Crew tactical review: Columbus braves cold temperatures to grab three points

The Columbus Crew grabbed its second win of the season on the road against the New England Revolution. On a freezing night in the northeast, the Black & Gold weathered former Crew head coach and current New England coach Caleb Porter’s storm and grabbed a singular goal to claim all three points. It was a cagey affair, with little action for most of the match. The Revolution did their best to contain Columbus, but the Black & Gold eventually got on the scoresheet courtesy of Jacen Russell-Rowe. His goal would be securing the Crew’s second win of the young season.

In a particularly uneventful and slightly boring game, let’s dive into the tactics that gave Columbus the victory over New England.

Taking advantage of New England’s over shift

Fans of the Black & Gold are used to seeing Porter-coached teams after the coach’s tenure in Columbus. His classic 4-2-3-1 formation is a staple, and that was the shape that New England lined up in on Saturday night.

We know by now what tactics Porter was going to employ. The Revolution would play a passive style of possession to draw the Black & Gold out and then hit the Crew when they over-commit or get out of shape.

New England’s offense was essentially a non-factor in this matchup. Much of the Revolution’s chances or half chances were created by their defense pressing Columbus into making mistakes. These mistakes led to transition chances, but New England could not capitalize on any of them.

The biggest hurdle for the Black & Gold was getting around New England’s compartmentalized press. The Revolution matched the Crew’s overloads and often pressed them toward the sideline, hoping to cut off any switches or combinations of play that could break the pressure.

When Columbus would shift two center backs, a wingback, midfielder,s and even a dropping striker over to one side, New England would combat that by shifting over defenders of their own. It was a man-marking press that eventually tightened until the Black & Gold had to play along, turn the ball over or the Revolution made a mistake.

This is exactly what happened for much of the first half, but the key in this press was Leo Campana up top for New England. He was responsible for cutting of the Crew’s switch point, which in this case would be Yevhen Cheberko. If Cheberko was marked by Campana and the rest of New England’s press was airtight, Columbus would have to go long or switch the point of play through Patrick Schulte.

Switching the ball through Schulte works in theory, but the Black & Gold would give up depth and it would give the Revolution time to recover to cut down space on the opposite flank. Again, this stifled the Crew for much of the first half.

It would be great to say that Wilfried Nancy went into the locker room and devised a master plan to come up with Russell-Rowe’s goal, but it was actually a mistake by New England that caused Columbus to go ahead.

Off a throw-in during the 50th minute of the match, the Black & Gold dropped nine(!) players back onto the sideline for a throw-in. The Revolution had seven defenders in the same area, but they did not account for Dylan Chambost dropping in from a higher attacking area. The New England markers did not check their shoulders, and a quick throw-in combination sprung Chambost into attack.

Now the Crew had exactly what they wanted – a three vs. three with the defense on its heels. Mo Farsi received the ball flanked inside by Diego Rossi and Russell-Rowe, with a trailing Chambost behind them. This is where the critical mistake from New England becomes complete.

To compensate for the blown press, the Revolution overshifts towards Farsi on the right side while Rossi makes a dummy run inside to freeze the backside defender. Russell-Rowe on the other hand beats his marking defender backside and receives a picture-perfect pass for him to dispatch in the back of the net.

All credit to New England for staying in their shape for the majority of the match and making life difficult for Columbus, but in the end the Black & Gold’s offense was too much to hold back. Teams are learning that even without Cucho Hernandez, you can have a perfect game plan and still concede goals.

The Crew’s ability to grind out wins on the road despite being in cold temperatures and in a cagey game is admirable. After the offseason departures, fans will be encouraged by this start by the Black & Gold.