So that happened.
All over the TFC internet fans were waking up the morning after and trying to figure out what it means.
Among other things, the tendency will probably be to blame Jeremy Hall -- since he's a popular scapegoat (and it's not like he played particularly well) -- but, in terms of formation, as alluded to in my match preview yesterday, TFC were always in danger of being overwhelmed no matter who was paired with Michael Bradley. Ryan Nelsen didn't seem to make any obvious tactical adjustments[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] to counter RSL's diamond, 4 > 2, and Javi Morales ran riot to a soundtrack of Kristian Jack superlatives.
Keep in mind though: even good MLS CMs would have a hard time dealing with Morales on their own!
This is where too much writing and discussion about football tactics becomes dangerous, however. The truth is that we don’t know if Ryan Nelsen made the correct tactical choices and never can. It certainly looked like Toronto were completely disorganized and had no idea how deal with RSL but there’s literally no way to run the counterfactual and actually test any hypothesis.
The fact is that there is no perfect formation, and even a perfectly organized tactical system can be undone by a moment of inspiration, lack of concentration, just plain better players, or the happenstance of luck. While there have been periods of tactical stasis in the history of the game – W-M in England, or the now bizarre asymmetrical sweeper systems in ‘60s Italy – the reason there’s normally tactical evolution is that formations are reactive: they give your players a numerical advantage in some space at the expense of exposing yourself in another.
So, avoiding the word should, let’s examine what Ryan Nelsen could have done when faced by the question of Salt Lake’s (now somewhat novel for MLS) diamond midfield.
After two wins to start the season Nelsen would have needed a TON of guts to drop a forward, likely Gilberto, but could have done so in favour of a 4-5-1 (4-2-3-1):
Beltran----Borchers--Schuler-----Wingert
--------------------Defoe
------------------Beckerman
--------------------Bradley*
------Grabavoy------------------Gil
-----Rey---------------------------Bloom(Issey?)
---------------------Morales
-----------------Hall-------Bekker(?)
------------Garcia----------Saborio
Morrow------Henry---Caldwell--------Orr
Here, you're inviting Beltran and Wingert forward and the game would turn on their contribution relative to Morrow and Orr's. I'd rather that than giving Morales the space he enjoyed. When you've got to pick your poison, pick the good, but not exceptional, fullbacks over the star CAM!
The funny thing, however, is that if Ryan Nelsen had done that, and TFC had lost 2 - 1, it'd have been objectively better than what ended up happening but he'd likely be slaughtered by critics for being too conservative (after the wins). Who knows what his ultimate boss, Tim Lieweke, would think about seeing one of his expensive assets dropped in favour of an NCAA draftee too. That’s not to say that TFC’s line-up is selected by the marketing department, but we, as fans, should remain cognizant of the fact that there are always more forces at play inside a club than we’re privy to.
Regardless, this is likely where the loss of Matias Laba finally caught up with TFC. The management tried hard to keep him and you can see why. Michael Bradley is undoubtedly a more dynamic player but, with Osorio and Jackson out, they didn't really have another steady, tactically aware and energetic tackler (beyond Hall, depending on your opinion) to create a 3-man CM that could swamp Morales and Beckerman and prevent them from dictating the game's rhythm.
That’s the real lesson if there is one: TFC is still a ways away from becoming a consistent and deep enough team to really be considered an elite squad in MLS. There will be times when reality bites hard and an overstretched roster is exposed. Only years of steady talent identification and acquisition can rectify that. So maybe, let’s not get hung up on that and, rather, embrace what success the quick-fix has already enjoyed.
Now, being a notably conservative guy myself when it comes to football tactics, I prefer the suggestion above. Alternately, and again this would have taken TONS of guts, Nelsen could have gone all Aron Winter:
Beltran----Borchers--Schuler-----Wingert
---DeRo----------Gilberto-------Defoe
------------------Beckerman
--------------------Bradley*
------Grabavoy------------------Gil
---------------------Morales
-----------------Hall-------Bekker(?)
------------Garcia----------Saborio
Morrow------Henry---Caldwell--------Orr
It'd be entertaining, they'd probably lose 4 - 2 (or something like a baseball score) but at least there's a tactical logic to it. You've pegged back the RSL fullbacks, double teamed Morales, and asked Grabavoy and Gil to be the difference makers. If Orr and Morrow pick the right times to step up to support the midfield, TFC could find joy in attack and not be overwhelmed in midfield.
Done right, they’d have been the ones dictating the shape of the game to Salt Lake. It’s a reason the formation has become popular again with the world’s elite teams: if you’re good enough, it presents all sorts of problems that your opponent must react to. Again though: if you’re good enough (as TFC learned under Winter).
That said, the reality is that this is a brand new team, forced into sub-optimal personnel changes already, who are still probably figuring out how to play their coach’s preferred system! Asking them to switch things up only three games into this new era is probably very unrealistic.
As it was Rey and Bloom were totally ineffective on both sides of the ball, because of their inability to get involved RSL dominated an overworked CM, and TFC looked completely at sea. Their 4-4-2 was neither solid, nor consistently two banks of four as Michael Bradley went hunting Beckerman and the centrebacks got pulled forward to help Hall.
And there's no legislating for a Doneil Henry judo throw (even if it probably was just a matter of time).
*Yes, that's Bradley at the point of the triangle in both formations. That's quite intentional because it's how he plays anyways and it would let him harry Beckerman without leaving Hall alone with Morales (as ended up happening in the actual match). Read this article by Michael Cox (of the excellent Zonal Marking blog) on Bradley's role in the evolution of the CAM away from a traditional #10 into a high-pressing hard runner if you doubt me.
Michael Crampton has never taken a coaching course, never played the game at a high enough level for tactics to matter, and did not stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. He did, however, read Jonathon Wilson’s Inverting the Pyramid which probably creates an unrealistic expectation that he knows anything about football tactics. Please keep the above in mind while you slaughter him in the comments.