How Wilfried Nancy is teaching his style of play to the Columbus Crew
From the first moments of the Crew’s opening training session on Monday, new coach Wilfried Nancy had already begun the process of installing his style of play to his players.
With players split into several groups under the bubble at Historic Crew Stadium, Nancy roamed throughout the field, keeping a close eye on each drill. In one of the first drills of the day, he stepped into the center of a group and stopped them for a moment to offer a reminder of the foundation of his system.
“Every pass means something,” Nancy told them. The players resumed the drill with a renewed focus on the weight and intention of each pass, and Nancy immediately praised their efforts.
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For Nancy, the way his players pass the ball is the basis of his system. As one player receives a pass, Nancy wants the next options up the field to already be moving into open space, ready to accept the ball as the next step in the sequence.
“Communication is really important, obviously, but I believe also in the non-verbal communication,” Nancy said. “The communication with the players is all about the pass. The way you’re going to give the pass is going to be an answer for the players. That’s why every pass means something, and also, the fact that they have to run to ask where they want the ball instead of talking all the time to show.”
Nancy has comprehensive sense of what he wants from the Crew, and the first days of preseason training were about creating building blocks upon which he’ll install the rest of his principles as the Crew prepare to open the season at Philadelphia on Feb. 25.
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“It’s all about clarity offensively and defensively,” Nancy said. “The idea is to break down everything like that, and at the same time, to be able for them to understand and be comfortable with what we want to do. All the friendly games that we have are going to be an opportunity for them to write a story together.”
For forward Jacen Russell-Rowe, entering his second full professional season after earning MLS Next Pro MVP honors last season, the first days with Nancy have been heavy on learning.
“It’s like we’re learning new language again,” Russell-Rowe said. “Every person has their own language in the game, and we grow up and we come to a different team and learn something new. Wilfried and his staff have brought a whole new language, a whole new concept of the game to us. It’s making us think and it’s making us better players.”
The Crew already had a base level of familiarity with Nancy’s principles from their two games against his former team, CF Montreal, last season, but there’s a large difference between scouting a team on film and being taught those ideas firsthand.
“A lot of it’s tempo,” midfielder Aidan Morris said. “Realizing when to speed up and slow down I think is important. Having a purpose behind everything. When we have the ball, (recognizing) when we have time, when we don’t have time. Moving when you don’t have the ball. All of that stuff comes into play with what he’s trying to teach us.”
Nancy’s drills steadily grew in complexity throughout the opening week of training, and the emphasis on tempo Morris referenced was on display in each session. On Friday, Nancy worked with groups of 10 players at a time on a passing drill designed to teach them how to move when they don’t have the ball and where their passing options are — in essence, the foundation of everything he wants to teach.
When Nancy explains his style of play, his detailed knowledge of his tactics and his intricate sense of what he wants his players to do are evident. So far, through the first week of training, the Crew players are seeing just that and enjoying the process.
“There’s so many ways to express yourself in the game,” Morris said. “So many ways to play it, so many ways to line up against an opponent. I think he has a unique style, and we love it.”
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