The Weekly Dis
Columbus Crew coach Henrik Rydström on office space in the midfield, the looting of a state taxpayer account, serenity in a Haus of Ice and much, much more
The Blue Jackets are returning from the Olympic break to make a playoff push. The Crew are kicking off a new season. You need Disrespect. Sign up by Crewsmas, March 7, and your first month of a Silver Level subscription is free. Exclamation point.
Tonight, the Crew play Real Inter Sporting Kansas City FC SC CF at Sporting Park in K.C.
Last Saturday, the Crew lost their season-opener to the Timbers, 3-2 in Portland. Seasoned Crew fans saw the trap – Henrik Rydström takes his team accross the country to make his Crew coaching debut at Providence Park, which is one of the more intimidating venues in MLS for visiting sides.
While the Crew were far from flawless, they had one point in hand before they conceded the game-winning goal in the 88th minute. This compelled many Crew fans who already figured on a loss to say things like, "Same old Crew." As if Caleb Porter was back patrolling the sideline.
Midweek, Rydström chatted with the local media and said that, while he doesn't believe one should put too much stock in the "wedding day" (because it's the marriage that counts, see?), there were some things about his team's performance that he didn't much like.
"It's about how we act," Rydström said. "When you see your players take a step backwards instead of going forward ... You can win the game anyway, but it's like I said to them at halftime: If it looks like this in the second half and we win the game, I will be disappointed anyway.
"My message was clear to them. We don't go out and play with this kind of behavior, where we hope that the opponent will not be good, and so on. We need to be sure we decide our own destiny, and we didn't do it in the game."
Rydström was quite pleased with the "amazing" physical performance of the Crew. He said they "overdid" the running by inviting too many counter-attacks, a forte of the Timbers. The artifical turf had a part in it, he said, in that the tempo of the play didn't have enough variance to suit him – everything was uniformly fast, and that led to some passivity, particularly from the middle of the field to the back.
The team's radio voice, Chris Doran, posed an excellent hypothetical: If the Crew were to play Portland three months from now, what would Rydström expect to see differently? Rydström said:
"First, the obvious thing is to attack the game with a clearer mindset of really attacking the game. Don't wait for the opponent. I think that's more on me. In the press conference after, I said that looked exactly like the Crew last year. Of course we worked on (altering the identity), but it's also the structure – how we look when we lose the ball, and that was not good enough. If I'm going to be self-critical, and I always try to be that, I need to be more clear (about having better structure without the ball).
"I think the downside of being a fluid team, and it was the same last year with the Crew, it's that sometimes the central midfielders disappear from central spaces, and sometimes we're not in good positions to defend. That, together with the mindset that we were afraid of the space behind – but it was more the space in front of our back line where they hurt us. Because they could get away when we lost it, they could find two, three passes and then they could attack our backlines. So, I would have structured it better, and (been clearer about) the mindset."
Rydström liked the way his forwards played and he wants to see them pick up on their aggression in the final third.
"I think sometimes when you play the way the Crew played before, and also my teams, I notice one thing that can happen is that you hide behind the way you play," he said. "Like in second half, we were a lot more often in their penalty box than they were in our penalty box. But still they scored one goal, and we didn't. So, I don't want to make any excuses. And I don't want the players to hide behind the fact that we also play good. ... I want three, four more attacks that end up with a clear chance."
Another interesting question had to do with the missing man in the middle, club legend Darlington Nagbe, who retired after last season (and has joined the staff as a development coach).
Rydstrom:
"I have this saying that the midfielders should be in the office. Like, center midfielders should be at their desk and working, at the office, every day. Sometimes (it was like that) last year, also, even when he (Nagbe) played, but then he could compensate for a lot of things. That's what I mean when I say I need to structure things a little bit better. Like, don't have too much freedom. ... You need to be in the office and working. And he did that a lot.
But that's a reality and I have big confidence in the players we have. I mentioned Taha (Habroune). I choose to play him in a kind of new role. Short-term, maybe that's not the best way (as he adjusts). But we believe so much in him and his ability. ... I'm really excited how it will look in a couple of weeks."
By then, Sekou Bangoura will be more confortable and incoming transfer Andre Gomes, who has played in top-flight leagues in Europe, will be in Columbus.
Soccer's growth in the state correlates with the shrinkage of Ohio taxpayers' unclaimed funds account
Was doing some digging on the Cleveland MLSNP/USL competing stadium bids, and reading through the requests for state funding from the OH sports/cultural fund I noticed this item. Wasn't aware there was an active Toledo USL project - much less trying to get $20M for a stadium.
— CJ Coreschi (@cjcoreschi.bsky.social) 2026-02-27T21:13:32.375Z
Hunt Sports Group and the Edwards family, owners of the Crew, confirmed that they are in pursuit of an National Women's Soccer League franchise for Columbus. They issued the following statement Friday:
The Posts
Try a subscription. I'm cheap
Monday:
According to NBC, the USA-Canada gold medal hockey game at the 2026 Winter Olympics averaged 20.7 million viewers, peaking at 26 million during the overtime period when Jack Hughes scored the winning goal. This event marked the most-watched pre-9 a.m. ET sporting event in U.S. history. Imagine if it was prime-time.
Michael Arace
Wednesday:
The USA women's hockey team, which also beat Canada in an OT final in Milan, graciously demurred on being props in the gallery for President Trump's State of the Union. Not so the men. And, by the way, what the hell was the FBI director doing in the locker room?
Michael Arace
Friday:
Disa and data to set up the Blue Jackets' playoff push, which promises to be frantic. This post features a refigerator magnet. You use what you have.
Michael Arace
Serenity now
The Jackets had a practice scheduled for noon Friday but, after they flew back from Boston, it was cancelled. Beginning with Saturday night's game against the Islanders at Nationwide Arena, they'll be playing 25 games over the last 45 days of the season, and they must take rest when they can.
There are a few Blue Jackets who so love being on the ice that it remains a wonder to them that they can skate anytime they want to. One of them is Kirill Marchenko, who is tied for the team lead in goals (20) with Zach Werenski and is second in assists and points to Werenski.
One might assume that Marchenko finds as much peace in a light skate as he does in a nap. He had the Ice Haus all to himself at lunchtime Friday. He wore a track suit with a helmet and gloves. He did some easy stick drills. He also had a rubber bumper thingy set up so he could feed himself one-timers.
How peaceful.
The best video I saw this week
Description from the YouTube channel: "In this deeply personal and nostalgic episode of Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown, Tony returns to the Lower East Side of New York City to eulogize the disappearing bohemian world of artists, hustlers, and punk rockers that defined his youth. He gathers legends like Debbie Harry of Blondie, Fab 5 Freddy, and Jim Jarmusch to trade war stories over classic meals, including hearty pierogis at Veselka, old-school Italian at John's of 12th Street, and spicy Sichuan dishes at Mission Chinese Food." RIP Tony.
Latest podcast from the studios of Disrespected Media
Mears harkens back to "Bring Your Dog to the Game Night" in Shreveport, La.
Thanks for reading. If you're enjoying what you see and you are of a mind, click on the link below and leave a tip. If you've yet to subscribe, consider making a small hop over a paywall. It'll help keep local, independent media disrespected. You can follow me @MichaelArace1.bsky.social. Have a nice day.
Click below to leave a tip. Thanks.
Michael Arace
