Crew strikers are bolstered with addition of Ramirez
When the Crew began their preseason in early January, the two strikers Columbus had on the roster had a combined 25 games of MLS experience.
While new coach Wilfried Nancy said he wanted to get to know the players he already had before making changes, it took very little time for the team to decide to add another striker. After just over a week, the Crew completed a transfer for MLS veteran Christian Ramirez from Aberdeen in the Scottish Premiership — and instantly more than quadrupled the MLS experience in the striker group.
Ramirez, who began his MLS career with Minnesota before stints with LAFC and Houston, has 105 MLS games under his belt and has scored 35 goals in the league. Cucho Hernandez isn’t exactly inexperienced, having played five-plus seasons in Europe before coming to Columbus last summer, but he’s still young at 23 years old and is still new to MLS.
Prior to acquiring Ramirez, the only other striker on the Crew’s roster was Jacen Russell-rowe, who excelled in MLS Next Pro, Major League Soccer’s second division, last season but played just 227 MLS minutes. Adding Ramirez gives the Crew valuable experience at a youthful position.
“We have three strikers now,” Nancy said. “This is good for us because (Ramirez) is not the same profile as all the strikers that we have already. That’s why wanted Christian, to give us a different profile. We are really happy for that.”
It’s still unknown how Nancy will deploy his strikers this season — while his style of play with a strong emphasis on passing is clear, he shies away from any discussion of potential formations — but with Ramirez, Hernandez and Russell-rowe, the Crew have options and depth.
If Nancy wants to play with two strikers, as he did regularly with CF Montreal last year, having strikers whose games complement one another is key. Hernandez, a smaller player at 5-9, likes to possess the ball and doesn’t play like a classical target striker, while Ramirez’s physical makeup at 6-2 and 185 pounds is more aligned with the traditional idea of a target No. 9.
“(Ramirez) likes to create space for the other players,” Nancy said. “He’s really good for the link-up play, and also he has experience. Especially with the two young players that we have as a forward, that’s why we’re really happy to have him. He knows the league. Really important also. He’s going to be able to give me different ways to attack in terms of animation.”
Russell-rowe is expected to play a much larger role for the Crew this season than he did last year. He signed with the first team from Crew 2 in late June.
Nancy was known for his work with young players in Montreal, developing several to the point where they were transferred to Europe for significant fees, and there’s no question that he will give Russell-rowe an opportunity to earn the larger role he desires.
“It’s not an issue for me, a young player or an old player,” Nancy said. “For me, I look at the quality of the player. Jacen, what I like about him is his soccer IQ is really, really high. He’s able to understand the game really quick. He has a natural ability to score goals. Now, the challenge for him is going to be more aggressive . ... This is not a young player anymore. He has to show what he’s capable of.”
In 2022, after trading both Gyasi Zardes and Miguel Berry, Hernandez was the only striker who made a major impact for Columbus. This season, Hernandez will feature prominently, and both Ramirez and Russell-rowe will give the Crew re-imagined depth at the position, with several options for how Nancy can take advantage of their strengths.