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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.

The Columbus Crew avenged the team’s loss to Nashville SC earlier in the season on Saturday night, earning a 2-0 win at Lower.com Field. The game marked the fourth straight win at home for the Black & Gold and extended the team’s unbeaten run to five matches. Striker Christian Ramirez opened the scoring for Columbus early in the first half. Despite controlling much of the match, a second goal didn’t come until substitute Max Arfsten forced a Nashville own goal in second half stoppage time. The win puts the Crew in fifth place in the Eastern Conference during the unbeaten stretch. Those who pay attention to tactics might have noticed the Black & Gold tried some new shapes and tactical setups due to the personnel available for this game and it paid off. Let’s dive into those tactical decisions. A different midfield setup Due to Columbus midfielder Aidan Morris being called up for international duty with the United States Men’s National Team for the Gold Cup, the Crew was forced to go with a different midfield trio than what head coach Wilfried Nancy has preferred for much of the season. Nancy decided to insert attacking midfielder Alexandru Matan for Morris, which isn’t quite a like-for-like switch and changed the shape of the midfield. Lucas Zelarayan played in his typical No. 10 with Matan slightly deeper and Darlington Nagbe anchoring the midfield. Because Matan isn’t a true central midfielder, he was tasked with pushing a bit higher and carrying the ball into the attacking third. Zelarayan too contributed in this way, dropping deeper at times, especially after the Crew took the lead. Playing as the lone No. 6 meant Nagbe was afforded more space and freedom to operate in the deeper midfielder. He roamed from side to side and found gaps to help the Blackk & Gold build out of the back. On the defensive side though, he was not left to fend for himself. Matan helped defend in transition to make up for the loss of a Morris. Zelarayan was not tasked with as much defensive work, but Matan did his due diligence to help Nagbe when Nashville was on the ball. On the offensive side, both Matan and Zelarayan dropped to help Columbus build out of the back. Because Nagbe didn’t have another midfielder alongside him to combine with and skirt around the pressing attackers, he needed help from Matan and Zelarayan. Additionally, the outside center backs had different duties when the Crew had possession. Both Malte Amundsen and Sean Zawadzki stepped up to form a cupped backline so that they could be alongside Nagbe to help build and possess. Building out of the back without using the wing backs The Black & Gold’s wing backs have been utilized in a number of different ways throughout this first half of the season, but on Saturday it was all about how they were not used. The object of Columbus’ attack was typically to break lines, get the ball out wide, create numerical advantages and then pick out Cucho Hernandez, Ramirez or Zelarayan inside for an open shot. That philosophy changed a bit against Nashville. While the Crew’s wing backs usually help the team build out of the back, this was not the case on Saturday night. Instead, the wing backs stayed higher up the pitch like true wingers and vacated that space for the midfielders to drop in and receive the ball. Once the buildup reached Nashville’s defensive half, the wing backs operated as normal, overlapping, possessing and crossing the ball. The only thing that was out of the ordinary was that they were not being involved in the buildup play. This could have been done for a host of reasons. Nancy knew that Nashville was stout defensively and likely wanted to attack at a different angle or throw a wrinkle the opponent wouldn’t be ready for. He also trusts his midfielders with breaking the lines, which they often do better than the wide player. Another big reason could be the absence of Morris. If he was alongside Nagbe and Zelarayan was the lone attacking midfielder, the open spaces in attack would be on the sides. Playing with Matan more advanced than Morris typically is, the open space was inside in the channels, rather than out wide with the wing backs. Regardless of the reasons, this new strategy of buildup worked well for Columbus who was on the front foot early on in the match and eventually got the coveted opening goal against a tough Nashville side. How the Crew pierced through Nashville’s tough defense Nashville has one of the most recognizable and effective tactical setups in all of Major League Soccer. The team thrives on being defensively sound and then hitting on the counter attack with former MLS MVP Hany Mukhtar and other potent attacking options. One of the difficulties the Black & Gold had in recent seasons is breaking through that tough defensive tactical setup. On Saturday though, fans got a glimpse of Nashville’s weakness. The Columbus attackers often made the same type of runs, a check and go, and got in behind over and over again. The attacker checked to the ball and drew the marking defender out, and then turned and ran into the vacated space as soon as the defender took the bait. The Crew used this type of run multiple times, forcing Nashville to either continue getting burned or adjust the tactical setup. Although it sounds simple to change, it isn’t. The entire reason Nashville defenders were drawn out is that they didn’t want the duo of Hernandez and Zelarayan to receive the ball in space to shoot from distance. If the defenders don’t step out and press, that dangerous duo punishes them. This is the threat the Columbus attack poses. The Crew has the speed and finishing ability to get in behind, but also the technical ability to score goals from outside the penalty box, and even outside the attacking half. Nashville eventually did adjust and pulled the midfielders deeper so that the defenders didn’t have to jump forward so much, and they still had pressure on the ball. Even so, the Black & Gold still created good chances and ended up taking all three points.

