Hudson River Blue caught up with Patrick Murphy of Massive Report, the successor to the SB Nation site of the same name, to get the straight dirt on Columbus Crew, New York City FC‘s opponent tomorrow in Matchday 18: Here’s your NYCFC vs Columbus preview.
1. Mixed feelings in Columbus
Hudson River Blue: Columbus Crew currently sit in sixth place in the Eastern Conference, a full 13 points behind leaders FC Cincinnati. But the team are on a three-game winning streak and have taken 12 out of a possible 15 points in their last five MLS league games. What’s the feeling these days in Flavortown?
Patrick Murphy: Mixed. I think most fans who pay attention knew this would be an up-and-down season with Wilfried Nancy taking over as head coach and making some drastic changes to the way the team plays. So the fact that it has gone that way isn’t a surprise. There is some growing frustration with a lack of a Plan B when possession and building out of the back don’t work, but there have also been signs that Nancy is getting his players to buy in quicker than expected and the soccer is at least very entertaining.
I will say that the number of injuries, especially along the backline, hasn’t helped matters. Multiple center backs have been out, Cucho Hernandez was hurt for a period, Will Sands was lost for the season with a knee injury, etc. It’s hard to build continuity with so many guys in and out (especially with so many young players playing), not to mention when trying to learn a new system.
I think fans are understanding of this but Nancy needs to keep this team in the playoff picture so things don’t start to sour quickly.
