This is one in a series of team previews preparing fans for the 2023 MLS season. Check out the full list; teams will be revealed in predicted order of finish from Feb. 10-24.
What Columbus Crew did last year
They blew leads. So many leads. Just lead after lead after lead after lead blown to tiny little pieces. Unsurprisingly that led to them missing the playoffs. Unsurprisingly, that led to them firing Caleb Porter.
It wasn’t a total loss though. They picked up Cucho Hernandez midway through in the season and it kind of seems like he might be a star.
Key additions
Defender Keegan Hughes (homegrown), defender Jimmy Medranda (free agent), forward Christian Ramírez (transfer from Aberdeen)
Key departures
Midfielder Artur (trade to Houston), midfielder Derrick Etienne Jr (out of contract), defender Marlon Hairston (out of contract), defender Pedro Santos (option declined)
Making the case for Columbus Crew
Once Caleb Porter left, Columbus immediately made one of the best moves of the offseason. The Crew convinced CF Montreal manager Wilfried Nancy to come to Ohio, and considering Nancy’s recent track record, his presence is all you really need to make a case for the Crew. Especially when Cucho could be one the league’s leading goal scorers and Lucas Zelarayan is liable to get on an absolute heater at any moment.
Still, there are holes in this roster, especially now that winger Derrick Etienne Jr., wingback Pedro Santos, and midfielder Artur are all gone. The Crew could be needing big seasons from wingers Kevin Molino and Yaw Yeboah, and midfielder Aidan Morris in their place. Those are big asks.
Additionally, there’s a major hole at center back. Longtime defender Jonathan Mensah is on his way to San Jose after the Crew traded him for a pile of allocation money.
Nancy makes it easy to believe. The roster makes it a lot harder. If that means our belief should be somewhere in the middle though, that means we still think of this group as a playoff team.
Players to watch
Cucho, Cucho and Cucho. The Josef Martinez comparisons came around for a reason last year. Now we have to see if he can put it all together. If so, he might be good enough to carry this team on his own. Which makes him good enough to be an MVP candidate.
Let me explain a little more …
A nerdy tidbit
On a pretty-not-all-that-great Crew team, Cucho piled up scoring chances. Some of them good, a lot of them not so good, but still all thrown in a very, very large pile. He shot the ball a league-leading 4.375 times per game and, despite an average shot quality of 0.07 xG per shot, he’s finding a ton of chances. If the Crew are a more dynamic team this year, those chances will improve and turn into goals. A bunch of goals.
A fun tidbit
You used to be able to pay money to have Crew Cat, the Crew’s giant anthropomorphic cat mascot, show up at your party. I checked to see if he could come to Atlanta, but he had a limited range around Columbus. Life is hard.
Projected finish
5th in the East
This projection is banking hard on Wilfried Nancy immediately working the same magic he did on CF Montreal. It’s not a bad thing to bank on. Like I said, there are certainly major question marks, but this roster is good enough to make a push for the playoffs in Nancy’s first season. If Cucho puts together the MVP-caliber season he’s capable of, then a little more than just a playoff berth is in play.
