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The Columbus Crew bounced back from consecutive disappointing results at home in MLS play on Wednesday with a 2-0 win over Western Conference side LA Galaxy at Lower.com Field. The Black & Gold were dangerous from the start, controlling the ball from front to back with very few attacking chances for the visitors. Columbus found its breakthrough from midfielder Lucas Zelarayan and added another goal before halftime from newcomer Malte Amundsen. From there, the home side did not look back, closing out the game with a shutout in front of a sellout crowd. Like other matches this season, the Crew did much of the same when it came to style of play, but also made some tactical tweaks. Let’s dive into those changes. Alexandru Matan playing right wing back When the lineups came out before Wednesday’s game, many fans thought the same thing: There were only four defenders listed. Would the Black & Gold switch to a back four for the first time this season? Is this to combat what LA will try to do? Is the change in formation due to personnel rotation? True to form, head coach Wilfried Nancy’s tactical choice rendered none of those questions relevant. Columbus lined up in a back five, with Matan on the right side of the defense, Steven Moreira, Phillip Quinton and Gustavo Vallecilla as the three center backs and Amundsen at left wing back. The Romanian isn’t the prototypical wing back, but he did not have to be. Nancy wanted to make the Galaxy pay down the flanks, and with Zelarayan and forwards Cucho Hernandez and Christian Ramirez all starting, the Columbus manager put Matan in a position where he could do damage. Under former head coach Caleb Porter, Matan was considered more of a wide player, but Nancy has typically opted to play him on the inside as a No. 10. Regardless of where he plays, Matan is always difficult to defend with the ball, which is why Nancy wanted him on the pitch even if it was at right wing back. Contrary to how other wing backs play, the Romanian didn’t have the same defensive duties. While he did track back into the defensive structure if the visitors had possession, Matan often remained high up the pitch, more like a typical winger position. When Matan was not able to recover when the Galaxy attacked, Moreira slid over into his position and central midfielder Aidan Morris dropped in deeper to help defend. This gave Matan more freedom to play higher and not be worried about being caught out. Morris also helped out offensively, dropping in as a half-pivot in the midfield to help push Matan up even higher into attacking spaces. The Crew backline also adjusted when the group pressed after losing possession. Matan often stayed high to help press and the backline would shift into a back four, with Moreira taking up the right back position. Matan playing right wing back probably isn’t something that Black & Gold fans will see on a regular basis, but it shows that Nancy is willing to be flexible with where his players play. Columbus’ buildup strategy It’s no secret that the Crew loves to keep the ball. Nancy stated in the preseason that he wanted players that could be comfortable on the ball. This was apparent on Wednesday, but they didn’t keep the ball without purpose. The Black & Gold love to pass the ball around the backline, which sometimes draws the ire of fans who want the team to go forward. This possession is not passive though. It’s a chess match. In the game against LA, the backline tried to get the ball switched to one of the wing backs or outside center backs to advance forward. This is where the soccer IQ comes into play. If the Galaxy was able to shift the formation over to the side the ball was on, Columbus simply recycled the ball quickly back to Quinton to go the other way. From there, the Crew tried to find the quick switch to the opposite wing back. There’s an old coaching adage, “The ball moves faster than the players.” In this case, that saying rings true because before the visitors could shift back across to cover the other wing, the ball was already there. This same pattern happened time and time again over the course of 90 minutes, and LA did not adjust. So, the Black & Gold just kept possessing and switching the field until they caught the Galaxy out of position and could attack. Don’t be fooled, Columbus isn’t just keeping the ball for the point of keeping it (except to kill off the game). The Crew has a plan for the opponent and picks the right moments to strike. The attacking trio’s game plan A front three of Zelarayan, Hernandez and Ramirez can be rather problematic for opposing teams. Each player brings something different to the field, but are all on the same page in terms of how they want to attack. Ramirez is a classic No. 9, while Hernandez played up top alongside him but also roamed the field trying to get involved in pockets of free space. Zelarayan played his typical attacking midfielder role, still with the freedom to move off Ramirez and Hernandez. When the Black & Gold attacked down the wings, the front three sprang to life in a coordinated pattern. Either Hernandez or Ramirez went to the ball as a short option of support, hoping to pull his defender out of position and open space for others to occupy. Then, the other striker made a diagonal run into the space that was just vacated, trying to get into that secondary passing window. The third option, typically Zelarayan, trailed the runners and acted as deeper support. If he got the ball in space, he could run at defenders or look to pick out a pass. This is the beauty of playing with two strikers. It is hard for opposing defenses to track and mark both of them successfully all the time, especially if they are players the caliber of Hernandez and Ramirez. To top it all off, the opponent still has to worry about where Zelarayan is at all times. He becomes an instant danger as soon as he steps within 30 yards of the goal. This is the dilemma Nancy wants to impose on other teams. Want to take away Hernandez? Fine, he has two other players who can torture the defense in a plethora of ways. And vice versa. The reality is, with a front three that talented, the Black & Gold shouldn’t have issues scoring goals. Defenses can’t be entirely sharp for 90 minutes when this group mixes up runs, roams and attacks in a coordinated fashion.

