COLUMBUS — The Columbus Crew's season appeared to be slipping away just a few weeks ago. Results were disappointing, confidence was fading, and a team accustomed to competing for championships was struggling to remain afloat in the Eastern Conference playoff race.
Now, with three matches remaining in the regular season, the Crew are playing some of their best soccer of the year. And interim head coach Laurent Courtois deserves plenty of credit for the turnaround.
Columbus has won three consecutive MLS matches and five of its last six, including Saturday's 4-2 victory over Toronto FC. That win moved the Crew to 38 points, just one behind the New York Red Bulls for the final Eastern Conference playoff spot.
It's a remarkable change from where the club stood when Courtois replaced Henrik Rydström in May. The Crew were 13th in the conference with a 3-7-4 record when the coaching change was announced.
Courtois inherited a team struggling to produce results, but he also inherited a talented roster that wasn't playing up to expectations. His job was to get those players working together again while keeping the club's playoff hopes alive.
The improvement hasn't happened overnight, and there have certainly been setbacks. Columbus suffered a painful loss Wednesday in the U.S. Open Cup final, falling to St. Louis CITY SC, 5-3 on penalties, after 120 scoreless minutes.
But the way the Crew responded Saturday demonstrated something important about Courtois' impact.
Playing their fourth match in 11 days, Columbus scored four goals against Toronto, with Malte Amundsen scoring twice and Dylan Chambost recording three assists. The Crew built a 4-0 advantage before Sekou Bangoura's second yellow card in the 70th minute left them playing with ten men.
Toronto had scored its first goal just before the dismissal and added another in the 81st minute, but Columbus held on for three points that could prove crucial in the playoff race.
Courtois praised his players afterward for their response to the difficult stretch of matches, particularly following the disappointment of the Open Cup final. The performance was another example of a team showing an ability to recover from adversity rather than allowing one bad result to derail its season.
There are other reasons for the improvement, of course. The Crew have benefited from contributions by players such as Gonzalo Tapia, Santiago Rodríguez, and Chambost, while other members of the squad have stepped forward during the recent winning stretch.
And Courtois hasn't solved every problem. But it's difficult to argue with the direction the club has taken under his leadership. The Crew have gone from a team struggling near the bottom of the conference to one with a realistic opportunity to reach the postseason.
Courtois also brings an understanding of the organization that few outside candidates could match. He previously coached Columbus Crew 2 to the MLS NEXT Pro championship in 2022, returned to the first-team coaching staff in January, and was familiar with the club's expectations, and roster before taking over.
Whether his performance is enough to earn the permanent coaching job remains to be seen. The final three matches, and potentially the postseason, will provide another plenty of time to evaluate his work.
The Crew travel to FC Dallas on Wednesday before returning home to face D.C. United on Saturday. They'll finish the regular season at Chicago on November 7, with Columbus currently sitting just outside the playoff field.
Regardless of how the season ends, Courtois deserves recognition for giving the Crew something that seemed unlikely just a few weeks ago. Columbus has a legitimate chance to keep playing beyond the regular season, and its interim coach has played a major role in making that possible.
