Posted by

Michele Tossani ,

April 15, 2014 Twitter:

@MicheleTossani

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Key breakdown undoes Nelsen's defensive approach

Unfortunately for TFC fans the injury list didn’t get any shorter prior to their second home game and Toronto faced Colorado with a depleted starting line up. With Jonathan Osorio, Doneil Henry and Alvaro Rey sidelined due to injuries, and also without Designated Players Michael Bradley and forward Jermain Defoe, head coach Ryan Nelsen opted for a starting XI featuring Jeremy Hall and Kyle Bekker in the middle, with Jackson and Issey Nakajima-Farran out wide and Dwayne De Rosario paired to Brazilian Gilberto up front. It didn’t work as a former Toronto forward Edson Buddle’s goal was enough to help the Rapids to secure a 1-0 win. See also: Can Bradley be an effective trequartista? Although it wasn’t a great game, Saturday’s 1-0 loss left some interesting tactical points to think about. For the second time this season – the first one has been against Real Salt Lake - TFC faced a team playing in a 4-4-2 diamond, or 4-3-1-2, shape. In fact, Rapids rookie head coach Pablo Mastroeni employed the same shape he utilized against Vancouver Whitecaps, fielding a starting XI featuring Nathan Sturgis and Nick LaBrocca as interior midfielders while José Mari was deployed as deep-lying midfielder and with Dillon Powers acting like a No. 10 behind the striker duo of Gabriel Torres and Buddle. Injuries and the loss to RSL forced a plan-B for Nelsen. Against RSL he asked to one of his central midfielders, usually Michael Bradley, to jump ahead trying to pressure the opposite’s playmaker, against Rapids coach Nelsen played more conservative. Ryan Nelsen wanted his midfielders to drop back in front of the defence without the ball. So, TFC built two banks of four, both narrow and compact when defending. De Rosario and Gilberto were asked to drop back in the way to shut down José Mari, the Rapids’ most prolific passer, in the build up. They have done this pretty well in the first half. It allowed Bekker and Hall to play deep enough to protect the back four. With both defensive and midfield lines so tight, TFC limited the space between the lines closing down Dillon Powers, Colorado’s attacking midfielder.

With their deep-lying playmaker not setting the tempo of the game, Colorado’s passing tempo was slow and the ball was forcedly played out wide, where Toronto could easily double team their opponents. In fact, both Nakajima-Farran and Jackson protected their full backs in a disciplined approach. TFC were in positions to play nice through-balls into the front two, but their speed and precision on the counter-attack play wasn’t solid as we’ve seen so far and they relied too much on their usual tactic of hitting direct balls up front. On a sidenote, the defensive shape still remained strong, with TFC defending compact and disciplined in the centre of the field. Regrettably, in almost the only circumstance in which TFC’s defence became disorganized, the Rapids scored following a Dillons Powers’ run into the box and a nice touch he delivered to Buddle.



In that sequence, Bekker was unable to cope with Dillon Powers’ movement, while Bradley Orr was slow to get back into Buddle path, leaving Colorado’s forward a comfortable finish from the goalkeeper’s area.



Overall, TFC played a strong game defensively but paid for a couple of individual mistakes. Michele Tossani is a football tactician with a Ph.D. in History. Michele resides in Florence, Italy and is a tactical analyst for Futbol-Tactico.com