CHESTER, Pa. — Fresh from handing the Crew a 4-1 loss in Wilfried Nancy's first game at the helm on Saturday, Philadelphia Union coach Jim Curtin wanted to get a message across about Nancy's team.
"This Columbus team is going to be very, very, very good," Curtin said. "If you look at the first 15 minutes of the game tonight, we didn't touch the soccer ball. You can see the ideas that Wilfried's going to have with them, just how good they're going to be, how dangerous they're going to be in the Eastern Conference this season."
Praising the opposing team is a staple of a winning coach's postgame comments, but Curtin's word carried a different — and more genuine — tone. It was not the tone of a coach trying to throw his colleague a bone after a difficult first loss. The Crew did have control of the game for much of the first half, even taking a 1-0 lead in the 28th minute, and it took Philadelphia time to adjust.
Once the Union did adjust, they were dominant. Daniel Gazdag tied the score at 1-1 on a penalty kick to close the first half, and in the 52nd minute Julian Carranza scored the first of his two goals. Gazdag converted another penalty in the 70th minute and Carranza completed his brace late in the second half.
"The result is difficult because I don't think that we deserved to take four goals," Nancy said. "But again, this is a good way to work and to improve, especially when we have the ball and to control the counterattack. This is Philly. They are really good at that, and we knew it, but now we have to adjust a bit in terms of decision-making to avoid these kinds of balls that we lost in the middle."
The Union are one of the top teams in MLS and heavily favored to return to the MLS Cup final after finishing as the runner-up in 2022. A visiting team hasn't won at Subaru Park in the regular season since September 2021. The challenges of this matchup, particularly for a season-opening game with a new coach, are evident, but if anything, the way they pushed back on those challenges early in the game makes the final result harder to swallow for the Crew.
For 45 minutes, they went toe-to-toe with an elite team.
The level slipped in the second half, as the Union imposed their will on the game. But the first-half performance offered a glimpse at how bright the future could be under Nancy.
"It's a unique formation and a unique way of playing," Curtin said. "You can prepare for it on tape, but once you see it live, and the amount of technical players they have that can pass and move ... When we gave them time and space, they passed around us and we were just chasing. That's going to be a very good team, like I said."
The Crew looked cohesive in the first half, which is no small feat for their first real game in Nancy's system . On an individual level, the Crew also showed early signs of Nancy's track record for player development.
Alex Matan, making his first start for the Crew since September 2021 and playing his first MLS minutes since being loaned to Rapid Bucuresti last summer, had an immediate impact. Playing as a second central attacking midfielder alongside Lucas Zelarayan, in a 3-4-2-1 formation, Matan's passing was effective and his movement off the ball caused problems for Philadelphia's defenders early on.
Goalkeeper Patrick Schulte, center back Philip Quinton and wingback Mo Farsi all made their first MLS starts — instant proof of Nancy's desire to use the Crew's young players.
"I think that (Schulte) has all the potential to do something great," Nancy said. "The idea was to see him during the game. The goals that he conceded were a little bit difficult for him, because it was two PKs and two tap-ins. But overall, he did what he has to do. Phil Quinton, also, he he did a really good first half. He showed also his quality. This was his first game at this level. Now, we're going to start from this game. He's going to be able to learn a little bit more about what he can do better."
The 4-1 scoreline looks ugly, and unquestionably, the Crew have many areas for improvement. Despite their control of the ball in the first half, they didn't create many scoring chances, and their defense was vulnerable on the counterattack, which was particularly problematic against a Union team that thrives on the counter.
But for their first game under Nancy, facing one of the toughest opponents in the league, playing a good first half isn't a bad way to begin. The second half turned on them, painting a picture of how far they have to go, but the first half was a look at where they could be.
"It shows us where we are in terms of the stuff that we're trying to do and how we can improve," center back Miloš Degenek said. "It's going to help us improve over the next couple of weeks, I believe, the next couple of days in training and the next couple of weeks as well into the season. I think this team can only get better. The longer we play, the more we play, I think the team is going to develop and get better."
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Crew show progress with coach Wilfried Nancy in Union loss
