Crew tactical review: Uninspired Columbus grabs a draw in New Jersey

The Columbus Crew got back to action on Saturday, traveling to New Jersey to take on the New York Red Bulls in a pivotal Eastern Conference matchup. With only a few games remaining, both sides were looking to climb the table to make or sweeten their position within the playoff picture. It was a back-and-forth game, with both teams having chances to open the scoring, but neither side converted, ending the match in a 0-0 draw. Both teams picked up a point, but disappointment was shared by both sides’ who wanted to claim all three.

It is another dismal performance from a Black & Gold team who have just not been good enough this season. The offense – even with the inclusion of Wessam Abou Ali – is still sputtering despite the attacking power the Crew have on paper. In another disappointing draw, let’s dive into all the tactics.

RBNY’s tactical setup and Columbus’ struggles

Coming into this game, the Black & Gold had been in a rut since crashing out of Leagues Cup. Without Darlington Nagbe, the Crew have looked lost and ultimately uninspiring. The same themes happened in this game as well, but New York played a part in that too.

First, let’s tackle what RBNY did to make Columbus uncomfortable in possession. Teams often try a plethora of different presses to affect the way the Black & Gold can build out of the back. All of MLS knows the Crew like a possession-dominant system, and because of that Columbus deals with a lot of different defensive looks.

On Saturday, New York had a defensive shape that the Black & Gold had not seen before. Red Bulls stayed in a 4-3-3, but the midfield and attacking lines were offset towards a different sideline.

New York’s attacking three shaded over to the left side of the field, while the midfield cheated more to the right. This shape allowed RBNY to have a balanced defensive shape that only gave up space to the Crew’s left center back (LCB) (Malte Amundsen) and the droppers on the right half of the field (Andres Herrera, Daniel Gazdag or Diego Rossi).

In the moments where the ball looks like it could be going into those spaces, New York’s setup allowed players to cover. If Amundsen got the ball on the left side, one of Red Bulls’ midfield three could step up and mark him. If it looked like the Black & Gold were trying to switch the point of attack to the right side of the field, the New York midfield could shift, or the left winger could drop in to cut off passing lanes.

This offset press made it incredibly hard for Columbus to find space. Typically, when a team defends the Crew, there is some amount of space that they are giving up whether it is the wide areas or central midfield. RBNY gave up space to Amundsen and on the right side for droppers, but they closed down that space quickly with how their structure could adapt.

Although this pressing structure confused the Black & Gold for a while, it was not foolproof. The Crew had attacking movements and was at least one Rossi chance away from taking the lead due to good attacking play. We are used to seeing Wilfried Nancy coach teams to unlock the puzzle and win games that way, but they have been missing that last step recently.

The fix for Columbus in this game was going up the field with more tempo. If the Black & Gold combined before RBNY could fill the gaps, the Crew could get into good attacking spaces.

As has been the trend in the past few weeks though, Columbus could not score for the life of them. They struggled to even generate a shot in the first half. The big question is, why have the Black & Gold been so stale the past few games?

For starters, the absence of Nagbe is showing. The Crew captain is the perfect holding midfielder to dictate tempo, win the ball back and allow Dylan Chambost to move into the attack because Nagbe can cover him. Without Nagbe running the midfield, Columbus has been chasing shadows.

Part of this also falls on the manager. Nancy simply cannot play Taha Habroune in central midfield without pairing him with a ball-winning midfielder. Habroune is a budding young player who is going to have a great professional career but asking him to have increased defensive duties is not working well. Habroune often is caught ball-watching, is second to react on crosses and at times simply gives up on defending and jogs around. His lackadaisical approach to being a true central midfielder is causing the Black & Gold problems.

Another issue is the inability to finish easy chances up top. Rossi, Gazdag, and the rest of the attack have seemingly lost all killer instinct. Much of the lack of chances has to do with how stagnant the offense looks. There is little movement, no creativit,y and too often they recycle the ball back to Patrick Schulte. In the first half, the Crew turned RBNY over near New York’s box, but instead of having a shot or being aggressive, they decided to play the ball back to Schulte.

The simple fact is that when you look at the offensive creativity for Columbus right now, it resembles the 2022 offense led by former head coach Caleb Porter. Fans of the Black & Gold know how that ends and will not want to see the trend continue.

Adapting to Wessam Abou Ali

Another thing that the Crew needs to figure out in the final few weeks is how to base their offense around Abou Ali. Not every striker is created equal, and while Abou Ali is a talented goal scorer, he is not the same player as Cucho Hernandez.

Hernandez was a jack-of-all-trades in the attack. He was mobile, could create, and was also dangerous from every part of the pitch. Abou Ali on the other hand, is more of a true no. 9 up top.

This is not an implication on the Palestinian striker. A true finisher playing up top with creators around him is exactly what Columbus needs. Instead, the emphasis is now on the players around Abou Ali to figure out how to best service and create around him.

This responsibility rests firmly on the shoulders of Rossi and Gazdag. Both the Uruguayan and the Hungarian need to get back into the role of being creators, rather than pushing the envelope as goal scorers.

Think of Rossi in his first season with the Black & Gold. Fans were frustrated with the lack of production from the standpoint of goals, but Rossi actually was an integral part of that championship run. He routinely gave Hernandez and Christian Ramirez space to work and provided a number of assists during that span.

That is exactly what Rossi and Gazdag both need to do now. The goals will come with time; they cannot force it. Now, they should focus on how to best link up with Abou Ali and give him the best looks possible.

From what we have seen so far, that will likely look like having quick one-two combinations with each other in tight spaces. The wingbacks will be wide in case the ball needs to be recycled, but if Rossi and Gazdag can use Abou Ali as the focal point of the attack to run and attack off of, the Crew might figure out their scoring issues sooner than people think.

Although Columbus has been in a rough stretch, it seems like Nagbe is closer to a return. At the same time, the more practice Abou Ali gets with his new teammates, the more dangerous the Black & Gold will become.