After signing with the Crew in early May, midfielder Chris Birchall quickly found his way into coach Robert Warzycha’s starting lineup.
But after a self-described poor outing in a 2-0 road loss to New England on Sept. 5, Birchall, a World Cup veteran for Trinidad & Tobago, found himself relegated to the role of spectator for three straight games.
For that, Birchall had the recent play of veteran Danny O’Rourke to thank.
“Let me ask you a question: What is Danny O’Rourke doing wrong?” Warzycha said last week when asked about Birchall’s plight.
“Birchall is playing his position. He’s not playing (Olman) Vargas’ position or Julius James’ position or Justin Meram’s. He’s playing Danny O’Rourke’s position, so what is wrong with Danny? That’s the thing.”
This weekend, however, Birchall is the odds-on favorite to play O’Rourke’s position as a central midfielder. O’Rourke will have to sit out Sunday’s match against Sporting Kansas City because of yellow-card accumulation, breaking a streak of eight starts.
It marked the most consistent stretch of starts for O’Rourke in two years. As a number of injuries have kept O’Rourke, a Worthington Kilbourne product, on the sideline, Warzycha has rotated several players through the lineup.
In addition to Birchall, Warzycha listed second-year player Cole Grossman, veteran Tony Tchani and rookie Kevan George as possible candidates to play as a defensive midfielder.
Birchall’s start Saturday against Philadelphia came as a right midfielder because of an ankle injury suffered by Dilly Duka, and Birchall said he is willing to play either position.
Perhaps, not surprisingly, Birchall said Grossman was lobbying yesterday for him to reprise his role on the right.
“Maybe he’s just trying to push me to say I’ll play on the right so he can play in the middle,” Birchall said with a laugh.
With an extra day of preparation this week — the game is the Crew’s first Sunday home match of the season — Warzycha said he was not in a hurry to complete what could be his most juggled lineup in weeks. With the Crew one point out of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, Warzycha has been reluctant to change much.
Duka is expected to be available, as is forward Jairo Arrieta, who suffered an ankle injury during Saturday’s victory. James left the match early because of a shoulder injury but will wear a sleeve that should allow him to play, Warzycha said.
However, James replaced Carlos Mendes in the starting lineup when he suffered a hamstring injury Aug. 25, and Mendes is expected to be available this weekend, as well.
In addition, forward Federico Higuain and defender Chad Marshall did not train yesterday. Warzycha said Higuain had some foot pain and Marshall had an injection but declined to further clarify.
“We have to figure out this week what we’re going to do,” he said. “It’s going to be a tough week for us.”