All was well in Columbus as recently as a few months ago, but the afterglow of the Crew being saved hasn’t lasted as long as fans had hoped. After starting the season 4-1-1, Columbus took a three-month nose dive, going 1-13-1 between April 13th and July 13th. The club has been rocked by injuries and international call-ups, losing designated players Federico Higuain and Milton Valenzuela early to season-ending injuries and playing without key starters Harrison Afful, Wil Trapp, Gyasi Zardes, Jonathan Mensah and the since-transferred Zack Steffen for long stretches.



Off the field, things haven’t looked much better. Columbus are 23rd in MLS in attendance with an average of 13,647 through 13 home games. That’s up from their 2018 average of 12,447, but it’s clear that the new Crew still have a lot of work to do to repair some of the old wounds that festered during Anthony Precourt’s ownership and attempted move to...