The Columbus Crew bounced back from consecutive disappointing results at home in MLS play on Wednesday with a 2-0 win over Western Conference side LA Galaxy at Lower.com Field. The Black & Gold were dangerous from the start, controlling the ball from front to back with very few attacking chances for the visitors. Columbus found its breakthrough from midfielder Lucas Zelarayan and added another goal before halftime from newcomer Malte Amundsen. From there, the home side did not look back, closing out the game with a shutout in front of a sellout crowd. Like other matches this season, the Crew did much of the same when it came to style of play, but also made some tactical tweaks. Let’s dive into those changes. Alexandru Matan playing right wing back When the lineups came out before Wednesday’s game, many fans thought the same thing: There were only four defenders listed. Would the Black & Gold switch to a back four for the first time this season? Is this to combat what LA will try to do? Is the change in formation due to personnel rotation? True to form, head coach Wilfried Nancy’s tactical choice rendered none of those questions relevant. Columbus lined up in a back five, with Matan on the right side of the defense, Steven Moreira, Phillip Quinton and Gustavo Vallecilla as the three center backs and Amundsen at left wing back. The Romanian isn’t the prototypical wing back, but he did not have to be. Nancy wanted to make the Galaxy pay down the flanks, and with Zelarayan and forwards Cucho Hernandez and Christian Ramirez all starting, the Columbus manager put Matan in a position where he could do damage. Under former head coach Caleb Porter, Matan was considered more of a wide player, but Nancy has typically opted to play him on the inside as a No. 10. Regardless of where he plays, Matan is always difficult to defend with the ball, which is why Nancy wanted him on the pitch even if it was at right wing back. Contrary to how other wing backs play, the Romanian didn’t have the same defensive duties. While he did track back into the defensive structure if the visitors had possession, Matan often remained high up the pitch, more like a typical winger position. When Matan was not able to recover when the Galaxy attacked, Moreira slid over into his position and central midfielder Aidan Morris dropped in deeper to help defend. This gave Matan more freedom to play higher and not be worried about being caught out. Morris also helped out offensively, dropping in as a half-pivot in the midfield to help push Matan up even higher into attacking spaces. The Crew backline also adjusted when the group pressed after losing possession. Matan often stayed high to help press and the backline would shift into a back four, with Moreira taking up the right back position. Matan playing right wing back probably isn’t something that Black & Gold fans will see on a regular basis, but it shows that Nancy is willing to be flexible with where his players play. Columbus’ buildup strategy It’s no secret that the Crew loves to keep the ball. Nancy stated in the preseason that he wanted players that could be comfortable on the ball. This was apparent on Wednesday, but they didn’t keep the ball without purpose. The Black & Gold love to pass the ball around the backline, which sometimes draws the ire of fans who want the team to go forward. This possession is not passive though. It’s a chess match. In the game against LA, the backline tried to get the ball switched to one of the wing backs or outside center backs to advance forward. This is where the soccer IQ comes into play. If the Galaxy was able to shift the formation over to the side the ball was on, Columbus simply recycled the ball quickly back to Quinton to go the other way. From there, the Crew tried to find the quick switch to the opposite wing back. There’s an old coaching adage, “The ball moves faster than the players.” In this case, that saying rings true because before the visitors could shift back across to cover the other wing, the ball was already there. This same pattern happened time and time again over the course of 90 minutes, and LA did not adjust. So, the Black & Gold just kept possessing and switching the field until they caught the Galaxy out of position and could attack. Don’t be fooled, Columbus isn’t just keeping the ball for the point of keeping it (except to kill off the game). The Crew has a plan for the opponent and picks the right moments to strike. The attacking trio’s game plan A front three of Zelarayan, Hernandez and Ramirez can be rather problematic for opposing teams. Each player brings something different to the field, but are all on the same page in terms of how they want to attack. Ramirez is a classic No. 9, while Hernandez played up top alongside him but also roamed the field trying to get involved in pockets of free space. Zelarayan played his typical attacking midfielder role, still with the freedom to move off Ramirez and Hernandez. When the Black & Gold attacked down the wings, the front three sprang to life in a coordinated pattern. Either Hernandez or Ramirez went to the ball as a short option of support, hoping to pull his defender out of position and open space for others to occupy. Then, the other striker made a diagonal run into the space that was just vacated, trying to get into that secondary passing window. The third option, typically Zelarayan, trailed the runners and acted as deeper support. If he got the ball in space, he could run at defenders or look to pick out a pass. This is the beauty of playing with two strikers. It is hard for opposing defenses to track and mark both of them successfully all the time, especially if they are players the caliber of Hernandez and Ramirez. To top it all off, the opponent still has to worry about where Zelarayan is at all times. He becomes an instant danger as soon as he steps within 30 yards of the goal. This is the dilemma Nancy wants to impose on other teams. Want to take away Hernandez? Fine, he has two other players who can torture the defense in a plethora of ways. And vice versa. The reality is, with a front three that talented, the Black & Gold shouldn’t have issues scoring goals. Defenses can’t be entirely sharp for 90 minutes when this group mixes up runs, roams and attacks in a coordinated fashion.

The Columbus Crew hosted Orlando City SC on Saturday night, settling for a 2-2 draw. The Black & Gold watched a two-goal lead evaporate at home on Saturday, as Orlando stormed back in the second half to force a tie. Columbus went up 2-0 courtesy of midfielder Darlington Nagbe and forward Jacen Russell-Rowe finishing chances just before halftime but could only manage a point in the end. The Crew is now winless in the team’s last four games against MLS competition after a hot start to the season. Head coach Wilfried Nancy had to make some tactical and personnel switches for this game, but it was a tale of two halves for the home side. Let’s dive into what happened in this match. Formation change Yet again, Nancy made a switch in the formational department, opting to start in a 3-4-3. This look morphed into a 5-2-3 on defense with the wing backs moving back in recovery, but the big change was in the midfield and up top. Nagbe and Aidan Morris played in the middle as the two lone midfielders. At times, forward Cucho Hernandez dropped into the attacking midfielder role, but spent more time in a wide position on the left. The two American midfielders did not play in a straight line across the field though. Oftentimes Nagbe stepped higher into more of an attacking position while Morris trailed behind. In these moments, the Crew had more attacking success, which is definitely something Nancy will take away from this game. Up top, going with a front three featuring Alexandru Matan and Hernandez out wide was different from what the Black & Gold have done more much of the season. Despite getting an assist in the first half, Matan’s natural position is inside, and it showed early in the game on Saturday. At times he could get disjointed from the play and disappear, but Matan is dynamic enough that he can hurt defenses with a few touches. Hernandez is versatile but his natural position seems to be inside as a pure No. 9. Russell-Rowe did a good job of getting into dangerous areas and getting a goal, but the Colombian in the middle is a different force. This attacking trio is likely to have looked different if playmaker Lucas Zelarayan had played, but he didn’t. Emphasizing attacking down the wings Playing in a 3-4-3 adds to the attacking danger on the outside of the pitch because the squad now has wingers and wing backs together. This allows the team to create simple overloads out wide and double up on the opposing outside backs. A high percentage of the Crew’s attacking play in the first half was centered around getting the ball out wide and getting crosses into Russell-Rowe. Both goals that Columbus scored were served in from an outside area and tapped home. With this emphasis on attacking from the width came a pattern of play that the Black & Gold repeated often throughout the match. It was a simple combination to free up space down the wing so that the wide players could serve in crosses. This combination is simply a give-and-go from the outside back down the wing into space behind the outside back. Because the winger and wing back are both occupying the same space, the outside back has to mark both players. This forces the player to make a decision to follow the runner or stay put, which opens up a pass either way. If the defender stays, the ball is played behind abd is an easy one touch pass to make. If not, the player on the inside can just give it back to the one who passed him the ball and reset or switch the play. This is yet another component that Nancy will want to keep in mind going forward because it worked well for the Crew. Now in his preferred 5-2-2-1, there isn’t any natural wingers other than the wing backs. For this pattern to work in that formation, the striker or one of the attacking midfielders would have to shift out wide to a winger position, which we have seen before. These are just little components that worked on Saturday to keep in mind and look for going forward. At this point in the season, it’s about finding what works and getting rid of what doesn’t. What went wrong in the second half The Crew was in control for the majority of the first half, keeping possession, creating chances and building a two-goal lead. In the second half, that came crashing down for a few reasons. The first reason was Orlando adjusted to Columbus’ emphasis on attacking from wide. Instead of leaving the outside back on his own, the Lions sent another player to double team the wingers on the outside. This meant both players were marked, which made it harder to advance the ball down the wings. Secondly, OCSC did a better job on offense of controlling the buildup and keeping the ball. The Crew wants teams to fall into the trap of breaking too quickly and giving the ball back right away. In the first half, the visitors didn’t sustain buildup in the attacking half. That changed in the second half. The Lions did a good job of slowing the play down, keeping the ball and then striking when Columbus was vulnerable. If teams can survive the Black & Gold’s quick burst of pressing after losing the ball, they can be dangerous. Lastly, Orlando took the chances created. The first goal was smart by the Lions. The visitors beat the first flurry of the Crew press and still attacked while the defense was in recovery. That is when Columbus is in the most danger, when the team has to recover from being so high up the pitch. The second goal was smartly taken. The simple fact is the Black & Gold need to be better defensively. The Crew has to cover better in recovery, and has to clear balls that are put into the penalty box. Two mistakes cost the Black & Gold points on Saturday, and they need to fix it sooner rather than later.

