Pinzone: The Evolution of the Revolution Must Continue
The Revs much talked about shift to a 3-5-2 met its match, itself.
The New England Revolution had a spurt of winning around the shift to the 3-5-2 earlier this season. The formation itself was heaped with far too much praise and credit for this up shift in results. Caleb Porter himself initially gave more credit to a simplification of roles in the team than just a simple formation switch. Now, that simplification of roles was aided by the formation change, to be sure, however, player roles can be simplified or made more complex in many ways.
The Revs’ only win in their last six games came against the hapless CF Montreal, whom the Revs crushed once going up a man. Other than that, their level of play has produced some high-scoring draws, some low-scoring draws, and this past Saturday’s loss to Cincinnati. The results have been similar, while the goals going in at both ends have fluctuated. It’s tough to make out exactly what type of team the Revs want to be and to believe they have an answer to that question. Sure, they want to be a winning team, but so does every team. And to be one this season, they need more ingenuity than they’ve shown.
Saturday’s game provided a rare interesting tactical battle as both the Revs and Cincy employed roughly the same shape, 3-5-2. Oftentimes, two teams playing the same formation means the game is decided on individual quality and outplaying a direct opponent. We got that in this game, too, but we got it because of a tactical choice made by both teams.
According to MLS Analytics, the Revs passed into the final third on their right more often than on the left or center. They also completed 48% of their passes in the final third on the right, compared to 34% on the left. Cincy was heavily in favor of their left side, their passes into the final third were mainly on the left, and 65% of their final third passes were on the left. That meant most of the attacking play and final third entry occurred on the same side of the field, the right from the Revs’ perspective.
This meant the two main protagonists in the game where Ilay Feingold, the Revs’ right wingback, and Luca Orellano, Cincy’s left wingback. These two were the main out-ball targets for their respective teams, maintaining high positions, breaking forward early, and not tracking back. We might have expected these two to be battling side by side up and down the flanks. Instead, they took it in turns, leaving one another open in an advanced position.
This led to a wonderfully open, back-and-forth game for the first 25 minutes. A real display of end-to-end action as both teams repeatedly hit their target out pass in a high position. Both players had more touches in the opponent’s half than their own in the opening exchanges. To be fair, the opposite flank was busy as well but it was not a surprise to see the game’s only goal come down the Revs’ right side.
Orellano was mere inches away from the opening goal himself, hitting the far post with an excellent shot. He followed that up with a perfect ball into the six-yard box that Kevin Denkey smashed home with a rare display of top-level close-range finishing in front of the Fort. Feingold himself found his moments to pump crosses as well, receiving the ball well in advance of Orellano several times. However, his deliveries were a series of Amazon packages dropped off at the wrong address. A rate of success that only a postal employee, Newman, would be proud of.
Many, including members of this Parish, largely absolved Feingold and Miller of blame for their ineffective crossing. It was correctly pointed out that they were delivering the types of crosses that the Revs didn’t have a player on the field capable of capitalizing on. Totally correct and widely acknowledged by nearly everyone involved in the game. The question then is, if it’s so apparent the Revs lacked an aerial target in the penalty area, why did Feingold and Peyton Miller cross as much as they did anyway?
The Revs completed six of their 35 attempted crosses while completing not a single through ball. MLS Analytics puts shots into four xG categories, the most impactful of which are classified as great or good shots; the Revs created none of either variety.
Teams, as much as individual players, need to play to their strengths. With Leo Campana injured and Adam Buska long, long gone at this point, aerial prowess in front of the goal is not a thing the Revs have in open play. Set plays? Sure, the centerbacks and Matt Polster can provide effective aerial targets in those moments. But Matt Polster isn’t a center forward and, for whatever reason, his late run barges into the penalty area don’t seem to happen as often anymore.
What the Revs needed then was a further evolution of their play. They had three goals from Campana and Ignatius Ganago between a pair of 2-0 wins against NYCFC and Toronto. Those wins were part of the four in a row that inspired belief (not from everyone) in this team again. The other two wins in that streak had one goal in each from Carles Gil. When Gil can’t will the team to victory and Campana and Ganago aren’t available, other solutions need to be found.
