Round One Takeaways: Sacramento's depth, mobile Moguel, and the San Antonio pivot
How flexibility in the center of the pitch defined the Conference Quarterfinals
After each round of the playoffs, I’ll be writing about a key topic or trend that unified the results. This week, I wanted to focus on how the winning teams in the Conference Quarterfinals adjusted their approaches in the midfield to get the job done.
Sacramento rolled into the playoffs as the top team in the West, and they did so on the back of a dominant defense. The Republic gave up just 26 goals in 34 matches, rode Danny Vitiello to a Golden Glove campaign, and kept a clean sheet against New Mexico to kick off their postseason run.
If consistency has ruled the day at the back, experimentation has been much more common further upfield. Because of injuries and additions, Sacramento has been more than willing to mix things up in the center of the park. Nick Ross getting the start as a hybrid right winger-No. 8 on Saturday is yet another example of that fact.
Ross is a box-to-box player by trade, and most of his starts have come in the pivot. When the Republic have been shorthanded, he’s made an occasional appearance in the front line of the 3-4-3, but I last noted it way back in July.
Within that shape, Sacramento uses two No. 6 types and two more tricky attacking midfielders; think of the shape as having five defenders, two defensive mids, two attacking mids, and a striker.
Of the four midfielders listed there, Ross led the group with an 84% pass completion rate on 32 successful tries. Though he only attempted one cross, his ability to tuck inside opened up the right sideline and also drew New Mexico tight in the center of the park.
The result? Rodrigo Lopez had room to create three chances as the opposite-sided attacking mid, and Jack Gurr was able to get two shots and try two crosses on the overlap.
Moreover, Ross’ positioning gave Sacramento a numerical edge against a fierce, center-centric New Mexico press. You see above how Ross and co. were able to tighten up and gain an edge.
When the Republic want to, they can widen out. Throw Luther Archimede up top, get Keko and Russell Cicerone flanking him, and you’re there. Still, the ability to use someone like Nick Ross in a hyper-tight formation illustrates why this team has the versatility to go all the way.
Louisville had a harder time this weekend, pulling off a five-over-four upset in Memphis while barely holding 30% of possession during the final 75 minutes of action. Early in the match, LouCity bled space down the middle and conceded to much room to Jeremy Kelly. Memphis’ No. 10 in a 4-4-1-1, Kelly completed 46 passes and created two chances in the match.
Still, his impact was blunted when Danny Cruz leaned into Carlos Moguel in the press. Louisville started the game in a 4-3-3 or 4-1-4-1, and they didn’t step away from that look. Increasingly, however, Cruz let Moguel step ever higher, rendering the shape more of a 4-1-3-2. In doing so, LouCity suddenly improved at denying angles down the middle and preventing 901 from picking out balls over the top.
Though he only contributed one tackle and conceded one foul, you can see above how Moguel’s positioning made all the difference. He closes at an angle that forces the 901 man toward the sideline, cordoning off the middle of the park; he did so on numerous occasions on the night.
Going the other way, Moguel only completed 13 out of 27 pass attempts. Accuracy wasn’t the point. The energy that the teenager brought was crucial; he was the only player on the pitch who was willing to just try something.
In 74 minutes, Moguel attempted five crosses, created three chances, put up a shot, and assisted the well-worked Cameron Lancaster goal off a corner. His corner- and free kick-taking were very solid. Carlos Moguel can be the piece that sparks Louisville to a run in the East, much as Elijah Wynder did in 2022.
San Antonio, by contrast, put in a stifling defense performance by strengthening the back end of their midfield, adopting a double pivot. Jacori Hayes and Mo Abu sat deep in a 5-2-1-2 press that denied what opposing Colorado Springs did best all season long.
During the match, Hayes pitched in two tackles and two interceptions, while Abu added five clearances and a block. The latter was the more likely of the two to rotate into the back line and fill in for a center back, but both players were on point all night.
In the screenshot above, you see San Antonio keep a tight back line while both No. 6s clamp down on Jairo Henriquez, the Switchbacks’ chief creative force. Having two midfielders low assured that the reigning champs always had ample numbers at the back and could address their guests.
Because of that solidity, the rest of the team was liberated to press that much harder. San Antonio got their goal on the strength of two forwards and midfielder Jorge Hernandez flying high, going man-to-man against the widespread Switchbacks as they built out to force a turnover.
In recent weeks, this team has required the forwards to track back a bit to support a lone No. 6; not so in the double pivot.
Abu and Hayes were very good about providing that same comfort closer to their goal as well. San Antonio has self-inflicted trouble at times by encouraging their defenders to close aggressively into the midfield without support, but the no-nonsense midfield duo changed that dynamic.
You see above how both could stay home as the center backs and wing backs stretched out. The Taintor-Garcia-Manley group put up 12 total tackles and interceptions because of it.
Sacramento advanced by making their midfield press-proof and making seemingly conservative tweaks that actually opened up the offense. Louisville settled their match down by re-orienting their midfield around Carlos Moguel, gritting their way to a penalty kick victory from there. San Antonio decided to go for a more solid group in the middle, but it actually allowed them to become more aggressive everywhere else on the field.
There’s no one-size-fits all tactic to dominate the central areas, but the winning teams this weekend showed that a responsive and well-tailored strategy will pay dividends. Three of the best managers in the USL will live to see another round because they made the proactive calls to get the job done.