The Columbus Crew fell at home to Inter Miami 2-1 on Saturday night in a game the Black & Gold dominated for large stretches. Miami broke through first, but Columbus answered just minutes later with a sensational Cucho Hernandez strike. Hernandez’s first goal of the season came at a perfect time to pull the Crew even with the visitors. Miami regained the lead later in the first half though courtesy of a front post corner that snuck in past Schulte. The Black & Gold went on to dominate in the second half but were unable to find the equalizing goal. There are some issues that seem to be arising around the Columbus squad and adjustments that need to be made by head coach Wilfried Nancy. Let’s dive into some of the tactical decisions he made against Miami. Pushing the outside center backs higher This is something that the Crew has done throughout this season, but the center backs were farther up the pitch than usual on Saturday. Steven Moreira and Gustavo Vallecilla both pushed up to join the attack while Philip Quinton, after he came off the bench fo the injured Milos Degenek, stayed on the halfway line to mark the opposing striker. Fans have seen Moreira push up the field throughout the year, sometimes acting as a third central midfielder, but both center backs did this more together against Inter. This could be a reaction to the early Miami goal, but the logic of it is simple. Since both defenders were higher up the field, central midfielders Darlington Nagbe and Aidan Morris both could push up as well into a wider space to link up with the wing backs. It also added pressure onto the Inter defense, forcing the defenders to mark more bodies in the attacking third. Because Nagbe and Morris were higher on the fiedl, playmakers Lucas Zelarayan and Alexandru Matan had the freedom to roam and find open space to collect the ball and possibly link up with Hernandez. This forced Miami back into a low block — which is probably what the visitors wanted after taking the lead — and put Inter under considerable pressure for long periods, only able to counter, which they did a couple of times. The downside of pushing the defenders higher is this exact risk: getting beat and the counter and not having the numbers to recover. This is exactly what happened on the first goal the Black & Gold conceded. Miami was able to break the Crew’s press and Vallecilla was caught too high up the field. The ball was played over his head and the visitors were able to combine and grab the opener. Playing a high line will never be successful all the time, but this goal was preventable. If Matan forces his mark back instead of letting him go down the line, or if Vallecilla checks his shoulder, the Black & Gold are in a better spot to avoid conceding. The idea of pushing the center backs higher did result in Hernandez’s goal, but the high line ultimately hurt Columbus more than it helped in this and in the last game against Charlotte FC. The return of Cucho Hernandez The Crew with Hernandez in the starting lineup is a different team than with any other striker. Christian Ramirez and Jacen Russell-Rowe want to be more central and attack balls into the penalty box. Hernandez on the other hand, wants to be involved as much as possible in the buildup. From the first kick, the Colombian was all over the field. Oftentimes, Hernandez shifted out wide anded allow Zelarayan or Matan to make secondary runs in behind. Other times, he dropped so far back into midfield that the forward was almost in the area occupied by Morris and Nagbe. Even on the goal that he scored, Hernandez started in the typical striker position in the penalty box, but then just drifted back out to the edge and ripped a curler back post. This glimpse of his creativity and adaptability to other areas of the pitch is what makes him so dangerous. Despite this, the Black & Gold still only managed one goal and lost at home against a weaker Eastern Conference side. The problem that Columbus ran into was they didn’t shift the team’s attacking focus to the right places. The Crew was so focused on getting the ball outside to the wing backs and whipping in crosses even when it wasn’t working. Yaw Yeboah’s crosses were poor all night and Mohamed Farsi didn’t get a lot of chances because most of the attacking was done down the left side. It doesn’t help either when there is no true No. 9 in the 18-yard box to get on the end of these crosses. The adjustment that needed to be made was to try and combine inside between Hernandez and the midfielders to unlock the Miami defense. Once the visitors went up 2-1, Inter was ready to head out every cross that came in and the adjustment never came. The Colombian striker’s return means that tweaks will need to come from Nancy on how to get Hernandez scoring goals, because crossing the ball 20 to 30 times per game isn’t working at the moment. The left wing back spot Probably the most glaring issue for the Black & Gold on Saturday was the play on the left flank. With Will Sands out for the season, Columbus is still searching for a replacement on that left side. Yeboah is not the answer. Yeboah has filled in for Sands a few times throughout this season, whether it be starting or off the bench, and while he has his moments, he is wildly inconsistent, particularly defensively. That inconsistency, coupled with the fact that often he gets stuck crossing only with his left foot, is an issue that Nancy has to resolve. The Crew did make a trade for Malte Amundsen from New York City FC, but he still has to learn the system. With time, he could be a good option at left wing back. Jimmy Medranda is another option for the Black & Gold. An offseason signing, Medranda is a seasoned veteran with lots of playing time under his belt. Why he hasn’t seen more time when healthy is a mystery. Nancy even experimented with rookie Max Arfsten at right wing back in the U.S. Open Cup against Indy Eleven and he seemed to have a decent night against the USL Championship side. But Arfsten is still young and probably not the best option to slot in on the left side. No matter what the decision is, even if Nancy decides to stay with Yeboah, that is the position of need for Columbus right now. The way the Crew sets up to play relies heavily on wing backs, so someone in the squad needs to step up to help stop this skid.

