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Graduate student Florian Le Pallac led the way for Butler, finishing third at the Big East Championships. Photo courtesy of Butler Athletics. CALEB DENORME | ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR | cdenorme@butler.edu The men’s cross country team ran away with the Big East Cross Country Championship on Oct. 28, capping off an impressive season. This is the third Big East Conference title for the Bulldogs in the past four years, returning to glory after placing fourth in the 2022 Big East Championships. The Dawgs were led by graduate student Florian Le Pallec, who placed third with a time of 25:05.45. Redshirt first-year William Zegarski and junior Matthew Forrester came in close behind Le Pallec, finishing in fourth and fifth, respectively. Butler edged out Villanova by a score of 36-42. The Wildcats had runners take home the first and second place finishes, but only had one more runner take home a spot in the top 14. Butler had five runners finish in the top 14 spots, demonstrating a strong team showcase to bring home the Big East title. Le Pallec, Zegarski, Forrester, redshirt junior Will Minnette, redshirt junior Jesse Hamlin and redshirt senior Jack McMahon earned All-Big East honors for their performance in securing the Big East title for the Dawgs. Butler will continue their race towards the national championship in the NCAA Great Lakes Regional in Verona, Wisconsin on Nov. 10.

The women’s soccer team beat Creighton 3-1 on Oct. 26 at the Bud and Jackie Sellick Bowl. Photo by Delaney Hudson. CALEB DENORME | ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR | cdenorme@butler.edu The women’s soccer team defeated Creighton 3-1 on Oct. 26 to clinch the final spot in the Big East Tournament. Not only did the Bulldogs need to win, they also needed Seton Hall to lose, DePaul to tie or lose and Marquette to tie or lose on the final day of play to sneak into the tournament. Luck favored Butler on the day, with all the results going their way. Redshirt senior forward Abigail Isger opened the scoring in the 25th minute and from there the Dawgs never looked back. Graduate midfielder Becky Dean dispatched a penalty to make it 2-0 and then Isger scored again to put Butler up 3-0. The Bluejays would pull one back, but it would be too little, too late. The Bulldogs won the game and clinched the sixth seed in the Big East Tournament. That sent the squad to Connecticut to take on the UConn Huskies. The last time Butler matched up with UConn it turned out to be a highly physical game, ending in a 0-0 draw. The Bulldogs had knocked the Huskies out of the Big East Tournament in the 2021 and 2020-21 seasons, so UConn was looking for revenge. The Huskies jumped out to an early lead courtesy of graduate midfielder Jessica Mazo’s shot that was deflected by a Butler defender into the back of the net. The hosts doubled their lead 20 minutes later when sophomore forward Chioma Okafor chipped redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Anna Pierce. Despite the two goal deficit, Butler fought back. Sophomore midfielder Talia Sommer capitalized off a quick freekick on the stroke of halftime to bring the Dawgs back within one. In the second half, first-year forward Norah Jacomen hit a right footed curler into the top corner to equalize. It was not the Bulldogs’ night in the end. With about a minute to go in the match, Okafor received a long ball behind the Butler defense and replicated her finish from the first half, chipping Pierce and winning the game for the Huskies. The Dawgs end their season with a record of 6-8-6, going out in the quarterfinals of the Big East Tournament.

Senior forward Jahmyl Telfort transferred from Northeastern and has two seasons of eligibility with the Bulldogs. Photo by Jada Gangazha. SARAH HOHMAN | SPORTS EDITOR | shohman@butler.edu CALEB DENORME | ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR | cdenorme@butler.edu The second year of head coach Thad Matta’s return to Butler basketball has been met with increasing optimism and heightened expectations. After an offseason filled with departures and additions, Bulldogs fans will soon get to see what kind of team Matta has been building. Last season, the Bulldogs finished 14-18 overall, posting a 6-14 conference record before bowing out in the first round of the Big East Tournament. Butler struggled to pick up wins away from Hinkle Fieldhouse all year, going 4-12 in games away from their home fortress. In Hinkle, though, the team posted a strong 10-6 record spurred on by a raucous crowd in Indianapolis. The Dawgs finished ninth in the Big East. However, the season had some bright spots. Matta got a signature win over 13th-ranked Xavier in a dramatic thriller at Hinkle Fieldhouse, and a victory over Villanova earlier in the season, who regularly proves to be a tough matchup. Since the end of last season, there has been a revolving door for outgoing and incoming players in Hinkle Fieldhouse. After losing nine players to graduation or the transfer portal, Butler reloaded by bringing in seven transfers and four first years to fill the holes. The only returnees for the Bulldogs are sophomore forward Connor Turnbull, fifth-year center Jalen Thomas and graduate center John-Michael Mulloy. For Thomas, this season will be about stepping up to lead this new roster into the Big East gauntlet. The 6’10” big man is excited to start the year healthy after missing time at the beginning of last season, and he is relishing the opportunity to be a leading presence in the locker room. “I’m looking forward to the season,” Thomas said. “I’m 100%, and I’m looking forward to competing with my guys. I’m ready to lead these guys and go out there because I know what it takes to win, and I’m happy to be back.” Thomas brings a physical presence down low, but he also has experience that will be vital on a newly constructed team. Having experience playing in the Big East goes a long way, especially around other players who have not gone up against that type of competition before. Players like Thomas, Mulloy and senior transfer from St. John’s Posh Alexander will provide experience and direction for the new faces around the locker room. The Dawgs have another returner in Turnbull, who gained some valuable minutes as just a first-year last season. He played in 22 of the team’s 32 games, shooting 44% from the field and 47% from three. The forward also added 15 blocks to his statline which finished third on the team. Turnbull talked about coming into the offseason with a newly built team. “[This offseason] felt kind of similar to last year, just learning [with] a whole new team,” Turnbull said. “It was easy to adjust last year. Overall, I am just excited to play with all the new guys who I get along with really well.” These “new guys” are exactly who coach Matta wanted to find this offseason to fit his mold. The coaching staff attacked the portal to find more players that fit into the team. “We felt like we really needed to go out and get more of our guys,” Matta said. “I’m really pleased with the job they’ve done in terms of coming together.” One of the guys Matta went out and got was senior forward Jahmyl Telfort. Telfort spent three seasons at Northeastern, where he won the CAA Sixth Man of the Year in 2021 and made the All-Colonial Athletic Association Third Team last season. The 6’7” forward also represented Canada’s U23 team in the 2023 GLOBL JAM event, where the Canadians took home the silver medal. Telfort explained what Matta’s message to the team has been during this offseason. “We want to get better every time we step on the court,” Telfort said. “Win the day, win the week was one of his big models, so that’s what we are going to do.” Another addition to the team is junior Pierre Brooks II, a transfer from Michigan State. Brooks was a solid role player for the Spartans, ranking seventh on the team last season in scoring and minutes. The 6’6” guard/forward is looking forward to the expanded role that being a Bulldog offers him. “We play a whole lot different from where I came from,” Brooks said. “I have a lot more freedom to do what I want with the basketball and a lot more freedom to play. This is one of the best teams I’ve been on, and I haven’t played a game yet.” Brooks will return to East Lansing alongside his new teammates to face off against a tough Spartan team on Nov. 17. Following this, the Dawgs will make a quick turnaround to Orlando, Florida to compete in the ESPN Events Invitational alongside Florida Atlantic, Penn State, Texas A&M, Iowa State, Virginia Tech, Virginia Commonwealth University and Boise State. The team looks forward to using these early tests to prepare for Big East play, which will begin on Dec. 19 versus Georgetown at Hinkle. Matta’s new team will compete in two exhibition games before officially starting the season at home on Nov. 6 versus Eastern Michigan. The first exhibition game is Oct. 28 at 7:30 p.m. versus Ohio Northern at Hinkle.

