Previewing the Tactics of the Columbus Crew

Orlando City has one more match to play before taking a break for Leagues Cup, with the Lions set to take on the Columbus Crew at Lower.com Field this evening. That makes this as good a time as any to take a look at what the Crew like to do from a tactical standpoint, and break down what those strategies could mean for Orlando City.

Formation and Possession Emphasis

It all starts with how the team is deployed. Manager Wilfried Nancy will occasionally vary things, but most of the time he’s lined the Crew up in a 3-4-2-1 formation. The three center backs are comfortable on the ball and adept at playing out from the back, and that’s key for this team because it wants to have a lot of the ball. According to Fotmob, Columbus is tied for the highest average possession percentage in Major League Soccer with 60.1%, while Fbref has the Crew second in the league with 59.7% behind only San Diego FC’s 59.9%. Regardless of where the Crew sit exactly, they usually have a lot of the ball, and defenders Yehven Cheberko, Sean Zawadzki, and Steven Moreira are second, third, and fourth on the team, respectively, when it comes to touches this season.

Man in the Middle

The man leading the team in touches is midfielder Dylan Chambost. He has 1,950 of them in total, but just 309 have come in the defensive third of the field. The bulk of them, unsurprisingly, have come in the middle third, where he has 1,034 and leads the team, but he’s also had 618 in the attacking third, which is good for second on the team behind only Diego Rossi’s 699. It should be noted that Chambost has played in 24 of the Crew’s 25 games (21 starts), and is fourth on the team in minutes played, so some of those numbers might not be hugely surprising in theory.

However, despite having played 149 more minutes than Rossi, who leads the Crew in minutes played with 2,032, Chambost leads the team with eight assists compared to Mohamed Farsi, who is second with five assists, and Rossi in third with four helpers. If you can’t see what I’m getting at, Chambost is hugely important to the Crew’s success. His 213 progressive passes easily leads Columbus, as Moreira has the second-most with 142. He only has one goal on the year, but he does a ton of work in getting on the ball and moving it into dangerous areas.

Play Style

As hinted at by their tendency to have a lot of possession, the Crew want to attack, and they do so in an aesthetically pleasing, free-flowing manner. The emphasis is on getting the ball forward as much as possible, as evidenced by the Crew’s league-leading 1,323 progressive passes (San Diego is second with 1,139). As is usually the case with three-man back lines, the wingbacks are asked to do a lot of heavy lifting when it comes to getting into the attack and providing width. Whether its Max Arfsten, Mo Farsi, Lassi Lappalainen, or Ibrahim Aliyu, Columbus wants to use as much of the field as possible and the wingbacks are a big part of that.

Anyone and everyone is capable and willing to get forward though, and it isn’t uncommon to see one of the center backs making a marauding run forward. Columbus also plays a high line, presses hard to win the ball back quickly, and generally lives life a little bit on the edge when it comes to defending. Its a high-risk, high-reward approach, and when it works, it’s beautiful soccer, plain and simple.

What it Means for Orlando City

Fortunately for OCSC, the Lions tend to be more successful when they don’t have an overwhelming amount of possession. If I had a nickel for every time Orlando had a lot of the ball but struggled to break down a team that sat back and defended, I’d have a lot of nickels. Conversely, the good guys are usually brimming with danger in transition moments and are capable of putting together some great flowing moves when the opposition is scrambling to recover from losing the ball.

The Crew’s high line means that Oscar Pareja could take a page out of the book he was reading against Inter Miami earlier in the year. Almost every time the Lions won the ball, they’d look to hit it long to Luis Muriel, who was often only matched up with one or two defenders at most. Orlando clogged up things on the defensive end and then played over the bulk of Miami’s team to apply repeated pressure on the isolated defenders. The Lions might be wise to repeat that tactic by defending with numbers to counter the Crew’s desire to create overloads, while also leaving one or two players higher up the field to stress the Columbus high line.

Finally, a vast amount of attention is going to need to be paid to Chambost. Rossi is obviously an incredibly important piece for the Crew — the man has 11 goals and four assists, after all. But Chambost — much like Eduard Atuesta for Orlando — is vital when it comes to linking the defense and the attack together. He gets on the ball a ton, is constantly looking to move it forward, and has the assist numbers to back up his capabilities as a passer. That’s not to say that the Crew don’t have other guys that can hurt you (Jacen Russell-Rowe, Arfsten, and Farsi all spring to mind), but Chambost is a vital and unique cog in the Columbus machine.

The Crew are a team that want to monopolize possession, play attractive soccer with an emphasis on attacking, and use a formation in which the wingbacks carry a lot of importance. They aren’t the only ones that can hurt you though, because while Rossi rightfully grabs a lot of the headlines, Chambost is the man who ties the team together. Now we just have to see whether the Lions can effectively counter the team sitting fourth in the Supporters’ Shield standings and how they’ll go about trying to do so. Vamos Orlando!