A little over a year ago, Mohammed Saeid arrived in Columbus to a new club, league and country. The midfielder from Örebro, Sweden settled in quickly, finding a home in the Capital City and making an impact on the pitch in his first season with the Black & Gold.

Saeid played in 25 regular-season matches in 2015, starting 18 of them. His versatility allowed him to step in at both central and attacking midfield, as he helped his team make a run all the way to the MLS Cup final.

Now in his second preseason with Crew SC, Saeid is looking to build on that experience and contribute even more.

“I have to be pushing myself to be playing more,” he says, “to be playing even better than last year, to try to raise the level, try to score more goals if I get opportunities to play higher up on the field, and try to contribute to the team.”

Setting the bar high for himself, Saeid embraces pressure to succeed and feeds off it for motivation.

“Just getting better is a motivation. Playing more games is a motivation. Trying to getting a score and get assists is just a plus,” he says. “Of course I think about it, but not as much as getting onto the field and playing and enjoying the actual game, because when I do enjoy the game, that’s when everything starts flowing for me.”

With a positive attitude and a fervent work ethic, Saeid knows what it takes for him to catch a rhythm and enjoy his game.

“It’s really simple,” he says. “It’s playing, it’s starting games, it’s getting results. Of course, getting results is a difficult one because then the whole team has to push; but as long as the team plays well, I will start to enjoy the game and enjoy playing.”

A 15-11-8 regular-season record and a run to the MLS Cup Final in his first stint with the Black & Gold gave Saeid an appreciation for the ebbs and flows of a 10-month season. Experiencing Crew SC’s playing style and immediate success with the club gives him encouragement for the future.

“Of course we’re going to have rough patches, but I can still enjoy the game by the way we play,” he says. “Sometimes we play well and we lose games; but as long we are playing well, we’ll get there, and that’s enjoyment for me—seeing the way we play and being able to express ourselves.”

Columbus expressed themselves successfully on offense this past season, scoring 58 goals—tied with Toronto for the second-most overall in MLS. And although the Black & Gold tightened up on the defensive end throughout the year, defending better as a group is an area Saeid says he would like to see improvement.

“We just have to work on, as a team, being more compact and trying to reduce the amount of scoring opportunities because it’s not just on the defenders or the goalkeeper,” he says. “It’s on the midfielders and strikers because we start from the top.”

From top to bottom, Saeid’s aspirations for Crew SC are genuine. He acknowledges the talent of his counterparts and is prepared to contribute in his second year to make another run at the Cup “with a different result this time.”

“We have a lot of good midfielders with Tony [Tchani] and Pipa [Federico Higuaín] and Wil [Trapp], of course,” he says. “So for me, it’s just trying to push and to show in training that I’m good enough to play, that I’m sharp and ready and match-fit for any game that’s there for me. Whenever I’m called upon to play, I should be ready to go and hopefully do the best that I can.”