The 4-3-3, In 2012 And Going Forward

A few days ago, the Rapids released a piece on the formations of the team (put together by our friends at OPTA) along with a picture of the average position on the field of every player on the team. I highly recommend reading the piece, as it has quite a few interesting tidbits about the team's shape and passing throughout the season. Let's take a look at that picture:

I think we can assume without much resistance that Pareja is going to try and get back to the 4-3-3 full-time next season. The only reason the changes happened so frequently this year were because of the occasional injury and because everything that the team tried seemed to fail very quickly. Let's compare that picture to what Pareja's 4-3-3 formation is supposed to look like.

Now that's a lot cleaner, eh?

Both Zapata and Freeman are gone now, of course.

It's hard to parse why the offense failed so miserably at times with any explanation that doesn't involve the fact that the players on this team just couldn't finish the absolute mess of chances that were created. To quote the OPTA article:

As an aside, the formation up there shows pretty well where Jaime Castrillon is supposed to be, and why he isn't a true 'left midfielder' even though that is essentially the position he is playing. Usually, you think of a left midfielder as someone around the center of the park and well out wide, but Castrillon is simply not good at that. When playing in the Diamond 4-4-2, he was often the weak link as his passes needed to be longer and his defensive mettle was tested far more. In the 4-3-3, he is far more useful than in the 4-4-2, and if Oscar Pareja uses that 4-4-2 again with Castrillon involved, it will be a mistake.

The key, as they say in the article, will probably lie with Rivero's ability to finish his chances. We've spoken before about his miserable 3.3% shot conversion percentage. He will either need to be told not to try for the shot as often — his passing was perfectly acceptable all season long, and his assists will keep coming as long as that continues — or learn to aim his shots better. The majority of his chances came from outside of the area this season, and both of his goals came from inside of it.