Artur has been on the ball for Crew
As Caleb Porter and the front office reshaped the Crew’s roster ahead of the 2020 season, a different kind of evolution was ongoing with defensive midfielder Artur.
In five regular-season games and the knockout round of the MLS is Back tournament, Artur showed more tenacity than in recent seasons, as well as a willingness to be a physical, on-ball defender and to join the attack by making attacking runs near the penalty area or firing a shot from distance.
The offseason acquisition of Darlington Nagbe completed Porter’s vision of a defensive midfield duo that could contribute more offensively, as well as cause turnovers to spring counter-attacks. To do that effectively, the staff has zeroed in on Artur filling the role as the player charged with chasing down opponents and winning possession.
“If you look at any good team in the world, they have a guy like that who wins balls, disrupts the opponent, covers ground, does the dirty work,” Porter said. “I’ve never seen a top team that doesn’t have a guy like him — a midfield destroyer. That’s what he’s become. He’s embraced that.”
Artur displayed his progress in this area in the third minute of the Crew’s knockout-stage game against Minnesota United, when the 24-year-old Brazilian made a tackle on Hassani Dotson, resulting in Crew midfielder Lucas Zelarayan driving the ball deep into Minnesota’s half of the field.
Artur said he has an enhanced focus on being the team’s ball-winner this year after realizing that he had neglected improving in this area because he believed there were other aspects that needed greater improvement.
The Crew’s success revolves primarily around a skilled playmaker such as Zelarayan, wingers including Pedro Santos and a striker in Gyasi Zardes. But Artur’s evolution in the midfield is equally important for those attacking players to have more scoring opportunities.
“It wasn’t something that I was very focused on because it was my style of play already,” Artur said. “But now we’re focusing a little bit more on that. … I want to do more. I always try to win the balls and also try to help in the buildup in the front half.”
His play can also be infectious. Nagbe said he plays more aggressively knowing Artur is disrupting the opponent’s attack.
“He hunts the ball down, he’s got a great engine on him, but on top of that he’s got clean feet, keeps the ball well and he makes some penetrating runs late that helps us in the attack,” Nagbe said.
The play of Artur, Nagbe and Zelarayan in the tournament put the midfield trio on the radar as among the league’s best. Artur’s development could elevate them higher.
“It’s important to stop the plays and build the counter attack,” Artur said. “I feel like my style of game, I can do a lot of different things.”
Midfielder added
The Crew on Monday bolstered its depth behind Artur and Nagbe by adding defensive midfielder Fatai Alashe in a trade with FC Cincinnati.
Alashe, 26, has played 99 career MLS games, registering six goals and three assists. Acquired by Cincinnati in July 2018, Alashe played 14 games with the Crew’s rival, including three games this season for 25 minutes. jmyers@dispatch.com @_jcmyers