5 things from Saturday's Crew win over CF Montreal | OneFootball

"America's hardest working team." This was the tagline attached to the Columbus Crew upon their designation as the first team in MLS. This 2025 version of the Crew seemed to have validated that motto in Saturday's victory over CF Montreal at home. Was it always pretty? No, certainly not. At times in the second half it seemed messy. Was it always effective? Again, no. Sloppy turnovers, mistouches and sometimes just bad ideas had them on the backfoot for most of the second half. Was it a great effort? Emphatically yes. This was the kind of game they had to work very hard to earn the victory. A home game against a lesser opponent with a fanbase demanding three points, the Crew had all the pressure. They came out and imposed their will from the start as they jumped out to a 2-0 lead quickly and it looked like CF Montreal didn't belong. There was a big shift as fatigue set in for the home side however, and they had to rely on pure effort and determination to come away with the victory. It was a great win for the confidence of the team, and for Crew fans it was good to see them gut out the win in lieu of falling victim to another draw. Below are five notes observed from the latest home victory.

With Saturday's win the Crew have now extended their unbeaten streak to seven games. Just about a month and a half ago I don't think anyone would've pegged this roster as one that would be ranked second in the MLS power rankings after seven games. On top of that be one of the last two undefeated teams across the entire league (Inter Miami being the other). This team is working very hard, and the results are an indicator of that. Some could call it luck as this latest victory came on the back of a couple disallowed CF Montreal goals due to offside calls after VAR reviews, but I was always taught you make your own luck. Their hard work is showing up in the results and the mastermind of Wilfried Nancy is pulling the right strings. Crazy thing is this team will get better as the young players gain more experience and confidence as the season goes. Also the transfer window coming in the Summer will surely see the Crew make a splash signing or two. This team will look very different towards the end of the season, but right now they are grinding out the results and putting themselves on the front foot. This team has an underdog feel to it that a lot of people can get in support of. A roster stripped of a lot of key pieces with no replacements in place. Demanding the Crew 2 alumni to be baptized by fire being put in key roles to carry the team. To this point they're rising to the challenge, I'm excited to see how their growth continues over the course of the long season.

When I attend the home games I like to intently watch the warm ups as you can quickly see the players who may be more focused or "dialed in" than others based on how their touch looks, how their passes come off and how they're shooting. Watching the warm-ups this past Saturday it felt like Jacen Russell-Rowe was ready to make an impact. From the opening whistle it was clear he showed up to work. His energy level was high, his touch was much improved over what we've seen since game two of the season. His distribution was equally on point, dropping in a perfectly weighted long ball over the top of Montreal's back line to AZ Jackson who made the most of his opportunity. Then followed that up in the 26th minute with the type of finish we've grown accustomed to seeing from him. A passing through ball, from the top of the 18 Russell-Rowe left no doubt as he sent a laser to the opposite corner. One-touch, opposite corner upper V. He made it look so easy and I can promise you it's not, finishing just comes so naturally for him. We've been waiting to see him put it all together though, he's shown flashes but struggled to be a factor for a full 90 minutes. This was his best game of the season by far. A number of key passes to create chances, a great finish from distance, better ball control and touch. He earned his Man of the Match honors and hopefully there will be many more of those to come. If he can build on this and string together multiple games of performances like Saturday, the sky is the limit for Russell-Rowe. A great mix of finishing prowess with the vision of a midfielder can make for the type of dangerous attacker this team desparetly needs.

