Columbus Crew SC commences its 2015 Audi MLS Cup Playoffs campaign on Sunday against the Montreal Impact in the first leg of the Eastern Conference semifinals. It will undoubtedly be an electric atmosphere at Stade Saputo as both teams come into this game riding a boatload of momentum.
For the Black and Gold, they bring a two-game winning streak into this weekend’s match. The latter of those contests was an historic 5-0 rout of DC United to close out the regular season. What was notable about the victory was the fact it occurred without the services of Kei Kamara or Federico Higuain who were both suspended due to yellow card accumulation.
Montreal has similarly been on a roll. The Blue-Blanc-Noir won their last four regular season games and followed that up with a dominating 3-0 win over Toronto FC in the knockout round of the playoffs. The addition of legendary striker Didier Drogba, combined with a refreshed approach under interim coach Mauro Biello, has the Impact full of confidence heading into this series.
There are a variety of tactical wrinkles that will inevitably determine if Crew SC can advance to the MLS Eastern Conference finals against the winner of the DC United/New York Red Bulls series. A few of those will be broken down right here.
Columbus Crew SC-Montreal Impact Tactical Preview
Possession with Purpose vs. Smash and Grab
If anything, Columbus Crew SC-Montreal Impact will be a glaring contrast in playing styles, particularly as it relates to holding the ball. Columbus is one of the league’s best teams when it comes to dominating possession as indicated by the following table.
I’ve included passing accuracy in this table because generally there does tend to be a correlation between possession and the ability to connect on a higher percentage of your passes and vice versa. That certainly is the case with Crew SC who are the league’s second-best side in both possession and pass accuracy percentage. Montreal, on the other hand, rank fairly low in possession at 16th yet consequently are fourth in percentage of successful passes.
Part of that phenomenon is explained by the fact that the Impact are among the league’s best teams when it comes to successfully absorbing pressure and hitting the opposition on the counter at opportune moments during the game. Crew SC knows full well how dangerous Montreal can be in this respect, as evidenced by their second goal in the June 6th matchup between the clubs, which you can view below.
WATCH: ANDRES ROMERO BURIES COUNTER ATTACK GOAL
Head coach Gregg Berhalter’s style of play can make for some highly entertaining soccer at times, especially when the fullbacks make their forays into the final third and contribute to the attack. The drawback is that they leave themselves highly vulnerable to the counterattack, and teams such as the Impact that thrive on such a tactic to harvest goals have the tendency to frustrate Crew SC’s ability to get results out of games.
Crew SC’s Revamped Back Line Could be Key
Many pundits will undoubtedly give the advantage to Montreal due to Columbus’ susceptibility on defense. However, what many of them fail to realize is the fact this is a different unit from the one that dropped both previous meetings with the Impact this season.
Both those games occurred with a revolving door situation at right back precipitated by the sudden departure of Hernan Grana in May. The club attempted to address the issue in the summer transfer window by acquiring Harrison Afful. The current Ghana Player of the Year has certainly impressed in his time with the Black and Gold as a two-way fullback capable of overlapping and pushing forward while also being able to track back and defend.
He and Waylon Francis (who, for the second straight year, led all MLS defenders in assists) form a fairly formidable tandem of high work rate outside backs that play a crucial role creating chances in the final third. Crew SC’s 2-1 win over Philadelphia on September 12th is a perfect example of what these two can do in that respect, as shown in the Opta chalkboard from the game.
Of the six chances the Black and Gold generated, Francis and Afful were responsible for half of them. They also completed 88 percent of their combined passes and had a combined 11 of Columbus’ 22 crosses that day. Clearly, their play will prove critical towards the club advancing out of this round.
The addition of center back Gaston Sauro is another reason the narrative about Crew SC’s back line being a liability may be a tad on the outdated side. Since returning from a concussion suffered minutes into his debut with the club against FC Dallas, him and Michael Parkhurst have formed an effective combination in the central defense that communicates well with goalie Steve Clark.
Sauro has proven himself to be extremely effective at winning the ball by anticipating the opposition’s passing tendencies. The following table shows the number of interceptions per 90 minutes as well as usage rates for the two anticipated starting central defenders for each team.
