The long pass from the fullback to the winger has increased by greater than 11 % compared to last year.

To Porter, pushing the tempo seems to be more important than finding the best possible open player. But when you take such a direct approach, you will also end up with lots more long balls and headers. That approach doesn’t seem to have worked well.

Gyasi Zardes is Columbus' primary aerial target and his performance has dived this year: Zardes’ aerial duel success rate in the opponent’s half dropped from 39% to 26%, sitting in the bottom 12% among 120 forwards with more than 30 such headers. Columbus’ possessions in the opponent’s half from headers without a cross have decreased their xG by 40%. In other words, the quality of the chances they’re creating have deteriorated under Porter.

Since pass success rate decreases as the pass length increases, inevitably you will encounter more transitions when you play longer. Thus, Columbus’ average time per possession in open play dropped from 16.6 seconds last year to 14.8 seconds this year, more than a 10% decrease. Conversely, Columbus' number of possessions increased by 4% this year. They are playing faster and more direct than they had done under Berhalter.

Stylistically, Porter has transformed Columbus into a more direct, less possession-oriented team.. Whether the transformation is good or not remains unclear

A “Shifting” Defense

The transition-heavy style change has meant Columbus has also increased their counter-pressing: the Crew pressure 5.2% of their lost balls in the opponent’s half, a 10% increase over last year.

But outside of those situations, the Crew don’t press high; their Pass Per Defensive Action (PPDA) is 31.8 (54th highest since 2016), similar to last year’s (32.6, 54th highest since 2016).

Porter has largely retained Columbus’ defensive scheme; he is still using the Berhalter’s famous 4-4-2 / 4-2-2-2 block. The goal is to stuff the center and make it difficult for the opponent to pass through. If you try passing through the middle block this happens: