The first third of this season has been quite the challenge for Caleb Porter. The Columbus Crew’s manager has had to juggle a congested match schedule early on, a bright, young star going down for the season and what seems like injury after injury.
Porter and the Black & Gold have done admirably well to keep the ship afloat using some pretty creative personnel decisions. Winger Derrick Etienne Jr spent a game at fullback, the versatile Pedro Santos played two games at left back, as well as played at every conceivable midfield position. It’s imaginable that Santos even stepped into a maintenance role, working on Lower.