The Columbus Crew snapped the team three-game win streak on Saturday with a 1-1 draw at New York City FC. The Black & Gold went up 1-0 courtesy of a Christian Ramirez finish but conceded in stoppage time to leave with just a point. Columbus played without the team’s best player, Lucas Zelarayan, who was away on international duty with Armenia. However, the Crew still fielded a strong lineup without major changes. Yet again, head coach Wilfried Nancy made minor adjustments based on the opponent but did not change a host of tactics. Let’s dive into what the Black & Gold did tactically against NYCFC Pressing with a stacked midfield Throughout the season, Columbus had the same overall game plan on offense and defense. Offensively, the Crew wanted to keep the ball but also went forward with purpose when the opportunity presented itself. Defensively, the Black & Gold wanted to force City to make quick decisions by pressing and staying sound at the back. While this has been a constant, the fine points and nuances in how that game plan is carried changed in this game. The way Columbus pressed on Saturday had been done before, but not recently. Like in other games, the Crew pressed in a 5-2-3 formation. The front three pressed the ball hard to force the defenders to make a mistake or give up possession with a bad pass. Behind the attackers, midfielders Aidan Morris and Darlington Nagbe had a different job to press to fill all the gaps. The idea is that wherever the ball went, there was a defensive player who can provide pressure on whoever receives the pass. This is why Nancy didn’t have his American midfield duo play next to each other. Instead, Morris and Nagbe played in front and behind each other. Morris’ job was to take away NYCFC’s split option to advance the ball into the midfield. This meant that when the hosts dropped a defensive midfielder back to try and relieve the pressure, Morris simply followed that player. He man-marked the dropping midfielder so he had to pass the ball out wide where the wing backs could pounce. Nagbe’s job was to win the ball when the Pigeons long. When the New York City defense came under pressure and there was no way to play through it, the home side resorted to launching the ball upfield. Whether Nagbe wonn a header himself or collected a second chance ball knocked down from the defense, he wanted to be the one to regain possession. The downside to playing a stacked pressing midfield is the team ran the risk of leaving open space in the midfield that one player can’t handle alone. The Crew combated this problem by playing aggressively. If space opened to the right or left of Nagbe and an opposing player dropped into the space to receive a pass, the center back on that side stepped on his back to not allow a turn upfield. Outside center backs Malte Amundsen and Sean Zawadzki stepped higher, leaving the backline vulnerable. But if they force the attacker to play the ball backward, they could recover. This press plugs all the gaps if it is executed perfectly, but there are times when it breaks down and leads to scoring chances for the opposition. On Saturday, the press didn’t yield any chances that ended its goals, but it was the defensive shell the Crew switched to late in the game that caused them to concede. How Columbus breaks out of presses in the back The Black & Gold are a team that thrives with the ball at their feet, regardless of where that possession is on the pitch. As the season has progressed, Columbus has become more comfortable on the ball and building out of the back, sometimes to the queasiness of their own fans. Against NYCFC, this composure was on full display with the Crew beating New York City’s press with ease at times. The Black & Gold made this look easy based on passing triangles. Soccer is a game that is played in triangles. Often, midfields set up in some form of a triangle, but formations are not the only use for the three-sided shape in the game. A coach will typically set up his team in a formation that has natural triangles, but because of players’ dynamic movement in games, these triangles often form themselves. This idea of creating a space where