Crew ‘on same page,’ looking for more success in 2022

Why did the Crew fall short of the playoffs the year after winning MLS Cup?

Winger Pedro Santos offered a blunt answer: “Obviously, a team that wants to be a champion can’t lose six games in a row,” he said.

The Crew needed only two points from those six games to make the playoffs. The factors involved in that losing streak — poor performances, injuries, players out with national teams — will always have to be dealt with by every team in every league around the world every season.

But another, more hidden factor was behind-the-scenes issues that might have spilled over to affect onfield performance. The Crew believe those problems have been resolved, and players indicated in postseason interviews that the locker room trusts coach Caleb Porter and the staff to make the 2022 season a success.

“Everybody’s on board,” goalkeeper Eloy Room said. “Of course, this season we want to go in the playoffs and defend the Cup. Of course, it didn’t work out like that. But still, we are on the same page and we still want to go for that . ... I think everybody knows we have the potential as a group to make into the playoffs and go far.”

Porter talked extensively about how injuries affected the team throughout the year. But so did Lucas Zelarayan and other players, who believed the 200 total games missed to injury was a major factor in the club not being at its best.

Porter, however, said the issues were more than just one thing.

“It would be easy for me to just say, yeah, it’s the injuries, that’s not my fault. It’s the roster, it’s not my fault. But I’m not saying that,” Porter said. “I’m saying it’s a combination of everything.

“We shot ourselves in the foot in that six-game stretch. But I’m not going to put myself through that same stretch again and make the same mistakes.”

Ending the season 6-2-2 in league play, plus a Campeones Cup victory over Liga MX club Cruz Azul, gave the Crew a pathway to get back to being a championship contender next season. There will be additions to roster, specifically at winger, to make the Crew a more wellrounded team, but the core still exists.

With Zelarayan, Darlington Nagbe, Jonathan Mensah, Gyasi Zardes, Artur — and even Miguel Berry — it’s not a stretch to think the Crew could return to its 2020 level next season.

“This coaching staff — I’ve been with them for three years now — I’m confident,” Zardes said. “They always do a great job of finding the right pieces to the puzzle. I know this organization is in good hands when you have those guys looking out for this team.” jmyers@dispatch.com @_jcmyers

JOSHUA A. BICKEL/COLUMBUS DISPATCH Coach Caleb Porter says an injury-depleted roster was a major problem for the Crew this season, but the team's issues went deeper than that.