Suddenly, the Crew run faster
The Black & Gold had their legs going after the coaching change. Coincidence?
Three days after coach Henrik Rydström was fired and replaced by Laurent Courtois, the Crew took to Fertilizer Field and defeated NYCFC 1-0 in a U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal match Wednesday night. It seemed to me that, after the coaching switch, more than a few Crew players gained in footspeed. How about that.
A few thoughts and observations, beginning with a quote that nobody ever said:
Sometimes, the action you think you need executed directly becomes elusive, zig-zaggy, irregular, slanted. Be acquiescent, cool, keen.
I'll have more on that quote by the end of the day.
Nancyball, a redux
The Crew are 3-7-4 in MLS play with one more league game – home against Atlanta United Sunday evening – before a two-month World Cup break.
Heading into Wednesday night, they'd won their first two U.S. Open Cup games (both against Tier 3 teams) by a combined 7-1. That got them to the quarterfinal round, at which point the competition stiffens.
Given that – and given that the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup is, in concept, a gettable trophy for a team that is currently in 26th place in the Supporters' Shield standings – it was not surprising that Laurent fielded a strong team Wednesday night. (The Pigeons did the same.)
Techincally speaking, the Crew came out in the same 4-4-2 formation, which is what Rydström favored.
In actuality, the Crew played more of a three-man back line when they had the ball, a throwback to Wilfried Nancy and the recent golden era. The possession-heavy system also fits the eye of Courtois, who was greatly influenced by Nancy during a previous stint in Columbus, and who wakes up in the morning and says, "I love to have the ball."
The Crew players, be it out of recalcitrance or frustration or discomfiture, never seemed to embrace Rydström's ideas of relationist chaos creation.
The reversion, then, was welcome in two defined areas – between the lines and between the ears.
Between the lines:
Courtois: "Before the game, I told them that I wanted them to be comfortable in a few aspects that internally we thought were important to modify. But I want to take risks on the ball. So if you notice, we try to play out of the back really low. And at times I'm going to try to take those risks, and you've got to be able to not only have the personality and the composure to do it, but also the quality to execute that."
Remind you of anybody? Does the word "Braveball" come to mind?
Max Arfsten: "I think that's a big part of it, the system. Obviously, as players, you want to be able to be flexible and play multiple systems and all that type of stuff. But I don't think it's a secret that we thrive in the three-back system and that kind of movement. And I feel like we kind of just fell into our old habits, and things felt very natural. We controlled the tempo of the game. So I think it's never that simple. But I think that was a big part of it for sure.
"I mean, I felt really good. Just like, I was on the ball more. I was more dynamic, more involved, and I think everyone kind of felt the same way about themselves as well."
Steven Moreira: "(Courtois instructed us) just to play free. We know the system a lot, honestly. So, every player was in the right position, like Max (Arfsten), Andrés (Herrera). Because when he (Andrés Herrera) was playing at four, he was a winger, so like that's different. ...
"We know Laurent was already at Crew 2. He was playing the same system. But, of course, three years with Wilfried, it was the same, so we have more habits ..."
Eliot McKinley of American Soccer Analysis: "I could only watch parts of it during dinner, so I am probably not the best to say too much. But things just looked better shifting back to the Nancy-style three CBs. Moreira looked much more like his Defensive-Player-of-the-Year self than the shadow of that under Rydström."
McKinley does not receive data from U.S. Open Cup games, at least not at this stage.
Between the ears
Rydström had certain ideas on how to push the Crew into a new era, and some of his ideas chafed the players. I don't know if that is more of a comment on Rydström or the players. Maybe it's a combination.
In any case, it seems clear that one of Courtois' first orders of business was to restore confidence ...
Before the game, Courtois made a point to say that the team is chasing a piece of hardware:
"That's what I told them just literally before the game starts, is that we talk a lot about their quality or their heart, but let's come back to talk about their winning mentality because they won everything in this league and they should remind a few people, so tonight they did it."
After the game, Courtois congratulated his charges:
"I also talked again about the fact that there are a lot of people cheering for them and rooting for them and working behind the scenes, and they made a lot of people happy tonight."
I don't know what buttons Rydström tried to push, or whether the pushing caused any measure of alienation. What can be said is that Courtois wants that old cumbaya spirit back. Impossible is an opinion!
Arfsten: "I would say generally, he's just a very like respectful person. I think he has like, he used to be a player at a high level. So you see that with the way he coaches. It's never like degrading, it's always more of a conversation. That's one thing I've noticed with him from the beginning of this year."
Courtois is ranging into territory Nancy rarely reached – down the bench – for reasons that are both between the lines and between the ears.
In the 64th minute, Hugo Picard replaced Nariman Akhundzada and Yevhen Cheberko, who'd been in Henrik Rydström's doghouse, replaced Rudy Camacho. As one Crew fan put it on BlueSky, and I paraphrase here: "Nice to see Camacho subbed out before he got smoked."
In the 76th minute, Mo Farsi replaced Steven Moreira, Jamal Thiare, now healthy, replaced Taha Habroune and Dylan Chambost came in for Sekou Bangoura.
Thus, Courtois used all five of his subs before the 77th minute. Rydström was not so liberal with his substitution patterns. Nancy something else altogether.
"Really proud of the spirit," Courtois said. "The way the reserves came in, and how the ones that came off support each other was good to see. ... The subs came in and raised the level. Not only do they maintain it, but they raised it, so it was really crucial for us. ... I told the guys I'm gonna do silly things like this because I don't like to be too protective."
It is but one game. Interestingly, the next one – the last game before a prolonged World Cup break – is probably even more important. Why? Because you can do a Courtois cumbaya for a feel-good week, but if you have to chew on a loss and sit in 12th-13th-14th place for two months, you can't fire the coach. Not again. Right?
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Michael Arace
