Jairo Arrieta’s woes in front of goal continued tonight as another 90 minutes went by without a goal. He now has 1 goal in 11 games this season with his last goal coming nearly 3 months ago on March 9 against Vancouver. He finished last season in tremendous form, ending with a goal every other game, 9 scores in 18 games.
Watching him tonight he seems to be doing the same things as last season, sitting on the shoulder of the last defender and making the runs in behind the defense. Though it’s the final shot that is the difference this season, going a couple of inches the wrong side of the post.
With the Crew only playing one upfront, then a change will be required if Arrieta does not start scoring very soon. A formation change could have a positive effect, possible pushing Higuain further up the pitch to give the opposition defenders more to think about and giving Arrieta more space. The other alternative would be to bench him, but looking at the reserves there does not seem anyone that could come in do a better job.
Columbus has drawn 5 games this season and 3 of their 4 loses were only by a goal. This highlights that Arrieta’s form in front of goal is having a big effect on the Crew’s season. If he had chipped in with a few more goals then Columbus would be well into the playoff positions.
