Painful setback
Crew awaits word on Morris’ injury
There are no sports fans who don’t feel sick watching a player fall hard to the ground holding his knee after suffering a significant injury.
When it happened on Thursday night to the Crew’s budding standout midfielder Aidan Morris, it felt almost unfair.
“Forget our season, forget all the selfish reasons you could be upset about it. I’m just sad for him because he was playing so well and he’s really starting to blossom right underneath our eyes,” coach Caleb Porter said.
Morris, a 19-year-old considered one of the best young American players in Major League Soccer, suffered a left knee injury in the fourth minute of a 1-0
win against Real Esteli FC on Thursday night in a CONCACAF Champions League game.
Chasing down a defender, Morris tried to stop and change directions but planted his leg awkwardly in what looked like a classic major ligament injury.
He was in obvious pain and emotionally distraught, holding his shirt over his face as he waited for a stretcher to take him to the locker room. Porter said the prognosis on the injury “looks pretty bad,” but the Crew would know more once it received the result of an MRI on Friday. The team is expected to provide an update on Saturday.
Porter had first bet on Morris in December by starting him in MLS Cup with Darlington Nagbe out with COVID-19. Morris hadn’t logged a minute in the Crew’s previous three playoff games and had played only 360 minutes in 10 regular-season matches before becoming the youngest player in league history to start in a final.
Morris, who played one season at Indiana before signing with the Crew, surpassed expectations and became a sensation. When the Crew signed Perry Kitchen this offseason, it looked like Morris would — at best — split time with the MLS veteran, but Porter gave Morris the start in the first leg against Real Esteli, a game in which the young midfielder again showed exceptional skill on the ball and on defense.
The day before Thursday’s second leg, Morris talked about his confidence since making that MLS Cup start, how he has tried to ignore the hype that had begun to build around him and how important Nagbe and fellow defensive midfielder Artur have been in his development.
“I mean, I can’t even touch on how many things they’ve helped me with along the way, but it’s not even my two years here,” Morris said. “It’s from being in the academy, working with Arty there, working with the midfielders before. Darlington does a great job of going over film with me and helps me in games and practices, just telling me little things.”
If Morris is ruled out for the season, as expected, it would not be the worst injury the Crew could have, but it significantly impacts the team’s depth.
Kitchen is a solid option behind Artur and Nagbe, but after that there are questions: Is rookie Isaiah Parente ready to be thrown in like Morris was last year? Will the Crew go out and acquire a low-cost option for more depth?
Porter said he felt fine with the current depth level and likely didn’t need to recall Sebastian Berhalter, who was loaned to Austin FC, but he planned to evaluate the plan moving forward.
The Crew lost two designated players to season-ending injuries in 2019 and had Nagbe and Zelarayan out for sizeable chunks last season. Porter has dealt with worse and, besides, it’s something out of the Crew’s control. jmyers@dispatch.com @_jcmyers