The Columbus Crew continued the team’s march towards the MLS Cup playoffs last week with two games on the road. The Black & Gold were able to come home with four points thanks to a 2-1 win against the New England Revolution and a 1-1 draw vs. Atlanta United. Defender Malte Amundsen secured all three points for Columbus against the Revs in the dying moments last Saturday. The Crew then went down to Atlanta for a midweek clash, where poor set piece defending denied the Black & Gold the win. As the postseason nears, Columbus has shown its strengths and weaknesses. Both were on display in these two games, so let’s dive into what tactically worked and did not. Steven Moreira in the midfield against New England Moreira moving from his center back role to the midfield has been a recurring theme in the past few games for the Crew. Whether it is Julian Gressel or Mohamed Farsi at the right wing back position, it’s no secret the Black & Gold want to get the ball out wide to the right. Because of this, head coach Wilfried Nancy resorted to pushing Moreira into midfield to help create more overloads. This tactical approach shifted Columbus into a 2-3-5 formation when attacking. Amundsen and Sean Zawadzki stayed back as center backs as Moreira pushed into the midfield. Darlington Nagbe and Aidan Morris stayed in their natural central midfield positions but shifted slightly to the left to make room for the Frenchman. Up top, there was a plethora of attacking firepower across the board. Yaw Yeboah and Gressel played as advanced, with Alexandru Matan, Cucho Hernandez and Diego Rossi in between. The front three attackers were fluid as usual, dropping in and switching positions whenever they felt it was necessary. This gave the Crew a real punch going forward by committing eight players into the attack. With so many bodies, it was easy to create overloads and counter-press the Revolution when the Black & Gold lost the ball. Even though committing so many men forward caused Columbus to be vulnerable on the counter attack, Zawadzki and Amundsen held their own. There were times when the Dane moved into the attack if there was space. Having an asset like Moreira is vital to this team. His defending and leadership from the back are essential in 1 v. 1 situations. On the other hand, Moreira has good ball control and can make slashing runs to gash a defense. Moving Moreira into the midfield is just another caveat for opponents to deal with defensively, so look for this to continue come playoff time. How the Crew tweaked the formation against Atlanta When the starting lineups came out on Saturday, many Black & Gold fans were confused when looking at the defensive starters. Four players who have played center back in prior games this season were slated to start, with Gressel being the lone true wing back. Once the game started, it was clear that Zawadzki was left wing back, with Yevhen Cheberko taking the left center back position. Rudy Camacho and Moreira stayed in their familiar center back spaces with Gressel on the right. This change profoundly affected the game and how Columbus was shaped. In possession, the Crew was in a 3-3-4 formation. The backline was Cheberko, Camacho and Moreira, with a midfield trio of Zawadzki, Morris and Nagbe ahead of them. Gressel pushed up high on the right, rounded out by the front three. It was just a minor shift from the previous game, with Zawadzki moving into the midfield instead of Moreira. That gave the Crew a bit more defensive stability while allowing Zawadzki to link up with his two partners in midfield. Because the left wing back space was unoccupied, Matan often shifted to the left to take that area. When the Black & Gold advanced higher up the field, the formation was tweaked again. This time, Columbus moved to a 2-3-1-4 formation, sliding Nagbe up as an attacking midfielder. Moreira moved into midfield with Zawadzki and Morris, leaving Camacho and Cheberko back. The front four remained the same, but Hernandez, Rossi and Matan all had creative freedom to drop and combine with the midfielders. Getting Nagbe into an advanced position has been something Crew fans have wanted for a long time. His ability on the ball, specifically to pull off the spectacular, is evident, so moving him closer to goal only increases Columbus’ chances of scoring. The Crew does that at the risk of being caught high, but with Cheberko and Camacho on the backline, there was security. It was just another stepping stone of building on previous tactical choices from the Black & Gold. This is Nancy’s time to tinker with formations and tactics before the playoffs start. While these games still hold importance, they also serve as an opportunity to try new things that could help later down the road.

