OBETZ, Ohio – For Columbus Crew SC, the playoffs were supposed to be a done deal by now.
As recently as Sept. 1, when Columbus beat New York City FC 2-1 at home, their postseason future seemed all but guaranteed. But the team followed that win with a 1-3-2 stretch that has seen them fall all the way to sixth place in the East, with a win required in Sunday's match against Minnesota United on Decision Day presented by AT&T (4:30 pm ET | TV and streaming info) in order to be sure of holding off the charging Montreal Impact to clinch a berth in the Audi 2018 MLS Cup Playoffs.
It’s not where the team expected to be in late October, and head coach Gregg Berhalter admitted his team hasn’t been performing up to his standards lately.
“I’m always concerned [about losses], no matter who we’re playing,” he said. “I’m always concerned [whether] we can reach our levels. And what I would say, over the last three games in particular, is that I don’t think we reached our maximum level. That’s what I’m concerned about.”
Columbus lost 3-0 in Montreal and 2-1 in Orlando in consecutive weeks, and Berhalter said his team “didn’t need to lose” either of those games, especially considering that they gave up three penalty kicks between the two losses.
“I think it’s important to be realistic and say, ‘I think we can improve our performance,’” he said.
Berhalter pointed to defensive transition, set-piece defending and finishing chances as the biggest areas of required improvement, but said “we work on that stuff every day,” so he still has confidence in his team’s ability to turn it around Sunday.
Captain Wil Trapp said he’s seen more “fight” in training this week than in recent memory, which he takes as a good sign. “In a lot of ways,” he said, the team is preparing for a “one-off” game for their season.
“For us, we know what we can do better,” he said. “In a lot of ways, you can analyze and break down, ‘OK, this is why.’ … It’s just understanding how we want to play and executing. So I wouldn’t say it’s concerning, but it’s real. There’s pressure.”
Berhalter would prefer to not have Sunday’s game be a make-or-break moment for his team, but he said he can see some benefits of that pressure.
“If you want to take the positive route, you say, ‘OK, this game will prepare us for a knockout game, potentially’ because we have to win this game and we’ll be focused on that,” he said. “If we do, we go into the next game with that confidence and also having just gone through that, where other teams may rest their players – who knows what they’re going to do. But that’s certainly not going to be our scenario.”
Trapp is looking forward to seeing how his teammates respond to the de facto knockout game.
While he said the recent ownership news and Berhalter’s candidacy for the US men’s national team head coaching job has never affected the team, Sunday’s game poses the kind of pressure that can affect players. And for the team captain, that provides an important test.
“There’s pressure, and that’s necessary and that’s good,” he said. “We’ll see who can rise up and who can perform and see what kind of team we are.”
And if Columbus can pass the test, Trapp knows the 2018 MLS Cup can be up for grabs to anyone flying high enough in November and December.
“One game can change everything in this league, especially in the playoffs,” he said. “Everyone starts clicking at the right moment and you can go win the whole thing – that’s what you’ve seen in years prior. Not saying we’re banking on that, but it’s a real possibility.”
