The Columbus Crew continued the team’s march towards the MLS Cup playoffs last week with two games on the road. The Black & Gold were able to come home with four points thanks to a 2-1 win against the New England Revolution and a 1-1 draw vs. Atlanta United.
Defender Malte Amundsen secured all three points for Columbus against the Revs in the dying moments last Saturday. The Crew then went down to Atlanta for a midweek clash, where poor set piece defending denied the Black & Gold the win.
As the postseason nears, Columbus has shown its strengths and weaknesses. Both were on display in these two games, so let’s dive into what tactically worked and did not.
Steven Moreira in the midfield against New England
Moreira moving from his center back role to the midfield has been a recurring theme in the past few games for the Crew. Whether it is Julian Gressel or Mohamed Farsi at the right wing back position, it’s no secret the Black & Gold want to get the ball out wide to the right. Because of this, head coach Wilfried Nancy resorted to pushing Moreira into midfield to help create more overloads.
This tactical approach shifted Columbus into a 2-3-5 formation when attacking. Amundsen and Sean Zawadzki stayed back as center backs as Moreira pushed into the midfield. Darlington Nagbe and Aidan Morris stayed in their natural central midfield positions but shifted slightly to the left to make room for the Frenchman.
Up top, there was a plethora of attacking firepower across the board. Yaw Yeboah and Gressel played as advanced, with Alexandru Matan, Cucho Hernandez and Diego Rossi in between. The front three attackers were fluid as usual, dropping in and switching positions whenever they felt it was necessary. This gave the Crew a real punch going forward by committing eight players into the attack. With so many bodies, it was easy to create overloads and counter-press the Revolution when the Black & Gold lost the ball.
Even though committing so many men forward caused Columbus to be vulnerable on the counter attack, Zawadzki and Amundsen held their own. There were times when the Dane moved into the attack if there was space.
Having an asset like Moreira is vital to this team. His defending and leadership from the back are essential in 1 v. 1 situations. On the other hand, Moreira has good ball control and can make slashing runs to gash a defense.
Moving Moreira into the midfield is just another caveat for opponents to deal with defensively, so look for this to continue come playoff time.
How the Crew tweaked the formation against Atlanta
When the starting lineups came out on Saturday, many Black & Gold fans were confused when looking at the defensive starters. Four players who have played center back in prior games this season were slated to start, with Gressel being the lone true wing back.
Once the game started, it was clear that Zawadzki was left wing back, with Yevhen Cheberko taking the left center back position. Rudy Camacho and Moreira stayed in their familiar center back spaces with Gressel on the right.
This change profoundly affected the game and how Columbus was shaped. In possession, the Crew was in a 3-3-4 formation. The backline was Cheberko, Camacho and Moreira, with a midfield trio of Zawadzki, Morris and Nagbe ahead of them. Gressel pushed up high on the right, rounded out by the front three.
It was just a minor shift from the previous game, with Zawadzki moving into the midfield instead of Moreira. That gave the Crew a bit more defensive stability while allowing Zawadzki to link up with his two partners in midfield. Because the left wing back space was unoccupied, Matan often shifted to the left to take that area.
When the Black & Gold advanced higher up the field, the formation was tweaked again. This time, Columbus moved to a 2-3-1-4 formation, sliding Nagbe up as an attacking midfielder. Moreira moved into midfield with Zawadzki and Morris, leaving Camacho and Cheberko back. The front four remained the same, but Hernandez, Rossi and Matan all had creative freedom to drop and combine with the midfielders.
Getting Nagbe into an advanced position has been something Crew fans have wanted for a long time. His ability on the ball, specifically to pull off the spectacular, is evident, so moving him closer to goal only increases Columbus’ chances of scoring. The Crew does that at the risk of being caught high, but with Cheberko and Camacho on the backline, there was security.
It was just another stepping stone of building on previous tactical choices from the Black & Gold. This is Nancy’s time to tinker with formations and tactics before the playoffs start. While these games still hold importance, they also serve as an opportunity to try new things that could help later down the road.
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