The Columbus Crew has a center back problem. 

It is not just that the Crew has been leaking goals of late, allowing 10 goals in the last five MLS games. It’s not just that the Black & Gold have only four shutouts this season, all against teams that were or are struggling to score goals, and now are in the bottom half of goals conceded in the league.

The biggest issue is a lack of options at the position due to injuries. And it only got worse in Sunday’s 3-1 loss to Nashville SC when center back Gustavo Vallecilla left the match with an injury in the 65th minute.

“Memorial Day yesterday, so we were not able to get an answer,” head coach Wilfried Nancy responded on Tuesday when asked for an update on Vallecilla. “So we’ll see today. But for sure he’s going to be out for a few weeks, but we don’t yet.”

Since he was acquired on a season-long loan from the Colorado Rapids – Columbus’ next opponent, interestingly enough – Vallecilla has started all 10 of his games played for the Crew, mostly at left center back in Nancy’s back three. Vallecilla was listed as out for Wednesday’s match on the Black & Gold’s availability report with a thigh injury.

He now joins an injury list that also features center backs Milos Degenek and Josh Williams, both of whom have missed extensive time this year with injuries. With these three out, Columbus is down to one true healthy center back with any real MLS experience in second-year pro Philip Quinton.

So where does the Crew turn on the backline?

“I asked Bez to sign you,” was Nancy’s joking response when I asked this question, referring to the team’s president and general manager Tim Bezbatchenko. “You’re going to play as a center back.”

Despite once being a mediocre high school soccer player in central Ohio and my moderate success in Columbus rec leagues since, I am not the answer Nancy and the Black & Gold are looking for in MLS play. But it does underline a problem the Crew made for themselves heading into the year.

After trading former captain Jonathan Mensah to the San Jose Earthquakes shortly before the season and failing on at least two attempts to bring in a suitable permanent replacement, Columbus was always going to be a bit light at center back than many hoped. Given Nancy prefers to play a three-back system, the trade of Mensah without a replacement already lined up, even if he is older, expensive and maybe isn’t a perfect fit for the club’s style of play under Nancy, was eyebrow-raising.

The addition of Vallecilla was a stop-gap, as he was able to take over the left center back spot alongside Degenek and converted fullback Steven Moreira. But Vallecilla has never been a regular starter on top MLS defenses and his contributions with the Crew have been inconsistent. And with two of those three unavailable and with Williams still returning from an ankle injury suffered in preseason – all three of which are going to miss more games – the options have become thin.

It is worth noting that any MLS team that is down to arguably its fourth-choice center back starting is going to have issues due to the nature of the league’s rosters and budgets. This becomes a bigger issue for a team, like Columbus, that plays three in the back instead of two. 

Since Degenek’s injury, the Crew has gone 1-3-1 with the lone win coming against an LA Galaxy side that sits at the bottom of the MLS standings. The Black & Gold have had defensive issues in each of those matches, including seeing a lead disappear in three of the five games. Columbus now sits in 10th place in the Eastern Conference despite being third in MLS in goals scored.

Nancy realizes, however, that this is the situation the Crew is in and the team can only manage with what’s on the roster, at least until the summer transfer window opens.

“Listen, this is the story of our lives. This is the story of a dynamic of a club,” Nancy said. “And sometimes football, soccer, is cruel because we have many positions and it happens to the center back. As you know, the center back for me, the way I play, is really important because yes, I want them to defend, but I want them to play in a certain way. So again, I have to face adversity like the players and I’m going to figure out something because for me this is another tool to be better as a coach. So me and my staff, we’re going to be able to sort it out and the team that I’m going to put on the pitch is going to be a team that I know that we’re going to be able to do something good.”

In all likelihood, Nancy will have to continue to play Quinton, who has played nearly every minute for the Black & Gold since Degenek’s injury in late April, and Moreria. The question is what to do about the other center back spot. Given Nancy has provided no reason to think he will switch to a back four, it is likely that left wing back Malte Amundsen sees more time at left center back, where he has been used at times, and a player such as Yaw Yeboah fills in out wide.

The Crew will have to sort this out for an important match against Colorado at Lower.com Field on Wednesday night and likely for multiple games beyond.

“I have different animations and I don’t know yet how we’re going to play tomorrow,” Nancy said, “but I’m confident that we’re going to do something to sort it out.”