Champion Crew begin new era

COLUMBUS - Call it Robert Warzycha's team version 1.5.

The Columbus Crew coach belatedly held the first preseason training session for the defending MLS Cup champions Thursday morning at an indoor facility north of the city.

Warzycha went from first assistant to the top job when Sigi Schmid left for Seattle Sounders FC in December. While Warzycha is a full-time head coach for the first time, he's been in charge of the Crew before under different circumstances.

In 2005, he took a team that was 4-10-2 under Greg Andrulis to a 7-6-3 record the remainder of the season while carrying the interim tag. He was interviewed for the permanent post before it ultimately went to Schmid.

Now, it's Warzycha's unenviable task to try and replicate the 2008 season when the Crew -- non-qualifiers for the playoffs the previous three seasons -- shocked most everyone, including their fans, by winning the Supporters' Shield and the title in their first MLS Cup appearance.

"There was much more pressure in 2005," said Warzycha. "When I took over in 2005, the team was in the hole because we had only 14 points and we were losing games. That was a little bit different.

"We have a championship team, now. If you look at the players and their mentality it was a little bit different from last time. It's two different situations. It feels great to be here."

The former Crew player was anxious to get going on Wednesday but a rather large ice and snow storm paralyzed Columbus and forced the cancellation of the first day of camp.

"I was anxious to get on the field with the players. I was happy to see them today," he said. "Happy, too, that everyone is healthy."

It was a not a full squad that went through almost two hours of training. Goalkeeper William Hesmer, defender Frankie Hejduk and midfielders Brian Carroll, Eddie Gaven and Robbie Rogers are training in Carson, Calif., in preparation for the U.S.-Mexico World Cup qualifier that will be played Feb. 11 in Crew Stadium.

League and MLS Cup MVP Guillermo Barros Schelotto is expected to arrive from Argentina this weekend as is forward Jason Garey, who was given an excused absence to celebrate his wedding with family and friends in Louisiana.

Also, goalkeeper coach Vadim Kirillov missed practice because of the flu but first-year assistant coach and former Crew defender Ricardo Iribarren was in hand to help Warzycha and assistant coach Mike Lapper.

SuperDraft picks Alex Grendi and Chris Clements and non-roster invitees Ty Shipalane and Tom Heinemann participated but the first selection, defender Paul Gerstenberger, will join the club in Florida next week.

The Crew will train in Columbus through Wednesday then begin 12 days in Bradenton, Fla., on Feb. 6. After resuming training in Columbus Feb. 20-24, the team will be based in Liverpool, England Feb. 26 to March 6. The final stops before the season opener March 21 at Houston are games March 12 in Laredo, Texas, and two days later in Austin, Texas.

"It's the eighth year I've been doing this. In preseason you try to get ready and get back into the rhythm of things and hopefully get some good work not only here but in Florida," forward Alejandro Moreno said. "It's not ideal (in Columbus) but it is what we have. We try to make the best of it. When we get down to Florida next week, with the heat and humidity perhaps we might be thinking it's better to be in the cold weather."

The Crew are in unchartered territory as they start season No. 14. For the first time, the label "defending champion" is in front of the name.

"We have a target on our back. It's up to us to realize that's the case but not feel the pressure. We have to use it to our advantage. It will be a tough challenge," defender Danny O'Rourke said.

Being the hunted is better than the alternative. Just ask forward Pat Noonan. He was on the losing side of the MLS Cup the previous three years with New England before he joined the Crew in August and earned his first championship three months later.

"We've had enough time to relish it and enjoy it," he said. "It's over now. It's the first day of a new season and the start, hopefully, of working our way back to a championship."

The theme around the team is that there is no sense living in the past.

"Every season is different and every season posts a different challenge," Moreno said. "It's a new story. It's up to us to make the most of it and up to us to make the best of it.

"We're not sneaking up on any team. We're not a team that people perhaps didn't give much of a chance. We're now a team people talk about getting back to the MLS Cup. For us, the key is getting back to the things we know how to do the best -- that is to work very, very a hard for each other and sacrifice for each other and make the most of our opportunities going forward."