Wilfried Nancy's Crew place focus on maintaining high competitive level in first home game
Every week, when Crew coach Wilfried Nancy is structuring his training plan, one day is reserved for a specific focus.
Referred to as compete day, the session — typically on Tuesdays — is exactly what it sounds like. Nancy and his coaching staff design a practice entirely around the idea of competition. There's little discussion of tactics or technical specificity. The only goal is for the players to compete.
"It’s all about mindset, mindset, mindset," Nancy said. "Resilience. Also, the value that’s really important for us, 'we, not me.' The togetherness, the solidarity. We were really, really happy to see that they kept going. This is not the first time. We were able to compete but also to have fun.
"For me, I believe in that. Fun doesn’t mean that we are relaxed, we chill. No. The objective to have fun is to lower the anxiety, to lower the stress, knowing that they have already a lot of stress. But we compete all the time."
After opening the season with a 4-1 loss at Philadelphia last week, the competitive session was of even larger importance for Nancy. The Crew went toe-to-toe with the Union, one of the top teams in the league, for the first 45 minutes, but after Philadelphia went up 3-1 in the second half, Nancy saw his players' competitive desire slip.
"When we conceded the third goal, I felt that it was difficult (for them)," Nancy said. "It’s normal. As human beings, it’s normal. But we showed them a couple of videos that last year they were able to come back six times from behind. ... For me, (the goal is) to compete until the end. Compete until the end. All the time, all the time, all the time."
For Saturday's 7:30 p.m. home opener at Lower.com Field, the Crew host D.C. United, which in its opening win over Toronto competed exactly the way Nancy wants his team to. Toronto took a 2-1 lead in the 83rd minute, but D.C. scored the tying goal in the 90th minute and the winning goal in the 98th.
Nancy was an assistant with CF Montreal when Wayne Rooney, now D.C.'s coach, played for D.C. United in 2018 and 2019, and he sees Rooney's influence in his team's fighting temperament.
"This is clear, in terms of spirit, in terms of mentality," Nancy said. "... I’m not surprised because I have a lot of respect for Rooney as a player but also now as a coach. As a player, when he came into the league, what he did, for me as a coach, I was really, really happy to see that. It was a really good example. I remember when he came the first year, I showed a lot of video of Rooney. Yes, offensively, but also defensively in terms of spirit. I can see that he wants to do the same thing with his team."
D.C. United has been widely projected to finish at the bottom of the MLS standings for the second year in a row, but the win over Toronto is an early sign that D.C. isn't going to be a pushover.
For the Crew, facing a team that's quickly building an identity around being competitive is the perfect test of their ability to compete for 90-plus minutes. There were undeniable positives from stretches of the game in Philadelphia, and a week later they intend to translate those positives into a full performance.
"You can’t play or be focused for 89 or 90 minutes," center back Philip Quinton said. "You have to be focused for 95 minutes, 96 minutes, and every play’s going to matter."
Columbus Crew lineup
Record: 0-1-0, 15th in East
Projected Starting XI (3-4-2-1):
Eloy Room (goalkeeper); Philip Quinton (left center back), Miloš Degenek (center back), Steven Moreira (right center back); Max Arfsten (left wingback), Darlington Nagbe (central midfielder), Aidan Morris (central midfielder), Mo Farsi (right wingback); Lucas Zelarayan (attacking midfielder), Alex Matan (attacking midfielder); Cucho Hernandez (striker).
Injured: Will Sands (back spasm, questionable); Christian Ramirez (foot, out)
D.C. United lineup
Record: 1-0-0, 4th in East
Projected Starting XI (4-4-2):
Tyler Miller (goalkeeper); Mohanad Jeahze (left back), Victor Palsson (center back), Matai Akinmboni (center back), Andy Najar (right back); Pedro Santos (left midfielder), Russell Canouse (central midfielder), Mateusz Klich (central midfielder), Chris Durkin (right midfielder); Christian Benteke (forward), Nigel Robertha (forward).
Injured: Brendan Hines-Ike (foot, out); Martin Rodriguez (knee, out); Taxi Fountas (thigh, out)
Columbus Crew vs. D.C. United prediction
Columbus 2, D.C. 0: D.C. pulled off a dramatic comeback in its season opener, fueled by Rooney's insertion of several young players and the support of the home crowd at Audi Field. But Saturday, the home crowd energy will be in the Crew's favor as they look to bounce back from the opening loss at Philadelphia, and the Crew's attack will gain the upper hand en route to a 2-0 win.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Crew home opener against DC United game preview
