The Back Four: Attendance catch-up

In-depth breakdowns from the USL Championship and USL League One

Welcome in to The Back Four!

Before we start, check out Backheeled for San Antonio’s climb, baffling Rhode Island, and more. You can also find This League! on the site for an audiovisual dive into the week that was.

Without further ado, let’s get to it.

Attendance!

Hey, remember that I’ve got an attendance tracker? Here’s where we stand a bit after the halfway point:

At the Championship level, attendance is up 1.7% to 5,309 as compared to 2024’s final average. If you’re comparing on Week 19 terms, the increase is 4.4%.

Much of that progress owes to two clubs: Rhode Island FC and the Oakland Roots. They’ve essentially doubled their numbers this year by moving to new venues. Centreville Bank Stadium in Rhode Island is, of course, a self-owned and soccer-specific stadium in Pawtucket. The Roots, meanwhile, drew nearly 27,000 fans to their opener at the Oakland Coliseum, but they’ve still maintained an average attendance of 6,700 since then.

Those clubs buck the trend. 15 of 24 clubs across the Championship are down as compared to this date last season. Meanwhile, eight of the nine returning clubs in USL League One have also seen declines – although that’s only comparing against full-season numbers from 2024.

You can worry about a drop for Spokane after the expansion glow dimmed, but the headline in League One is the performance of the expansion clubs. Portland Hearts of Pine are a top-ten team in the entire USL, while both AV Alta and FC Naples have hovered around the 4,000 mark. Throw it all together, and League One’s average is up by 18% this year to a healthy mean of 2,724.

Jagermeister Cup games haven’t seen much variance as compared to league action. Across the board, cup averages have been 4% lower, but 13 of 37 clubs to host a game are up.

As a whole, these are healthy trends across the board. Clubs in new stadiums are doing well, and most expansion efforts have hit the ground running. You can quibble with the results in a few tenured USL markets, but the attendance numbers for 2025 are (mostly!) strong.

Is Colorado Springs cooked?

Short answer: no, but I’m very worried!

Defending a championship is famously difficult. The USL hasn’t seen a repeat winner since Louisville ran the show in 2017 and 2018. If we’re being honest, few people predicted that the Colorado Springs Switchbacks would repeat this year, but the fact that they’re dead last in mid-July is legitimately shocking.

It’s impossible to consider the Switchbacks without recounting their offseason losses. Speedy Williams’ exit came at the cost of tempo-setting and counter denial in the pivot. Ronaldo Damus brought finishing and all-around transition brilliance that hasn’t been replaced. No one has filled the creative holes left by Jairo Henriquez and Tyreek Magee.

In objective xG terms, the drop-off hasn’t been all that steep. Colorado Springs finished with +0.08 xG margin per match last year, which is down a few base points to -0.06 this time around. Hardly the stuff of a full-blown collapse!

Dig deeper, and the trends are far more worrying. Colorado Springs was so successful down the stretch in 2024 for two key reasons: (1) they were incredibly opportunistic while leaning into their stars and (2) they maximized the field-tilting capabilities of a fierce 4-2-3-1 press featuring a high back line.

Above, you’re seeing the year-over-year changes relative to the rest of the USL in a few categories. The black dots represent the 2024 title team, while the blue dots come from the current season.

What are we seeing in the numbers? Colorado Springs’ shot quality, as measured by xG per shot, has fallen off a cliff and comes second-to-last in the Championship. They’re entering the penalty area less often to boot.

Defensively, the Switchbacks are actually winning a greater share of their duels. That’s good! You want to come up better in one-on-one battles. After the initial wins, however, Colorado Springs has become less effective; they’re making 12% less recoveries per game in 2025.

Think about a generic scenario where Matt Mahoney wins a defensive header and sends it toward the midfield. Last year, Williams would’ve claimed it and given Colorado Springs control. This season, opponents are taking charge and recovering more of those second balls.

