GAME 30:  CREW 1 - 1 NASHVILLE

 

https://www.massivereport.com/2021/10/20/22737623/columbus-crew-tie-nashville-sc-1-1

https://www.mlssoccer.com/competitions/mls-regular-season/2021/matches/nshvsclb-10-20-2021/

 

I was already rooting for the Crew to win this game because of the playoff implications.  But after seeing Nashville wearing an all-yellow kit and play on a Tennessee Titans marked football field, I really wanted the Crew to win(!)

 

The game played out pretty even and scoreless until the Crew broke through with a goal in the 75th minute on a beautiful counter-attack by Berry to Santos to Zelarayan, who scored.  And then on the very next possession, Nashville gets their own goal to tie it back up(!)  Room made a great save in the 82nd minute to keep the game tied and it ended up a 1-1 draw (which was Nashville's 16th draw this season!).

 

Normally, a road draw is fine.  But with the Crew's playoff position, it doesn't help them that much.  Columbus is now 3 points below the playoff line but in 10th-place.  A win would have tied them with 9th-place NYRB at only one point below the playoff line.  Saturday's match hosting NYRB will be a must-win for both teams.

 

And as @cbussoccer mentioned, Zardes was injured in the game.  It looked like he made contact with a Nashville defender during a shot attempt in the 39th minute.  Zardes was replaced by Berry at halftime.

3 minutes ago, Columbo said:

Normally, a road draw is fine.  But with the Crew's playoff position, it doesn't help them that much.  Columbus is now 3 points below the playoff line but in 10th-place.  A win would have tied them with 9th-place NYRB at only one point below the playoff line.  Saturday's match hosting NYRB will be a must-win for both teams.

 

A win last night would have been huge, although we still have a bit of hope. We currently have 38 points and are chasing NYRB (9th place - 40 points), NYCFC (8th place - 41 points), DC (7th place - 41 points), and MTL (6th place - 42 points). As you mentioned, we play NYRB this Saturday and DC in two weeks. Winning those games could put us ahead of NYRB and even with DC (although we would lose the tiebreaker to them). 

 

Let's look at what it will take to catch these teams, and remember that we need to pass 3 of these 4 teams. We can pick up a maximum of 12 points in our remaining games, which would put us at 50 points for the season. Here's the best each team can do in their remaining games while still allowing us to leap-frog them IF we were to pick up all 12 points:

• NYRB - 3 wins and 2 losses, or 2 wins, 2 draws, and 1 loss. We can hand them one of their losses this weekend. They can also help us out by drawing DC and MTL.
• NYCFC -  2 wins and 2 draws. Picking up 8 points in 4 games seems unlikely for NYCFC as they haven't had that type of form since late July/early August. I think they are the team we are most likely to pass.
• DC - 2 wins and 2 draws. If we beat DC next Saturday, they will need 3 wins to stay ahead of us. They still play NYCFC and NYRB so those games will have huge implications on our playoff hopes. 
• MTL - 2 wins, 1 draw, and 1 loss. With games remaining against Toronto and Houston, it seems highly likely that will pick up at least 2 wins in their remaining games. 

So even assuming we somehow manage to win all 4 remaining games, that's how much help we'll need from the teams ahead of us. 

 

One thing to note is the above scenario is that I'm assuming we lose the tiebreaker with each team if we are even on points. For example, we could conceivably move ahead of NYRB (assuming we pick up all 4 wins) even if they pick up 3 wins, 1 draw, and 1 loss. In that situation, we would be even on points, and even on wins (first tiebreaker), so it would then come down to goal differential. We currently have a -3 GD and NYRB have a +5. At a minimum, that GD would adjust to a +1 for us (assuming we win every game by 1 goal), and + 7 for NYRB (assuming every win/loss is by one goal). So, if NYRB were to pick up 3 wins and a draw, we would have to be cheering for very specific score lines to increase our GD and decrease theirs. 

Head Coach Porter won't be on the sideline for tonight's game, per covid protocol:

-- https://www.dispatch.com/story/sports/2021/10/21/columbus-crew-caleb-porter-miss-saturdays-game-due-covid-protocol/6125509001/

 

Gyasi Zardes out 2-4 weeks with MCL injury, could miss rest of regular season:

-- https://www.dispatch.com/story/sports/2021/10/22/crew-gyasi-zardes-miss-rest-regular-season-mcl-injury/6132874001/

GAME 31:  CREW 1 - 2 NYRB

 

https://www.mlssoccer.com/competitions/mls-regular-season/2021/matches/clbvsrbny-10-23-2021/

https://www.massivereport.com/2021/10/23/22742309/columbus-crew-fall-to-red-bulls-at-home-2-1

 

The Crew did not win their "must-win" game and now their 2021 playoff hopes are nearly gone.  Columbus hasn't been mathematically eliminated - but it would take a miracle to vault over all the teams ahead of them now.

 

The Crew gave up an early goal in the 7th minute, but then tied it up on a Berry goal assisted by Moreira in the 18th minute.  With the game tied 1-1 at halftime, a strong effort in the second half could give the Crew this vital home win.

 

Instead, the Red Bulls dominated the second half.  Only their lack of finishing kept the game tied - particularly a missed PK in the 51st minute.  But the Red Bulls knocked on the Crew goal enough times in the second half that they finally broke through with a game-winning goal in the 87th minute.

