Columbus - The Columbus Crew have cut ties with head coach Henrik Rydström after just 14 league matches, the club and media outlets reported Sunday, ending a brief and bumpy tenure. Assistant coach Laurent Courtois steps in as interim manager while the front office reviews where things went sideways. The move lands right as Columbus prepares to host a U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal and plays one more league match before MLS pauses for the World Cup.
According to The New York Times, the decision followed a run of uneven results and what sources described as Rydström’s struggle to win full buy-in inside the locker room. The same report quoted general manager Issa Tall saying the club had to “look at it from three sides,” weighing coaching, roster construction, and broader structural issues before pulling the trigger.
Courtois Promoted To Interim After Crew 2 Success
Laurent Courtois, a longtime academy figure who led Crew 2 to the inaugural MLS NEXT Pro title and collected MLS NEXT Pro Coach of the Year honors, now gets the interim nod. The club’s staff announcement notes that Courtois first joined the organization in 2019 and has been part of the first-team coaching setup since the winter. Columbus Crew described him as a trusted in-house option brought in to steady the group.
On-Field Numbers And Underlying Data
Results on the field did not help Rydström’s case. The Crew collected 13 points from 14 league matches and scored 19 goals in that span, numbers that contributed directly to the change. Underlying data was not much kinder. Columbus sat in the bottom third of MLS for expected goals per game, a signal that the attack was not generating enough high-quality chances. The New York Times detailed the results, while league analytics tables show the club lagging in xG. Statof lists, Columbus toward the lower end of MLS xG rankings for the season.
The context around the roster did Rydström no favors either. One of the club’s Designated Players, Wessam Abou Ali, suffered a season‑ending knee injury in April, and Columbus opened the year with all three DP slots filled by Abou Ali, Diego Rossi, and Dániel Gazdag. That locked-in DP picture, along with the task of bedding in several new signings and U-22 initiative players, left limited maneuvering room for a coach trying to shift course midseason. MLSsoccer covered Abou Ali’s injury and its immediate roster impact.
What’s Next For The Crew
Courtois will lead the team into Wednesday’s U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal against New York City FC on May 20, a high-profile midweek test that suddenly doubles as an early audition for the interim boss. After that, Columbus has one final regular-season match before MLS steps aside for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The Open Cup bracket and quarterfinal schedule are outlined by U.S. Soccer, while ESPN has reported on the league’s extended World Cup break.
Rydström exits Columbus with a résumé that includes back-to-back Allsvenskan titles in Sweden, a reminder of how quickly fortunes can flip in professional soccer. The immediate task for ownership and the front office is to stabilize results and give Courtois a clear mandate as supporters and analysts dig into whether this early coaching reset can deliver the jolt the Crew was looking for. For more on Rydström’s club honors and managerial history, see his profile on Wikipedia.
