After last week's roster decisions, the task ahead of Crew SC is clear. The core remains, including Federico Higuain, but the defense is very thin, the goalkeeping situation is unsettled, and the team has promised bringing in impact players. With training camp opening on January 23rd, less than two months, Columbus will have to move aggressively to retool a roster that underperformed significantly in 2016. The upside is that Columbus and Gregg Berhalter have significant tools at their disposal to bring in the right parts.
The team is well stocked with the esoteric mechanisms of MLS. The team controversially traded star Kei Kamara in May with no immediate return.