New MLS rules: What Columbus Crew can take from the experience MLS NEXT Pro had with rules
Wilfried Nancy prefers change to be simple. When it comes to the three new rules that MLS is implementing starting this weekend, the Crew coach is keeping that same line of thinking.
"For me, the key point is communication," Nancy said. "So, I hope that all these rules will not put on the side the communication. Because at the end of the day, it's all about there's communication, there's emotions."
The three new rules, regarding off-field treatment, timed substitutions and in-stadium VAR announcements, will be in effect when the Crew play the Portland Timbers at Lower.com Field.
The off-field treatment and timed substitution rules will impact games the most.
Under one new rule, players receiving treatment will have to be moved off to the side whenever possible. Those players then have to stay on the sidelines for a minimum of two minutes. Under a second new rule, a player failing to leave the field within 10 seconds after the fourth official indicates a substitution will be punished by a 60-second delay in the replacement player coming into the match. Both situations will leave a team down a man for a stretch of time.
The third rule simply involves officials explaining video reviews for the fans.
Last year and for a portion of the 2022 season, these rules were being used at the MLS NEXT Pro level. According to Crew 2 general manager Corey Wray, the goal was to "have the ball in play as much as possible for development purposes."
"At first you get, 'How's this going to work?' But then you start to see changes in behaviors," Wray said. "You see people not wanting to let their team down by wasting time, and you see the flow of the game improve dramatically."
Wray feels the changes were simple for players and referees. There was only one instance he could think of in which a referee had to use discretion and make an exception to the new rules.
That happened in a road game against Toronto FC II, when Crew 2 midfielder Marco Micaletto was suffering from bad cramping and unable to get up for treatment off the field, causing a delay in the match.
"I didn't really feel it much," said current Crew and former Crew 2 midfielder Taha Habroune. "The only one that was kind of hard was the substitution one, because when you're a bit tired and you have everyone yelling at you to come out ... you just played a whole game and you're now coming off and maybe sometimes you don't want to. So, having to jog off is kind of a hassle sometimes."
The league had hoped to implement these rules at the beginning of the season, but the Professional Soccer Referee strike pushed the timeline back. During that lag, there were adjustments made to the rules, including cutting the time for how long a player getting treatment has to stay off the field from three minutes to two.
Wray realizes it will take more than one more match for the results seen at the NEXT Pro level to translate to first-team play. The learning process will be on display Saturday night.
"It's going to go like, they're going to pop up very quickly because they're afraid of the rules being enforced right away," Wray said. "I think it's very wise for the referees to also take their time to try to figure this out. Both sides working together to make sure this is a process that gets implemented correctly is probably better than something firm."
Why did Cucho Hernandez miss two games?
In the eyes of striker Cucho Hernandez, the Crew's upcoming game against Portland will be the start of a new season.
Hernandez has missed three of the last five matches, starting with an MLS regular-season match against Nashville SC, which was part of a two-game suspension for violating "team policy." Nancy never specified what caused the suspension, but Hernandez implied on Thursday that it had something to do with his actions in the Charlotte FC match on March 23.
"It was a crazy match in every sense of the word," Hernandez said via a translator. "I felt like they took something away from us. And I had my reaction, and I had my punishment, and I've accepted it, and everything's forgotten now."
There was a moment that the television broadcast caught between Hernandez and the Columbus coaching staff, which was without Nancy while he was dealing with an illness. It looked to be a heated exchange as the striker was coming off the field after being substituted out.
Once Hernandez returned to action on April 6 against D.C. United, he had what he referred to as a "bad moment" when he was given a red card due to violent conduct in the second half.
With the Portland match coincidently falling on his 25th birthday, Hernandez is stepping on the field on Saturday night looking to display growth from an experience he "hadn't lived" through before.
"A lesson that I learned was how passionate I am," Hernandez said. "I think that in those moments, I had came out of my zone of being calm, but that's one of the lessons that we continue to learn, not only on the pitch, but off the pitch as well."
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Crew need to adjust to MLS new rules vs Portland Timbers
