The Columbus Crew’s six game unbeaten streak came to an end on Saturday, falling to Atlanta United 2-1. It was a tale of two halves for Columbus, starting strong in the first 45 but faltering in the second half. The Black & Gold grabbed a lead courtesy of a Diego Rossi tap-in 36 minutes into the game, but that lead would not last the full 90. In the second half, Atlanta centerback Stian Rode Gregersen rose for a corner and slammed the ball into the back of the net, giving the home side their much-desired equalizer. A mere 16 minutes later, Atlanta took the lead from the same player hitting the same header from the same corner that they had scored from earlier. From there, the Crew could not get back into the game, suffering their first loss since June 19th.
It was a combination of tired legs and tactics gone wrong that sunk Columbus in this game. Let’s dive into those tactical changes that did and did not pan out for the Black & Gold.
A strong first half
The Crew came out of the gate against Atlanta, and it looked like business as usual. They were dominating possession, getting deep into the home side’s attacking third and generating good looks for the attackers.
Much like their last matchup against Charlotte, Columbus just could not find that killer instinct to finish these chances off. Rossi pounced on a rebound given up by Brad Guzan, but other than that the Black & Gold looked tame around goal.
Despite the poor finishing, the Crew controlled the first half thoroughly. During this first period, Columbus debuted two different formations that they have not usually opted for.
The first formation was a 1-2-2-5 when the Black & Gold were in the attacking third. Rudy Camacho stayed back as the lone centerback, while Steven Moreira and Yevhen Cheberko sat in front of him like two defensive midfielders.
In front of Moreira and Cheberko, Alex Matan and Sean Zawadzki played as two wider attacking midfielders. This was a more natural role for Matan, who had to play as a more defensive midfielder when Atlanta was on the ball.
Spread in front of the attacking midfielders was the attacking five, consisting of the wingbacks and Cucho Hernandez, Christian Ramirez and Rossi.
This front five gave Atlanta fits to cover in their back four setups. To counter this, the home side dropped and additional midfielder into the defensive line on the outside. This freed up more space in the middle for Matan, Zawadzki and any attacker that dropped into the midfield, but it plugged up some of the overloads the Black & Gold were working on.
The second formation the Crew ran out was a 1-3-6. This is a slight tweak from the 1-2-2-5, moving Matan out wide on the left to combine with Max Arfsten, while Zawadzki dropped in between Moreira and Cheberko in midfield.
This switch was Wilfried Nancy’s attempt to free up overloads on that left side, springing Arfsten to spray crosses into the box for the attackers to pounce on. It worked to an extent, with some quality balls being played into the box, but nobody was able to finish a chance except for Rossi.
This strong first half would not last though, because in the second half Atlanta adjusted. Those adjustments generated chances and gave the hosts corner kicks. From there, fans of the Black & Gold know the rest of the story.
Falling apart in the second half
In the second half, Atlanta decided they were going to have a run at the Crew. While many teams could have laid down and let the swarms of possession to wash over them, Atlanta clawed their way back into the game.
The first key for the hosts was to try and go long as quickly as possible to catch the Columbus defense up high.
With only Camacho back as a true defensive player, he would be one-on-one with Atlanta’s striker. While Camacho is a seasoned veteran, the hosts thought their attacker up top would have to win a battle with the Frenchman one of these times.
Once Atlanta’s approach of going long started to show holes in the Black & Gold defense, it led up what would be an onslaught of corners. Those corners would eventually win the game for the home side.
The Crew decided to defend corners in the hybrid approach, some zone but also some man coverage. They put Mo Farsi on Gregersen, and Moreira on another Atlanta attacker while the rest of the Columbus squad marked the six-yard box.
There were a few problems with this decision. First, Farsi is a lot smaller than Gregersen. This allowed the towering centerback to use his strength and height to fight through Farsi’s defense and find the ball. There is a reason not to have a taller player like Camacho man marking though. If Camacho is in a zone, that frees him up to go and attack the ball freely, rather than forcing him to stay on a mark and have the smaller defenders attack the ball.
It all depends on the philosophy of the coach. In Nancy’s eyes, he wanted to see his taller players like Camacho and Cheberko attack the ball freely without having to worry about a mark. While it may have worked all year, it did not work on Saturday night. Gregersen scored to even the game and would eventually grab a second goal on an even worse defensive set piece from the Crew.
On the second corner, Gregersen started unmarked near the penalty spot. Columbus went for a more zone-heavy approach, letting the centerback make a free run in and jump over everyone. It was an adjustment from the last corner, but it was a terrible mistake that likely lost the Black & Gold the game.
Now we also must address the non-tactical side of this. The players need to do better. No matter what corner coverage a team is running, they need to also have players who are willing to go and attack the ball to clear their defensive line. The Crew did not have that on Saturday. They looked lethargic, disinterested and straight up gassed when defending those vital set pieces.
Those mental and physical lapses can be the difference in getting three, one or no points at all. That is what happened to Columbus on Saturday, giving the Black & Gold a bitter taste heading into the All-Star game
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