Every year when the regular season schedule is released, the first thing Mo Farsi does is look up as the Crew travels to his hometown to face CF Montreal.
Farsi’s most anticipated match of the season, his chances of playing in Montreal on Wednesday were in jeopardy after suffering a groin injury on April 27, but Crew coach Wilfried Nancy confirmed on Monday that there is no more concern.
“Mo is back,” said Nancy. “He trained on the day of the game (against FC Cincinnati) and also yesterday. So he’s ready to be with us.”
Farsi’s groin injury was the result of a foul in the second half of a home match against none other than Montreal. In the goalless draw earlier this season, the Crew picked up 18 fouls compared to the nine they committed.
And that’s just one example of Columbus being the target of the most fouls in a game.
In 11 MLS matches this season, the Crew’s opponents tend to be more physical, recording a higher number of fouls in all but one match against Chicago on March 9.
“We got used to it because it’s been that way,” Nancy said. “It started a little bit last year, towards the end of the year, and this year, obviously, we saw that change drastically. So, that’s why there are a lot of emotions from my players because sometimes it’s not fair, to be honest. you, because we should have more fouls.”
The Crew suffered the second most fouls this season with 177, two behind the Portland Timbers, who played two more games.
Central midfielders Aidan Morris and Darlington Nagbe are Columbus’s biggest hitters, picking up 24 and 23 fouls respectively this regular season.
“We expect the game to be physical,” Nagbe said. “I think maybe it’s a way to try to slow us down and try to slow the game down a little bit.”
Outside of MLS play, Morris took a knock in the second leg of the Champions Cup semi-final against CF Monterrey which left his ankle “not 100%”. He was limited in practice leading up to the FC Cincinnati game, in which he was out for less than half of the second half and is still dealing with the issue.
In addition to the Farsi injury, the Crew has prevented players from sustaining injuries due to fouls in the last two months of play, but this issue still raises concern for Nancy.
As reigning MLS Cup champions, there is an understanding among the Crew that fouls will continue to occur, especially considering they are generally smaller teams. Thus, the Crew’s focus shifts to what they can control.
“This is a high-level game,” Nancy said. “That’s something we don’t complain about because it’s high level, but we try to use tools with our players to control their emotions. So they have to play with emotion, but if you are too focused on that, your performance will suffer. So we try to find the balance.”
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There is no guarantee that Farsi will play in Montreal despite being cleared to play, but if he does, expect it to be special.
“Every time I go there, I have a lot of friends who come,” Farsi said. “So I’m looking forward to playing this game.”
bmackay@dispatch.com
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This article originally appeared in The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Crew suffered the second most fouls in MLS, behind Portland
