The Columbus Crew dropped its first game of the season in Charlotte FC 2-0 on Saturday night.  Plagued by early injuries and suspect refereeing decisions, the Black & Gold held on to a 0-0 score line until Charlotte broke through in the 83^rd minute. The hosts did not let up, doubling their advantage a mere five minutes later to send the Crew home with no points to show for. It was a game of adjustments for the Black & Gold coaching staff, having to weather the storm alone with Wilfried Nancy sidelined in Columbus with an illness. Let’s dive into the tactical adjustments that the coaches put into action down in Charlotte.

First half adjustments

Just 25 minutes into the match, the Black & Gold already had to substitute Rudy Camacho, Christian Ramirez and had Derrick Jones sent off. Whether the Jones red card is valid or not is up for debate, but the Crew faced the task of playing the next 65 minutes with ten men.

This forced Columbus to tweak its formation to compensate for losing Jones in the middle of the pitch. Because Camacho and Ramirez were already subbed off due to injury, the Black & Gold did not have the optimal personnel on the field to play how they wanted. The squad made do with what they had and set up a new offensive and defensive formation.

In defense, the Crew only had to tweak its shape slightly. Columbus typically defends in a 5-2-3, so they simply switched to a 5-2-2. They kept the backline intact with the three central defenders and then dropped in Yaw Yeboah and Mo Farsi. Darlington Nagbe and Max Arfsten set up as two holding midfielders with Diego Rossi and Cucho Hernandez in front of them.

Arfsten playing out of position was not the coaching staff’s first choice, but they already had to burn two substitutions. If Arfsten could hold down the center of the pitch until changes could be made at halftime, the Black & Gold would be in good shape. Rossi tended to drop deeper to assist the midfield duo, but Hernandez stayed high and roamed that backline as he always does.

When Columbus transitioned to offense, they opted to play in a 3-1-4-1. The three centerbacks would stay deep, while Yeboah and Farsi went up and played as wide midfielders. Nagbe stayed as the sole defensive midfielder as Arfsten and Rossi pushed up to play dual no. 10’s. Hernandez stayed as a no. 9 to stretch the defense.

Despite being a man down, the Crew still got numbers forward and even scored near the end of the first half. A suspect VAR decision negated that goal, but it showed that even down a man, the Black & Gold can still be dangerous going forward.

Second half adjustments

Columbus came out of the locker room in the second half ready to make changes. The first change was bringing on Yevhen Cheberko and taking off Yaw Yeboah. This switch allowed the Crew to become more balanced and get certain players back to their natural positions.

The central back three changed with the Cheberko substitution and shifted Zawadzki into midfield. Cheberko took his spot at the central center back position, flanked by Malte Amundsen on the left and Steven Moreira on the right. Arfsten went out wide to the left to play left wing-back, while Mo Farsi stayed at his right wingback spot.

On defense, Columbus shifted to a 5-3-1. The back five remained with Nagbe, Zawadzki, and Rossi in midfield. Nagbe dropped a little deeper like a no. 6, while Zawadzki and Rossi played like a hybrid no. 8/10. Hernandez continued to probe the defense from his striker position up top.

On offense, the Black & Gold changed to a 3-4-2. The three center backs made up the backline, and both wingbacks pushed up into wide midfield roles alongside Zawadzki and Nagbe. Rossi pushed forward and played as a false nine, with Hernandez still in his natural striker role.

This setup on both ends of the field gave the Crew a more balanced look and got some players back into their natural positions. There were some caveats to how they played compared to when there is a full complement of 11 players on the pitch. In the second half the Black & Gold tended to sit back a more, likely trying to escape Charlotte with a point.

Another tweak was the positioning of Zawadzki and Farsi. Zawadzki tended to push higher up the field to join the attack while Nagbe stayed in his holding midfielder position. Farsi often would pinch towards the inside of the field to help the midfielders build out of the back. This gave Columbus an extra body in the center of the pitch to combine and move the ball.

In the end, the Crew conceded two goals in the final few minutes of the match. It was a tough result to swallow with the injuries and refereeing decisions, but it will ultimately be a bump in the road for a team that has high ambitions in 2024.