The final category mapped above is nebulously labeled as “entry denials,” which is a simple ratio of defensive-third possession wins and opposing final-third entry passes. In other words, how often do you make a stop when your opponent enters the final third?

Colorado Springs has gone from mid-table to the 23rd position by that measure. Some of the blame falls on the No. 6 spot yet again, but lineup inconsistency hasn’t helped the cause. Chambers has rotated heavily at goalkeeper. The fullback spots have been a revolving door. Mahoney is a constant, and he’s still performing at an all-USL level, but the Switchbacks haven’t found a truly legit partner for him despite Garven Metusala’s best efforts.

To summarize: Colorado Springs is creating worse chances, entering the box less, and inviting more danger close to their own goal.

There are moments while watching Colorado Springs where the downturn is obvious, particularly in possession. My own take is that the defense will improve with Metusala back from international duty and Akeem Ward earning minutes at left back, but offense is a problem. You can feel a palpable compunction when the Switchbacks need to break down an opposing press.

That’s obvious above. Colorado Springs is facing the league’s best defense in Louisville City, but they’re never bold at any point in the clip. The tempo is slow. Off-ball movement up the middle is minimal, devoid of interchange that might test Louisville’s marking. Winger Jonas Fjeldberg has to drop incredibly deep for a touch, and when he turns, his only options are sideways or backwards.

Compare that video to the setup here, clipped from the 2024 title game.

Rhode Island isn’t pressing as hard against the ball, but they’re still creating a logjam up the middle. Instead of meekly passing to a fullback that’s pinned against the sideline or dropping an attacker deep, Colorado Springs is daring. Mahoney lifts his head up, spots Yosuke Hanya streaking up the wing, and strikes a long ball his way. You want to force an opposing press to sit back and give yourself room to breathe? Do this!

I’m not foolish enough to count Colorado Springs out, and Chambers’ experimentation with false No. 9 tactics as of late has been promising.

I’m not exactly bullish, either. At a fundamental level, the Switchbacks haven’t been able to execute on the style that’s prevailed since Brendan Burke set the template. How Colorado Springs can get back to that identity and make the playoffs is far from clear.

Knoxville’s evolution

For the first three months of the season, there was a very clear formula for Ian Fuller and One Knox to succeed: press high, shorten the field as often as possible with quick breaks, and rely on your defensive structure. It worked like a charm – until it didn’t.

Entering this weekend’s match against Tormenta with just one victory since the start of May, the recipe wasn’t coming out fully-baked. Still, beating South Georgia amidst an adverse game state was a real feather in Fuller’s cap, and it’s a useful frame to understand how this team has adapted across 2025.

The data makes it clear that, at least on a statistical basis, One Knox is better off when they can force turnovers and stay out of their own half. Many clubs excel when they’re possessing and goading defenses out by knocking it around at the back. Not Knoxville. The more passes they attempt in their own zone, the worse their xG returns tend to be.

Fuller often lines this team up in a 4-1-2-3, using the five most advanced players to spearhead a merciless press. As aggressive as things can get upfield, Knoxville typically feels balanced thanks to excellent rotations from their No. 6, a communicative defense, and an understanding of when to drop into a double pivot. Even when the offense has been one-note, it’s been enough when paired with that excellent defensive base.

The forward line is fairly ruthless, often taking up positions in front of opposing defenders and extending closing runs into the 18-yard area. It isn’t quite that aggressive in the example above, but you still see how Knoxville shuts down Tormenta with advanced pressure.

Note that this play comes from a prior Tormenta fixture from a few weeks back, a game that One Knox won by a three-goal margin. That result was powered by the press. Knoxville allowed their advanced No. 8s to mark the opposing pivot, and they effectively tilted their forwards side-to-side to create traps against the out-of-bounds lines.

When that sideline rotation happens in the example, left back Scott McLeod doesn’t waste a second in joining the fun and enhancing said trap. Of course, his aggressive close opens space in behind, and that’s where the holding midfield comes into play. Angelo Kelly, the No. 6, knows to get low and cover toward the left, and he does so with aplomb.

