By Mariana Smithfield

COLUMBUS CREW at NEW YORK RED BULLS

Saturday, Aug. 30, 2025

Head Coach Wilfried Nancy

On New York Red Bulls’ press in the first and second halves with different approaches

“New York Red Bulls did what they like to do with the press. After that, the second half, they didn’t do the same. The game is 90 minutes. They did a good job defensively in the first half. Offensively, we won the battle of power because we attacked better and we did with press a little bit better. This is the game. This is the Red Bull side. They do it well. I think that we did a good game to be patient when we needed to be patient against the press. After that, we find a way to be on their half, but after that, we didn’t score.”

On how the Crew could have created more offensive chances

“This is a game sometimes like this when we had one big chance that we have to score, we know that; we didn’t do it. At this type of moment, this is a playoff game. We tried to attack, but also, they are in a position that is really aggressive and, they did a really good job on that. It could happen. I think that we had the opportunity to score, and we didn’t do it.”

On the substitution decisions, noting it seemed he waited longer than usual to make them

“No, first of all, I didn’t wait longer. Obviously, sometimes, like I like to say, again, the game it’s a new story. It’s not about when I’m going to make the change; it’s all about the moment to make the change. The game was so difficult in terms of intensity. The idea was to bring freshness. I think that they did well when they came in. I’m happy for (Midfielder) Hugo (Picard) because also, he didn’t have a lot of minutes, but he brought energy, and also, he brought certain things. Sometimes I can make change after 25 minutes. Sometimes I can make change after 75 minutes. It’s all about the game and the story of the game.”

On Goalkeeper Patrick Schulte providing one of his stronger performances since returning from injury

“Patrick wants to do all the time well. In this game, he was good. I’m not surprised. He could have been a bit better before; he didn’t do it. Again, this is football. The most important is to move forward and to think about the next game. Good for him, and good for the team.”

On the grass at Sports Illustrated Stadium seeming unsettled at times

“Yeah, it’s new grass so that’s why. I think [new] grass two, three or four days ago. The grass didn’t have the time to stick, if you understand my English.”

On if the grass impacted the Crew at all tonight

“Both teams at certain moments.”

Goalkeeper Patrick Schulte

On the Crew not having many opportunities and his mindset when defending New York Red Bulls’ attacks

“To be honest, I’ve tried to switch my approach mentally. I feel like throughout the year I’ve gotten caught up in those emotions. For me, I really would focus on this game of just taking it moment by moment, just

staying present within myself and just with the back line and organizing them and trying to just communicate and just do my job and not worry about kind of what’s going on up front. Knowing if I do that, it gives us the best chance of winning and not getting caught up in the emotions of the game. For me, it was really I was just really focused on that tonight.”

On if he felt the positive impact of taking that type of mental approach tonight

“Yeah, definitely. Definitely just staying present within myself and just trusting it, trusting God and putting myself out there. Just taking it moment by moment and not worrying about everything that’s going on around me.”

On his reaction to his performance after returning from injury, understanding the Crew hoped to get a win tonight

“I think this one really felt like a playoff game. Not that the others didn’t, but it’s kind of that point in the season that it’s now do or die. Put your body on the line to get the three points or to advance. Give yourself the best chance of going forward in the season. Yeah, I feel like that was kind of a message of this is what it’s going to be like from here on out. We’ve got to put that focus going forward.”

On what the Crew need to do to ensure they can get wins and gain points moving forward at the end of the season

“Yeah, I think just honestly doing what we did tonight. I think we really limited them. They had a couple of moments in transition, but I think we defended really well within the frame of the goal, made some big time clearances and killed the counter attacks when we could. We defended for each other. I think that was the big thing is we just played for each other and we had each other’s backs when we needed to.”

Defender Malte Amundsen

On what was different in the New York Red Bulls press tonight and how it kept the Crew from creating offensive chances

“They were so compact towards the middle a lot. We tried to find solutions to that. It didn’t always happen. They did a good effort closing the middle and making it difficult for us to do it.”

On Goalkeeper Patrick Schulte’s performance tonight

“Yeah, he kept the clean sheet for us – not alone, but he had some very good saves today. Love Pat for that. That’s what we need. He certainly stood up today so it’s amazing.”

On when it may become a concern that the Crew haven’t been able to secure wins late in the season

“Ultimately, you want to gain momentum throughout the end of the season going into playoffs, hopefully. We want to score, yes. A positive today is that we keep a clean sheet. That’s very much needed. I think there’s a lot of players that appreciate that a lot. That is our [takeaway] from today. You see small moments of (Forward) Wessam (Abou Ali) getting in today creating something. I’m sure we’re going to find a solution to that.”

On the status of the grass tonight and how that impacted the match

“Both teams play on the same grass. Yes, the pitch was a little bit weird, but that’s what it is.”

COURTESY CREW COMMUNICATIONS