Wilfried Nancy's week-by-week preseason plan to prepare the Crew for the 2023 season

When the Crew, under new coach Wilfried Nancy, kicked off the first day of preseason training on Jan. 9 they had seven weeks to prepare for the season opener Feb. 25 at Philadelphia and to implement Nancy's style of play.

Step by step, Nancy has steadily ramped up workouts. Now his team is just over two weeks away from the first game of the 2023 season.

"The idea is to give this week a clear concept of how we’re going to keep the ball together," Nancy said on the first day of training. "I call it how we’re going to run together, to be on the same page, to move depending on each movement of the players. ... After that, the idea is to give them a structure about the way we want to play. It’s all about clarity offensively and defensively."

After a week in Columbus, the Crew headed to Port St. Lucie, Florida, for the first of two, two-week camps, and the focus turned to introducing the level of intensity Nancy requires from his players in both pressing and counter-pressing, as well as laying the foundation for how they will play in possession.

"The last few days, we’ve been working on the defensive shape, and how, when we win the ball, what we want to do when we win the ball," Nancy said Jan. 20, after the second week of preseason. "We played with a different system, and the idea is for them to understand where the ball is and what we want to do, and when we win the ball, what we do. ... They’re getting closer to what we want in terms of spirit, in terms of attitude. Soccer-wise, the way we want to attack and the way want to win the ball back has been the topic this week."

During their second week in Florida, Nancy declared the Crew "on the track" to where he and his coaching staff expected them to be. They played their first scrimmage at the end of that week, and Nancy's main goal was to evaluate his team's mindset and test their understanding of the concepts that had been installed.

They largely passed that test, so during a week of training in Columbus before their next scrimmage on Feb. 4, Nancy raised his expectations.

"The goal is to push them a little bit more, like every week," Nancy said Jan. 31 "... The idea is also, this week, to help them to recognize how to attack the box, and also the defensive transition. It’s going to be a mix of everything like that. To be able to give to my players all the tools for the next game, to improve a little bit more."

With the Crew wrapping up the first week of their second Florida training camp, this time in Fort Lauderdale — site of three more scrimmages — once again, expectations are being raised.

"The idea is to increase the intensity," Nancy said Wednesday. "The idea is to be more demanding about what we want to do in terms of concept and also to help the players to be better. I think we did a good job to understand everything. Now, we try to challenge them a little bit more in terms of spaces, timing, a lot of specificity with the ball and without the ball.

"This capacity to repeat at a high tempo and to stay with a long time, the way we want to play. The idea is to repeat the action with a high intensity and also to maintain the style of play that we want to play for 95 minutes, 96 minutes. This is the idea for this camp."

So far, five weeks into the preseason, Nancy has projected optimism every step of the way, and he's pleased with the progress the Crew have made.

"Every player, they are going in a good way, in a good path," Nancy said. "I can see that, step by step, they are able to read and discuss among themselves. For me, this is a good sign that they take ownership about what we want to do. It’s a good process. It’s a good start."

Why Aidan Morris is changing his number to 8 from 21 for the Crew

For the first three seasons of his professional career, midfielder Aidan Morris wore the number 21. But after fellow midfielder Artur was traded to Houston in November, the number 8, which Artur had worn since 2018, opened up, and Morris made the switch.

Morris and Artur grew particularly close after spending much of the 2021 season rehabbing injuries together — for Morris, a torn ACL, and for Artur, a series of hernia surgeries that required an unexpectedly lengthy recovery. As both play the No. 8 midfielder position, they largely competed against one another for playing time, but Morris speaks of his time being Artur's teammate with affection.

"The real stuff we went through was when we were both injured and just dogging it every single day in there," Morris said. "Not going out to the training field but just being in the gym, working out every single day. Pushing each other. Motivating each other. He turned into a big role model for me and someone we could both rely on. You fight for jobs, and that’s part of it, but I think besides from that, we built an awesome relationship, and I’m going to miss him."

Their mutual respect means that, when asked about changing his number to No. 8, Morris wanted to make it clear that he doesn't intend to take anything away from Artur's time in Columbus in making the swap.

"Big respect to Artie," Morris said. "I think he’s a club legend here, so I don’t want to take any of his name away from this number. ... But this has always been my favorite number. It was my number in the academy. It was my number in college. It was my number on anything in the house that you see.

"It’s kind of what I’ve manifested my whole life. It was kind of a big work in progress ever since I’ve been here to get to this number. The opportunity arose, so I thought it was the right time."

Milos Degenek hoping for a Jose Mourinho effect in his second year with the Crew

Heading into his second season with the Crew, center back Milos Degenek has his eye on doing his best Jose Mourinho impression. Mourinho, now the coach of AS Roma in Italy's Serie A, is famous for the impact he has on a team in his second year as manager — dating back to the early 2000s at Porto, he's won a league title in his second season five different times.

"When I do play, I know I’m going to do things better than what I did before," Degenek said. "Always the second year is going to be better, I hope, because you’re more comfortable with the players, with the surroundings, with the whole environment. I hope that the second year, I wish it’s like that Mourinho effect. The second-year effect where you win the league. I’ll be the happiest guy in the world if that’s the case."

Somewhat tongue-in-cheek, Degenek then remembered Mourinho's track record in his third season and beyond; Mourinho left Chelsea early in his fourth season in 2007, he called his third season at Real Madrid in 2012-13 the worst of his career, he was fired by Chelsea in 2015, during the third season of his second stint at the club, and he was fired by Manchester United after his third season in 2019.

"But then that means I’d have to go at the end of the year, because the third year’s not the same," Degenek said. "All jokes aside, I hope it’s that effect. That would please me and I think bring a lot of joy to everyone around this club. I’m ready for it."

bjohnson@dispatch.com

@BaileyAJohnson_

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Wilfried Nancy preparing Crew for season, Aidan Morris changes number