It's the year of the lone forward in MLS.
How's that working out for everybody? Depends on which team you ask.
Lots of teams have tried it, with varying degrees of success. The single-striker setup has mostly worked like a charm for Columbus, Chicago, Toronto and a couple of other clubs. The New York Red Bulls have gone with one up front, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse.
In a few other cases (hello, Houston), it looks like maybe they could use a little more single-striker action.
Through the years, teams have deployed a single-forward lineup occasionally, usually as a defensive tactic, often in deference to injury or long odds. But the scheme is all the rage in 2008, and it's no longer just a defensive ploy. A majority of teams have tried it at least once this year, most truly judging it the best way to attack. Why such a sudden and major adjustment?
It's really not about some wave of alternative thinking or some tactical revelation. It's about the natural cycles of personnel and simple concepts of math. Midfielders and "tweeners" are carrying the day. The MLS talent collective is heavier in influential midfielders and deep-lying playmakers like Guillermo Barros Schelotto. The rosters are a bit lighter, on the other hand, in effective strikers. Or, in some cases, the most talented frontrunners have been whacked by the injury stick (such as Carlos Ruiz and Juan Pablo Angel). In other cases, forwards just aren't on top of their games at the moment (such as Brian Ching).
If you saw Sunday's big win by Juan Carlos Osorio's old team, the Fire, against Osorio's new team, the Red Bulls, then you saw the two extremes. (What is the deal with Sunday afternoon TeleFutura matches? Before last Sunday there had been just 25 instances of four-goal wins by road teams through MLS history. That's about two a season. Now we've seen four-goal road wins on consecutive weekends, and by the exact same score, no less. Weird.)
The Fire deployed Chad Barrett as a lone striker, supported by outside midfielders Chris Rolfe and Justin Mapp, and by Cuauhtemoc Blanco at attacking midfielder. It worked to blistering perfection. Generally, the Fire needed to attack with only those four players, with holding midfielders Diego Gutierrez and Logan Pause in support from behind. Rare was the run forward from outside fullbacks Brandon Prideaux or Gonzalo Segares.
With Blanco pulling the midfield strings and with yeoman work from Rolfe and Mapp, Denis Hamlett's side could go at the Red Bulsl with ample attacking firepower from just four fellows, therefore maintaining plenty of defensive shape in the rear.
On the other side, Angel didn't get any service to speak of in his solitary role. Dane Richards lined up along the right but he was completely shut down by Segares. The result was very few opportunities and a very bad afternoon. By the second half, New York had gone from one forward to three.
Perhaps it's no coincidence that the other team using a single forward so effectively in 2008 is one of East co-leaders along with Chicago. Sigi Schmid has deployed Alejandro Moreno as a lone striker for Columbus almost all year, and the plan's success is a big reason for the Ohioans' 6-2-1 record.
Livewire flank attacker Robbie Rogers is aligned on the left in midfield, with Eddie Gaven on the right in what is essentially a 4-4-1-1. Schelotto is clearly the fulcrum here. He sets up behind Moreno and then probes for soft spots in a defense. He scans ingeniously to find spaces available on that day, sometimes in deeper spots, sometimes in more advanced positions, the better to serve Moreno or split defenses for find Rogers running through.
Who can argue the results? The wily Argentinean has five assists in nine games, tied for second in MLS. (FYI: Schelotto has 16 assists overall in 31 league matches over two seasons. That's roughly one assist every two matches. It's not Carlos Valderrama territory in terms of ratio; El Pibe assisted 114 times in 175 matches. Still, Schelotto's rate of assists is better than pretty much anybody else who ever to wear an MLS jersey.)
In Los Angeles, Ruud Gullit has usually aligned his surging side into a 4-4-2. But the setup includes only one true striker, which lately has been a highly effective Edson Buddle. Behind Buddle sits Landon Donovan, who is really a midfielder in disguise. Donovan drops into the midfield frequently, either working in tandem with David Beckham from deeper spots or luring defenders out of position, aware that he can race past them and latch onto those telling, pinpoint efforts off Beckham's right foot.
At 2.44 goals a game, easily tops in MLS, you'd be hard-pressed to argue that it's not L.A.'s best plan of attack. Even as Carlos Ruiz returns to health, Gullit seems sure to retain the formation that has his team perched atop the West. (The cerebral Dutch manager may alter course temporarily, however, when Donovan departs for national team service.)
Colorado has toggled a bit tactically, moving in and out of the single-striker setup. But the Rapids' best performances have seemed to come with playmaker Christian Gomez sitting behind a lone striker.
Toronto FC changed its season dramatically with three personnel additions -- Amado Guevara, Rohan Ricketts and Laurent Robert. But getting them into the right spots was important work, too. So manager John Carver dumped his preferred 4-4-2, settling the team into a 4-2-3-1 alignment, one that better suited his talent.
Danny Dichio had six goals in his first 19 matches for Toronto, not a bad rate of production, but nothing to scream about, either. Since inheriting the lone striker role, he has four goals in seven matches, a more prodigious ratio, one that's helped the second-year success story establish itself as a true playoff contender.
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