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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.

The Columbus Crew returned to MLS action on Saturday, travelling north of the border for a Trillium Cup match against Toronto FC. Early on, it looked like the Black & Gold would end up having their way after Diego Rossi opened the scoring inside of ten minutes. The Crew held onto control throughout the lion share of the rest of the game but were unable to double their advantage before Toronto caught the Columbus defense napping to even the game. Daniel Gazdag seemingly got onto the scoresheet to give the Black & Gold the lead again, but a suspect offside review overturned what would have been the Hungarian’s first goal from the run of play for the Crew. In the end, Columbus walked away with the points shared and another collapse against inferior opposition. In a game that offered an opportunity to gain some momentum heading into the home stretch of the season, let’s dive into all the tactics that netted the Black & Gold a point. It’s all about the outside center backs The key to this game for the Crew was the outside center backs. Every offensive movement depended on where the outside centerbacks ended up, and what runs the other players could make off of them. In possession, Columbus morphed into a 1-4-2-3. Sean Zawadzki stayed deep as the lone centerback, with Steven Moreira and Malte Amundsen up as wide midfielders alongside Dylan Chambost and Taha Habroune. Rossi and Gazdag roamed as floating attacking midfielders, with Ibrahim Aliyu up top and flanked by Max Arfsten and Andres Herrera. Having four players in the midfield gave the Black & Gold flexibility on offense and transition defense. When attacking, the midfield could choose a route of attack based on how Toronto responded to the numbers. If the home side filtered wide to cover the wingbacks and outside centerbacks, Habroune and Chambost could combine with Gazdag and Rossi through the middle. If Toronto went compact, the outside center backs played into the wingbacks and overlapped to create those wide overloads. Again, the versatility of Moreira and Amundsen allowed the Crew to move just beyond those two options. Chambost and Habroune had the opportunity to move into the attacking midfield if both outside center backs pinched into central midfield. This sequence of movements gave Rossi and Gazdag more freedom to roam in different spaces, while also having more attacking options in close proximity to combine with. On the flip side, when Moreira and Amundsen decided to move into a wing-back role, the actual wingbacks who were higher up the pitch pinched inside as a second and third striker. More bodies in the box equals more chaos for Toronto to deal with. The other plus is that now, Columbus has two of their best crossers (Moreira and Amundsen) on the wing to pick out those targets. That tweak of allowing Moreira and Amundsen to hunt down the wings or inside gave the wingbacks more freedom as well. Arfsten and Herrera knew that they had coverage with the outside centerbacks behind them, so both wingbacks made diagonal runs in the blind spots of Toronto’s defense. While none of these runs directly yielded a goal, those dangerous runs generated good goal-scoring chances for the Crew. Looking back on this game, the two players who impacted the game the most positionally were both outside center backs. If Moreira and whoever he is paired with are on their game, Columbus is as good as it gets. Another collapse to a lesser opponent Simply put, the Black & Gold should have won this game fairly easily. Toronto is not the worst team in the league, but they have had struggles. Winning away from home is never a walk in the park, but after the opening ten minutes and how the Crew were controlling the game, surely Columbus fans thought this would be a 2-0 or 3-0 game. Instead, the Black & Gold folded yet again late in the match, conceded a stupid equalizer, and could not find the decisive goal to get all three points. A draw is a draw, and the Crew will take the point, but great teams do not go far in this league by tying games they are supposed to win. There is no tactical reason as to why Columbus got the result they did. Wilfried Nancy drew up a good game plan and had the Black & Gold in goalscoring positions, but the Crew coasted through the final phase of the game. Look at Toronto’s goal. A corner that is initially headed out by Columbus falls to Habroune, who whiffs on a clearance that would have given the Black & Gold’s defense an opportunity to get up and apply the repress. As the ball is recycled out wide, Habroune does not close down the Toronto attacker quickly enough to cut off the cross. The cross is played in, Jacen Russell-Rowe does not check his shoulder, and Toronto has a tap-in equalizer. What happened on that particular play is lazy defending by two bright, young stars for the Crew. Habroune has been sensational as of late, and Russell-Rowe has his moments as well. This goal, though, is inexcusable from a work ethic standpoint. Even 77 minutes into the match, you have to close down attackers and make sure marks are covered like you did in the first minute. Those mental mistakes late in games are what have plagued Columbus this season. Fans will talk about the lack of a true goal scorer outside of Rossi, Gazdag’s ineffectiveness in front of goal, and Patrick Schulte’s blunders, but the real problem is the work ethic late in games. In terms of alarming trends to have around your team, conceding lazy late goals is perhaps the most worrisome. Nancy and the Black & Gold coaching staff have a week to figure it out, but as we head into the playoffs, there is not much more margin for error.

The Columbus Crew kicked off their Leagues Cup title defense on Tuesday night, taking on Mexican side Toluca at Lower.com Field. The contest got off to a dream start for the hosts, with Diego Rossi converting a penalty to put Columbus up 1-0. In the second half, Max Arfsten doubled the lead merely five minutes after halftime. The Black & Gold looked in control from the standpoint of the scoreline, but Toluca began fighting back. The visitors got a goal back after Patrick Schulte spilled a seemingly routine shot at the feet of a Toluca attacker, gifting Toluca a goal. The news got worse before it got better for the Crew, with a towering header slipping by Schulte’s hands a short time later to even the game at 2-2. Columbus had a chance for redemption from the penalty spot though, but Rossi’s second penalty of the evening was saved. From there, the Black & Gold went on to lose on penalties and claim only a point from this contest. In another disappointing collapse for the Crew, let’s dive into all the tactics. Columbus’ early dominance The first 15-20 minutes of the game were a dream for the Black & Gold. The Crew got on the board from the penalty spot and created a number of other scoring chances that should have been converted. Much of this early attacking prowess was actually due to the way Toluca was pressing, which played right into Columbus’ hands. Toluca came out of the gates pressing in a 5-5 but not pushing up their backline to supplement the press. This pressure left a huge gap in the midfield for Rossi, Daniel Gazdag and Dylan Chambost to exploit. When those dropping attackers received the ball, they could simply turn and run at the retreating defensive line. From there, the game became smaller. It was five Toluca defenders against however many attackers the Black & Gold mustered. Often, Toluca’s problem was when they collapsed or narrowed the defense in response to the driving attackers. This vice of the backline gave the Crew wingbacks more space to receive the ball and then take on their defender. Columbus achieved these overloads by building out of the back in a 1-3-1-5. Both outside centerbacks moved up alongside Darlington Nagbe in midfield, with Chambost moving higher as a roaming attacking midfielder. Jacen Russell-Rowe remained up top as the target man, with Rossi and Gazdag freely roaming underneath. The outside centerbacks also had the freedom to move up the field and overload the wings with the wingbacks. Once the first block of five pressers was broken, the Black & Gold wanted to get as many numbers forward as possible to overload the Toluca defense. With Steven Moreira and sometimes even Yevhen Cheberko moving into the attack, they were able to accomplish just that. It was a great start for the Crew, but the home side will be wishing they took advantage of more of their chances off the bat. It could have easily been 3-0 in favor of Columbus heading into halftime, but slight miscues in the execution limited the Black & Gold to one goal. Toluca’s resurgence The entire match changed a little bit after the Crew scored the first goal of the game. Toluca saw that their pressure in the 5-5 was not working, so they opted to make a change. The visitors instead doubled down and decided to apply more pressure, now going after Columbus with seven to eight players. Toluca’s new press actually looks much like the Black & Gold’s. This change sacrificed Toluca’s defensive stability for a more robust pressing strategy, but it also flipped the emphasis of the game. In the 5-5 press, Toluca put the pressure on themselves to turn the Crew over and win the ball. Pressing with five players is not easy by any stretch of the imagination, especially against Columbus. More turnovers were going to need to come from Toluca making a great play, rather than forcing the Black & Gold to make a poor one. Now, with seven or eight players sent to press the Crew, the home side began to make mistakes. Passes were sloppy, touches were not in control and the turnover numbers began going up more and more. By forcing Columbus into mistakes rather than banking on their press to generate them, Toluca got back into the game. Of course, the press was a significant part of Toluca’s comeback, but it was not the only reason they got back into the game. The Black & Gold’s inconsistencies reared their ugly heads again. Poor goalkeeping on multiple occasions from Schulte did more harm than good. The Crew’s defense is still aerially inept, the offense tends to struggle connecting passes and finishing “can’t miss” chances. These constant screw ups continue to sink Columbus in games where they have a good start, but fall over the finish line. For the second straight game, the Black & Gold blow a lead in the second half. Wilfried Nancy is all about building habits, but this certain trend is not one he will want to see continue.

