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The Butler women’s soccer team lost a tightly contested game at home on Aug. 25 to Illinois. The Bulldogs were riding high after their impressive victory last weekend against the Michigan Wolverines, but could not repeat the result against similar Big Ten opposition. This early season loss drops the Bulldogs to 2-1 on the year. The takeaway from this game for Butler was the inability to convert on the offensive end. The Bulldogs outshot Illinois 13-9, but only five of those shots fell on target for the home side while the Illini had six shots hit the target. Butler had intermittent success going forward, but so did Illinois in what would be a very even game right to the death. In the final minutes of the match, the Bulldogs looked like they had the away side right where they wanted them. Butler’s press ramped up in the final 10 minutes of the match, pushing Illinois back toward their own goal and forcing the Illini to make errant passes. This resulted in some optimal chances for the Bulldogs, but the ball never found the back of the net. The 783 fans in attendance had to be patient to wait for the opener, with the deadlock being broken in the 89th minute courtesy of a Julia Eichenbaum breakaway. Eichenbaum timed her run to perfection to go one on one against the keeper, and then skillfully fired the ball into the back of the net with a mere minute left on the clock. The Bulldogs tried to mount one last offensive but fell short in the end, succumbing to a 1-0 scoreline in favor of the away side. The loss will likely drop the Bulldogs in the United Soccer Coaches national poll, after climbing the standings to 17th after their upset victory over Michigan. This was the highest ranking that the women’s team has ever achieved, usurping being ranked 20th back in October of 2017. The Bulldogs will defend the Sellick Bowl again next week, looking to avenge their loss against Wright State on Sept. 1 at 7 p.m.

The Big Ten is making media waves across the sports world yet again. The conference recently announced a $7.5 billion deal for media rights with major outlets CBS, Fox and NBC. This deal will include football, along with men and women’s basketball, baseball, softball and volleyball, according to The New York Times. The deal will go into effect on July 1, 2023, with CBS broadcasting both Big Ten and SEC games during the 2023 season. CBS’ contract with the SEC expires at the end of 2023 before completely moving to a Big Ten schedule in 2024. When USC and UCLA join the conference in 2024, each school will be making an annual amount of around $75 million from media rights alone. Drew James, a first-year actuarial science major, is someone who believes these moves can benefit the Big Ten as a whole. “To me it’s a really large amount [of money], ” James said. “But at the same time, I’m not that shocked because the Big Ten has been making some really big moves, especially with USC and UCLA coming in…I think it is really beneficial to the Big Ten teams, even smaller teams like Northwestern who necessarily don’t have the biggest revenue ever.”. This seven-year deal is worth a reported $1.07 billion annually and will bring Big Ten football to the forefront of the college football landscape. CBS, Fox and NBC have agreed on a slate of games beginning in the fall of 2023 that will broadcast Big Ten games during all three game time slots. This format is very similar to what the NFL is doing on Sundays. Fox will take the noon game and CBS will handle the 3:30 game, with NBC taking the primetime matchup. The Big Ten Championship will rotate between the networks from 2023 to 2029. Although CBS, NBC and Fox have agreed to broadcast games on their flagship channels, some games will also be shown on the Big Ten Network, Fox Sports 1, Peacock and Paramount+. This figure of $7.5 billion is considered the largest media rights deal in the history of intercollegiate sports. ESPN, who had held the rights to the conference for 40 years, had their offer of $380 million a year turned down, according to USA Today. ESPN will continue to broadcast Big Ten non-conference games against the ACC, Big 12, Pac 12 and SEC. Since losing the Big Ten, ESPN has shifted their focus to the SEC, recently announcing a ten year deal beginning in 2024. This deal will boost the conference significantly, with a vast population of the United States living in areas with Big Ten schools. By 2024, the Big Ten will have schools in their conference that stretch from California all the way to the east coast. With games being aired across three different networks and a plethora of channels, the Big Ten will reach a wider audience than ever before, which explains why the figure is so large. Ian Krueger, a first year exploratory student, is an avid college football fan excited about the competition that will spark from this new deal. “I am personally a Big Ten fan so I think it’ll be good,” Krueger said. It’ll help them compete with the big time conferences like the SEC…I’d love to see two Big Ten teams in the college football playoffs over the year.” Although Butler is not in the Big Ten conference, students are still anticipating the ability to watch the conference’s best play on Saturdays. Connor Kossman, a first year marketing student, believes the new deal could push the Big Ten to new heights as a conference. He cited the “constant revenue stream” from the new TV deal as a main catalyst for turning the Big Ten into a powerhouse. “It could make the Big Ten one of the new super leagues of college football,” Kossman said.With college football at the forefront of sports in America, we will likely see more revenue being generated from conferences all over the country as they negotiate new media deals. The Big Ten deal is the beginning of an increase in revenue in the college football broadcasting world.

The Butler women’s soccer team pulled off an early season upset in Ann Arbor on Au. 21, knocking off the ninth-ranked Michigan Wolverines. The Bulldogs came into this game off the back of a 5-0 win against Western Michigan and carried that momentum to a 1-0 win in this contest. The result improves the Bulldogs to 2-0 on the year and avenges their loss from last season to the Wolverines. This game was a prime example of defensive efficiency by Butler, shutting down the Wolverines offense and keeping a clean sheet on the day. Despite being outshot 18-7 by Michigan, the Bulldogs stout defense and strong performance from redshirt freshman goalkeeper Anna Pierce were decisive in achieving victory. The breakthrough came in the 64th minute courtesy of redshirt senior Katie Soderstrom. Soderstrom skillfully diced her defender and then placed the ball into the top corner to give Butler the lead. This was only one of three total shots that the Bulldogs were able to place on frame throughout the entirety of the game. The Wolverines responded to conceding by upping the intensity on the Bulldogs, racking up 16 fouls over the duration of the game, with 11 of those coming in the second half. Kacey Lawrence and Sammi Woods both picked up cautions from the referee in the second half, with Butler’s Claire Farrington receiving the only yellow card for the Bulldogs. The result gives the Bulldogs their first upset over a team ranked in the top 10 since 2017. Early season results often carry over into the remainder of the season and become the tone setter for how the season plays out. The Bulldogs are back in the Bud and Jackie Sellick Bowl on Aug. 25th to face the University of Illinois Fighting Illini with both teams looking to improve to 3-0 on the year.