GAME 32:  CREW 3 - 2 ORLANDO

 

https://www.mlssoccer.com/competitions/mls-regular-season/2021/matches/clbvsocs-10-27-2021/

https://www.massivereport.com/2021/10/27/22749958/derrick-etienne-lucas-zelarayan-and-columbus-crew-keep-playoff-hopes-alive-beating-orlando-3-2

 

The mood going into this penultimate home game of the 2021 regular season was as gray as the overcast skies in Central Ohio today.  Coach Porter was not able to be on the sidelines for the third straight game, the team was coming off a poor second half in Saturday's loss, and that loss put the Crew at the brink of playoff elimination if they didn't win tonight.

 

We need some Brutus Buckeye energy(!)

 I don't know if it was the Brutus energy, but the Crew did have a great first half.  In the 20th minute, Berry heads in a goal off a Zelarayan corner kick that rebounded back to him and he returned to Berry for the score:

Then, in the 31st minute, Etienne knocked in another Zelarayan corner kick to give the Crew a 2-0 lead at halftime:

But only three minutes into the second half, Orlando got some VAR lifelines.  At the 48th minute, VAR asked the ref to see if an Orlando shot-on-goal in the box touched Mensah's hand.  It did.  Then Room saves the Orlando PK shot - and VAR asked the ref to see if Room stepped off his line early.  He ruled Room did.  Then Orlando converted the second PK shot to make it 2-1.

 

However, an amazing goal-of-the-year shot by Zelarayan in the 61st minute made all that PK nonsense moot.  Just watch:

A late Orlando goal in the 92nd minute made things a little dicey to finish the game.  But they did see it out for a 3-2 win.  So the Crew stave off playoff elimination.  It's probably too little too late, but it was a good performance.

 

They travel to D.C. for the penultimate 2021 regular season game on Saturday.  Then have their regular season finale back in Columbus on Sunday, Nov. 7 for MLS Decision Day.

GAME 33:  CREW 3 - 1 D.C. UNITED

 

https://www.mlssoccer.com/competitions/mls-regular-season/2021/matches/dcvsclb-10-30-2021/

https://www.massivereport.com/2021/10/30/22754925/columbus-crew-defeat-d-c-united-3-1-to-keep-playoff-dreams-alive

 

In their penultimate regular season game, the Crew needed a road win at DC to keep from being eliminated from the playoff race.  After a 3rd minute DC goal, it didn't look good.  But at the end of the first half, a foul on Zelarayan in the box and him converting the PK, tied it up 1-1 at halftime.

 

The Crew would need a strong second half to keep their playoff hopes alive.  And they got it.  In the 66th minute, Nagbe sent a pass that broke Santos free running toward the DC goal.  A fine finish gave the Crew a 2-1 lead:

Then in the 76th minute, Zelarayan clinched it on another goal-of-the-year shot from 30 yards out(!)

Zelarayan has been clutch down the stretch with four goals and three assists in the last four games.  No defensive miscues in the final minutes this time, as the Crew get a big 3-1 road win to stave off elimination again.

Here are Eastern standings for teams not eliminated after last night's games:

 

 

The bad news is that NYRB, ORL and ATL all have an extra game to play before next Sunday's MLS Decision Day.  Orlando hosts Nashville today and NYRB hosts Atlanta on Wednesday.

 

Crew fans should root a Nashville win over Orlando today and an Atlanta win over NYRB on Wednesday to keep them within reach of Columbus.  The points tiebreakers are wins and then GD.

 

The odds are still pretty long for the Crew to sneak into the playoffs, but they are guaranteed to not be mathematically eliminated for next Sunday's Decision Day.  So, for now, they're staying alive(!)

Orlando tied Nashville yesterday - although Orlando thought they had won it on a last play goal in stoppage time, but the game-winning goal got reversed by VAR(!) - so here is the updated standings.  A draw or win makes no difference to Columbus, as the draw point is enough to put them out of reach now:

 

 

Unfortunately, the playoff chances for the Crew look worse with Orlando pulling out of reach.  Although Atlanta and NYRB are within reach point-wise, the goal differential (GD) tiebreak is against the Crew.

 

I think the Crew's best chance is if Atlanta beats NYRB on Wednesday and then NYRB loses on Sunday to finish at 46 points.  The Crew could finish tied at 47 points with Atlanta if the Five Stripes lose to NYRB and then lose at Cincinnati on Sunday - but with the way FCC is playing, that seems unlikely.

 

And those two playoff possibilities are assuming DC or Montreal don't finish ahead of the Crew.  If DC wins on Sunday, they'll finish ahead of the Crew via wins tiebreak.  And Montreal has two remaining games on Wednesday and Sunday.  If they get four points in those two games, they'll finish ahead of the Crew.

 

So with Orlando removed from the teams the Crew could possibility catch, we're left with hoping the Crew win on Sunday and hoping NYRB loses out and hoping DC doesn't win on Sunday and hoping Montreal doesn't get more than three points in their final two games(!)  With is why the Crew's playoff chances now look less like Ted Striker and more like the guy that got stabbed in the back in the Airplane bar scene(!!)

Welp, the Wednesday results didn't go the Crew's way.  Montreal beat Houston to advance past Columbus in the standings.  Then NYRB and Atlanta played to a 0-0 draw.  Which is very bad news because Atlanta can't be caught by Columbus and the Crew's playoff chances narrow down to one option.

 

NYRB must lose on Sunday at Nashville and the Columbus must win on Sunday against Chicago and must make up a 7 goal differential against NYRB(!)  The first part is doable, the second part would be a miracle(!!)

