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Columbus Crew 2023 Season Preview

Columbus Crew unveil 2023 VeloCITY Kit

Armchair Analyst's Breakdown

  • Strength: I thought Wilfried Nancy was the best coach in MLS last year. His ability to put together a game model that controlled matches while developing talent at the same time is not typical, and is super valuable both for the short term (controlling matches is good!) and long term (developing talent is good!).
  • Weakness: They need Nancy to work some developmental magic because, while the first XI mostly works on paper, when you move past that there’s a lot of “they really need this guy to show he’s an MLS-caliber player if they’re going to have any depth or off-the-bench difference-makers.”

Key Departures

Key Acquisitions

Projected Starting XI

Season preview - 2023 - CLB lineup

Predictions

  • Marcelo Balboa: 5th in East
  • Charles Boehm: 5th in East
  • Tom Bogert: 9th in East
  • Matt Doyle: 9th in East
  • David Gass: 4th in East
  • J. Sam Jones: 6th in East
  • Sacha Kljestan: 11th in East
  • Kaylyn Kyle: 4th in East
  • Joseph Lowery: 9th in East
  • Melissa Ortiz: 4th in East
  • Danielle Slaton: 4th in East
  • Andrew Wiebe: 9th in East
  • Bradley Wright-Phillips: 6th in East

Odds & Ends

  • Head coach: Wilfried Nancy
  • Stadium: Lower.com Field
  • Last year: 10W-8L-16T, 46 points, 8th in East
  • Audi 2022 MLS Cup Playoffs: Did not qualify