The United States men’s national team tied England on Friday, grabbing another point in a game that the US stood tall against the European powerhouse. It was another game for the Americans where they created good chances but lacked the finishing touch to grab a goal, but a tie against England is not a bad result by any measure. With the result on Friday, the USA would have to win against Iran to advance to the knockout stages of the World Cup. The game against England featured a similar lineup, but former Crew head coach Gregg Berhalter opted to make some formational changes throughout the game to try and catch the English by surprise. Starting out in a 4-4-2 Although the lineup submitted to the media stated that the USA were going to line up in a 4-3-3 as usual, the Americans came out in a 4-4-2. Tim Weah and and Haji Wright lined up as the two strikers up top with Christian Pulisic at left midfielder and Weston McKennie on the right. Tyler Adams and Yunus Musah held down the middle in their natural central midfield position. There are a few reasons for this change, and it ended up paying off for the USMNT. The first reason was that the US wanted to apply pressure to the England center backs but allow them to play the ball out of the back. Wright and Weah would step up and apply a resisted press to Harry Maguire and John Stones, not going all out in press but keeping contain and creeping forward while players behind them find marks. This would force Maguire and Stones to play a perfect pass to build from the back. While the forwards pressed, McKennie and Pulisic would step up and mark the fullbacks to cut off any opportunity to quickly get the ball wide. Adams and Musah would mark any split midfielders, and even Sergino Dest and Antonee Robinson would step and mark as well. This would leave England with the choice either to try to quickly combine in the middle and risk getting turned over by the US midfielders, or they could go long through the air to Harry Kane’s feet and build off of that. England did get a few opportunities in behind when the US stepped up high, but the 4-4-2 worked out well in the first half generating chances for the Americans. In USMNT fashion though, the final finishing touch wasn’t there. Changing into a 4-3-3 in the second half Soccer is a physical chess match. To win games you have to have skill, but you also have to be smart. It’s no secret that Gregg Berhalter has a friendly relationship with England coach Gareth Southgate, so Berhalter had to change up some things to keep Southgate on his toes and give the US the best chance to win. So in the second half the Americans came back out in their normal 4-3-3 that they usually start games with. With this change, there was also an offensive change as well. The space that McKennie and Pulisic occupied in the first half was now vacated due to the formation change, so as a result Dest and Robinson pushed up higher on offense to give the US more options going forward. The pattern of play also was more consistent with the 4-3-3 than with the 4-4-2. The US repeatedly found success attacking down the flanks and then either cutting inside or crossing the ball. The only problem that they have had is the finishing touch. No matter how many good crosses or final balls the US played in, the finishing touch is lacking. If the United States want to advance to the Round of 16, they have to scores multiple goals in the next game against Iran. The Iranians will prove a tough test for the US if the Americans do not come out and capitalize on their chances. Slightly adjusted style of play If anyone knows Gregg Berhalter best, it’s Crew fans. This performance by the US though was not the typical style of Berhalter-ball that they are accustomed to seeing. Typically, a Berhalter coached team will emphasize keeping the ball, passing side to side and waiting for the other team to make a mistake. This passive possession was not what the former Crew head coach employed against England. Instead, the USMNT played more on the counter when England was pressuring them. Make no mistake, the US still were content to keep possession at times where they were controlling the game, but it was a more aggressive and higher tempo style of possession where they were advancing the ball up the pitch instead of waiting for England to make a mistake. Both keeping possession and playing on the break worked well for the US, as the Americans created some good chances going forward, but the opening goal still eluded them. They will look to pick up where they left off against Iran, and hopefully bag a few goals along the way.

