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In January 2023, we asked a panel of local soccer experts to submit their opinions on the Crew’s all-time Best 11 (or, for you futbol types, Bext XI). The panelists were given space for interpretation, which is to say they could use any formula they wished to pick their team. They were creative.
More: An impeccable panel picks Columbus Crew's all-time best 11 | Michael Arace
One selected players from “Crew 1.0,” which was defined as “The Brian McBride era through the 2002 Open Cup championship.” Another stuck with players who fit in a 3-4-3 formation. Yet another made his selections based on his opinion of the best player at each position, regardless of length of service to the club. Some panelists included substitutes, others did not. And so forth.
The panel of experts was convened as coach Wilfried Nancy was conducting his first training camp as the new Crew coach. What followed was, arguably, the two greatest seasons in franchise history. And our panel’s all-time Best XI, which was 27 years in the making, cries for a refresh amid season No. 30.
Before we get to it, a nod to those who submitted ballots two-plus years ago: Dwight Burgess, who called Crew games on TV and radio for more than 20 years; Patrick Arace, an aficionado of the global game, who represented a younger crowd; Morgan Hughes and Keith Naas, two longtime season-ticket holders who toiled nobly for #SavetheCrew; Craig Merz and Shawn Mitchell, the first and second soccer beat writers at The Dispatch; Will Hesmer, the goalkeeper on the Crew’s 2008 MLS Cup championship team; longtime Crew historian Steve Sirk; and yours truly, who picked the all-time coach.
After tallying the votes in 2023, we put a composite team together in a 3-3-2-1 (or 3-4-3, if you like) formation. Each of the players on the composite team got at least four mentions among the panelists’ Bext XI. Here’s what the team looked like:
Goalkeeper:Brad Friedel.
Backs: Chad Marshall, Jonathan Mensah, Frankie Hejduk.
Center midfield: Brian Maisonneuve, Darlington Nagbe, Robert Warzycha.
Attacking midfield: Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Lucas Zelarayan.
Forwards: Brian McBride, Stern John.
Coach: Gregg Berhalter.
Then Nancy took over.
From November 2023 through August 2024, the Crew played in three trophy games and won two: They were the 2023 MLS Cup champions, finalists in the CONCACAF Champions Cup and winners of the Leagues Cup. But the Crew's Bext XI goalie is before us now:
Friedel had a brilliant, 20-year career − 18 years of which were spent somewhere other than Columbus. Hesmer was the keeper, and in peak form, when the Crew won their first MLS Cup in 2008. Patrick Schulte, 24, led the Crew to a Cup in his first full season as a starter, won two more trophies in his second, and, at a tender age, has become a regular call-up for the USMNT. Apologies to Friedel (and Hesmer, who, by the way, voted for Friedel). Schulte now gets the start on the Best XI.
Cucho Hernandez was the MVP of the MLS Cup and Leagues Cup. He lost a very close race with Lionel Messi for 2024 league MVP, while Steven Moreira was the league’s Defender of the Year and Nancy the Coach of the Year.
Hernandez, who was sold to Real Betis of Spain’s La Liga earlier this year, is the greatest player in Crew history. Full stop. Apologies to Stern John, who is now relegated to the Best XI bench.
Moreira deserves a place in the starting lineup of the Best XI. Put it this way: In the 2023 MLS Cup and the 2024 Leagues Cup finals, Moreira pulled Denis Bouanga duty. Trophies followed. Apologies to Mensah, a former captain, who must now sit.
Homegrown midfielder Aidan Morris was the youngest (19 years, 27 days old) starter in the history of MLS Cup championship games when the Crew won the title in 2020. He filled in for Nagbe, who had tested positive for COVID. The Crew dominated heavily favored Seattle.
Morris missed the entire 2021 season with a torn ACL. In 2023, he was one of the engines that fired the Crew’s run to a third MLS Cup. He was sold to Middlesbrough of the English Championship in the summer of 2024.
Morris deserves a place on the Best XI. Apologies to Maisonneuve, who is now in charge of his own lineup − he coached Ohio State to the College Cup Final Four last year.
Nancy has risen above Sigi Schmid (RIP) and Berhalter and established himself as the greatest coach in Crew history. There’s no question about it. He’s the best coach in MLS right now, and the day is coming when Columbus will have to say goodbye to him, like it has said goodbye to Morris, Hernandez, Zelarayan, et al.
Discuss amongst yourselves, then send any responses to sports editor Brian White’s Mailbox.