Butler suspends Social Justice and Diversity requirements. Photo by Andrew Buckley. EMMA MCLEAN | MANAGING EDITOR | emclean@butler.edu CALEB DENORME | EDITOR-IN-CHIEF | cdenorme@butler.edu Butler University has suspended its Social Justice and Diversity (SJD) academic requirement for students, citing compliance with government standards and trends. The university claims that the decision is intended to protect the institution’s access to state and federal funding, which includes grants and financial aid programs. In a message sent to the Butler community on July 24, university leadership clarified that while the SJD requirement is no longer mandatory, the associated courses will remain available as non-core options. The decision does not affect the availability or scheduling of current SJD-designated classes. This move comes nearly two months after Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita sent a letter to the university and President James Danko condemning Butler’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) policies. Rokita stated in the letter that “virtually all forms of racial discrimination—even those employed in service of the interests of diversity, equity, and inclusion—are unlawful.” The Attorney General asked Butler to provide answers regarding the university’s DEI policies by June 27 to analyze Butler’s concurrence with civil rights laws. Rokita wrote that Butler’s answers would also shed light on the university’s non-profit standing. Despite the changes in academic policy, Butler expressed a steadfast commitment to “fostering an inclusive, respectful, and intellectually vibrant campus community.” The university stated it would continue to offer resources through the Division of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Student Affairs (DEISA) for all students who wanted to participate. University leadership acknowledged that the change may raise concerns and promised ongoing dialogue and transparency as they navigate the evolving legal landscape. In a statement published by Butler’s Student Government Organization (SGA), President Eloise Ayotte and Vice President Elena Clark write, “We believe that engaging with diverse perspectives and social justice issues is essential to the academic and personal growth of every student … we will continue working to ensure [these values] are upheld in our classrooms, programs, and student spaces.” Proceeding without the SJD requirement raises concerns regarding Butler’s standing with DEI. While leadership promised continued support of inclusivity efforts, the future of broader DEI initiatives on campus is uncertain. The Butler Collegian will continue to report on this story.

The Columbus Crew were back in action for a midweek clash against Nashville SC, but fans will be wishing there was no game at all. The hosts took the lead just over a minute into the match, marking the second straight game where the Black & Gold have conceded within two minutes. Nashville grabbed another goal in the first half, sending the Crew into the locker room in a 2-0 hole. After the events in Cincinnati on Saturday, it was not a stretch to say Columbus could make the comeback. Unfortunately for fans of the Black & Gold, it was not meant to be. Nashville would eventually make it 3-0, and that is how the game would end. It was an incredibly ugly game from Wilfried Nancy’s side, so let’s dive into all the tactics that sent the Crew home with nothing to show for. Nashville’s well-thought-out gameplan Nashville came into this game with a clear motive on the offensive side. They were going to use Columbus’ tendency to attack and throw numbers forward against the Black & Gold. The hosts accomplished this by defending with eight players and leaving only two attackers up top. By locking down the defensive end, Nashville invited pressure onto the backline and drew the Crew out. The more Nashville dropped back, the more Columbus wanted to get numbers forward to find overloads. It was at these moments that the Black & Gold would be the most vulnerable on the back end, with Sean Zawadzki typically being the only defender deep. The deep backline would stopgap any type of approach from the Crew, then when the ball was turned over the emphasis was on the first pass out. One easy way to bypass Columbus’ repress is to play a quick long-ball over the top to the attack, which is exactly what Nashville decided to do. At the first whiff of a turnover in play, Sam Surridge and Hany Mukhtar drifted wide onto opposite ends of the field. Both attackers then became options for quick long-balls out of the back to trigger the counter. With Zawadzki only back to stop any counter chance, Nashville had a two vs. one chance if they could get the ball out fast enough. Many times they did, charging at an out-of-depth Zawadzki and attempting to outrun Steven Moreira and Yevhen Cheberko who were recovering. If Zawadzki took the ballcarrier away, the backside passes to Mukhtar or another trailing Nashville player would be open. If Zawadzki dropped off, he would just delay the problem until the attack was closer to Patrick Schulte’s goalmouth. Nashville was incredibly smart at taking a tenet of the Black & Gold’s philosophy – finding numerical overloads – and applying it to their own gameplan. The Crew want to commit nine players into the attack? That is fine for Nashville, they just countered the undermanned backline with two attackers to create an overload of their own. In the end, Columbus simply had no answers. Nashville ran riot for most of the night, netting three goals and sending the Black & Gold home with nothing to show for. Columbus’ shortcomings On both ends of the pitch, this game was a disaster for the Crew. The defense could only be described as “Swiss cheese” after conceding in the opening two minutes for the second straight game, this time courtesy of Zawadzki’s chest. Offensively, there was no real bright spot outside of a few chances that were blocked by the Nashville defense. Columbus has a history of games like this so far this season. One day, the Black & Gold will muster a comeback from 2-0 down against Cincinnati, but the next they can look pedestrian on offense and completely inept on defense. To give credit where credit is due, Nashville came into this game with a clear gameplan and a track record in the top half of the East, but the Crew are better than a 3-0 scoreline. The biggest and most glaring problem from Columbus was the sloppiness and complacency. Easy passes, touches and shooting opportunities looked impossible when a player in Black & Gold was attempting it. Chances to turn into space and open the game up were bypassed for dropped passes and negative movement. Easy mistakes like that engrain an almost lazy mentality in a team for a game. Everyone is looking around for someone to be the spark, but the spark never came. Along with the sloppy mistakes was an attack that missed the biggest opening Nashville gave up, the wide channels. The hosts defended with a narrow midfield three (or four sometimes), but Darlington Nagbe and Amar Sejdic were content to stay central. Often times this season we have seen the Crew’s midfielders drift wide as a temporary half-pivot to connect the backline to the higher wingbacks, but that never happened in this game. That small change could have helped Columbus build around that narrow midfield or pull those midfielders wide so Diego Rossi and Daniel Gazdag could drop into that vacated space. Unfortunately for the Black & Gold, that small switch never happened. Wednesday night in Nashville was the perfect storm of a midweek match, a sloppy performance and an opponent having a stellar gameplan to sink the Crew. Columbus still is in the top sector of the Eastern Conference, but they will not want a repeat of this performance anytime soon.