The United States Men’s National Team returned to the World Cup stage after an eight-year absence on November 21, tying Wales 1-1 to pick up a point in their first group stage match of the tournament. This was also former Columbus Crew head coach Gregg Berhalter’s first World Cup match, kicking off a new era on the world’s biggest stage for the Americans. It was a tale of two halves in this one, with the United States dominating the first 45 minutes, but then allowing Wales back into the game to equalize off of a Gareth Bale penalty. Berhalter’s tactics were nothing out of the ordinary to Crew fans, but in the end, it could only produce a draw. Let’s dive in. The First Half: Promise and domination After what the American people saw in the friendlies leading up to the World Cup, the US performed incredibly well in the first half. Many fans and pundits had no idea how this young team would step up in Qatar, but they responded well and controlled the game. Berhalter started off in his patented 4-3-3 but it took on different shapes throughout the game. In the early moments of the match you could tell that one of the goals for the squad was to get outside backs Sergino Dest and Antonee Robinson as high up the pitch as possible to aid in attack. Their creative ability and pace was supposed to exploit Wales’ back three and allow the wingers up top to go infield and combine with the midfielders. We know that Berhalter also likes to keep possession, a style that he had employed in Columbus before accepting the USMNT coaching job. So, when the outside backs would push up high. Yunus Musah and Weston McKennie would sometimes drop in that space that they abdicated, to be an outlet for the center backs and to be a pivot to get the ball up the field to the outside. The midfielder on the opposite side of the field where the other was dropping in would then push up higher and make runs in behind the defense, trying for a diagonal long through ball over the top of the defense. On the defensive side, the output by this US squad was top notch. Everytime they lost the ball they fought back quickly to win it back high up the pitch on the press. When they could not win it back quick, they got in their shape and let Wales have the ball while applying a delayed press. This meant all the players downfield would mark while the front three would press up on the defense and force them into making a bad pass or touch to give possession back to the US. This worked well because the way that Wales was set up, they wanted to attack off of the counter, and weren’t set up to build out of the back. All these factors came together to give the United States the lead after dominating throughout the half, but the inexperience and fatigue came into play in the second period. The Second Half: Tired legs and inexperience result in a draw The US came out in the second half much like they ended the first, with high intensity on the offensive end and earned a corner right off the bat. From there though, there was less control and domination by the young Americans. First off, the team just looked gassed and less passionate. They weren’t staying sharp on marks, pressing hard, or even making good tackles. They simply looked second best which allowed Wales to get some chances going forward and control more of the game. Some of this may be due to the players going into the first half and giving it their all, they sprinted at a marathon and ran out of gas. Secondly, Wales switched up their approach going forward. Instead of living off of the counterattack, they decided to quickly build up and try to catch the United States on their heels. More Welsh players were getting forward than in the first half, and this resulted in them putting some pressure on the US’ backline. Wales also recovered from conceding in the first half and picked up their intensity. There were more tackles flying in and better overall play than in the first half due to coaching adjustments and a short period to rest and regroup. Thirdly, the United States didn’t adjust their game plan and got baited into a track meet after they conceded. After Gareth Bale’s penalty went in the game blew wide open. It was attack after attack from end to end, and the US got drawn out of their playstyle. Berhalter’s system is to draw out the opposition, possess the ball, and wait for your opponent to make a mistake. When they make a mistake, then you attack, but you have to be patient. The United States lost their identity in the second half, got baited into playing too quick and it resulted in them conceding a preventable goal, dropping two points. Lastly, Gregg Berhalter made some interesting decisions, most notably leaving Gio Reyna on the bench and opting for Jordan Morris. While Morris and Reyna have different strengths and skillsets, the game needed a playmaker who can create magic and find a goal, and that’s what Gio Reyna does. There is a certain level of qualifications that go into being named the USMNT head coach and Gregg Berhalter fits all of those qualifications, but he got this one wrong. Morris was invisible on the pitch, not really contributing anything in the few minutes that he came on and played. In the end, we will never know what Reyna could have done, or if he would’ve played better than Morris, but he at least should have gotten the chance. All in all, the US gain a point on their first game back in the World Cup, and have an important game coming up against Euro 2020 finalists England on November 25

The Columbus Crew’s playoff hopes came to an end on Sunday afternoon in Orlando, losing 2-1 in a game that required a win or a tie to get into the playoffs. Derrick Etienne scored the first goal for Columbus, but Orlando stormed back with two of their own to knock the Black & Gold out of the postseason. The tactics employed by Caleb Porter weren’t much different from the rest of the season, and neither was the result in what ended up being a disappointing day for Crew fans. Tempo and playstyle in the first half vs the second half The game got off to a promising start for the Black & Gold in the first 45 minutes, as the Crew looked completely and utterly in control and on top of Orlando. It seemed as if Columbus controlled the flow of the game for the entire half, never allowing the home side to get a foothold and opening up a lead via Derrick Etienne. The tempo that the Crew played with was a little more relaxed and laid back than what fans are used to seeing. We know Porter wants his side to keep possession and create chances at optimal times, but when Columbus was dominating it looked like the days when Gregg Berhalter was the head coach. The Crew kept the ball for long spells of time, stringing passes together and moving the ball from side to side until they found an avenue of attack. Often, they would push high up the pitch, so they were keeping possession inside Orlando’s half, pressuring the Lion’s defense to break. Eventually, they did. Lucas Zelarayan and Derrick Etienne combined on a cheeky one-two and the Haitian winger dispatched the ball into the back of the net. This was the way that Porter wanted to control the game, in what was a seemingly perfect half of soccer for the Black & Gold. Of course, in typical 2022 Crew fashion, the team folded like a cheap lawn chair in the second half. Orlando gained a foothold back into the game because Columbus was pushing the ball down the field too hastily. Once the first goal went in for Orlando, the Black & Gold just could not get back to the dominance they had displayed in the first half and ended up losing the game. The first half was a picturesque example of how Porter wanted his team to play all year. Controlling the game, the ball, and the opponent while playing disciplined, technical soccer. Unfortunately for Columbus, they could not seem to play that style for all 90 minutes, resulting in another disappointing season. Columbus’ pressing style to keep Orlando in front of them It’s only fitting for the last tactical review of the season to talk about one of the most prominent topics covered in these articles over the past year: pressing. Columbus and Porter have employed a few different forms of pressing over the expanse of the season, but the game in Orlando was another example of a unique pressing style from the Crew. The key for the Black & Gold’s press was keeping Orlando’s players in front of you. This means that the Crew didn’t want to lose track of runners or gamble by throwing too many men forward to win the ball, they simply wanted to apply soft pressure to let the home side know there were there and force them to make bad passes. Columbus accomplished this by sitting in a 2-4 pressing block and working together to turn Orlando over. Firstly, the four-up front (Cucho Hernandez, Lucas Zelarayan, Derrick Etienne and Luis Diaz) applied a soft press to the Orlando backline. A soft press is where the defensive players press up on the backline, but just slowly creep up until the lack of space becomes suffocating to the team in possession. It’s the equivalent of face guarding in basketball, the Crew players were not going on an all-out press at the Lion’s backline, but they were letting them know that they were there and close to