Why Columbus Crew are not focusing on past set-piece failures vs. Orlando City SC
Aidan Morris is still thinking about the Crew’s most recent game against Orlando City SC.
On Sept. 16, the Crew led Orlando 3-1 with less than 20 minutes left in regulation before the defense allowed three goals, including free-kick scores to tie and eventually lose 4-3.
It was a hard game to forget, Morris said. But as the Crew continue to prepare for their next road meeting with Orlando on Saturday in an MLS Eastern Conference semifinal, it’s not an outcome Morris feels will define the club’s mentality.
“It’s kind of like a fresh start,” Morris said. “And it’s a one-game thing. You have one game to go out there and just win it all and give it everything. So I think it’s a little bit different, but it’s definitely in the back of our heads.”
Wilfried Nancy says he is not thinking about those 20 minutes. To the Crew coach, those 20 minutes were not representative of the team’s performance against Orlando. It was “a really good game over there,” he said, where the Crew lost “the rhythm of the game.”
Nancy said he doesn’t live in the past. But he said he does know a similar moment could come Nov. 25.
“All kinds of games like this — Orlando, another team — set pieces, we know they are very important, and the idea is to get stronger and to be good every game,” Nancy said. “But after that, we know that when I watch all the games, there (are) a lot of goals on set pieces. We know that.”
Set-piece scores seemed to define the Crew’s season series against Orlando, as Columbus allowed a game-tying goal by Duncan McGuire off a free kick two minutes into extra time at home May 13 before the three-goal collapse 127 days later.
But the Crew responded well to in set-piece situations in the first round of the playoffs.
In their 4-2 win Nov. 12 against Atlanta United to advance to the conference semifinals, the Crew cleared 18 attempts by the Atlanta offense, including each of their four corner kicks. Atlanta finished with 11 shots, four of which were on target and two of which turned into goals.
In the Crew’s 34 regular-season games, the defense recorded 429 clearances, 48 fewer than any other MLS team.
However, the Crew also finished the regular season with a 57.1% possession rate, which is higher than any other team in the league, while also recording the most touches in the attacking third and in the attacking penalty area.
Nancy wants the Crew to be confident and embrace the challenge of set pieces.
“I don’t want them to shake because we conceded goals the last time we played them,” Nancy said.
It’s an opportunity for redemption for Crew goalkeeper Patrick Schulte.
“I think it’s just another opportunity to show ourselves and show that what happened there, in the past, wasn’t what we wanted,” Schulte said. “And it’s just kind of in our hands now to, you know, flip the script and have that outcome come our way.”
The Crew will take on Orlando City SC at 5:30 p.m. Nov. 25 in the Eastern Conference semifinal.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Crew not focusing on past set-piece failures vs. Orlando
