Tag: Wilfried Nancy

Columbus Crew overcome Tigres, making Concacaf Champions Cup history for MLS

The obstacles piled up, but the Crew’s commitment to its principles set the stage for a historic success

The Columbus Crew did something no MLS team has ever done in the Concacaf Champions Cup Tuesday night.

The defending MLS Cup champions went to Estadio Universitario and secured a 1-1 second-leg draw against Tigres, eventually advancing to the semifinals on penalty kicks thanks in large part to goalkeeper Patrick Schulte’s two saves early in the tiebreaker.

The first leg at Lower.com Field had also ended 1-1, and history pointed to bad news ahead. No MLS team paired with a Mexican side had ever hosted a first leg, failed to win, and then recovered in the second leg to advance before.

The Crew got that first-leg draw without star forward Cucho Hernández, dropped by head coach Wilfried Nancy for an as-yet-unspecified issue, and faced even more difficulties in the second leg.

For one thing, U.S. men’s national team prospect Aidan Morris, a key ballwinner for Columbus, was unavailable due to a suspension. However, the biggest blow came just three minutes into the match, Schulte got the ball stuck under his foot under pressure from André-Pierre Gignac, conceding a disastrous goal.

It wasn’t just that Tigres had taken the lead, but that this goal — a product of welcoming pressure from an opponent, a foundational element of Columbus’ methodology under Nancy — called the entire approach into question.

The Crew had to dig in for a spell, with Tigres sensing an opportunity to put the tie to bed quickly. That’s a long-standing pattern for MLS teams in this situation, particularly after a bad mistake.

Columbus, however, held its nerve.

“That’s the way it’s been since the beginning when I took the team: It’s all about us,” Nancy told reporters after the match. “We respect the opposition, we try to adjust certain things depending on what kind of style of play we’re going to face. But at the end of the day, we try to play our football. And today, yes, I’m really proud of the way we played.”

The Crew began playing its way back into the match, with Cucho playing a major role in a 59th minute equalizer.

A long ball over the Tigres defense left the Colombia forward with plenty to do, and while Mo Farsi couldn’t finish off a pass from the left, Diego Rossi was on hand to make sure the opportunity paid off.

El Volcán, arguably the toughest atmosphere in Mexico, was suddenly tame, and Columbus navigated the next hour of the match without having to suffer for long spells. The Crew would finish the match with a possession advantage despite playing on the road, underlining the club’s commitment to its core tactical principles.

“I’m not surprised to be honest with you, because this is not easy, what I’m asking to my players,” said Nancy.

“Yes, we are [MLS Cup] champions, but the idea is: Is it possible to seek improvement all the time, all the time, all the time? Tonight I’m really happy because, yes, we won. But to be honest with you, PK win or loss, it would have been the same for me. Because they believe in [the principles]. That’s why they are able to play the way they want to play, knowing that it’s not easy.”

With a 2-2 aggregate scoreline and the away goals tally equal, penalties arrived, opening the door for Schulte’s redemption on the night. Staring down Gignac, arguably the single player to torment MLS teams in the Champions Cup more than any other, Schulte leapt to his right on the tiebreaker’s opening shot to make a stunning stop.

The Crew took the lead, and Schulte proceeded to deny Guido Pizarrio in round two, setting the stage for a 4-3 triumph.

“Pat deserved that,” insisted Nancy. “He knows that he has to evolve, and so I’m really happy for him, because I can tell you that he was really, really disappointed when we conceded the goal.

“This is the message, this is all the time, day to day what we try to give them. All the time, try to give a new challenge…sometimes there’s a little voice behind you saying that, ‘No, no this is not possible.’ So I try to tell them that, ‘Hey, [wave away] this voice. Leave it on the side, and just play.'”

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Wilfried Nancy can’t make the Cucho Hernandez story go away

The superstar forward missed another game on Tuesday due to a team policy violation

Whether Wilfried Nancy likes it or not, the continuing absence of Cucho Hernández will be a story that hangs over the Columbus Crew until there is some kind of a resolution.

Hernández missed his second straight game on Tuesday, as the Crew could only manage a 1-1 draw against Tigres in the first leg of their Concacaf Champions Cup quarterfinal.

It was a disappointing result in a game Columbus controlled for long stretches, and could have really used the services of one of the best players in MLS.

But Cucho was nowhere to be found. After the Colombian sat out Saturday’s 2-2 draw at Nashville SC, Crew head coach Nancy would only say that he had committed some unspecified “team policy” violation.

After the striker missed another match three days later, Nancy strangely seemed incredulous that anyone would dare ask about the absence of one of his best players.

“We just did a game and we’re talking about Cucho, no answer for that,” the Frenchman said in his post-match press conference. “We don’t play tennis, we play football. Football, this is 11 players on the pitch. Be patient, I know this is your job, next question please.”