The Columbus Crew lost to Charlotte FC 1-0 on the road last Saturday night before returning back home for a mid-week clash with USL Championship side Indy Eleven in the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup. The Black & Gold dominated throughout the game, but only managed a 1-0 victory against Indy. In a game with plenty of opportunities to score, substitute Mohamed Farsi combined with Steven Moreira on a give-and-go to send Indy back home with a loss and the Black & Gold into the fourth round of the Open Cup. Tactically, there wasn’t much different from past matches against Charlotte, but head Wilfried Nancy changed some things, both in terms of personnel and tactics, in the Open Cup match. Let’s dive into what happened tactically. Different playstyle between Cucho Hernandez and Christian Ramirez It’s no secret that Hernandez and Ramirez are two very different players, despite their knack to score goals. Fans haven’t seen both strikers on the pitch together yet due to injuries, but with Hernandez coming back, the time could be coming soon. In the Charlotte game, Ramirez was the primary striker and often stayed central, often dropping into midfield to help Columbus possess the ball and build out of the back. In the Open Cup game, Hernandez’s movement was obvious. He started the game up top alongside Jacen Russell-Rowe but drifted out to the wing and dropped into the midfield in a roaming role. When both Hernandez and Ramirez are healthy, Nancy will have to make a decision on what Ramirez’s role will be. It will all depend on what formation the manager wants to play. In his days coaching at CFMontreal, Nancy sometimes played a system with two strikers and one attacking midfielder. Pairing both strikers together could be a viable option for the Crew, but that means you have to bench one of the attacking midfielders. Both Alexandru Matan and Lucas Zelarayan have played well, making this decision less cut and dry. The other option is to have Ramirez come off the bench. Hernandez is more dynamic than Ramirez due to his athletic ability and versatility. The Colombian can play on the wing as well as in the traditional striker role. It’s this versatility that makes him difficult to play against because he can hurt you in so many different ways. This is not a slight on Ramirez, who has proven his worth when thrust into the starting role. He is deserves playing time in this team. But with Hernandez coming back, and other starters playing well, only time will tell what Nancy will decide. Nancy’s formational fluidity It may look like the Black & Gold line up in the same formation each game, but there are some subtle tweaks each time out. There hasn’t been much change to Nancy’s preferred defensive system, but he likes to adjust positionally on a game-to-game basis. Against Charlotte, the Crew lined up in a 3-4-2-1, which is what the team has done for the majority of this season. Three center backs anchored the backline with two wing backs pushing up the pitch to contribute on both ends. Two central midfielders sat behind the two attacking midfielders with a single striker up top. Now, that formation seems pretty bread and butter for Columbus, but occasionally one midfielder pushed higher, or one attacking midfielder roamed more. Those are some nuances that Nancy has toyed with in this early part of the season. Against Indy, the Crew manager tweaked things slightly, adding in a second striker and opting to go with only a defensive midfielder behind two central midfielders, a 3-5-2 with an inverted triangle in the midfield. This meant the back three was the same, but Sean Zawadzki played the lone defensive midfielder while Darlington Nagbe and Isaiah Parente played as central midfielders. Hernandez and Russell-Rowe were the strike partnership up top. This fluidity is something that Columbus hasn’t used very much this year. Typically, former Crew head coach Caleb Porter would line up in his classic 4-2-3-1 and go, but Nancy makes these little formational adjustments more frequently. These adjustments are not limited to a game by game basis either. At halftime of Wednesday’s game, Hernandez came off and Matan in, playing more like a striker at first. As the game wore on, Matan dropped back a little bit more into midfield, and because of that, Nagbe dropped back a little further too. These little tweaks have been going on since the season began, and will likely continue as the campaign goes on.

The Columbus Crew battled back in dramatic fashion to tie the New England Revolution 1-1 at Lower.com Field on Saturday night. This was a tough test for the Black & Gold, facing one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference early in the year, but they managed to grab a point due to a 98th minute equalizer from substitute midfielder Sean Zawadzki. The Revolution provided a more challenging opponent than Columbus faced in recent weeks, but the Crew managed to find the tying goal against a 10-man New England team to maintain a four-game unbeaten run. The Black & Gold made a few formational tweaks to begin the game and made some adjustments after the Revolution were reduced to 10 men. Let’s dive into the tactical side of this match. Attacking in a 4-2-3-1 formation, defending in a 5-2-3 Yet again, head coach Wilfried Nancy made a tweak to the formation in which Columbus attacked against New England. Set up in his favored 3-4-2-1, Nancy opted to go at the Revolution in a formation familiar to Crew fans, the 4-2-3-1. In this game, Gustavo Vallecilla and Milos Degenek play as the two center backs, while Steven Moreira played more like a right back. For much of the match in attack, Will Sands played a traditional left back. Aidan Morris and Darlington Nagbe played as central midfielders, while Lucas Zelarayan was the lone attacking midfielder. This meant Alexandru Matan shifted out wide to the left, while Mohamed Farsi occupied space as a right winger more often than not. Christian Ramirez remained as the lone striker. The Crew’s formation looked more like what Black & Gold fans were used to seeing under previous managers at times on Saturday. Having Matan and Farsi out wide opened space in the middle for Zelarayan to move and get the ball into his feet. From there, Zelarayan could turn and run at the opposing defense with multiple options to his left and right. Ramirez mixed his runs up top, occasionally checking in alongside Zelarayan to provide another build-up option. Other times, Ramirez stayed high and waited for service from out wide. When the Black & Gold defended, Columbus reverted to a 5-2-3 formation with traditional back five and Morris and Nagbe in front of the defense. Zelarayan went out wide right, while Matan stayed on the left. This formation allowed the Crew to set up the press. Ramirez’s job was to man mark the central defenders, while Zelarayan and Matan marked the outside backs. From there, the the Black & Gold midfielders stepped high up the pitch to mark their New England counterparts. The back five dealt with the rest of the attack, pressing as soon as they touched the ball. This often meant Degenek or Vallecilla press their man backward all the way up the field until they released the ball. Then they would simply recover back to their position. Forcing the Revolution to play the ball long and force their forward to get into an aerial battle with the Crew defenders was the key. Nancy continues to make these formational tweaks, and they have worked pretty well so far. Saturday was another test of his tactical adjustments. Columbus’ mistakes and miscues While the Crew did not play the team’s best game on Saturday, the Black & Gold managed to salvage a point. There were some uncharacteristic mistakes from Columbus that fans have not seen consistently this season, some of which had to do with the quality of the Revolution. One of those was Degenek’s own goal. It was a freak mistake that unfortunately happens from time to time. The center back mishit the ball on a clearance, pin-balling it off his heel to his plant leg and into the net. Degenek could have positioned himself better to make a clean clearance, but it’s not a mistake the defender will make often. New England was able to take advantage of the Crew’s high line. There were multiple times when forward Giacomo Vrioni received the ball behind the Black & Gold backline and nearly had a free path to goal. Columbus has not seen this as an issue consistently in games this season, so New England was attacking a weakness that they saw in the Crew’s defensive set up. Playing a high line can be like playing with fire if not handled correctly. A coach needs smart, disciplined players commanding the line and making sure the defenders are together. If one piece is out of place, the striker has a good chance as Vrioni did. It will be interesting to see if other opponents can exploit this issue that the Revolution made apparent. Marking in recovery situations was also spotty for the Black & Gold. In the 40th minute, the Revs attacked down their left flank while the Columbus defense receoved. As Vallecilla retreated, Sands didn’t shift over to mark the far-side winger and forced goalkeeper Patrick Shulte to come up with a big save. It’s just these little miscommunications that can be the difference between winning and losing, or in this case tying. The Black & Gold did not do a good job of marking at times against New England. The Crew also had spells when the team could not find the final pass in the final third, typically between Zelarayan and Ramirez due to miscommunication. Ramirez has proved his worth already for the Black & Gold, but Saturday was a reminder that he and Zelarayan still have to develop chemistry after limited playing time together. Changes after New England’s red card The game flipped on its head when the Revolution’s Dylan Borrero got sent off in the 65th minute. To put the Revs under significant sustained pressure with a man advantage, Nancy made some changes to the formation and personnel. In the 79th minute, forward Jacen Russell-Rowe, and winger Yaw Yeboah came into the game and the formation changed. Columbus shifted into a variation of a 4-3-3 with an inverted diamond in midfield. Moreira and Degenek played center back, with Farsi out right and Sands on the left. Nagbe played as the lone central midfielder, with Zelarayan and Matan as double attacking midfielders. Russell-Rowe played on the left side of a front three, with Yeboah out right and Ramirez through the middle. It wasn’t a pure 4-3-3 though, because the Crew wanted to overload the right side and free up space on the left. Russell-Rowe shifted almost alongside Ramirez as a second striker to make space out wide for Sands, and eventually Jimmy Medranda, down the flanks. Yeboah stayed out wide right with Farsi tucking inside a bit to provide support. Moreira pushed up the field to add another body into the mix with Degenek as the lone defender back. Even he was 10 yards past the halfway line often, really pinning the Revolution in. Nagbe, and eventually Zawadzki, waited at the top of the penalty box while Zelarayan and Matan probed to try and get in behind the defense. It was Zawadzki making a late run into the box that no opposing defender picked up that gave him the header opportunity.