 

And even for that scenario to work, Montreal needs to lose or draw against Orlando and DC needs to lose or draw at Toronto on Sunday.  It's not completely impossible, but to show how improbable it is, the Crew's playoff chance at 538's MLS playoff predictor went from 6% before Wednesday's results to <1% after(!)

 

On gameday morning, SaveTheCrew's Morgan Hughes has been posting the weather forecast.  And although we have some perfect lad-upping weather, here's the post I thought was more relevant:

Also, because injuries have been the theme for 2021, here's one last bit of injury news:

Although today looks like the final game for 2021, Crew fans can still cheer for the impossible starting at 3:30PM:

 

-- Go Crew beat Chicago by multiple goals (4-0 would be fine)

-- Go Nashville beat NYRB by multiple goals (3-0 would be fine)

-- Go Orlando beat/draw Montreal

-- Go Toronto beat/draw DC

GAME 34:  CREW 2 - 0 CHICAGO

 

https://www.mlssoccer.com/competitions/mls-regular-season/2021/matches/clbvschi-11-07-2021/

https://www.massivereport.com/2021/11/7/22768517/columbus-crew-miss-out-on-mls-cup-playoffs-despite-2-0-win-vs-chicago-fire

 

With all the anticipation of Decision Day drama, for Crew fans it got sucked away when NYRB scored 38 SECONDS(!) into their game at Nashville (thanks for nothing fake yellow soccer team).  Although Nashville would later come back to tie it (because that's what Nashville does with 18 draws in 34 games!), that alone would eliminate the Crew from the playoffs.  DC also beat Toronto to eliminate the Crew from the playoffs.  The only result to go the Crew's way on Decision Day was Orlando beating Montreal.

 

Still, the Crew gave their best effort for the final day crowd.  Zelarayan scored another one of his highlight reel goals in the 31st minute.  This time he dribbled past two defenders to beat the Chicago keeper:

 

In the second half, Berry scored his 8th goal in his breakout season in the 58th minute - although it took a VAR review to give it to him:

The Crew kept the pressure on Chicago for more goals (just in case something crazy happened in the other games) but the closest they came was a Nagbe shot off the left post in the 76th minute.  So, despite winning their final three matches, the Crew fall short of the 2021 playoffs.

Here are the final regular season standings for the East:

 

 

The Crew ended up one point below the final playoff line.  Columbus finished 6-2-2 in their final 10 MLS games and won their final three in impressive fashion.  But it was the second half of Game 31 against NYRB that kept them out of the playoffs.  If the Crew had held on to a tie instead of losing to NYRB at home that night, they would have had 48 points and NYRB 46 points.  And with the way the Crew finished the season, they would've been a dangerous team in the playoffs.  But instead, its on to 2022.

 

 

The Crew has installed an inflatable seasonal dome over the playing field at Historic Crew Stadium so it can be used over the winter as a practice field by the team and its Academy training program.  The Dispatch has some interesting drone footage:

 

https://www.dispatch.com/story/business/2021/11/18/dome-goes-up-old-crew-mapfre-stadium-field-columbus/6404836001/

 

 

The 2022 season is underway for the Crew with the announcement of their 2021 end-of-season roster decisions:

 

https://www.dispatch.com/story/sports/2021/12/01/which-columbus-crew-players-returning-2022-mls-season/8820561002/

 

https://www.massivereport.com/2021/12/1/22811961/columbus-crew-announce-2021-end-of-season-roster-decisions-gyasi-zardes-luis-diaz-vito-wormgoor

 

-- The Crew already had nine players under contract for 2022:  Jonathan Mensah, Lucas Zelarayan, Darlington Nagbe, Artur, Kevin Molino, Alex Matan, Perry Kitchen, Aidan Morris and Sebastian Berhalter.

 

-- Nine players had their contract options picked up:  defenders Josh Williams, Steven Moreira and Aboubacar Keita; midfielders Luis Diaz, Derrick Etienne Jr., Marlon Hairston and Isaiah Parente; and forwards Miguel Berry and Gyasi Zardes.

 

-- The Crew said in a press release that they have extended new contract offers to starting goalkeeper Eloy Room, starting left back Milton Valenzuela and starting winger Pedro Santos, all of whose current contracts are expiring. 

 

-- Longtime starting right back Harrison Afful, backup goalkeeper Evan Bush and center back Grant Lillard are out of contract.  According to sources, Bush is likely to come back next season on a new deal and the team has an interest in Afful returning as a backup at right back, but it depends on what other opportunities might be out there for Afful and for the team.

 

-- Midfielder Liam Fraser returned to Toronto after a season on loan with the Crew.

 

-- Six players had their contract options declined:  defenders Vito Wormgoor, Saad Abdul-Salaam and Waylon Francis; forwards Bradley Wright-Phillips and Erik Hurtado; and goalkeeper Eric Dick.

 

Also, in off-the-field moves, assistant coach Ezra Hendrickson (who was also the interim head coach when Porter was out on COVID protocol) was named head coach at Chicago.

 

And technical director/vice president of soccer operations Pat Onstad, long-time member of the coaching staff with Berhalter and front office staff with Porter and Bez, was named GM at Houston.

🎇 ⚽ 🎇 The Crew announced that 29-year-old Lucas Zelarayan signed a contract extension that will keep him with the team through 2024, with a team option for 2025:

 

https://www.massivereport.com/2021/12/2/22814442/columbus-crew-signs-lucas-zelarayan-to-contract-extension

 

https://www.dispatch.com/story/sports/2021/12/02/columbus-crew-lucas-zelarayan-agree-contract-extension/8829122002/

Sorry to see a Zip let go....I gather Saad did not have a breakout season.  

