At the 2024 MLS All-Star Game Wednesday, Crew coach Wilfried Nancy doesn’t have to worry about facing FC Cincinnati midfielder and reigning MLS MVP Luciano Acosta, something that brings a sigh of relief.

“I’m happy that he’s on my team now because … he’s a pain in the ass when we play against each other,” Nancy said with a smile.

But for many MLS All-Stars, the same can be said about Nancy and the Crew.

In Nancy’s first season in Columbus, he led the Crew to their third MLS Cup in team history. In 2024, he added a CONCACAF Champions Cup final appearance against Pachuca. Overall, in 75 games under Nancy, the Crew have won 39 games, including 25 of 38 games at Lower.com Field.

Through 25 MLS regular-season games in 2024, the Crew are the third-ranked team in the Eastern Conference with an MLS-leading plus-25 goal differential.

So it's no surprise that many players on Nancy’s All-Star roster believe the road to the 2024 MLS Cup runs through Columbus, and visiting Lower.com Field is rarely as pleasant as it will be on Wednesday.

“It’s not a fun place to come,” Nashville SC midfielder Hany Mukhtar said.

Columbus Crew plays 'attractive football' to MLS All-Stars

For Portland Timbers midfielder Evander, it starts with the Crew’s offense.

“I think they kind of innovate their style of play,” Evander said. “When you play against them, it’s a really, really hard game. They just like to have the ball, and it’s really difficult when you face something like that.”

The Crew lead MLS with a 60.3% possession rate in 2024, a stat they also led the league in under Nancy in 2023.

FC Dallas goalkeeper Maarten Paes called Nancy’s offense “attractive football.” It utilizes a 4-3-2 game plan with a pair of wing backs and has become “a great example for every team in the MLS.”

“(It’s) playing soccer with a purpose,” Paes said.

Heading into Wednesday’s All-Star Game, Nancy will have five Crew players to utilize on the roster: forward Cucho Hernandez, who leads the team with 13 goals and eight assists, forward Diego Rossi, midfielder Darlington Nagbe, defender Rudy Camacho and defender Steven Moreira.

Nancy’s five All-Stars have helped the Crew score 47 goals this season - second-most in the league behind Inter Miami - while allowing 22 goals, the least in MLS.

That's part of the reason Mukhtar says Nancy’s team is a “very, very difficult team to play against in very different ways.”

“You will suffer for a long time, period,” he said.

Columbus Crew 'capable of winning multiple cups'

Since joining Minnesota United in 2019, midfielder Robin Lod said the Crew “is one of the first teams to come to my mind” when he’s asked about MLS.

And playing the Crew to a 1-1 tie in March, reinforced for Lod that Columbus will not be slowing down any time soon.

“They have a really good foundation,” he said. “They show that they’re capable of winning multiple cups and making good runs in different competitions.”

Nagbe knows the reputation the Crew have cultivated in the past year-and-a-half under Nancy.

In the first days of hosting the All-Star festivities, he said there is “a lot of curiosity” about Nancy and “how we play the way we play.” But those All-Stars looking for the secrets to Nancy and the Crew’s success might end up disappointed.

“I don’t think (Nancy will) give away everything,” Nagbe said. “But I’m sure he’ll make it a fun environment.”

Get more Columbus Crew news by listening to our podcasts

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: What MLS All-Stars think of Wilfried Nancy, Columbus Crew