	5	1	0+2	0	0+0	0	1+0	1	2+0	0
20	FW	VEN	Emilio Rentería	20	8	14+4	8	0+1	0	0+0	0	1+0	0
21	DF	CHI	Sebastián Miranda	37	0	34+0	0	1+0	0	0+0	0	2+0	0
22	MF	SRB	Dejan Rusmir	19	0	13+5	0	0+0	0	1+0	0	0+0	0
23	DF	USA	Korey Veeder	1	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	1+0	0	0+0	0
24	DF	USA	Ben Sippola	0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
25	GK	USA	Alex Riggs	0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
26	DF	TRI	Julius James	33	1	31+0	1	1+0	0	0+0	0	0+1	0
27	FW	USA	Aaron Horton	1	0	0+1	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
28	MF	ARG	Santiago Prim	1	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	1+0	0	0+0	0
29	DF	JAM	Shaun Francis	6	0	5+1	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
30	GK	USA	Andy Gruenebaum	3	0	2+0	0	0+0	0	1+0	0	0+0	0
31	MF	USA	Josh Gardner	25	2	21+1	2	1+0	0	0+0	0	2+0	0
32	FW	USA	Tom Heinemann	30	3	12+16	3	0+1	0	0+1	0	0+0	0
33	FW	USA	Jeff Cunningham	25	2	4+17	2	0+1	0	1+0	0	1+1	0
			Own goal	0	3	-	3	-	0	-	0	-	0
Players who left Columbus during the season:
4	DF	ENG	Andy Iro	7	0	2+2	0	0+0	0	0+1	0	2+0	0
6	MF	USA	Andy Adlard	0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
13	MF	FRA	Leandre Griffit	2	0	0+1	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+1	0
27	DF	SUI	Kwaku Nyamekye	0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
34	GK	USA	Ray Burse	2	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	2+0	0
34	GK	USA	Chris Konopka	2	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	2+0	0

No.	Pos.	Name	MLS		MLS Playoffs		U.S. Open Cup		CONCACAF Champions League		Total
1	GK	William Hesmer	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
2	DF	Rich Balchan	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
3	DF	Josh Williams	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
5	DF	Danny O'Rourke	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	1
6	MF	Tony Tchani	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
7	MF	Bernardo Añor	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
9	FW	Justin Meram	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
10	FW	Andrés Mendoza	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
11	MF	Dilly Duka	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
12	MF	Eddie Gaven	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
14	DF	Chad Marshall	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
15	MF	Kevin Burns	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
16	DF	Eric Gehrig	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
17	MF	Emmanuel Ekpo	8	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	8	2
18	MF	Robbie Rogers	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
19	MF	Cole Grossman	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
20	FW	Emilio Rentería	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1
21	DF	Sebastián Miranda	5	0	1	0	0	0	2	0	8	0
22	MF	Dejan Rusmir	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
23	DF	Korey Veeder	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
24	DF	Ben Sippola	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
25	GK	Alex Riggs	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
26	DF	Julius James	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	7	0
27	FW	Aaron Horton	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
28	MF	Santiago Prim	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
29	DF	Shaun Francis	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
30	GK	Andy Gruenebaum	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
31	MF	Josh Gardner	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0
32	FW	Tom Heinemann	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
33	FW	Jeff Cunningham	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Players who left Columbus during the season:
4	DF	Andy Iro	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1
6	MF	Andy Adlard	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
13	MF	Léandre Griffit	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
27	DF	Kwaku Nyamekye	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
34	GK	Ray Burse	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
34	GK	Chris Konopka	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

No.	Name	MLS	MLS Playoffs	U.S. Open Cup	CONCACAF Champions League	Total	Games Played
		1	William Hesmer	8	0	0	0	8	33
25	Alex Riggs	0	0	0	0	0	0
30	Andy Gruenebaum	2	0	0	0	2	3
Players who left Columbus during the season:
25	Ray Burse	0	0	0	1	1	2
34	Chris Konopka	0	0	0	0	0	0