Excited About Preseason? I'm Not.

The Columbus Crew played three games in Florida. They lost to Malmo 2-1, resoundingly beat the U.S. U-17 residency team 10-0, and lost to the Seattle Sounders 2-0. Without that lopsided win that was a matchup of men against boys, the offense hasn't done much and it doesn't matter. The games don't matter; this part of preseason doesn't matter.

I find it hard to get excited about preseason results. I like seeing lineups to try and deduce Coach Warzycha's rotation or how the team is set up, but ultimately I haven't seen a minute of action. I have no idea how anyone is playing or if the team is in experimental mode, trying to regain fitness, or actually trying to solidify the starting XI.

That doesn't mean there aren't questions that come out of the early preseason games, how close to a starting XI is out there, how will the team line up, who is the starter at left back, and other such questions. Even those answers are speculation, Lance Liang and Kasall Casal recently started preseason games, but still haven't been signed and are now in camp with Real Salt Lake.

These games are about positional battles and trying to integrate new signings into the lineups. The Crew have three games in Charleston for the Carolina Challenge Cup against D.C. United, Chicago Fire, and the Charleston Battery. That's two MLS teams trying to get ready for the season and a host trying to put on a good show. It's still the preseason, but the true Crew team should start to show itself.