Rhode Island's debut: what to know about their system

Analyzing the standout features of Rhode Island FC's day-one tactical setup

Rhode Island FC is real. Yeah, they’ve existed out in the open since 2019, but the club came together as an honest-to-God soccer team this past weekend at Beirne Stadium, where RIFC ended up with a one-all draw against visiting New Mexico United.

With most expansion teams, there’s a sense that they’re just happy to be on the pitch. Year one is hard! Building a roster and staff from scratch leads to imbalances, and the first 12 months are full of lessons learned in the fire of competition. What sets Rhode Island apart is that, from a tactical and performance standpoint, they looked sharp from the very first minute of their maiden USL voyage.

When I thought about this team over the winter as their squad came together, I foresaw “a tasteful sprinkling of long balls” and a defense “that pushes up to create the pressing traps and holds a high back line.” Khano Smith, well-regarded as a player and as an assistant with the Birmingham Legion, did me one better. Smith immediately installed a 3-4-1-2 system that controlled the tilt of the pitch and impressed me to no end.

RIFC’s day-one system was built around high pressure and aggressive counterpressure. If you sum up defensive attempts and ball recoveries, Rhode Island had a whopping 51 actions in the opposing half. Compression was the order of the day; this team positioned their back three high upfield to pin New Mexico back, and they closed down ferociously to keep them there.

Gaps - not too many, mind you - arose because of that approach. The guests knew when to play longer switches over the RIFC press, and they forged 1.3 expected goals out of just nine shots because of it. Fast, vertical breaks beyond a press can lead dangerous attacking looks, and New Mexico’s gameplan was based around that fact.

Still, Rhode Island attempted 20 shots and put up 2.3 expected goals in their own right because of the efficacy of their system. Defense isn’t independent of offense, and the use of a high back line supported effective recycling in possession. That field-tilting counterpressure stopped New Mexico, but it also placed the Ocean State side in the final third after turnovers.

That counterpress is on display above. You start the sequence with center back Grant Stoneman confidently possessing around the halfway line. Stoneman, an import from the San Diego Loyal (may they rest in peace), completed 63 passes and served as an attacking-zone quarterback within the center circle.

The defender zips a pass to Jojea Kwizera on the wing, who then tries to quickly hit central midfielder Marc Ybarra making a smart diagonal run past the New Mexico defense. However, the window is too tight. Post-interception, the debutants are now faced with an opponent that can counterattack over the top of a RIFC unit that has firmly advanced into attack.

Instead, the counterpress shuts down such an opportunity. Mechanically, you see (1) the ball-side wing back and (2) the nearest center mid close down hard, leveraging (3) the sideline as a proxy defender. If the ball squeaks past that ensemble, there’s defensive cover coming from the ball-side forward and the weak-side midfielders.

A note on possession patterns and stylistic preferences: Koke Vegas, in contast to his Loyal teammate Stoneman, was transformed into a vertical passer. 20 of his 35 attempts went long, which roughly tripled his typical rate in San Diego. That direct tendency fed into the pressing scheme. By punting it into the opposing half, Rhode Island set themselves up to counterpress in what became a virtuous cycle of territorial dominance.

The press in raw form is shown here as New Mexico builds out deep in their own half after a restart. Smith’s 3-4-1-2 is on full display, perfectly aligned to trouble the guests.

Rhode Island has two forwards, Albert Dikwa and Noah Fuson, who can match up against two opposing center backs. Both Rhode Island wing backs mark their opposite numbers. New Mexico uses one or two midfielders in deep positions as creators, and RIFC responds in kind; you see Joe Brito mark the lethal Marco Micaletto and Ybarra hedge to a showing Zico Bailey.

The end result? Rhode Island wins the ball back in a hugely dangerous spot.

Thinking beyond that single play, the expansion side generated +0.88 goals added while interrupting in the final third on the afternoon. That number ranks third-best in the USL per 90 minutes so far in 2024. Small sample size, sure, but there’s the seed of something potent here at a minimum.

RIFC did a wonderful job shutting down Micaletto in particular. In Week One, the star creator completed 81 passes and was accurate on 75% of his attempts in the attacking half. Against Rhode Island, the completion number plummeted by a quarter to a total of 60, and Micaletto’s offensive-zone accuracy dropped by 15%.