three players can form this shape is how Columbus is able to break presses calmly. Oftentimes, triangles will form between the outside center back, the wing back and one of the central midfielders. The goal is to get a numerical overloads or to get the opponent to overstep and double-team a play in the triangle so one side will be wide open. This is exactly what happened in the 23rd minute. The Crew played out of the back after winning the ball and two players pressed Amundsen. At that point, he had two options for a pass. The first option was to play that ball out wide to wing back Yaw Yeboah, but he had a defender less than five yards away from him. The second option was to play a split pass through to Morris, which was what the Dane did. The split pass allowed the American midfielder to turn upfield and relieve pressure off the backline. A simple string of passes and options between three players broke a press quickly and effectively. Triangles happen in other areas of the pitch as well. In the attacking half there was a natural triangle formed between strikers Cucho Hernandez, Ramirez and attacking midfielder Alexandru Matan. Granted, the shape of the triangle changed depending on how far Hernandez or Matan goes out of position to receive the ball, but it still is a triangle. A simple geometric shape has been the key to Columbus’ success in building out of the back and turning defense into attack.

The Columbus Crew won in stunning fashion, 2-1, on Saturday night against the Chicago Fire. The Crew wasn’t the best team throughout the game but got two goals from the team’s stars, including an MLS Goal of the Year candidate. After a 0-0 first half, the Black & Gold took the lead midway through the second courtesy of a deflected Cucho Hernandez shot but allowed the hosts to fire back late in the game to tie it up. Lucas Zelarayan’s incredible effort from beyond the halfway line salvaged all three points for the Crew deep into stoppage time. Tactically, the Black & Gold did not change much, but here’s what they did against Chicago. Let’s dive in. Different build up approach Often this season the Crew has had a certain pattern of build up play the team likes to utilize regardless of the opponent. Typically, the Black & Gold try to advance the ball up the wings through the wing backs and then work the ball inside from the flanks. On Saturday though, this approach changed. Columbus possessed the ball in a 3-2-2-3 formation. Wing backs Mohamed Farsi and Yaw Yeboah played higher up the wings, leaving Zelarayan and Hernandez as the dual attacking midfielders. Darlington Nagbe and Aidan Morris lined up as their typical central midfielders. Due to the wing backs pushing so high up the field, the Fire spread out and restricted balls out wide. This meant that the vacated space was inside. So, instead of trying to get the ball out to the wing backs out of the back, the Black & Gold had to improvise. Columbus ended up going forward through the middle channels of the pitch more. Zelarayan and Hernandez dropped deeper to receive the ball frequently, drawing in the defender marking out wide and freeing the wing backs became. Once the attacking midfielders received the ball, they were free to play it out wide. Because Chicago was so stretched, the space between the pressing attackers and defenders was massive. This allowed the Crerw midfielders to have more time and real estate to create and find passes. This is also a possible explanation for why the Black & Gold were not as potent in attack on the night. They did get their goals, but the Fire disrupted their typical pattern of play causing Columbus to figure out a new way to attack and get forward. Eventually, this did lead to Hernandez’s goal. It will be interesting to see if other teams opt to take away the Crew’s width in this manner and force the Black & Gold to rely on other players to build the attack. This is a double-edged sword though, because it puts the ball at the feet of Hernandez, Zelarayan, Morris and Nagbe. Why the new Columbus backline aides the offense In recent games, the Crew has playing a back-five system with zero true center backs in the lineup. This