Things come undone for Columbus while Portland's struggles continue | Matchday 4
The Crew's disappointing devolution, Portland's basic mistakes, and don't read too much into teams tired from CCC play!
Every year about this time, things get a little weird for MLS participants in the CONCACAF Champions Cup. The tournament truly kicks into gear, the travel stacks up, the minutes pile on, and rotations start showing up in lineups that look a little… experimental. As a result performances can be uneven and it becomes way too easy to overindex on who’s good and who’s in trouble.
But we have to remember that this is all happening in that gray area where fatigue, fixture congestion and timing distort the picture. So I'm going to avoid reading too much that's too negative into the performances of the CCC clubs (the ones that played badly this weekend, anyway), because it’s probably worth remembering that March soccer has a long history of lying to us.
Ok, in we go:
Heaven’s Gonna Burn Your Eyes
For three years, under the now-departed Wilfried Nancy, the Columbus Crew were the most aesthetically pleasing team in the league. They wanted the ball; they got the ball; they used the damn thing, unbalancing opponents and creating overloads, chances and goals against all comers.
They were relentless with it, and they were not flat-track bullies. It worked in postseason play – they won MLS Cup in 2023. It worked in continental play – they made the CCC final and then won Leagues Cup in 2024. And it worked from week to week – they finished with 57, 66 and 54 points in the 2023, '24 and '25 seasons.
That era of the Crew was my favorite team. Period. I said above they were "the most aesthetically pleasing team in the league," but what I really meant is "they were the most aesthetically pleasing team in league history."
