The stars of MLS and Liga MX descended on Columbus this week, set to clash in the MLS All-Star game at Lower.com Field. The Columbus Crew had five its players selected, along with head coach Wilfried Nancy leading the way for MLS’ best. The game had fireworks out of the gate, with Liga MX opening the scoring just 16 minutes into the match. Columbus’ own Cucho Hernandez evened the score seconds later, combining with fellow Black & Gold attacker Diego Rossi to find the back of the net. From there MLS had its chances but were unable to covert while on the other side, there was a completely different story. Liga MX would score three unanswered goals on the way to a 4-1 victory over their American counterparts.
Despite this being a friendly, Nancy’s fingerprints could be seen in the way the MLS All-Stars played, especially in the second half. Let’s dive into all the tactics that went into this all-star matchup between MLS and Liga MX.
First half tactics – universal approach
In the first half of this game, the MLS All-Stars looked different from how Nancy usually lines his teams up. Crew fans know by now that the French manager prefers to go with a three-back defense, with wingbacks who will fly up the field. Typically, Nancy will also have two defensive midfielders and three interchangeable attackers up top.
In this All-Star game though, the veteran MLS coach decided on a more universal approach to his formation. After only a few days with this team, there was not enough time to implement the full-scale Nancy-ball that Columbus fans are accustomed to.
Because of this, the MLS All-Stars lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, a very common setup for teams around the globe. Not only is this formation easy to adapt to for a professional player, it fits the strengths of the starting 11 Nancy came out with.
In the back, Roman Bürki was between the posts with Justen Glad and Thiago Martins in the center of defense. Outside of them sat Miami’s Jordi Alba and Colorado’s Keegan Rosenberry as the outside backs. Sergio Busquets and Hector Herrera were the double no. 6’s, with Luciano Acosta in front of them as the no. 10. The attacking three consisted of Hernandez as the striker, with Rossi out on the right flank and Portland’s Evander on the left flank.
This gave the MLS All-Stars a balanced approach going forward, with enough numbers back to be solid defensively as well. Despite the formation change, the squad still followed in the tactical footsteps of their coach in certain aspects of the game.
For example, the MLS All-Stars pressed in a similar fashion to how the Black & Gold like to press. The front three would apply quick pressure on the Liga MX back line while Busquets and Herrera stepped up to mark the cutoffs in midfield. Because it was a friendly and not a real game, the pressure was applied in a subdued fashion, but it still worked from time to time.
This squad also took after their coach from the standpoint that their formation was adaptable. Despite lining up in an unfamiliar 4-2-3-1, Nancy still found a way to introduce a freedom and free-flowing brand of soccer into the game.
For example, Alba would often abandon his post as a left back and move either into the midfield alongside Busquets or into the attack as a winger. So, the formation changed from a 4-2-3-1 to a 3-3-1-3 or a 3-2-5.
If the formation was tweaked to one of these three-back shapes, space opened for the ex-Barcelona boys to combine and work their magic. When the ball was switched into Busquets feet, he instantly began to look for Alba on that opposite side to get in behind the defense.
This was how much of the first half went, with Rossi and Hernandez finding the lone goal for the MLS All-Stars. In the second half there would be a complete tactical change, one that looked much more like the Black & Gold fans have come to enjoy.
Second half tactics – Nancy-ball
In the second half, Nancy finally gave in and put the MLS All-Stars into a more Crew-esque formation. The MLS side lined up in a 5-2-3 with wingbacks that would turn into wingers, with an entirely new lineup on the field.
French legend and current LAFC goalkeeper Hugo Lloris sat between the sticks, with Columbus favorites Rudy Camacho and Steven Moreira in front of him. Colorado’s Moise Bombito filled out the back three as the other outside center back. Luca Orellano from FC Cincinnati lined up on the left flank, while Federico Bernardeschi played on the opposite side of the pitch. In the middle, Mathieu Choinière partnered with Riqui Puig as the central midfielders. Denis Bouanga, Christian Benteke, and Hany Mukhtar rounded out the 11 as the attacking trident.
This approach looked more familiar to Crew fans. While the team was not as technically sound and cool on the ball, the All-Stars loosely resembled the style of play that has become so beautiful in Columbus.
Camacho played as the central center back in the back three as he usually did and had a decently good game. There were a few miscommunications on the Liga MX goals, but the French center back controlled the game well and made important challenges.
His Black & Gold counterpart Moreira had more freedom in this game. Columbus fans are accustomed to seeing the Frenchman spring forward into the attack from his defensive spot, but Moreira seemed to be free to roam wherever he wanted to. Not only did he make runs into the attacking third, he also sat in the midfield at times alongside Choinière as another defensive midfielder.
Moving Moreira into the midfield made the formation evolve into a 2-2-1-5. Both Camacho and Bombito stayed back, while Moreira and Choinière were the midfield anchors in front of them. Moreira joining the midfield pushed Puig forward and allowed the LA Galaxy star to have more attacking freedom. Both wingbacks pushed high as wingers, linking up with the front three.
This change in tactics and formation yielded good results for the MLS side. They generated several scoring chances, hit the woodwork multiples times but was unable to find a goal. There were two goals given up to Liga MX in transition, but that is the risk you run when playing in Nancy’s system.
Columbus’ final All-Star checked into the match later in the game, with Darlington Nagbe coming on to join the midfield and link up with Moreira and Camacho. When Nagbe checked into the game, he sat as a lone no. 6 with Puig in front of him. Moreira still moved into the midfield at times but hung back after the goals went in to provide more defensive support.
While it was not the result that the fans of the MLS All-Star team wanted, it was a good display in a soccer-centric city. Columbus got to prove how good of a host city it was, and the Crew’s stars got to showcase their talents and how the Black & Gold like to play beautiful soccer.
Comments