[email protected]
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Crew Best XI: 3rd MLS Cup, 1st Leagues Cup compels change
Continue reading...
More: An impeccable panel picks Columbus Crew's all-time best 11 | Michael Arace
One selected players from “Crew 1.0,” which was defined as “The Brian McBride era through the 2002 Open Cup championship.” Another stuck with players who fit in a 3-4-3 formation. Yet another made his selections based on his opinion of the best player at each position, regardless of length of service to the club. Some panelists included substitutes, others did not. And so forth.
The panel of experts was convened as coach Wilfried Nancy was conducting his first training camp as the new Crew coach. What followed was, arguably, the two greatest seasons in franchise history. And our panel’s all-time Best XI, which was 27 years in the making, cries for a refresh amid season No. 30.
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Before we get to it, a nod to those who submitted ballots two-plus years ago: Dwight Burgess, who called Crew games on TV and radio for more than 20 years; Patrick Arace, an aficionado of the global game, who represented a younger crowd; Morgan Hughes and Keith Naas, two longtime season-ticket holders who toiled nobly for #SavetheCrew; Craig Merz and Shawn Mitchell, the first and second soccer beat writers at The Dispatch; Will Hesmer, the goalkeeper on the Crew’s 2008 MLS Cup championship team; longtime Crew historian Steve Sirk; and yours truly, who picked the all-time coach.
After tallying the votes in 2023, we put a composite team together in a 3-3-2-1 (or 3-4-3, if you like) formation. Each of the players on the composite team got at least four mentions among the panelists’ Bext XI. Here’s what the team looked like:
Goalkeeper:Brad Friedel.
Backs: Chad Marshall, Jonathan Mensah, Frankie Hejduk.
Center midfield: Brian Maisonneuve, Darlington Nagbe, Robert Warzycha.
Attacking midfield: Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Lucas Zelarayan.
Forwards: Brian McBride, Stern John.
Coach: Gregg Berhalter.
Then Nancy took over.
From November 2023 through August 2024, the Crew played in three trophy games and won two: They were the 2023 MLS Cup champions, finalists in the CONCACAF Champions Cup and winners of the Leagues Cup. But the Crew's Bext XI goalie is before us now:
Friedel had a brilliant, 20-year career − 18 years of which were spent somewhere other than Columbus. Hesmer was the keeper, and in peak form, when the Crew won their first MLS Cup in 2008. Patrick Schulte, 24, led the Crew to a Cup in his first full season as a starter, won two more trophies in his second, and, at a tender age, has become a regular call-up for the USMNT. Apologies to Friedel (and Hesmer, who, by the way, voted for Friedel). Schulte now gets the start on the Best XI.
Cucho Hernandez was the MVP of the MLS Cup and Leagues Cup. He lost a very close race with Lionel Messi for 2024 league MVP, while Steven Moreira was the league’s Defender of the Year and Nancy the Coach of the Year.
You must be registered for see images attach
Hernandez, who was sold to Real Betis of Spain’s La Liga earlier this year, is the greatest player in Crew history. Full stop. Apologies to Stern John, who is now relegated to the Best XI bench.
Moreira deserves a place in the starting lineup of the Best XI. Put it this way: In the 2023 MLS Cup and the 2024 Leagues Cup finals, Moreira pulled Denis Bouanga duty. Trophies followed. Apologies to Mensah, a former captain, who must now sit.
Homegrown midfielder Aidan Morris was the youngest (19 years, 27 days old) starter in the history of MLS Cup championship games when the Crew won the title in 2020. He filled in for Nagbe, who had tested positive for COVID. The Crew dominated heavily favored Seattle.
Morris missed the entire 2021 season with a torn ACL. In 2023, he was one of the engines that fired the Crew’s run to a third MLS Cup. He was sold to Middlesbrough of the English Championship in the summer of 2024.
Morris deserves a place on the Best XI. Apologies to Maisonneuve, who is now in charge of his own lineup − he coached Ohio State to the College Cup Final Four last year.
You must be registered for see images attach
Nancy has risen above Sigi Schmid (RIP) and Berhalter and established himself as the greatest coach in Crew history. There’s no question about it. He’s the best coach in MLS right now, and the day is coming when Columbus will have to say goodbye to him, like it has said goodbye to Morris, Hernandez, Zelarayan, et al.
Discuss amongst yourselves, then send any responses to sports editor Brian White’s Mailbox.
[email protected]
Get more on the Crew by stopping by the Soccer Speakeasy
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Crew Best XI: 3rd MLS Cup, 1st Leagues Cup compels change
Continue reading...
