The Columbus Crew returned to winning ways in a midweek matchup with rival Toronto FC. Columbus made the trek up to Canada after a scoreless draw with FC Cincinnati on Saturday. Because of this, the Black & Gold featured a slightly rotated lineup, with another matchup with Orlando City SC coming on the weekend. The Crew struggled a bit in the first half, failing to generate any good scoring chances, but that changed in the second half. Substitute Cucho Hernandez got Columbus on the board in the second half with a curler from outside the box, and Andrés Herrera doubled the Black & Gold’s lead 19 minutes later. From there, the Crew saw out the victory to claim all three points on the road.
It was another game that featured two halves of different qualities. Let’s dive into all the tactical decisions for Columbus that turned the game around.
First half struggles
This lineup from Wilfried Nancy featured a different crop of players than fans are used to seeing. It was not a completely rotated lineup, but it was far from the Black & Gold’s full strength.
Many of the struggles in the first half came up top in the attack. The Crew looked disjointed at times and failed to put pressure on the Toronto goal. Diego Rossi was seemingly non-existent as the spearhead of the attack, failing to get in behind or affecting the game with the ball at his feet.
A lot of the first half mistakes were due to the rotated attack and Toronto’s tactics. Believe it or not, the home side did well in the first 45 to limit Columbus’ chances while getting a few attacking looks of their own.
The Black & Gold went with a 1-4-5 in the buildup, which could turn into a 1-4-2-3. Rudy Camacho sat as the lone centerback, with Malte Amundsen and Yevhen Cheberko moving up alongside Derrick Jones and Sean Zawadzki in midfield. The front five consisted of the wingbacks and the front three.
This buildup formation would turn into a 1-4-2-3 when Dylan Chambost and Rossi would drift into the midfield as dueling no. 10s. This helped the Crew immensely when they did it, because it helped Columbus break Toronto’s press.
In this game, Toronto’s defensive goal was to close the middle of the field in the buildup. They pressured the Black & Gold with five narrow players, forcing the Crew to either play outside or turn the ball over on the inside.
This meant that Toronto put the emphasis on Columbus’ outside centerbacks to be the playmakers and bridge to the attack. Forcing Cheberko and Amundsen to play accurate balls into the attackers was exactly what Toronto wanted, because the passes would often be wayward.
The Black & Gold recognized this, switching later in the first half to a 2-3-5. This simple switch dropped Cheberko alongside Camacho and put Zawadzki in a playmaking position out right.
Not only did this put Zawadzki and a more attack minded Amundsen in those wide areas, but it also took a player out of the midfield to make space for the dropping wingbacks. Now Herrera and Dejuan Jones had more room to come back and assist in the buildup.
Despite the offensive changes and progress, the Crew still could not get any good looks on goal. On the defensive side, Toronto had some chances due to their own planning.
The hosts’ entire offensive philosophy was to switch the point of attack quickly and get Columbus to over-shift. Playing a quick diagonal ball out to one of the wings would draw the defense out and open the backside for a cross.
On the other hand, if the Black & Gold dropped off and covered the backside, it gave Toronto room to cut inside and take on shots. The Crew had to pay attention when the home side did this, because if they did not cover the channels and the backside correctly, they could be down a goal quick.
Luckily the best defense in MLS shut out the opposition and got Columbus into the second half, where their ace-in-the-hole was ready to come on.
Second half changes
This one is easy. The Crew subbing in their superstar Colombian striker changed the game. It sounds too good to be true, but Hernandez changed the game for Columbus.
In the first half, Columbus had trouble linking their buildup play and turning it into a potent attack. The attackers were not finding the space underneath the defense and getting the ball to their feet.
This changed when Hernandez came into the game. The lack of holdup play that they had before disappeared, and now the Colombian and his Canadian counterpart began getting on the ball.
Look at the first goal for example. Russell-Rowe receives the ball into feet one-on-one against his defender. He holds up the play, waits for the reinforcements and dumps the ball to Hernandez. From there, the MLS MVP candidate did his thing, dispatching a curler past Sean Johnson and into the net.
It seems easy, but it was that combination of play that was missed in the first half. Rossi and Russell-Rowe often were unable to get on the ball, which was a severe disconnect between the attack and defense.
Once the Black & Gold figured out how to get the ball into the feet of the attackers, the game became much easier. From there, the Crew set up their offense in the attacking third, putting Toronto under serious pressure with their possession.
Another huge change from the first half was how Columbus looked to combine in the final third, rather than going direct. In the first 45, the Black & Gold were turning the ball over by hitting aimless long balls up field that was just collected by the defense. Once they figured out how to facilitate an actual buildup, the Crew were more open to holding possession and pinging the ball around Toronto’s box.
The formations remained the same as they were in the first half. Columbus still was in a 2-3-5 or sometimes a 2-3-1-4 if Hernandez or Chambost dropped into the midfield. On defense, the Black & Gold stayed in their normal 5-2-3. The Crew’s defense is not broken, so no reason to mess with it.
This game is just another example of Nancy’s ability to coach in-game. It is one thing to install a system and do the work in practice to create a championship culture, but adjusting on the fly is world-class. Nancy and his staff did it again, and it resulted in another three points on the road.
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