The Columbus Crew enjoyed a typical trip to Cincinnati on Saturday evening, coming from behind a 2-0 deficit to win 4-2 in Ohio’s southern city. After two goals in the opening five minutes by Pavel Bucha and Evander gave Cincinnati a lead, the Black & Gold responded by rattling off four unanswered goals to seal all three points and claim the state. Diego Rossi, Max Arfsten, and Taha Habroune all got onto the scoresheet, with Miles Robinson contributing to the score as well with an own goal. Cincinnati controlled the pace of the game at the beginning of both halves, but other than those times the Crew were threatening. Wilfried Nancy gets the best of Pat Noonan yet again on Cincinnati’s home patch, pulling Columbus within two points of the top of the Eastern Conference. Let’s dive into all the tactics that helped the Black & Gold land a Hell is Real victory in Cincinnati. A nightmare beginning For any Crew fan watching this game, the first five minutes had a feeling of dread attached to it. Bucha laced a first-time shot into the back of the net in the opening minute of the contest, followed by Evander finding the far corner on a half-volley outside the box. Both goals were gut punches to Columbus early in the match, but it is not uncommon to see the Black & Gold concede these goals. The first goal for example. Ibrahim Aliyu, who started at right wing-back in place of Mo Farsi, was caught waiting for a pass and had his pocket quickly picked by the Cincinnati defense. Aliyu’s complacent behavior left Steven Moreira in no-man’s land with a quick decision to make. The reigning MLS Defender of the Year was in between dropping off and committing to challenge the streaking Cincinnati ballcarrier. Moreira jumped up to try and halt the attack right there, but the opposing player got a touch before him, skipping down the sideline relatively unmarked. These two mistakes forced the Crew into a situation that no manager likes to see: overextension. Now the entire defense had to shift over to that right side with Aliyu too high up the pitch to defend and Moreira trailing the play. Columbus shifted over and were not correctly marked, leaving Bucha open at the top of the box on a late-arriving run. While the first two mistakes by Aliyu and Moreira gave Cincinnati an attacking chance, the marking for Bucha actually falls on the Black & Gold’s recovering midfielders. Looking at the Crew defense, many of the defenders and recovering midfielders were marking pockets of space rather than players. Dylan Chambost drops too deep, allowing Bucha to run into that open space and dispatch the goal. While this goal may look bad due to the immediacy of it in the match, it does tend to happen. With Columbus’ tendency to commit numbers forward comes times when pockets of space will be open and exploited. The first goal is a prime example of a turnover leading to a negative chain reaction. Cincinnati’s second goal is more on the raw attacking skill of Evander than anything the Black & Gold did wrong. The home side does well to switch the point of attack to the far side, giving Robinson a long-range look at goal which was blocked by Yevhen Cheberko. The follow-up shot by Evander is world-class. Bouncing across his body to the far corner is a ridiculous strike that would be difficult for any team to counter. If there were any points to learn about from this goal, it would be how the Crew’s midfield is caught standing. Chambost moves over to put pressure on Robinson, but Daniel Gazdag jogs behind the play, seemingly ready to sprint into the attack when Columbus wins the ball back. Again, not an egregious goal to concede due to the absurd strike from Evander, but there are small things the Black & Gold can work on to make sure it does not happen again. The opening five minutes might have been hell for the Crew, but Columbus was about to inflict some fire and brimstone on Cincinnati throughout the course of the next 85 minutes. Columbus’ response If there is one thing the Black & Gold love doing, it is coming back from 2-0 deficits in Cincinnati. The prospect of a comeback looked bleak in the opening minutes, but never count out Nancy’s men. After the first two goals went in, the Crew showed a direct intent to put pressure on Cincinnati on both sides of the ball. Let’s start defensively. True to form, Columbus pressed the home side constantly to try and turn the ball over. The Black & Gold defenders often pressed on Cincinnati’s first touch, looking to dislodge the ball the moment an attacker received it. The interesting tweak Nancy made was to have the Crew backline man-mark Cincinnati’s front three. Evander, Kevin Denkey, and former Columbus striker Kei Kamara were all man-marked constantly by Sean Zawadzki, Moreira, and Cheberko. Oddly enough, this did not mean that the Black & Gold were pulled out of position. The Crew backline did an amazing job at filling in and passing off marks, making it hard for Denkey and Kamara to get touches on the ball. Evander often dropped into the midfield deeper, allowing the defensive line to pass of his mark to the midfielders. This was key when Cincinnati opted to possess the ball rather than play on the counter. After going up two goals, the home side often decided to slow play down and possess around the Columbus repress. The pressure did not stop, but it was evident that Cincinnati was trying to take the sting out of the game and eliminate any foothold the Black & Gold might find. When Cincinnati possessed, they controlled the game. After a while though, the home team decided to play more on the counter as the Crew had more of the ball. Instead of trying to possess against Columbus when they gave away the ball, Cincinnati changed game plans to see if they could strike fast much like they did in the opening five minutes. That is where the game changed. Cincinnati started turning the ball over and could not hold play up – much due to the Black & Gold man-marking their attackers – allowing the Crew to have more of the ball going forward. As Cincinnati tried to counter and press, they also threw numbers forward and left the midfield wide open. This mistake gave Columbus acres of space to exploit and run into at a recovering Cincinnati backline. We saw this firsthand on the Black & Gold’s first goal. Darlington Nagbe breaks the initial line of pressure and runs for 50 yards into open space before offloading the ball to Aliyu. Much of this openness in the middle was due to Cincinnati’s pressure. Noonan’s side pressed with five, leaving only five players on a deep backline. The Crew took this space and used it to their advantage, bagging three goals until the Cincinnati coaching staff made a change. As soon as the home team began clogging up the middle, Columbus had to change their attacking focus yet again. Arfsten and Aliyu became more valuable on the flanks as Cincinnati contributed numbers to the middle, showcasing the Black & Gold’s multifaceted attack plan. In the end, Cincinnati may have inspired their own downfall with the reckless combination of a deep line and a high press. The Crew will not mind though, as they worked for every single goal they scored. It was another fairytale night in Cincinnati for the Black & Gold, but the home side was yet again haunted by the flames.

