Crew additions Wright-phillips, Molino make title roster better
Reaching and winning MLS Cup a year earlier than initially anticipated, the Crew used the championship, as well as a new stadium and training facility, to persuade Kevin Molino and Bradley Wright-phillips to join a team that returns its entire starting lineup for another title shot in 2021.
By adding Molino, one of the best wingers in Major League Soccer, and Wright-phillips, the sixth all-time scorer in MLS, the Crew addressed positional needs and strengthened depth on a roster that already proved in 2020 that it can win .
“I think there's a lot to sell right now in Columbus,” coach Caleb Porter told The Dispatch. “This club hasn't always been a club where it would be the first choice for players like a Kevin Molino and Bradley Wright-phillips. It's great now that we are becoming a destination for some of the top players.”
In addition to Wright-phillips and Molino, the Crew added experience goalkeeper Evan Bush to backup Eloy Room. The Crew also added another reserve goalkeeper and re-signed Waylon Francis. The Crew may soon make another homegrown signing, as well.
Entering the offseason, Porter said it was critical that they kept the core of the roster intact. The Crew exercised options on six starters to lock them into 2021, the only significant loss being backup goalkeeper Andrew Tarbell.
With the coronavirus pandemic restricting travel and making in-person scouting of international players nearly impossible, Porter and team president Tim Bezbatchenko decided that pursuing from within MLS was the best route to add talent.
Not scouting players in person “doesn't mean you can't sign players; it doesn't mean we won't,” Bezbatchenko said. “But to be able to fill those posi
tions and add players of that caliber and that quality to our roster so early in the offseason, it's exciting for us and just a testament to the hard work of our guys.”
The Crew also saved on any additional costs of a transfer fee or other assets such as allocation money by targeting free agents. Wright-phillips and Molino were arguably the top two free agents available.
For his production and salary cost, the Crew got a steal in Wright-phillips, a 35-year-old Englishman. Molino, a 30year-old from Trinidad, signed for multiple seasons and has a salary that will require targeted allocation money.
Gyasi Zardes will still be the starter at forward. But when Zardes is away on international duty more in 2021, or the Crew has to rotate players because of midweek games, CONCACAF Champions League or U.S. Open Cup, WrightPhillips gives Porter flexibility at the forward spot that the coach didn't have in his first two seasons in Columbus.
“That's probably the one position we've not been able to find a (No. 2) guy that can consistently step in for Gyasi and us not miss a beat,” Porter said. “That was a really important, critical
signing and piece for us.”
Porter sees in Molino a player who brings skill at every dimension on the wing. Molino led all MLS wingers with 13 goals and four assists in 21 games in the regular season and playoffs combined. He's capable of running behind defenders, beating defenders one-on-one and combining centrally with Zardes or Lucas Zelarayan, an attacking midfielder and MVP of MLS Cup.
“In our system, the way that we attack and the way that we play and use our wingers, he's going to be an incredibly dangerous and threatening player,” Porter said of Molino. “He complements all the other guys in the team system that we play."
By hitting on its top two targets, the Crew has raised the bar for the rest of the league before next season.
“I think eyes were sort of opened a bit when a team that's coming off a good year, that we still just want to continue to improve,” Bezbatchenko said. “That's just reflective in our ambition and our ownership's vision to be contenders every year.” jmyers@dispatch.com
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