The Columbus Crew has gone the distance so far during the 2023 Audi MLS Cup playoffs, reaching the championship game that will be played on Saturday at Lower.com Field. After playing all the games in the best-of-three first round against Atlanta United and an extra 60 minutes between the conference semifinal against Orlando City SC and the Eastern Conference final against FC Cincinnati, the Crew still looks to be the sharper team heading into the the MLS Cup Final.

Black & Gold players such as Patrick Schulte, Darlington Nagbe, Malte Amundsen and Cucho Hernandez have played almost every minute, if not every minute, of the playoff run so far. Yet, the energy and fatigue haven’t presented themselves thanks to the way the team prepared throughout the season, led by head coach Wilfred Nancy

“Everything comes out to the model that we created with Wilfried,” fitness coach Jules Gueguen said Massive Report. “The system of play is really demanding, that we saw throughout the season. An example of that is the center backs playing a high line. They need to cover a lot of ground, they need to go and sprint a lot depending on how the opposition is playing.”

The fitness coaches have implemented a macrocycle during training, ensuring the players are at their top ability in practice and in games.

“Throughout the year, we have the macrocycles, which are a week of training Monday to Sunday,” Gueguen continued. “We build and prepare the guys to be able to sustain high demands of physical conditioning.

“We actually work harder than a game on two days (Tuesday and Wednesday) to get the guys into a really high stimulus. So if the game is really wild, the guys actually have it in their bodies.”

An example given was the third game of the season against Toronto FC, where Gueguen went around to the team at halftime to check in on the fitness of the starting personnel. Gueguen said that two players had heavy legs, and couldn’t run. “We push them so much in the mid-week that coming into the game on the weekend, they were not fresh.”

Of course, the team can’t rely on the training midweek to keep themselves fresh and ready for match day. It’s also up to the players to take it upon themselves to stay fit, especially after going so far in the playoffs.

“I think the player has a responsibility as an athlete first, and there’s some structures that are really rigid,” continued Gueguen. “It’s like, okay, these are the numbers you need to have. If you don’t have this, this is what, like, the recommender, like, the consequences of it. And it becomes, in our opinion, a really toxic environment.”

When asked if the extra minutes against Orlando City and FC Cincinnati could impact the team against LAFC in the MLS Cup Final, Nancy thinks so, but has confidence in the team and the fitness staff to keep the players in shape.

“Oh for sure. I would have preferred to only play 90 minutes. I’m happy with the work we have physically,” said Nancy.

“Now it’s all about freshness. If the game is open, yes, for sure, it’s going to be difficult for us physically. But that’s why we’re also going to have to be good with the ball, to slow down the tempo and speed it up. But if this is a ping pong game, then yes, I think it’s going to be difficult for both teams.”