Tactical look at how TFC stunned the Red Bulls

Kristian Jack

TSN Soccer Analyst

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Shapes of the MLS

Intro

Red Bull Arena sits in a strange part of town. Harrison, New Jersey is not a place you’d plan to visit unless you wanted to sit in arguably the finest football stadium in North America. It’s that good. It has many wonderful qualities including its sound system.

At approximately 3:30pm on Sunday The Verve’s ‘Bitter Sweet Symphony’ played out immediately following an unusual loss for the home team. The choice of song wasn’t surprising, after all the definition of bitter sweet features words ‘pleasure and pain’, and the choice of song was used in an attempt to summarize how a home fan would feel. Yet, as Richard Ashcroft’s powerful voice bellowed throughout the stadium it was not difficult to think it was a far more appropriate tune for Toronto FC.

The Reds had just completed an impressive 2-0 victory and as they congratulated each other the words of the song ‘I can change, I can change’ played out. How fitting.

Toronto FC are now 10 years old and throughout their existence the only constant has been change. In the offseason it happened again, as new faces came in key places. Finishing sixth in a weak Eastern Conference, while conceding a league-high 58 goals, simply wasn’t good enough for a team with deep pockets and ambitious owners. Changes had to happen and on Sunday they started to take shape.

Lineups 

Change may have been the theme for the visitors but it was one of continuity for Jesse Marsch’s outfit, featuring 10 returning starters from their 2015 Supporters Shield side. Matt Miazga, now at Chelsea, was replaced in the backline by new signing Gideon Baah, an impressive centre-back who looks to have all the tendencies required to be a superb defender in MLS.

Vanney’s side featured five new faces and also a completely different looking shape. It was called 4-3-3 but it was far from that, with their two wide players clearly sticking to their responsibilities as true wide players with and without the ball.

Toronto FC width

Last season those positions were occupied by forward players, often running underneath Jozy Altidore, but leaving the team exposed defensively. Altidore’s injury presented Vanney with an opportunity and he seized it. Daniel Lovitz and rookie Tsubasa Endoh gave him two more defensively responsible players on the pitch. It didn’t work all of the time and New York’s full backs played a key role in turning the momentum in their favour between minutes 30 and 60, but without the ball Toronto FC had nine outfield players comfortable in a 4-5-1 shape.

This played a key part in their fast start. The visitors were the better side throughout the first 25 minutes and by design looked to play balls to the wide players to send a message to New York’s full-backs that they would need to sit deeper. This frustrated Dax McCarty and Felipe, the deep-lying playmakers, who often picked up the ball early and had no key outlets in wide positions. McCarty was visibly annoyed with the positioning of his players, motioning towards them to be where they should be. In game one of 34 it is rare for teams to be anywhere close to the sharpness and cohesiveness that comes in a long season - there was certainly a lot of goals on the opening day across the league - and Toronto FC may have been fortunate to get a united group on a difficult day.

However, the shape of Toronto FC contributed to New York's downfall. By having Endoh and Lovitz high it meant the pressure was off the full-backs to provide the attacking width.

Last season at Red Bull Arena Vanney’s team played a midfield diamond and were well beaten because they couldn’t press the central midfield and stop their wide players at the same time. This time they matched up man-to-man and allowed the home centre-backs to have the ball and they were sloppy in possession.

Midfield balance

Vanney raised some eyebrows when Benoit Cheyrou wasn’t named in the starting XI but this proved to be another astute decision. Cheyrou is an elegant player with a good passing range but the team needed legs in midfield to press against New York’s central trio. It also needed players capable of covering for each other inside the triangle. Overall, the three of Michael Bradley, Will Johnson and Jonathan Osorio had a huge responsibility to stay deep and compact whilst connecting forward and not leaving Sebastian Giovinco too isolated. It wasn’t a perfect performance from the midfield but it was very impressive. The Italian had a long period of the game, either side of half-time, where he had little help when he received the ball but there were a couple of signs when the midfield did get beyond him, which he requires, and Giovinco’s ball over the top to Osorio in the first half was close to a key scoring chance.

