After being bounced from Leagues Cup, what is next for the Columbus Crew?
If not for the final seconds before stoppage time – and some questionable late-game defending once again – the Crew would be preparing to play tonight. Friday night at Lower.com Field, the Crew held a 3-2 lead on Minnesota United FC with a berth in the Leagues Cup Round of 16 when Hassani Dotson pulled the visitors even after he was left open inside the penalty area.
His equalizer hit the back of the net with 89:58 showing on the scoreboard, and Minnesota would eventually prevail, 4-3, on penalty kicks. Just like that, the Crew’s foray into the first iteration of this tournament was over.
The goal had been to win it and bring home a new trophy, and coach Wilfried Nancy approached the tournament with that mindset. That being said, the Crew won’t mind getting the chance to now spend roughly two weeks starting to piece together a roster that saw sizeable turnover since the summer transfer window opened and MLS games paused for the Leagues Cup.
That means starting the process of assimilating designated player Diego Rossi along with midfielder Julian Gressel and defenders Yevhen Cherberko and Rudy Camacho. Oh, and figuring out life post-Lucas Zelarayan.
It’s a lot to figure out in only two weeks, but after Friday’s loss the Crew won’t play again until they host FC Cincinnati on August 20. Nancy said the players would have four days off before returning to practice.
“I’m going to give them days off because they need to stop thinking about football,” he said after the loss. “The idea is when we come back, they know it’s going to be 11 games to reach the first step, which is the playoff. Can we assure the playoff as soon as possible to go as far as possible? For the moment, this is rest, come back, work like we usually do but put more intensity and finish the job.”
The Crew sits sixth in the Eastern Conference standings with 36 points thanks to a 10-7-6 record and four points clear of eighth place. The lowest two of the nine teams to reach the postseason will play a knockout game in the league’s new playoff format this year, and the Crew is hoping to stay well clear of that.
Doing so will require plugging their new pieces into the lineup with as little disruption as possible.
“Recharge physically, recharge mentally,” Crew captain and midfielder Darlington Nagbe said. “Those are the two biggest things, and at the same time be ready to come back and work with the positives that did happen. I think a lot of positives, a lot of good performances. Gressel’s done a good job of picking it up quickly and I’m sure Rossi will do the same.”
Cherberko and Gressel both made their club debuts in Leagues Cup play. Rossi arrived in Columbus on Sunday and Nancy said August 3 that Camacho was waiting on his visa after having been in Montreal and expected “hopefully” in a few days.
Both Gressel and Cherberko started against Minnesota, although the defender was subbed off at halftime while Gressel played 78 minutes.
“This is where you want to show what you do work on in training,” Gressel said. “I haven’t had too many opportunities to train, but I felt good in the game. I felt like we were getting to the right spots. I didn’t feel too much like, ‘Oh my God, where do I need to be here?’ It was very natural. The final thing that was missing was the final pass today, and that’s something that I’ll have to look at.”
The opportunity for some rest did not go unappreciated by the Crew’s players, either. Forward Christian Ramirez, whose goal in the 83rd minute was set up to be the winner against Minnesota, said he’s essentially been going nonstop since last June, when he opened the season with Scotland’s Aberdeen before being traded to the Crew in the midst of that season and the start of MLS’ preseason.
“Take care of my body these four days, get myself going and be ready for this home stretch,” he said. “Incorporate the new guys and get up to speed. If there’s a positive from losing (to Minnesota), we’ll get time for the new guys to get incorporated into the system and get more comfortable around what’s expected. These four days will be nice on my body.”
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Rest, assimilation now atop to-do list for revamped Columbus Crew