The Columbus Crew returned home to take on the Philadelphia Union in what could be an MLS Cup playoff preview. The Black & Gold opened the 2023 campaign against the Union in Philadelphia, falling 4-1 in Wilfried Nancy’s first game in charge. Much has changed since then for both sides, which produced an end-to-end match that ended up tied at 1-1. Columbus stuck to the team’s guns tactically, but there were a few nuances to help attack the Union. Let’s dive into those tactical decisions. Playing with four in the back while in possession The Crew will tend to change shape throughout the match depending on the situation, score and if the team has the ball or not. Nancy likes to line his teams up in a hybrid three- or five-defender system but maintains formational fluidity throughout the match. In the game against Philadelphia, Columbus switched formations around while in possession to a 4-2-4. Center back Steven Moreira slid into the right back slot, leaving Rudy Camacho and Malte Amundsen as the center back pair. Wing back Yaw Yeboah took up the mantle of right back, but he got forward in attack as well. Right wing back Julian Gressel moved high up the pitch to the right wing position. Forward Cucho Hernandez and attacking midfielder Alexandru Matan were up top like strikers but dropped in or roamed freely. Forward Diego Rossi moved out more to the left but again maintained the freedom to move inside. Darlington Nagbe and Aidan Morris stayed beside each other, holding the line in midfield. This formational change when on the ball was indicative of what the Black & Gold wanted to do primarily in the first half. The Union took the first half to rest some of their attacking stars, so Columbus tried to push for the opening goal while the threat of a counter attack wasn’t too daunting. Camacho was the only player for the Crew who didn’t have a serious attacking presence. Amundsen stayed back a good amount but occasionally found himself in the attack. Moreira often pinched inside like a midfielder to help Morris and Nagbe hold down the middle and add an extra body into the attacking mix. Even though they didn’t score a goal in the first half, the Black & Gold generated chance after chance while the Union tried to escape to halftime with the match still tied. Despite Columbus having a top-scoring offense in the league, the Black & Gold couldn’t find the breakthrough and missed a lot of good scoring chances. Keep looking for the Crew to change and morph the formation moving forward, depending on the in-game situation. Columbus has been one of the best teams all year in adapting and maintaining a style of soccer that features fluid formations. How the game turned in the second half Philadelphia head coach Jim Curtain had a simple game plan going into Saturday’s matchup. With stars like Daniel Gazdag, Julian Carranza and Mikael Uhre sitting during the first half to rest, Curtain’s plan was to survive the first half and make this contest rely on the second 45 minutes. Despite the barrage of Crew chances, the Union got their wish and even took the lead on a corner in the second half. This is when the tactics of both sides took center stage, and fans got to see how teams could exploit Columbus’ style of play. The Black & Gold love to have the ball and be aggressive in the attack. That means creating numerical overloads at the cost of possibly getting countered by the opposition. They apply pressure by committing as many as eight or nine players forward in attack and forcing other teams to drop more players on defense to handle the attacking firepower. During the second half, it became a chess match between Curtain and Nancy on which one could stick to his game plan and grind out a result. The Crew continued to attack and create quality chances repeatedly but could not find the back of the net, while Philadelphia took every chance to attack with pace on the counter. The difference in the game was the opposing philosophies of the coaches. The Union sat one point ahead of the Crew in the vital race for a home playoff spot. Curtain was content with his side packing up shop and parking the bus to secure the tie. Nancy pushed his team to go for all three points, prompting him to take Morris off for striker Christian Ramirez. This change shifted things slightly for the Black & Gold. Nagbe was the lone central midfielder, although Moreira stepped up and Matan occasionally dropped to help. The change was definitely in the attacking mind, pushing for two goals to get all three points. When Columbus tied up the game, Philadelphia essentially shut it down, being more careful and defensive to combat the Crew attack. The Union’s philosophy succeeded but with a few nervous moments, including a no call penalty decision on Ramirez in stoppage time. These were two well-coached teams doing their respective duties based on what they wanted from the rest of the season. Philadelphia was content to retain a one-point lead over the Black & Gold. Columbus wanted to take all three points to leapfrog the Union but will be okay with coming away with a point.

The Columbus Crew had an up and down week, losing 4-3 to Orlando City SC last Saturday before bouncing back in dominant fashion against the Chicago Fire 3-1. The Black & Gold’s late, dramatic collapse against Orlando gave fans doubts about the defense going forward, but Columbus responded just days later, holding a shutout to clinch an MLS Cup playoff position. Columbus’ tactical breakdown at the end of Saturday’s game was followed by an outclassing of Chicago midweek. So let’s dive into some of the tactical decisions in these two games. What went wrong against Orlando Giving up three goals in the final 17 minutes plus stoppage time to lose a game is unacceptable at any level. For the Crew, it was an absolute meltdown in the back that happened for a few different reasons. First, there was a lack of urgency from the defense to attack and clear the ball in the defensive third. Facundo Torres’ goal in the 73rd minute is evidence of this. The ball started with one of the Lions’ center backs, and he just played a long ball straight up the field, hoping to find the run of the striker. Both center backs Rudy Camacho and Steven Moreira followed the striker instead of communicating, and one of them switching off to attack the ball. This led to Orlando winning the second chance ball and scrambling Black & Gold defense pay to pull within one. Defensive mistakes happen, but a common theme among Columbus defenders this year has been their lack of fervor in going after aerial balls. Come playoff time, it will be a weakness teams will pick up on and try to exploit. Second, marking and on-ball defending was extremely poor. Orlando’s first goal on the night was preventable. The Lions’ crosser put the ball in a dangerous area, but it was slow coming in and should have been dealt with. The breakdown occurred on the backside between Moreira and wing back Julian Gressel. Moreira dropped deeper because he doesn’t have a mark, but Gressel is too slow getting back, which gives Martin Ojeda the goal scoring opportunity. Columbus also tends to have a bad habit during transition moments to jump into tackles trying to win the ball back despite being outnumbered. This just makes a bad situation worse during a numbers disadvantage. Sometimes playing contain defense and waiting for the cavalry to recover is better than trying to make a hero tackle. Finally, the defense just ran out of gas. Head coach Wilfried Nancy said after the game that players were cramping and going down on the defensive side of the ball, prompting him to make substitutions. As a coach, sometimes you have to make those tough calls, but the substitutes didn’t do their job in seeing out the game. If this team can figure out how to kill off games, the Black & Gold will be arguably one of the favorites going into the playoff. What worked offensively against Orlando While the defensive calamity was the Crew’s story in South Florida, the offense again produced a three-goal game that put the team in a good position to win. The object of the offensive game plan early on was to advance the ball down the right flank to Gressel. This meant the Black & Gold shifted into an offset formation favoring the right to create an overload. Midfielder Aidan Morris shifted towards the right and Gressel stepped up high like a winger. Moreira moved out into a right back position to bridge the gap between him and Gressel. When