25 minutes ago, surfohio said:

Sorry to see a Zip let go....I gather Saad did not have a breakout season.  

 

I thought he played okay, but he didn't see much playing time in the final third of the season once Valenzuela returned from injury.

🎇⚽🎇 Starting goalkeeper Eloy Room signed a new two-year contract with a third-year option, keeping him under team control through the 2024 season, when Room will turn 35:

 

https://www.massivereport.com/2021/12/3/22816277/eloy-room-re-signs-with-columbus-crew-mls-2021

 

https://www.dispatch.com/story/sports/2021/12/03/columbus-crew-re-sign-goalkeeper-eloy-room/8851892002/

Crew 2 has officially been announced. The club finally has a reserve side, which will start play in 2022.

 

 

https://www.columbuscrew.com/news/columbus-crew-launches-developmental-second-team-columbus-crew-2

🎇⚽🎇 The Crew signed Pedro Santos for the 2022 season with a team option for 2023:

 

https://www.massivereport.com/2021/12/8/22824511/pedro-santos-re-signs-with-the-columbus-crew-mls-2022

 

https://www.dispatch.com/story/sports/2021/12/08/crew-re-signs-pedro-santos-one-year-2023-option/6435461001/

https://www.massivereport.com/2021/12/13/22832984/columbus-crew-announces-protected-list-for-mls-expansion-draft-mls-2021

 

https://www.dispatch.com/story/sports/2021/12/13/columbus-crew-left-these-players-unprotected-2021-mls-expansion-draft/6500787001/

 

The 28th franchise in MLS - Charlotte FC - begins play next season.  So it's time for another MLS Expansion Draft.  The expansion draft takes place tonight at 7 p.m.

 

It used to be a running joke that the Crew would always lose a player, and usually a good one, in the many expansion drafts this original MLS team has gone through.  However, MLS has modified the rules for recent drafts so that not as many players are selected.  Because the Crew had a player taken in the 2019 expansion draft by Miami, they were exempt from the 2020 expansion draft for Austin.  The rules for this expansion draft are that Charlotte can select only five players and cannot select more than one player from a single team, meaning 17 of 22 MLS teams not exempt from the expansion draft will not have a player taken.

 

The only slight surprise in the list of protected players is left back Milton Valenzuela - who is currently out of contract and has not reached a new deal with the team for 2022.  However, protecting him from being selected by Charlotte is a clear indication that the Crew would like to have Valenzuela back if they can come to terms.

 

On the unprotected list, only four players are under contract for 2022:  winger Kevin Molino, center back Josh Williams and midfielders Marlon Hairston and Perry Kitchen.

 

The biggest surprise on the unprotected list is Williams.  He has been the most dependable starter alongside Jonathan Mensah when healthy the last two seasons.  However, at 33 years old, the Crew are hoping that Charlotte won't take a player of that age.

 

Hairston or Kitchen might be good candidates for selection by Charlotte.  However, the Crew should be flush with central midfielders next year with the return of Artur and Morris from season-ending injuries.

 

And the Crew might be relieved if Molino was selected by Charlotte.  Molino scored only one goal in the 11 games he played for Columbus in 2021.  Then he tore his ACL in late August and will be out for at least the first half of 2022.  Plus he's got a pricey contract that runs until 2023.

Well glory be, the Crew didn't lose a player to the expansion draft.  Maybe this is a new era for MLS(!)

 

https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/2021-expansion-draft-results-charlotte-fc-makes-picks-ahead-of-inaugural-season

On 12/14/2021 at 8:56 PM, Columbo said:

Well glory be, the Crew didn't lose a player to the expansion draft.  Maybe this is a new era for MLS(!)

 

https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/2021-expansion-draft-results-charlotte-fc-makes-picks-ahead-of-inaugural-season

 

The Crew didn't lose a player to Charlotte in the expansion draft, but they did lose a player to Charlotte after the draft:

 

https://www.massivereport.com/2021/12/17/22841301/former-columbus-crew-defender-harrison-afful-signs-with-charlotte-fc-mls-2022

 

Not really a surprise to lose Afful, since he'll turn 36 next season and the Crew has moved on with a younger replacement.  But it's tough to say farewell to one of the Crew's more memorable players.  My favorite Harrison Afful moment was that spectacular goal he scored in the 2017 playoffs against NYCFC.  It is featured in this highlight video from the Crew:

 

CREW 2022 PRESEASON BEGINS

 

It's mid-January, the temp today is starting in the teens, and the forecast is for the possibility of some heavy snowfall later today.  Which can only mean one thing - it's time for the Crew to start preseason training(!) - Hey, if the USMNT can play a game in Lower.com Field on 1/27, why not?  - Below is the preseason schedule for the Crew:

 

 

If this preseason start seems a bit early, that's because it is.  The February 26 MLS season opener is the earliest ever.  The 2022 MLS season is beginning and finishing a month earlier than it normally would to accommodate an unusual playing date for the 2022 World Cup.  The 2022 MLS regular season is scheduled to conclude on October 9 and the MLS Cup is scheduled to occur on November 5 - which would be 16 days prior to the beginning of the 2022 World Cup.