The Columbus Crew grabbed another three points on Sunday, this time against Eastern Conference leaders Philadelphia Union. It was a tale of two halves for the Black & Gold, spending much of the first half in Philadelphia’s territory but absorbing more pressure in the second half. Mo Farsi found the breakthrough near the end of the first half, when a cross from fellow wingback Lassi Lappalainan skipped into his path at the back post. From there, the Crew had a few more chances but were unable to convert any to double the lead. In the end, Columbus secured another big three points at home against one of MLS’ toughest teams. Wilfried Nancy and his coaching staff had some adjustments to make when Philadelphia attempted to flip the game on its head in the second half. Let’s dive into all the tactical decisions that went into the Black & Gold’s victory. First half This match was like playing two different games in one. In the first half, the Crew were the aggressors for much of the period. Much of that was due to how Philadelphia decided to defend. In the first half the Union opted to sit in a low block and defend with 10 players until there was an opportunity to counter Columbus. Philadelphia knew that the Black & Gold enjoyed having the ball and preying on opponents’ mistakes, so they allowed the Crew to keep the ball and try to get them to overextend themselves. When that overextension came, the Union tried to attack with pace at a recovering Columbus backline. Although Philadelphia at this point preferred to sit in a low block, they also had some pressure cooked up to keep the Black & Gold on their toes. The Union employed a compartmental press, going after the Crew when the ball was played backwards or to the sides. First off, when Columbus passed the ball backwards it gave Philadelphia to jump up the field on marks and try to force a high turnover. If this initial flurry did not yield a giveaway, the Union would retreat back into a low block until there was another opportunity to press. When the ball was with Sean Zawadzki, Philadelphia looked content to sit in their gaps and play prevent defense. However, as soon as a pass was played out wide to an outside centerback, midfielder or wingback, the Union would begin pressuring the Black & Gold. Philadelphia’s defense attempted to cut off passes to the inside and pushed the Crew towards the sideline, so they had limited passing options. Again, when the initial press did not yield a turnover, Philadelphia dropped back into the low defensive shape to wait for another opportunity to bring pressure. On the other side, Columbus had a few tactics of their own. Nancy knew that the Union likely wanted to sit back and then counter, so the French manager used that against them. While the Black & Gold enjoy building out of the back, when Philadelphia pressed the backline the Crew wingbacks would run in behind the defense. If timed right, the advancing Union backline could cause a streaking wingback to be played into space with a ball over the top. In the same vein, the wingbacks often checked back to the ball for a second before turning and streaking behind the defense. These dummy checks and runs gave Columbus verticality and a dangerous option in behind. In the buildup, the Black & Gold went with a 2-3-5 or 1-3-1-5 look. Steven Moreira often moved into the midfield alongside Darlington Nagbe and Amar Sejdic in the 2-3-5. As the Crew got higher up the field they transitioned into a 1-3-1-5, with both outside centerbacks in the midfield and Sejdic as a roaming no. 8 between the midfield and attacking line. These formational changes and decision to build out of a two- or one-man backline showed Columbus’ intent to get forward and score in the first half, which eventually they did. Second half The second half was a different story than the prior period. After a nearly hour-long weather delay, both teams returned to the pitch with differing strategies yet again. This time, Philadelphia became more aggressive while the Black & Gold struggled to deal with the Union’s newfound boldness. The biggest change was Philadelphia ditching the compartmental pressure and deciding to go with mostly constant pressure. Instead of only pressing in spurts, the Union engaged a press and kept applying it until the Crew broke it or turned the ball over. This gave Columbus some serious problems. The change of pace of the press caught them off guard and they struggled to break it. Philadelphia closed down passing lanes, players and the ball quicker than they did in the first half. This more direct approach from the Union certainly gave the Black & Gold issues. The other big change for the Union was that they did not employ a low block as much as they did in the first half, if at all. Philadelphia’s press warranted them to push their backline higher as well. If they had not moved up their defensive line, there would have been a massive gap for substitute Jacen Russell-Rowe to utilize and break the press. This change left spaces in behind to be exploited by substitute Ibrahim Aliyu and Farsi, but the Crew struggled to have time enough to play those balls over the top. Columbus’ best chances came when they broke the press through the inside channels that Diego Rossi and Daniel Gazdag dropped into. The Black & Gold made some changes of their own at halftime as well. Nancy brought on Russell-Rowe, Aliyu and Andres Herrera and changed the possession shape to build out of the back. Instead of possessing in a 2-3-5 or 1-3-1-5, the Crew reverted to a three-back buildup shape. Morphing into a 3-2-5 gave Columbus increased stability at the back and more passing options on that defense to break Philadelphia’s ramped-up press. Again, there were problems concerning the Union’s direct pressure and how to break it. The Black & Gold did well a few times to find the dropper in the inside channel to turn and break the pressure, but it did not happen often enough to put Philadelphia’s defense under constant pressure. In the end, the Crew’s defense held a shutout and limited the Union attack to claim a clean sheet and the win. Nancy may not be happy with the performance in total, but the three points is all that will matter in the long run.

