In three matches this season, Columbus Crew and Philadelphia Union have combined for… one goal. And as it stands, these two teams would meet in the playoffs. So what gives? How come the Union and Crew seem to cancel each other out so well?
Defensive structures
The Crew get a lot of plaudits for their buildup play in attack, but a significant reason they advance the ball the way they do is that it allows them to space the field well without losing defensive shape if they are countered. Philly has found this out the hard way.
When you don’t immediately send the ball back down the Crew’s throat, even if you win it fairly high up the pitch, they have three or four bodies back and, quite often, centrally located. This pushes attacks wide or forces them to take zig-zag routes toward goal, slowing the pace of the onrush and giving the defense time to set itself.
Particularly early in the match, the Union did an excellent job disrupting Columbus’ deep buildups, but when they won the ball high up the pitch, they had no easy routes to goal. Haris Medunjanin’s passing radar was not locked in during the opening phases of the game, so Philly could not utilize his special skillset to break through as they normally might. The one time Medunjanin did hit Cory Burke on the head with a curler, Burke couldn’t cushion the ball down to Bedoya, popping it over the goal instead.
On the other side, the Union’s defensive shape force Columbus to play wide, and this often meant attacking the space behind Keegan Rosenberry. The patterned movements the Crew use in attack are designed to free up Federico Higuain around the center circle, ideally in a space that forces a center back to choose between stepping forward and retreating. Gyasi Zardes always looks to hang off the back shoulder of the center back farthest from the ball, so the striker is in a blind spot when the center back is decision-making, and Higuain can place a final pass into space beyond the frozen defender.
One of the major takeaways from the first half of play was that even when Philly did a solid job pressing the buildup play of the Crew, Higuain had enough pinache to release Justin Meram into space. Twice the playmaker used incredible one-time passes to nearly release attackers behind Mark McKenzie, and both times the young defender made an excellent play — once with a lunging leg, and once with his head — to stifle the breakaway.
Overall, the Union took bigger risks — pressing high, allowing fullbacks to track Columbus’ wingers when they dropped — in search of bigger rewards: Winning the ball close to the Crew goal. There were multiple moments where these risks nearly paid off: Cory Burke dispossessing Lalas Abubakar and driving in, only to have his shot blocked by Jonathan Mensah, multiple turnovers at the top of the Crew final third and Philly couldn’t turn into shots. In a playoff match, it will be interesting to see if the Union stick to their guns and press high given that it does leave space on the flanks. Mark McKenzie made numerous big plays to shut down Meram, and the question for Jim Curtin will be whether McKenzie would be a better fit against the Crew in the playoffs than Jack Elliott.
Creators cut out
The story of the second half of this match was how well both teams smothered the opposing link player. Below you can see an image of Higuain, Eduardo Sosa, and Ale Bedoya’s second half passing prior to Borek Dockal’s arrival in the 82nd minute. Sosa replaced Higuain in the 72nd minute, but nobody found any space to effectively pull strings in the latter half of this game.
Closing down Higuain with a more organized, compact defensive shape was big for Philly, but perhaps just as important was the ability to keep Higuain’s off-the-ball movements from opening lanes to Pedro Santos and Meram. The Crew’s wingers are excellent dribblers, and this allows the Crew to progress the ball by dropping them off the backline and into halfspaces behind the midfield (which is often occupied with Higuain) and quickly running at a defense with Zardes and a fullback as options on either side.
On the Union side, let’s not forget that Jim Curtin moved Ale Bedoya wide when Borek Dockal entered the game. These two players immediately began combining up the right, leaving Derrick Jones to break up play in the center and Medunjanin available to switch fields and find an isolated Fafa Picault. This is a strategy Philly could elect to try if these teams meet in the playoffs given how well the Crew have defended against the Union this season.
Ultimately, a point at the end of a long, arduous fortnight is one Philly will gladly take, but it is clear they will need to find a route through Columbus if these teams meet one more time after the season ends on October 28th.