needed, Morris slid into the half-pivot spot between Moreira and Gressel to help link up the play better as well. Playmaker Alexandru Matan also was positioned more on the right to add another attacking piece to the mix. This really helped Columbus get the second goal of the game. Orlando had a throw in on the right side, and the Crew retained possession and switched the ball all the way to opposite wing back Yaw Yeboah on the left. Since Orlando was covering the overload, the backside was wide open, allowing Yeboah to slide in a ball to forward Diego Rossi to make it 2-1. Rossi and forward Cucho Hernandez still had the attacking freedom to roam up front but stayed in the central part of the pitch for much of the game. The attackes occasionally dropped deeper to help with possession, but one of them typically stayed high to stretch the defense. The Crew’s attack is potent because they can score in every imaginable way. On Saturday, the Black & Gold were able to score by sustaining possession in the attacking third while also having the ability to hit on the counter. This offense is not a one-trick pony. Columbus can hurt teams by knocking the ball around and playing patiently, but they can also hurt opponents on the quick counter. Adjusting the offense based on the opponent On Wednesday, the Crew took on the Fire. While not as much of a test as Orlando, Chicago is still a team hovering around the playoff line and looking to make a run. The Black & Gold answered the challenge thanks to an adjusted game plan. In the first half, it was evident that Chicago wanted to limit Columbus’ chances of building up through the middle. The Fire packed the middle of the pitch and didn’t allow midfielders Darlington Nagbe or Morris to turn and run at the defense. Since Chicago so compact, it left the wings open for the the Crew wing backs. Because of this, Nancy pushed Gressel and Yeboah higher up the field and essentially played with a back three in possession. Nagbe and Morris occasionally drifted out wide to help bridge the gap, but it was Hernandez, Rossi and Matan who occupied that space more often. This allowed the speedy attackers to go at the defense from a new angle, pulling the outside defenders in while the wing backs overlapped. Once the wing backs advanced the ball down the side, they could pick out a pass in the box to create chances. In the second half, the philosophy changed. Down 3-0, the Fire threw more men forward, trying to claw back into the game. This meant the game became more open and the middle opened up as well for Columbus. Since the space was in the middle, the wing backs pinched in more to find those half spaces inside. After Xherdan Shaqiri’s red card, the outside center backs stepped higher to aid the attack. This adjustment, and Chicago’s poor play, helped the Black & Gold see out a convincing 3-0 win to clinch an Eastern Conference playoff spot.

The Columbus Crew returned to MLS action on Sunday night in explosive fashion, beating Ohio rivals and league-leading FC Cincinnati 3-0 to claim this edition of the Hell Is Real Derby at Lower.com Field. It was a dominant performance from the Black & Gold, jumping on Cincinnati from the opening kick off until midfielder Aidan Morris scored the opener from outside the penalty box. A mere eight minutes later, forward Cucho Hernandez doubled the lead from the penalty spot that sent Cincinnati goalkeeper Roman Celentano the wrong way. Columbus held that lead the entire second half before substitute Jacen Russel-Rowe added a third goal in stoppage time to put the final nail in Cincinnati’s coffin. Although Wilfried Nancy was not on the touchline for this match due to a suspension, his tactical fingerprints were all over the game. The Crew did not change much about the team’s style but added a few wrinkles that helped dominate Cincinnati. Let’s dive into those tactical choices. Darlington Nagbe’s positioning to overload the right side The Black & Gold came out with a similar lineup to many games in recent weeks, a 3-4-1-2 with wing backs that get up and down the pitch. A staple of this formational setup is the two central midfielders in the center, Morris and Nagbe. Typically, both midfielders shift from side to side as the ball is moved around the back, but that was not the case on Sunday night. Nagbe was instead the focal point of the entire offense against Cincinnati, and he played that role well. On offense, the MLS veteran shifted out wide to the right, sometimes as a half-pivot, to create an overload on the right side of the pitch. Since the signing of wing back Julian Gressel, Columbus has not hidden that the team is trying to get him the ball in dangerous spaces to find the front three out wide. Shifting Nagbe over on the right creates an overload that springs Gressel to fly down the wing and get into a crossing area. Not every time Nagbe slid over resulted in Gressel being freed up though. But the former U.S. international midfielder did a good job of his second option, taking on defenders. If Gressel was continually marked by Cincinnati despite Nagbe coming and overloading the right side, the Black & Gold midfielder turned into space and tried to break forward with pace. Expect to see more of Nagbe shading over towards the right side when Gressel is on the field because it will lead to more chances for Columbus. Steven Moreira joining the attack in midfield We saw a glimpse of what Moreira did on Sunday in the Black & Gold’s Leagues Cup game against Club América earlier this summer. In that game, Moreira played a one-two with the center forward and scored, making a run all the way from his center back position. Against Cincinnati, the Frenchman didn’t score, but he had more of an attacking presence than usual, and it was for the same reason that Nagbe moved out to the right. When Nagbe shifted to the right, Morris was alone in the center of midfield. As the Crew got higher up the pitch, Moreira vacated his center back spot to join Morris and Nagbe in midfield to create yet another overload. At points, the Black & Gold defender even found himself in a center forward position, but he was usually anchoring the midfield on the right side so Nagbe could roam and create overloads with ease. This had offensive benefits, but defensive blowback if Cincinnati could exploit Columbus on the counter attack. Luckily for the Crew, Sean Zwadzki had a productive game at center back and shut down a number of counter attacks. Another player who shined was Morris, who was involved in the attack and then sprinted 70 yards to make a transition tackle so that Luciano Acosta and Brandon Vazquez couldn’t make the Black & Gold pay. When new addition Rudy Camacho is implemented into the first team and gets comfortable at his center back role, Moreira might have more freedom to get forward and help out in attack. Only time will tell if the Frenchman can do what he did against Cincinnati on a consistent basis. Diego Rossi’s playstyle Columbus fans got to see the debut of Diego Rossi on Sunday. After Lucas Zelarayan’s departure, there was a lot of speculation about how the Uruguayan international would fit into the squad and fans got a glimpse of the Rossi era in the game against Cincinnati. Rossi came in for Alexandru Matan in the middle of the second half and started out occupying the attacking midfielder space, but didn’t stay there. He was free to roam the pitch and often found spaces out wide and up front as a No. 9. Hernandez and even Christian Ramirez dropped occasionally into the attacking midfielder space to form a more fluid front three that can move freely. Despite Rossi beginning to occupy the space that Zelarayan once did, he has a completely different playstyle as a No. 10 to the Armenian international. Zelarayan wants the ball to his feet at all times to turn and run at defenders with pace. Rossi, on the other hand, is a forward who can pass the ball before making runs in behind to try and split the defense. This is where Hernandez and Ramirez had the opportunity to drop into the space Rossi vacated and get the ball. A very fluid front three has to have good chemistry or the free-roaming style will not work. It looked pretty clean on Sunday, and fans can only assume that it will get better. No, Diego Rossi is not Lucas Zelarayan, but he will unlock different things for this team due to his different style of play. Columbus’ potent attack keeps getting better, and we can only keep expecting more goals.