was the case on Saturday. And the crazy thing is, the Black & Gold won three straight using that backline. Nobody could have guessed that a defensive partnership between Steven Moreira, Sean Zwadzki and Malte Amundsen would be successful, but those three players have helped out the Columbus offense. In the past games that those three have played, the offensive approach has changed. Against the Fire, Zwadzki and Amundsen got higher up the field and formed a cupped backline with Moreira. This means that the Frenchman was deeper for emergency defensive purposes, but the other outside center backs pushed forward to help possess in the opponent’s defensive half. Basically, Zwadzki and Amundsen played as a pivot position on offense. They step up higher and bridged the gap between Moreira and the wing backs. It helps that these two aren’t true center backs, because they play better with their feet and are able to thread harder passes through the defense. This benefits the Crew because it means Nagbe and Morris no longer have to slide into the half-pivot position and help their side break out. Instead, the midfielders can roam the middle of the field and find splits to advance the ball. Granted, there has been some blowback from this defensive lineup. Mistakes have been made that have led to goals. The two goals conceded at home against Charlotte FC, for example, were bad goals given up by a naïve backline. Some can make the case that with Milos Degenek or Gustavo Vallecilla in the lineup, those mishaps wouldn’t happen. That being said, Wilfried Nancy is banking on one thing: his team outscoring the other. Gone, for now, are the days when Columbus plays for a 1-0 win and racks up nervous clean sheets with a bend-but-don’t-break mentality. Nancy wants to score more goals than the other team because, at the end of the day, a 1-0 and a 2-1 win count the same. So, for the time being, he is putting his trust in a backline that yields him a better defensive output. At the moment, it is working to the tune of three straight wins.

The Columbus Crew made it a double-win week on Saturday night with a resounding 4-2 win against Charlotte FC at Lower.com Field. This came following a 3-2 win against the Colorado Rapids at home the prior Wednesday for much-needed six points. Columbus went up 3-0 in the first half before a flurry of goals in the span of three minutes by both teams put the game at 4-2. Despite not starting a single true center back in a defensive system that requires three center backs, the Black & Gold played well for stretches and showcased some real offensive firepower. Yet again, the Crew didn’t change much tactically but there were some nuances that head coach Wilfried Nancy showcased. Let’s dive into these tactical changes. The wing backs and midfielders working in sync An issue that the Black & Gold had in the past was the midfielders not covering well enough for the wing backs when they push forward. In these recovery situations, the back three was sometimes left out to dry and Columbus vulnerable to counter attacks. In the game against Charlotte, central midfielders Aidan Morris and Darlington Nagbe did a much better job at covering for the wing backs and limiting the counter chances. When Max Arfsten and Yaw Yeboah were caught up in the attacking third, the midfielders often slid out wide to cover the wings. This gave Columbus a back five to defend with and allowed cover while Arfsten and Yeboah came back. The midfielders also stayed a little bit deeper than normal, which is why they were able to help so often on the defensive side. This little tweak also had repercussions on the offensive side. When the Crew regained possession, the wing backs were already in good attacking spaces to receive the ball. At times of long-sustained pressure by Charlotte, the wing backs had to come back and relieve the midfield duo of their covering duties, but that was not the case every time. With a player like Morris pressing and winning the ball back, the Black & Gold had a better chance to counter with the wing backs higher up the field. While this wrinkle may seem like common sense, it had a profound impact on how