Each week, Sam Polak breaks down the top coaching moves in MLS from the previous week. Here are his top five from Week 20.
5. Vanney’s coaching staff
After being sent off in Toronto FC’s 2-2 draw against New York City FC midweek, Greg Vanney’s staff stepped up and made a great substitution in the 61st minute: bringing on Jordan Hamilton for Ben Spencer.
Hamilton got a shot off within his first minute of being on the field, had another go at goal in the 76th, helped the Reds to 70 percent possession in the final 30 minutes of the match (despite TFC finishing the game with just 43 percent of possession), and probably would have netted the game-tying goal had he not drawn a penalty kick.
This decision was pivotal and helped the Reds steal a difficult point at Yankee Stadium.
4. Pareja’s short-handed FC Dallas
FC Dallas, without the likes of Kellyn Acosta and Matt Hedges, still got the job done against the Montreal Impact with a 2-1 victory on Saturday.
Dallas' offensive success stemmed from the freedom the coaching staff provided the outside midfielders and two forwards.
Though Dallas was set up in a 4-4-2 on paper, in reality, their on-field play resembled more of a 4-2-4 with Roland Lamah, Maxi Urruti, Cristian Colman and Michael Barrios all more less playing as interchangeable forwards when their was side was on the attack.
Oscar Pareja had these players simply play off of one another as they saw fit rather than have to adhere to positional roles in a strict sense. And this created problems for Montreal.
Both Dallas goals came from the fluid interplay of these four players. In the first goal, Lamah was in the middle of the field if not closer to the right side while Urruti slid out to the left and got the assist.
Similarly, the second goal had Colman make a run that started from a position wider than Lamah.
Other moments saw Barrios higher than either nominal forward, which despite not ending in goals, also asked questions of Montreal.
3. Berhalter’s Tactics
Columbus Crew SC head coach Gregg Berhalter electing to go with a 3-4-3 (or 3-4-2-1 depending on your opinion) against the Philadelphia Union was instrumental in Crew SC’s 1-0 win over the weekend.
Offensively, this formation transformed to have five attackers. This created a lot of trouble for the Union, as their four backs were outnumbered. What’s more, as seen below, the Crew SC players were clearly coached to disrupt the Philadelphia defensive shape by looking to occupy the gaps between and wide of the back line.
Defensively, organizing the squad this way worked well as Crew SC also always had numbers centrally. The positioning and performance of the three backs was solid. And the play from center midfielders Artur and Wil Trapp made it very difficult for Philadelphia to have meaningful possession in key parts of the field. Artur and Wil Trapp show exactly why the Union had just three total shots and none on target during the 90 minutes below.
Columbus have experimented a lot with formations this year. Given Berhalter’s side is playing against Philadelphia again on Wednesday (7:30 pm ET | MLS LIVE), it will be intriguing to see whether he opts to stick with the same set up or show the Union something different.
2. Jesse Marsch giving more freedom to Kljestan
The New York Red Bulls and their head coach Jesse Marsch come in at No. 2 this week with his decision to shift formations
The 5-4-1/5-1-3-1/3-1-5-1 showed off in their past two games does a number of things for the Red Bulls. Notably, it allows New York to attack with up to seven players without crowding the middle of the field. As a result, Sacha Kljestan — arguably their best player and certainly their best midfielder — is able to exert a greater influence on the game by commanding this space.
Kljestan can move more freely through the middle third with less bodies from either team nearby and has a number of different passing options of which to choose from in these moments. It could be a ball played out wide to the wing backs, a pass to his fellow midfielders within 10 yards of him, a pass backwards to keep possession or a penetrating ball forward to Bradley Wright-Phillips.
The Red Bulls coaching staff was rewarded for giving this much control and responsibility to Kljestan as they went on to beat the San Jose Earthquakes5-1 and Minnesota United3-0. Both Kljestan’s pass maps can be seen below.
(Green = successful passes; Red = unsuccessful passes; Blue = assists; Yellow = chances created)
Against Minnesota in particular, the Red Bulls had room for defensive improvement in this formation. However, scoring eight goals in two games was not a fluke. It would be a mistake if Jesse Marsch and his staff did not keep building on the success they had organizing their squad this way.
1. Brian Schmetzer pulling the right strings
The Seattle Sounders' epic 4-3 comeback win over D.C. United had no shortage of heroics in their midweek clash. After Seattle scored to finally get on the board and make it 3-1, Brian Schmetzer stepped in and made two great moves to build on the Emerald City’s offensive momentum.
Schmetzer first brought on Kelvin Leerdam to take over Brad Evans' role at right back and allowed Evans to play higher up in a right winger role. Within eight minutes, Evans found the back of the net with his head off Joevin Jones’ service.
Then down just 3-2, Schmetzer opted to sub on Jordy Delem in place of Evans at the 70-minute mark and at the same time push Cristian Roldan up into a more attacking midfield role.
Roldan did not disappoint when given this opportunity. The 22-year-old, fresh off his experience with the US national team at the Gold Cup, nearly scored just three minutes later. This effort led to the Sounders the corner kick where Gustav Svenson tied the game at three goals each. And in the 78th minute, Roldan got the Sounders the game-winner, completing the come from behind performance.
You can argue that having to come back from three goals down should bump Schmetzer down a couple spots. However, making quality moves at the right time and finding a way to help his side to a win without Clint Dempsey and Jordan Morris was too much to overlook.
