The home opening game for Columbus Crew SC is just three days away, and with the team back in town following the MLS opening day loss in Portland, Crew SC hosted their media day to talk about the upcoming season.
The players and coaching staff all looked to be in a fairly upbeat mood as the Eastern Conference winning team of 2015 returned to MAPFRE Stadium field for an open training session.
After the session the players answered questions about trying to mount another run for the MLS Cup and while there was a collective agreement at the mental difficulty dealing with the long road to December the players all looked prepared. Ethan Finlay spoke about the patience required over the long season and pointed out the opening day loss that also happened in the 2015 season.
Kei Kamara briefly touched upon his new DP status but stressing his desire to be the “Same Kei Kamara” and just “score goals”, while Finlay, Kamara and President of Business Operations Andy Loughnane all spoke about the excitement of being back in front of a home crowd in Columbus and hoped to see more of the same high energy that filled MAPFRE Stadium during the 2015 season.
During a later press conference coach Gregg Berhalter was quick to downplay the excitement of Columbus now having two designated players and arguably the best squad in Crew history, stating that he doesn’t see the upcoming season as “do or die”, nor that “the time is now”, instead taking the pragmatic approach of dealing with the next game and not judging his players on the stats they achieved last year.
Columbus Crew SC host Philadelphia Union for the MLS home opening game at MAPFRE Stadium on Saturday night at 7:30pm
For a full listings of the Crew SC’s home games, CLICK HERE to visit our Event Calendar.
Matt Ellis is a freelance photographer who covers bands that visit the city and the Columbus Crew MLS team. More about Matt can be found at Matt Ellis Photography.