Columbus Crew head Caleb Porter said Sunday night that he breaks down the Major League Soccer regular season into thirds, giving him a good chunk of time to analyze how the team performed. And with the first 10 games out of the way, the first third of the season is behind the Black & Gold.
When Porter reflected on these first 10 games, he did so in light of a team coming off winning the MLS Cup champions in 2020. And as he stated in the preseason, it’s not easy being reigning champs. There’s a huge target on the team’s back at all times, and in MLS a trophy means Champion’s League play on top of regular season play.