New England Revolution head coach Jay Heaps made several key defensive adjustments from both a tactical and personnel perspective against Columbus Crew SC on Sunday, beginning in the 17th minute.
The New England coaching staff first moved Femi Hollinger-Janzen, who was getting his first start of the season, from up top in a 4-4-2 diamond to the right side of the Revs' midfield. Hollinger-Janzen did not show enough discipline in this role during the first 15 minutes and clearly wanted to play more on both sides of the ball. New England decided to use his desire to defend by having him play as a right midfielder, a role requiring that he track back defensively.
The Revolution then opted to have Kelyn Rowe come in from the right and take over the central midfield position, which in turn pushed Lee Nguyen out of the No. 10 role and into a second striker role.
Coinciding with a shift in positions, New England also changed their entire defensive shape. Instead of keeping a diamond defensively, Heaps had his team move into more a 4-4-1-1 where the midfield diamond became flat. This scheme more clearly defined defensive responsibilities for midfielders and allowed Rowe, who finished the game with 5 tackles, to be more involved in regaining possession from a central position.
And it was ultimately the defensive pressure and work rate from both Rowe and Hollinger-Janzen that led to the Revolution’s first goal; the Revs went on to win the game 2-1.
Vanney's subs strike again
Though Toronto FC didn’t win their seventh in a row on Friday night against the New York Red Bulls, some great substitutions from head coach Greg Vanney allowed TFC to come out with a point after going down a goal. The Reds’ crucial game-tying effort came by way of two critical plays from subs Raheem Edwards and Benoit Cheyrou.
Cheyrou came in to replace Drew Moor in the 61st minute and Edwards for Marky Delgado in the 67th. Vanney’s side reorganized both their backline and midfield to accommodate Cheyrou and Edwards coming in as a central midfielder and left wingback.
Within two minutes of being in the game, Edwards’ shifty touches going forward drew a free kick. This set piece put in motion a sequence that ended with Cheyrou finding the back of the net off a header for the lone Toronto goal.
Montreal's left side
Montreal Impact head coach Mauro Biello and his staff are on to something with their decision to play Ambroise Oyongo, Ignacio Piatti and Blerim Dzemaili all down the left side of a 4-3-3. This is a combination of pace, the ability to take players on 1v1 and a willingness to shoot from distance that will make Montreal a completely different team from the side that currently sits toward the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings.
Yes, Montreal were playing against a 10-man Portland Timbers side for 72 minutes. However, this should not discount the fact that all four of their goals came by way of the left side of the field. Dzemaili put pressure on Portland’s defense and created a penalty kick from an attacking run down this part of the field.
The Impact’s second goal, off of a corner kick, came out of a Piatti 1v1 by the left corner. The third goal came from Piatti cutting inward on his right foot and finding the back of the net, while Oyongo slotted the fourth goal by the goalkeeper after pushing forward along the left side.
Tata Martino’s decision-making in midfield
There's no question that Miguel Almiron had a tremendous game for Atlanta United FC against the Houston Dynamo, as Atlanta won 4-1. However, his individual success should not overshadow two key decisions Tata Martino made.
The Argentine coach kept Julian Gressel as a winger for only the second time this season. Much like he did against Portland in Atlanta’s previous game in the same position, Gressel looked sharp going forward and made his presence felt by scoring Atlanta’s third goal.
The Atlanta coaching staff also found a way to continue to find time for veteran Jeff Larentowicz in the Atlanta midfield. Larentowicz's contributions have been generally overlooked so far this season, but his defense off the ball against Houston was the catalyst for Almiron’s second goal.
His work rate eliminated Houston’s Boniek Garcia from being an option for a pass and allowed Yamil Asad the extra time to strip AJ DeLaGarza and start a counterattack.
pic.twitter.com/8y0Lj0XNof — MLSclips (@MLSgamefilm) May 22, 2017
Vancouver crosses
In a halftime interview, Vancouver Whitecaps FC defender Sheanon Williams let us in on what head coach Carl Robinson had his team focus on ahead of their match against Sporting KC.
"We talked about getting crosses in the box all week.” This is exactly what they were able to do in their 2-0 win.
Whether it was in the run of play or off set pieces, the Whitecaps delivered a number of services into dangerous areas around the goal that asked a lot of questions of SKC’s defense. Both Vancouver goals came from crosses into the box (one on a spectacular finish in the 40th minute).
It could have even been more, though: Carl Robinson’s side also created a penalty kick from a cross and nearly scored a third goal when they headed the ball off the post from a ball delivered from out wide.