At times, the midfield structure varies. You can see a flatter trio if One Knox is protecting a lead. Mikkel Golling has been a standout at the No. 10 spot in a mid-block 4-2-3-1, shepherding takeaways into the attacking zone with a real sense of verve.

Those transition moves aren’t always dribble-led or controlled. Knoxville isn’t afraid to go long, circumventing a belabored build-out phase to tilt the pitch. Connect on a long ball to Kempes Tekiela? You’re in business. Hit an incompletion? Let the press rip.

That template has proven less effective as opponents strengthened their central midfields and amped up their rest defense structures against Fuller’s side. A recent loss to Forward Madison in the Jagermeister Cup was a prime example. There, Madison – almost always a back-three team – adopted a narrow 4-2-2-2 shape that could compress and allow six different players to contest second balls. Moreover, the commitment to a double pivot made it harder for the One Knox to generate odd-man advantages with their three-man forward line.

What happens when Knoxville can’t break? That was the case versus Madison, and the situation recurred against Chattanooga a week ago. The Red Wolves are like a funhouse mirror version of their Tennessee rivals, taking One Knox’s directness and midfield denial to an extreme. Last Saturday, Chattanooga took an early lead because of that hyper-aggression, then sat back and dared Fuller to find an answer.

One Knox wasn’t entirely feckless, but too many sequences played out with minimal tempo and lacking penetration. Consider the example: Stuart Ritchie gets the ball at left back, interfaces with Mark Doyle up the left wing, and gets absolutely nothing out of his teammates closer to the center of the pitch.

The freeze-frame highlights four players standing in place, never daring to make a run that might bend the Red Wolves’ shape. There’s eventually a through ball into Babacar Diene, but the tail is wagging the dog. Diene doesn’t make a proactive sprint in behind; he’s chasing the pass that Doyle is forced to invent.

In that sense, a rematch against Tormenta on Saturday – a game where Knoxville possessed heavily after conceding on an early counter – was a marker of growth.

One Knox chased the game for more than 50 minutes, struggling to create much outside of some stray Golling carriage. After an extended lightning delay, the usual energy was back. Knoxville forced mid-block turnovers (versus their preference for higher-placed interventions) and grew quicker with the ball.

Out of central defense, Jordan Skelton and Dani Fernandez started to hit passes through the lines, targeting Abel Caputo and substitute Angelo Kelly rather than patiently work around the edges. Think about that Chattanooga example, which is completely pinned toward the sidelines. Knoxville knew better than to fall into that trap; the result was a statement comeback – and 1.7 second-half xG on nearly 60% possession.

Fuller isn’t throwing out the blueprint, but he’s altering the specs. If Knoxville truly wants to compete, variation will be key. We know this club can be dominant in transition, and they’re making strides to become a more complete package.

Chattanooga, title contender

There’s a quote (probably falsely?) attributed to George Bernard Shaw warning that you shouldn’t wrestle pigs – you both get dirty, but the pig likes it. If the Chattanooga Red Wolves have one signature in 2025, it’s an inexorable ability to drag their opponents into the mud. Chattanooga is running through League One rivals like a wild boar.

The statistical profile is remarkable. The Red Wolves’ average pass this season has travelled almost 14 yards upfield. No one else is in double-digits. This team leads the division in tackles (11.4 per game) and clearances (33.9) by wide margins yet ranks in the bottom half for fouls. Chattanooga’s possession average was 35% entering Week 19.

Yes, you’re reading that right. Thirty-five! No club in League One has ever finished below the 43% mark, a floor that was set by – you guessed it – last year’s Red Wolves.

I don’t say any of this to disparage Chattanooga. The job that Scott Mackenzie has done is nothing short of incredible. The system is distinct, sure, but it’s also incredibly fun. Chattanooga knows how to camp in a 5-4-1 block, but they’re ferocious about using their wingbacks to break lines as carriers and unabashedly hammer the ball into the opposing box. Every time you foul a Red Wolves player, it’s treated like a primo opportunity to (1) slow the tempo, (2) break the match’s rhythm, (3) and manufacture a high-xG set piece.