nicking the ball. Secondly, Darlington Nagbe and Artur cut off any split passes to Orlando’s midfielders. This means that the only way the home side could play out of the back was if Columbus made a mistake or if Orlando played the ball long. This style of pressing was incredibly potent in the first half for the Crew, but the team went away from it in the second half, opting to drop back and defend deep instead which ended up spelling doom for the Black & Gold’s playoff chances down the stretch. What went wrong Up to par with the rest of the season, Columbus did what Columbus does best: shoot themselves in the foot over and over again. This is why the team was maddening to watch from a tactical perspective in this game, because they had it all figured out in the first half, but the team got in their own way in the second period. On the first goal, Jonathan Mensah, who has been solid all year, made the mistake of being a tad too aggressive going after the ball. Columbus’ defensive plan for the second half was to defend their lead by playing a deep defensive line and keeping Orlando in front of them. Mensah saw the ball being passed to Junior Urso and jumped up to intercept but got left in the dust on Urso’s turn and the forward put the ball past Eloy Room into the back of the net to tie the game. It’s these individual mental mistakes that had cost the Crew all year, but unfortunately for Columbus fans, the misery wasn’t over. The Black & Gold would later concede a throw in that seemed to confuse the Columbus defense, and when the throw was taken quickly the away side was not ready for it. Orlando would get a shot off which forced Eloy Room to make an outstanding save. On the ensuing corner, Columbus failed to clear the ball and a shot by Orlando deflected off of Milos Degenek, gifting Orlando the second goal they needed from the penalty spot. The handball isn’t a problem, as Degenek was trying to block the ball and sometimes stuff like that happens, but this all starts from the Crew being lazy and lackadaisical on a throw in that forces Eloy Room to concede a corner. The focus, passion, grit, and intensity has been missing from this team for a long time, and it came back to bite them one final time when Orlando go their crucial second goal off of that sequence. The story of the 2022 Columbus Crew is a wild one. Some ups, but lots of downs for a team that underachieved on the year. The Black & Gold need to look at themselves in the mirror before 2023 and figure out how to get that fire back, because it was missing in 2022 and in the end cost them a playoff spot.

The Columbus Crew tied yet another game on Wednesday, conceding in stoppage time to tie Charlotte FC 2-2. The Black & Gold went up by two goals before Charlotte stormed back in the second half to give each team a point to take home. This result moves Columbus into 7th place after Orlando City SC lost to Inter Miami on Wednesday night. Despite the disappointing result, the Black & Gold showed some real promise for stretches of the match but struggled to consistently get a hold of the game. Let’s dive in. Lucas Zelarayan drifting out to the wing Lucas Zelarayan has been doing this on and off throughout the season, but tonight Columbus saw the benefits of him taking his talents out wide. Before, Zelarayan would receive the ball on the wing and be isolated, sometimes losing the ball or other times making the defender look silly. In the game against Charlotte, however. the game plan came together. In this particular game when Zelarayan would float toward the touchline, he would have help. It was in these pockets that Crew players would come short and then link up with the Armenian international to break through Charlotte’s lines. Typically, it would be Pedro Santos, Darlington Nagbe, Derrick Etienne and Cucho Hernandez helping Zelarayan out to combine and break through. The best-case scenario is that they can combine and get in a good cross to a late arriving Hernandez for him to put in the back of the net. The other option though is to find Luis Diaz on the other side for a back-post tap in and use Hernandez as a decoy. By drawing Hernandez out from playing between the opposing center backs, this gives the Crew different attacking run options going forward and the chance to confuse Charlotte’s defense by making them find marks while the Black & Gold are attacking. It didn’t result in a goal tonight, but it created some good chances going forward for the Crew, and I think that’s something that fans can get behind late in a season where chances have been hard to come by. Differences in attacking strategy in both halves I hate clichés, but it really was a tale of two halves offensively for the Black & Gold. The differences from the strategy in the first half and second half were night and day for the away side as they tried to put Charlotte away to claim three points. In the first half, Columbus controlled the game from back to front. Despite a few chances the Charlotte may have got, the Crew went in during halftime feeling really good about the performance they put in. The central idea in the first half was to control the ball and attack the wide backs of the home side. When I say control the ball, I don’t mean the longs spells of possession and side to side passing from the Gregg Berhalter era, I mean the type of possession that is all about making safe passes, but also trying to move up the pitch and combine. Columbus wanted to move up the field and then find themselves in a positive numerical situation, then they would go wide. One thing Charlotte tended to do a lot throughout the first half was shift their outside backs a little too far towards the middle of the pitch. This would sometimes leave wingers Derrick Etienne or Luis Diaz in a nice pocket of space for the ball to be played to them and allow them to create and attack. The problem for Charlotte was if their outside backs didn’t recover in time, they could be forced to watch Diaz or Etienne blaze past their defense and put the ball in the back of the net. Only a minute into the game (tonight’s game) Etienne had a chance down the left side because Charlotte had over shifted towards the center of the pitch. In the second half, the Crew decided to press their luck attacking on the counter. Especially after Charlotte got their first goal and Columbus was backed up, the Black & Gold soaked in the pressure and then broke with pace. Leading the line was typically Hernandez, Zelarayan and one of the wingers, and they got into some good spaces and scoring situations. I think all Crew fans would have preferred that the squad would have controlled the whole game like the first half, but credit to Charlotte for battling back into the game and forcing Columbus to change the way they wanted to play. Tactically breaking down Charlotte’s second goal There’s nothing like breaking down the moment that three points suddenly turned into one. There are multiple players at fault for Columbus conceding in stoppage time, so let’s break it down. The first problem happened when Charlotte got the ball on the wing in the 93rd minute. Kamil Jozwiak for Charlotte was being marked by Josh Williams, but then curved his run towards the end line behind unsuspecting Will Sands. Williams doesn’t communicate with Sands quick enough, which allows Jozwiak to receive the ball on the edge of the box with time to pick out a cross. Defending is all about communicating, and Williams and Sands miss the mark this time. The second mistake came when Williams was on his recovery run and decided to slide to the end line to prevent a ground pass to be played in the six-yard box in front of Eloy Room. Some may argue this is good defending, I would argue that this is Williams panicking as he recovers and trying to make the extra effort. I applaud him for it, but it was the wrong decision. If that ball was played across the six, Williams has to trust that either Room can corral it, or Moreira is marking up at the back post. If he stays on his feet and checks where runners are in the box as he’s recovering, he might have a better chance at intercepting the ball and clearing it. Finally mistake number three was a Crew team classic, lazy defending. Once the ball is crossed and the initial shot is blocked by Degenek, Charlotte forward Daniel Rios had the ball at his feet in front of goal. It was a good play by Degenek, but it was the aftermath that will drive Caleb Porter mad in training this week. Rios then loads up to cross the ball in, and all seven Crew defenders have their eyes locked on the ball. Not one is looking up to find marks or cover, they were like a deer in the headlights. Sure enough, Rios crossed the ball in to be finished by one of his unmarked Charlotte teammates and that secured the draw. Every team will make mistakes defending in late game situations because the stakes are so high, but this has been a reoccurring theme for Columbus. This is not strictly a coaching issue, because Caleb Porter can’t go out there and clear the ball himself, but the blame is equal between the coaches and the players. Simple communication and calmness of nerves could have saved a win for the Crew in Charlotte on Wednesday, but yet again they settled for a draw.

