Through the winter, Columbus was a hub of outgoing transfers. Yaw Yeboah, Alex Matan, Marino Hinestroza, Christian Ramirez, Juan Camilio Hernandez Suarez ... dang, Cucho ... waved goodbye to the Crew, for one reason or another.
Chunks of a couple of the best teams in the history of the franchise, including the best player to ever don Black & Gold, were excised from the roster. As the new season got underway, Crew fans have been wondering what general manager Issa Tall's plan was for the future, immediate and long-term. What's up, dude?
The first answer came this week, when it was confirmed that the Crew had acquired attacking midfielder Daniel Gazdag from the Philadelphia Union for a bag of cash. In true MLS fashion, it took days for the league to process the paperwork and rubber-stamp the deal. On Thursday, before any official announcement had been made, Gazdag was seen training with his new teammates at the Crew's training facility. Nudge, nudge, wink-wink. Go to Cleveland if you want to see him.
The acquisition of Gazdag could turn out to be a stroke of brilliance. He is not Cucho because nobody is Cucho. That said, he has shown himself to be an elite MLS attacker. He will go a long way to filling the hole left by Hernandez (and Ramirez). The Crew (4-0-3) are the only undefeated team in the league. While Tall and coach Wilfried Nancy have been unperturbed over the absence of olives in their salade nicoise, it has been clear that the Crew have suffered from an absence of quality in the final third. Gazdag is quality. He is a nicoise olive.
Gazdag arrived in Philadelphia from his native Hungary in May 2021. Over his three full seasons with the Union, he had 53 goals in 96 league appearances (92 starts). He has been durable and consistently productive. His 22 goals in 2022 left him one behind the Golden Boot winner (Nashville's Hany Mukhtar) that season.
Gazdag's on-field profile, in terms of offensive metrics, looks a lot like that of Diego Rossi, the Crew's leading scorer. Gazdag is of a type that could fit nicely into Nancy's possess-and-attack system (although it remains to be seen how quickly he can adjust to Nancy's defensive demands). Gazdag's greatest attribute is his lethal finishing − he has one-on-one ability, is a presence in the box, can score in tight spaces and can find the back of the net from distance.
Nancy prizes the Supporters' Shield, which goes to the team with the best regular-season record, as a mark of consistent excellence. With Gazdag aboard, the Shield is a realistic goal. ...