Bradley’s best position has been debated for hours and in this match he played as the deepest member of the three. Much of the game was played in front of him, to his credit, and only a couple of times was New York’s midfield three able to combine and get in behind him. Lloyd Sam’s 27th minute chance, that was shot over the bar, was a warning to the team and Bradley spent much of the next two minutes talking to his midfield partners and centre-backs about the shape. 

Key combinations

It is extremely possible that Bradley could excel in that role because of Will Johnson. The Canadian international didn’t get a lot of the ball and was unable to make a difference in the final third but was still one of the game’s best players. The midfielder rarely takes an unnecessary step despite making many. His work rate and football intelligence in midfield seem to galvanize Bradley who knew when he came out and pressed McCarty higher that he had someone he could rely on to fill in behind. Bradley is a chaser whose energy and pressing needs to be accepted. Its part of what makes him so valuable and it is important that if he does sit deepest out of a midfield trio that he is still able to do that. However, they cannot have what happened last season at times when he steps up and a team, like Columbus at the start of last season, recognize his press and play around him, cross the ball into the box and score.

Dealing with those scoring chances this season is the new pair of Damien Perquis and Drew Moor. The key move pre-game was the decision to put Perquis on the right side of the centre-back pairing. It took the Polish international about seven seconds to show what he likes to do, coming out tight and aggressive on the man with the ball, giving away a free kick. Perquis is an emotional player and the move to the right alongside a steady defensive full back in Steven Beitashour looks to be the right decision. Moor is comfortable with both feet when playing out of the back and was very impressive on his TFC debut, giving very little in terms of scoring chances to one of the league’s best finishers in Bradley Wright-Phillips.

Goalkeeping upgrade

The English forward had one key chance in the second half and as he dribbled into space towards goal, Toronto FC goalkeeper Clint Irwin had a decision to make. The former Colorado number one made the right choice closing down his angle, staying big and forcing him wide. It was a small moment that had a big impact at 0-0. Many other goalkeepers in such a situation would have been quick to go down, looking for the ball and committing a foul with contact. An upgrade in goal was incredibly important for this team and already they have shown they have found one. Irwin’s intelligence was reminiscent of Julio Cesar at Seattle in 2014 when he did something similar against Obafemi Martins in the second half.

Late goals

Too often in the past this team has capitulated when the other team has been in control. They needed to learn how not to lose and after they weathered a huge storm in the second half they were able to go on and win the match and again reigning MVP Giovinco was the architect. Minutes before he sent a sensational cross into Endoh that led to the penalty he had broke away with the rookie but was unable to combine with him because the Maryland draft pick chose the wrong path to run, staying outside of the full-back. This time, as Giovinco drifted into the left area where he did so much damage last season, he finally had a man running centrally into the box. It was all the Italian needed. Foul. Penalty. 1-0. The Red Bulls were shell-shocked and never got back into the game, conceding a second one on a counter-attack when Giovinco sent in sub Marco Delgado who calmly slotted home.

Conclusion

It was close to the perfect away performance considering the magnitude of the test. The Red Bulls failed to score in just 2 of 34 games last season and comfortably holding them off the scoresheet should give Toronto FC a great deal of confidence going forward. It was arguably the finest defensive display in franchise history and with game-breakers like Giovinco on this team it is clear this is how this team needs to play during its 8-game road streak to start the season. They will always create moments to score so it is only natural that they should become more difficult to break down. They had just five clean sheets all season last year and only at Orlando, a far weaker team than this Red Bulls one, did they come close to showing the same organization at the back. It is time for this team to believe they can win games by scoring one goal. Last season they conceded two or more in 18 of 34 matches. You don’t win many games of football at any level doing that. Yes, its still March. Yes, it’s early. Yes, they have been here before, winning in Vancouver and Seattle to start the last two seasons, but already signs are there that their most recent changes could finally be for the better.