Know Thy Enemy: Revolution and the Hard Hat Test in Columbus Editon
New England visits an old and known foe in the Columbus Crew in what could be a good bench mark for the rest of the Revs 2023 campaign.
There’s always something familiar about facing the Columbus Crew, a respectable but occasionally bitter playoff rival over the years that feature two teams with top tier league playmakers, young breakout stars, elite goalkeeping, and domestic veterans and enough up and downs and consistency abound that marks a couple of league originals.
And murdering their legendary logos in the Crayon Flag and Hard Hat Guys…yes I’m still bitter.
But today’s matchup at Lower.com Field in Columbus, free on AppleTV+ at 730pm EDT, should be a good litmus test for both teams who are enjoying fine starts to their seasons. Columbus is undefeated at home posting a 12-1 advantage in three games against DC, Atlanta, and Real Salt Lake. The Revs have the best road record in the Eastern Conference as the only team to have multiple wins so far away from home besting Charlotte and DC.
The similarities between these teams are plentiful and their differences on the field especially have been almost non-existant. These two teams have tied in their last three matchups, with the last win in the series going to the Revs in May 2021 at Gillette in a tight 1-0 game capped off by a late Adam Buksa winner.
Both teams have a talisman #10 playmaker in Carles Gil and Lucas Zelarayan respectively. Homegrown breakout starts Noel Buck and Aidan Morris have both had significant impact for their teams early on. DP striker Cucho Hernandez has been sidelined for a few weeks for the Crew while Giacomo Vrioni is hoping a goal off the bench to cap of last week’s 4-0 win can jumpstart his season.
Of course, the plethora of MLS veterans each team has from Bobby Wood’s impressive start up top for New England to stalwart holding mids Darlington Nagbe and Matt Polster. And the epic shotstoppers in net between Djordje Petrovic and Curacao international Ely Room who has been out only to see deputy Patrick Schulte come in and rattle off three straight wins and two shutouts.
As always we are joined by our big time friends over at Massive Report as Pat Murphy joins us to talk about the impact Wilfried Nancy has had leaving Montreal for the Crew, Aidan Morris’ breakout year so far, and his thoughts on how much of an indicator this matchup is for the Crew.
Be sure to head on over to their site for my answer’s to Pat’s questions.
1) So the Revs just played the team Wilfried Nancy used to coach in Montreal and I think it's clear to see why Columbus wanted him as their head coach. What are the fanbase's early impressions of their new sideline maestro and how has he continued or differed from the Crew's usual style of play?
1. There was certainly excitement when Nancy was hired by the Crew based on what he did with Montreal last year, specifically against the Black & Gold. The start of the season was a bit inconsistent, but there were positive sides. Nancy has really leaned into the success young players had with Crew 2 last year, winning the MLS NEXT Pro Cup, and that meant up-and-down performances. The last three games, however, have been inarguable successes. Columbus has won three games in a row for the first time since 2021 and has outscored the opposition 12-1 in that span.
I don't think the overall style of play has changed that much, although it's coming out of Nancy's 3-4-2-1 formation rather than the 4-2-3-1 that Caleb Porter and Gregg Berhalter preferred. The Crew still want to keep the ball, build out of the back and attack from various spots. I think the biggest difference than the last two seasons is that the Black & Gold players are having fun, as Porter can wear on players. He has given plenty of players confidence and is allowing them to make mistakes, which has turned into results, at least against Atlanta United, Real Salt Lake and D.C. United.
2) There's no question, just gush about your dude Aidan Morris.
2. The jump Morris has made has been impressive. He was good last year after coming back from an ACL tear that cost him the entire 2021 season. But Morris has taken his game to another level.
Now that he is the full-time starter next to Darlington Nagbe, after Artur was traded to the Houston Dynamo, he is getting to play regularly, which helps. But Morris is reading the game and making passes that he wasn't previously. His energy is the same, but Nancy has worked with him on when to move around the field so as to not vacate space unnecessarily.
Most notably, Morris is getting involved more offensively. He said before the season that he wanted to score goals, something he was yet to do in his MLS career, and he is doing that with three goals in the last three games.
I keep telling Crew fans to enjoy him while he's here because European teams are going to come calling sooner rather than later.
3) How big of an early season test do you think this game is? The Revs are three points above the Crew in the standings with Columbus undefeated at home so far - would it be wrong to say this could be a potential East semifinal matchup in April?
3. I think this is as big of a test as the Black & Gold have faced since Week 1 when going to the Philadelphia Union. Big wins against a depleted Atlanta and struggling Salt Lake and D.C. sides were nice but New England looks to again be one of the best teams in the East.
I will be interested to see how Nancy handles this game, specifically with the young players. There is certainly a confidence among this group, but this game I think will be won tactically. Nancy has made some interesting decisions this year, some that have worked and others that have not. It's important for him to get this right to make a statement that Columbus can compete with some of the better teams in MLS, not just beat up on bottom feeders.
Lineup/Injuries/Predictions/Etc.
The Crew will be without Luis Diaz (back), Cucho Hernandez (knee), Kevin Molino (knee) and Josh Williams (ankle) and Eloy Room is questionable. I predict the lineup to look like it has the last two weeks:
Patrick Schulte
Steven Moreira-Milos Degenek-Gustavo Vallecilla
Mohamed Faris Will Sands
Darlington Nagbe-Aidan Morris
Alexandru Matan-Lucas Zelarayan
Christan Ramirez
I predicted 2-1 Crew, but I don't feel great about it. A tie would not surprise me.