Naess waits for chance to get back in lineup

Few careers in Major League Soccer reflect a steady, consistent climb. More often than not, players experience peaks and valleys over the course of a season — or several seasons.

For the first time in his young career, Crew SC defender Nicolai Naess is working through a valley.

The 24-year-old arrived from Norway last July and sat out two games as he built his fitness base before starting the final 13 games as a center back and central midfielder. As the Crew entered this month, he was again one of the team’s minutes leaders, starting 13 of the team’s first 14 games.

Since, Naess has played in just one of the Crew’s four MLS games. He also was removed at halftime of the Crew’s U.S. Open Cup loss at FC Cincinnati on June 14 after a collision with a Cincinnati player that required an on-field concussion test.

Naess returned to training shortly thereafter and coach Gregg Berhalter said he was

not entered into concussion protocol. After the Crew’s 4-1 win over Montreal on Saturday, Berhalter said Naess’ absence from the roster was due to tactics, not an injury.

“That’s the worst part of our week. You tell a guy who’s been training hard all week that he can’t be a part of the group on the gameday roster,” Berhalter said Thursday. “We

went with Alex (Crognale) as the backup center back for the cover that we thought we needed based on what Montreal was doing.”

Naess is healthy by all accounts, but not accustomed to extended stretches of limited playing time, having made 108 total appearances for his Norwegian club team Stabaek between 2013-16.

“This is my first time that I don’t play at all, so it’s kind of new for me, but everybody has that in their career,”

Naess said. “I’m only 24 years old, so I look at (recent starters) Jonathan (Mensah) and Josh (Williams) and those guys that are playing now and I try to learn from them, too, because I want to improve my play.”

For the time being, the team’s focus is on getting Naess repetitions in practice to build his confidence.

“I’ve been there before as a player,” Berhalter said. “Every player goes through something like this and

all we can do is support Nico, keep working with him and communicating with him. He’s an outstanding player.”

Asked what specifically Naess can improve upon, Berhalter declined to elaborate. In general, Berhalter has mentioned positioning and penalty-box defending as potential areas of focus for the center backs.

As he has watched the Crew from a different vantage point the past couple of weeks, Naess has looked back on his good showings this season, like his aggressive defending of Jozy Altidore in Crew SC’s 2-1 win over Toronto FC on April 15 that earned him MLSSoccer. com Team of the Week honors.

“I have to think about that game and bring that back to my play again,” Naess said. “(I will) keep smiling and keep fighting. I hope my opportunity will come again and I will grab it.”