One league win since April 8 and more players added to the injury list this week, concern about tactics and how the Columbus Crew play is mounting. In their last win, the Black & Gold hosted bottom-of-MLS LA Galaxy but it has been three straight losses in all competition since.

The silver lining is that the Colorado Rapids come to town on Wednesday, a team with the second-worst record in the league. While a win in this match will not right the struggling ship completely, it could give the squad a much-needed boost of confidence.

Head coach Wilfried Nancy’s dogmatic approach to a three-man backline will be tested against the Rapids with center back Gustavo Vallecilla’s injury suffered in the 3-1 loss to Nashville SC on Sunday. Vallecilla will be out for at least a couple of weeks and center back Josh WIlliams is still not yet match-ready. Center back Milos Degenek, winger Luis Diaz and wing back Will Sands all remain out. Midfielders Alexandru Matan and Kevin Molino and goalkeeper Eloy Room all are questionable against Colorado.

Taking that all into account, let’s look at how we think Nancy will line up his squad:

Goalkeeper Patrick Schulte will continue to start with Room on the mend. The Rapids will be without more players than the Crew and almost all of those players are in the attack. This should be a confidence booster for Schulte.

Three of the players listed as out are center backs. Philip Quinton is the one natural center back who has played much this year that remains uninjured and Steven Moreira is a converted full back. Fans might wonder if they will see a formation change, but changing tactics could potentially be more dangerous and not something Nancy has shown a willingness to do. Without a second natural center back to pair with Quinton, communication and marking could have more disastrous results than playing with Moreira and Malte Amundsen as the flanking center backs.

There really seems to be no ideal situation for the Columbus backline at the moment. Colorado is missing attackers Kevin Cabral, Diego Rubio and Darren Yapi and has sought offensive reinforcements from Marlon Vargas and Remi Cabral of Rapids 2. A depleted Crew defense will look to stymie a patchwork Rapids attack.

With Amundsen tucked back as a left center back, Yaw Yeboah will deputize in the left wing back role once again. With both Diaz and Matan dealing with injury, Mohamed Farsi will continue to start as a right wing back.

Up until the dying moments of the match against Nashville, central midfielder Aidan Morris kept MLS MVP Hany Muhktar in check. Morris should get another start but might need to get rotated. A lack of rotation along the backline may be a contributing factor to the mountain of injuries. Fellow central midfielder Darlington Nagbe will look to bounce back from a Crew career low in touches. 

Aside from Yeboah’s banger of a goal in the second minute against Nashville, the Black & Gold’s attack was largely unsuccessful until everyone committed forward to try and level the match in the last 10 minutes of the game. Forward Christian Ramirez will start alongside the Designated Player duo of Cucho Hernadez and Lucas Zelarayan. Ramirez should pressure the penalty box, allowing Hernandez and Zelarayan room to roam.