the game played out. The midfielders helped out and stayed deeper more frequently because Arfsten was slotted into the lineup after a pregame injury to scheduled starter Mohamed Farsi and Nancy wanted to help him high as much as possible. This nuance worked to perfection for Columbus, allowing the team to defend with numbers and stay on the attacking edge after winning the ball back quickly. Formation changes on defense, attack, in possession Often this season, the Crew has used two formations in games, one on defense and one on offense. In the game against Charlotte, the Black & Gold actually used three formations, one on the defensive side and two on offense. The defensive formation isn’t much of a shock, a 5-2-3. Forward Christian Ramirez pressed in the middle with Cucho Hernandez and Lucas Zelarayan on the outside. Behind those three were the midfield duo of Morris and Nagbe with the five defensive players. On the offensive side, one formation was used to keep possession and the other to attack and go to goal. The possession formation was a 4-2-2-2, but with an offset winger on the left side. The back four consisted of Malte Amundsen on the left, with Steven Moreira and Sean Zawadzki in the middle rounded out by Arfsten on the right. Morris and Nagbe stayed as the two central midfielders with Zelarayan sitting in front of them as the No. 10. Hernandez and Ramirez played as two strikers, with Yeboah up high on the left flank. This gave Columbus a lot of options in terms of possessing the ball. The back four provided width and stability to possess and switch the ball around the back. The midfield was free to find space to get splits and then advance the ball if that option was open. Hernandez could occupy the vacated space on the right side to get the ball and Yeboah was always an option for a long switch. Once the Crew felt comfortable enough to attack and go forward, the formation shifted. Yeboah moved higher as a left winger and Arfsten followed suit on the right wing. This formed a 3-2-1-4 in the attacking half. The rest of the formation stayed similar to the 4-2-2-2 except for the wing backs stepping higher up the field and Moreira dropping deeper than his defensive partners to be a support option. Nancy keeps playing with formations and trying to find ways to get his players in spaces to score goals and control the game. That’s what he did on Saturday night with three formations up his sleeve. What needs to improve Fans witnessed the three-minute period where the Black & Gold conceded two poor goals and then redeemed themselves with a Ramirez strike. The glaring issues were shortly dwelled upon due to Columbus adding a fourth goal, but the defense remains a liability. Take this criticism with a grain of salt because the Crew has been ravaged by injuries at the back and resorted to starting no center backs in a system that requires three. One of those three was Zawadzki, who is still incredibly young and is usually a midfielder. That being said, there were definitely shaky moments. Former Black & Gold star and current Charlotte winger Justin Meram’s disallowed header was a defensive calamity. No communication and lack of discipline tracking runners almost hurt Columbus, but luckily the play was ruled offside by VAR. On Charlotte’s first goal, it was obvious the need for a true center back. Moreira got out muscled and the home side ended up paying the price for it. The Frenchman had some other nervous moments as well. Allowing Charlotte’s Partick Agyemang to turn him easily and get a free shot on goal was another bullet the Black & Gold dodged. A mere minute after conceding the first goal, a miscommunication between goalkeeper Patrick Shulte and Moreira and a bad pass by Amundsen gave the away side a second and new life. Again, these are things that happen when players are played out of position. Luckily for the Crew, it did not come back to hurt Columbus in the end and the team still got all three points. The injured players will return in due time but, for the time being, the Black & Gold have to work on these issues in training because harder games will come and the mistakes will not be forgiven.

