Columbus Crew: Best starting XI of 2010s
By John Harbeck
Right-Back
Harrison Afful
This spot belongs to Harrison Afful, but first, we must make a special mention of a Columbus Crew club legend. That mention is, of course, Frankie Hejduk. A continued presence at the club to this day, Super Frankie spent the final years of his storied career charging up and down the right flank for Columbus. Unfortunately for Hejduk, his final year with Columbus came in 2010 and he was clearly a diminished player than in his prime. In 2010, he was still an energetic figure, but the overall impact he had on a match simply wasn’t the same. Hejduk deserves special mention for giving the club one of their greatest moments, the match-clinching goal in MLS Cup 2008.
The winner and clear selection of Harrison Afful came into the 2015 season as a revelation. Afful was not only was influential for Columbus that season; he started every match for Ghana as they made a run to the African Cup of Nations final. In 2015, Afful was named the Ghana Player of the Year.
In MLS, Afful came into the 2015 squad as a summer signing in mid-August. His impact was immediately felt and he brought a dynamic attack to the right flank that, much like the left-back requires quality service in Berhalter’s system. Afful’s primary skill is not defending but attacking with pace, either beating an opponent or quickly combining with another player to spring a counter-attack. On the whole, Afful has been a fixture for Columbus at right-back for half of the decade starting at minimum 22 matches since coming to the club. There really was only one choice here.