Week 14 is now in the books. Ten or fewer games left for everybody. This is the stretch run.
And away we go…
One Piece at a Time
The Red Bulls seem to be finding both themselves and the back of the net, much to the chagrin of Inter Miami and the Montreal Impact, each of whom were on the wrong side of massive losses this past week. On Wednesday they went down to Fort Lauderdale and just outlasted Inter, wearing them down and then running past them on the counter.
Sunday’s 4-1 win over Montreal, in which the Red Bulls came from a goal down, was more intriguing. In part that’s because the Impact are in the playoff hunt in a way that Miami, at this point, just aren’t, so this was a six-pointer. But arguably the bigger part is the shape of the and how RBNY actually went about dismantling Montreal as they were charging back into the game.
Their first goal, in particular, shows something of a return to “The Red Bull Way” in terms of how they want to generate chances:
This is an example of “offensive marking,” though I’ve also heard it called “passive defense.” The idea is that you use possession not to directly create a chance — though if you manage it, bully for you — but rather to rearrange where the opponent is on the field and, in conjunction with that, to set up your own press.
If you watch this clip from the start you’ll see the Red Bulls repeatedly hitting third-line passes (passes that split defenders) right into the middle of Montreal’s shape. The goal is to compress the Impact and keep them strong side, so that if they do win a 50/50 and try to play out, they’re going to have to do it through a maze of defenders and with precious little room to spare.
At the same time, this clears out the weak side for a 1-v-1 if and when the pressing team wins the ball back. It worked out exactly like it was drawn up.
One point here that I can not stress enough: That first cross in from Jared Stroud, which comes with 13:20 on the clock in that clip, and then the third-line pass from Florian Valot eight seconds later… the Red Bulls do not care if those are completed. The point is to put pressure on the defense and create a series of 50/50s, and trusting in the players on the field — as well as your offensive marking — to turn those 50/50’s into immediate transition opportunities.
The press is the best playmaker.
For Montreal, there was nothing good to take from this one. The Impact have lost four straight, and have been outscored 14-4 over that stretch.
I’ve Been Everywhere
What a weapon Richie Laryea is. Toronto FC rescued him from pending obscurity in January of 2019 after he’d been let go after three uneventful and little-used years in Orlando. He is now, for my money, the single best attacking fullback in all of MLS, a defense-piercing weapon who should be game-planned for and needs to be game-planned against.
Such was the story on Sunday night in their 3-1 win in Hartford against Columbus (Full disclosure: I grew up in Connecticut and was a rabid Whalers fan, so as soon as I heard Toronto using “Brass Bonanza” as their goal song, I was absolutely going to write about this). Greg Vanney had left back Justin Morrow stay deep — essentially going to a back three — and keep everything in front of him, including Crew right back Harrison Afful. It’s a calculated risk since Afful’s a wonderful attacking fullback himself, but one worth taking because it released Laryea to push way up on the right.
And so Laryea went supernova. He got forward in a fairly traditional fashion to provide the secondary assist on Jozy Altidore’s equalizer. He got forward on the third goal and just… Messi’d all the way into the 6-yard box before slotting home himself. On the second goal, he had the primary assist:
That’s my favorite of the three because it shows how committed TFC were to the bit. As they were recycling possession, it’s actually Jonathan Osorio (playing as a d-mid these days) who drops deep and to the…
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