In winning MLS Cup, the Columbus Crew were nothing but themselves

One week ago, Columbus Crew head coach Wilfried Nancy needed a motivational message for his team ahead of the MLS Eastern Conference final against in-state rival FC Cincinnati. The French-born head coach had built a team capable of playing some of the most aesthetically-pleasing and effective soccer in the league, but his speech that night didn’t reinforce tactics or a new, brilliant plan of attack. Instead, Nancy said a few words, spoke of passion and family, then played a video for his players: It was all of their families wishing good luck.

The Crew mounted a memorable comeback to beat rival FC Cincinnati on the road, coming back from being down 2-0 to host MLS Cup against LAFC.

Before MLS Cup, Nancy was again faced with a motivational moment. This time, he said even less, surprising the players with pictures of them playing soccer as kids, adding some above each player’s locker as well.

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Ahead of the biggest match of the year, Nancy’s message to his team was clear: “Remember where you came from.”

True to their identity and bond, Columbus walked away as the 2023 MLS Cup champions, beating LAFC 2-1 in front of a club-record crowd at Lower.com Field. At the final whistle, Nancy fell to his knees and embraced his coaching staff, having arrived at the pinnacle of a coaching career that started nearly 20 years ago in the amateur leagues of Quebec, Canada.

Today, he stands as the first Black head coach to win MLS Cup.

“Impossible is an opinion,” Nancy said after the game.

Nancy became the first Black head coach to win MLS Cup. (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

The achievement is all the more remarkable considering that Nancy was only officially unveiled as the Crew’s head coach 368 days ago. In his first season with the club he helped lead a philosophical shift and instill a clear identity in the group, with a playing style even more distinctive than their bright yellow home kits.

“Listen, I’m really proud,” Nancy said after MLS Cup. “As a coach, I want to see my team embrace adversity. They did it. In our way.”

The Crew way is to be brave, to be courageous. To take risks, be unafraid to make mistakes, and win beautifully. Nancy developed all players, young or old, star or bottom of the roster, domestic or international. They ranked first in MLS in goals scored, (67), first in xG (57.7) and first in possession (57%).

“This year we felt at home: Today we are not losing,” assistant GM Issa Tall said. “I know this sounds arrogant, but the way we play and prepare— You see us on the weekend, but we got to see it every day.”

Deep into stoppage time with their 2-1 lead over LAFC, the Crew were still playing with a high defensive line, and substitute forward Kevin Molino tried to dribble out of pressure in his own defensive third. They didn’t sit back and bunker. They were savvy, but true to themselves. True to their dominant form. True to their vision.

They only know one way.

“Even at halftime tonight, Nancy said keep doing what you’re doing,” said midfielder Sean Zawadzki, a supplemental roster player who surprisingly came on for club captain Darlington Nagbe and helped close out the game as LAFC pushed for an equalizer. “Don’t let the game dictate what we do. We stick to our game plan. We do what we do.”

Cucho Hernandez — who was named MLS Cup MVP — gave the Crew the lead from the penalty spot in the first half, then a beautiful Malte Amundsen through ball set up Yaw Yeboah for the second goal.

Columbus was dominant in the first half and much of the second half as well. Before Denis Bouanga scored LAFC’s lone goal, it seemed much more likely the Crew would score one or two more than LAFC getting back in the game.

Overall, they held 61% possession and created better chances (2.1 xG vs. LAFC’s 0.9).

“There’s one virtue for me in life: Courage,” Nancy said the day before the game. “Without courage, you can’t do anything.”

Nancy’s ability to transmit that courage to his players is a big part of the reason behind the Crew’s 2023 success – as is his players’ ability to take it all on. In that, Nancy may have the perfect captain at his disposal in Nagbe. The Liberian-born onetime USMNT midfielder has been the extension of Nancy and the staff on the field, both in his perfect tactical fit and his leadership. Saturday night was his fourth MLS Cup triumph, his second with his hometown Crew. With the win, he became one of nine players with four or more MLS Cups all-time, and one of three such players to do so with three or more teams.

“The best part about a team is being able to bring a coach’s vision to the field and we were able to do that,” Nagbe said.

On the field, Nagbe is a calm presence. He’s referred to as the most press-resistant player in the league, the ideal central midfielder to bring Nancy’s vision to life. Off the field, he’s a leader and driver of the club’s familial ethos. Defender Julian Gressel said Nagbe hugs everybody at training every morning as his hello, including the club’s support staff. It’s a small thing, but indicative of why he’s so beloved by his teammates and club staff.

Nagbe has won everywhere he’s been. Aside from those four MLS Cups (2015, 2018, 2020, 2023), he also has two Campeones Cups (2019, 2021), one Gold Cup (2017), one U.S. Open Cup (2019), and one NCAA title (2010) to his name.

“He’s the best fucking player this league has seen,” two separate Crew staffers said in the locker room celebrations as champagne sprayed in the air.

The Crew celebrate their MLS Cup title (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Gressel, too, continues to add to his trophy cabinet. Gressel played with Nagbe at Atlanta United as a key piece of squads that won the 2018 MLS Cup and the 2019 U.S. Open Cup. Gressel then won two Canadian Championships with the Vancouver Whitecaps this year before being traded to the Crew and picking up his second MLS Cup.

From MLS-experienced winners like Nagbe and Gressel to the lesser-known squad players, Nancy got more out of nearly every player on the squad.

Alexandru Matan was seldom used then loaned to a Romanian club last year, before winning a starting spot in preseason. Amundsen was relegated to the bench for NYCFC before he arrived in Columbus and was crucial all season, none more than the final. Mo Farsi and Patrick Schulte graduated from the second team to integral roles in the first team. Aidan Morris took his game to a new level. Steven Moreira got Best XI votes at a new position. Cucho, the club-record signing who was already playing well, had his best season ever.

“He got everyone to buy in,” Schulte said. “Everyone bought into what he was preaching. This locker room is all one: From the guys who weren’t on the roster to guys who start. We’re all one.”

“This feeling never gets old,” Gressel said. “To have champagne and beer showers in the locker room, it’s amazing.”

This is Wilfried Nancy’s Columbus Crew. And they aren’t going anywhere.

“The way I see things in my life, we want to compete all the time,” Nancy said. “So I’m going to compete next year. The idea is to be better as a coach. The idea all the time is to get better.”

(Top photo: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)