Crew tactical review: Columbus gets back to winning ways against Vancouver

The Columbus Crew returned to its winning ways on Saturday, taking down the Vancouver Whitecaps 2-1. After a break, the Black & Gold returned home to face the team at the top of the Western Conference. Although Vancouver was missing a host of typical contributors, they posed a sizable threat. Columbus took the lead moments into the match when Ibrahim Aliyu got on the end of a cross by Lassi Lappalainen, stunning the Whitecaps from the jump. However, the lead lasted mere minutes after a deflected shot careened past an already-diving Evan Bush to even the game. Later, a careless giveaway by the Vancouver defense and an incisive pass from Daniel Gazdag saw Diego Rossi score the Crew’s second of the night. For the rest of the game, it was Columbus dominance. The Black & Gold scored three more goals, but all three were called back for offside. When the final whistle blew, the Crew gained another three points for the first time in what feels like forever.

With a rotated squad, Wilfried Nancy had to make some tactical tweaks in this game. Let’s dive into all the tactics that influenced the outcome.

Aliyu at wingback

One of the biggest surprises of the night was the inclusion of Aliyu in the starting lineup when there already seemed to be three attacking players in the XI. At kickoff, it was apparent that Aliyu would play a different role than usual for Columbus: wingback.

With Max Arfsten on and Mo Farsi returning from international duty, Aliyu and Lappalainen started on the flanks. From the opening kick, this decision seemed to reap dividends after the two connected for the first goal.

After coming in from the Houston Dynamo, Aliyu has primarily played in the fluid front three at the spearhead of Nancy’s team. In that role he did well, bagging a goal or two and often looking dangerous around the goalmouth. Like so many other players though, you have to be adaptable to play in Nancy’s system.

Moving to the wingback spot for this game, Aliyu fit in decently well. A tenet of playing wingback in Columbus’ system is that you must be able be a dangerous attacker along with a competent defender. Aliyu fit the bill of being dangerous on the attack instantly.

On offense, Aliyu stayed high and wide until he saw an opportunity to cut inside behind the outside shoulder of the defender. With most of the defense focused on the fluid front three in the middle, this gave Aliyu a number of chances to cut inside and get behind the defense unmarked.

Unfortunately for him, many of these runs were called offside. Vancouver did a good job of keeping a high line and baiting the Black & Gold into those offsides calls. Many of the decisions were close, but it kept the Crew from getting a third, fourth, or fifth goal of the night.

Although he offered a different dynamic in attack on the outside, there is still room for improvement. Aliyu currently lacks the touch to play wingback consistently, losing the ball off his foot due to a bad trap or not even getting a touch on the ball.

One of the things that makes Farsi so valuable is his ability to bring the ball down instantly and then drive at the defender. On the outside, there is not typically a ton of time to get control with a few touches, so you need to bring the ball under control with as few as possible.

Other than the issue of ball control, this game was a really good showing for Aliyu. Now, Columbus knows that if injury or international duty strikes the Black & Gold again, they have a reserve wingback in Aliyu.

Columbus’ offensive formational overload

Throughout this match the Crew attacked Vancouver by overloading the different phases of the Whitecaps’ formation. From back to front, Columbus altered their formation to have a numerical advantage no matter what area of the pitch they were in.

Beginning in Nancy’s classic 3-2-5 offensive formation, the Black & Gold could change whatever they wanted about their shape. The Whitecaps’ offensive line included only one striker, so Andres Herrera moved more forward into the midfield alongside Darlington Nagbe and Amar Sejdic. It does not take three defenders to overload a single striker, so Herrera moved forward on offense.

From there, Sean Zawadzki and Yevhen Cheberko played a two-man game along with the midfield to pass around and isolate the single attacker. Once play bypassed the attacking line, the Crew began to overload the midfield.

Vancouver defended in a 5-4-1, meaning Columbus needed a minimum of five players to overload the midfield. With Herrera alongside Nagbe and Sejdic, AZ Jackson also dropped into the left midfield pocket to be the fourth option. From there, Rossi, Gazdag, or even Cheberko could move into the midfield to yet again have a numbers advantage over Vancouver’s midfield group.

From that moment forward the offensive overload was easy. The Crew committed players forward in the attack and condensed the Vancouver formation. With all the attacking options Columbus had, overloading the defense is the most common formational overload the Black & Gold do.

In one movement, the Crew can go from a 2-3-5, to a 1-5-4, and then to a 1-3-6 or 2-2-6. These formational changes are not just indicative of Columbus wanting to attack; it is committing players to a certain area of the pitch so they can win the numbers battle. This creates confusion on Vancouver’s part to mark all these newly arriving players, but it also gives the Black & Gold enough manpower to combine and pass through the defense at any given moment.

These changes not only got the Crew three points, but it put this Columbus team back on the right track after a rough month. The Black & Gold played true Nancy-ball on Saturday, a welcome sight for weary eyes.