I’ve had a fun seven years (SEVEN!) writing Anatomy of a Goal for Massive Report but it’s time for something new. For this season, we’re going to be rolling out a new weekly (hopefully) article focusing on three things I liked and three things I didn’t like from each match. Let’s get started with a 3v3 on Saturday’s match against the New England Revolution.

Three things I liked:
1. Yevhen Cheberko In the Middle
Rudy Camacho joined the Columbus Crew in the summer transfer window of the 2023 season and helped lead the Crew to an MLS Cup and a Leagues Cup. Toward the end of the 2024 season, it was clear that time and injuries had taken their toll on Camacho. He’s still great when he is on but he’s on the wrong side of 30 and Columbus has to find a replacement. Only two matches into the 2025 season and it looks like Cheberko is that man. After taking some time to get used to MLS he settled into a spot on the left but it was clear that he was brought in to anchor the middle of that back-three.

So far, Cheberko has held up to the test. In Saturday’s match, the Ukrainian international led the team in completed passes with 100 as well as leading all starters in completion percentage at 93.5%. Cheberko helped maintain a clean sheet in a nervy first half but really stood out in the second half when he took the opportunity to carry the ball forward. With three center-backs who are comfortably carrying the ball into the midfield, and further, the Black & Gold are creating opportunities in ways that most MLS teams cannot.

2. 2nd Half + Road Wins
Just like last week against Chicago the Crew team that stepped on the field in the second half looked more capable than the team that took the field to start the match. Some of the struggles can be chalked up to the weather, the shifting roster, and general early-season rust but the team has clearly taken a step forward in the second half of each match.

More important than playing well in the second half is getting the road schedule off to a strong start with a win. Columbus set a club record with nine road wins last season and is back on track to keep it going on the road in 2025. The Revolution have struggled to score in their two matches this season but a win against a team that is struggling counts just as much as it does against a team firing on all cylinders.

3. Jacen Russell-Rowe
With Cucho Hernandez and Christian Ramirez leaving the Black & Gold weeks before the season started the immediate, justified, concern was how the team would score goals without making any offensive additions. Sure, the Crew will most likely sign a Designated Player striker either now or in the summer window but until then the team would have to find goals.

So far, 22-year-old Jacen Russell-Rowe has stepped into that starting striker role and looked like a contender to lock down the spot for the season. The young Canadian has two goals in two starts and has been a bright spot in both matches this season. Russell-Rowe has always been a good finsiher but his goal on Saturday against New England was a difficult, off-foot goal that he made look easy. In hold-up play, Russell-Rowe offers a larger target that is sorely missed when he leaves the field and his pressing work-rate is off the charts as well (see last week’s match against Chicago). If the young striker keeps this up it will be tough to relegate him to a substitute spot should a DP striker join the team.

Three things I didn’t like:
1. Defense-Midfield Connection in the First Half
One of the strengths of Nancy’s prior Columbus teams has been the ability their ability to play the ball out of the back. Nancy teams take risks that most won’t, forcing opponents to press and using that press to their advantage. So far, they have not done this.

As Caleb Denorme expertly broke down, the Revolution (and Chicago for much of last week’s match) was able to pressure the Black & Gold into turnovers we haven’t seen from this side since mid-2023. With Russell-Rowe as the only attacking player with any height, long clearances from Patrick Schulte almost always resulted in turnovers just inside the Crew’s defensive half.

In the second half things started to open up a bit more for Columbus. New England dropped defensively while Cheberko started to carry the ball forward more often. With Cheberko carrying forward, the Revolution was forced to put more aggressive pressure on the middle center-back wich opened up passing lanes. After Russell-Rowe left the match long balls were almost always turnovers, but AZ did provide some additional support carrying the ball forward which is another wrinkle to keep an eye on as the season develops.

2. Diego Rossi Hold-Up Play
It is no surprise that when Russell-Rowe left Saturday’s match, the Black & Gold had trouble getting on the end of long balls. At six feet tall Russell-Rowe isn’t a huge player but he is much taller than the furthest forward option when he leaves the match: five foot seven inch Diego Rossi.

To be clear, Rossi has played very well in two games so far this season. The forward/winger scored to excellent goals against Chicago and was all over the field on a freezing-cold night in New England. Unfortunately, there is nothing that Rossi can do to turn into a strong hold-up player aside from growing five inches and putting on 40 pounds overnight. The Crew are still figuring out how to build up in this iteration of Nancy’s system but they cannot afford to keep losing every single 50/50 clearance forward from Patrick Schulte. Sure it’s better to lose possession at midfield than in the final third but that play is not sustainable.

3. The Bench
Nancy used the same starting lineup against the Revolution that he did against Chicago and once again used only two of five potential substitutes. This isn’t surprising but it is concerning with Columbus crossing the country to play a midweek CONCACAF Champions Cup match against LAFC.

The Black & Gold are dealing with injuries to two key players (Rudy Camacho and Lassi Lappalainen) but still have multiple positions without any clear backup at the moment. Starting midfielder Sean Zawadzki appeared to be the only replacement option for an injury to the back three while Jackson was the only real attacking substitute on the bench. The Crew start the season with a clogged fixture schedule and their depth, or lack thereof, will make or break their CONCACAF Champions Cup run.