After leaving as the Union’s top all-time goal scorer, Dániel Gazdag is eager to fit in with Columbus
Gazdag’s point production has been a shell of the 59 goals and 28 assists he compiled over five seasons in Philly. However, he remains positive that he'll find his form.
All athletes go through it. Call it “the weird time.”
In baseball, it could be a hitting slump that won’t end, in football, it’s a wide receiver who can’t understand a new playbook.
But for a soccer player like former Union midfielder-forward Dániel Gazdag, it’s going back to doing the things that saw him leave as the club’s all-time leading goal scorer last season.
Even in the face of a complete redeployment of his skill set.
Gazdag was dealt to the Columbus Crew midway through the 2025 season, and since then his point production has been a shell of the 59 goals and 28 assists he compiled over his five seasons in Philadelphia.
As a result, Gazdag, who was brokered to the Crew in a $4 million deal, plus incentives of up to an additional $500,000, has been trying to find his way as he heads into his second season in the Buckeye State.
He has appeared in just six games this season, starting three, with his first goal of the season arriving in the Crew’s 2-1 victory over the Los Angeles Galaxy on April 22. Since joining Columbus, he’s far off the average of 10 goals per season he left behind in Philly.
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It has become a stark reality for a player who was quite the commodity just a few years ago when he helped lead the Union reach its first MLS Cup final behind a 22-goal, 10-assist season.
But to Gazdag, this is all in the process.
“Yeah, I was the main guy on the attack in Philly, which is what I really enjoyed,” Gazdag said before a reunion at ScottsMiracle-Gro Field against the Union on Saturday, in which he was a 70th-minute substitute to help close out the Crew’s 2-0 win. “Once I joined [the Crew], I really didn’t score as many goals as I expected, so yeah, it’s just all about staying strong mentally, and I do that by surrounding myself with people who help me stay focused and not push me down.”
Born in Hungary, the 30-year-old Gazdag is not a young guy in soccer years. He’ll even admit as much. In fact, he considers himself more of “an experienced player” in the sense that he understands the game and how his game translates to Major League Soccer.
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It was pretty straightforward as the target man in former Union boss Jim Curtin’s modified 4-2-3-1 formation.
Since Curtin, Gazdag has had three managers, all with varying philosophies as to how to best deploy his talents. It has made for a guy who has always had a natural nose for the goal to sit with just five, total, since joining Columbus last season.
Before he was traded, Gazdag already had bagged two in six matches for Bradley Carnell’s group, all starts.
“I spent the most time with Jim at Philly, and it was a great time with him,” Gazdag recalled. I really enjoyed playing under him. We played a 4-4-2 system with a diamond midfield, and I was kind of like the top of the diamond as a No. 10. I really liked that role, and it was obviously a successful period in my life.”
So what has changed over the last few seasons?
“Well, when Bradley [Carnell] came into Philly, he was a new coach with a new system. It was still a 4-4-2; he changed it a little bit, where it felt more like a 4-2-2-2. But I didn’t spend too much time in that because I joined Columbus. [Former Crew head coach] Wilfried [Nancy] is obviously a great coach, and his playing style is very unique. He was one of the best in the league, the way we played, and obviously, Columbus was really successful under him, and I was happy to join.”
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But the confusion lies in how he has been deployed, positions where, at times, he can get lost in it all. To look at film of Gazdag’s time in Philly, when he was at his happiest, he was a roaming midfielder allowed to make diagonal runs to stretch defenses for a teammate or make runs on to timely through balls into the final third.
In Columbus, both Nancy and new manager Henrik Rydström deploy Gazdag a bit wider, running at opposition in almost a winger role rather than a No. 10 allowed to move and create lanes.
Gazdag says it’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s just different.
In the system in Columbus, “we play with two attacking midfielders most of the time, and I was one of them,” Gazdag said. “But what [Nancy and Rydström] were asking of me was different. Instead of being that final man more or not, [I’m being asked] to be more involved with the ball and the buildup, so it’s just been a lot to learn as I haven’t had to play that way in the past.”
It would be easy for Gazdag to find fault or place blame on his situation, but to ask him, he has just as many positives to talk about as he looks to get back to form.
The highlights? Having his family back under one roof, as his quick move to Columbus last April didn’t coincide with two children in school in the Philly suburbs, and a wife trying to manage it all remotely for a few months until they could all settle in together. Gazdag lauded a fan base that despite his still trying to fit the mold has accepted him and “have been really great to play for.”
An unfortunate season-ending ACL injury to Crew striker Wessam Abou Ali could very well provide Gazdag an opportunity at considerably more playing time and game-speed exposure in his role under Rydström. And this season, having the fortune of a near two-month midseason break for the FIFA World Cup offers a much-needed recharge to refocus on getting back to the level of player he feels he still is.
“You never hope for an injury and I feel really bad for [Abou Ali],” Gazdag said. “But these are things that can happen in this game, and that’s why I say you never know what’s going to happen and when you’ll get your opportunity to play.
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“Right now, I just try to do my job, working hard in training and being a player that’s ready when his name is called. Right now, for me it’s about staying as fresh as I can mentally while continuing to surround myself with people that help me.”
And also remembering some of the great moments he had as the No. 10 in Philly.
“Oh yeah, I loved my time [with the Union],” Gazdag said. “I owe a lot to those fans and I had great teammates. They were great years, and I’m excited to get that back here in Columbus or wherever my career takes me.”
Nine nations will compete in five group stage matches this summer, plus two more in a knockout game on July 4. Here’s what you need to know about those countries — and what those fans need to know about Philly. Click here for more.
