For the past three years, Crew SC has tried to catch teams off-balance with possession and movement.

That philosophy remains intact in coach Gregg Berhalter’s fourth season, but Berhalter has added a few formation wrinkles this season. The latest twist involved rolling out three central midfielders, at times tucking fullbacks Jukka Raitala and Hector Jimenez and sending wings Justin Meram and Ethan Finlay up the field and wide in a 1-0 loss Saturday at the Chicago Fire.

The formation has not been a staple of the Crew.

“We’ve been working on playing a certain way for three years, and the guys have these cues second nature. This concept, we introduced it (last) week, and it’s not gonna be normal for them,” Berhalter said. “For us, it’s about how can we continue to hurt teams no matter how they’re playing. We want to be open to solutions.”

The objective against the Fire, Berhalter said, centered on being patient and maintaining possession. The Crew intended to tire the Fire's midfield, create one-on-one matchups up top, and eventually break through despite facing a five-man back line.

“Until then, we just wanted to be able to keep the ball, keep the ball, move it. And I think our spacing hurt that a little bit,” Berhalter said. “I think we could have been a little bit better spaced, and we could have even kept the ball for greater lengths.”

Berhalter liked some of what he saw in the first 60 minutes before he subbed in wing Niko Hansen and removed midfielder Mohammed Abu, reverting to his usual 4-2-3-1 structure. He noted a one-on-one matchup for forward Ola Kamara that led to a shot in the 12th minute, and a close-range cross from Finlay late in the first half, as indications of the adjusted spacing creating offensive opportunities.

Still, the Crew finished without a goal for the first time this season. Berhalter said the spacing had more to do with finding the right way to attack Chicago than the absence of midfielder Federico Higuain, who did not make the trip because of a right-ankle injury.

“With (Higuain), it can work even better,” Berhalter said.

Meram called the new spacing a “learning experience” and said video review this week showed how he could have been more effective while playing farther wide.

“It’s tough to know that when you’re in the game and you’re seeing things from a different viewpoint,” Meram said. “You don’t really know how to adapt. Now going into the next games, if we play in this same system, I’ll know my role a little bit better.”

The additional look also gives Crew opponents more for which to prepare.

“It was something to add to our bag of tools,” Meram said. “You learn from it, and you move on, and you get better.”

aerickson@dispatch.com

@AEricksonCD