 

Crew players are set to report for entrance physicals and testing today before departing for a training camp in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, from January 18-28.  The team will return to train in Columbus from February 1-6 at the OhioHealth Performance Center next to Historic Crew Stadium, which has a seasonal bubble currently enclosing the field.  Then the team travels to Charleston, South Carolina from February 7-19, where the Crew will once again participate in the Carolina Challenge Cup with the USL’s Charleston Battery hosting.  The Crew has games scheduled for Feb. 12, 15 and 18 in the CCC preseason tournament.

As for who will be on the 2022 Crew roster, the first major addition made was acquiring 24-year-old Ghanaian winger Yaw Yeboah from a first-division Polish club:

 

https://www.massivereport.com/2022/1/5/22868838/columbus-crew-to-sign-ghanian-winger-yaw-yeboah-from-wisla-krakow

 

Yaw Yeboah is reported to be an up-and-coming speedy winger.  He will join a group of returning wingers  —  Santos, Diaz, Etienne, Matan, and possibly Molino, who will be out for the first half of 2022 — that are looking for more scoring punch than they had in 2021.

 

The next big move was a surprising trade of 21-year-old central defender Aboubacar Keita to the Colorado Rapids for $450,000 in allocation money:

 

https://www.massivereport.com/2022/1/5/22868937/columbus-crew-trades-aboubacar-keita-to-colorado-rapids

 

Prior to now, the homegrown signee Kieta was seen as a future back line starter for the Crew.  But with some very inconsistent play in 2021, it seems management has soured on him and shipped him off to Colorado for a decent return of allocation money.  Kieta will join another former Crew defender in Colorado - Lalas Abubakar - who had a standout season with the Rapids in 2021.

 

That Kieta trade was a surprise because the Crew had previously released two other central defenders from the 2021 roster.  This left the Crew with only 32-year-old team captain Jonathan Mensah and 33-year-old Josh Williams are the only true center backs on the 2022 roster.  The Mensah-Williams combo is a winning duo.  However, Williams has become injury-prone.  So the Crew went out and acquired another veteran defender:

 

https://www.massivereport.com/2022/1/14/22883967/columbus-crew-signs-free-agent-defender-jalil-anibaba-mlsl-2022

 

Anibaba is 33 years old with 11 seasons of MLS experience.  The Crew will be his 7th MLS team(!) and he has been selected twice in his career in MLS expansion drafts(!!)  He played for Nashville the past two seasons, mostly as a backup/spot starter.

 

Then the Crew re-signed last year's backup goalkeeper Evan Bush for the 2022 season and made a number of smaller deals to restock the 2022 roster.  These included signing another backup goalkeeper, signing a homegrown midfielder, acquiring 22-year-old defender Jake Morris (Adian Morris' older brother) in a trade from Seattle, and drafting four players in the MLS SuperDraft - which included an extra first-round pick acquired via trade:

 

https://www.columbuscrew.com/news/columbus-crew-selects-four-players-in-mls-superdraft-2022

But the biggest off-season deal might be the one that hasn't been made yet:

 

https://www.massivereport.com/2022/1/12/22880590/columbus-crew-leave-the-door-open-for-milton-valenzuelas-return-but-dont-sound-optimistic-mls-2022

 

Oft-injured but highly-talented 23-year-old starting left back Milton Valenzuela has yet to re-sign with the Crew.  In the most recent press availability, GM Bez indicated that the Crew had made their best offer to Valenzuela, but we're still apart in the numbers each side wants and that “It’s in Milton’s camp right now".

 

Bezbatchenko added, “There’s an opportunity for him to return and we are regularly communicating with them. I think I’ll leave it at that. The door is not shut for him but it’s his decision to make, let’s just put it that way.”  Reports have indicated that Valenzuela has been negotiating with at least two Argentine first-division clubs, but is also apart in the numbers there as well.

 

There is no doubt that the Crew are a better team with Valenzuela at left back, but his injury history is bringing down his value.  When Valenzuela was healthy in 2018 and 2020, the Crew made the playoffs both seasons and, of course, won the MLS Cup in 2020.  But he also missed the entire 2019 season and two-thirds of the 2021 season with injuries.

 

Porter and Bez have said that if Valenzuela doesn't return for 2022, the Crew is ready to start Pedro Santos at left back.  Santos was surprisingly good at left back in 2021 as an emergency starter.  So stay tuned.

With the Crew beginning their preseason training camp in Florida, the 2022 roster is getting filled out further with these most recent signings:

 

https://www.massivereport.com/2022/1/20/22893181/columbus-crew-to-sign-red-star-belgrade-center-back-milos-degenek-mls-2022

 

The Crew signed 27-year-old Serbian-born Australian center back Milos Degenek.  Degenek is a starting-quality center back who most recently played in the Serbia first-division and is a starting center back for Australian national team.  Degenek joins Mensah, Williams and the recently acquired Anibaba to flesh out the 2022 central defense.

 

https://www.massivereport.com/2022/1/21/22895248/columbus-crew-sign-defender-will-sands-after-trade-with-new-york-city-fc-mls-2022

 

Then the Crew acquired 21-year-old Will Sands via a trade with NYCFC.  Sands is a left back who has played for the Georgetown Hoyas the past three seasons.  He was a reserve on Georgetown’s 2019 national championship team, making 21 appearances that year, and a starter the next two seasons when the Hoyas won Big East regular season titles.  Will is the twin-brother of James Sands, who was a starting center back for NYCFC last season and a USMNT starter in the 2021 Gold Cup.  Will Sands looks like he could be the primary backup to Santos at left back for 2022.

