The Columbus Crew returned from CONCACAF Champions Cup play to tie again in MLS competition, this time against CF Montreal. This matchup was anticipated by Crew fans due to the return of Montreal’s new coach Laurent Courtois to Columbus. The former Crew 2 coach got the job up in Canada after two successful seasons at the helm of the Capys. The first half of this contest was a snooze-fest, with both teams feeling each other out with minimal attacking chances. In the second half though, that changed. The Black & Gold switched their attacking philosophy in the second half, generating opportunity after opportunity to put the ball in the back of the net. Unfortunately for the home crowd, no goals would be witnessed on Saturday. The game ended in a 0-0 draw, giving the Crew a point as they prepare to head down to Mexico to take on Monterrey.

The change in attacking philosophy and the similar playstyles of both teams made for an interesting tactical matchup. Let’s dive into all the tactical decisions that went into this chess match.

Chess match of similar philosophies

When this match was put onto the MLS calendar, Crew fans knew what this clash would entail. Courtois’ return to Columbus with an MLS team of his own was set to challenge Wilfried Nancy’s style and attempt to dethrone the champs. Early on, there were similarities but there were differences as well.

Montreal started the game not pressing as hard as the Black & Gold would on the other end of the pitch. They seemed content letting the Crew have the ball and instead tried to lockdown their backline to limit Columbus’ chances.

This worked very well in the first 45. The visitors kept the Black & Gold out of their box and limited the quality of chances the Crew had. Most of this was Columbus’ own fault though. At times, the home side looked reluctant to go forward. It was as if Caleb Porter was back on the touchline at Lower.com Field for another half of coaching.

Montreal’s offensive strategy also featured attributes of Nancy’s system but still had some of Courtois’ tweaks lurking within it. The Canadian side tried their best to counter the Crew when possible, wanting to take advantage of Columbus’ overaggressive tendencies.

By Montreal allowing the Black & Gold to possess the ball, the home side grew more confident and committed more bodies forward in attack. That is exactly what the visitors wanted, so they could retain the ball and go forward quickly courtesy of striker Mason Toye.

That did not mean Montreal did not try to build out of the back like the Crew frequently does. If the counter chance was unavailable, the Canadian side was content with trying to play through the Columbus re-press. They were not as patient and bold as the Black & Gold sometimes are, which led to clearances being retained by the Crew.

Montreal had a repress of their own as well, trying to pin Columbus deep in its own territory and prey on their mistakes. This happened on a few occasions, gifting the away side some solid chances to take the lead.

Overall, you can see the similarities between Courtois and Nancy’s squads. With time and the right personnel, Montreal could grow into a force in the Eastern Conference. For now, though, the Canadian club will take a result against the defending champions and move on to their next challenge

How did Columbus change in the second half?

The first half for the Black & Gold was… boring to say the least. They controlled the ball and pace of play but looked disinterested going forward. At times where a push could have been made toward goal, the ball was instead played backward in favor of more passive possession.

Crew fans have seen this before, during the Porter years before the Nancy era came into Columbus. It was a style of soccer that worked at the time, but with the recent free-flowing, bold, and exciting style that Nancy brought to the Black & Gold, fans do not want to see the passive possession system return.

In the second half, the Crew made changes to ramp up the attacking pressure on Montreal’s defense. The first change was moving wingback Max Arfsten up into the midfield alongside Alexandru Matan on offense. With dueling no. 10’s behind Jacen Russell-Rowe, it gave Columbus more options and bodies up top to create and combine.

Another change was the dynamic positioning of Aidan Morris. Throughout the match, Morris tended to drift out to the right side. With Arfsten tucking inside so Marino Hinestroza could be wider on the left side, the right side was the same. Morris played on the right side to connect with Mo Farsi and cover for the Canadian right back when he was high up the pitch in transition situations.

The final switch the Black & Gold made was to push Sean Zawadzki and Malte Amundsen into the attack more. Montreal’s main attacking plan was to send the ball forward to Toye for him to battle with the defense while the rest of the team got up into the attack on the counter. The Crew left Yevhen Cheberko on Toye and sent more bodies forward in pursuit of all three points.

These changes generated a multitude of attacking changes for Columbus. The chances kept coming when Cucho Hernandez, Diego Rossi, Christian Ramirez, Steven Moreira, and Yaw Yeboah came onto the pitch as substitutes.

Despite the 2.1 xG amount of chances the Crew generated, Columbus never found the breakthrough. It is a rare occasion when a Nancy-led Black & Gold team does not find the back of the net, but luckily for the Crew they still came away with a point. The focus now shifts to Wednesday, when a date with Monterrey will decide who goes to the CONCACAF Champions Cup final.