Sauro’s abnormally high usage rate is likely due to how few minutes he’s played with the team (273), but it certainly indicates his quality in being able to win the ball the less direct way (tackles and recoveries being more direct).
Parkhurst noted the growing chemistry between the two leading into the playoffs on Friday’s conference call with the media.
“The last two games have been a confidence boost for both of us,” he told Ben Ferree of UWeekly. “To know that we can trust each other, to learn each other’s tendencies, that’s the type of thing you look for in a partnership.”
Denying the Deceptiveness of Didier Drogba
Two of the most prolific goal-scorers in the league will be on display in this series with Crew SC’s Kei Kamara and Montreal’s Didier Drogba looking to pick up where they left off in the regular season. The Cote d’Ivoire international has been as good as advertised since his August 22nd debut for l’Impact, netting 12 goals in 12 appearances including Wednesday’s knockout round victory.
If you want further proof of how scintillating his goal-scoring form has been, take a look at the following table which lists the top ten players among the remaining eight teams in goals per 90 minutes over the last ten games of the regular season.
Both Kamara and Drogba’s propensity for finding the net are clearly on display when analyzing the above data. It should also be pretty evident that the latter has quite simply been on fire in his short time with Montreal. What you don’t see from simply looking at the numbers, though, is the way both players accomplish what they do.
Kamara is clearly the bigger threat in the air. He’s currently third in the league with 4.5 aerial duels won per 90 and leads all non-defenders. Drogba is exceptional in his own right when it comes to heading the ball at goal, but is quite a ways behind Kamara in that stat, averaging 3.2 aerials won per 90.
Watching Drogba play, I can’t help but be reminded by something famed American forward Chris Wondolowski wrote in The Players’ Tribune not too long ago. It has to do with a crucial characteristic that every quality striker must possess: the art of deception.
Here’s an excerpt from Wondo’s piece:
“A major part of my job is to lie (sorry, Mom). I have to use deception to manipulate two, sometimes three, defenders guarding me. It’s a 90-minute game of chess.”
It’s not just deception in one’s off the ball movement. It’s not just the ability to somehow disappear in the eyes of an opposing defender. It’s not just being able to take an opposing player head-on and fake him out of his shoes en route to blasting the ball past the goalkeeper.
No, that deception can also be related to playing mind games with your opponent and I thought Drogba did a great job pulling this off against Toronto FC on Wednesday. It all began with this challenge on TFC’s Robbie Findley:
Drogba stomps on Findley and somehow "injures" himself. (No card) #MTLvTOR #MLSCupPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/M5N1LA5XUd
— Ben Jata (@Ben_Jata) October 30, 2015
Now, irrespective of whether this did or did not deserve a card (of either color) or the fact he was grasping his midsection in the aftermath of the challenge, Drogba would later come off which what would appear to be a left leg injury. He would hobble off the field in the 27th minute and at one point appeared to grasp his Achilles while getting medical attention on the sideline as can be seen here.
That had to have imparted some concern into the fans in attendance at the time. While it’s certainly possible he picked up a knock and just needed to walk it off, the fact remains that ten minutes later a seemingly 100 percent Drogba would put in Montreal’s third goal. And the only explanation for the shocking amount of space he had in the lead up to the goal (check out the screenshot below) can only be explained by the Toronto FC defense mentally underestimating him as a result of seeing him on the ground earlier. I mean, their back line can’t be that bad, can it?
Either way, being comprehensively deceptive on the field is a tactic that every forward needs to master if they want to be characterized as an elite goal-scorer. It’s a quality Drogba certainly possesses and it’s something Crew SC will have to be on the lookout for if they want to avoid digging out of a deficit when these two meet at MAPFRE Stadium next Sunday.
Ultimately, the old adage “you can’t stop him, you can only hope to contain him” applies to Drogba as Berhalter discussed on Friday’s conference call.
“It’s gonna be impossible to completely nullify Didier Drogba,” Berhalter empasized. “He’s a high quality player and he’s gonna get some opportunities. For us, it’s limiting those opportunities and hopefully the opportunities he gets aren’t great looks.”
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