The dust and the confetti have settled on another MLS Cup final, as Columbus Crew wowed the league with its style of football culminating in a triumphant finale.
It’s a style that peaked in the postseason, proving they can win games, when required, as well as being enjoyable to watch for the most ardent, and more casual observers of the league.
A 2-1 win against Los Angeles FC in the final, with goals from the eventual MLS Cup MVP Cucho Hernández and Yaw Yeboah, capped off a memorable season for the Crew.
Denis Bouanga continued his goalscoring feats in knockout football and his goal with 15 minutes to go gave LAFC late hope, but the team from the west coast were unable to defend their crown.
There is a new crew in town.
By James Nalton, MLS expert
A Victory for Nancyball
What even is Nancyball?
The style of football employed by Columbus Crew head coach Wilfried Nancy promotes positive possession play, proactive pressing, and a team ethic coupled with a desire to entertain the fans and each other.
It is as much a mindset as it is a tactical instruction.
Amid a league of counter-pressing and counter-attacking frenzy, the Crew invite the pressure, revel in it and, in theory, pass around, and through it.
The 82 goals scored by the Crew across 2023 in MLS was the most by an MLS Cup winner in a single season. The entertainment was certainly present.
It didn’t always go smoothly, and Columbus conceded 38 goals in 20 games away from home in MLS competition during 2023.
But that doesn’t matter to Nancy. As long as the players are working to the plan and constantly honing their ability to execute it, the belief is that improvement will come, as will the results.
At home, it was more productive. The Crew has one of the best defensive records in the league at Lower.com Field, where they obviously feel more comfortable practising this style.
And with the MLS Cup final being played at said home, there was always a chance Nancyball could shine on the biggest stage of all.
The team that focuses on its vision of how football should be played, rather than on results alone, secured the biggest result of them all, producing one of the most memorable MLS Cup wins in the process.
Given the manner in which it was achieved, it might also prove to be important to the development, evolution, and perception of the game in the lands of major league soccer.
An Assist for the Ages
It was the kind of incisive, visionary pass that might be played by an attacking playmaker from the edge of the area, but instead, it was played from the Columbus Crew defensive line.
Left centre-back Malte Amundsen received the ball just inside the opposition half following some flowing, darting Columbus Crew build-up play.
A gap opened up in front of him and the Dane played one of those passes that directs the recipient as much as it does the ball.
Yeboah played an important part. This is not a worldie of an assist if he doesn’t finish it, and it gave the Crew a second goal to further galvanise them and justify their approach.
Both wide centre-backs are particularly notable in this style.
On the right, Steven Moreira regularly ventures forward in open play, and early on in the final found himself in an advanced position near the LAFC box. A signal of intent.
On the left, the Crew use another converted full-back in Amundsen to assist with the directness of the build-up.
He saved his most direct pass for what turned out to be the MLS Cup winning goal.
Defining Darlington Nagbe
This was Nagbe’s second MLS Cup win with the Crew and his fourth in total.
The Liberia-born, Ohio-raised former United States international previously won the league’s biggest prize with Portland Timbers in 2015 and Atlanta United in 2018 before the two Crew triumphs in 2020 and 2023.
In many ways, this was Nagbe’s defining MLS Cup win. He has found a team and a style that perfectly aligns with his strengths and the way he plays the game.
It is a shame his relationship with the United States national team never found similar harmony, as he would have gone down as one of the best midfielders in USMNT history. He still should, and will, go down as one of the best US soccer has seen.
The lack of international involvement shouldn’t diminish his contributions, his quality, his importance to American soccer, or his legendary status in the league in which the 33-year-old has spent all 12 years of his top-level soccer career to date.
Nagbe finished the final with a pass success of 96%, summing up his role as a facilitator in this team.
His delayed pass for Amundsen in the build-up to the second goal, drawing an LAFC defender before moving the ball on, created the space for the Dane’s highlight-reel assist.
It was Nagbe in a nutshell, doing the integral work that within the team allows others to shine.
Assisted by promising midfield teammate Aidan Morris, Nagbe was this iteration of Columbus Crew and Nancyball encapsulated.
LAFC’s Failed Defence
LAFC entered 2024 as the defending Supporters’ Shield and MLS Cup champions. A team on the verge of all-time MLS greatness who were also among the favourites to lift the Concacaf Champions League.
Runs in the Champions League can often be considered a distraction to MLS regular season play.
This, coupled with the number of seemingly meaningless games in the main body of the MLS season means focus for the teams involved can understandably fall on the big continental tournament.
LAFC made it all the way to the Champions League final, in June, but lost to Mexican side Club León across two legs.
They could then turn their attention to the regular season once again, but finished a disappointing third in the Western Conference, and eighth in the overall standings, as FC Cincinnati claimed the Supporters’ Shield title.
The 2022 Shield winners were some way off that level in 2023 but still had a chance to defend their MLS Cup at the end of the year.
Once into the final, there was hope they might.
Bouanga was on fire in front of goal in knockout football, as he had been throughout the year in the Leagues Cup and Champions League, scoring in all but one of LAFC’s playoff games.
But in the end, LAFC failed in their second big final of the year.
Bouanga got his name on the scoresheet again, but it was ultimately a consolation goal which will be of no consolation to a team that was so close to cementing a legacy as one of the best in MLS history.
Future Challenges
There is now the mouthwatering prospect of seeing Columbus Crew and Nancy take their enterprising brand of football into next season’s Concacaf Champions Cup (the new name for the Champions League).
It’s a style of football that in many ways has transcended the league in which it has been played.
It may attract glances from outside of MLS in the same way Brighton under Roberto De Zerbi or Fernando Diniz’s Fluminense have, gaining attention from the wider soccer community.
And the Crew will now get the chance to go continental, further showcasing their characteristics to the rest of the Americas, and anyone else who continues to be intrigued as to how far such an approach can take this team.
Next year, there is an MLS Cup to defend, too, when Columbus will also be among the favourites to top the league and lift the Supporters’ Shield. Exciting times for an exciting team.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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