Arace: If you are a Crew fan, you wonder where is Juan Camilo Hernandez Suarez
Crew forward Cucho Hernandez, the 2023 MLS Cup MVP and one of the league’s brightest stars, served a two-game suspension for “violating team policy” before he returned to the lineup Saturday night. His game was rusty, but his cleats were sharp.
Hernandez drew a straight red card in the 75th minute, when, after being shoved in the back by United defender Christopher McVey, he kicked McVey in the knee. The Crew had to play the final 15 minutes plus stoppage with 10 men. They were bailed out by midfielder Aidan Morris, whose 29-yard laser beam in the 87th minute salvaged a 1-1 draw before a crowd of 20,704 at the new Crew stadium.
If you are a Crew fan, it’s perfectly natural to worry about Juan Camilo Hernandez Suarez. You don’t know why he was suspended. You can guess: Hernandez engaged in a somewhat heated exchange when he was subbed out of a 2-0 loss in Charlotte two weeks ago, in a game that was handled by assistants because coach Wilfried Nancy was ill and did not travel with the team. But is there more to it? Two games feels a harsh punishment for a heat-of-the-moment meltdown.
If you are a Crew fan, you’ve watched your Cucho-less team draw at home against UANL Tigres in the first leg of a CONCACAF Champions Cup series, which might’ve doomed the Crew’s chances to advance past the quarterfinals. And you’ve watched your Cucho-less team draw on the road in Nashville. In both games, the Crew generated dangerous scoring opportunities, which is what they do, and lack finish, which is what Cucho provides. They clearly missed their star striker.
Asked on Saturday night if he wondered whether results would have been different had Hernandez been in the lineup, Nancy said:
“No. I don’t live in the past, I don’t live in the future. So, what do you think about the result today because Cucho was there and maybe he could have scored, maybe, five goals? So, I don’t think like that. I’m not saying this a bad question, so don’t get me wrong. ... My point is, I don’t think like that. ... Like I told you, Cucho accepted really well. Everything was clean. A lot of noise around, but everything was clean with that.”
Nancy has a very short track record in Columbus, but it’s like Magic Johnson’s track record after one year with the Lakers.
Nancy developed a reputation for being a players’ coach – don't read that as “soft,” rather, read it as “respected” –when he was in Montreal. Players knew they were going to get better and get paid. He fell out in Montreal because, essentially, he didn’t let the owner meddle with locker room business. It was a deal-breaker. He arrived in Columbus and, in his first season, put his systemic stamp on every level of the organization, helped retool the roster, stuck out his neck to prove that the game is about scoring and led the Crew to an MLS Cup championship.
This is a singularly gifted human being. “Humility” is one of his calling cards. He does not pretend to know everything, and, by extension, he tries to learn from his players as much as he tries to teach them. He also has core beliefs in how to do things the right way, on and off the field, and he is unwavering when it comes to these tenets.
He acknowledges that there is danger in the opacity of suspending the team’s best player without supplying any details.
“Yes, and I have no problem with that,” he said. “I said to (Dispatch beat writer Brianna Mac Kay) that I understand your job, but again, sometimes in life and in the way I do things, I wanted to protect my player. Why am I going to expose my player? I know what happened. We know what happened. The most important (thing) is to be on the same page with the organization, with the players, with myself, obviously with the staff, and everything was clean. No problem with that.”
When Nancy was asked what Cucho had done to merit, in Nancy’s mind, a return to the lineup Saturday night, Nancy said:
“It was planned already. Everything was clear. I didn’t want to shout that because, like I told you, this is a private (matter). But everything was planned, and it was planned for him to come back for this game. He knew it since the beginning, so no problem with that.”
If you are a Crew fan, it’s fair to wonder wherefore Hernandez. You know that, sooner or later, his gifts are such that some team in Europe at some point is going to make an offer for him that neither he nor the Crew can refuse. OK. But you also know that Hernandez was suspended for unstated reasons, his absence clearly hurt the Crew and, upon his return Saturday night, he did something stupid in kicking an opponent and getting thrown out of the game. Things happen fast out there, sure. Emotions are running high. Frustration comes into play. Got it. But kicking at an opponent as he jumps over you is, well, dirty.
And that’s not Cucho. He’s an honest player. He’s also one of the most joyful athletes I’ve encountered in five decades. Darkness does not suit him. He lives in his smile.
When Hernandez finally emerged from the shower, late, late, late Saturday night, because Don Garber’s MLS does not have, or does not enforce, any rules regarding postgame access like a true professional sport, Cucho was asked for a minute of his time.
“No, not today,” he said. “After Tigres, I promise you, I’ll talk. I’m sorry.”
Sunday, the Crew traveled to Monterrey for the second leg of their two-legged series against Tigres. If you are a Crew fan, you were left to wonder whether redemption could be found in the foothills of the Sierra Madre Oriental.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: The curious case of Wilfried Nancy, Cucho Hernandez, and Columbus Crew
