Crew tactical review: Cardiac Columbus can't pull off the comeback against LAFC

The Columbus Crew bowed out of the CONCACAF Champions Cup after winning the home leg 2-1 but losing on an aggregate scoreline of 4-2. Columbus went down in the opening leg out in the City of Angels 3-0 but showed fight in this game to get the aggregate tie back within one goal. A late Denis Bouanga clinching goal sunk the Black & Gold’s comeback attempt for good.

Despite the 3-0 hole coming into this game, the Crew responded with energy and an attack-first mentality. Wilfried Nancy set up his team to chase goals and dominate the game, which Columbus did. With two early goals from Jacen Russell-Rowe and Diego Rossi, the comeback looked to be on. After halftime though, LAFC locked down their defense helped by Hugo Lloris standing on his head on multiple occasions.

Let’s dive into the tactics that Nancy got right, and wrong, in the Black & Gold’s aggregate loss to LAFC.

Setting up an attack-minded team

From the moment the starting lineups were released, you could see Nancy’s intention for this game. On the backline, he replaced Yevhen Cheberko with Sean Zawadzki, who could slide into midfield if needed and be a better passing center-back. Including AZ Jackson, Dylan Chambost, and Darlington Nagbe in midfield gave the Crew more of an emphasis on attacking, rounded out with Russell-Rowe and Rossi up top.

Typically, we’ve seen Chambost play as a part of that fluid front three, but in this game, he primarily sat next to Nagbe for his defensive duties. Jackson primarily joined the attack but often sat underneath as a roaming No. 10.

At kickoff, Columbus employed a 1-4-5 formation that looked more like a 1-4-3-2. The Black & Gold tipped their hand at the weekend against the Houston Dynamo where they attacked in the same shape.

Zawadzki stayed back as the lone center back but still moved 10 to 15 yards past midfield to aid in the attack. Both Chambost and Nagbe remained in the center of the pitch for most of the night, with Chambost occasionally leaking out wide or high. Malte Amundsen and Steven Moreira pushed forward as wide midfielders or second wingbacks, just lower than Mo Farsi and Max Arfsten.

The tweak that the Crew made from the last game against LAFC was pushing the wingbacks higher than the three inside forwards. This pushed the LAFC backline deeper and allowed the attackers to drop into space and turn.

Granted, much of Columbus’ dominance was also due to LAFC’s contentment to sit back and defend. The Black & Gold’s first-half showing was mostly due to the visitors trying to sit deep and stymie any whiff of an attack.

LAFC opted to do this in a 5-4-1 with Igor Jesus dropping into a center back role in that back five. The Crew have struggled to break down a low block before, but this time they had success due to their setup.

The key was the outside center backs moving into positions that wide midfielders would occupy. I would characterize this positioning as “second wingbacks” just below the true wingbacks pushing the limits of LAFC’s backline.

Both Moreira and Amundsen were bridges or half-pivots to the wingbacks, but they also played an important role in widening LAFC’s midfield. The visitors had a choice to make – they could plug up the middle or choose to cover the outside center backs moving into the attack.

LAFC tried to do both, which gave Columbus’ attack a diverse approach. When LAFC’s midfielders stayed central, Moreira and Amundsen would combine with the wingbacks and create wide overloads with the interior attackers. These overlaps from the outside center backs generate a ton of crossing opportunities.

If LAFC decided to play with a wider defensive base, the inside was now open to play the ball into the attackers’ feet. This is where Jackson became very important for the Black & Gold. To the average viewer, it seemed Jackson did not have a good game, but he was essential to the Crew’s buildup and attack.

When the opposition decided to shut down Moreira and Amundsen, Jackson became the target man inside. The young attacking midfielder dropped into the half-space and received the ball to his feet with a defender on his back. Sometimes he lost the ball due to the pressure, but on other occasions, he adopted an Alexandru Matan role and created attacks off the dribble.

Once the ball went inside, LAFC’s defense would constrict and open up the wings for the dual wingbacks. From there Columbus would overload the width and force the defense to overshift to compensate, leaving the backside open for the opposite wingback and Russell-Rowe to attack.

Another subtle tweak happened if LAFC committed numbers to guard against the double wingbacks on each side. In some scenarios, Farsi and Arfsten would pinch inside like second strikers to give more options for target attackers in the middle. These inverted interior runs tried to attack the channels left by the defense’s three center backs and pull them out of position with central overloads.

The Black & Gold came out swinging and it led to one of the better offensive performances of the season but shot themselves in the foot late to seal it for LAFC. Despite the loss, there are positives to be taken from this game that the Crew can hopefully care into the weekend at San Diego.

Where did it fall apart?

Ironically for Columbus, it was the substitutions that killed the momentum. The moment Moreira went down and had to come out, the Black & Gold were losing a huge attacking and defensive piece. The Frenchman is not only the reigning defensive player of the year, but he can also be a potent attacker.

Nancy’s decision to bring on Cheberko was an interesting one. When his number went up the question was where would he play? Typically, the Ukrainian sits in the center of the back five with two outside center backs around him, but this time he took up Moreira’s position and played on the right side.

While Cheberko can be a multi-faceted center back, he does not have the same attacking attributes that fit him into what the Crew was trying to do. Possibly moving Zawadzki – who is more adaptable in attack – out on the right and putting Cheberko back in the center of defense would have been a better move.

The simple fact is that the Ukrainian did not offer anything in the offensive sector. We’ve seen his inability to be a creative passing center back in recent games, so throwing him in the attacking third on overlaps does not make sense. We see the poor passing vision in the final move of the second half where he laid out a weak pass to the opposite side that was picked off by LAFC and ultimately converted by Bouanga.

Cheberko is going to need to play in the absence of Rudy Camacho, and Columbus is counting on him to be a big part of their season. The simple fact is that Cheberko is not an attack-minded outside center back, which makes the substitution puzzling when Andres Herrera is sitting on the bench.

The other substitution that was puzzling was taking out Jackson for Taha Habroune. Granted, Jackson had not been playing his best game, but he was a creative piece in the attacking third that could kick off movements. The turnovers were a problem, but that is the tradeoff you have to consider given his attacking creativity.

Habroune is going to be an excellent player – hopefully for Columbus one day – but he was not ready for the stage on Tuesday night. He looked lost in the attacking third and consistently got lost in space, running into teammates and getting into others’ passing lanes. Nancy possibly thought Habroune could bring the same creativity Jackson offered but limited the turnovers.

Unfortunately, that was not the case. The Cheberko substitution hampered the attack, but Habroune coming on threw a wrench into the Black & Gold’s plans. He just did not fit what the Crew needed at that moment, which was a highly creative, risk-taking attacker that can create something out of nothing.

The icing on the cake was both substitutes – Cheberko and Habroune – combining for LAFC’s only goal of the night. Cheberko plays a lazy square pass across the middle that is preached against in high school locker rooms around the country, and Habroune is caught watching and waiting with concrete shoes on as LAFC intercepts the ball.

Players will have bad games, and this match was no different. Cheberko and Habroune will both bounce back, but their substitutions sealed this game for LAFC along with Lloris building a brick wall in front of goal.

All in all, the Crew returned to Columbus in an insurmountable hole and almost got back in the tie. The team showed fight, and the attack looked better than in recent weeks. All focus now turns to a matchup with San Diego FC on Saturday.