 

https://www.massivereport.com/2022/1/20/22893637/columbus-crews-midfield-depth-is-improved-but-artur-remains-out-in-preseason

 

But one key player is not in training camp for the Crew - defensive midfielder Artur.  Artur is in his hometown of Sao Paolo, Brazil trying to rehab from a hip injury that ended his 2021 season and has left him with chronic pain.  The team's outlook for Artur's return is not looking good for now.  They are considering Artur, who turns 26 in March, to be out indefinitely - which is a shame for the team and for Artur on a personal level.

 

The loss of Artur is somewhat ameliorated by the return of defensive midfielder Aidan Morris, who is healthy again after missing the entire 2021 MLS season with an ACL tear.  The 20-year-old Morris heroically filled in for Nagbe in the 2020 MLS Cup and was looking to work his way into the 2021 starting roster before the season-ending injury.  It looks like he'll get that chance in 2022.

https://www.massivereport.com/2022/1/26/22902867/columbus-crew-signs-james-igbekeme-for-a-2022-season-loan-mls

 

The Columbus Crew have acquired 26-year-old Nigerian midfielder James Igbekeme on loan from Spanish Segunda División side Real Zaragoza for the 2022 MLS season.  Columbus also retain a purchase option after Igbekeme’s loan expires in December 2022 and he will occupy an international roster spot.

 

Seems like another savvy international acquisition by Bez.  Adding a veteran midfielder certainly makes sense considering the current injuries to Artur and Kitchen.  It also sounds like Igbekeme is capable of playing defensive and attacking midfield positions.  So he might act as a backup to Zelarayan as well as being in the mix as a potential defensive midfield partner for Nagbe.

Official confirmation that left back Milton Valenzuela will not be returning to the Crew.  As per the below tweet, Valenzuela signed with Swiss club Lugano after finding Columbus and multiple Argentine clubs unwilling to meet his salary demands:

On 1/22/2022 at 11:12 AM, Columbo said:

But one key player is not in training camp for the Crew - defensive midfielder Artur.  Artur is in his hometown of Sao Paolo, Brazil trying to rehab from a hip injury that ended his 2021 season and has left him with chronic pain.  The team's outlook for Artur's return is not looking good for now.  They are considering Artur, who turns 26 in March, to be out indefinitely - which is a shame for the team and for Artur on a personal level.

 

A positive development regarding Artur - he has now joined the Crew preseason camp in Florida.  Still no word yet on when/if he might return to the Crew gameday roster.

On 12/6/2021 at 3:23 PM, cbussoccer said:

Crew 2 has officially been announced. The club finally has a reserve side, which will start play in 2022.

 

 

https://www.columbuscrew.com/news/columbus-crew-launches-developmental-second-team-columbus-crew-2

 

The MLS Next Pro league that the Crew 2 team will be playing in this year is now officially official:

 

https://www.mlsnextpro.com/index.html

 

So far only the Head Coach has been announced.  But with a late March kickoff scheduled, many more staff and roster announcements are on the way:

 

https://www.massivereport.com/2022/1/28/22906549/columbus-crew-2-names-laurent-courtois-first-ever-head-coach-mls-next-pro-2022

 

https://www.massivereport.com/2022/1/28/22904842/columbus-crew-2s-roster-staff-schedule-is-coming-together-mls-next-pro-2022

The Crew are having their 2022 jersey reveal a week before the 2/26 season opener.  Bye bye to the awful 2021 white/grey jersey and welcome back to the yellow, er gold, jersey:

Crew legend Federico Higuain will sign one-day contract to retire as a Crew player. 

 

 

Couple more preseason roster moves for the Crew:

 

https://www.massivereport.com/2022/2/3/22916532/columbus-crew-re-signs-forward-erik-hurtado-mls-2022 -- The first move was bringing back Erik Hurtado.  Most Crew fans' initial reaction was "Why?".  Hurtado was acquired in July 2021 to fill a severely injury depleted roster.  But he only started three matches, appearing in seven, and didn’t provide any goals or assists.  Eventually Berry stepped up and made Hurtado irrelevant for the rest of the season. - However, it was reported that he accepted a rock-bottom salary and will serve as a third-string striker.  And I guess it's better to put Hurtado in this mostly non-playing role than a promising young player who can now play on the Crew2 team.

 

https://www.massivereport.com/2022/2/4/22917610/columbus-crew-trade-sebastian-berhalter-to-the-vancouver-whitecaps -- 20-year-old defensive midfielder Sebastian Berhalter (son of Gregg) was traded to Vancouver for 50K in General Allocation Money and 50K in GAM if certain performance levels are met.  Berhalter and Adian Morris were an 18-year-old backup duo at defensive midfield to start to 2020 season.  Berhalter made four starts, appearing in nine, with the Crew that season.  But by the end of the 2020 season, Morris surpassed Berhalter on the depth chart, culminating with his amazing start in the 2020 MLS Cup.

 

For the 2021 season, Berhalter was loaned to Austin and had five starts with 18 appearances.  Austin did not exercise the purchase option at the end of Berhalter's loan and sent him back to Columbus.

 

With the addition of Hurtado and subtraction of Berhalter, the Crew now have 28 of 30 roster spots filled.  The trade of Berhalter might herald the return of Artur and Kitchen to health, because Berhalter would be an unnecessary surplus player if they return.  Plus, having an open roster spot or two gives team management the ability to make another move during the preseason or during the summer transfer window.