The Columbus Crew opened up the team’s Leagues Cup campaign with a 2-1 win against MLS expansion side St. Louis CITY SC on Sunday night. The Crew went up 1-0 courtesy of a Lucas Zelarayan freekick, before doubling the lead thanks to a Cucho Hernandez Hernandez penalty kick. The Black & Gold continued to attack and added a third goal, only for it to be ruled offside. In the last few minutes of the match St. Louis pulled a goal back, an own goal but it was too little too late. This result placed Columbus at the top of the group going into Monday’s showdown against Liga MX powerhouse Club America. The Crew didn’t change its tactical identity much for this match, but did switch up the way the team attacked CITY and countered St. Louis’ high pressing style. Let’s dive into these changes. Finding the backside central midfielder CITY brought an interesting set of tactics to MLS this year that most pundits at the beginning of the season thought would be the team’s downfall. CITY likes to press high and fast and then attack as quick as possible after winning the ball back. Given the Black & Gold is a high-possession team, Columbus had to figure out a way to combat this high press in buildup so as to not give the visitors chances on the break. This meant the Crew had to choose a different buildup strategy than usual. Luckily for the Black & Gold, St. Louis made a big mistake. In their haste to press high and throw numbers forward, CITY often overpressed, committing too many players to an area of the pitch that leaves another area virtually undefended. This is what Columbus banked on going forward, because when teams press high and fast, it is extremely difficult to be disciplined all the time. What the Crew did is have one of the central midfielders check to the ball on the possession side. This gave the Black & Gold another player to help beat the press, but not the primary target. Whether it was Aidan Morris or Darlington Nagbe dropping in, this player was the decoy for his counterpart. Head coach Wilfried Nancy wanted one of his midfielders to drop so that they could drag as many St. Louis pressing players out of position. This opened up a split ball through the press to the backside central midfielder. When Columbus found that pass and get that backside midfielder the ball, the game opened up going forward. The Crew switched the field and played out of an overpress, which freed up two of the best attacking players in all MLS in Hernandez and Zelarayan to attack on the break. This was a textbook example of using an opponent’s strength against it, and it worked out for the Black & Gold in terms of chances, goals and the victory. The positioning of Lucas Zelarayan The Armenian international is a master at the No. 10 position, and some would argue the best in MLS. With that in mind, Zelarayan also has the ability to use his positioning to impact how much space other players have going forward. That’s exactly what he did in different instances on Sunday night. First, Zelarayan sometimes drift out wide and occupied the wing back position, usually on the right side. Obviously, Mohamed Farsi is the natural wing back so he took up other spaces in these instances. Because Zelarayan is such a danger in the open field, the player marking Farsi switched off to mark the Armenian, leaving the wing back free to run up the channel and go one on one against the center back. By Zelarayan doing something as simple as drifting out wide dragged two defenders with him and allowed Farsi space to get forward. Now that’s the power of being one of the most dangerous No. 10’s in MLS. Another way Zelarayan used his positioning to help the team was when Columbus built out of the back. As previously stated, St. Louis thrives on pressing high and forcing mistakes. From there, the Crew attacked with pace and made CITY pay. To help out, Zelarayan dropped deeper as a low No. 10 almost alongside the backside central midfielder to help move the ball forward. Yet again, he dragged a defender with him and opened up space for Hernandez to drop in and play as an attacking midfielder. This is the beauty of playing with two strikers. When Zelarayan moves around the pitch and vacates his space, Hernandez can come in and occupy that space without giving up attacking options up top. Christian Ramirez holds down the line up top while the Colombian and Armenian go where they are needed to help attack. This is yet another instance of Zelarayan being not only a magician but also a player with a high soccer IQ. He knows where to go to open space for his teammates and make them better and that’s a coach’s dream.

