Arace: Josh Williams Night is a night Williams will cherish with Columbus Crew fans
Saturday night was Josh Williams Night at the new Crew Stadium. The Crew can be criticized for many things, including the naked greed of their billionaire owners, but honoring the team’s history is something the organization does well.
“It was a long night that turned into a tough morning,” Williams said.
Williams, a veteran defender who announced his retirement at the end of the 2023 MLS Cup championship season, signed hundreds of autographs on the plaza before the game. Former teammates Justin Meram and Eric Gehrig made a surprise entrance as “match igniters” in the Nordecke. A panoply of teammates from the near and distant past streamed their good wishes on the stadium video screens. Williams, long a crowd favorite in Columbus, took a bow at midfield before cheering masses. With his girlfriend, Alivia Huffine, and their baby daughter, Arlo, at his side, Williams was presented with a framed jersey amid the warm embrace of 20,000 admirers.
Williams recounted the scene and said, “Wilfried (Nancy, the Crew coach) asked me to talk to the team. I told them to take a second, if they could, and truly look around and appreciate what it is they get to do for a living. I was able to do it for 14 years (12 with the Crew), but it went by in a minute. I told them I always made myself pause to feel grateful. Then, I talked about the New York Red Bulls.”
What did he say about the visitors?
“The Red Bulls are one team that always got my competitive juices going. They were the Bullies of the league. It seemed like it worked.”
The Crew owned the ball, broke the Red Bulls’ vaunted press and pranced to a 3-0 victory. The Crew even scored off a corner kick, a rare thing for this otherwise powerful offensive team.
Thus ended a killer stretch of five games in 15 days, including a two-legged CONCACAF Champions Cup series, for the Crew. They are 3-0-1 in league play and with 10 points are tied with Messiami and Minnesota at the top of the league standings. They are also through to the quarterfinal round of the Champions Cup; they’ll play a two-legged, aggregate-goal series against Tigres UANL (or "Monterrey Tigers," if you will) of Liga MX next month. They’ve allowed three goals (and scored nine) through six games in all competitions.
“General thoughts? It’s still too early to make broad characterizations,” said Crew president/general manager Tim Bezbatchenko. “We got through a hectic part of the schedule at the beginning of the year after a shortened preseason. The Champions Cup does not set up well for MLS teams coming out of training camp. I feel good about the start, but it’s still early.
“One thing that’s nice to see is players who won a championship continuing to evolve, and others, like (forward) Marino Hinestroza, being added to the mix.”
Bezbatchenko cited a few of the players – forward Jacen Russell-Rowe, defender Yevhen Cheberko defender/midfielder Sean Zawadzki, goalkeeper Patrick Schulte and wingback Mo Farsi – who are continuing to evolve. Bezbatchenko also suggested that captain Darlington Nagbe, 33, winner or four MLS Cups and arguably the greatest central midfielder in league history, is also continuing to evolve. Dang. Is Nagbe adding more to his game? That’s scary.
Oh, and as for those rumors about Arsenal of the English Premier League being interested in Schulte, Bezbatchenko said, “They’re flattering, I guess. We haven’t received anything formal, but it’s not a surprise if people are watching him. There were overtures last year, as well. The way he distributes on top of his shot stopping and his quality, he’s going to draw interest. Right now there’s nothing to talk about.”
Bezbatchenko was a young executive working in the league’s front office in New York 2010 when then-Crew coach Robert Warzycha and then-technical director Brian Bliss called in to add Williams’ name just before the late-season roster freeze went into effect.
“The Crew have had different eras, and Josh is the epitome of a homegrown (from Akron) college player (Cleveland State) who came up as a leader and a quality player, and got better and better in each environment he has been in," he said. "Saturday was a great moment for him, his family and fans of Columbus, and well-deserved.”
Williams is taking a few months to be a full-time dad as he considers his future. He has long dabbled in real estate and the stock market, and he’s indulging in these passions. Maybe his next career will be in finance. Then again ...
“Last week, Tuesday through Saturday, I started to feel the juices flowing, to feel an itch,” he said. “I always told myself that, post-career, I was going to relax and decompress first. If soccer (coaching) is what I’m going to do next, I know the type of time commitment that would take.”
On Josh Williams night, the Crew defeated New York, 3-0, for old No. 3. A portent, perhaps?
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: On Josh Williams, Columbus Crew's MLS start and EPL Arsenal rumors
