Building Consistency on the Road: The Crew's Challenge Against FC Dallas and Playoff Aspirations

Wilfried Nancy knows the Crew can win on the road. He’s watched them do it.

For the Crew coach, the home and road splits for his team rest on a lack of consistency, something he said that has been on the minds of his players since their last road loss against Orlando City SC.

“Every game, we learn something, the players learn something,” Nancy said. “The Orlando game, we learned that we didn’t defend well against the ball and we didn’t make a play and we lost the game 4-3 knowing we were up 3-1. So we adjusted.”

The Crew adjusted at home, using the same game plan it had against Orlando, but turning it into a clean sheet against Chicago Fire FC and into an MLS playoff spot.

Now, as the Crew face a road match against FC Dallas Saturday, that consistency will be challenged again on the road against a team fighting for a playoff position.

In MLS regular season road games, the Crew have posted a record of 3-8-3 with a minus-7 goal differential. The Crew’s last won a road game was in Nancy’s return to CF Montreal, beating them 4-2 Sept. 2.

At home in 2023, the Crew have a record of 11-1-3, posting a plus-12 goal differential.

Of the Crew’s 14 road games in 2023, nine have been decided by one goal or less, something Nancy knows well. Only one of the Crew’s three wins — a 2-1 victory at Chicago June 10 — was a single-goal game.

“Again, I know that this is football, but we have only three wins away,” Nancy said. “We were supposed to have, minimum, six or seven because we lost many points.”

Nancy said he wants the Crew to see road games in the same way as home matches, knowing they can “control our destiny” at Lower.com Field. But with the amount of points the Crew have lost on the road, Nancy said those home wins have been a necessity and not only confidence builders.

“That’s why for me Dallas is going to be the same topic in terms of we know that it’s going to be a difficult game,” Nancy said. “Dallas is a good team. They are fighting for the playoffs.”

Crew defenseman Rudy Camacho is confident consistency will come on the road. He views it as a necessity.

“We have to change it. We have to play the same way on the road,” Camacho said. “I know it’s not easy sometimes, but we’ve got to do it soon. It takes time, but I’m sure we’re going to win more games on the road.”

After the Crew’s 3-0 win against Chicago, Crew captain and midfielder Darlington Nagbe said their approach remains: use positives from the win and learn from the negatives, even if there were not too many. From there, he said, continue to build, no matter which stadium the Crew are set to play in.

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“If we want to be a top team consistently, I think we have to go on the road and start getting some wins, picking off points and not just having good performances,” Nagbe said.

Heading into the Dallas matchup — one of three road games to end the regular season — Nancy sees the Crew trying to build that consistency. It’s something the coach said he’s confident they can do.

“It’s coming,” Nancy said. “We’ve done it.”

How have the Crew performed vs. FC Dallas?

The Crew will take on FC Dallas for the first time since 2020 Saturday.

The Crew’s last meeting against FC Dallas came Oct. 3, 2020 when Youness Mokhtar and Pedro Santos helped the team to a 2-2 tie.

The Crew’s last outright win against FC Dallas came March 16, 2019 at Historic Crew Stadium when a goal by Gaston Sauro in the 10th minute was the decider in a 1-0 win.