Will Nicholas Hagen start for Columbus Crew against NYCFC in the Leagues Cup?
Darlington Nagbe speaks before the MLS All-Star game in Columbus
Columbus Crew midfielder Darlington Nagbe speaks ahead of MLS All-Star game
MLS
During the CONCACAF Champions Cup earlier this year, the Crew relied on Patrick Schulte as their starting goalkeeper and had him play every minute of the tournament. At the Leagues Cup, Columbus started Nicholas Hagen in the first two games of the tournament, including a duel against defending Leagues Cup champions Inter Miami.
Columbus will now face New York City FC in the Leagues Cup quarterfinals on Saturday at Lower.com Field. And while Crew coach Wilfried Nancy avoided confirming who will start at goalkeeper, he did hint that this tournament is an ideal time for Hagen, even if Schulte is available.
“The goal at the beginning of the year was to find a moment where I could give him (Hagen) playing time,” Nancy said. “Now is the moment to give him playing time. … So we’ll see (who starts against NYCFC). And I’m happy with the goalkeepers we have.”
Hagen started his first game for the Crew on July 17 against Charlotte FC, the first game the club played without Schulte during his time as the U.S. national team player at the Paris Olympics. The 23-year-old spent nearly three weeks on international duty, giving Hagen the opportunity to be a regular in the starting lineup.
There was always a strong possibility that Schulte would be out for the Olympics, but at the start of the season the Crew assumed they would use both Hagen and the experienced Evan Bush during that time. However, when Bush broke his left arm in a game against Real Salt Lake in April and then broke the same arm again during rehab training, the responsibility was placed solely on Hagen.
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Schulte returned to the Crew on August 7, but Nancy announced before the Round of 16 match against Sporting Kansas City that Schulte would not be available. For the game in Miami, Nancy Hagen told Hagen that he would be given the nod “at the last minute.”
“I think it’s a tactic to keep us all in the game, to keep us ready,” Hagen said. “I’m always fighting for a starting spot. And on that day, of course, I was happy. You’re excited about the game, but you focus on the goal, which is to win.”
The reason he waited so long to tell Hagen about his starting eleven, according to Nancy, is because Nancy herself was not sure whether that would be the case with Schulte as an option for the round of 16.
“I’m a person who lives in the here and now,” Nancy said. “Sometimes I announce the team lineup the day before, sometimes I don’t. So I don’t have a recipe for it, this is a matter of how I feel.”
Whether Hagen finds out who’s starting days or hours before a game, the 28-year-old says his training and mindset remain the same. Referring to the game in Salt Lake, where Bush was injured and Hagen had to step in unexpectedly, Hagen believes he always has to be ready to play.
More about Hagen: Who is Nicholas Hagen? The Columbus Crew goalkeeper is already a star among Guatemalan fans
In his five official appearances for the Crew, including his four consecutive appearances since the regular season game against Charlotte, Hagen has made 16 saves and seven goals against. Against Miami, Hagen had two saves in Columbus’ 3-2 comeback.
If Hagen gets the chance to play for the Crew, a fan base larger than Columbus’ will hope he performs. As the starting goalkeeper for the Guatemalan national team, Hagen feels the pressure of representing his country in every Crew game, he says.
“They want me to play every single game,” Hagen said. “They want me to succeed. Of course, that brings a lot of responsibility and it’s a big setback when it doesn’t work out. But I take the good sides with me, I see the responsibility as a kind of challenge to keep working, keep improving and bring my country’s name to the top.”
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