The Columbus Crew grabbed a second consecutive win on Wednesday, downing Atlanta United 3-1. Columbus’ offense exploded in the first half, netting three goals courtesy of Andres Herrera and Jacen Russell-Rowe. Atlanta’s defense was lacking in the first 45, allowing the Black & Gold to run rampant and pepper Brad Guzan’s goalmouth with shots. In the second half though, the Five Stripes fought back. Brooks Lennon netted a goal that was nearly cleared off the line by Yevhen Cheberko in the first 15 minutes of the second half, allowing Atlanta back into the contest. Luckily for the home fans, the Crew eventually prevailed and came away with all three points. This was one of the best performances of Columbus’ season to date. Let’s dive into all the tactics that saw Wilfried Nancy’s men claim a victory. Offensive dominance and Atlanta’s leaky defense The first half of this matchup was nothing short of a dream for the Black & Gold. The Crew produced three goals and could have bagged more if not for the heroics of Guzan. Herrera opened up the scoring with a ball over the top from Dylan Chambost that he brought down under pressure and calmly dispatched into the back of the net. Russell-Rowe doubled the lead a short time later, sneaking a low shot past Guzan’s foot at the front post. The Canadian striker would then grab his brace off a sublime Diego Rossi dish just minutes before halftime to put the Crew up 3-0 heading into the break. There have been many criticisms of Columbus in recent weeks when the Black & Gold struggled to generate a victory. One of those blights was the fact that the Crew’s offense has looked stagnant and unimaginative at times, but that was not the case in this game. For starters, Columbus utilized a host of formations in this match that put immense pressure on Atlanta’s backline. In buildups coming out of their own half, the Black & Gold morphed into a 2-3-5 with Steven Moreira joining the midfield alongside Darlington Nagbe and Chambost. When the Crew advanced into Atlanta’s half, Cheberko moved up to aid in the buildup on a shortened pitch, changing Columbus’ shape into a 1-4-5. In that 1-4-5, Rossi and Daniel Gazdag often dropped into the midfield to exploit a gap in between Atlanta’s defense and midfielders, essentially shifting the Black & Gold into a 1-4-2-3. Finally, at the end of the first half, the Crew changed yet again. This time, Moreira joined Herrera up high as a double winger tandem, giving Columbus a 2-2-6 look. All these formation shifts are nothing new, but it did put an insane amount of pressure on Atlanta’s inexperienced defense. The Black & Gold’s main plan of attack was to overload the right side with Moreira, Herrera and Chambost. Often those three would be able to combine and unlock the defense, sending the Five Stripes scrambling to cover all the Crew attackers running into the box. From that standpoint, Columbus’ offense looked more dynamic than they had been this season. It was a welcome sight for fans that were craving wins at home after a horrid stretch in May and early June. On the other side of the ball, Atlanta also contributed to this dominance by putting forth one of the worst defensive performances they possibly could muster. Teams have bad games, but there were a few specific things that the Five Stripes got horribly wrong which led to the Black & Gold capitalizing. The first issue was Atlanta’s spacing. After the first flurry of Crew attacks came, the visitors’ backline began to drop further and further back towards their goal. Miguel Almiron and Emmanuel Latte Lath did not want to drop deeper, so they stayed high up the pitch. This meant that Atlanta’s midfielders had to cover a massive amount of ground, which was not feasible. This mistake gave Rossi and Gazdag room to drop in behind the midfielders and run at the defense, or Nagbe and Chambost space to drive the ball forward towards a deep midfield. The second big issue rests squarely on the shoulders of Atlanta’s attacking duo. When the Five Stripes won the ball, Almiron and Latte Lath were not in a position to retrieve a pass from their teammates. This allowed Columbus to regain possession on a turnover or by winning a long ball. The last and possibly most glaring issue for Atlanta was the turnovers. The visitors were extremely slopping in possession and gifted the Black & Gold a lot of great chances. Guzan bailed them out of a few, but the most glaring turnover gave the Crew their third goal of the night. The combination of Columbus finding their offensive footing and Atlanta self-destructing in the first half decided the outcome of this game. Fans of the Black & Gold will want to see more of the same at the weekend. Daniel Gazdag’s best game in the Black & Gold kit Critics have been extremely loud about the play of Gazdag since he came over from the Philadelphia Union earlier in the summer. Gazdag – Philadelphia’s club record goal scorer – has managed zero goals in 11 appearances with the Crew this season. Touted as the, or one of, the solutions to the departure of Cucho Hernandez, Gazdag has not hit the ground running. He has often looked lost and has not been able to get the goal to start off his account in Columbus. That being said, although he did not score on Wednesday against Atlanta, the Hungarian was much improved. Gazdag challenged Guzan to make a couple world-class saves throughout the first half, with great attacking play that could have netted him a brace. Outside of the shots though, Gazdag was extremely involved in the buildup and got into the right spaces. On Herrera’s goal, Gazdag was there in the middle of the box as an option for the wingback to pass to if he opted to. In the buildup, Gazdag was crafty and found good spaces to facilitate attacking play. Now, an attacker of Gazdag’s quality will always be measured in statistics. How many goals and assists can he provide the Black & Gold will be the question going forward. That being said, he has come a long way from what he looked like in his first few games with the Crew. We have seen this type of struggle before out of high-profile DP’s coming to the club. Fans do not need to think back too far to remember Rossi first coming to the club as Lucas Zelarayan’s replacement. Those first few games during that 2023 season that Rossi was put into were tough for him to fit in, but eventually he found his form and has been an invaluable player for the Black & Gold ever since. So, what is the point of saying all this? There is a proven track record that players who are brought into Nancy’s system have an adjustment period. Only Cucho Hernandez – regarded as one of the best players in club history – was able to hit the ground relatively running. Chambost, Rossi and even Christian Ramirez too time to settle into Nancy’s system. Gazdag has had time to do so, and you can see him beginning to mesh with the squad and understand more of the tactical system Nancy wants to play. Do not be surprised if he bags a goal or two on Sunday against Philadelphia. Once he gets one, the floodgates will be open and the rest of MLS will need to be on watch.

The Columbus Crew returned to its winning ways on Saturday, taking down the Vancouver Whitecaps 2-1. After a break, the Black & Gold returned home to face the team at the top of the Western Conference. Although Vancouver was missing a host of typical contributors, they posed a sizable threat. Columbus took the lead moments into the match when Ibrahim Aliyu got on the end of a cross by Lassi Lappalainen, stunning the Whitecaps from the jump. However, the lead lasted mere minutes after a deflected shot careened past an already-diving Evan Bush to even the game. Later, a careless giveaway by the Vancouver defense and an incisive pass from Daniel Gazdag saw Diego Rossi score the Crew’s second of the night. For the rest of the game, it was Columbus dominance. The Black & Gold scored three more goals, but all three were called back for offside. When the final whistle blew, the Crew gained another three points for the first time in what feels like forever. With a rotated squad, Wilfried Nancy had to make some tactical tweaks in this game. Let’s dive into all the tactics that influenced the outcome. Aliyu at wingback One of the biggest surprises of the night was the inclusion of Aliyu in the starting lineup when there already seemed to be three attacking players in the XI. At kickoff, it was apparent that Aliyu would play a different role than usual for Columbus: wingback. With Max Arfsten on and Mo Farsi returning from international duty, Aliyu and Lappalainen started on the flanks. From the opening kick, this decision seemed to reap dividends after the two connected for the first goal. After coming in from the Houston Dynamo, Aliyu has primarily played in the fluid front three at the spearhead of Nancy’s team. In that role he did well, bagging a goal or two and often looking dangerous around the goalmouth. Like so many other players though, you have to be adaptable to play in Nancy’s system. Moving to the wingback spot for this game, Aliyu fit in decently well. A tenet of playing wingback in Columbus’ system is that you must be able be a dangerous attacker along with a competent defender. Aliyu fit the bill of being dangerous on the attack instantly. On offense, Aliyu stayed high and wide until he saw an opportunity to cut inside behind the outside shoulder of the defender. With most of the defense focused on the fluid front three in the middle, this gave Aliyu a number of chances to cut inside and get behind the defense unmarked. Unfortunately for him, many of these runs were called offside. Vancouver did a good job of keeping a high line and baiting the Black & Gold into those offsides calls. Many of the decisions were close, but it kept the Crew from getting a third, fourth, or fifth goal of the night. Although he offered a different dynamic in attack on the outside, there is still room for improvement. Aliyu currently lacks the touch to play wingback consistently, losing the ball off his foot due to a bad trap or not even getting a touch on the ball. One of the things that makes Farsi so valuable is his ability to bring the ball down instantly and then drive at the defender. On the outside, there is not typically a ton of time to get control with a few touches, so you need to bring the ball under control with as few as possible. Other than the issue of ball control, this game was a really good showing for Aliyu. Now, Columbus knows that if injury or international duty strikes the Black & Gold again, they have a reserve wingback in Aliyu. Columbus’ offensive formational overload Throughout this match the Crew attacked Vancouver by overloading the different phases of the Whitecaps’ formation. From back to front, Columbus altered their formation to have a numerical advantage no matter what area of the pitch they were in. Beginning in Nancy’s classic 3-2-5 offensive formation, the Black & Gold could change whatever they wanted about their shape. The Whitecaps’ offensive line included only one striker, so Andres Herrera moved more forward into the midfield alongside Darlington Nagbe and Amar Sejdic. It does not take three defenders to overload a single striker, so Herrera moved forward on offense. From there, Sean Zawadzki and Yevhen Cheberko played a two-man game along with the midfield to pass around and isolate the single attacker. Once play bypassed the attacking line, the Crew began to overload the midfield. Vancouver defended in a 5-4-1, meaning Columbus needed a minimum of five players to overload the midfield. With Herrera alongside Nagbe and Sejdic, AZ Jackson also dropped into the left midfield pocket to be the fourth option. From there, Rossi, Gazdag, or even Cheberko could move into the midfield to yet again have a numbers advantage over Vancouver’s midfield group. From that moment forward the offensive overload was easy. The Crew committed players forward in the attack and condensed the Vancouver formation. With all the attacking options Columbus had, overloading the defense is the most common formational overload the Black & Gold do. In one movement, the Crew can go from a 2-3-5, to a 1-5-4, and then to a 1-3-6 or 2-2-6. These formational changes are not just indicative of Columbus wanting to attack; it is committing players to a certain area of the pitch so they can win the numbers battle. This creates confusion on Vancouver’s part to mark all these newly arriving players, but it also gives the Black & Gold enough manpower to combine and pass through the defense at any given moment. These changes not only got the Crew three points, but it put this Columbus team back on the right track after a rough month. The Black & Gold played true Nancy-ball on Saturday, a welcome sight for weary eyes.