The Columbus Crew picked up a vital three points in dramatic fashion on Saturday night, winning 2-1 over New York Red Bulls in the home season finale at Lower.com Field. New York seemed to have the win in the bag until Columbus ramped up the intensity in the final five minutes to steal a win thanks to a Derrick Etienne brace. This result keeps the Black & Gold in 8th place in the Eastern Conference, but even on points with 7th place Inter Miami and 6th Orlando City. Columbus looked on the back foot for most of the match, but it wasn’t tactical changes setting them back. Let’s dive in. Game planning for NYRB’s style New York plays a very distinctive style of play, emphasizing hard pressing and physicality to wear down their opponents. The Red Bulls also pride themselves on scoring the first goal of the match, putting the other team in a hole and crushing their spirits. Columbus came into this game and decided to counter that style not by changing their entire scheme, but slightly adjusting to deal with New York’s style. The Black & Gold typically like to control the game by keeping possession, stringing together passes, and making the opposing team chase the game. Throughout much of the game, New York’s pressing gave the Crew fits, because it made the home side rush into some unwarranted passes and turnovers. This was the case through the first 70 minutes of the match when the Red Bulls looked threatening from end to end. When Columbus would have success, it was when the played quicker up the pitch with one-two combinations and secondary runs from midfielders. These chances often arose when Erik Hurtado would get the ball into his feet, play it back to a midfielder, and then they would send a through ball past the stepping defense to a secondary runner. To win this game the Black & Gold needed to be able to be calm and play out of pressure without turning over the ball in dangerous areas, which they accomplished... sort of. For the greater part of the match Columbus looked to be on the back foot and was unable to compete with the intensity of New York. This is something that they will have to improve through these last two games. Overloading one side of the pitch while maintaining width Creating numerical advantages has been a concept that Columbus has used throughout the season in the game to game tactics. Caleb Porter likes to get his players in positions where they can press or possess with numbers and create favorable matchups. While this is an important part of the Crew game plan, maintaining the formational width is also equally important. When players on the outside stay near the touchline, it stretches the opposing defense and opens passing lanes for forwards to run through and exploit. The Black & Gold have figured out how to do both these things at the same time by utilizing the unique skillset of Pedro Santos. Santos, a former winger, has made the transition to left back this season and has played really well. The Portugal native has been solid defensively, but he has also been a different attacking option for the Crew. Santos’ ability to get forward has been something that Columbus has tried to call upon as much as possible. In this particular game, the Black & Gold found a balance between overloading and maintaining width through Santos. While the rest of the squad would commit numbers to one side, Santos would stay wide on the other side of the pitch. The Crew would commit up to six players to one side of the pitch, while Santos stretched the Red Bulls defense on the other side. If Columbus would win the ball, then the left back would be available to receive a switch, and then attack from there. This keeps the New York defense honest and gave the Crew options going forward if they were to win the ball. What needs to improve The Crew’s problem do not have to deal entirely with tactics. There are certainly things that Caleb Porter and the coaching staff can improve to better prepare the team, but the source of the Black & Gold’s problems have to do with intensity and urgency. Like I said before, Columbus looked on the back foot for most of the match while New York pressed up and down the pitch like madmen. That intensity and drive was missing from the home side, who looked simply outplayed in the first 70 minutes of the match. Things seemed to change when Porter decided to send on Derrick Etienne, Jacen Russell-Rowe, and Mo Farsi. As soon as that trio stepped onto the pitch, the Crew looked more dangerous and the intensity was upped. Tactically, the Black & Gold need to be urged to move the ball quicker. Often times, the Crew finds themselves turning the ball over needlessly because they are taking too much time on the ball and getting their pocket picked. Columbus has had success when they are swinging the ball and combining with quick passes and catching the defense on their heels, the problem is that they have not been able to reach that gear often enough this season. All in all, the Crew picked up a crucial three points at home to keep their playoff hopes alive, but they will need to bring the intensity in these last two games to put doubts to rest.

