Mo Farsi set to return in hometown match vs CF Montreal, but fouls remain issue for Crew
Every year when the regular-season schedule comes out, the first thing Mo Farsi does is look up when the Crew are traveling to his hometown to face CF Montreal.
The most highly anticipated match of the season for Farsi, the chances of him playing in Montreal on Wednesday were at risk after suffering a groin injury on April 27, but Crew coach Wilfried Nancy confirmed Monday there is no longer concern.
"Mo is back," Nancy said. "He trained on game day (against FC Cincinnati), and also yesterday. So, he's ready to be with us."
Farsi's groin injury was the result of a foul in the second half of a home match against none other than Montreal. In the scoreless draw earlier this season, the Crew suffered 18 fouls compared to the nine they committed.
And that is just one instance of Columbus being on the receiving end of most of the fouls in a match.
Across 11 MLS matchups this season, Crew opponents have tended to be the more physical team, recording a higher number of fouls in every match but one, that being against Chicago on March 9.
"We got used to it because it’s been like that," Nancy said. "Started a bit last year, at the end of the year, and this year, obviously, we saw it drastically change. So, that’s why, there are a lot of emotions from my players because sometimes it’s not fair, to be honest with you, because we should have more fouls."
The Crew have drawn the second-most fouls this season with 177, two behind the Portland Timbers, who have played in two more matches.
Center midfielders Aidan Morris and Darlington Nagbe take the most hits for Columbus, suffering 24 and 23 fouls, respectively, this regular season.
"We expect the game to be physical," Nagbe said. "I think maybe it's a way to try to slow us down and try to chop the game up a bit."
Outside MLS play, Morris took a hit in the second leg of a Champions Cup semifinal against CF Monterrey that left his ankle "not at 100%." He was limited in training leading up to the FC Cincinnati match, in which he was taken out of less than halfway through the second half and is still dealing with this issue.
Besides the Farsi injury, the Crew have avoided players suffering game-missing injuries off fouls these past two months of play, but this issue still raises concern for Nancy.
As the reigning MLS Cup champions, there is an understanding among the Crew that the fouls will continue to come their way, especially considering they are usually the smaller team. So, the focus for the Crew shifts to what they can control.
"This is a high-level game," Nancy said. "This is something that we don’t complain about because this is high-level, but we try to use tools with our players to control their emotions with that. So they have to play with emotion, but if you’re too focused on that, your performance is going to be affected. So, we try to find the balance."
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There is no guarantee Farsi will play at Montreal despite being cleared to play, but if he does, he is expecting it to be special.
"Every time I go there, I have a lot of friends that come," Farsi said. "So, I'm looking forward to play this game."
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Crew have suffered second-most fouls in MLS, behind Portland