The Columbus Crew made it three straight wins on Saturday night, completing a season sweep against D.C. United with a 2-0 win at Audi Field. The Black & Gold have now scored 12 goals over the past three games while conceding just once to keep their hot streak going. Playmaker Lucas Zelarayan converted a penalty in the first half to get Columbus on the board and forward Christian Ramirez added another to his tally to put the Crew up by two early in the second half. From there, the Black & Gold never looked back. Much of what Columbus did was similar to previous games, but the Crew keyed in on attacking where D.C. had weaknesses. Let’s dive into the tactical side of this match. Playing in a 3-1-5-1 formation in possession The Black & Gold have switched up formations in-game quite often this season based on when they have or do not have the ball. Last weekend, Columbus opted to attack United in a 3-1-5-1 formation and it yielded pretty good results on the attacking end. Starting from the back, the Crew kept the three center backs in their normal positioning to help keep possession and prevent D.C. from breaking forward. Aidan Morris sat right in front of the back three as the lone defensive midfielder to provide a passing option, along with additional defensive cover if the ball was turned over. The wing backs pushed up the field and tightrope the touchline, giving the Black & Gold as much width as possible to attack. Lucas Zelarayan, Alexandru Matan and Darlington Nagbe played almost as three attacking midfielders with Matan on the left, Zelarayan in the middle and Nagbe often on the right side. Forward Christian Ramirez stayed in his striker position but played roamed more that in previous matches. He often mixed up his runs, with some in behind the defense but also dropped into the midfield occasionally. Either way, he posed an attacking option for whoever had the ball. The 3-1-5-1 offered balance between offense and defense. On the defensive side, the Crew still had four defenders back in case of a high turnover. On the offensive side, Columbus had several attacking options in the middle and out wide to pose a threat to the opposing goal. Specifically, against D.C., this formation worked well because the home side played very narrow defensively to combat the three attacking midfielders. This meant that the Black & Gold were able to do what they do best, attack from wide areas. Again, offensive formations are subject to change based on personnel and opponents, but head coach Wilfried Nancy got this one absolutely spot on to exploit United’s defense. Committing numbers forward The Crew has been masterful in this recent stretch at attacking, but also keeping the opponents bottled in its own half. This is due to how many men Columbus send forward in attack. Routinely, the Black & Gold commit up to eight players forward in the attacking third when they have the ball. This means that often times one center back, usually Steven Moreira, joins the attack alongside both wing backs, the midfielders and the attackers. Typically committing that many players forward can be a double-edged sword, but Nancy has stated that he wants his team to play bravely. This means that he trusts center backs Milos Degenek and Gustavo Vallecilla to be able to ward off any counter attacks. On the offensive side, this means a few things. First, the Crew can create numerical overloads and combine to create chances. This is one of the staples of Nancy’s offensive system, and with skilled players like Zelarayan, Nagbe and Matan operating in the middle, it has a high chance of being successful. Second, the Black & Gold are able to maintain width with the wing backs. This can cause the defense to stretch and create space inside for others to operate. On the flip side, if the defense decides to stay narrow, it allows the wide players to create and have time to put crosses into the penalty box. Third, it’s overwhelming to mark eight players. Teams need communication to work out what is going on defensively. The level of communication that opponents need to have when marking eight players while having their backs against their goal is extremely difficult. It gets even harder when the attackers move dynamically and make runs. On the defensive side, the key for Columbus is to keep the opponent in the defensive half and not get countered. The Black & Gold have done a good job of that during this stretch due to a combination of the center backs being solid and the attacking players putting pressure on the opponent. There will likely be some occasions where the Crew will get countered and give up a goal, but right now the Black & Gold are stifling teams with their attacking numbers. Putting pressure on the ball instantly This is the biggest difference in how the Crew plays defensively this year versus last year. Last season, Columbus often pressed for a little bit after losing possession but then dropped back into the team’s defensive shape. This season, that has changed. Now the Black & Gold do not allow opposing players to have time on the ball other than center backs. Nancy has sent a message that teams the Crew face will have to beat them with quick combinations or counter attacks because the Black & Gold will not have much time before a Columbus player presses. The best example of this is Morris. His play has been spectacular this year because before opponents even get their first touch, he is already trying to tackle the ball and win back possession. Keep in mind, the Crew still organize defensively, and don’t do an all-out press, but there is an urgency to put pressure on opponents when they have the ball. This also brings the topic of energy into the conversation. Watching Crew games last year was tough because some players just didn’t seem to have any energy or spark. This season, that narrative has flipped. This squad looks energetic, quick and lively in every aspect, which contributes to the results.