The Columbus Crew tied yet again on Sunday afternoon, allowing the Portland Timbers to equalize in the last minute of stoppage time to bring the score to 1-1. The dropped points will loom large in the Black & Gold’s mind as the playoffs draw nearer and the Crew find themselves on the wrong side of the playoff line. The game was a tale of two halves, with some nuances tactically that we have seen before, but were highlighted on the day. Let’s dive in. The Impact of Kevin Molino Kevin Molino’s ACL injury shortly after being signed to Columbus has to be one of the most unfortunate things the Crew have had happen in recent years. Molino was coming off of a good stretch in Minnesota and fans hoped that he could put the Black & Gold over the top in terms of attacking power. Unfortunately, injury struck, as it often does, but we are now seeing the Kevin Molino that we hoped would show up from the beginning for Columbus. Molino is a different kind of winger that Caleb Porter has tried to utilize over the past few games. While he does have some pace, the Trinidad and Tobago international does his best work in the pockets. This means he often likes to find half spaces where he can receive the ball and play make from there, much like Lucas Zelarayan does centrally. In this certain game, Molino was all over the pitch. Slated as a winger, he often times would instead dive towards the middle of the field and play almost as a second attacking midfielder with Zelarayan being allowed to roam freely. This meant that Pedro Santos had more room down the wing to attack and get higher to use that talented left foot to whip in crosses. Molino would occasionally hold up the play angled toward the center of the pitch, and then give Santos a through ball on the overlap to set up those crossing chances. Molino plays a completely different role as a winger than Luis Diaz on the opposite side because they have different strengths. Diaz is a more of a pacey, tricky, flash winger who will take multiple defenders on before dishing a pass or drawing a foul. Molino on the other hand, prefers to slow play down and the facilitate the ball to other playmakers while running off the ball and getting in scoring positions, like we saw on his goal. In the two back to back games he has started, Molino has looked pretty good and comfortable in the role he is playing. The position battle between Molino, Derrick Etienne, and Yaw Yeboah will be interesting to watch going forward. Attacking Portland’s Three Center Backs One small adjustment to Caleb Porter’s style of play this week was the way Columbus went about attacking Portland’s back three. Portland decided to go into this game in a 3-4-3 that can easily become a 5-4-1 if the outside midfielders need to drop in. For the most part though, Portland would stick with the three center backs with the midfielders helping, but not technically as defenders. The change that the Crew made was to attack the away side by using overlapping and diagonal runs in behind the defenders. Recently, the Black & Gold have typically attacked via Steven Moreira and Pedro Santos/Will Sands down the wing putting crosses and cutbacks into the box. On Sunday, Columbus looked more dangerous when the buildup players would play those slip through balls behind the Portland defense. Cucho Hernandez had a great chance in the 2nd minute off of one of these balls that he ended up chipping over the bar by a fractional margin. These runs create problems for defenses with a back three because it requires a lot of communication. When these runners go in behind center backs, they are essentially running in the defender’s blind spot, so the only way to know where the player will be is by checking with a look over the shoulder or communication from another teammate. These runs came to bite Portland on Columbus’ goal in the first half. The point of attack was switched from the right wing to the left, and Lucas Zelarayan received the ball in a holdup position while Kevin Molino made an overlapping run in behind. None of Portland’s defenders communicated or checked their shoulders to see where Molino was, and he tucked the ball away for a well-earned goal. These runs can be incredibly dangerous, but also run a higher risk of getting called for offside like we saw on the disallowed goal by Derrick Etienne in the second half. Nevertheless, the change helped the Black & Gold take the lead and ended up helping them earn a point. A Tale of Two Halves When Columbus went into the dressing room at halftime all the Crew fans were feeling pretty good. The squad had controlled the game, created good chances, defended well, and went in after 45 minutes up a goal. In the second half, the Black & Gold looked incredibly flat, lazy, and unambitious going forward. Caleb Porter could be heard every time his team cleared the ball, urging his players to get up and press so they could get out of their own half. This lack of enthusiasm gave Portland a foothold back into the game and a fighting chance to equalize. I wish there was a certain tactic I could point to that caused Columbus’ downfall in the second half, but I can’t. There were no blatant coaching errors by Porter or his staff that caused the Crew to be off, this time it’s on the players. To be fair to the team, they did have attacking chances in the second period, but it wasn’t the domination that we had seen in the first half. Heavy legs or complacency could be possible excuses, but the Black & Gold were outplayed in the second half. One example of the difference is the position of the Columbus center backs. In the first half, they almost always were close to halfway up the field as Portland tried to clear their lines. In the second half, they were dropped back further, which could be a coaching change, but it doesn’t make sense to have your defenders drop that far back when your team is playing so well. It all comes down to desire and energy, and Columbus in the second half was lacking. That’s why they didn’t get a second goal, why they couldn’t clear their lines, and why Portland equalized off of poor defensive clearances from the Crew. Unfortunately for the home fans, it was the same old story.