The Diego Rossi experience continues

I want to love Diego Rossi so bad. Sometimes he just makes it so difficult. There's a general sense he has a strong level of support amongst the fanbase, which he appeases when he decides to. What becomes difficult for me is when he lays an egg the very next game(s) after scoring a brace carrying the team to a tough win. However, Once is an accident, twice is a coincidence.....we all know what's next. Rossi was not great on Saturday against CF Montreal. I could argue he wasn't even good. So far in the season that's the trend for him. Score two goals in a game, be the hero everyone wants you to be, then take some games off. It's almost as if he needs a few games to get a power-up, then uses it in one game to score a couple goals, then has to spend the next few games saving for his next power-up. This level of inconsistency is tough to watch for a player who is viewed as being our key player in the attack. I still like his talent and he does have something to offer this team, but goodness we should be getting more consistency out of such an experienced player that has scored as many goals as Rossi has. Maybe he's just feeling the stress of expectations on him having to be "the guy". He's best used as a supplementary piece, a "robin" as you'd commonly say about the next best attacker on a team. I don't view this as a slight to Rossi, he's very talented and can be a very good finisher. He just needs to be put into a role he's more comfortable in. Perhaps the evolution of Russell-Rowe can help with that, at least until we can get help over the summer.

No Nagbe no problem?

False. Columbus felt the absence of Darlington Nagbe hard on Saturday. This was on full display as the Crew were doing the thing that gives fans anxiety attacks when they form their tight triangles in the defensive third. Nagbe is elite in tight spaces, strong on the ball and the vision/ability to turn and switch the field when needed. We don't have any other player on this roster that can fill that role right now. I love Sean Zawadzki and everything he does for this team, but he's not Nagbe. That's not a slight on him, it's just that nobody is. This was ever-present in the second half especially as fatigue started setting in, but we still were trying to play "Nancy-ball". Tight triangles formed in the defensive third, pinging the ball around is fine when you have a guy that can navigate those situations so expertly as Nagbe continuously does. When you remove that piece though, it feels more like a semi-controlled chaos that lacks confidence. Especially when one ill-timed turnover can flip the game as was almost the case a couple of different times when the Crew turned it over in those instances. Which brings up another point, Nagbe is 34. It's an urgent need to bring in someone or develop someone behind him that he can help mentor as he was doing with Aidan Morris when he was here. Nagbe's style of play means he takes a lot of knocks during every single game and over the course of the season the cumulative effect of those will start taking form. Nothing I saw on Saturday gave me the confidence we have the guy right now that can fill that vitally important role. That position is the engine of the team, the player that can dictate pace, manage the distribution side to side, and offer elusiveness in the midfield to spring attacking runs. We can beat the Montreal's of the MLS without Nagbe, but I'm not convinced we'd be able to manage much better against the more competitive teams in the league with him being out.

What is Dylan Chambost?

Consistent. That's the best I can offer when it comes to Dylan Chambost. When we signed him I was hoping for more out of him in the way of some shots from distance being a threat, offensive creativity, something. Now that we've seen him for seven games of a full 90 minutes I have a better feel for what he is. He's just a guy. Maybe that's all he's asked to be? I wanted to watch him more closely on Saturday to get a better feel for what may be going through his mind as he receives the ball. What I noticed is more often than not his first look is at best lateral, if not backwards. In rare moments would he look forward and he'd only do so if he had a ton of space, even then his first look was lateral. I was hoping for some more creativity in the attack, or strength on the ball, maybe some well timed switches. What I saw though was sideways or backward. He seems to play with little confidence, like he's scared to make a mistake or turn the ball over. I've seen him play some really good long balls through, so he can do it. Maybe it's just a lack of confidence. Either way, right now he's just a guy that can complete passes. Wont' hurt you, but won't really help you much going forward either. Not necessarily a strong defender, not necessarily creative in the attack. At this point I'd like to see more of Taha Habroune, or more of Andres Herrera more than Chambost. Either one of those two players would offer more going forward and can still be active enough to cover defense at least as competently as Chambost.

Saturday was a great home win, the kind of game you need to win when the worst team in your conference comes to your house. For all the criticisms, and commentary offered, they're seven games with zero losses to this point. This team is working hard for each other and for Nancy, who, with each win this season seems to add more clout to his name. As Crew fans we are all lucky that even in what would be a considered "down year" with no superstars we are still right there at the top of the conference. Putting teams on notice weekly. Given that fact, there is so much to look forward to this season as the Crew will do nothing but get better. Up next is a winnable game at St. Louis against a team that has not scored in three consecutive matches. Seems like a great opportunity to continue building on early success.