The Columbus Crew won the team’s second game straight at home with a 4-0 thrashing of Real Salt Lake. This win moved the Black & Gold up to fourth place in the Eastern Conference and set an offensive milestone for the club, scoring 10 goals in the last two games. Central midfielder Aidan Morris was the star of the night, scoring a brace and bossing the midfield throughout the 90 minutes. Playmaker Lucas Zelarayan also got in on the scoring action from the penalty spot and winger Yaw Yeboah finished off the visitors with the fourth goal in second half stoppage time. The Crew has looked much better these last two games with new tactical nuances being revealed in each. Let’s dive into this match. Moreira and Nagbe play as half pivots Earlier in the season, fans saw Morris play the role of a half pivot, or a player that takes space between the outside center back and the wing backs so a wing back can get higher up the pitch. This happened often on Saturday night, but there was a new twist. Both right center back Steven Moreira and center back Darlington Nagbe played the role at the same time. When the Black & Gold had possession, Nagbe drifted out left to take up the space left wing back Will Sands vacated going forward. This allowed Sands to get higher up the pitch in almost a winger position without leaving too much space behind. On the right side, Moreira did the same thing so that right wing back Mohamed Farsi could push forward as well. This left more space in the middle for Morris to occupy, along with Alexandru Matan and Zelarayan. Both attacking midfielders were free to drop back and help build out of the back and Columbus could maintain the team’s width. Now the question is what is gained by having two pivots instead of only one? With two pivots, Columbus got both wing backs into wide attacking positions instead of just one. This stretched the RSL defense and opened up space in the middle for the midfielders to create. It also made the Crew less predictable because now the team can get the ball to a wing back on either side, rather than focusing on one flank. The Black & Gold then built normally from the back, being patient and only going forward when it was open. It was still the same offensive system being employed by head coach Wilfried Nancy, just with the wrinkle of having two pivots, rather than one. Changing formation offensively It’s no secret that Nancy prefers to line up in a 3-4-2-1 or some other variation of a five/three-back system. But when Columbus got possession on offense, the team switched how it looked drastically from a formation standpoint. On defense, the Crew settled into a 5-3-2 formation. As soon as they won the ball back, however, the Black & Gold switched to something looking more like a 4-1-4-1. Milos Degenek and Gustavo Vallecilla manned the center back positions that have previously been in a four-back system. As mentioned, Nagbe and Moreira stepped into the outside fullback positions while operating as half pivots, while Morris would be the lone central midfielder. Higher up the pitch, Zelarayan and Matan stay as dual No. 10s, with Farsi and Sands as wingers. Christian Ramirez was the lone striker. This was a risk/reward call by Nancy. The offensive output was the reward, but also the defensive risk. Often the Crew gets around eight players into the attacking third as much as possible, leaving two defenders back to cover the counter. This means there usually will be an open man on the offensive end due to the overload of players in that area. That’s the reason why Columbus had so many attacking opportunities throughout the game. On the risk side, the Black & Gold dared RSL to counter with the team’s two strikers going against Degenek and Vallecilla. It was a classic training ground 2 v. 2 battle between the visiting attackers and the home defenders, and it was overall won by the Crew. The shift from a defensive five backline to an offensive-oriented back four is one of the main reasons Columbus had such attacking success, and it’s something to keep an eye out for in the coming games. What is Nancy’s offensive system? Nancy hasn’t taken long to put his imprint on the Crew, but what exactly is his offensive system? After six games, fans of the Black & Gold can agree this team is fun to watch. The question is what sets this team apart offensively from past Columbus squads. After watching the game tape, there are four keys for Columbus in the attacking third. The first is getting around seven to eight players forward in attack. This usually means that in a typical three-back offensive system, one center back joins the attack. This has been Moreira. This gives the Crew a numerical advantage and forces opponents to choose how to defend. Opponents can leave attackers forward to counter, but risk getting overloaded. The other option is to defend with nine or 10 players, but then are pinned deep with no outlet. This is exactly the dilemma that Nancy wants teams to face. The second key is attacking from the wide areas of the pitch. This is why the Black & Gold put so much effort into getting the wing backs forward. It stretches the defense, which frees up space inside for skilled players like Zelarayan and Matan to operate. This also applies to attacking players drifting out wide, like Zelarayan and Cucho Hernandez did earlier in the season before the forward got hurt. This approach keeps defenses on its toes and allows players to create in 1 v. 1 situations. The third key is the front three dropping deeper or receiving the ball to feet. This has been more the case since Ramirez took up the mantle of the starting striker after Hernandez’s injury because that’s more his play style. This approach draws the center backs out and allows space to open up behind, which brings up the fourth key: secondary runners. When the attackers drop in and the center back covers, the passing lanes open up quickly. This is why the first runner through isn’t always the best pass to make because the defense’s focus is on them. That being said, not every goal is going to be scored by a secondary runner, but it is a common theme that keeps popping up in different games. This is the reason why it will be interesting to see where Hernandez fits into this peaking Crew team when he comes back. He will definitely be a starter, but watch if the team’s style changes with him in the lineup compared to other players.

The Columbus Crew thrashed Atlanta United at home on Saturday night with an offensive explosion that resulted in a 6-1 win. It was one of the most dominant wins in Black & Gold history with four players scoring their first goals for the club. This was a game that many Columbus fans did not look on with optimism, as the home side playing without the likes of goalkeeper Eloy Room, midfielder Lucas Zelarayan, forward Cucho Hernandez and center back Milos Degenek due to international duty or injury. Atlanta came in atop the Eastern Conference but was missing a few players as well such as World Cup champion Thiago Almada and U.S. center back Miles Robinson. In a battle of undermanned teams, the question was who would rise to the occasion. The answer was convincingly the Crew. The Black & Gold employed a similar game plan to recent weeks but played in a different formation, which rendered a positive result. Let’s dive into what worked so well in this match. Playing a 5-2-1-2/3-5-2 The biggest change head coach Wilfried Nancy made to his squad was opting to go with two strikers up top instead of just one. In recent weeks, the Crew lined up in a variation of the 5-2-2-1 formation, but that changed on Saturday night. Despite being low on center backs, Nancy stuck with his preferred back five/three defensive look. Philip Quinton moved to the center of the three center backs and Gustavo Vallecilla made his debut, giving the Black & Gold a left-footed left center back. The Crew controlled the game from the start due largely to how this different set up moving forward. Taking a player out of midfield and using two strikers gave playmaker Alexandru Matan more room to create and roam. While any Columbus team will be better with Zelarayan in the lineup, vacating that space by taking out the second attacking midfielder gave Matan more room to operate. Not only did Matan have more space, but so did central midfielders Aidan Morris and Darlington Nagbe. Often, Morris recognized the space in front of him and charged forward, gaining ground for the Crew. This was one of the advantages of playing a two-striker formation. The downside was that the Black & Gold did not have as many players in the middle of the pitch to combine in the build-up. But this wasn’t a factor because both strikers accommodated for that. Occasionally, Christian Ramirez or Jacen Russel-Rowe would drop into the midfield area to play a quick one-two to help advance the ball up the pitch. The beauty of this formation is the ability to shift into other structures when needed. For example, Columbus attacked in a 5-2-1-2/3-5-2 but defended in a 5-2-3 because it better suited the team’s pressing style and defensive setup. This is a very fluid formation that can do a lot of different things if Nancy wanted it to. Overall, the Crew’s flow offensively looked better, but now the question is where does Nancy go when he has everyone available? Only time will tell, but having too many players now playing well is a good problem for the Black & Gold to have. The positioning of Matan Watching Matan on Saturday night was a thing of beauty for those who tracked his movements and paid attention to what he was doing. He played a vital role in the Crew’s victory, but it wasn’t for playing a set position. Matan was all over the attacking third, which simply means that he was playing as a position-less player. We’ve seen the Black & Gold do this previously on occasion, most recently with Hernandez given free rein to roam up top. Noticable was Matan’s reading of the game and how he was able to find pockets of space for himself in promising attacking areas. Sometimes it was in the middle in the space of a traditional attacking midfielder, but other times he drifted out wide almost as a winger and attack from an angle. Matan drifting wide created space for the two strikers by drawing a defender with him. From there, the forwards can go 1 v. 1 against the center backs and a well-timed ball could put them in behind the defense. This also kept the defenders on their toes. It’s hard work marking a front two and also having to worry about where Matan is because he is so hard to get off of the ball once he has it. He enjoys tight spaces and even in this early seaso has shown the willingness to dribble at defenses. It will be interesting to see how Zelarayan fits into this role, because he has done this in the past as well but is considered more of a traditional central attacking midfielder, whereas Matan has more pace and ability to shift. Just another thing to look out for in the coming weeks. Columbus’ press vs. Atlanta’s press Both teams would have liked to press high, but the Black & Gold were the team that was sharper in that area of the game on Saturday. While both squads had the intention to press, they went about it in different ways. United wanted to press hard to the ball, meaning almost all the time that Columbus was in possession in its own half Atlanta, sent a man to press the player on the ball. This was typically their striker Miguel Berry. The problem with that approach from the Five Stripes was that an aggressive, on-ball press can leave teams vulnerable behind. With the Crew wanting the play out of the back, this played straight into the home side’s hands. While the Black & Gold struggle with the New York Red Bulls’ press, they looked better on Saturday. Columbus played the ball quicker with one-touch passing and was calm and composed. The Crew’s press on the other hand was a tad delayed. If the Blcak & Gold lost the ball, they pressed with numbers right away if they thought they could win it back. If not, Columbus called off the press and drop back into a 5-2-3 and man-marking system. The front three of Russel-Rowe, Ramirez and Matan slowly move forward to put more urgency on the backline in possession, while the wing backs and midfielders man-marked to take away options to play through the center of the field. This is why United sent up so many long balls with no options and the Crew was patient in the delayed press. Quinton and Vallecilla were able to eat up those long passes and gift Columbus with possession again and again. It was yet another bright spot of what Nancy is building with the Black & Gold and an example of how good the Crew can be with more time and practice.

