The Crew fell to the defending champs on a baseball diamond on Saturday night. This dropped Columbus to 10th in the Eastern Conference and makes a playoff spot look a lot more unlikely. The goals that the Black & Gold conceded were incredibly soft and preventable, so how did the Crew’s tactics fail to stop these soft goals? Let’s dive in.
Lucas Zelarayan on the wing
This was a surprising change in the pre-match lineups. Caleb Porter sang the praises of James Igbekeme over the past weeks, so he decided to slot in Igbekeme in midfield and push Zelarayan to the winger position. The idea behind this was to allow Zelarayan to work one on one verses the outside back and hope to create mismatches and chances for Lucas to attack. Zelarayan wasn’t confined to the winger position though, many times he came into the midfield to possess the ball, pushing Igbekeme out to the winger spot. This interchange shows the freedom that the Crew operate with, but it didn’t pan out in the form of goals. I believe another reason for starting Lucas Zelarayan on the wing was because he has looked defensively disinterested in the past when he loses the ball. He is working incredibly hard on the attacking end, but as soon as the ball is turned over, he switches off to some degree. Putting him on the wing requires him to play less defense, but it also restricts his playmaking abilities to one side of the field, unless he dropped into the midfield role.
Defensive setup is very vulnerable to counter attacks
We all saw the second goal, right? Josh Williams and Jonathan Mensah just sleeping 10 yards past the halfway line while arguably the most dangerous player in the entire league sits behind them ready to bear down on Eloy Room. Yeah, it was pretty bad, the kind of stuff I teach the 13-year-old girls I coach. On a more serious note, I’m not sure if this was a tactical call by Porter or just a lapse of concentration by the cernterbacks. One thing I am sure of is that Columbus is setting up in a way that leaves them incredibly vulnerable to get exposed on the counterattack. On many occasions when the Black & Gold are on the attack, the only two players back are the two cernterbacks. The wingbacks have been getting really high to help bring width and attacking numbers, but it leaves Williams and Mensah out to dry. When you have attackers as fast as Castellanos and Talles Mango going against Williams and Mensah, you are bound to get burned. Now the Crew has to learn that by throwing a ton of players forward is not producing goals. There has to be a balance of dangerous attacking play and stout defensive performance. Columbus has been throwing too many numbers forward, and they keep ending up getting burned for it.
The lack of a vertical threat for the Crew
This was incredibly evident throughout the game on Saturday. I’ll say it, Miguel Berry is not a starting caliber player in MLS. A good sub? Sure, but he should not be starting consistent games for the Columbus Crew. When Columbus sold Gyasi Zardes, it was thought the Berry would take over and hopefully start to produce consistently, but in reality, that hasn’t panned out. The Black & Gold lack a quick, decisive player up top who can stretch defenses, create space for Lucas Zelarayan, and finish good chances. An example for Columbus was Taty Castellanos on Saturday. Granted, it will be hard for the Crew to find a player of Castellanos quality, but Columbus needs a gamechanger like him to partner with Zelarayan. This is why the Black & Gold had success in 2020 on their run to an MLS Cup title. Gyasi Zardes was the player stretching defenses and allowing Lucas Zelarayan to work his magic. The formula is there in front of them, now Columbus has to go out in the next transfer window and sign a DP who can provide this for the Crew. Then we will hopefully see results turn, and the Black & Gold can return to winning ways. In the meantime, they have to figure out how to compete and consistently grind out results.
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