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Henrik Nydstrom said something after the Crew’s 3-2 loss May 13 at the New York Red Bulls that was both accurate and a bit sacrilegious for the coach of a club that’s won the MLS Cup three times, most recently three years ago.
More: Columbus Crew lose to New York Red Bulls, drop third in a row. Replay
After speaking with fellow Swedes on the Red Bulls after the match, Rydstrom shared a quick synopsis of a conversation that included a blunt analysis of what primarily ails the Crew (3-7-3) most.
“They thought we were tough to play against, but we don’t have a striker,” Rydstrom said. “No, we don’t, so we know where we are when it comes to that. It’s also the expectations on the club and the team are always big and should be, but at this point where we are right now, we need to lower that a little bit.”
Lower expectations? The Crew? The club that embraces its "Massive" motto?
Try putting that on a Tifo ... or a T-shirt.
Since the Haslams granted the wishes of grassroots supporters by saving the Crew in 2018, the club has won a lot. Crew teams added the club's second and third MLS Cup titles in 2020 and 2023, won the 2021 Campeones Cup and now call a beautiful modern stadium in the Arena District home.
Meanwhile, their former digs across town were turned into into a state-of-the-art training center.
Expectations from the Crew's most ardent supporters are not merely big. They're massive for those who come up with all the fun chants for the Nordecke and design those giant Tifo banners. The whole “We are massive!” thing was initially adopted in the early 2000s as a cheeky way to note that Columbus and its Crew were actually the exact opposite.
Not anymore.
All the Crew’s winning since being saved changed their expectations, regardless of injuries or players lost to transfers. Ticket prices at ScottsMiracle-Gro Field haven't exactly dropped, and a quick look at Crew supporter circles online shows a massively growing discontent for where this season is headed.
And that was before losing to the Red Bulls.
Despite a better overall effort than how they started a 3-0 loss to New York City FC on May 10 at Yankee Stadium, the Crew lost to New York’s charter MLS club in Harrison, New Jersey due to afflictions they’ve yet to sort out.
Another skilled forward, 18-year old Justin Hall, torched the Crew’s box defense so thoroughly that billowing pillars of black-and-gold smoke could probably be seen from Connecticut. Hall, a gifted teenage striker, scored all three of his goals with one-touch shots near the Crew’s goal line.
He made MLS history as the youngest player to ever notch a hat trick, and was the second striker in a row to get a hat trick against the Crew, following NYCFC’s Hannes Wolf. The Crew did battle from behind to tie the match twice, 1-1 in the first half and 2-2 in the second, but they allowed Hall’s winner off a scramble that followed yet another nightmarish set piece.
Rydstrom was asked if he's familiar with the term, "When it rains, it pours."
He is now.
“I haven't heard that kind of saying before," Rydstrom said, "but maybe it feels like that.”
It does, especially after watching New York's winning goal off yet another set piece disaster. A corner lob led to a clean header that sent the ball into a gaggle of bodies, and Hall cleaned up the loose change. It was the fourth goal the Crew have conceded off a set piece in the past three games, and they also struggled defending quick transitions again.
Playing with rookie defender Owen Presthus making his MLS debut in place of injured defender Malte Amundsen [hamstring], the Crew struggled defending vertical attacks, and Hall was a massive problem. He ran past the Crew’s defense for dangerous looks most of the game, and could've scored four goals had it not been for Crew keeper Patrick Schulte’s save in the second half off a wide open look in the box.
“I think tonight you saw, obviously, an up-and-coming player in the league,” Crew captain/center back Sean Zawadzki said. “His movement is really good for his age. His blind side runs off the back shoulder, there’s times, like, I don’t know he’s coming. He’s just in the right space, the right spot at the right time, and it’s a one-touch finish. And I think that you saw that every time.”
That’s exactly what the Crew is lacking right now.
Cucho Hernandez, their former star who’s scoring beautiful goals in Spain, isn’t walking into their locker room anytime soon. Lucas Zelarayan is also long gone, and gifted striker Wessam Abou Ali is now getting around by wheelchair and crutches following ACL surgery.
Speedy forward Jamal Thiaré missed his third straight game with a lower leg injury and Rydstrom opted to rest forward Diego Rossi to start out against the Red Bulls due to the struggling Crew’s crammed upcoming schedule.
Rossi subbed into the game in the second half, tying it 2-2 on a penalty kick, but Rydstrom’s analysis of the Crew’s biggest issue remains spot on. They no longer have an elite striker, and that’s a massive dilemma for the front office to resolve. Next up is another road match May 16 at the Philadelphia Union, who also lost May 13 and sit last in the Eastern Conference
“We’re going to have a training (May 14), and then we go to Philadelphia,” Rydstrom said. “Then it will be a good game [May 19]. I think they lost at the end of [their] game, so it will be two wounded animals that play against each other.”
Blue Jackets reporter Brian Hedger can be reached at [email protected] and @BrianHedger.bsky.social
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Crew coach Henrik Rydstrom suggests lowering expectations
Continue reading...