The Columbus Crew fell on the road to the New York Red Bulls, losing 2-1 on Saturday in what was a rough night for the Black & Gold. The Crew went up 1-0 in the first half after Alexandru Matan bagged his first goal for Columbus. From there, the Red Bulls had their way, scoring two goals in the second half to send the Crew home with nothing to show for their trip. It was a frustrating game for the Crew and growing pains plagued Wilfried Nancy’s team again in this early season. Let’s dive into what the Black & Gold did tactically in this match. Strategy on offense All of MLS knows that New York loves to press high, which was why Nancy said this matchup for the Crew was going to be very telling of how far the team has come. Columbus did a few things to combat this high press, but nothing materialized that led to concrete goalscoring chances. The first thing the Black & Gold did was send the outside center backs really wide to stretch the Red Bulls press. Center backs Phillip Quinton and Steven Moreira drifted close to the sideline in an attempt to create passing lanes inside or find a pass to the wing back. Often to help this, midfielder Aidan Morris played as a half-pivot on Quinton’s side so that left wing back Will Sands could push up the pitch. If the Crew made it out of the back, the strategy up top surprisingly didn’t change much with forward Cucho Hernandez missing from the lineup. Often Matan or Lucas Zelarayan played as a False 9, attempting to draw the opposing center backs out of position to allow the attacking midfielders or wing backs to make runs in behind. The problem for the Black & Gold was getting the ball up into those attacking areas. Too often, they tried to play centrally through the Red Bulls, which is the strength of their press. Columbus needed to connect and get the ball to the outside where the players could go one-on-one or go direct down the field. Perhaps young forward Jacen Russell-Rowe would have been a better option from the start of this game because his bigger frame and natural positioning likely would have been more ideal for holding the ball after the direct passes than Zelarayan or Matan. The flanks need to be more utilized by the Black & Gold going forward. The Crew had zero crosses in the game and was committed to going through the middle by playing through balls but didn’t adjust when it wasn’t working. Similar defensive styles. Different offensive results The Crew and the Red Bulls have somewhat similar styles in the way the teams set up to play in certain parts of the game. For example, both teams like to press high but have different styles of press. Columbus likes to press when the team loses the ball and try to win it back right away to possess again. New York does the same thing, but with a more aggressive, constant style. The difference between these teams was what they did when they won the ball back, and the offensive results were vastly different because of this. Often when the Black & Gold won possession, the ball went back to the center backs and was moved around the backline. The Crew had the ball a lot, 62.2 percent of it, but wasn’t aggressive enough to try and advance the ball to possess in New York’s half rather than their own. The Red Bulls, on the other hand, looked to advance the ball up the pitch right after winning it. If that wasn’t on, then New York pulled it back. This is type of pressing and counter attacking aggression that put the Black & Gold on the back foot on both goals they conceded. It is what the Red Bulls have done for years to promising results and Columbus couldn’t handle it despite knowing what was coming or press and push enough themselves. If the Crew had looked to go forward with the ball instead of back, the Black & Gold could have broken the press on multiple occasions. This would put New York under more pressure, and maybe even led to more chances. Youth and inexperience are beginning to show Nancy has made it known that he trusts younger players. For the Crew, that means Quinton, Sands and wing back Mohamed Farsi getting significant game time in this early part of the season. Quinton has had solid moments and other moments of inexperience in the first few games. Sands continues to refine the offensive side of his game, playing a more advanced role than in the past. Farsi has been a bright spot for the Crew, but struggled with his decision making when on the ball against New York. With that being said, inexperience was on display Saturday night, which is a good and bad thing. On the first goal, Quinton got caught high up the pitch while his counterpart Moreira was also high, which led to a goal in transition for New York. Both center backs can’t be up the field because then Degenek is left alone. Because Moreira was still tracking back, a runner was unmarked at the back post which led to an easy rebound goal. On the second goal, Farsi gets caught napping, after giving the ball away, as Red Bull right back John Tolkin ran right behind him and played an uncontested cross to the back post. Quinton didn’t check his shoulder to see ther runner at the back post, which led to an easy second goal for the home side. These mistakes are to be expected with young players. That being said, there are learning opportunities here for both players involved.

