After getting a few games under their belt after the World Cup break, the Columbus Crew entered Leagues Cup looking to run back the success that they had in 2024. The Black & Gold opened the tournament with a matchup against Atlas, winning in convincing fashion 3-1. Three days later, the Crew enacted revenge on Pachuca for defeat in the 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup Final, taking down the visitors 2-1 behind goals from Brais Mendez and Daniel Gazdag.

It was yet another successful week under interim head coach Laurent Courtois. Columbus has looked incredible under Wilfried Nancy’s former assistant, finding new life after Henrik Rydström’s firing earlier in the summer. After a two-win week against teams from across the border, let’s dive into all the tactics that helped the Black & Gold claim six points.

Different formational phases

The Crew are seeing a reversion to the days of 2023-2025 with each passing game. After a few weeks of Rydström tweaking tactics that had been set for years, Columbus is getting back to how they played when Nancy was in charge and Courtois was a part of that staff.

One of the biggest things that Courtois has reinstated was installing different base formations depending on where the Black & Gold are at on the pitch. Across the games against Atlas and Pachuca, the Crew followed a formational progression that usually looked like this:

5-2-3/4-4-2 –> 3-2-5 –> 2-4-4 –> 1-5-4/1-4-5

First, Columbus tends to defend deep in a 5-2-3 or a 4-4-2. Typically, the player who decides is Mohamed Farsi or whoever is playing on the right side. If the Black & Gold are still in a pressing situation, the Crew will employ the 4-4-2. If Columbus is sitting deep and strictly defending, Farsi will typically drop alongside Steven Moreira to give the backline more width.

After winning the ball back, the Black & Gold morph into a 3-2-5. This would be when the right and left wingbacks go high as wingers, leaving a back three. This formation is the one that Crew fans will be most familiar with from Courtois’ and Nancy’s time in Columbus. It gives the Black & Gold a good basis to build out of the back while also stretching the opposing back line with a front five.

When the Crew advance into the attacking half, oftentimes an outside centerback will join the midfield. When included in the lineup, it is typically Steven Moreira who moves up. This gives Columbus width in midfield, allows for the institution of a re-press, and keeps two defenders back to stop a counter.

Finally, when the Black & Gold are dominating the game and have established possession in the attacking half, both outside centerbacks have the freedom to move into the midfield. This moves the Crew into a 1-5-4/1-4-5 formation, depending on how high the left-side wingback wants to go. From here, Columbus creates overloads and packs the box to put pressure on the opposing team. The only downside is the risk of a counter, but with so many players up high to engage in a re-press, it is incredibly hard for the opposition to break the Black & Gold’s lines.

This structure of building up the field in different formations has given the Crew stability since Courtois has taken the reins. Make no mistake, Columbus still has positional fluidity within the confines of these formations. Never will the Black & Gold be in a set shape, but they will loosely occupy the positions of the pitch that make up these formations. What Courtois has reinstated in this team is a sense of freedom within structure, which is why the Crew has been so successful under his tutelage.

Improvement needed when defending in a back four

If there was one spot for Columbus during this run that needs improvement, it is the defense’s comfort level when defending in a back four.

Under Nancy, the Black & Gold routinely would sit in deeper defending situations in a 5-4-1. More recently under Rydström and Courtois, the Crew opt to defend more often in a 4-4-2 than a five-back system.

As stated before, Columbus can shift to defending with five in the back at times when the right wingback/midfielder decides to drop in alongside Moreira, but more often than not the Black & Gold has been defending in a 4-4-2.

This has pros and cons. The positive is that with two banks of four, the Crew have a consistent width across the field which makes pockets harder to find for opponents. Having the wide midfielders allows Columbus to shift into a press if they want, while still having stability in the back with four defenders.

The downsides are where the Black & Gold are getting into trouble. Defending with a back four compared to five – in an obvious way – means that there are fewer defenders along the back line. This allows the opposition to stretch the defensive line and create gaps at the back post.

When this happens, and opponents can get overloads on the back side of the defense, the far post crosses can be incredibly dangerous to defend. Furthermore, if the defense does not mark and communicate properly, missed marks can lead to quality chances in front of Patrick Schulte’s net.

This is what happened on Pachuca’s goal in the second half of Friday’s game. Farsi switched off defensively at the far side, did not check his shoulder, and allowed the opposing attacker to run clean through on Schulte’s goal.

Mistakes happen, especially for a team that defended in a five-back system for the better part of three seasons, but this could be a recurring issue if the Crew does not solve it in the coming games. The good news is that Columbus has two wins in the first phase of the Leagues Cup and will likely be moving on to the next phase. As each game builds and good results stack, the only question is when the Black & Gold will take the interim tag off of Courtois’ title.