Crew Hopes Rossi Builds On Career Milestone

When the news broke that Lucas Zelarayan was leaving, a collective groan was heard from Crew fans everywhere. But soon after, there was a bit of a sigh of relief when it was announced Diego Rossi would be joining the team. The Uruguayan native is a known goal scorer who recently reached a milestone of fifty career MLS goals when he tallied against Orlando last Saturday.

Rossi joined the team in early August after spending two seasons with Fenerbahce of the Turkish Super Lig. Since the resumption of the MLS season after the Leagues Cup, he’s scored two goals, added a couple of assists in six appearances, and helped to soften the blow of losing Zelarayan. While he seems to have integrated well with the Crew’s system, head coach Wilfried Nancy says Rossi has been great for the team, but is still a bit behind,

“He knows that he has to catch up also on the rhythm. He also has to catch up and more consistent, and this is normal because this is only seven weeks for him.”

I’m sure it is a surprise to Crew fans to hear Rossi is still catching up. If this is how he performs while trying to find his rhythm with the team, I’m anxious to see him once he’s comfortable. Nancy has high expectations, but says,

“We have to be patient with him. This is a good start for him, and he’s going to be able to do more. This is the objective.”

The hope is Rossi will be even better than he was when he broke into MLS as a 20 year-old with LAFC. He’s now 25 and gained valuable experience playing against high-level competition while in Turkey. During his time with LAFC, he had seasons of 17, 14, and 12 goals. He now seems more than capable of pushing beyond those numbers and building upon that fifty career-goal milestone for the Crew.