Columbus Crew continue to 'learn the hard way' after another set piece collapse
Julian Gressel is frustrated.
The Crew midfielder said he is upset that a 1-0 lead heading into extra time is not safe, that a “really good defensive performance” can be snuffed out with one misstep.
What Gressel feels should have been three points for the Crew evaporated in one moment the team knows all too well: a free kick cross from Atlanta United midfielder Thiago Almada that ended in a Miles Robinson score after a foul by Columbus forward Kevin Molino seven minutes into extra time.
“I think that every game we play, we’re better than the opponent,” Gressel said. “Every coach comes up to our coach after and he goes, ‘You’re awesome, the way you play.’ At the end of it, you don’t have anything to show for it. And that’s the difficult part. That’s the stuff that frustrates us.”
Coach Wilfried Nancy said the Crew is “learning the hard way.”
After the game, Nancy said he encouraged his players to talk among themselves, to be frustrated but to be accountable for what took place − losing one-on-one assignments while the ball was in the air on the set piece score and tying a game in which the Crew were aggressive and dominant.
Gressel called the conceded goal “an opportunity to learn and get better.” But this time, that sentiment carried much more weight.
“It will be much, much harder if we lost this way in the playoffs and ended up being eliminated this way,” Gressel said.
Nancy has seen this story before. He watched the Crew concede a game-tying and game-winning goal to Orlando City SC off set pieces Sept. 16. He watched them concede a set-piece score off a corner kick against the Philadelphia Union to record a 1-1 home tie Sept. 30.
But Nancy said he isn't thinking about postseason seedings after Saturday's tie. He’s not thinking about the Crew’s regular-season finale against CF Montreal Oct. 21 or even the team’s upcoming playoffs.
Nancy said he hopes each difficulty the Crew are going through this season is something they can learn from in 2024.
“Again, this is football. But I’m not happy with that,” Nancy said. “This is something that we are missing, not because they don’t know how to do it. It’s because maybe we need to do several things a little bit better to avoid to lose a point like this.”
The tie kept the Crew from securing home-field advantage in the playoffs and placed much more meaning in their game against CF Montreal. They Crew need to win outright to secure a fourth-place position.
Nancy said he trusts his players but knows there’s work to be done.
“You have to learn the hard way, because I can tell you it’s difficult to accept that knowing the good game that we did,” Nancy said. “But it’s the way it is. We have to face that.”
Gressel said he expects the Crew to “adjust” and “be better moving forward.”
“I’m hoping we can learn from this quickly,” Gressel said, “that we don’t have to go through it the really, really hard way in the playoffs.”
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Crew continue to 'learn the hard way' from set pieces
