Crew want Zelarayan, Hernandez in the flow
When Cucho Hernandez joined the Crew last summer, it didn't take long for him to build a rapport with Lucas Zelarayan.
Zelarayan assisted on three of Hernandez's first four goals for the Crew, and by Hernandez's sixth game, the two already had a choreographed celebration, joining hands in the anime cartoon “Dragon Ball Z” fusion pose. Hernandez and Zelarayan quickly became one of the more formidable attacking duos in MLS, and new Crew coach Wilfried Nancy believes they can be even better in 2023 — by, in some ways, doing less.
Of the 26 goals the Crew scored after Hernandez's July debut, either he or Zelarayan had a hand in 19 of them, by scoring or registering an assist. It's expected that the Crew's best attackers will be heavily involved in the goalscoring, but this season, Nancy hopes to find more balance between his star players and their teammates.
“They did a lot of good things already,” Nancy said. “Now, the idea is to repeat these good things but a little bit in a better way. The trust part for me is really important. Cucho and Lucas, they had a tendency last year, and I respect that also, to come all the time toward the ball. The idea now is for them to understand that they have to trust their teammates, and they have to play between the lines or behind the lines.”
Throughout the preseason, Nancy has spoken of his desire to challenge his players to grow and develop, and Hernandez and Zelarayan are no exception.
“My job is to challenge them all the time,” Nancy said. “We know that Cucho, he likes to score goals. We know that he's a really good player. I believe that he can be better to make the run in behind. This is an example of the kind of challenge that I give him. He likes to touch the ball, yes, (and) I like it also, but I believe that he's going to be better also if he's able to recognize the run in behind.”
As a striker, Hernandez has shown an ability to play a variety of styles; his talent both with the ball and as a target in the box offer the Crew flexibility in how they use the center forward position. What Nancy wants is for Hernandez to further develop his ability to make runs into space behind the opponent's defense, positioning himself to receive crosses from the wingbacks out wide or passes on short diagonals that come from the half-spaces or more central areas.
Doing less with the ball and making more runs in behind will make Hernandez an even stronger target for Zelarayan, who has ranked among the best passers in MLS since joining the league; his 80 key passes last season tied for second-most in MLS.
“For Lucas, it's all about the connection with the other players,” Nancy said. “He needs other players to run off the ball, to receive the ball. For me, this is really important also that he understands what we want. The challenge for him is to attack but to defend at the same time, to get this continuity of the game. So far, they did it really well. I'm really happy.”
Zelarayan has plenty of goal-scoring ability of his own, particularly from the edge of the box and further out, but the midfielder made it clear that he's happy to be the player feeding Hernandez to score.
“Obviously, if I score, it's very good for the team, but for me, it's better if Cucho scores more goals than me and I do assists for him,” Zelarayan said. “For me, it's better. I want Cucho to win the Golden Boot.”
For Nancy, the link between his two main attacking players has been a subject of fascination throughout the preseason, and it's evident that both Hernandez and Zelarayan have made strides in the challenges their coach has set for them.
After factoring in on 73% of the Crew's goals in the final 17 games of last season, and with a full preseason to continue to build their chemistry, Hernandez and Zelarayan could be even more impactful for the Crew this season.
“Everybody knows the potential of those two players,” Nancy said. “I'm happy to be here, to help them to be better. My objective is to challenge them. They are quality, but now the idea is to understand what we want on the pitch. ... They are open-minded about what we want to do, the way we want to attack. They like to ask questions. They like also to share with their teammates. I'm really happy because they understand what we want. For me, this is the most important thing to move forward.” bjohnson@dispatch.com @Baileyajohnson_