The Columbus Crew got back to its winning ways on Wednesday, heading North to beat CF Montreal. The game started well for Columbus, opening the scoring courtesy of Max Arfsten hanging out on the back post and putting in a rebound that had come off the keeper. The Black & Gold would seemingly double their lead through a thunderous strike from Christian Ramirez, but the goal would ultimately be called offsides. Montreal found the equalizer before halftime from the spot after Patrick Schutle came off his line and clipped the Montreal attacker without winning the ball. Despite what looked like a shaky first half at times, the Crew responded in the second half with two goals from Diego Rossi and Marino Hinestroza to secure all three points for Columbus. This is the Black & Gold’s first win in their last seven MLS games. Their last victory came on March 16 against the New York Red Bulls.
The Crew adjusted their tactics based on their slightly rotated lineup and their game plan to counter Montreal’s bold style. Let’s dive into those tactical decisions.
Building in different formations in the first and second half
As Crew fans know, Columbus likes to change their shape throughout the game. They have different formations for when they are defending, building up in possession and attacking in their opponent’s half.
On Wednesday, the Black & Gold opted to build out of the back in two different formations. In the first half, the Crew decided to possess and create their attack in a 2-3-5 formation.
Both Rudy Camacho and Yevhen Cheberko were the two lone defenders in this formation. They switched from a three-back format to a two-back look, with Steven Moreira moving into midfield alongside Darlington Nagbe and Aidan Morris.
The front five consisted of Yaw Yeboah on the left wing, Rossi, Ramirez, and Alex Matan playing in the channels and Arfsten on the right wing. The three inside attackers were all interchangeable and free to run behind the defense or drop to help possess if they needed to.
This formation gave Columbus a numbers advantage in midfield while keeping two defenders back for defensive stability. There was a problem with this setup though, which gave an explanation to why the Black & Gold went through spells where they looked lethargic in the first half.
With Moreira joining the midfield and both wingbacks pushing high up the pitch, the space in the midfield became crowded. The Crew did not have good special balance in the first half, with huge gaps of space being left on each side of the center backs. This is the space that Montreal was able to exploit on the counter, and when they retained the ball and tried to keep possession.
The 2-3-5 worked in the first half to the tune of two Columbus goals, one allowed and one disallowed for a tight offsides call. Despite the goal, the Black & Gold still looked like they were in a hangover from the Cincinnati game, which is why further changes came in the second half.
In the second half, the Crew switched to a more balanced look with a cupped 4-1-4-1 in possession. The two center backs stayed in their spots, with Moreira positioned as a right back, and Morris as a pivot/left back.
Nagbe became the lone no. 6 in midfield, while Rossi and Matan played as dueling no. 10s. Yeboah and Arfsten were the outside midfielders, with Ramirez up top.
We do not usually see Columbus play in a four-back system anymore since Wilfried Nancy became the coach, but it worked. The Black & Gold scored two goals and controlled the game more effectively than in the first half.
The reason for this control is the way the Crew was able to distribute their players to take advantage of as much space on the pitch as possible. In the first half, the midfield was overcrowded and there was space out wide that Columbus was not using. In the second half, Moreira and Morris occupied that space, plugging up defensive holes and giving the Black & Gold more options on offense to possess.
This slight formational tweak changed the game for the Crew and resulted in a big three points to get them back on track.
The positioning of Aidan Morris
Morris was the biggest catalyst in this game for Columbus. The way he was able to switch positions and aid in defense and attack was phenomenal.
Morris started off at his usual holding midfield spot alongside Nagbe in the first half. With Moreira stepping into the midfield though, Morris was given more freedom to move out left and link up with Yeboah.
This meant he stepped up into the attack much more often, almost like a third attacking midfielder alongside Rossi and Matan. In the first half though, the midfield became crowded which resulted in stretches of play where the Crew turned the ball over and allowed Montreal to possess.
In the second half, Morris’ role changed, and he became much more dynamic. He began to mostly occupy space that Yeboah was vacating, like a left back. He took up that position while Columbus was deeper in their half, stringing passes together to move up the field.
When the Black & Gold got higher into an attacking space, Morris would shift back inside in the channel between Yeboah and Rossi, becoming an attacking reinforcement and extra option up top.
We saw this in real-time on Hinestroza’s goal, except that it was on the other side. Morris got high and saw Rossi check back to the ball. When the Uruguayan did that, Morris slid into the vacated space in the channel to receive the ball from Moreira. A quick pass back to Moreira and another pass to Hinestroza and it was 3-1 in favor of the Crew.
These little things are what make Morris and a number of the players on the Black & Gold so great. They have a bunch of guys who are adaptable and can play several positions in one game. Morris is one of those do-it-all guys, and it showed on Wednesday night in Montreal.
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