Columbus Crew face former Crew 2 coach Laurent Courtois, CF Montreal
It was less than two years ago that current CF Montreal coach Laurent Courtois was on the sidelines at the Historic Crew Stadium in Columbus, coaching the developmental Crew 2 team to a victory in the inaugural MLS NEXT Pro championship.
After spending two seasons with Crew 2, it was announced in January that Courtois was becoming Montreal's new coach, making him the first MLS NEXT Pro coach to be hired at the first team level.
On Saturday, Courtois will be back in Columbus coaching when the Crew take on Montreal for the first time this season.
There are multiple Crew players who were on the Crew 2 roster during Courtois' stint, and this will be the first time seeing their former coach on the opposing sideline. For Crew goalkeeper Patrick Schulte, he is "more excited just to see him."
Schulte was one of the five Crew players who were a part of Crew 2's playoff run in 2022 with Courtois that went on to win the 2023 MLS Cup. Courtois taking the jump to the first team level comes as little surprise to Schulte, knowing the impact he had on the players who used the developmental team as a steppingstone to professional success.
"It's a byproduct of Laurent and the style that he had and the culture he created," Schulte said. "It's awesome to see, obviously we all still keep in touch."
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The connection to Montreal for Crew coach Wilfried Nancy goes deeper than the Courtois hiring.
Nancy, who is in his second season as the Crew's coach, spent over ten years with Montreal's organization, first with the academy and then eventually moving up to become the first team coach before arriving in Columbus. That has little impact on how Nancy is viewing this matchup.
"It's another game," Nancy said. "I'm pleased for Laurent because he's going to come back here and it's going to be good for him to see that and to see the game in a different perspective."
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Nancy has always been a "one game at a time" type of coach and prefers to avoid playing any team back-to-back because "it's not easy."
With the Crew's meeting with Montreal sitting in between their two CONCACAF semifinals matches against CF Monterrey, it's difficult to imagine that each Columbus player is keeping from overlooking Saturday to focus on next Wednesday.
"It's cliche, but this is another game and we're happy to play this game because practice is boring sometimes for the players," Nancy said. "So, this is good for them. They know that this is an MLS game, and we want to do well also in this competition."
Columbus took a 2-1 advantage in the aggregate last Wednesday in the first leg matchup with Monterrey, which is crucial for the Crew's chances in their Champions Cup competition, but a top goal for Nancy since joining has been to bring home the Supporters' Shield.
Though there is well over half the regular season still left to play, the Crew took a bit of a hit during their six-game draw streak, three of which were MLS matches, and are four points out from the top spot in the MLS standings.
"Right now, where we're at on the table," Schulte said, "and where we want to be in MLS play, we need to win these games, especially take advantage of them at home."
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Crew face CF Montreal, former Crew 2 coach Laurent Courtis