The Columbus Crew fell on the road in Portland on Saturday 3-2 in a back-and-forth game that snapped the team’s eight-game unbeaten run. The Timbers went up 2-0 in the first half before midfielder Lucas Zelarayan scored two goals to tie the game back up at two apiece. While it seemed another tie may be in the offing, lackluster defending from the Black & Gold allowed Portland to regain the lead courtesy of a Sebastian Blanco goal in the 80th minute. From there the hosts saw out the game and sent Columbus home with a first loss since late ay. This was a very open game but also showcased where the Crew’s biggest weaknesses lie. Let’s dive into the tactics and mishaps from the match. Creating two 5 vs 5 situations Out of the gate, the Timbers wanted to press high, which gave the the Black & Gold trouble early on. Columbus opted to make a change and go with Sean Zawadzki at the central center back position and move Steven Moreira out to the right side center back spot. This gave Portland a slight advantage in the press due to the young American’s inexperience in that position. The Crew countered this press by eliminating the midfield and creating two five-on-five situations. In the defensive half, the Black & Gold had their three center backs and the two central midfielders to help keep the ball and build out of the back. Both wing backs were sent high to provide width in the attacking spaces. This meant Timbers’ attack and midfield stepped up high to press, leaving a gap in between their attack and defense. This approach left room for Zelarayan and forwards Jacen Russell-Rowe and Christian Ramirez to drop into those half spaces and receive the ball to feet and create these five-on-five situations in the attacking half. The front three along with the two wing backs tried to stretch the Portland backline and create numerical overloads before the other Timbers recovered. It was in this is area of the pitch where Columbus missed the playmaking ability of the suspended Cucho Hernandez. Leading the team in assists this season, the Colombian likes to roam and find pockets where his teammates can get him the ball and allow him to attack. It’s a different story with Russell-Rowe and Ramirez. Because of Hernandez’s absence, Zelarayan had to do most of the playmaking and, as it turned out, the scoring. The missing piece was the added dynamic and danger of Hernandez’s ability. Russell-Rowe played well, but he is not at the level of Hernandez and Ramirez couldn’t finish his chances. Zawadzki playing in the middle of the back three This was head coach Wilfried Nancy’s original plan for this makeshift back three before Moreria came to him and asked for the responsibility to be in the middle. While there are issues with the Frenchman as the most central center back, there were more by playing Zawadzki, a midfielder naturally, there. One reason for this change at this point is that Zawadzki could combine better with midfielders Darlington Nagbe and Aidan Morris from a more central position given his midfield passing ability. This was likely a tactic to have a reliable building structure in the center on the road rather than Moreira, who prefers to advance the ball on the dribble. Another reason is to free up the wing backs to be more attacking in the wide channel. While Zawadzki has scored some really important goals for Columbus this year, but Moreira provides more of an attacking danger out wide than the American. Often in the second half, the Frenchman played a second winger to help create overloads. This also could have been done to see if Zawazski can play centrally along the backline. As mentioned, this was Nancy’s original plan when dealing with so many injuries defensively. Degenek has returned and Moreira will likely move to the right center back position where he started the year, so the coaching staff likely wanted to see where else Zawadzki can help th team. For whatever reason it actually was, it was not a success. The Crew conceded three goals, one of them a breakaway sprung by Zawadzki stepping up and pressing too high without cover. The American did not look comfortable as the last line of defense, another sign that this makeshift group should be used in emergency purposes only. What kind of goalkeeper is Patrick Shulte? The big news out of Columbus this week was the mutual termination of Eloy Room’s contract. This cemented Shulte as the Crew’s No. 1 goalkeeper going forward. But what exactly does the 22-year-old American bring to the table from a tactical standpoint? Schulte’s distribution is good, which is something Nancy likes about him. He is calm on the ball, can pick out a pass and act as an extra possession player when needed. There is the occasional bad decision, but that is bound to happen with a young goalkeeper. Also, Schulte is very good at making big saves at crucial times. Last week against New York City was the latest example of that. City could have scored at least three or four more goals that game, but Schutle made stop after stop. There are also areas in which Schulte has to improve, namely his quality in the air. While he continues to work on it in training, Schulte is uncertain when crosses come into the penalty box, not knowing when he needs to attack the ball and making poor decisions on if he should punch or collect. This is an issue he must continue to work on as it led to another goal against the Tibers. Schulte’s aggression coming off his line and cutting down attacker’s angles must get better as well. On Portland’s second goal, the goalkeeper stopped coming forward right before he got to the ball and instead shuffled sideways to cut off his front post. This allowed Dairon Asprilla to slot the ball to the back post.

The Columbus Crew extended the team’s unbeaten streak to six gamess on Tuesday in a 2-2 draw with Inter Miami. Typically a tie on the road is a good thing in MLS, but given Inter is at the bottom of the Eastern Conference, this was not the result the Black & Gold hoped for. Columbus got out to a hot start with a volley goal from midfielder Darlington Nagbe but allowed Miami to answer back off a corner kick early in the second. The Crew took the lead back shortly after courtesy of forward Christian Ramirez but folded late, allowing a Josef Martinez scissor kick to finish in a tie. This means the Black & Gold stayed at fourth in the Eastern Conference but have suffered a dip in performance over the last two games. Columbus did some small things tactically to attack Inter, but issues still persisted for the Crew in other areas. Let’s dive in. Attacking Miami in spaces they are giving up No matter what formation teams line up in, there are areas of the pitch that are open for the opposition to attack. These spaces can change based on the opposition’s defensive strategy or pressing structure, but the space Inter gave up was on either side of the middle of the field. Miami pressed up front with five players. To draw those pressing players out, midfielders Lucas Zelarayan and Alexandru Matan moved towards the wings and played almost a flat midfield three with Nagbe. This opened up passing lanes on the inside for forward Cucho Hernandez to drop into the attacking midfielder space and receive the ball. This didn’t happen all of the time. In the early stages of the game, it was in the central midfield area where the Black & Gold found success finding Hernandez’s feet straight from the backline, bypassing the midfield. As Inter caught on to this tactic, the pressing midfielders began to stay narrower, which left Zelarayan and Matan open on the outsides to build from there. This has been the buildup strategy of head coach Wilfried Nancy in recent weeks. He wants to find the space is in the opponent’s formation and exploit it with multiple options. There is never truly one answer to how to break down an opponent. Columbus couldn’t just play the ball into the Colombian striker every time because Miami made adjustments. Instead, Hernandez found the space initially in the middle, but if the defense started to cheat inside, it opened up both attacking midfielders on the outside lanes of the pitch. Nothing is worse for opposing defenders than seeing Zelarayan and Matan receiving the ball in isolated space, and then having to close them down. That leads to cutbacks, nutmegs and other inflicted pain that the two midfielders routinely cause. On the other hand, Miami could have marked the Armenian and the Romanian and then pay the price by allowing Hernandez to get the ball to his feet and turn. What went wrong for Columbus This was not a strong showing for the Crew by a long shot. The result speaks for itself; tying the worst team in Major League Soccer after leading at two separate points in the match is not good enough from a Black & Gold side that had been playing well before the last two games. This is not the end of the world. Columbus still heads home with a point, which is better than none. From a team that is arguably top five team in the league though, this performance wasn’t good enough. That being said, there are a few factors that went into how the game played out. First, the Crew went away from what has worked for the team much of the year. Nancy wants his team to control the game from back to front with lots of possession, dynamic movement, quick counter pressing and relentlessness on offense and defense. The Black & Gold’s bread and butter has been to possess the ball from back to front and then pin teams in under offensive pressure. There was not enough pressure inflicted from an offensive standpoint on Tuesday. Columbus created enough chances to score four or even five goals, but those were isolated chances rather than long spells of pressure. That is how the Crew has gotten teams to crack throughout this season, keeping the opponnent pinned in their own defensive third, constantly marking runners, following passes and forcing defensive actions. At times on Tuesday, the Black & Gold were a little too content to go direct and risk losing the ball rather than building from the back. Miami then in turn was allowed to retain the ball and build possession of their own because of Columbus’ poor turnovers. This gave them a foothold in the game and allowed them to come out with a draw. Secondly, the Achilles heel of the Crew’s defense has been poor at marking on set pieces. As a team, the Crew only have a 41.9% success rate in aerial duels this season according to mlssoccer.com. This could be a direct result of having to play a smaller backline due to injuries, but when you have players who can’t get their head on the ball consistently, the team is going to concede corners. That’s exactly what happened against Miami. Milos Degenek, who was marking a zone inside the six-yard box, mistimed his header and a marking miscommunication led to a free header. Easy enough, even game. Lastly, goalkeeper Patrick Schulte must get better at coming off his line to handle crosses. His lack of aggression to come out and get crosses nearly bit the Crew in the last game against the New York Red Bulls and did in this game. The cross came in from the corner and was headed approximately six yards from Shulte’s goal line. The rule of thumb for goalkeepers of any level is that if a ball is crossed into the six-yard box, it has to be claimed. That’s the territory of a goalkeeper, regardless of what defender you have marking that area. Shulte’s mistake cost the Black & Gold a goal, and if it continues to be a problem going forward the Crew could be in for a world of hurt.

