The Columbus Crew has returned to the training field for the 2024 MLS season, signaling a shift from celebrating last year’s MLS Cup-winning side to defending that title. If the Black & Gold are going to be successful in defending that title and compete for a few others, they’ll have to score goals at or near the same historic level they did last year., Fortunately, the forward line that delivered another MLS Cup to Columbus will remain intact for the start of the new season.

Let’s take a look at the Crew’s attackers in 2024.

Starters

Cucho Hernandez returns for his third season with the Black & Gold and he will expect to build on his stellar 2023 campaign. Hernandez’s 16 goals in 27 games put him fourth among all scorers in MLS’s 2023 season, while his five playoff goals tied him with Denis Bouang for the league lead. Hernandez led all of MLS with 18.96 Expected Goals (for comparison, actual MLS Golden Boot winner Bouanga bagged 20 goals on 14.53 xG, a statistically lucky season for LAFC’s striker). He has always been a volume shooter, but Hernandez put nearly the same percentage of his shots on goal in 2023 (35%) as in 2022 (34%).

Aside from goals, Hernandez displayed his ability to facilitate for teammates during his first year in head coach Wilfried Nancy’s system by adding 11 assists in the regular season and two in the MLS Cup playoffs. In 2024, Hernandez will expect to compete again for the MLS Golden Boot, an award that could boost his profile as a target for European clubs.

Alexandru Matan returned after falling out of favor with Caleb Porter in 2022 and failing to secure a move back to Europe following an unsuccessful loan spell with Rapid Bucuresti. In his first two years with the Crew, Matan was almost always deployed as a No. 10. He was good on the ball but had a propensity to over-dribble and seemed unable to create chances. When match one of the 2023 season kicked off and Matan started against the Philadelphia Union, it was a shock to see Matan in the starting lineup.

Under Nancy, Matan finally found his footing. His play became much more vertical, focused on moving the ball forward as quickly as possible, and his touches near the goal became significantly more useful. After playing just 28 minutes in 2022 (and recording zero goals or assists in his first two seasons in MLS), the Romanian attacker took the field for 2,274 minutes over 31 appearances in 2023. Matan scored one goal in 2023 but took just under one shot per game (with 30 total shots on the year). He contributed 11 assists and continually put himself and his teammates in position to score.

Diego Rossi joined the club in the final third of the 2023 season following the sale of 2020 MLS Cup MVP Lucas Zelarayan. Columbus hoped that a return to MLS would help Rossi find the form that made him the 2020 Golden Boot winner and that his profile (a speedy player with experience running a high press and a seemingly endless ability to run during a match) would fit the Nancy system better than Zelarayan. It took Rossi some time to find his footing, but by the time the playoffs hit, it was clear why president and general manager Tim Bezbatchenko wanted him. In the playoffs, Rossi contributed two goals and added three assists. Against FC Cincinnati, Rossi played his best game for the Crew, contributing a goal and running the Cincinnati defense into the ground in overtime.

Hernandez, Matan, and Rossi will hope to form one of the most lethal goal-scoring fronts in MLS during 2024 and the Crew will need them to do so if they hope to compete for a second straight MLS Cup.

Backups

Christian Ramirez grabbed a starting spot in the middle of last season and made the most of it, scoring eight goals and assisting on four others. However, he was relegated to a substitute role after Rossi was added to the team. Ramirez provides a change-of-pace option when the Black & Gold want to add a more traditional striker to the mix and showed how effective he can be in this role with two match-winning postseason goals against Orlando City and Cincinnati. With Columbus playing in multiple tournaments this season, Ramirez will get the opportunity to start and should at least match his 30 appearances from the 2023 season. If he plays as well as he did last year, it will be hard to leave Ramirez on the bench.

Jacen Russell-Rowe parlayed his excellent 2022 into a first-team contract midway through that season. The 2023 season represented his first campaign as a full-time member of the first team, and he performed well in limited minutes off the bench. Russell-Rowe contributed four goals and three assists in 527 minutes for about 0.7 goals per 90 minutes played. Despite being just 21 years old, the Crew will expect Russell-Rowe to make a leap this season and to push Ramirez for substitute minutes.

Other names to know

The Black & Gold selected Jayden Da from Duquesne with their first pick in the 2024 MLS SuperDraft. Da, the only draftee currently with the team in preseason, will likely spend most of the season with Crew 2 but the striker brings something to the table that isn’t currently on the roster. Da is an imposing presence at 6-foot-4 and could be the aerial threat that the team has desperately needed at times. If Da plays well in preseason and with Crew 2, there is definitely the chance that he earns a few call ups to the first team as a season with multiple tournaments and fixtures moves along.