The Columbus Crew made it a double-win week on Saturday night with a resounding 4-2 win against Charlotte FC at Lower.com Field. This came following a 3-2 win against the Colorado Rapids at home the prior Wednesday for much-needed six points. Columbus went up 3-0 in the first half before a flurry of goals in the span of three minutes by both teams put the game at 4-2.
Despite not starting a single true center back in a defensive system that requires three center backs, the Black & Gold played well for stretches and showcased some real offensive firepower. Yet again, the Crew didn’t change much tactically but there were some nuances that head coach Wilfried Nancy showcased.
Let’s dive into these tactical changes.
The wing backs and midfielders working in sync
An issue that the Black & Gold had in the past was the midfielders not covering well enough for the wing backs when they push forward. In these recovery situations, the back three was sometimes left out to dry and Columbus vulnerable to counter attacks.
In the game against Charlotte, central midfielders Aidan Morris and Darlington Nagbe did a much better job at covering for the wing backs and limiting the counter chances. When Max Arfsten and Yaw Yeboah were caught up in the attacking third, the midfielders often slid out wide to cover the wings.
This gave Columbus a back five to defend with and allowed cover while Arfsten and Yeboah came back. The midfielders also stayed a little bit deeper than normal, which is why they were able to help so often on the defensive side.
This little tweak also had repercussions on the offensive side. When the Crew regained possession, the wing backs were already in good attacking spaces to receive the ball. At times of long-sustained pressure by Charlotte, the wing backs had to come back and relieve the midfield duo of their covering duties, but that was not the case every time. With a player like Morris pressing and winning the ball back, the Black & Gold had a better chance to counter with the wing backs higher up the field.
While this wrinkle may seem like common sense, it had a profound impact on how the game played out. The midfielders helped out and stayed deeper more frequently because Arfsten was slotted into the lineup after a pregame injury to scheduled starter Mohamed Farsi and Nancy wanted to help him high as much as possible.
This nuance worked to perfection for Columbus, allowing the team to defend with numbers and stay on the attacking edge after winning the ball back quickly.
Formation changes on defense, attack, in possession
Often this season, the Crew has used two formations in games, one on defense and one on offense. In the game against Charlotte, the Black & Gold actually used three formations, one on the defensive side and two on offense.
The defensive formation isn’t much of a shock, a 5-2-3. Forward Christian Ramirez pressed in the middle with Cucho Hernandez and Lucas Zelarayan on the outside. Behind those three were the midfield duo of Morris and Nagbe with the five defensive players.
On the offensive side, one formation was used to keep possession and the other to attack and go to goal. The possession formation was a 4-2-2-2, but with an offset winger on the left side. The back four consisted of Malte Amundsen on the left, with Steven Moreira and Sean Zawadzki in the middle rounded out by Arfsten on the right. Morris and Nagbe stayed as the two central midfielders with Zelarayan sitting in front of them as the No. 10. Hernandez and Ramirez played as two strikers, with Yeboah up high on the left flank.
This gave Columbus a lot of options in terms of possessing the ball. The back four provided width and stability to possess and switch the ball around the back. The midfield was free to find space to get splits and then advance the ball if that option was open. Hernandez could occupy the vacated space on the right side to get the ball and Yeboah was always an option for a long switch.
Once the Crew felt comfortable enough to attack and go forward, the formation shifted. Yeboah moved higher as a left winger and Arfsten followed suit on the right wing. This formed a 3-2-1-4 in the attacking half.
The rest of the formation stayed similar to the 4-2-2-2 except for the wing backs stepping higher up the field and Moreira dropping deeper than his defensive partners to be a support option.
Nancy keeps playing with formations and trying to find ways to get his players in spaces to score goals and control the game. That’s what he did on Saturday night with three formations up his sleeve.
What needs to improve
Fans witnessed the three-minute period where the Black & Gold conceded two poor goals and then redeemed themselves with a Ramirez strike. The glaring issues were shortly dwelled upon due to Columbus adding a fourth goal, but the defense remains a liability.
Take this criticism with a grain of salt because the Crew has been ravaged by injuries at the back and resorted to starting no center backs in a system that requires three. One of those three was Zawadzki, who is still incredibly young and is usually a midfielder.
That being said, there were definitely shaky moments. Former Black & Gold star and current Charlotte winger Justin Meram’s disallowed header was a defensive calamity. No communication and lack of discipline tracking runners almost hurt Columbus, but luckily the play was ruled offside by VAR.
On Charlotte’s first goal, it was obvious the need for a true center back. Moreira got out muscled and the home side ended up paying the price for it. The Frenchman had some other nervous moments as well. Allowing Charlotte’s Partick Agyemang to turn him easily and get a free shot on goal was another bullet the Black & Gold dodged.
A mere minute after conceding the first goal, a miscommunication between goalkeeper Patrick Shulte and Moreira and a bad pass by Amundsen gave the away side a second and new life.
Again, these are things that happen when players are played out of position. Luckily for the Crew, it did not come back to hurt Columbus in the end and the team still got all three points.
The injured players will return in due time but, for the time being, the Black & Gold have to work on these issues in training because harder games will come and the mistakes will not be forgiven.
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