Wow I havent posted on this thread in a while. Let me catch up.

 

Love the new stadium. I live in Toledo and dont get down super often for games but I made a point last season to make it out to the final game at Historic Crew Stadium and also for the opening game at Lower.com Field. I just couldnt miss both of those historic moments.

 

New logo sucks. Thank god we still have our name, but the logo is just painful. I understand what theyre going for. Trying to make the brand accessible to non-soccer fans I assume, since the round logo was as good as it gets as far as pandering to actual world soccer fans. But youre not going to attract people to becoming soccer fans and Crew fans by making it like their other American sports. If that was the case, these people wouldve already been into since the team debuted in 96. The entire appeal of soccer as a new sport for a new fan is the unique qualities of it that make it different than everything theyre used to. Also the new logo may be acceptable as a stand alone graphic on the internet somewhere, but when its implemented pretty much anywhere it, it either doesnt fit the space its in well, or looks awkward or boring. I think the team originally wanted to be able to use it as a simple plain letter C without the team name or the year or anything. A clean, modern, minimal look which would totally make sense, generally speaking. Unfortunately for them (but fortunate for us) theyre hand was forced by the fans, to compromise and include our actual identity in the logo, even if it clutters things up.  It looks better without all the text, but the team name and founding year are the only redeeming features that keep this piece of crap a bare minimum of acceptability.

 

Im not that impressed with our offseason signings overall.  Im cautiously optimistic overall, but thats all. The biggest improvement we made in my opinion was really just getting Artur and Morris back. Losing Milton is a big loss, especially without a direct replacement, but I guess he didnt want to be here bad enough. Sounds like we just couldnt match his salary demands, and thats part and parcel with MLS roster rules and cap, so its an unfortunately understandable situation. Best of luck to him. Santos can do the job, and so far its looking like hell be decent at it....but the problem with that is we sacrifice our only productive winger to fill a spot in the defense (although he can still join the attack plenty). We brought in Yaw Yeboah. He looks like he could be a dynamic addition but I feel like his transfer fee and salary are questionable. We paid nearly 2 million to get him which is whatever...decent players cost money....but hes on a TAM salary which means hes probably making at least 600k.  Hes going on 25 years old and has plenty of pro experience, yet hasnt ever had a particularly noteworthy season at any team hes played for.  So color me skeptical on that signing but hopefully he proves me wrong. It looks like Etienne and Diaz are off to a decent start though so thats good. I think the most impactful signing we made this offseason will probably be Milos Degenek.  Vito Wormgoor never found his footing here, with too much time injured, and was over the hill age wise to begin with. He was always a stop gap for a CB partner for Mensah. Degenek has a solid track record in my opinion and has plenty of good years left on him. I think hell prove to be the long term solution for CB. A full season of Moreira at RB will be exciting and im interested to see what guys like Will Sands and Sean Zawadzki can contribute possibly. Last but not least, Im excited to see what kind of year Miguel Berry has. He was more productive in his limited time on the field last year than Zardes even. I wont go as far as to say the starting spot should be his or anything....but with him being 24 already, and having some hype around him....you have to think hes only going to tolerate being on the bench for so long. Hell either expect to be penciled into a starting lineup formation somehow, or want to pursue even greener pastures.  We cant stunt this guys growth.  Ive seen a lot of talk about whether we should consider selling Zardes while hes still in his prime and has alot of value, since Berry has proven he can perform at an MLS level. I have to admit its intriguing to consider.  But with guys like Room, Mensah, Nagbe, Zelarayan, Santos, and Zardes (all the foundational guys on the team) being 30 or older by the end of this season but still all perfectly prime performers, you have to think this team should still be in "WIN NOW" mode, not rebuild mode, especially after squandering last season after coming off a championship year. With that mentality, I dont think you can afford to let go of Zardes, leaving a still relatively unexperienced pro in Berry to run the show with no reliable depth under him (Hurtado sucks). If were chasing another cup for sure, you stockpile weapons. With that said, if we want to strike while the irons hot, we should move Zardes soon for maximum profit. Freeing up his DP spot and probably fetching close to 2 mil in GAM would make signing a legit, elite, DP winger fairly easy. Food for thought.

 

So far weve come out swinging, dismantling Vancouver, who while being an underdog in this league, looked like they were on the upswing under Sartini last season. Thats promising especially with goals coming from typically bench guys like Berry, Etienne, and Diaz....but I would probably temper any huge expectations yet. I think we need to see how these guys can handle some of the powerhouse teams in the league before we decide this is gonna be our year or anything. San Jose this weekend should be another route. Almeyda straight up doesnt care anymore and its apparent he wants to leave. They should be ripe for the picking. Even though these initial games starting out arent big games, we should be maximizing the opportunity to horde points while we can and pad our goal differential before we hit the dog days of summer and have to play catch up.

 

LETS GO CREW

Edited March 3, 20223 yr by Tobias C

HUGE signing by the Crew. Cucho Hernandez, a 23 year old winger/forward, scored 5 goals in the Premier League last season for Watford where he played mostly as a winger. Watford were relegated at the end of the season which likely prompted Cucho to search for different playing options outside of Watford.

 

Cucho could have easily found a landing spot at another Premier League club going into this next season, or a club at one of the other big leagues in Europe, but he chose to come to Columbus. The pay will likely be better than what he could have got from a team that would offer him substantial playing time in a top European, but the brand new training and gameday facilities here in Columbus are also as good or better than what he would have found with those teams as well. 