With aggression, however, comes a hefty onus in defensive recovery. As good as Rhode Island looked, they weren’t immune from such gaps. An example is evidenced in the clip.

Right off the bat, you’ll note that Kwizera (the left wing back) starts the sequence around the halfway line, and Brito (the No. 10) is level with the strikers; the shape is an aggressive one. Kwizera and Fuson (ball-side forward) go through the motions of trapping New Mexico’s dribbling right back, but they’re slow to do so and get played past.

Now, with the ball advancing up the sideline, defender Frank Nodarse is forced to close down against the receiver. The center back, who was athletic enough to play wide during his RGV days, does a good job in rotation, but the pace and quantity of New Mexico runners mean that he’s under-supported.

The right back that initiated the move underlaps beyond Nodarse without a track from Holstad or Stoneman, and a chance ensues.

Balls into the channels that leveraged elevated wing back positioning were Rhode Island’s one real kryptonite in their opener. You repeatedly saw Dayonn Harris - one of the USL’s fastest players - rip over the top on the end of a switch, splitting over Kwizera and past Nodarse. The former Toro wasn’t great on the day, either: he had just one takeaway while Karifa Yao had nine (eight tackles and an interception) on the opposite side.

Still, if you’re forcing an opponent to rely on diagonal balls and picture-perfect tiki-taka sequences to break in for chances, you’re doing something right. I’m higher on New Mexico than your average USL fan, and I’d wager most teams won’t consistently beat you with the ball like they can.

What of the Rhode Island offense? We’ve seen how defense yielded chances, usually by way of turnovers that funneled the ball into the feet of Kwizera and Stephen Turnbull in the wide areas. Those sequences stood out, but they weren’t the only way this team built.

In more settled situations, RIFC had a few patterns. As mentioned, they liked a longer build style, which enabled Dikwa and Fuson to get chippy and the three-man midfield to battle for knockdowns. When Rhode Island possessed with short-passing-centric control, they didn’t want their center backs to linger and carry the ball, which would’ve opened up the channels against potential counters.

As shown in the clip, there was a leaning towards outside-in moves that started with the wing backs. You’d get an entry pass to a wider player - Turnbull above - who would receive support from two of the three center mids as they rotated ball-side. Upfield, at least one striker would show ball side as well to present as an outlet.

To that latter end, the forwards were quite involved. Fuson and Dikwa combined for 72 touches, only three of which were shots. It’s indicative of a style where all 11 players are expected to be productive in possession.

There’s no doubt in my mind, as much as I like the patterns, that pressure was the single best route to dangerous chances. One key component was Clay Holstad, an idiosyncratic, do-it-all chance creator out of the press. He’d fly in for a clean tackle, dispossess a New Mexico player, and charge at goal to fire a thunderbolt on net. There’s a reason he ended up on the USL Team of the Week.

Chasing the game late, Smith had a few tricks up his sleeve off of the bench. Some of those changes are displayed in the clip, and they all helped to fuel Mark Doyle’s added-time equalizer.¹

For one, you’re seeing Gabriel Alves at the left-sided defensive spot. Alves was mostly used as a full back in Birmingham last season and played some central midfield in college. Because of that technique, he was allowed to carry forward with the ball at his feet, and he often showed into the center circle as a passing outlet.

Elsewhere, not shown, Prince Saydee came in on the center-right, utilizing his sizzling pace to leak out in transition in replacement of Marc Ybarra’s No. 6/No. 8 surety. Saydee didn’t leave a huge mark on Saturday, but he was a double-digit scorer last year in Hartford and could be a potent super sub in these sorts of deployments.

You do see one last shift, with Noah Fuson taking on the left wing back role to accommodate Doyle’s entrance in the forward line. I liked this change on a few fronts. For one, Fuson has the athleticism and the creative toolkit to be a hyper-offensive wide man in desperate situations. Doyle is probably a sounder defensive option in a 90-minute context, but his speciality is making late-arriving runs to the far post in attack; Smith needed the Irishman in the box.

Of course, the tying goal did end up coming from Doyle in one of those very situations, proving Smith’s changes to be well-considered. It was the cherry on top of a wonderful opening day for Rhode Island FC in a broader sense. This team had an undeniable identity, one founded upon a bright, fun, and pressureful philosophy. Yes, they only managed a draw against New Mexico, but it’s clear that the wins will be coming soon.

1. Fuck your own goal.