The Columbus Crew extended the team’s unbeaten streak to six gamess on Tuesday in a 2-2 draw with Inter Miami. Typically a tie on the road is a good thing in MLS, but given Inter is at the bottom of the Eastern Conference, this was not the result the Black & Gold hoped for. Columbus got out to a hot start with a volley goal from midfielder Darlington Nagbe but allowed Miami to answer back off a corner kick early in the second. The Crew took the lead back shortly after courtesy of forward Christian Ramirez but folded late, allowing a Josef Martinez scissor kick to finish in a tie. This means the Black & Gold stayed at fourth in the Eastern Conference but have suffered a dip in performance over the last two games. Columbus did some small things tactically to attack Inter, but issues still persisted for the Crew in other areas. Let’s dive in. Attacking Miami in spaces they are giving up No matter what formation teams line up in, there are areas of the pitch that are open for the opposition to attack. These spaces can change based on the opposition’s defensive strategy or pressing structure, but the space Inter gave up was on either side of the middle of the field. Miami pressed up front with five players. To draw those pressing players out, midfielders Lucas Zelarayan and Alexandru Matan moved towards the wings and played almost a flat midfield three with Nagbe. This opened up passing lanes on the inside for forward Cucho Hernandez to drop into the attacking midfielder space and receive the ball. This didn’t happen all of the time. In the early stages of the game, it was in the central midfield area where the Black & Gold found success finding Hernandez’s feet straight from the backline, bypassing the midfield. As Inter caught on to this tactic, the pressing midfielders began to stay narrower, which left Zelarayan and Matan open on the outsides to build from there. This has been the buildup strategy of head coach Wilfried Nancy in recent weeks. He wants to find the space is in the opponent’s formation and exploit it with multiple options. There is never truly one answer to how to break down an opponent. Columbus couldn’t just play the ball into the Colombian striker every time because Miami made adjustments. Instead, Hernandez found the space initially in the middle, but if the defense started to cheat inside, it opened up both attacking midfielders on the outside lanes of the pitch. Nothing is worse for opposing defenders than seeing Zelarayan and Matan receiving the ball in isolated space, and then having to close them down. That leads to cutbacks, nutmegs and other inflicted pain that the two midfielders routinely cause. On the other hand, Miami could have marked the Armenian and the Romanian and then pay the price by allowing Hernandez to get the ball to his feet and turn. What went wrong for Columbus This was not a strong showing for the Crew by a long shot. The result speaks for itself; tying the worst team in Major League Soccer after leading at two separate points in the match is not good enough from a Black & Gold side that had been playing well before the last two games. This is not the end of the world. Columbus still heads home with a point, which is better than none. From a team that is arguably top five team in the league though, this performance wasn’t good enough. That being said, there are a few factors that went into how the game played out. First, the Crew went away from what has worked for the team much of the year. Nancy wants his team to control the game from back to front with lots of possession, dynamic movement, quick counter pressing and relentlessness on offense and defense. The Black & Gold’s bread and butter has been to possess the ball from back to front and then pin teams in under offensive pressure. There was not enough pressure inflicted from an offensive standpoint on Tuesday. Columbus created enough chances to score four or even five goals, but those were isolated chances rather than long spells of pressure. That is how the Crew has gotten teams to crack throughout this season, keeping the opponnent pinned in their own defensive third, constantly marking runners, following passes and forcing defensive actions. At times on Tuesday, the Black & Gold were a little too content to go direct and risk losing the ball rather than building from the back. Miami then in turn was allowed to retain the ball and build possession of their own because of Columbus’ poor turnovers. This gave them a foothold in the game and allowed them to come out with a draw. Secondly, the Achilles heel of the Crew’s defense has been poor at marking on set pieces. As a team, the Crew only have a 41.9% success rate in aerial duels this season according to mlssoccer.com. This could be a direct result of having to play a smaller backline due to injuries, but when you have players who can’t get their head on the ball consistently, the team is going to concede corners. That’s exactly what happened against Miami. Milos Degenek, who was marking a zone inside the six-yard box, mistimed his header and a marking miscommunication led to a free header. Easy enough, even game. Lastly, goalkeeper Patrick Schulte must get better at coming off his line to handle crosses. His lack of aggression to come out and get crosses nearly bit the Crew in the last game against the New York Red Bulls and did in this game. The cross came in from the corner and was headed approximately six yards from Shulte’s goal line. The rule of thumb for goalkeepers of any level is that if a ball is crossed into the six-yard box, it has to be claimed. That’s the territory of a goalkeeper, regardless of what defender you have marking that area. Shulte’s mistake cost the Black & Gold a goal, and if it continues to be a problem going forward the Crew could be in for a world of hurt.