The Columbus Crew tied yet again on. Friday night, blowing a two-goal lead in stoppage time after a Luis Diaz red card forced the Black & Gold down to ten men. While this isn’t the worst result the Crew could have hoped for, the squad will be left frustrated with the way that they let a two goal lead slip away in the dying moments of the match. Columbus had a distinct game plan of how to attack Montreal that had its pros and cons, but in the end only yielded the Crew a point. Let’s dive in. Columbus constantly pressing high We’ve seen many variations of pressing from Columbus this season, but the type of press employed on Friday night was unique. Caleb Porter knew going into this game that Montreal was an incredibly dangerous team, especially when they get high up the field and can make a defense pay by utilizing their wingbacks. The home side likes to lineup in a 5-3-2 with two wingbacks that will run the length of the pitch to attack and defend. The Black & Gold countered this danger by trying to put Montreal under as much pressure as possible, so they did not get the opportunity to build into Columbus territory. This meant the Crew sent as many as eight men in the press to force Montreal into bad passes and turnovers. The good part about this strategy was that when Columbus did get turnovers, they were in a dangerous part of the pitch to strike quickly. The press had many layers that had to go right if the press was going to work. The Black & Gold would send Cucho Hernandez and Lucas Zelarayan high to pressure the middle center back and goalkeeper for Montreal. Wingers Luis Diaz and Derrick Etienne were assigned to mark the other two outside center backs while Will Sands and Steven Moreira would take away the Montreal wingbacks. Finally, Aidan Morris and Darlington Nagbe were tasked with man marking the opposing midfielders, so the press could not be split and broken by one pass. Depending on what side of the pitch the ball was, Nagbe and Morris would mark the near-side midfielders so the only midfielder unmarked would be far across the field. It was typically Morris who tracked the checking players and racked up the interceptions on the night, turning defense into offense for Columbus. The downside of playing this type of pressing is that if Montreal does break out, it is a favorable counter chance and incredibly dangerous for the Crew. Columbus performed well in these situations defensively, backed by a big night from Eloy Room. The goals for Montreal would eventually come when the Black & Gold were backed up and down a man late in the second half. Short set pieces finally pay off A coach’s dream is when their team scores off a set piece that was designed on the training ground, which is exactly what the Crew did on Friday night. The ball started with Lucas Zelarayan who played a pass short to his right to Aiden Morris. Morris then repeated the action finding Luis Diaz near the right corner of the box. Steven Moreira then came streaking on the overlap and played a perfect looping cross to Jonathan Mensah who headed the ball home to give the Crew the lead on the night. Columbus started taking most of their set pieces short a few games ago. Until now it had not yielded a goal, but short set pieces do have their advantages. Firstly, it can confuse the opposing defense if they do not communicate. When the ball gets played short this requires defenders to leave their marks and push up towards the ball, then the goalkeeper and defense has to sort out marks again while also being worried about an impending shot or attack. Playing the ball short draws the defense out to combat the shot, but then the attacking options open up depending on what the defense does. Secondly, it opens up options for the attacking team. Whether Lucas Zelarayan decides to cross the ball or take a shot from a dead ball situation, the defense is already set up to defend against both. When the Crew decide to play the ball short, now the ball is live and suddenly passing and shooting options open up from multiple players, not just Lucas Zelarayan. Nobody thought Steven Moreira would get an assist when Columbus lined up to take the free kick because he was out of the play, but with a few quick passes he was in a prime position to play the ball to Jonathan Mensah’s head. Defending the lead with ten men Here is where the Crew failed on Friday night. In a game that they were comfortably up in a Luis Diaz red card suddenly forced Columbus to be on the back foot. Caleb Porter made a few personnel changes to ensure the Black & Gold would see out the draw, but it might have been the Crew’s downfall. Porter elected to go ultra-defensive in the 80th minute when he brought on Josh Williams and Artur. This moved the Crew into a 5-3-1 with three defensive midfielders and Cucho Hernandez up top to stretch the defense. Porter’s share of the blame came when he took Cucho Hernandez out in the 83rd minute for Erik Hurtado. Hernandez offers a plethora of things in this situation for Columbus. First off, he puts in the work defensively. The Colombian will track back deep into his own half numerous times to win the ball back and is relentless in his pressing, while during Montreal’s first goal Erik Hurtado was caught ball watching as the home side switched the ball to the winger who would provide the assist for Canadian side. Cucho Hernandez also would keep Montreal’s defense honest, threatening with a speed and skillset that, with all due respect to him, Erik Hurtado does not have. It cost the Crew, mightily. The second problem on the night was Columbus’ focus in stepping out and marking up players. The first goal for Montreal is created because a late runner towards the box is not picked up and then Darlington Nagbe is too late to step out. This leads to a shot at the top of the box and a favorable deflection off of Victor Wanyama. 2-1. On the second goal, Erik Hurtado does not chase down the play, Artur is late to step out, shot goes through bodies and gets deflected into the back of the net. 2-2. The moral of the story is Columbus is lazily defending in situations that matter the most, and that’s the reason this team can’t secure three points consistently.

The Columbus Crew tied yet another game on Saturday afternoon, this time to Eastern Conference bottom feeders Chicago. This marks the 13th game that the Black & Gold have tied this season, compared to only winning 9 games and losing just 6. This tie comes at a time where the Crew need to start picking up points to put distance in between themselves and the rest of the East in the playoff race. Tactically, Columbus didn’t change much, but there were a few things that stuck out from the game. Let’s dive in. Predetermined pattern of play This is something that I have observed over the past few games for Columbus. It is not uncommon for teams to have a certain style or pattern of play that they are trying to employ in a game. Sometimes it is to expose a certain team, but other times it could be the coach wanting his squad to have a certain identity. Whatever the reason is for the Crew, they have been playing with a certain pattern for the past few games as they look to make a playoff push. The goal for Columbus is to attack the flanks and then serve a ball into the middle for Cucho Hernandez or another attacking player to get on the end of the cross. The Black & Gold start off by keeping possession and swinging the ball from side to side until they can find the look that they want. If a winger or wingback is open near the touchline, the Crew try to play the ball to their feet. The next step is a judgement call by the wide player to either take the defender on or find a pass inside. If the pass is open inside the pair might try a one-two passing combo to try and get around the defense and free up the winger to play in a cross. Keep in mind, this pattern of play is not something that the Black & Gold are doing on every possession, but the team is definitely trying to build their attack going down the wings. Something