OBETZ, Ohio — Columbus Crew SC returned to the EAS Training Center at Obetz on Wednesday to prepare for Saturday night’s match against New York City FC, the first of three straight home games for the Black & Gold.
Crew SC have gone undefeated this season at MAPFRE Stadium, and members of the club hope to keep it with three home matches in a span of .
A familiar week for Abu
Crew SC midfielder Mohammed Abu may be experiencing some nostalgia this week.
New York City FC head coach Patrick Vieira and Abu previously spent time together with the Manchester City reserves in England. They will see each other again Saturday at MAPFRE Stadium. The midfielder was originally signed by Manchester City in August of 2010, before being sent on loan to Stromsgodset IF later that same year.
“It’s going to be a good game. And especially with Patrick being my ex-coach from Manchester City,” Abu said. “It’s fun. I can’t wait until the end of the game to see how he’s going to react when we see each other.”
Along with seeing a familiar face on Saturday, Abu is also looking forward to watching his former English Premier League team take on Manchester United on Thursday afternoon. The Manchester Derby has high stakes this time, as the rivals are only separated by one point for fourth and potential UEFA Champions League qualification in the EPL table.
Abu knows where his rooting interest will lie:
“Of course. I’m an ex-Manchester City player so I’ll go for Manchester City,” Abu said.
Back home
The familiar grounds of MAPFRE Stadium have indeed been good to Columbus this Major League Soccer regular season, and members of the Black & Gold credit several different aspects of home play to their success.
“The comfort. The comfort playing at home,” forward Justin Meram said following Wednesday's training. “We know the surface — it's one of the best in the league — and we like to keep the ball on the pitch at all times. It’s just got a certain feel to it and with the crowd behind us too; all of those combined, it just makes for a dominant performance and we’ve just got to keep it up.”
Defender Nicolai Naess feels that the crowd's presence in Columbus, along with the comfort of home, bring the team's performance to another level.
“It's a lot of things. It's sleeping in your own bed, we don’t have to travel a lot," he said. "Just to play at home and get the support at your back. You step onto the pitch and you see the yellow wall in the (Nordecke) corner and that means a lot to us. We feel they push us the extra step to work even harder to score the next goal and to defend even harder.”
Next man up
This has been a transitional week of sorts for the Black & Gold, due to first-half injuries in Week 8 to midfielder Artur and defender Alex Crognale that saw both substituted out of the game. Crew SC Sporting Director and Head Coach Gregg Berhalter spoke on the next-man-up mentality of the team on Wednesday at the EAS Training Center at Obetz.
“I think we saw early in the preseason that we’re going to be comfortable with a number of players,” Berhalter said. “I like it, I like the fact that guys are getting opportunities. I think it makes the team closer and it keeps more people involved. So as long as we’re able to do that and be successful, we’re going to continue to do so.”
Youth movement
Along with the variety of Crew SC players who have already seen action this season, many of them have been young players — including rookies like Crognale and MLS SuperDraft selections like Niko Hansen and Connor Maloney. Berhalter is happy with the progress that the younger players have shown.
“I think they’ve been developing nicely,” Berhalter said. “I think we have to be careful about how much we can expect from them, but having said that they’re stretching those limits daily. When I look at Niko, Alex, Cristian Martinez, Artur, Lalas Abubakar, or Connor — all these guys have been doing a great job.”
They said it…
After replacing Artur and playing 84 minutes last Saturday, it is probable that Abu will once again man the midfield this upcoming weekend alongside Crew SC Captain Wil Trapp. Berhalter spoke about Abu and his future on Wednesday:
“He’s a good player. He showed in the preseason, and the Chicago game (on March 4) that he’s got a lot of potential and he’s going to help this team.”
►Crew SC Sporting Director and Head Coach Gregg Berhalter
