When Caleb Porter took over as head coach of Columbus Crew SC at the beginning of the 2019 season, fans knew that there would be a slight change. Despite their similarities in playing style, Porter was not Gregg Berhalter, who oversaw the club for five years and left to become the United States Men’s National Team head coach in December. What fans didn’t know was that there would be consequences with the changes.
Columbus started the season flying high with a 4-1-1 record, contesting for first place in the Eastern Conference. The only early blemish came on the road when the Black & Gold was missing multiple key players to national team call-ups.