Cesar Ruvalcaba

Central Defender - Columbus Crew
1 Jan 2028
Saturday
Process

Marked for Cesar Ruvalcaba

65 Edition

The Columbus Crew Herald

25 Oct 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

The season ends here for Columbus Crew

Nashville SC go through. The table said this team was good enough for months and the format does not care what the table said, which is the argument every eliminated club has had with itself since playoffs were invented.

Squad

A falling-out at Columbus Crew

Éric Bailly and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

A row about effort at Columbus Crew

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ramiro was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Squad

Zach Zengue signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Zach Zengue commits to Columbus Crew for another 4 years.

The dugout

No hiding place for Sean Zawadzki

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sean Zawadzki, and the manager let it.

Player ratings

Cesar Ruvalcaba runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Boardroom

Doors closed at Columbus Crew

The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.

The dugout

The view from the dugout

“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑4 defeat, delivered by Alex Moore to a room that had heard them before.

The dugout

André Gomes asks for a word with the manager

“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.

In brief

Back issues
53 Edition

The Columbus Crew Herald

2 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Player ratings

A brace, and Wessam Abou Ali takes the afternoon — 8.77

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Wessam Abou Ali provided it, and the 8.77 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Match

7 matches without a win for Columbus Crew

The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Columbus Crew are no longer polite ones.

Transfer targets

An offer of $3.6M for Luca Petrasso

Columbus Crew have gone to CF Montreal with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.

Transfer targets

Columbus Crew make their move for Jayden Reid

$1.5M on the table at Sporting Kansas City. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.

Market

Columbus Crew say no — this time

The offer from San Diego Football Club for Cesar Ruvalcaba was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.

Transfer targets

Columbus Crew bid $600.0K for Ali Fadal

The offer went to Colorado Rapids this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.

Transfer targets

Facundo Krüger turns down Columbus Crew

The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Boca Juniors keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.

Squad

A falling-out at Columbus Crew

André Gomes and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

The dugout

Patrick Schulte gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

In brief

52 Edition

The Columbus Crew Herald

26 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

6 matches without a win for Columbus Crew

The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Columbus Crew are no longer polite ones.

Market

CF Montreal come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and Columbus Crew did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Match

The run at home goes on for Columbus Crew

11 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.

Transfer targets

Facundo Krüger is a medical away from Columbus Crew

The deal with Boca Juniors is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.

Squad

Éric Bailly in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Columbus Crew this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Ali Fadal

Columbus Crew asked and Colorado Rapids said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Market

Eyes on Cesar Ruvalcaba again

The phone has started ringing about Cesar Ruvalcaba again, and this time the name on the line is San Diego Football Club. Columbus Crew are listening politely and promising nothing.

Player ratings

Santiago Rodríguez was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.08. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.

Match

Two points walk out of the ground

Level with 90 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Columbus Crew had all but put away. Philadelphia Union will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.

In brief

44 Edition

The Columbus Crew Herald

31 May 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Both of them Wessam Abou Ali's — 9.18

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.18, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Squad

34 days out for Cole Mrowka after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Columbus Crew will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Squad

Éric Bailly in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Columbus Crew this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Wessam Abou Ali sends Columbus Crew past CF Montreal

It finished 2‑0, and it was Wessam Abou Ali’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Columbus Crew.

Player ratings

Santiago Rodríguez beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 19. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

The dugout

Alex Moore: “That is the standard”

“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 2‑0, already talking about the next one.

Squad

Words at Columbus Crew training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Cesar Ruvalcaba is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Squad

Player of the week: Wessam Abou Ali

Somebody watched every match in the division at the weekend and decided he was the best thing in any of them. A small honour, and most careers end without one.

The dugout

Wessam Abou Ali has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Columbus Crew will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.

In brief

41 Edition

The Columbus Crew Herald

10 May 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

Chastening afternoon for Columbus Crew

A 2‑5 beating by Nashville SC was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.

Player ratings

Both of them Gonzalo Tapia's — 8.93

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.93, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Player ratings

An own goal to forget for Santiago Rodríguez

The one goal a footballer does not get to celebrate and does not get to forget either. His name is in the wrong column and nothing about it was meant.

Squad

A falling-out at Columbus Crew

Éric Bailly and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Match

Gonzalo Tapia among the goals in a wild afternoon

7 goals in one match, Gonzalo Tapia on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Columbus Crew and Nashville SC.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Steven Moreira

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Boardroom

Nobody left the Columbus Crew dressing room in a hurry

The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.

Player ratings

Anass Zaroury runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

The dugout

The view from the dugout

“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 2‑5 defeat, delivered by Alex Moore to a room that had heard them before.

In brief

38 Edition

The Columbus Crew Herald

19 Apr 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Hugo Picard has said yes to Sporting Kansas City

The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Columbus Crew have lost him in all but the paperwork.

The dugout

Steven Moreira keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Columbus Crew may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Transfer targets

Columbus Crew bid $4.0M for Logan Farrington

The offer went to FC Dallas this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.

Player ratings

Age has not caught Éric Bailly yet — 8.06

At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.06 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.

Transfer targets

Brandan Craig will not be coming to Columbus Crew

Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at CF Montreal is saying, and nobody at Columbus Crew is enjoying the guessing.

Squad

Tempers go at Columbus Crew

Éric Bailly was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Player ratings

Gonzalo Tapia runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Transfer targets

Columbus Crew ask about Stuart Hawkins

A loan enquiry to Seattle Sounders: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.

Match

Éric Bailly rescues a point for Columbus Crew

It needed Éric Bailly to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Orlando City, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.

In brief

  • Squad Cesar Ruvalcaba falls out with a teammate over standards
  • The dugout The view from the dugout
  • Squad Éric Bailly finally opens his account
36 Edition

The Columbus Crew Herald

5 Apr 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

Columbus Crew march on in the cup

San Diego Football Club are out and Columbus Crew go through, 4‑1 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.

Squad

A day Lautaro Giaccone will not forget

3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.

Player ratings

Hugo Picard runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 26. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

A falling-out at Columbus Crew

Éric Bailly and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Market

Sékou Tidiany Bangoura attracts admirers

The name of Sékou Tidiany Bangoura has come up in conversations Columbus Crew were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.

Transfer targets

Columbus Crew rebuffed over Jacob Bartlett

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Sporting Kansas City have kept their man, and Columbus Crew go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

The terraces

One of their own: Diego Arce

He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Lautaro Giaccone at his very best

Marked 8.40. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Columbus Crew.

Squad

Words at Columbus Crew training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ramiro is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

In brief