Tom's Tactics Talk

An introduction to the Better Team Tracker tool and some tactical points on build-up play...

Photo By ©J. Alexander Dolan

“We doubled them in all the analytics, the shots, all the things that maybe you don’t care about, I do, when I look at performance. I thought we performed well today, but certainly the result stinks.”

The above quote comes from Caleb Porter’s press conference after yesterday’s 0-1 loss to Toronto. It is a quote every coach I know — myself included — has had to say after games on many occasions.

Coaches who talk about separating the performance from the result can easily be hit with the criticism that it’s something only said from the losing team, an excuse and that no one cares, just win. But what if you left yesterday’s game only knowing that Revs had more shots, more shots on target, more shots in the opponent’s penalty area, more touches in their area, more passes in their half, a higher xG and a higher xG from open play? What if you were still trying to figure out what Scott Caldwell threw from The Fort and missed Insigne’s goal?

You might feel a whole lot different, a whole lot better about yesterday’s home opener. Because the reality is, if the Revs win all of those categories on a regular basis at home this season, the points will come.

I’ve coached games like yesterday’s but didn’t have the stats to back up the sentiment that the team I was coaching out played the opponent. How dearly I wish I did!

So Porter should know that we do actually care about the analytics and the performance. I hope he expounds more on that in the future. Certainly a refreshing change.

And if tracking this stuff is important to you, then check out my side project, BetterTeamTracker.com. Read the explainer and then hit the link at the bottom to go to the Revs’ sheet where you can see their “attacking and entertainment record” game by game and track how they are doing in several stats compared to 2023.

Tactics From Sunday’s Loss

The Revs have been using a 4-2-3-1 exclusively this year and this seems to be Porter’s preferred formation. One benefit from this setup should be the two deep midfielders being able to frequently get on the ball from passes off the back line. And that should allow the ‘3’ line — especially the center attacking mid — to operate higher up the field in between the opponent’s midfield and back lines.

That has been happening at times but we’ve also seen Carles Gil dropping deep to get on the ball quite often. Getting Gil on the ball is never a bad idea but his creativity and chance creation are unique, elite and need to be utilized as close to the opposition’s goal as possible.

Buck and Polster’s movement should focus on being available centrally at almost all times. Yesterday, Polster frequently drifted into space between a center back and an outside back in somewhat redundant positioning. This movement into the deep half space, especially against a team sitting deep, limited the Revs ability to move the ball forward. Which is a trigger for Gil to drop deep to get on the ball.

In the first clip below, we see Polster and Gil dropping deep under little to no pressure while Andrew Farrell moves higher in the wide area. The captain does deliver a good ball but you could argue Farrell should drop deeper, Polster could drift centrally and Gil could roam between the lines higher up the field.

In the next clip, Polster drops centrally in front of the center back pairing, is able to find Buck, who’s working close to Polster, and Buck finds Gil further up field. Note Farrell is providing width from a deeper wide position. This is optimal double pivot link up play and more where Gil can do his thing.

Next up, the Revs are working the ball around the edges of TFC’s penalty area, Polster once again plays in a deep, central, pivot position and is able to quickly switch play to the right side to Farrell, waiting in space. This again allows the Revs ‘3’ line to operate higher. Gil does come short but this opens a gap for Polster to sprint into. Polster’s ability to make bustling runs forward is one of his better qualities.

Here, Polster is out of frame for most of this clip and Buck could probably drop deeper and make himself available to the center backs. But Farrell is lurking deeper on the right and, yes, his pass is cut out but the Revs more attack minded players are all high up the field, recover the ball quickly and work the ball into an excellent shooting positioning.

Buck’s last movement towards the top of the 18 is smart, it’s where he was a big threat last season. Yes, the shot landed in the Revs training center but appreciate that shooting from there will bring better results in the future.

Now, some good and bad from Polster. Initially, he moves into the deeper half space position where he’s redundant to Farrell. He then drifts centrally and hides a bit behind the opposition, something he did a lot of last year.

Finally, Farrell shows back into a deep and wide position and Polster and him combine nicely to set the Revs forward. Good example of how Farrell can drop in support of Kessler and let Polster find space centrally.

One more, this is some really well executed build-up play in a tight space that leads to a shot from a decent position. Polster drops in for Kessler, Buck’s movement to him pulls a defender out of TFC’s defensive block and the Revs combine neatly and quickly with numbers around the ball in tight space. More of this please!