to watch in the next few games is how Columbus continues to use this pattern or if they will adjust based on the opponents they face. Midfield with no set positions Over the past two games for Columbus, the midfield has looked more fluid and interchangeable as Columbus go on the attack. The midfield trios over the past two games have not been bound to a certain position or spot on the field, but instead they are each playing certain roles. The first way they are doing this is by dropping into the pivot position to help out in possession. I have highlighted this a few times in older articles, but typically it is one of the two defensive midfielders who will drop in between the center backs to help swing the ball around the back. Secondly, Darlington Nagbe and Aiden Morris would occupy the space in between the center back and wing back. This happens so that then the wing backs can go up as high as the wingers, and then the wingers can pinch towards the inside of the field. The Crew do this so they can push more players in the attack and have more dynamic attacking threats on the outside areas. Lastly, the midfield trio is allowed to interchange positionally to either counter or get the ball. We commonly see this with Lucas Zelarayan dropping deep into midfield to receive the ball and try to kickstart a move, but Aiden Morris and Darlington Nagbe do this also. All Crew fans love to see Nagbe go on his majestic runs toward the opponent’s goal, which is infrequent, but it does happen. If the chance is there for him to get into the attack, he will vacate his deep lying position and go upfield. Aidan Morris also does this but not as often as Nagbe. This freedom in midfield is supposed to capitalize on the Black & Gold’s creativity in that area of the field, but it has yet to lead to wins on the pitch. Hopefully that will change in the upcoming games for the Crew. Short set pieces Don’t worry Crew fans, we will not be talking about how Columbus can’t defend set pieces (although they did look better against Chicago). One of the things the Black & Gold have started to do over the past few weeks is to utilize short set pieces from non-shooting areas. Often times this looks like tapping the ball to a second player standing over the dead ball situation and then building off of that, but other times it’s a set play that Caleb Porter has come up with. The common denominator has been Cucho Hernandez. Columbus likes to find the Colombian on these short set pieces to give him opportunities to get a clean look on goal, typically on the top of the box. Sometimes this looks like the rest of the attackers making runs inside the box, but Hernandez instead circles back toward the top of the box in hopes that his defender will go with the rest of the runners. These short set pieces are yet to result in a goal, but it looks like the Crew are set on trying to make them work. Of course with Cucho Hernandez, it’s only a matter of time until he finds the back of the net, and if Columbus is setting him up to get clean looks it will be sooner rather than later that he converts on a short set play.

The Columbus Crew secured a win at home against Eastern Conference foes Inter Miami to gain a vital three points in the playoff race. A lone Luis Diaz goal and a solid defensive stand led by Milos Degenek and Eloy Room gave the Black & Gold the edge in the end. Despite missing star player Lucas Zelarayan, the team had an overall better showing compared to recent matches and controlled the pace during stretches of the game. Caleb Porter and the coaching staff made a few tweaks to their system for this home stand that resulted in Columbus emerging victorious in the end. Let’s dive in. Committing more players in the attack Possibly one of the most positive things from this game was the way the Crew went forward in attack. Granted, this was not a game that Columbus should have won by 4 goals, but they kept Miami under pressure throughout the contest. One of the ways they did this was by throwing more men forward in attack. The biggest example of this was the way that Steven Moreira and Will Sands joined in the attacking fun. Often times the wingbacks would fly up the field alongside the wingers, but instead of going outside by the touchline, they tucked infield and let Luis Diaz and Derrick Etienne occupy the wide areas. This tweak gave the two midfielders who also joined the attack multiple options to spread the ball around and try to find the attacking angle. Having all these options to pass to also allowed the Crew to possess in Miami’s half of the pitch, taking the pressure off of Milos Degenek and Jonathan Mensah to swing the ball around. The magic number for the Black & Gold was seven. Seven was the number of players that Columbus would typically push forward in the attack. The front three along with the wing backs and two of the midfielders created problems for Inter Miami, and also played a vital role by keeping the away side away from Eloy Room and the Crew goal. The “revolving door” midfield It is a rare occasion when Crew fans get to see a midfield trio without Columbus’ beloved number 10 apart of the group. This became reality on Wednesday night thought, when Lucas Zelarayan picked up a pre match knock and was scratched from the starting lineup. Though the Black & Gold were missing their top playmaker, the trio of Darlington Nagbe, Artur, and Aidan Morris filled in perfectly, but in a unique way that we had not seen before. None of the three midfielders are a true attacking midfield player like Lucas Zelarayan, so instead of sticking each particular player to a set position, Caleb Porter opted for what I like to call a “revolving door” midfield. This is a style of play that allows the midfielders to create and fill in whenever the others are out of position For example, when Aiden Morris would do his workhorse thing and go press an opposing player high up the pitch, Artur or Nagbe would slide into his “set position” to fill in for him. Once Morris recovers back, he would then slide into whatever position was vacated by the other midfielder. This is the reason why fans would sometimes see Darlington Nagbe sitting deep one moment, and then five minutes later he would be up at the edge of the box. This isn’t a tactical instruction from Caleb Porter, it is more or less him telling his midfield to play freely, but to also communicate and fill in for each other. The call worked out, because the Black & Gold midfield was all over the pitch and was a rock-solid trio throughout the night. This was essential in Columbus’ quest to secure all three points. Refreshed pressing Over the course of 27 games Crew fans have seen a lot of variations of pressing from the Black & Gold. If you look back over previous Tactical Reviews it is something that I tend to highlight a lot, because it is so incredibly important and subject to lots of change. This game was no different, with Columbus pressing in a different formation than the one they set up in at the beginning. Caleb Porter came out of the gate in a 4-3-3, but quickly his pressing formation morphed into a 4-1-4-1 or sometimes a 4-5-1. The back four would stay back to eat up any long balls sent forward to get past the press while the one defensive midfielder would mark the “split man” so Miami couldn’t counter. The other two midfielders and the two wingers would form a line of four and man mark any midfielders or wingbacks who tried to get the ball to feet. This is why Aiden Morris and Artur were so high up the pitch at times comparative to recent matches. Finally, Cucho Hernandez would hold down the fort up top, chasing the ball all across the pitch. He didn’t have the ferocity he had in the Cincinnati game, but he still provided good pressure and forced mistakes from Miami. The foundation of a good game plan is set on how effective you can be in making the other team uncomfortable. Caleb Porter and his coaching staff hit the nail on the head this game, not letting Miami get any hold on the game throughout.