When Aidan Morris became the youngest player to ever start in an MLS Cup final in 2020, it led many to believe he would be the league's next big thing.

The midfielder’s strong performance in the Crew's 3-0 win, which included an assist on the team's second goal, came in just his second MLS start and his first-ever postseason appearance. But before he could build on that, Morris tore his left ACL against Real Esteli in a CONCACAF Champions League game, ending his 2021 MLS season — what could’ve been a breakout year — before it even began.

Morris was fully healthy ahead of the 2022 campaign, but while he hoped he would secure a full-time starting role, he ended up sharing the job with Artur. In November, the Crew traded Artur to Houston.

“Doesn’t change anything to me, honestly,” Morris said. “I’ve approached every season the same, whether I’m fighting for a role or I have a role. Doesn’t matter. My mentality should always be the same.”

Morris strives to make himself uncomfortable every day. He never wants to be in a position where he assumes he’s going to get what he wants without working for it.

“Last year, I would go from starting a lot of games and then not playing at all, to where you just never know,” Morris said. “If you just keep a level mentality, where you just keep your highs low and your lows high, it kind of puts you in the middle there.

“Just wake up every day and try to attack it to the best ability you can. That’s where I’m at. That’s what I try to do every day.”

'The sky's the limit' for Aidan Morris, says mentor Darlington Nagbe

When he plays, Morris is relentless. There’s rarely an area of the field that he doesn’t touch during a game. His work rate has become his calling card.

From the earliest days of Morris’ soccer career in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, there was always an emphasis on putting in extra work.

“(I remember) having a game or having practice at like 7 o’clock at night and my dad thinking I didn’t do enough in training,” Morris said. “He’d take me to the park, and we’d be training until like 9 o’clock and then get home at like 10 or wake up early in the morning and train. There was never an off day.”

Those early days forged Morris. Every day, his focus is on work and improvement, both on and off the soccer field.

“It’s just my daily kind of mindset towards everything,” Morris said. “I just try to surround myself with people who have similar mindsets to me. We’re always kind of in this like, space, where it’s all just, let’s get work done.”

Morris spends much of his time away from the field dedicated to self-improvement. If he isn’t working on the mental side of his game, reading books about personal growth and development — he counts “The Talent Code” by Daniel Coyle and both “Relentless” and “Winning” by Tim Grover among his favorites — he’s taking walks around Schiller Park or doing yoga.

“If I’m going to spend my time doing something,” Morris said, “I might as well do something to benefit myself.”

Morris considers teammates Darlington Nagbe and Josh Williams, both in their early 30s, his best friends. Nagbe, in particular, has been a mentor.

It was Nagbe whom Morris replaced in the starting lineup of the 2020 MLS Cup, after Nagbe tested positive for COVID-19. Two seasons later, the central midfield duo will likely start every game as a pair. They played 76 minutes together in the season opener at Philadelphia before Morris was subbed off.

“I think his potential is endless,” Nagbe said. “I told him the other day, I was just thinking about 2020 when he first got into the team. Seeing how much he’s grown as a player and as a person, the sky’s the limit.”

Aidan Morris takes day-by-day approach to future goals, including playing in Europe

Now, in his fourth professional season, Morris is on the verge of taking his next step.

He isn’t yet being discussed as one of the next young MLS players to head to Europe, but he’s not far away from being in the conversation. A strong season with the Crew in 2023 could, and would, vault him into that company.

For Morris, though, every discussion of the future begins with the present. The concept of a five-year plan is anathema to the day-by-day way he lives.

“I don’t understand how that works, you know what I mean? A five-year plan? Like, there’s tomorrow,” Morris said. “How do you handle tomorrow if you’re thinking five years down the road? I think staying present and just focusing on every day and being the best version of yourself every day, trying to be locked in and just devoting all your time and energy to the present moment.

“Five years down the road will come and you’ll just be exactly where you want to be. … Obviously, I’d love to be playing in Europe. Let’s just say I want to play for Manchester United in five years, like, that’d be awesome, but that ... starts with tomorrow and how I handle tomorrow.”

As a child, there was never a singular moment where Morris realized soccer was something he had a talent for and wanted to pursue. He knew all along, because of his unshakable belief that working at his maximum on a daily basis will always lead him to the heights of his goals.

Over a decade later, that intensity is still what fuels Morris every day.

“To be honest, I could play a game, and I could win, and that lasts for like a good five minutes,” Morris said. “After, it’s like, ‘OK, what’s next?’ There’s another game Wednesday. It doesn’t hold that much pleasure to me. I’m not going to get all happy, happy about it.

“There’s more stuff to do. Winning a championship like we did in 2020, it was awesome, but it’s like, let’s go do it again. That stuff, it doesn’t stick with me a lot. … If it does, then I’m probably losing my passion and my drive.”

In January, Morris received his first call-up to the U.S. Men's National Team. He said that being a member of Team USA wouldn't mean as much to him until he stepped on the field, but when that moment came — Morris played 90 minutes in a friendly against Serbia — it quickly became just another game. He allowed himself a moment of reflection during the national anthem, but after that, it was all business.

Morris achieved one long-held goal, his first cap for the USMNT, and quickly turned his focus to the next thing. For him, reaching that goal wasn't a mark of success; there isn't any one thing that will make him feel like he's made it.

Inside Morris' mind, success is the result of daily work and an intense commitment to self-improvement. The goalposts of where he's trying to go will always keep moving, and he will always keep challenging himself to get there.

“I don’t think (success is) me winning a trophy,” Morris said. “I don’t think it’s me winning a game. I just think it’s this — this constant battle with myself and my own mind, just like me versus me. For overall success, I’ve heard this thing before. It’s like, the day you die, and you go to heaven or whatever you go to, you just see an image of yourself and it’s what you could’ve been, and it’s exactly what you are.

“That’s what I would consider success. The best version of yourself, and you’re realizing that’s you. I think that’s what I try to do every day. I just try to win that battle every day.”

With reporting from Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

bjohnson@dispatch.com

@BaileyAJohnson_

Get more Columbus Crew news by listening to our podcasts

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Crew midfielder Aidan Morris driven by intensity, self-improvement