The Columbus Crew traveled back home after getting a point on the road against Toronto FC. The Black & Gold had to fight back in the game after going down 1-0 in the first half, but a Jimmy Medranda goal in the 75th minute would secure at least a point for Columbus. It was a back and forth game for the Crew, controlling the game in the first 15 minutes but having stretches of the game where they looked on the back foot. Tactically, there were some high and low points that contributed to the game’s outcome. Let’s dive in. The Good It’s always better to start off with the good news first. The Crew got a road point early in the season against an Eastern Conference rival after going down a goal. While the team didn’t play extraordinarily well throughout, there are some stretches in which they looked dangerous and threatening. In the opening 15 minutes of the match, Columbus had a bulk of the possession and generated some decent chances that just lacked a killer finishing touch. One of the things that worked in that opening phase of the game was the Black & Gold’s “secondary runners” in attack. Cucho Hernandez hasn’t gotten on the scoresheet yet this season, but he’s been creating opportunities for others to get in scoring positions based on his positioning. In the 14th minute he had a sequence where he dropped into midfield near the right wing and received a pass from Darlington Nagbe. Since a defender was on his back, he played a quick little slip pass to a streaking Mo Farsi who then played a pass a little bit out of the reach of Alexandru Matan. Since Hernandez dropped in, he pulled a Toronto defender with him and opened up space in behind for Matan and Farsi. Since that defender was drawn out, TFC had to shift over to cover that space, leaving the middle of the field wide open. If Farsi had connected with Matan, the young right-wing back would have had a clear path to goal with only an aging Michael Bradley on his heels. The other good thing Wilfried Nancy did was push Nagbe higher up the pitch. Often in the first half he gained ground simply by dropping his shoulder and waltzing through the defense. This is something Crew fans have wanted to see for a while, and hopefully it continues because between Nagbe and Lucas Zelarayan, defenses won’t be able to touch them. The Bad The Black & Gold did not adapt quick enough to the changes Toronto made in the game. In the first 15 minutes the Crew dominated, keeping the ball and putting the home side under pressure. That was until TFC changed their press, and then Columbus didn’t adjust. Toronto didn’t start out pressing very high, but with the Crew’s high rate of possession they switched to almost a man-to-man press that made life very difficult for the away side. TFC took away Columbus’ ability to break lines by man marking Aidan Morris and Nagbe, and then they sent their front line to press up on the Crew’s defense which led to bad passes, turnovers, and chances for the Canadian side. The Black & Gold had two options, go long and get your players up top to hold up the ball, or have your attackers drop in and help you play out. Going long didn’t work out very well because Hernandez isn’t a true hold up forward, and Columbus didn’t drop their attackers in, so the Crew had a massive gap between the midfield and their attackers that was being exploited by Toronto. The lack of adjustment by Nancy is something that is to be expected in the early season. The team has a new coach and new players, but this is an adjustment that Nancy just missed on. The other downside of this game was the wingback play of the Crew. In this young season, Farsi has shined and showed that he can play with the first team and be a regular. Other than him, that other side has been up for grabs in terms of who locks down that starting spot. The absence of Will Sands has been a big loss so far for the Black & Gold and Jimmy Medranda’s health will be a big upgrade depth wise, but other than those two it’s hard to see where Yaw Yeboah and Luis Diaz fit. Yeboah hasn’t played terrible, but it’s the versatility to be able to defend and attack that is lacking. The attacking aspect is there, but defensively he has been suspect. The jury is out so far on Diaz. I think all Crew fans would love to see the Costa Rican play more in the future, but it will be interesting to see where he fits into Nancy’s system. Fans in Columbus all know what he can do offensively, but it’s the defensive side that will be captivating to see. The Goal It’s always fun to watch such a simple pattern of play that has been taught to all ages make a cameo on the professional level. Medranda’s 75th minute equalizer was the result of one of the oldest soccer patterns in the book: the Up-Back-Through. The ball started with Medranda who played a split ball to Matan. Matan then dropped it back to Degenek because he had a defender on his back and the Austrailian played it over the top perfectly for Medranda to strike. The beauty of this pattern is it can work at all levels of soccer, you don’t have to be a pro to pull this off. Medranda continuing his run was the key, because Matan dragged his defender out to open up space for the wingback to get in behind. It’s something small and miniscule that led to the goal, but it’s just living proof that the patterns that are practiced on the training ground from a young age are engrained in the brains of these professionals. The Crew were fortunate to be on the good end of that on Saturday night.

The Columbus Crew picked up their first win of the 2023 season on Saturday night with a 2-0 win over DC United. A Lucas Zelarayan brace powered the Black & Gold to have a Crewsmas to remember in a game where Columbus was uncharacteristically out possessed by Wayne Rooney’s side. It was a good team win for a side that is just beginning to scratch the surface of their potential under new head coach Wilfried Nancy. With more games comes more tactical nuances and details Nancy installs, so let’s dive in. The Front Three One thing all Crew fans can be excited about is the potential of the Black & Gold attacking front three with Cucho Hernandez, Lucas Zelarayan and Alexandru Matan. Hernandez and Zelarayan are locks to be dangerous, but Matan has shown that he can play, despite past criticisms of his defensive willingness. The key to the front three being dangerous in this game was their ability to move around and not be restricted to one area of the pitch. Many times, in this match Hernandez was all over the attacking half of the field on the right wing, left wing, and of course the center which is his natural striker position. His variety of positioning makes it hard for defenders to track with him and it allows him to have different attacking vantage points instead of always going through the middle. Matan and Zelarayan are slated to play as two attacking midfielders, but they often will drift depending on where the ball is. Nancy likes to create numerical advantages in the wide areas of the pitch so they will often shift over ball side so they can provide support to help the team break out. Another thing to watch for is the variety of runs they will make. One particular pattern of play that worked well for the Crew was Matan cutting inside and then slipping the ball through to a streaking Zelarayan. This happened or came close to happening a few times, and one time it resulted in Zelarayan’s second goal of the evening. The ball never made it to Hernandez, but the times this pattern happened he was making a delayed run from the top of the box to receive a cutback from Zelarayan. The attacking options for Columbus are subject to change as the year goes on, but it looks like the Crew are in good hands so far. Defensive press and style I touched a little bit on this last week, but with more game tape comes more understanding of exactly what Nancy wants his squad to do. On the defensive side of the ball, the Crew have opted to play an aggressive constant press and a high line so far this season. Often when the opponent is possessing the ball, the Crew will send the front three to press the player that has the ball and cut off potential passes. Darlington Nagbe and Aiden Morris also will go mark players that could potentially receive the ball so they can get easy interceptions if a bad pass is played. The wingbacks will often join in as well, taking away the wingers as potential pass options. So, the only options for the opposing team in possession now is to attempt to play through it and combine or go long and hope the striker can hold the play up. Now, while the pressing was not perfect on Saturday, it was improved from the first game against Philadelphia. The idea of playing a high line is so that the Black & Gold can keep their opponents in their own half if possible. If the press doesn’t work out and the other team breaks, the defenders have the options to have an offside trap or step to a bad pass or heavy touch. The only downside to playing this high line is if a pass is timed right the other team can have a clean break on goal. Columbus will continue to tinker with their defensive system in the coming weeks, but after two games they seem intent on creating chaos for opposing teams. Aiden Morris playing as a “half-pivot” Last year in the Caleb Porter system, one of the defensive midfielders would play the role of the “pivot”, where they would drop in between the center backs so the outside backs could get upfield. On Saturday, Aidan Morris would sometimes take up the role of playing as a “half pivot”, between the outside center back and the wingback so the wing could get higher up the pitch. This happened a lot on Yaw Yeboah’s side, which makes sense because he is the more offensive geared wingback. Morris would drift out wide and occupy the space the wingback would usually take, and then Yeboah moved higher up the field in more of a pure winger position. This allowed the Crew to be able to connect down the sideline and possibly get Yeboah in a favorable attacking position against an opposing outside back. This is also smart on the defensive side too, because if Columbus got countered, Morris would already be in a position where he could cover for Yeboah. This is something minute that may not play much difference at the end of the game, but with time this could lead to wingbacks racking up assists or even goals from getting in more attacking spaces.