 

 

And it's official.

 

 

https://www.columbuscrew.com/news/columbus-crew-acquires-23-year-old-forward-juan-camilo-cucho-hernandez-in-record

Columbus Crew fires head coach Caleb Porter

 

The Columbus Crew is looking for a new head coach.

 

The team Monday announced that coach Caleb Porter, who had held that role for four seasons and led the team to an MLS Cup in 2020, has been dismissed.

 

“We assessed the 2022 season as a whole and it’s clear that we fell short in our collective goals,” Crew President and General Manager Tim Bezbatchenko said in a news release. “Namely, our goal is to consistently contend for championships. This starts with making the playoffs and then securing a home match as a top-four team in the conference.”

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2022/10/10/columbus-crew-fire-caleb-porter.html

 

Columbus Crew names Montreal's Wilfried Nancy team's next head coach

 

One of Major League Soccer’s top coaches now will lead the Columbus Crew.

 

The team Tuesday named Wilfried Nancy its next head coach.

 

Nancy comes to Columbus from the MLS’ CF Montreal. Last year he finished second in voting for the MLS Sigi Schmid Coach of the Year award by one-tenth of a percentage point after leading Montreal to a club-best regular season record of 20-9-5.

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2022/12/06/columbus-crew-name-wilfried-nancy-head-coach.html & https://columbusunderground.com/columbus-crew-name-new-head-coach-sp1/

 

Columbus Crew will add more premium seating options to Lower.com Field to accommodate growing fan needs

 

Columbus Crew fans will be able to take advantage of new premium seating options at Lower.com Field when the 2024 Major League Soccer season starts,

 

"We've decided going into 2024 that we had some more needs for hospitality spaces," Adam Green, vice president of ticket sales and service for the Columbus Crew and Haslam Sports Group, told Columbus Business First.

 

The team is adding three new sections of pitch-level seating. The new seats, 142 in total, will be located at the southeast corner of the field, at the south endline and in the northeast corner near the Nordecke.

 

The team is also adding a new premium lounge called the Southeast Field Club, which will occupy space previously home to grounds crew and back-of-house operations. It will be equipped with big-screen TVs, food and drink options and gathering space. The space, located at the southeast corner of the stadium, will serve 180 to 200 people who will have access to all-inclusive food and drink.

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2023/10/22/columbus-crew-more-premium-space-2024-season.html

 

Arace: For Josh Williams, it's been a great Columbus Crew run, and it's not quite over yet

Michael Arace - The Dispatch - Nov. 7, 2023

 

 

"Williams has been there through three ownership groups, three general managers, five coaches (one interim) and hundreds of players. He is eighth on the Crew’s all-time list for games played (206, in all competitions). He may be, in terms of years, the longest-serving Crew employee, ever.  ... “It has been a wild ride. To me, it’s more where the league is, in general. It was kind of the Wild West when I first started out. At Obetz, our meals would be subway that sat out all day. Now it’s catered meals, and we have chefs.'"

Unfortunately, Atlanta knotted the series at one apiece yesterday night, and the Crew defense definitely didn't look like they could keep up.  It was 4-2 and not even as close as it looked because it was 4-1 before an extra-time goal just for a tiny morale boost for the Crew near the end.

Crew Move on to Semifinals with Win Over Atlanta

 

The Columbus Crew moved on to the MLS Eastern Conference Semifinals on Sunday night after a rampant, attacking display saw Atlanta United fall 4-2 during the team’s final series game at Lower.com Field.

 

With both teams sitting at one win a piece during this first-round playoff fixture, everything was on the line, and with a packed out home advantage it was Columbus that shocked the visiting Atlanta with three goals in just over 30 minutes.

 

Darlington Nagbe was first up with a well-placed strike from outside the box before Crew left back Malte Amundsen’s long-range rocket blew the excitement levels to boil.

 

More below:

https://columbusunderground.com/photos-crew-move-on-to-semifinals-with-win-over-atlanta-me1/

 

23 hours ago, ColDayMan said:

Crew Move on to Semifinals with Win Over Atlanta

 

The Columbus Crew moved on to the MLS Eastern Conference Semifinals on Sunday night after a rampant, attacking display saw Atlanta United fall 4-2 during the team’s final series game at Lower.com Field.

 

With both teams sitting at one win a piece during this first-round playoff fixture, everything was on the line, and with a packed out home advantage it was Columbus that shocked the visiting Atlanta with three goals in just over 30 minutes.

 

Darlington Nagbe was first up with a well-placed strike from outside the box before Crew left back Malte Amundsen’s long-range rocket blew the excitement levels to boil.

 

More below:

https://columbusunderground.com/photos-crew-move-on-to-semifinals-with-win-over-atlanta-me1/

 

 

I was at the game and had a perfect view of Amundsen's long range goal from behind the goal. What an awesome atmosphere. I'm really hoping we get past Orlando in the next round and can get at least one more home game this season, either in the ECF if Philly beats Cincy, or in the MLS Cup Final if we can manage to get there (we will host the final no matter who we play if we make it that far). 

Forget American football for a week. Crew and FC Cincy face each other Saturday for the right to go to the MLS championship. An Ohio team will be in the championship. 

Way to go, Crew! Helluva comeback from being 2-0 to win 3-2 in extra time! On to the finals!!!

Another MLS Cup would make the Crew the lone 3rd most-common winner of the MLS Cup -- breaking a 5-way tie and taking them to .750 in MLS Cup match appearances.