On the afternoon of Wednesday, December 31st, 2025 The Columbus Crew named Henrik Rydström as the ninth head coach in club history. Rydström will be assisted by coach Theodor Olsson, first team analyst Mak Pakhei, and former Crew 2 boss Laurent Courtois. Together, this group will be in charge of a Columbus Crew team, which finished 7th in the Eastern Conference standings last year after earning 54 points.

Rydström is widely considered one of the most innovative coaches in Europe. He has been considered for high-profile jobs across the continent. His preferred style of play is greatly influenced by the styles of Brazil, which is called Relationism.

There are many distinct principles of relationism, many that will feel rather familiar for Crew fans after watching a Wilfried Nancy-led team for the past three seasons, players overloading one side of the field to tilt the defense one way, players in possession working the ball in tight spaces until space opens up behind a defense, bravery, pass and go’s pace. All very important, but I expect some things to evolve and refine themselves.

Training camp is underway, and pre-season matches aren’t far away. With that in mind, let us make some early and ambitious predictions for the 2026 season.

Sean Zawadski plays more games in midfield than in defense.

Sean Zawadski spent the majority of the 2024 season anchoring the center of a back three in Nancy’s system. This role was largely reserved for Rudy Camacho before Camacho suffered what turned into a season-long injury.

Zawadski filled in admirably, if not impressively at times. His athleticism and aggression for the ball were a saving grace at times, and when he went down injured this fall, The Crew looked like a team without a foundation.

We don’t know if Rydström will prefer a back three or back four, and I encourage anyone reading this to not get too bogged down in how the formation looks on paper, so much of relationism relies on the cohesion and collective continuity, not the position of players.

What we do know is that Zawadski possesses the ability to retain the ball and move quickly in tight spaces; he is physical enough not to be moved off the ball when faced with pressure. He has also grown to be a commanding voice and personality for the Black & Gold. 

This edge is critical to properly tilt the field to the desired side and take advantage of the open space left behind a defense that is over-eager to counterattack or press a relationism team.

The backline may still need some work, and Issa Tall and the front office will need to add some depth, but the mainstay of the backline will be moved up to the middle of the field to hold possession there and push the ball into the attacking third.

Dániel Gazdag will thrive alongside Wessam Abu-Ali and Diego Rossi in this system.

If there was one glaring negative for The Crew in 2025, it was the lack of goal contributions by Designated Player Dániel Gazdag. To pull a phrase from the hockey world, it felt like he was gripping the stick a little too tightly at times. Gazdag excelled in a very direct system in Philadelphia, making late second runs off of a physical out and out nine.

We never really saw that version of Gazdag in Columbus until late in the season with the arrival of Wessam Abu-Ali.

The system we can expect from Rydström is similar to Nancy’s Crew, but we might expect a little more pace and more north to south movement of the ball (really more Southwest to Northeast movement with the prevalence of diagonal passes).

This should allow Gazdag to play more directly in spaces created by the exaggerated tilting of the field and the give-and-go nature of the attack. In relationism, it takes two to tango, and there is little time to think. Gazdag strikes me as a guy who wants to do more running and less thinking in 2026.

One of the new young signings plays 800-plus minutes in 2026

Recently the Black & Gold announced the homegrown signings of Chase Adams, Owen Presthus, and Quinton Elliot, along with the first team signings of 2024 SuperDraft picks Luke Pruter and Zach Zengue.

The last time The Crew started the season with a new manager, the Black & Gold experienced a youth-driven renaissance. Squad starters like Mo Farsi, Patrick Shulte, Sean Zawadski, Max Arfsten, and Jacen Russell-Rowe all saw their minute and responsibilities grow under the first year of Wilfried Nancy.

Rydström has shown a propensity to play younger players during his time as a coach; a new evolution of tactics and a new boss to impress will result in one of these young players finding their way onto the field a significant amount.

I would not be shocked if a veteran we have grown to love will be moved off the roster, a la Johnathan Mensah, before the 2023 season began.

So who will it be? My heart wants to pick Zengue. Anyone who has watched him play significant minutes with The Vermont Green Football Club knows he is an all-around technically talented player. As Federico Higuaín would say, he can “smell the game”. He continually finds himself in the perfect spot to either score himself or assist a teammate. 

My hesitation in picking him as “the next guy” is that the attacking half of the field is a bit crowded right now. Guys like Taha Habroune and Hugo Picard are also fighting for these attacking midfielder minutes and look more than capable of performing up to the level that Rydström will require.

So I will be more pragmatic and choose Presthus. His versatility will allow him to slot in anywhere in the defensive side of the line-up and his progressive passing skills will translate well to the long switches and attacking escadinhas that are pillars of relationism.

A few Crew starters are sold, but what is left is just as exciting.

The 2026 season will feel endless at times. Smashed into the MLS regular season will be the return of The Crew’s participation in the US Open Cup, our old friend the Leagues Cup, and, of course, the 2026 World Cup. 

Somehow, The Crew will play 34 league games and attempt to make the playoffs, all while the rest of the soccer world continues to pick away at the talent on its roster. The World Cup will act as a showcase for some of this talent. We can expect Steven Moreria, Max Arfsten, and Mo Farsi to feature for their respective teams. Zawadski and Shulte may also earn call-ups for the USMNT.

There is a good chance any one of these guys will catch the eye of an ambitious technical director or head coach of some foreign club team, it is part of the business of soccer. But what will be left, will still be worth watching in the fall.

Building your roster through youth development is not sexy…until it is. The young players on the cusp of breaking into the starting 11, like Tristan Brown, Cesar Ruvalcaba, and Stas Lapkes may become the next Aidan Morris and Max Arfsten. We don’t know until it happens, but for it to happen, they have to have a chance to play. 

There will be no shortage of opportunities this year for guys to play, and I think Crew fans will like what they see.

A few other things to ponder.

Rydström’s Malmö teams often led the league in goal differential, and they won Sweden’s Cup competition. I expect a lot of goals for the Black & Gold this year, and if we can allow ourselves to dream… at least a semi-final appearance in the US Open Cup.

In a recent interview with Christian Gustafsson of the Swedish newspaper Barametern-OT, Rydström said, “I want a team that is like a f****** rock band.” Only he knows what that will ultimately mean, but I believe he wants a team with a little personality, a little bite when faced with adversity, but also trusting in one another to improvise at times, come up with things on the fly when needed. 

I imagine the players who can exhibit those characteristics early will be the ones to play.

Also, keep in mind the MLS Calendar switch for 2027. The Crew will most certainly play more cold-weather games from there on out. It isn’t the worst thing to have a manager familiar with playing in frigid temperatures. Perhaps we will see glimpses of a more Scandinavian approach to recovery and training.

If I left anything out or you disagree with me wholeheartedly, please let me know, and as always, Go Crew!