The Columbus Crew returned to MLS action after a week of rest to take on the Seattle Sounders at home on Saturday. Columbus featured a highly rotated lineup due to a significant number of players being called up to international duty. One surprising aspect of the team sheet was the inclusion of only one goalkeeper after MLS denied the Black & Gold’s exemption request to bring up an emergency goalkeeper to backup Abraham Romero. That denial would come back to hurt the Crew, after Romero’s challenge on striker Jordan Morris left the goalkeeper seeing red and forced Sean Zawadzki to go in goal. From there, the game was a formality.
Seattle scored with the next kick of the ball, and then continued to bag three more on the way to a rare victory in Columbus. The league has finally found the Black & Gold’s limit; the Crew cannot win without a goalkeeper.
The rotated squad and unusual in-game circumstances forced Wilfried Nancy to do tactical gymnastics. Let’s dive into all the tactics that went into this wild game.
Pre-red card tactics
Columbus came out of the locker room and it was business as usual, despite a few new or unfamiliar faces in the lineup.
The Black & Gold still opted for their typical formation and setup, with three centerbacks and wingbacks that would climb high up the pitch. Two central midfielders sat behind a fluid front three. Very familiar territory for the Crew.
Despite the usual setup, there were a few positional caveats. Positionally, Rudy Camacho lined up as the right centerback for a large part of the first half. Yevhen Cheberko was the central centerback, while Zawadzki played to the left of the Ukrainian.
Due to Columbus’ rotated personnel, the Black & Gold took different shapes throughout the first half. Initially, the Crew lined up in a 3-1-5-1 on offense. Cheberko stayed deep with Zawadzki and Camacho, while Darlington Nagbe sat as a lone defensive midfielder in the center of the pitch. Alexandru Matan moved up as a central no. 10, with Dylan Chambost and AZ Jackson next to him so they had three attacking midfielders.
Outside of the attacking mids, both wingbacks gave Columbus width higher up the pitch and Diego Rossi led the line as the lone striker.
Rossi’s positioning in the first half looked like shades of Cucho Hernandez. The Uruguayan often drifted along the backline, trying to get in the defenders’ blind spots and run in behind. When that was not available, he was content to drop into midfield and receive the ball to feet much like his Columbian counterpart typically does.
This formation could easily become a 3-1-6 when either Rossi decided to drop into the midfield, or the midfielders moved up higher on the defense. Typically, the fluid attack did not stay in one line, but there were times in the attacking third where they all were pushing up on the defense.
Finally, a third formation switch came as the Black & Gold really began pushing for a goal. The Crew moved into a 1-3-6 in the final third, moving both outside centerbacks alongside Nagbe to pin Seattle in.
The centerbacks joining the attack gave Columbus width behind the attack to swing the ball and try to shift Seattle’s defense. This is a tactic the Black & Gold have taken advantage of all year, trying to get opponents to overshift and then find the backside runner.
Unfortunately for the Crew, they were not sharp at combining on passes in the final third. That usual chemistry and quick passing was not there, which made it hard to generate any strong attacking chances.
Then the red card came, when Romero came errantly and erratically off his line to clear a ball that he did not need to. This led to a red card, and a laughable decision by MLS meant that Columbus would have to finish the game with Zawadzki in goal.
Post-red card tactics
Now the Black & Gold were really in a bind. The Crew have expressed this “never say die” mentality throughout the season. Coming back against Inter Miami from 2-0 down in Leagues Cup, scoring two goals in the Leagues Cup final in stoppage time, even winning with a heavily rotated lineup against Philadelphia.
Despite this confidence, overcoming not having a goalkeeper on the field was too much for Columbus. No tactical adjustment or personnel switch was going to bail the Black & Gold out this time, but Nancy still put in the work and tried to give his team every little advantage he could find.
The first and most obvious switch was to move Zawadzki into goal and bring off Jackson for DeJuan Jones. Now the Crew had a fully manned backline and set up in a 5-3-1 on defense. Jones moved to the right wingback spot while Marcelo Herrera came inside as the right centerback. Columbus typically runs a 5-2-3 on defense with a full lineup, but they dropped Chambost back with Matan and Nagbe to shore up the midfield.
The thinking behind this was to try and get the Black & Gold on the ball and still have enough numbers deep to keep possession. If the Crew could still grow into this game and keep the ball, they may have a shot at evening the contest and maintain a sense of control in the game.
The problems arose for Columbus when they became unable to retain the ball, which meant Seattle could counter on an undermanned backline. The absence of a player on the field for the Black & Gold loomed large, especially when trying to create overloads.
The Crew tried a bunch of different formations in the second half to try and remedy Seattle’s man advantage. They started in a 3-3-3 on offense with a cupped midfield. Rossi, Jones and Max Arfsten led the attack, with Matan and Chambost underneath them as attacking midfielders. Nagbe sat as a lone no. 6 in front of the three centerbacks.
This gave Columbus a balanced look but failed to produce anything on the offensive end. The Black & Gold were not able to commit enough numbers forward and combine enough to unlock Seattle’s defense.
So, they went to a 1-5-3 and moved the outside centerbacks into the outside midfield. This gave the Crew a more attacking approach but opened the floodgates for Seattle on the counter attack.
After the influx of goals conceded, Columbus switched to a 2-4-3, but the results were more of the same. Even with two centerbacks staying deeper, overcoming the loss of a player and a goalkeeper was just too much for the Black & Gold.
MLS has safeguards in place to prevent these situations from happening. Despite the Crew following the protocol to get an emergency goalkeeper, the league opted to deny them for what can be understood as no reason at all. Nancy has been a miracle worker since he arrived in Columbus, but no amount pixie dust from the Black & Gold’s French manager could have saved the Crew from the result against Seattle. Columbus will move their focus ahead to a date with FC Cincinnati with a pissed off mentality and revenge on their mind.
Comments