The Columbus Crew’s winless streak continued as they fell to Inter Miami 5-1 on May 31st. The hosts struck early and often, thanks to defensive mistakes by the Columbus backline and goalkeeper Nico Hagen. Miami netted three goals in the first 25 minutes of the match, heading into the intermission with a 3-0 lead. A header from substitute Cesar Ruvalcaba brought the deficit back to two, but more poor defending and goalkeeping allowed Miami to continue the onslaught. Ultimately, Miami walked away with a comfortable 5-1 victory and the season sweep over the Black & Gold. The Crew has not won a game since May 3, nearly a month ago. In victory as well as defeats, there are tactics at play by both sides that dictated the outcome of this game. Let’s dive into all the tactics that handed Columbus one of the biggest losses of the Wilfried Nancy era. Playing into Miami’s hands As many fans saw in the last matchup against Miami, Javier Mascherano’s side often plays better on the counterattack. Although Miami is among the league leaders in possession, sucking an opponent in and countering with Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez would be a potent gameplan for any team in the world. With the Crew leading the league in overall possession, their play style gave Miami a perfect chance to play on the counterattack. The hosts sat in an extremely narrow 4-4-2 on defense and forced Columbus to attack down the flanks. Many of the Black & Gold’s turnovers came in the center of the pitch due to the congestion of the Miami players in that same area. Due to Miami’s narrow approach, the emphasis was now on Max Arfsten and Mo Farsi to cultivate the attacks. Early in the game, Miami rotated its entire formation to the ball-dominant side to leave the backside of the defense wide open. With all the other attacking options stopped by Miami’s narrow approach, the Black & Gold’s best attack opportunities came on aerial balls to the backside wingback. To get those wide chances, the Crew had to commit sizable numbers into the attack. Columbus is not shy about getting defenders forward into an attacking phase, but this time it was exactly what Miami wanted them to do. The second the wingbacks and outside centerbacks flew forward for the Black & Gold, Messi started to roam to find space and be an outlet. From there, when the Crew turned the ball over it was a track meet. Miami threw numbers forward at a disorganized and recovering Columbus defense, reaping the benefits on multiple occasions. The Black & Gold’s recklessness with the ball and on defense landed them in a three-goal hole only a half hour into the match, which meant they had to send more players forward to chip away at the deficit. This cycle of throwing numbers forward, getting countered and conceding a goal was seemingly never-ending, but there was one are of the pitch that influenced the game more than another. The key for Miami in this game was winning the midfield battle. The Crew typically plays with two true midfielders, with outside centerbacks and attackers occasionally dropping in to fill voids. Miami knew the Columbus was light on defensive roles, so they overloaded the midfield. On offense, the hosts essentially transformed into a 4-4-1-1 with Messi as the attacking midfielder. Runners would push back the defensive line for the Black & Gold, allowing Messi and Sergio Busquets the time and space to create against an undermanned Crew midfield. From there, it was goal after goal until the final whistle mercifully blew for Columbus. This loss caps off the Black & Gold’s dismal month. The bad and the ugly Contrary to prior belief, the Crew’s biggest problem is their defense. Originally missing a true goalscoring threat to cap off the dynamic attack, Columbus’ biggest issue has morphed from an inability to score to a lack of defensive stability. Part of the problem is the inherent system. Nancy prides himself on allowing his players to go out and play beautiful soccer, but it does leave the defense exposed at times. With experienced defenders like Steven Moreira, Rudy Camacho and Malte Amundsen anchoring the backline, the Black & Gold used to be able to sort out those transition moments. As time has gone on, that cool-headed but stout defensive approach has vanished into thin air. Goals are going to be scored on a defensive line that plays high and allows it’s outside centerbacks to make runs into the attack. It is up to the offense to outscore opponents, but the defense also has to limit the damage. In recent weeks the Crew have not been limiting damage, they have rolled out the red carpet and invited it. One huge issue has been the number of turnovers. Columbus got into a rut of giving the ball away in the worst possible places and times. That brings on reactionary defending, which creates mistakes and allows the other team to capitalize. The Black & Gold are gifting opportunities to other teams at a rapid pace, which is not sustainable with the current offense. Another problem has been the communication and chemistry. For the Crew to play high-intensity transition defense, there needs to be a lot of communication about marks, where to set the defensive line and who can cover for players who run into the attack. Columbus has missed the mark on all three of these points. Farsi dropped too deep on Miami’s first and third goal to keep the runner onside. There were numerous back post marks that went undefended. Outside centerbacks will make runs and be too slow to get back or not communicate with someone to cover. All three of those defensive tenets have been poor for the Black & Gold in the month of May. The strength of a team starts from the back, and right now, the defensive line for the Crew is one of the weakest links. The weakest link, however, has been the play of Hagen. Taking over for the injured Patrick Schulte, Hagen has routinely not been able to give Columbus stability in between the posts. The Guatemalan’s positioning is not at a pro-level – consistently giving up his front post (Miami’s fourth goal) and getting caught off his line in no-man’s land when he needs to decide whether to drop back or rush the attacker (Miami’s first and third goals, and Charlotte’s corner goal a few weeks ago). On top of that, he withers when he makes mistakes. One of the purest qualities a goalkeeper can have is a short memory. Make a mistake? Put it out of your mind and execute. After Hagen essentially handed Messi the ball, got chipped, made a mess of tipping it over the bar, and ultimately gave up a goal, he could not play out of the back with his feet for the rest of the match. Every time the Crew gave the goalkeeper a back pass, Hagen would hit it long and direct or play a half-hearted nervous pass. At the end of the day, if you need a goalkeeper to step up and be a pure shot stopper, Hagen can do it. He has the ability to make great saves when he has to, but the rest of his game is unpolished and sloppy. If he continues to start in Schulte’s absence, the Black & Gold will have a liability between the posts. As for the rest of the team, this two-week break gives the Crew time to take a breath, get healthy and figure some things out. For Nancy and his coaching staff, the international window could not have come at a better time. It is back to the drawing board for Columbus, because this team is better than their record in the month of May.