The Revs’ employment of a classic pincer move, clogging the middle and attacking with speed down the flanks, has staved off another complete compilation of a season and their leaders’ job.
They must keep evolving.
When the likes of Luis Diaz and Max Urruti are still being sent out as if they can get the job done, they cannot. Diaz and Urruti have been totally ineffective this season and should not be playing at this level. Other solutions are desperately needed.
The obvious solution is one so glaringly evident it should have been dealt with months ago, a backup striker with a similar attacking profile to Campana. If you can slot in a similar but not as talented version of an injured player, the team can largely carry on playing in the same way. The Revs failed to implement this safeguard and instead wasted roster spots on a vibes in the locker room specialist and the ghost of a player Caleb Porter once had success with. This cannot be rectified until the summer transfer window.
Back to the question of why Feingold and Miller pumped in crosses tailor-made for a player not on their team? Was this a situation where there was no alternative? Possibly, given the ineptitude of Diaz, Tomas Chancalay’s wandering positioning, and a lack of attacking influence from the midfield duo, perhaps there really was no way to break Cincy down. But you do need to try something in the moment, you can’t just throw points away because you can’t select your preferred eleven.
The Revs needed to try and create some type of superiority in the attacking third. Peter Motzenbecker, one of the top youth coaches in Massachusetts and an instructor for Massachusetts Youth Soccer, advocates that there are five types of superiority a team can strive for.
The first one is qualitative, which the Revs forwards clearly lacked against Cincy’s centerbacks; it was just about even between the two midfield trios, and on the night, Orellano outplayed Feingold and Miller, and DeAndre Yedlin fought to a draw. Nothing doing there.
Could the Revs have found quantitative superiority instead? With the initial time and space found out wide by Feingold and Miller, perhaps a few more 2v1 or 3v2 situations could have sprung one of them into the penalty area’s wide spaces and found a cutback pass to a late-arriving Chancalay or center mid.
Another advantage to consider would have been positional. Would some more build-up play centrally have been possible with Gil or Chancalay getting into spaces between opponents? It was 3v3 centrally, no quantitative advantage but the shape of the Revs’ three may have created angles to play through Cincy’s three.
None of that really developed as the game progressed; instead, Porter reverted to his tried and trusted tactic of going back to the 4-2-3-1 and throwing everybody forward to see what happens. Seemingly, his only tactic for finding a goal.
Porter didn’t have much attacking talent to call from the bench; that much is true. Thinking outside the box with his substitutions and working with the players available may have actually sparked something.
Porter could have brought on Brandon Bye for Tanner Beason and Jackson Yueill for Luis Diaz with 30 minutes to go. That would have enabled a shift to the 4-2-3-1 with Miller at left back, Ceballos and Fofana as the centerbacks, and Bye at right back. With that back four in place, Feingold could have slotted in at left mid. We’ve seen Feingold have two of his better games on the left this season. Why not see if he can cut in from the left and get some shots away? He’s done it before. And with Feingold, high, wide, and cutting in, Miller may have found more space on the overlap. People are hyping these two up to no end lately. Pair them up and see what happens.
Yueill could have then slotted in with Private Matthew Polster in the center and pushed Yusuf out to right mid. Yusuf may not be a right mid, but he has the profile of a player with the speed, technique, and willingness to get forward to make something happen there. And then if Chancalay could be compelled to do so, he would have been up top and looking for runs in behind.
Would that have worked? We’ll never know. What we do know is this team bought themselves some time to figure things out in April and May, but more outside-the-box thinking, ingenuity, whatever you want to call it, is going to be required to make the playoffs. Campana’s health seems dubious, Ganago’s influence has been limited, Diaz and Urruti should be in the USL Championship and the switch to a back three has left them one quality centerback short in the starting eleven.
The Evolution must continue.
Great work! Love the Newman comment. What will it take?? So much talent gone. Sigh.
Nice analysis. When does the summer window open? Attacking help can't come soon enough!