The Columbus Crew finally got back to winning ways this past Saturday, trouncing a lowly DC United squad 3-0. After finally getting on the scoresheet for the first time in April in MLS play, the Black & Gold added two more goals before the final whistle blew. All Crew fans are hoping that this puts the club back on track to keep climbing up the Eastern Conference standings and find that playoff spot. There was not much change in Columbus’ tactics from the last game, but there were a few nuanced tweaks that compelled the Black & Gold to victory.
The Crew in a 4-3-3
For the second straight game Columbus lined up in 4-3-3 and looked really dangerous and organized, something Crew fans haven’t seen enough of in the past few weeks. After watching the Black & Gold in this formation for the past 2 games, here’s what I’ve noticed.
First off, the Columbus press has been tweaked a little bit. The Crew used to press in situations where the opponent is getting near the sideline or if Columbus had a numbers advantage, but that has changed. Now, the Black & Gold will man mark and press instantly on a player’s touch. Miguel Berry or whoever is up top just presses the ball until it is passed forward into the midfield. That’s where the Crew midfields will be man marked to the opposing midfield, making it difficult to turn and go at the Columbus defense. This forces the ball to either be played back to the defense where Berry will continue to press, or a bad pass will be made, then the Black & Gold are on the attack. Another nuance to the press is the Columbus wide backs. If the ball reaches an opposing winger, Pedro Santos and Stephen Moreira will instantly step up to press and try to turn the ball over. When this happens, occasionally a midfield will fill in the space where the back vacated, so the Crew can’t get countered in that space.
Secondly, the midfields have been more interchangeable in a 4-3-3. This means that the three players that the Crew have in midfield can switch with each other positionally to allow some creative freedom. The Columbus midfield on Saturday was a revolving door, sometimes Morris would be high up the pitch, but then the next possession it was Nagbe or Artur. This displays the understanding that each of these players have for Caleb Porter’s system. They all know their job and work together so well, that they can fill in for each other and allow their counterpart to create. This just makes the team beautiful to watch, because we get to see 3 guys working so well together in harmony while producing for the team. I think Morris has been a huge addition to the starting XI, and I hope that Porter can continue to utilize him and get him game time in the future when Lucas Zelarayan returns to the starting lineup.
Finally, the Crew has maintained their philosophy of creating positional overloads, despite the change in formation. I touched on this in one of my earlier tactical reviews, but Caleb Porter’s whole mantra is creating positional overloads to gain an advantage over the opponent. The simple way to explain this is that Columbus wants to have more players in an area than their opponents. This numerical advantage is useful in getting forward in attack through combining with each other and pressing on defense. This was evident on Saturday by the way that the Black & Gold wingers pinched so far across the pitch. When the opposing team had the ball near the sideline, the winger on the opposite side of the pitch would be all the way in the middle of the field. That’s because the Crew shifted all three midfielders, a winger, a wide back, and sometimes even Miguel Berry to create numerical advantages to win the ball and then break through the opposing defense. Usually this would happen on opposing throw ins or goal kicks. This tells me that Porter’s system still works in a different formation, and that it can still be effective and get the Crew three points on any given matchday.
Dropping into a 5-4-1
This was employed later in the game after halftime when the Crew was guarding a 2-0 lead. Last week we saw Columbus dropping into a 4-5-1 against Kansas City, but this week it was more of a 5-4-1, but only in certain spaces. When DC United would come on the attack and get close or come into the Black & Gold’s half, one of the wingers would drop into a wingback role. This happened when DC had the ball coming down the wing, in this case the backside Crew winger would drop deeper into a wingback role alongside either Pedro Santos or Stephen Moreira. This would allow Columbus to have more numbers behind the ball and allow Santos or Moreira to be free from marking the backside runner. There may be a few reasons for this change. The Black & Gold might just have been preparing to park the bus and protect a two-goal lead, in which case they would have been comfortable having an extra defender back and sacrificing their help in attack. Another reason is to free up more space for Miguel Berry or later Lucas Zelarayan to have more space to be free and create. By dropping that winger all the way back into defense, it frees up the entire side that the once occupied. Now, they only switched to a 5-4-1 when on defense. When Columbus went back on the attack, whichever winger was back (Derrick Etienne or James Igbekeme) would fly up the field and support whoever was on the ball. I think the reason for the change was a little bit of both parking the bus and creating more space, but it paid off for the Crew, as they keep a clean sheet for the second straight game.
Lucas Zelarayan playing up top
This is a change I think we will see Caleb Porter play around with in the upcoming weeks. Given that the Crew only have Miguel Berry on the roster as a quality starting striker, Columbus needs options to play up at that number 9 spot if Berry is struggling to produce. I’m not sure if we will get to a point where Zelarayan is starting the game playing that striker position unless Berry gets hurt but knowing that he can play up top and produce is a big ace for the Black & Gold to have in their pocket. If Caleb Porter does decide to play Zelarayan up top, it allows him to plug in Aiden Morris into the midfield, who has been on fire for Columbus as of late. A midfield of Artur, Nagbe, and Morris can prove to be highly productive, and it doesn’t sacrifice Zelarayan’s time on the pitch. This midfield trio would benefit the Crew because all three players are highly technical and very good at putting in work on the defensive end, so they can win more balls in the middle of the park and give the attackers more chances going to goal. Another positive is that you are pushing your best player on your team closer to goal and getting him in more dangerous positions. Again, I’m not sure Columbus will come out of the gate in a game set up like this, but it is an interesting concept to play around with.
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