Welcome back to Rising Tactics Recap, a weekly column where I attempt to provide insight to Phoenix Rising fans by breaking down some strategic and tactical observations from Phoenix’s latest match.

You know when your car windshield fogs up and you have to wait a few minutes for it to clear so that you can see enough to drive your car again?

That car has been Phoenix Rising so far this season. 
In preseason, it was clear that Rick Schantz wanted to play a certain way, with certain tactical principles, and with a very specific positional setup. Schantz wanted Phoenix to own the ball in a 4-3-3 formation and exploit gaps in the opposition’s defensive shape. He wanted to drive the car 80 miles per hour on the freeway.

Starting with pre-season, Phoenix Rising never totally got that attacking system or shape down. They allowed an obscene amount goals and fogged up the car’s windshield in the process. You can’t attack if you can’t defend, just like you can’t drive if you can’t see.

When Phoenix started leaking goals, they had to switch to a 4-2-3-1, adding a midfielder to provide additional cover in front of the back four. The 4-2-3-1 was a mixed bag: it largely fixed Phoenix’s defensive problems, but it also hampered their attacking ability. Phoenix Rising weren’t playing like the team Schantz and the rest of the coaching staff tried to build in preseason.

At home on Friday when Phoenix desperately needed a win, they changed their style and positional setup back to what Schantz wanted in the first place. Instead of a 2-1 midfield alignment with Kevon Lambert and Collin Fernandez at the base of midfield and José Aguinaga in front of them, Phoenix used a 1-2 setup with James Musa as a single-pivot and Jon Bakero and Lambert in front of him. 

The players executed the offensive portion of the tactical change (or rather the tactical restoration) to near perfection and secured three points in Friday’s 3-1 win over Rio Grande Valley, clearing the fog on the windshield just a little bit.

The coaching staff can drive their car again. 

“We started in preseason and we believed that it’s the team we’re building,” Schantz said after the win. Phoenix Rising are clearly trying to return to the offensive structure they started building before the regular season started.

Of course, the more defensive 4-2-3-1 will almost certainly reappear over the remainder of the season, but for now, it looks like Phoenix have at least reached a point where they can create danger from the 4-3-3.

One of the most positive offensive changes that resulted from Phoenix Rising’s return to the 4-3-3 was their ball rotation. I wrote last week about how Phoenix struggled to break down Orange County’s defensive block because they did not move the ball quickly enough from side-to-side. 

That changed on Friday. From the start of the game against RGV, Phoenix rotated the ball with purposed. They moved the ball and played through the gaps in the opposition’s shifting defensive shape.

Look at this sequence:

Phoenix Rising move the ball all the way from the right sideline to the left sideline in just a few seconds. Along the way, eight of Phoenix’s 11 players touch the ball, including goalkeeper Zac Lubin and striker Adam Jahn. 

The above buildup sequence shows just how much Phoenix have grown, even since last week. Goalkeepers, strikers, players who are new to the starting lineup, and players who are returning to the lineup after a stint on the bench were ready to move the ball, find space, and move play forward.

After the game, Musa summed up the general tactical approach and spoke to the value of Phoenix’s 4-3-3 shape: “You can see Kev [Lambert] and Jon [Bakero] are a little bit higher. We’re able to break lines and get the ball to them so they can turn.”

When allowed space to receive the ball and turn, Lambert is a quality playmaker. Schantz also likes having him higher up the field to pressure and win balls closer to the opposition’s goal. Both of those things were made possible by playing Lambert as one of the advanced central midfielders in a 4-3-3. 

Musa touched on it briefly, but it was clear that having Bakero back in the starting eleven elevated Phoenix’s Rising’s level of attacking potency. Though he wasn’t in a dedicated central role on the field, a significant portion of Phoenix Rising’s attacking scheme was centered around Bakero.

“We try to get Jon Bakero on the ball as much as possible,” left back Amadou Dia said on Friday night. 

One specific way that Dia and the rest of Phoenix’s wide players created space for Bakero was through left-sided rotations. The players on Phoenix’s left side (Dia, Joey Calistri/Junior Flemmings, and often Bakero) would each occupy different vertical channels at different times. 

Dia explained the tactic in his post-match interview: “We can’t be on the same line. That’s one of the unwritten rules of the outside back and outside mid. If I see him [the winger on Dia’s side] go outside, then I go inside.”

When players shift their vertical positioning, they make it difficult for opposing defenses to track their movement. When outside defenders tuck into midfield or when central midfielders shift wide, they create symmetrical passing angles and draw defenders’ attention.

Bakero was a beneficiary of excellent spacing, but he was not the only one. Sometimes Musa or Lambert found space because of Phoenix’s left-sided rotations. 

Here is an illustration of the vertical rotations in action:

Notice how Dia, a left back, is positioned in the middle of the field. He rotated inside because Flemmings started outside. 

In the above clip, RGV couldn’t figure out how to mark Dia in midfield, which allowed Musa space to receive the ball, turn, and switch position to the weak side of RGV’s defensive block.

Phoenix moved the ball, rotated, found space in dangerous areas, and even showed some impressive movement against a low block (something they have struggled with so far this season) in their return to the 4-3-3. 

It must feel nice for Schantz to be back in the drivers seat.

The Final Third:

• Even in moments when Phoenix could not get the ball to Bakero, simply having his presence on the field helped generate attacks. Bakero draws attention and because of his ability on the ball, opposing teams are afraid to give him space. Teams have to commit extra defenders to Bakero’s area, which creates gaps for Phoenix to exploit in other areas of the field.
• When Dia occasionally popped into central midfield against RGV, it looked a lot like Nick Lima or Tyler Adams moving inside for Gregg Berhalter’s United States Men’s National Team. I need to ask Rick Schantz about which coaches he watches and “borrows” from the most, because that is the second tactical detail I have noticed this season that looks similar to something Berhalter has done either with the Crew or with the USMNT.
• From Schantz’s comments after the game, it sounds like at least part of the reason that he felt comfortable returning to the 4-3-3 is due to the development of his players. Phoenix’s players are slowly getting more comfortable in a system that prioritizes ball movement. As an example, Joey Farrell looks infinitely calmer on the ball this season than he ever has. He is even willing to carry the ball forward into midfield and create. Farrell and the rest of the team are progressing.

Thanks for reading this week’s edition of Rising Tactics Recap! Check back next week for more insight and analysis.