Saturday’s late-night game ended in a scoreless draw for the Black & Gold against tough competition in Real Salt Lake. RSL sit near the top of the Western Conference in second place, so a point on the road for Columbus feels like a victory. In a heavily rotated squad due to injuries, Caleb Porter opted for a more conservative, but effective approach when setting up his team tactically. Let’s dive in.
Sitting back
Many times, in this series of tactical reviews I have put emphasis on the way the Crew presses, and the nuances of the press depending on the game. While there was some pressing done by the Black & Gold in Utah, it was the decision to sit back that made the game interesting for Columbus. Caleb Porter was faced with a mountain of a task going into this matchday with an away game, a good opponent, and an injury ridden squad to deal with. All these factors played into Porter’s decision to sit back and really try to either get a 1-0 win or a 0-0 tie. While fans may have an issue with this, the fact is that the Crew need to pick up points wherever they can, and when you’re facing a very good team, on their turf, with a squad that is far from your preferred starting eleven, you have to work with what you have and adjust your goals for the game. This game Columbus was content at times to just let RSL possess the ball, but at moments would try to get forward and win the ball. Most of the time the Black & Gold sat back with 8-9 guys on defense, usually with Miguel Berry alone up top to run down long balls. All in all, the choice worked, and the Crew are heading back home with a hard-earned point.
So many set pieces!
The Crew looking to earn fouls and free kicks is something that we usually don’t see when Lucas Zelarayan is not on the field. Columbus again had to accept the reality of the game, and Caleb Porter figured that the best chances the Black & Gold would get would have to come off of set pieces. Throw ins, free kicks, and corners were a point of emphasis today for Columbus as they pushed for the opening goal to get ahead. On corners, the Crew would crowd the opposing goalkeeper, hoping to cause some mayhem that could end up with the ball in the back of the net. With all the bodies flying around, the goalkeeper is more prone to make a mistake, and then you have multiple players ready to pounce. Real Salt Lake committing 16 fouls also helped Columbus gain some dangerous opportunities, but unfortunately for the Black & Gold, the service was just not there for a player to make the home team pay. 0-0 is never a fun score line from a fans’ perspective, but Columbus will take the ever elusive road point.
The return of the swing player
Ah yes ladies and gentlemen we are back again talking about the swing player. We haven’t seen Caleb Porter deliberately use a swing player consistently in quite some time, but Sean Zawadzki filled in position very comfortably. There are two reasons for the implementation of the swing player against RSL. Firstly, the swing player provides better help in possessing the ball and transitioning into attack. With Sean Zawadzki sitting between Mensah and Degenek, it allowed both outside backs to get higher, while also creating channels for Nagbe and Morris to exploit. If the RSL midfielders were to cheat towards the outside to cut off the outside backs from receiving the ball, Zawadzki could just pass to Nagbe or Morris. On the other hand, if the RSL midfielders decided to stay more central, it allows Zawadzki to get the ball out wide and into space. Secondly, it provides defensive cover in case of a turnover in transition. If the Crew were trying to build out of their half but gave away a bad pass, you already have extra support from Zawadzki because he is sitting so deep. He also is quicker than Mensah and Degenek, so he can track down 50/50 balls more effectively. Watching the game tonight reminded me of 2021 where Columbus played high possession ball, while utilizing the swing player to break down opponents. Hopefully Columbus can build on this heading into a midweek clash in Toronto.
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