The Miami Fusion just can’t get it right.
Early in the season, the Fusion won without Colombian playmaker Carlos Valderrama in the lineup and lost with him.
Now the Fusion can’t win, period.
Since Valderrama left to join the Colombian national team, the Fusion has lost six in a row. Miami is barely hanging on to the last playoff spot in a World Cup-depleted Eastern Conference. The Fusion is 5-10 with 11 points, good enough for fourth place.
“Valderrama keeps the attention of our opponents,” Fusion coach Carlos Cordoba said after the latest setback, a 3-1 loss to the MetroStars last Saturday. “When he’s on the field, he buys us some respect.”
Miami’s biggest problem has been scoring goals. In 15 games the Fusion has scored just 13 goals, last in the league. Cordoba hopes that Brazilian allocation Paulinho McLaren will make a difference.
McLaren made his debut against the MetroStars, and played 46 minutes without recording a shot on goal. It was the first time he touched a soccer ball in 25 days.
“It’s difficult to come into a new situation like this,” McLaren said. “This team needs some offense, and I hope I can bring it to them.”
Turnaround: Speaking of the MetroStars, after starting the season 0-3, they’ve since won eight of their last 11. The MetroStars overtook Columbus for second place in the Eastern Conference, and they faced the Crew in a Saturday showdown in Columbus.
Our guy: Members of the Crew thought that their main guy, Arlington Heights native Brian McBride, should have gotten an opportunity to play in the U.S. national team’s 2-0 loss to Germany. Eric Wynalda, still recovering from a knee injury, and Roy Wegerle split the time at forward.
“With one striker up front, I think Brian should have started,” Crew forward Stern John said. “He’s 100 percent, and Wynalda’s not. I don’t know if it’s favoritism. I hope Brian gets his shot.”
“Brian would have done well in the air against the Germans,” Crew coach Tom Fitzgerald said.
Gut check: Fitzgerald tried a different tactic in last Saturday’s 4-3 shootout loss to D.C. United.
Entering the match, the Crew was 0-2 in shootouts. Fitzgerald replaced starting goalkeeper Mark Dougherty with David Winner in the 90th minute.
“It was a gut feeling,” Fitzgerald said. “David Winner has always done extremely well in shootouts, and (I thought) this could change our luck in shootouts.”
It didn’t. The Crew fell to 0-3 in shootouts.
“Sometimes your decisions backfire on you,” Fitzgerald said. “You look back as a coach and say, `Geez, if I had stayed with Mark, we may have won.’ “
Why they got him: In just one game, Los Angeles Galaxy forward Carlos Hermosillo showed why the league pursued him for three years. Hermosillo had two assists in the Galaxy’s 5-1 victory over New England, but maybe more important, 38,383 fans attended the match. That was 15,000 more than the Galaxy was averaging a game and put L.A. on top in MLS with an average of 24,447. New York is second at 21,832, followed by the Fire’s 19,948. The league average is 14,820.