More: Columbus Crew lose to New York Red Bulls, drop third in a row. Replay
After speaking with fellow Swedes on the Red Bulls after the match, Rydstrom shared a quick synopsis of a conversation that included a blunt analysis of what primarily ails the Crew (3-7-3) most.
“They thought we were tough to play against, but we don’t have a striker,” Rydstrom said. “No, we don’t, so we know where we are when it comes to that. It’s also the expectations on the club and the team are always big and should be, but at this point where we are right now, we need to lower that a little bit.”
Lower expectations? The Crew? The club that embraces its "Massive" motto?
Try putting that on a Tifo ... or a T-shirt.
Since the Haslams granted the wishes of grassroots supporters by saving the Crew in 2018, the club has won a lot. Crew teams added the club's second and third MLS Cup titles in 2020 and 2023, won the 2021 Campeones Cup and now call a beautiful modern stadium in the Arena District home.
Meanwhile, their former digs across town were turned into into a state-of-the-art training center.
Expectations from the Crew's most ardent supporters are not merely big. They're massive for those who come up with all the fun chants for the Nordecke and design those giant Tifo banners. The whole “We are massive!” thing was initially adopted in the early 2000s as a cheeky way to note that Columbus and its Crew were actually the exact opposite.
Not anymore.
All the Crew’s winning since being saved changed their expectations, regardless of injuries or players lost to transfers. Ticket prices at ScottsMiracle-Gro Field haven't exactly dropped, and a quick look at Crew supporter circles online shows a massively growing discontent for where this season is headed.
And that was before losing to the Red Bulls.
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Columbus Crew fall short against New York Red Bulls in familiar ways
Despite a better overall effort than how they started a 3-0 loss to New York City FC on May 10 at Yankee Stadium, the Crew lost to New York’s charter MLS club in Harrison, New Jersey due to afflictions they’ve yet to sort out.
Another skilled forward, 18-year old Justin Hall, torched the Crew’s box defense so thoroughly that billowing pillars of black-and-gold smoke could probably be seen from Connecticut. Hall, a gifted teenage striker, scored all three of his goals with one-touch shots near the Crew’s goal line.
He made MLS history as the youngest player to ever notch a hat trick, and was the second striker in a row to get a hat trick against the Crew, following NYCFC’s Hannes Wolf. The Crew did battle from behind to tie the match twice, 1-1 in the first half and 2-2 in the second, but they allowed Hall’s winner off a scramble that followed yet another nightmarish set piece.
Rydstrom was asked if he's familiar with the term, "When it rains, it pours."
He is now.
“I haven't heard that kind of saying before," Rydstrom said, "but maybe it feels like that.”
It does, especially after watching New York's winning goal off yet another set piece disaster. A corner lob led to a clean header that sent the ball into a gaggle of bodies, and Hall cleaned up the loose change. It was the fourth goal the Crew have conceded off a set piece in the past three games, and they also struggled defending quick transitions again.
Playing with rookie defender Owen Presthus making his MLS debut in place of injured defender Malte Amundsen [hamstring], the Crew struggled defending vertical attacks, and Hall was a massive problem. He ran past the Crew’s defense for dangerous looks most of the game, and could've scored four goals had it not been for Crew keeper Patrick Schulte’s save in the second half off a wide open look in the box.
“I think tonight you saw, obviously, an up-and-coming player in the league,” Crew captain/center back Sean Zawadzki said. “His movement is really good for his age. His blind side runs off the back shoulder, there’s times, like, I don’t know he’s coming. He’s just in the right space, the right spot at the right time, and it’s a one-touch finish. And I think that you saw that every time.”
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Columbus Crew scuffling without elite striker
That’s exactly what the Crew is lacking right now.
Cucho Hernandez, their former star who’s scoring beautiful goals in Spain, isn’t walking into their locker room anytime soon. Lucas Zelarayan is also long gone, and gifted striker Wessam Abou Ali is now getting around by wheelchair and crutches following ACL surgery.
Speedy forward Jamal Thiaré missed his third straight game with a lower leg injury and Rydstrom opted to rest forward Diego Rossi to start out against the Red Bulls due to the struggling Crew’s crammed upcoming schedule.
Rossi subbed into the game in the second half, tying it 2-2 on a penalty kick, but Rydstrom’s analysis of the Crew’s biggest issue remains spot on. They no longer have an elite striker, and that’s a massive dilemma for the front office to resolve. Next up is another road match May 16 at the Philadelphia Union, who also lost May 13 and sit last in the Eastern Conference
“We’re going to have a training (May 14), and then we go to Philadelphia,” Rydstrom said. “Then it will be a good game [May 19]. I think they lost at the end of [their] game, so it will be two wounded animals that play against each other.”
Blue Jackets reporter Brian Hedger can be reached at [email protected] and @BrianHedger.bsky.social
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Crew coach Henrik Rydstrom suggests lowering expectations
Continue reading...
