The Columbus Crew opened up the team’s Leagues Cup campaign with a 2-1 win against MLS expansion side St. Louis CITY SC on Sunday night. The Crew went up 1-0 courtesy of a Lucas Zelarayan freekick, before doubling the lead thanks to a Cucho Hernandez Hernandez penalty kick.
The Black & Gold continued to attack and added a third goal, only for it to be ruled offside. In the last few minutes of the match St. Louis pulled a goal back, an own goal but it was too little too late.
This result placed Columbus at the top of the group going into Monday’s showdown against Liga MX powerhouse Club America.
The Crew didn’t change its tactical identity much for this match, but did switch up the way the team attacked CITY and countered St. Louis’ high pressing style. Let’s dive into these changes.
Finding the backside central midfielder
CITY brought an interesting set of tactics to MLS this year that most pundits at the beginning of the season thought would be the team’s downfall. CITY likes to press high and fast and then attack as quick as possible after winning the ball back.
Given the Black & Gold is a high-possession team, Columbus had to figure out a way to combat this high press in buildup so as to not give the visitors chances on the break. This meant the Crew had to choose a different buildup strategy than usual.
Luckily for the Black & Gold, St. Louis made a big mistake. In their haste to press high and throw numbers forward, CITY often overpressed, committing too many players to an area of the pitch that leaves another area virtually undefended.
This is what Columbus banked on going forward, because when teams press high and fast, it is extremely difficult to be disciplined all the time.
What the Crew did is have one of the central midfielders check to the ball on the possession side. This gave the Black & Gold another player to help beat the press, but not the primary target. Whether it was Aidan Morris or Darlington Nagbe dropping in, this player was the decoy for his counterpart.
Head coach Wilfried Nancy wanted one of his midfielders to drop so that they could drag as many St. Louis pressing players out of position. This opened up a split ball through the press to the backside central midfielder.
When Columbus found that pass and get that backside midfielder the ball, the game opened up going forward. The Crew switched the field and played out of an overpress, which freed up two of the best attacking players in all MLS in Hernandez and Zelarayan to attack on the break.
This was a textbook example of using an opponent’s strength against it, and it worked out for the Black & Gold in terms of chances, goals and the victory.
The positioning of Lucas Zelarayan
The Armenian international is a master at the No. 10 position, and some would argue the best in MLS. With that in mind, Zelarayan also has the ability to use his positioning to impact how much space other players have going forward. That’s exactly what he did in different instances on Sunday night.
First, Zelarayan sometimes drift out wide and occupied the wing back position, usually on the right side. Obviously, Mohamed Farsi is the natural wing back so he took up other spaces in these instances.
Because Zelarayan is such a danger in the open field, the player marking Farsi switched off to mark the Armenian, leaving the wing back free to run up the channel and go one on one against the center back.
By Zelarayan doing something as simple as drifting out wide dragged two defenders with him and allowed Farsi space to get forward. Now that’s the power of being one of the most dangerous No. 10’s in MLS.
Another way Zelarayan used his positioning to help the team was when Columbus built out of the back. As previously stated, St. Louis thrives on pressing high and forcing mistakes. From there, the Crew attacked with pace and made CITY pay.
To help out, Zelarayan dropped deeper as a low No. 10 almost alongside the backside central midfielder to help move the ball forward. Yet again, he dragged a defender with him and opened up space for Hernandez to drop in and play as an attacking midfielder.
This is the beauty of playing with two strikers. When Zelarayan moves around the pitch and vacates his space, Hernandez can come in and occupy that space without giving up attacking options up top. Christian Ramirez holds down the line up top while the Colombian and Armenian go where they are needed to help attack.
This is yet another instance of Zelarayan being not only a magician but also a player with a high soccer IQ. He knows where to go to open space for his teammates and make them better and that’s a coach’s dream.
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