'They are ready': Columbus Crew keep focus ahead of 2023 MLS playoff run
There is no doubt in Wilfried Nancy's mind. The Crew are ready for the playoffs.
"They are ready to compete," Nancy said. "We’ve been through a lot of things this year. It was painful at certain moments. But it was really good. Because of that, we were able to get better."
Ahead of a best-of-three first-round series against Atlanta United on Wednesday, the Crew already had the postseason on their minds.
Five of the team's final six games came against MLS playoff-bound opponents, while the regular-season finale win moved CF Montreal out of the playoffs.
It was a stretch Crew midfielder and captain Darlington Nagbe called very similar to the playoffs, saying there "was more to those games" than the average regular-season game because playoff positioning and home-field advantage were on the line.
And while teammates such as Aidan Morris, Cucho Hernandez and Patrick Schulte may not have the postseason experience of Julian Gressel, Diego Rossi or himself, Nagbe said he feels like the Crew know what's coming.
"They prepared every single game like it is a playoff game," Nagbe said. "For them, they are hungry. They want to break into the team and have a big impact on the team. I think for them, the way they train and the way they prepare and the way they take hold of opportunities when they get it, I think they try to impose their will on the team."
Defender Rudy Camacho, who joined the Crew from Montreal in July, said the team was already in "playoff mode" well before the regular season was complete.
"It was good for everybody," Camacho said. "I hope we are ready for Atlanta, for the three games. It doesn’t change the way we want to play, so we’re going to keep doing the same and try to be better on more details."
The Crew have not played in an MLS playoff game since they won the league title in 2020. They have two MLS Cups in team history, winning in 2020 and 2008. The lost in the 2015 MLS Cup final against the Portland Timbers.
Nancy siad this is "the beauty of football" that the MLS Cup is any team's to win, especially with the new playoff format with a best-of-three first round. But he said he's confident in the Crew's mindset.
"We put the focus on us, and we know that it will be the same also (in the playoffs)," Nancy said. "For me, my message is the same in terms of the way we want to approach the game, the way we want to play. I would be very disappointed if my team don’t try to express the way they play because we have had a really good season because of that. The idea is to do it knowing there is a little voice behind us saying it’s do or die."
Nagbe said he knows there will be an extra boost against Atlanta, taking the pitch at Lower.com Field for the first time as a playoff team. He knows it "will be huge."
But that moment, Nagbe said, is something the Crew deserves.
"We are where we belong, which is in the playoffs," Nagbe said.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Crew keep focus ahead of MLS playoff run
