Moreno shines while doing dirty work

COLUMBUS -- The paradox of Columbus Crew forward Alejandro Moreno is that he does some of his best work when he's not striking the ball.

"He holds the ball so well for us. When he's able to hold it and then when we have Guillermo (Barros Schelotto) running off of him, then it gives me and Robbie time to run to those spots in the flank," midfielder Eddie Gaven said.

Gaven and Robbie Rogers have caused headaches for opponents out wide with their ability to run off Moreno. As the defenders draw toward Moreno he usually has options to the either side or he can lay the ball back to Schelotto.

"(Moreno is) a player that will always work for you and fight for you. He's an experienced player," Rogers said. "He holds the ball really well. You know if you play the ball into him he's going to look for you and you can make runs off him. He does a lot of the dirty work. He's not as flashy as some of the other strikers but it's effective and I'd rather take a guy like that than someone who's going to have some flashes here and there."

Meet, Alejandro Moreno -- Joe the Plumber of MLS.

"I do my job. Sometimes it's not pretty," Moreno said. "Sometimes it's a lot of opening space for other people, a lot of hold-up play, perhaps fouls around the box; the things that don't show in how the team does statistically over the course of a year."

His play befits the Crew's workingman image but that's not the full story. Moreno has a career-high nine goals plus four assists in 26 games while also earning his way back onto the Venezuelan national team where he has scored a couple of goals.

"He works his butt off but he has a lot more skill than people give him credit for," Gaven said. "He's a guy who works really hard, gets himself in good spots. This year he's scored some very important goals for us. When people think if him it's of someone up there working hard and fighting and doing all that stuff. He does all that but he's got skill. He's got good vision, a good shot."

Moreno, 29, broke in with the MLS Cup-winning Los Angeles Galaxy in 2002 under current Crew coach Sigi Schmid. Moreno was dealt to San Jose in 2005 and moved with the club to Houston the next season and helped the Dynamo to the MLS Cup. He was traded to Columbus on May 9, 2007.

His previous best goal totals were eight in 31 games for San Jose and seven in 25 matches last season but Schmid told him prior to the 2008 season that his goal should be between 10 and 15 scores.

"He's always been at a place where he wasn't the focal point of the attack," Schmid said. "The focal point was Carlos Ruiz when he was in L.A. His job was to do the work and help set up Ruiz. In San Jose and Houston it was (Brian) Ching.

"Obviously the focal point of our attack is Schelotto but (Moreno) has never been the main striker like he is here. When you look at his goals and add in his assists and look at the games he's played, basically every other game he's involved in a goal either scoring or getting an assist. That's what you want from a center forward."

The Crew missed the playoffs last season for the third consecutive year but have already clinched the Supporters' Shield with a 16-7-6 record going into Sunday's finale against D.C. United. That the Crew are also second in goals scored is a tribute to the work of Moreno, among others.

"His ability to hold up the ball for us is a very important aspect for us," Schmid said. "It allows the other guys to get involved in the game. It allows Rogers to forward. It allows a Gaven to get forward. It allows Guillermo to rejoin the attack. It gets the midfield forward. You need that guy up front who can hold the ball and give your team a chance to get forward."

Moreno took Schmid's challenge to reach double-figure scoring to heart.

"That was a goal he set but overall looking at the balance of the season both him and I will be pretty content and satisfied with how things have gone," he said. "We've put ourselves in the position where not only myself but the team can do a lot of special things in the upcoming four or five weeks.

"He knew my scoring goals and my being dangerous around the box is going to be important for this team not only for me scoring goals but certainly for other guys to get involved. If I attract more and more attention around the box that allows Robbie and Eddie Gaven to be more dangerous and with Guillermo on the field it makes us a dangerous team going forward."

The term "natural scorer" is never attached to Moreno but Schmid has no qualms.

"You look at guys around the world that are big-time goal scorers. They all hang out at times. Ali's not a hanging-out type of guy," said Schmid. "He's active and motoring around. As a result the attention is on him. Sometimes the ones people refer to as natural goal scorers, with them hanging out, the defenders forget about them. All of a sudden there they are.

"That's not Ali's work ethic. That's not what he does. When he's out there he's like a dynamo. He keeps going. He keeps grinding away and through that he gets his opportunities. What he does is very important to our team."

Don't expect Moreno to take a different path.

"I haven't changed my game in years and I wasn't about to this year. I've made a conscious effort to be around the box, be dangerous in the box and continue to work and take advantage of the opportunities presented," he said.

Schmid's biggest concern has been keeping Moreno fresh.

"I used to coach a guy like that, Joe-Max Moore," Schmid said. "You have to tell the guy to rest. Resting wasn't part of their vocabulary. Their vocabulary is, 'If something's not going I've got to work harder. If something's not working I've got to train more, I've got to get out there every day.'"

That's why last Saturday was so painful for Moreno. Having played midweek for Venezuela, Schmid opted not to take Moreno to New York. Moreno agonized watching at home during the 3-1 loss to snap a Crew nine-game unbeaten streak.

"I had a long conversation with Sigi about it. He felt it was better for me to stay. He's the coach. I'm the player so I went along with it," he said.

"I had to call his wife and tell her to chain him to the bedpost to make sure he couldn't go to the airport and get on the plane or take a later flight," Schmid joked. "He wants to play all the time but for us and for him right now, with the path ahead of us, it was best to rest him."