The Columbus Crew continued their recent struggles this week, falling to Charlotte FC on the weekend and drawing Nashville SC in a midweek clash. Columbus got an early goal down in Charlotte, but the hosts battled back to eventually win the game 3-2. The Black & Gold never have good luck in Charlotte, but they returned home on Wednesday for a matchup with Nashville – who had climbed in the standings in recent weeks. After conceding in the opening 90 seconds, the Crew struck back courtesy of a Diego Rossi rebound. Then, Columbus gave up the lead again when a quick throw in snuck by the defense and allowed Hany Mukhtar to score on an open net. At the point it looked like the Black & Gold would end up in the loss column again, but a low cross from the left side was turned in by a Nashville defender, ending the game in a draw. Let’s dive into all the tactics from both these matches in which the Crew extracted one point total. A two-striker formation against Charlotte One of the recent lineup surprises from Wilfried Nancy came when he decided to start both Ibrahim Aliyu and Jacen Russell-Rowe against Charlotte. Nancy also included Daniel Gazdag and Rossi in the starting eleven, setting up a fluid front for rather than the traditional fluid front three. This personnel decision set Columbus in a 5-1-2-2 that could be a 3-1-4-2 when the wingbacks push up. Very similar structure to the formation the Black & Gold always play, but they were a bit light on midfield roles. Since he came to the Crew, Nancy liked to have two central midfielders to act as deep-lying playmakers on offense, and recovery stopgaps on defense. In this game, Darlington Nagbe stood alone as the only deeper central midfielder on the field. At times, Gazdag did drop in deeper to assist Nagbe on offense, but was not up to the defensive role that Dylan Chambost is usually used to. In a sense, Nancy opted for more firepower up front in exchange for defensive instability. In the attack, Aliyu and Russell-Rowe played as dueling strikers. Aliyu stretched the defense with his pace while Russell-Rowe could drop underneath and holdup the ball for Rossi and Gazdag to be secondary runners. In theory this sounds like a good idea, but this decision also played right into Charlotte’s hands. Now Columbus turned the ball over, Charlotte already had a man advantage with the absence of a second central midfielder for the Black & Gold. The instant the hosts got the ball; they played direct passes into Patrick Agyemang and Wilfried Zaha to go at the Crew with pace. With secondary runners arriving from the midfield for Charlotte, the hosts outnumbered Columbus on the counterattack five to four. This is where defensive problems arose. Agyemang was a terror to mark one-on-one, especially for the smaller-framed Sean Zawadzki. Then on the other side you had Zaha on an island, with secondary runners arriving in the middle. Charlotte played their cards well and waiting for the counterattack because they had the numbers to overwhelm the Black & Gold in transition. That was the defensive fallout from the two-striker lineup, but there were some positives to be observed. Both Aliyu and Russell-Rowe attracting defensive attention gave Rossi and Gazdag more space to play in. The strikers also constricted the defense which allowed Mo Farsi and Max Arfsten to get into better spaces as well. In the end, the Crew had to utilize those wide areas because building through the middle remained a challenge with only one true central midfielder. Charlotte man-marked Nagbe, forcing Columbus to build through wide channels rather than through their central midfield engine. In the end, the lineup featuring two strikers was ultimately a failure. The Black & Gold lost the game and walked away still in a rut that has plagued them over the last month. A mid-week matchup with Nashville would not qualm their need for a win either, drawing 2-2 in front of a home crowd. What is the Crew’s problem? When this question is posed a lot of fans will point to Columbus’ offensive struggles. After two seasons of Nancy-ball, the Black & Gold are known for bagging loads of goals and playing beautiful soccer. This season the Crew have still been mesmerizing, but the goals have not come at the same rate. Through the first 16 games of the 2024 MLS season, the Crew scored 25 goals. In the first 16 games of this season, Columbus bagged 26 goals. Looking at the stats, the Black & Gold are actually outperforming their scoring total from last season up to this point. On the defensive side, in the first 16 games of 2024 the Crew conceded 17 goals. This season, Columbus has given up 19 goals. While there is not a huge jump in goals scored or conceded, the simple fact remains that the Black & Gold are on track in the scoring department. The Crew fail the eye-test when it comes to chances they should finish, but the stats are in their favor from the standpoint of scoring goals. Columbus’ real concern is on the defensive side of the ball. Stats can speak all they want but the simple fact of the matter is that the Black & Gold are going through the motions on some aspects of their defensive duties. Most of these mistakes that directly result in the goals are on an individual level, but as a collective the Crew’s defense has been poor by their standards. For Charlotte’s first goal of the game, Columbus played a zonal marking structure. Agyemang – arguably one of the biggest aerial threats in the league – is allowed to waltz into the front post past the Black & Gold defense and get his head on a cross that would ultimately make the game 1-1. From a collective standpoint, that is a colossal failure. No professional team accepts that an opponent’s number one target on corners should be able to score so easily. On an individual note, though, goalkeeper Nico Hagen could have prevented this goal. Hagen had his moments over the past two games, but he also made glaring mistakes. On the corner that Charlotte scored from, the ball is whipped into the front post. First response from a goalkeeper either has to be a decision to come out and claim the ball or drop back on their line for a potential save. Hagen hesitates, waiting too late before finally deciding to come out before getting caught in no-man’s-land and allowing the header to go right by him as he leaves his feet for some reason. It is a mistake that could be expected from a goalkeeper who was thrust off the bench to start in the place of an injured Patrick Shulte, but as a professional goalkeeper it is extremely poor. In the game against Nashville, both of the away side’s goals were easily preventable but due to complacency, were given up. On the first goal, Gazdag stands and watches as a Nashville attacker whips the ball into the box. Malte Amundsen makes a half-hearted effort to clear, deflecting the ball to an unmarked attacker on the back post. Three cardinal sins of defending were committed on this singular goal. Not closing a potential cross down, making minimal effort to clear a ball and not marking at the back post are all signs of complacent defending. To make matters worse, this goal came in the opening 90 seconds of the game, so fatigue is not an excuse. Fast forward to later in the game, Nashville gets a goal when the Crew were arguing a throw in. Chambost looks to the referee to change his call while Jacob Shaffelburg slips behind him into the box. Hagen makes a save, but yet again Nashville reacts first to grab their second goal. Arguing calls is part of soccer whether you like it or not, but the oldest rule that they teach in peewee soccer is to play to the whistle. Columbus was too busy arguing to get a throw in that they took their eye off the ball, and it likely cost them points. Throughout this lull by the Black & Gold the defense as not been up to par. In the past five games the Crew have tied four, lost one and conceded nine goals. Giving up a near-average of two goals per game will not lead to success. Columbus needs to start putting away more chances on the offensive end, but it is safe to say that those goals will not matter if the Black & Gold continue to defend the way they are right now.

