With the reintroduction of Lucas Zelarayan to the Columbus Crew starting 11 last Saturday at New York City FC, most prognosticators and supporters felt that head coach Caleb Porter would do one of two things when it came to his team selection and formation. They believed he would either return to a 4-2-3-1 formation and allow Zelarayan to reclaim his spot as an attacking midfielder or stick with the 4-3-3 that had been successful over the previous three matches and play Zelarayan as a False 9.
However, Porter surprised everyone who wasn’t in the know when he selected option number three: playing with a 4-3-3 and putting the Armenian international out on the left wing.