The Columbus Crew picked up three points on Wednesday night, beating the Colorado Rapids 3-2. It was a rough start to the game for Columbus when a defensive error lead to the opener for Colorado. From there though, the Black & Gold continued to press forward and scored three goals to go up comfortably. The Rapids added a second goal in stoppage time, but it was too little, too late.
Head coach Wilfried Nancy still opted to go with his usual set of tactics to start the game despite injuries to key defensive players, but adjustments were made that could be promising for the Crew going forward.
Let’s dive into those tactical adjustments.
Switching to a 4-2-3-2 offensive formation in the first half
The Black & Gold lined up in the team’s typical 5-2-1-2, but that formation changed on the offensive side of the ball. In possession, Columbus morphed into a 4-1-3-2, with central midfielder Darlington Nagbe shifting wide into a right back spot. This formation yielded some good and bad results for the team in the first 45 minutes.
On the good side, switching to this formation gave the Crew players in the areas Nancy wanted to attack. Wing backs Mohamed Farsi and Yaw Yeboah played higher up the pitch, while Nagbe and left center back Malte Amundsen took their spots as outside backs. This helped give playmaker Lucas Zelarayan space in midfield to create and find players out wide to pick out one of the strikers.
Another positive was this formation created good offensive chances in the opening half. Zelarayan had multiple opportunities from distance, as did midfielder Aidann Morris. Forward Cucho Hernandez had a couple of dangerous plays. Striekr Christian Ramirez had a glancing header that the entire Nordecke thought went in, but settled on the top of the net.
These positives are important takeaways going forward for the Black & Goold as they continue to have alternations to their style, but there were some major issues as well.
One glaring issue was how the team recovered defensively. When Columbus got higher up the pitch, Nagbe wanted to pinch in toward the middle like a true midfielder. This left the right side of the Crew’s defense vulnerable, leaving only right center back Steven Moreira to cover.
This led to some dangerous counter attacks from Colorado, but luckily only one of them hurt the Black & Gold.
The other issue was how vulnerable this formation left center back Philip Quinton. The second-year pro is still in the learning phase of his career, but a lot has been asked of him in Nancy’s system. Playing a high line next to two converted fullbacks would be difficult for any player, let alone a young one. Columbus is in a tough spot with injuries at center back. Having Milos Degenek or Josh Williams next to Quinton would make him more comfortable and likely limit mistakes like the one that led to the Rapids’ first goal.
Second half adjustments
Nancy has been criticized before for his lack of adjustments. At halftime on Wednesday night though, he made some switches that greatly impacted the game in favor of the Crew.
The first adjustment was the decision to bring on Sean Zwadzki in place of Quinton. This meant the Black & Gold played two converted wingbacks and a central midfielder in the three center back positions.
While Nancy said there was some pre-planning involved, this change was based solely on pace and experimentation. Nancy moved Moreira to the inside center back spot and Zwadzki occupied the right center back position. The Frenchman provided more pace on the inside and Zwadzki provided the composure of a midfielder to help build out of the back.
This change moved Nagbe back into midfield alongside Morris. The MLS veteran sat deeper but was no longer as wide. Morris being pushed higher got him into more attacking areas and allowed him to combine with the wingers and attackers. Occasionally, the young American midfielder dropped into a half-pivot role to push Farsi higher and connect with him and the defense. This option made it easier to advance up the flanks and get the ball into the Columbus attackers.
The second minor adjustment had to do with Hernandez and Zelarayan. In the first half, the Colombian striker drifted wide to attack from outside in, leaving a gap between him and Zelarayan. In the second half, Hernandez stayed closer to the Armenian international, allowing them to combine more effectively.
This is when the Crew’s attack really began to create multiple goalscoring chances. When Hernandez and Zelarayan are close to each other and are able to work together, they are so much more dangerous. This little tweak resulted in Hernandez’s goal to put the Black & Gold up 3-1 and out of reach of a Colorado equalizer.
These adjustments changed the game for Columbus and ultimately resulted in the team getting all three points.
How Colorado was effective
On the other side, the Rapids had a few tactics to go at the Crew and try to steal a game away from home. Dealing with the Black & Gold’s high press and high rate of possession is never easy, but Colorado had a few ideas of how to attack it and counter.
The first thing the Rapids did was try to retain possession and build out of the back using their wing backs. This typically happened throughout the first half, because of a lack of pressure on the visiting wing backs.
On goal kicks, Colorado played a lofted ball over Columbus’ pressure out to the wing backs. This was clearly a tactical design to use the feet of goalkeeper Marko Ilic and something the staff noticed on film. Playing this ball allowed Colorado to advance up the pitch and get through the press without much pressure.
The second thing the Rapids did well, was wait for the Crew to make a mistake and then pounce. This philosophy landed Colorado a goal off of a Quinton mistake and nearly led to a second goal as well if not for offside being called.
Finally, the visitors took the limited amount of chances they had. The Rapids had a grand total of three shots on target and converted two. This efficiency is what kept the game close.
These factors are what the Black & Gold will continue to see the rest of the season. They must continue to work on how teams are attacking them while also continuing to build under Nancy.
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