The Columbus Crew drew their third straight game on Saturday, this time in a Hell is Real matchup with bitter rival FC Cincinnati. The visitors struck first due to a mess at the back by the Columbus defense just six minutes into the game, but from that moment on the Black & Gold had control. The Crew had the lions’ share of possession, shots and goalscoring chances, but they still lacked that killer instinct to put the ball into the back of the net. That changed early on in the second half, when a handball gave Columbus an opportunity to tie the game from the spot. Diego Rossi converted to even the score, but the Black & Gold would not be able to find the winning goal despite an absorbent number of promising attacks. It was another draw that feels more like a loss for the Crew due to the lack of finishing. Let’s dive into all the tactics that went into this Hell is Real showdown. Columbus’ offensive dominance Throughout this game, the Crew were constantly down in Cincinnati’s half of the field. Granted, there were times where the visitors created chances off of counter attacks, but to a neutral observer this game was largely dominated by the team in Black & Gold. Columbus did a few different things in this game to keep Cincinnati on the back foot and trap them in their own half. The first has to do with the outside centerbacks. Both Steven Moreira and Malte Amundsen were given a free pass to move into the midfield and explore out wide. This may be typical in a Wilfried Nancy gameplan, but this time it was different. Instead of pushing Darlington Nagbe and Dylan Chambost higher, the outside centerbacks were the higher attacking player. Often times, Nagbe and Chambost filled in for Amundsen and Moreira in their centerback positions to aid the buildup and offer defensive cover. When Moreira and Amundsen did this, the Crew attack morphed into a cupped 3-3-4 or a 3-4-3 depending on if Daniel Gazdag was up top or dropping into the midfield. The outside centerbacks – now moved up into the midfield – had the option to stay inside or overlap with the wingback to create wide overloads. Nagbe and Chambost operated from a deep-lying position but made secondary runs towards the box as the play developed. Not only did the outside centerbacks’ positioning create overloads, but it allowed them to choose where to formulate those advantages. Cincinnati usually pressed with four players and defender with five, leaving only one midfielder as a safety valve to pick off any stray passes. When this was the case, Moreira and Amundsen pinched in to overload that singular midfielder. When other attackers dropped in to help defend, Moreira and Amundsen moved outside to make a wide overload with Mo Farsi or Max Arfsten. This freedom for the outside centerbacks was a huge catalyst for why the Black & Gold did so well on offense (minus the final finish). No matter where Cincinnati tried to cover, the Crew could adapt around them. The second big change that came on offense was the inclusion of Ibrahim Aliyu on offense. After Jacen Russell-Rowe started much of the year, Aliyu was named as a surprise starter for what is arguably the biggest game on Columbus’ calendar. When the team sheets were announced fans were skeptical at first, but Aliyu offered a different skillset the Russell-Rowe does not have. Aliyu’s main game is to play off the shoulder of the defender as a speedy vertical option. He often drifted into pockets and made runs in behind to stretch the defense, making room for Rossi and Gazdag underneath. Russell-Rowe’s skillset is more in the realm of being a poacher and holdup player. He does not have the same pace that Aliyu does but would excel against a team that likes to press high and allow whipped balls into the box. With Aliyu stretching the defense with his verticality, Rossi and Gazdag had more room to drop into the midfield and create. If the defenders followed them, Aliyu had enough pace to get in behind the defense and cause damage that way. The third key to the Black & Gold’s dominance was their ability to change formations to better aid the buildup and attack. For example, when the Crew would be building up in possession they would be in a 1-4-5, with both outside centerbacks alongside Nagbe and Chambost. When Columbus advanced into an attacking phase, that formation would quickly become a 1-3-6 or a 1-2-7. In the 1-3-6, Sean Zawadzki would stay back with Nagbe and the outside centerbacks right in front of him. Chambost would move into an attacking space along with the front three and the wingbacks. From there, Chambost would typically drop back into the midfield alongside Nagbe in the attacking third, while the outside centerbacks moved into the attack. All these changes are subtle, but they played a huge role in why the Black & Gold were a dominant attacking team in this matchup. The final piece of the puzzle now is to actually put the ball into the back of the net. Columbus’ shortcomings Of all the characteristics we think of when it comes to a Nancy-coached team, not being able to score is not one that comes to mind. The Crew are not drowning in a goalless abyss where they cannot score a single goal, but they are not converting the chances they should. Many will point to the departure of Cucho Hernandez – which is a valid reason – but Columbus has a plethora of other goalscoring threats that simply wet the bed in front of goal on a consistent basis. Fans will point the finger at attackers like Russell-Rowe and Gazdag – who have both missed tons of seemingly must-take changes – and look for improvement, but the goals will come. Gazdag has only been with the Black & Gold for a few weeks and in the past, it sometimes takes players half a season to become accustomed with Nancy’s system. There was a time when Rossi was being ridiculed for his lack of production early on, but he has since taken the spotlight and been the Crew’s main goalscoring threat. The good news for Columbus is that they are doing everything right up until the final finish. It would be a different story if the Black & Gold were not able to even generate a scoring chance, but the only missing piece right now is the final finish. If the Crew can get a multi-goal game back on the board, suddenly scoring will feel so much easier. If the scoring lapse continues though, focus must turn to the other end of the pitch. I have often contended that Columbus only concedes goals that are self-inflicted mistakes or absolute world-class plays from the other team. If the Black & Gold eliminates the defensive mistakes, they will win more often than not. On Saturday, it was yet another shot in the foot that sunk the Crew. Patrick Schulte came out to claim a ball and did not deal with it, leading to an open shot on the back post in the opening 10 minutes of the game. Many fingers will be pointed at Schulte, but Moreira and Farsi need to share some of the blame as well. Moreira slides over to mark another Cincinnati attacker, leaving Kevin Denkey alone at the back post. In that moment, Moreira needs to tell Farsi – who was hanging out further up in the box – to track back and mark as soon as he switches onto another attacker. On the other hand, Farsi needs to recognize that while he is a staple in the attack, he has defensive duties to attend to as well. The lack of communication and cavalier nature that Columbus played on defense in that moment cannot stand if the Black & Gold cannot score more than one goal a game. These are issues that are fixable, but they are a constant thorn in the Crew’s side.