The Columbus Crew extended the team’s unbeaten streak at home against the New York Red Bulls on Saturday night, beating the visitors 2-1. The Black & Gold had to once again deal with the press of the Red Bulls and, while it was a three-point performance, it wasn’t the prettiest of games for Columbus. Crew striker Cucho Hernandez opened the scoring with a sublime backheel flick making the score 1-0 in the first half. New York answered though with a header to even the game up before the break. The Black & Gold retook the lead courtesy of a Yaw Yeboah volley that rolled over the line after being initially parried by goalkeeper Carlos Coronel. Despite not playing the best game of the season, Columbus found a way to secure the win. Let’s dive into the tactics that locked up the victory for the Crew. Shifting Sean Zawadzki to play alongside Darlington Nagbe With the absence of Aidan Morris due to international duty, head coach Wilfried Nancy resorted to a few different ways to set up his midfield. His first solution against Nashville SC was to play Alexandru Matan in a central midfield role, playing a bit further up the field than Morris typically does. In the game against New York, Nancy instructed Matan to play more as a secondary No. 10 alongside Lucas Zelarayan. The key to this change was having Sean Zawadzki move forward into a midfielder position alongside Darlington Nagbe when Columbus had the ball. This was even more pronounced in the second half when Zawadzki move up into midfield as the Crew shifted into a back four. Zawadzki, a natural midfielder, played as a central defender in recent weeks due to injuries on the backline. Despite some nervy moments and mistakes, he along with Steven Moreira and Malte Amundsen have led the defense that sparked this unbeaten run. The Crew still set up and defended in a five-back set to begin against the Red Bulls, with wing backs Mohamed Farsi and Yeboah tracking back when necessary. When the Black & Gold had possession though, Zawadzki often slid forward and the backline shifted into a back four, playing almost entirely that way in the second half until Columbus defended a lead late. This led the Crew to keep a boxed midfield shape, still with two attacking midfielders forward and then the two central midfielders with Nagbe and Zawadzki. Despite having fewer players on defense, the wing backs still pushed up the field, leaving Amundsen and Moreira back to defend in transition. Like many times this season, committing so many players forward is a double-edged sword. In this case, it left Moreira and Amundsen exposed at times if the Red Bulls’ press forced a turnover high up the pitch. This is what led to many of the visitor’s chances. With the wing backs still being high and Zawadzki playing in the center of the field, at times the Crew defenders were outnumbered in transition. On the other side though, this move was long thought out by Nancy. New York typically pressed high with a block of four attackers. With the two center backs, two midfielders and goalkeeper Patrick Shulte, the Black & Gold had a numbers advantage to break that wave of pressure. The second wave was a block of three, which Columbus also had a numbers advantage thanks to Zawadzki stepping into the midfield. At times, a misplaced pass or poor touch put the Crew in real danger on the counter attack, but Nancy trusted his players to be calm on the ball and use their numbers advantage. It wasn’t pretty at times, but the Black & Gold pulled out a win thanks to the innovative thinking from their first-year head coach. Attacking RBNY’s weakness The Red Bulls’ entire game plan is to create chaos. Whether it be through relentless pressing or furious counter attacks, the visitors wanted to force Columbus into mistakes and then capitalize on those miscues. To do this, New York committed many bodies forward to aid in the press and close down the Crew’s options to get the ball out of the back. Most of that pressing was done through the attackers and higher midfielders, but on defense, the Red Bulls had a weakness that the Black & Gold pounced on. Due to the fact that New York pushed players forward in the press, the Red Bulls’ defense remained very narrow to limit the counter attacks through the middle if Columbus broke the press. This caused the Crew’s wing backs and attackers to have lots of space out wide, which led to the two goals. Despite attacking from out wide, the Black & Gold only registered six crosses, but two of them led to the goals that won the game. On the first goal, the ball was played to Matan who was already near the corner of the 18-yard box. He simply took the space and then drove towards the end line with pace. Because he wasn’t forced wider, the defender couldn’t lunge out of fear of giving up a penalty kick. From there, the ball was served to Hernandez on a silver platter that he flicked past the goalkeeper to make it 1-0 inside 20 minutes. A simple combination provided by the Red Bulls’ compactness, which made Matan able to attack with more vigor with the idea of giving away a spot kick on the defender’s mind. On the Black & Gold’s second goal, New York adjusted. The Red Bulls sent two players out to meet Farsi and Hernandez rather than letting them have space inside. The defensive breakdown came when the ball got passed to the Colombian and both defenders bit. This left a gaping hole of space for the Canadian wing back to exploit and Hernandez played a perfect pass to spring him. Farsi’ cross found an unmarked Yeboah on the backside of the play. Four New York defenders marked forward Christian Ramirez, which left Zelarayan and Yeboah wide open at the back post, with the Ghanaian wing back dispatching the ball into the back of the net. Again, both of these goals are defensive breakdowns from New York, but Columbus attacked the width, recognizing the weakness and exploiting it to secure three points. Room for improvement Despite getting the win, this was far from the Crew’s best game this season. It easily could have been 2-2 if Elias Manoel’s penalty kick doesn’t bounce back into play off the post. In that sense, the Black & Gold were lucky, but they will focus on what they are in control of improving. The first thing they can improve is in transition defending and tracking secondary runners. The return of center backs Milos Degenek and Josh Williams will help immensely with sorting out defensive duties, but it has been a reoccurring theme. Marking the first wave of runners is easy, but it’s usually the secondary players crashing into the penalty box that is more difficult. This is exactly how Manoel equalized in the 38th minute for New York. The ball was crossed from the end line and all the Crew defenders dropped in deep and didn’t mark the secondary runners. This left Manoel open and he made Columbus pay just by simply holding his run and staying in the blind spot of the defense. Secondly, the Crew needs to be careful about switching off for portions of the game. The Black & Gold went through some lackluster spells of posession where they turned the ball over too easily and led to Red Bulls’ chances. If the tea switches off like this, other teams will pounce on those mistakes more often. Lastly, Schutle needs to be more confident and aggressive in the air. The young American goalkeeper was named the Man of the Match against New York but had some nervy moments dealing with crosses, whether it be catching or punching the ball out. Goalkeepers are always a target for opposing players, especially on corner kicks. It’s at those times where Schutle needs to be more commanding. Even at the end of the game when he corralled the ball, he was hesitant and had a bobble that, if dropped,, could have resulted in a Red Bull equalizer.