The Columbus Crew picked up three points on Wednesday night, beating the Colorado Rapids 3-2. It was a rough start to the game for Columbus when a defensive error lead to the opener for Colorado. From there though, the Black & Gold continued to press forward and scored three goals to go up comfortably. The Rapids added a second goal in stoppage time, but it was too little, too late. Head coach Wilfried Nancy still opted to go with his usual set of tactics to start the game despite injuries to key defensive players, but adjustments were made that could be promising for the Crew going forward. Let’s dive into those tactical adjustments. Switching to a 4-2-3-2 offensive formation in the first half The Black & Gold lined up in the team’s typical 5-2-1-2, but that formation changed on the offensive side of the ball. In possession, Columbus morphed into a 4-1-3-2, with central midfielder Darlington Nagbe shifting wide into a right back spot. This formation yielded some good and bad results for the team in the first 45 minutes. On the good side, switching to this formation gave the Crew players in the areas Nancy wanted to attack. Wing backs Mohamed Farsi and Yaw Yeboah played higher up the pitch, while Nagbe and left center back Malte Amundsen took their spots as outside backs. This helped give playmaker Lucas Zelarayan space in midfield to create and find players out wide to pick out one of the strikers. Another positive was this formation created good offensive chances in the opening half. Zelarayan had multiple opportunities from distance, as did midfielder Aidann Morris. Forward Cucho Hernandez had a couple of dangerous plays. Striekr Christian Ramirez had a glancing header that the entire Nordecke thought went in, but settled on the top of the net. These positives are important takeaways going forward for the Black & Goold as they continue to have alternations to their style, but there were some major issues as well. One glaring issue was how the team recovered defensively. When Columbus got higher up the pitch, Nagbe wanted to pinch in toward the middle like a true midfielder. This left the right side of the Crew’s defense vulnerable, leaving only right center back Steven Moreira to cover. This led to some dangerous counter attacks from Colorado, but luckily only one of them hurt the Black & Gold. The other issue was how vulnerable this formation left center back Philip Quinton. The second-year pro is still in the learning phase of his career, but a lot has been asked of him in Nancy’s system. Playing a high line next to two converted fullbacks would be difficult for any player, let alone a young one. Columbus is in a tough spot with injuries at center back. Having Milos Degenek or Josh Williams next to Quinton would make him more comfortable and likely limit mistakes like the one that led to the Rapids’ first goal. Second half adjustments Nancy has been criticized before for his lack of adjustments. At halftime on Wednesday night though, he made some switches that greatly impacted the game in favor of the Crew. The first adjustment was the decision to bring on Sean Zwadzki in place of Quinton. This meant the Black & Gold played two converted wingbacks and a central midfielder in the three center back positions. While Nancy said there was some pre-planning involved, this change was based solely on pace and experimentation. Nancy moved Moreira to the inside center back spot and Zwadzki occupied the right center back position. The Frenchman provided more pace on the inside and Zwadzki provided the composure of a midfielder to help build out of the back. This change moved Nagbe back into midfield alongside Morris. The MLS veteran sat deeper but was no longer as wide. Morris being pushed higher got him into more attacking areas and allowed him to combine with the wingers and attackers. Occasionally, the young American midfielder dropped into a half-pivot role to push Farsi higher and connect with him and the defense. This option made it easier to advance up the flanks and get the ball into the Columbus attackers. The second minor adjustment had to do with Hernandez and Zelarayan. In the first half, the Colombian striker drifted wide to attack from outside in, leaving a gap between him and Zelarayan. In the second half, Hernandez stayed closer to the Armenian international, allowing them to combine more effectively. This is when the Crew’s attack really began to create multiple goalscoring chances. When Hernandez and Zelarayan are close to each other and are able to work together, they are so much more dangerous. This little tweak resulted in Hernandez’s goal to put the Black & Gold up 3-1 and out of reach of a Colorado equalizer. These adjustments changed the game for Columbus and ultimately resulted in the team getting all three points. How Colorado was effective On the other side, the Rapids had a few tactics to go at the Crew and try to steal a game away from home. Dealing with the Black & Gold’s high press and high rate of possession is never easy, but Colorado had a few ideas of how to attack it and counter. The first thing the Rapids did was try to retain possession and build out of the back using their wing backs. This typically happened throughout the first half, because of a lack of pressure on the visiting wing backs. On goal kicks, Colorado played a lofted ball over Columbus’ pressure out to the wing backs. This was clearly a tactical design to use the feet of goalkeeper Marko Ilic and something the staff noticed on film. Playing this ball allowed Colorado to advance up the pitch and get through the press without much pressure. The second thing the Rapids did well, was wait for the Crew to make a mistake and then pounce. This philosophy landed Colorado a goal off of a Quinton mistake and nearly led to a second goal as well if not for offside being called. Finally, the visitors took the limited amount of chances they had. The Rapids had a grand total of three shots on target and converted two. This efficiency is what kept the game close. These factors are what the Black & Gold will continue to see the rest of the season. They must continue to work on how teams are attacking them while also continuing to build under Nancy.