Hell is Real, Playoff Style, II
"We played with style, with flavor. Not scared to lose or tie. Doing it on our own terms." -Crew wingback Max Arfsten
The Crew under coach Wilfried Nancy experienced two glorious seasons – an MLS Cup, a Leagues Cup, an appearance in the CONCACAF Champions Cup final and recognition as one of the best club teams on the continent – before things went awry.
Monday night, the Crew open a Round One, best-of-three series with FC Cincinnati at TQL Stadium in Cincy. The Crew (14-8-12) are the No. 7 seed in the East; the Cincinnatis (20-9-5) are the No. 2. The stadium will be in a state of "Orange Out."
Do the Crew have a chance in Hell is Real, Playoff Style, II?
Yes, they do.
If there was a theme to the Crew's 2025 regular season, it was the process of moving ahead without the best all-around attacker in the league, Cucho Hernandez, who was sold to the Spanish La Liga club Real Betis in February.
Cucho was told by those running the Columbian national team that he needed to play for a top-four league in the world or he wouldn't be on the 2026 World Cup roster. The Crew's brain trust was not going to stand in the way. A deal came together late in the winter transfer window – it was announced the day after the window closed – and that was that, and so it goes.
The Crew actually got off to a rousing start. They were 7-1-3 on May 6, but when the stakes rose in Champions Cup play, they were outclassed (by LAFC). They missed Cucho. It was a deep, deep ache they tried to treat in mid-April, when they paid Philadelphia $4 million in a cash deal for attacker Daniel Gazdag, the Union's all-time leading scorer.
Gazdag had a hard go. He went without a goal in 15 appearances before he finally found the back of the net, on a penalty kick, against D.C. United on July 19. With a Designated Player's money comes designated responsibility, and Crew fans may have been more frustrated by Gazdag's lack of finish more than Gazdag was. The bad taste lingered through the summer as injuries mounted and the Crew tumbled out of the top four in the east and came close to sliding out of the playoffs.
Meanwhile, GM Issa Tall, coach Wilfried Nancy and assorted players talked about how Gazdag fit well into their system, that he was making all the right reads, that his "actions" were excellent, and so on. In any case, the dude looked snakebitten.
Michael Arace
Striker Wessam Abou Ali could've been the answer. There were just a couple of issues: The transfer process of getting him out of Egypt, which began in December, dragged on through the summer; and when he finally reached Columbus, he scored three goals and added an assist in five appearance – and then he suffered a hairline fracture of his left ankle on Sept. 25.
At the time, it was said Abou Ali would miss six weeks – which makes Nov. 1 a possible return date. Game 2 of the Crew-FCC series is in CBus on Sunday, Nov. 2, and Game 3 (if needed) is in Cincy on Saturday, Nov. 8. The Crew are tight-lipped about injuries and return dates. Their public stance, while not etched in stone, seems to be that Abou Ali won't be seen in uniform again until next year. We shall see.
Normally, it takes time for any new Crew player to acclimate himself to Nancy's possess-attack-score system. Nancyball requires some rewiring of the brain. Abou Ali, with his bubbly personality and a grasp of the game, seemed to be catching on quickly. And you could see his impact: The spaces he opened up behind him gave the flanking attackers, Gazdag and Diego Rossi, room to operate. The linkage from the back line through the midfield and into the final third made more sense. Abou Ali thinks the game like Cucho, and the Crew began to show flashes of what they had been in 2023 and '24.
(As for Rossi ... The Crew's leading scorer suffered a hamstring injury after scoring a hat trick at Atlanta Sept. 13. He missed three games, then played in a 1-1 draw at Orlando, and then sat out Decision Day. Nancy said Rossi could've played the regular-season finale but was held out as a precaution. Rossi has been back in training and listed as day-to-day and my guess is he's more probable than questionable for Game 1 Monday night.)
The Cincinnatis finished second in the Supporters' Shield standings, behind Philadelphia and ahead of mighty Messiami. FCC are one of the most talented teams in the league with a high-priced attacking trio (forwards Brenner and Kevin Denkey and attacking mid Evander) and a lineup sprinkled with quality veterans. They can win on pure talent. They can haunt opponents who lose their defensive shape. They can flay a back line that is not sharp.
Crew fans can be guardedly optimistic. Why not?
This is a team that returns 12 players from what was one of the greatest triumphs in franchise history – the come-from-behind victory at TQL Stadium in the 2023 Eastern Conference semifinals. This is a team that has been through the furnace of high-pressure playoff games and high-stakes extra-league competitions. This is a team that has suffered for long stretches this season – and still managed to score 55 goals and post 54 points.
This is a team that can do this (note Gazdag here in the regular-season finale):
I've already touched on this, but it bears repeating: The Crew, playing with house money against a heavily favored opponent, think they found their mojo at the tail end of the regular season.
"We feel good," wing back Max Arfsten said. "I think the Orlando game (a 1-1 draw down there Oct. 4), we played better. We played with style, with flavor. Not scared to lose or tie. Doing it on our own terms. It's a message everyone's buying into."
Nancyball lacked finish at times over a long summer, but it remained dangerous. As the air turns crispy-cool, the possibility of menace has increased.
"I don't believe in standings in the years we finish high," Nancy said, inferring that he doesn't believe in the standings when his team finishes in seventh place.
"So, let's play the game," he said. "We know that it's going to be a new journey for all the teams in the playoffs, and we know anyone can win."
Losing Cucho is like suffering a torn MCL. In most cases, an athlete needs a full year to wholly recover from knee reconstruction – but a return after six months is not unprecedented.
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Michael Arace