Cucho’s absence would have been a story regardless, but the coach’s evasiveness is creating a Streisand effect around the entire situation.

The forward’s “team policy” violation seems to have been at least a notch or two above minor. Missing a single league game is one thing, but stretching that absence out to multiple games — including a Concacaf knockout-round match against a regional power — is quite another.

Nancy will continue to be asked about this issue and the longer the forward’s absence stretches, the more questions he’ll get. Next time, he’d be well served to have a more satisfying response.

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Jim Curtin wins incredibly close 2022 MLS Coach of the Year race

Curtin has claimed the award for the second time in three years

Jim Curtin is the 2022 Sigi Schmid MLS Coach of the Year, but only took the prize by the narrowest of margins.

The Philadelphia Union boss, for the second time in three seasons, was the winner in polling involving players, media, and club general managers. He’s the fifth coach to win the award multiple times, and at 43 is the youngest to do so.

Curtin guided the Union to the top of the Eastern Conference, with his side picking up 67 points and missing out on the Supporters’ Shield only via the games-won tiebreaker. Philadelphia finished the year with by far the best goal difference in the league, a +46 mark resulting from setting club records in goals scored (72) and fewest goals conceded (26). Both marks were best in MLS this season.

He also seemed to find a new gear this year for the Union, who had previously been characterized purely by their pressing tactics and defensive organization. In 2022, those aspects remained intact, and were augmented by a far more dangerous attack that saw Dániel Gazdag, Julián Carranza, and Mikael Uhre each manage to produce at least 19 combined goals and assists.

Despite all that, Curtin won the award by just 0.1% of the vote. While the player and GM votes both leaned towards him, the media ballots broke heavily towards CF Montréal coach Wilfried Nancy. LAFC’s Steve Cherundolo (who won that aforementioned Shield) also ran Curtin close in all three categories. The breakdown gave Curtin 23.57% of the total vote, besting Nancy’s 23.47% mark by less than one percentage point.

Curtin and the Union will be busy this weekend, as they host the Eastern Conference final on Sunday night against NYCFC (8:00pm Eastern, FS1/Fox Deportes).

Watch Curtin get the news at Subaru Park

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NYCFC put on counter-attacking clinic, bounce CF Montreal from MLS playoffs

NYCFC were ruthless in transition as they ended Montréal’s season

NYCFC has serious designs on extending their reign as MLS’s top dog for another season.

The defending champions went to Quebec and dismantled CF Montréal 3-1 on Sunday afternoon. Maxi Moralez, Héber, and Talles Magno all scored as the 2021 MLS Cup winners combined mastery in transition moments with some excellent goalkeeping from Sean Johnson (at least, in the first half) to advance to the Eastern Conference final.

Throughout 2022 Montréal earned a reputation as the experts at drawing teams towards over-committing before catching them out. In their biggest game of the year though, NYCFC taught them a lesson, time and again manufacturing transition moments by forcing turnovers just as Montréal committed too many men forward.

Nick Cushing altered his side’s preferred 4-2-3-1 formation, bringing an extra center back in, but that didn’t hamper their razor-sharp attack. An energetic start resulted in an early goal for NYCFC, with Moralez calmly depositing the ball into an empty net after Gabriel Pereira and Santiago Rodríguez had done most of the heavy lifting.

From that moment through to the last seconds of the half, it was all Montréal. Sean Johnson produced two jaw-dropping saves, Kei Kamara hit the post, referee Drew Fischer turned down a penalty shout from Djordje Mihailovic, and the home side would also have a goal on a clever set piece called back for offside. NYCFC would enter the locker room with more yellow cards (three) than shot attempts (two).

That second shot ended up being critical though, as a jailbreak counter saw NYCFC take a 2-0 lead. Montréal’s fast recovery appeared to have ended the danger, but Rodríguez played a marvelous ball to Héber, whose run went completely undetected. The pass was so good that all the Brazilian veteran had to do was casually tuck the ball past James Pantemis, stunning Stade Saputo.

Wilfried Nancy brought Rommel Quioto on to push for a comeback, but another incisive NYCFC counter ended with Pantemis tripping Pereira in the box. Fischer awarded the obvious penalty, and Talles Magno — with virtually his first touch after coming on — finished it off from the spot.

Montréal would at least salvage some pride with a late goal from Mihailovic — a routine header that Johnson was inexplicably unable to fend off — and gave NYCFC some worries in the final minutes, but ultimately the cutting edge shown by New York City made them worthy winners.

NYCFC will head south on I-95 to take on the Philadelphia Union in a rematch of last year’s conference final, which is set for October 30.

Watch the goals that sent NYCFC past Montréal

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