None of that tactical extremity would be possible without clean defending. It’s easy to focus on the wonky possession profile, but Mackenzie’s real magic trick is drilling responsibility into his players.

Consider the screenshot above, which comes from a win against One Knox where Chattanooga kept a clean sheet. This is, ostensibly, a dangerous situation. Knoxville has broken into the central zone, and they’re about to hit a progressive pass into the channel – with a box-oriented runner making his presence felt all the while.

That’s what’s highlighted in the top frame, but consider Chattanooga’s response. Despite this being a transitional moment, the Red Wolves have five players ready to contest. Let’s go blow-by-blow:

1. Michael Knapp, the central center back, has stepped up to the ball. In doing so, he’s tightening the angle at which Knoxville can push ahead.

2. Wynand Wessels, a center mid, is dropping deep to (partially) cover behind Knapp and (primarily) track that centermost opposing runner.

3. Eric Kinzner, the left-sided center back, perfectly hedges his bets. If One Knox tries to thread the needle up the middle, he’s ready. If the pass goes toward his left, he’s also ready.

4. Yanis Lelin, the ball-side wingback, is positioned to pounce if the opposing carrier dribbles his way, but he’s also ready to close if Knoxville passes backwards.

5. Pedro Hernandez, who’s actually the right winger most of the time, supports Knapp with back-side pressure on the ball. If there’s a takeaway, he’ll be the first outlet through which to spark a counter.

To summarize, you’re getting a very bold defensive reaction from Knapp that’s supported by a team-wide sense of rotation. Naturally, Chattanooga forces their guests to turn heel and reset mere moments after this screenshot.

That intensity led to a clean sheet against Knoxville, and it defined another dominant outing against Richmond this weekend. The Kickers held 60% of the ball, yet they earned just 11 touches in the box and attempted less passes into the final third than Scott Mackenzie’s unit for the reasons we’ve already made clear.

This is a great example of the Chattanooga experience, manifested in a long throw and a flurry of pointed, box-oriented movement. The Red Wolves use the dead ball to get forward as quickly as possible, isolating Richmond outside of their comfortable back-four structure.

Pedro Hernandez receives, and by the time he gets the ball, there’s already supporting running up the middle from striker Matt Bentley and Knapp, who started as a center mid on Saturday. Those two aren’t in position to meet a cross, but they freeze the Kickers in place and allow Yelin to collect on the far side.

Because everything has progressed so quickly and Richmond has been sucked toward the net, there’s room for a cutback. Yelin finds a late-arriving Omar Hernandez toward the edge of the area, and a shot ensues. It’s a wonderful encapsulation of how Chattanooga belies your expectations of a “direct” club – everything about this play is intentional, patterned, and skillful even if it’s vertical.

Chattanooga never let Richmond get comfortable. They never let anyone get comfortable. It’s not tiki-taka, but that’s not the point. Soccer is far less entertaining when every team is doing the same thing, and the Red Wolves illustrate just how far a singular managerial vision and a heterodox style can take you.

Also: we’ve got Scott Mackenzie on The USL Show this week, so tune in.

Alta and the xG trap

As the inimitable Nicholas Murray pointed out last weekend, AV Alta is a statistical oddity. Entering Week 19 action, they’d posted a +8 goal difference against a -8.6 expected goal difference.

I’m not here to provide any grand theories, because the explanation is actually really obvious! Let’s look at some numbers:

• 40% – AV Alta has put 40% of their non-penalty shot attempts on target, the highest rate in USL League One.

• 14% – AV Alta has converted on 14% of their non-penalty shot attempts, the second-highest rate in the division.

• 59% – AV Alta keeps 59% of the ball in a given match, meaning that (1) they’re tiling the pitch with clean passing and (2) denying opponents the opportunity to possess.

• -5.4 – AV Alta’s goalkeepers have allowed 5.4 goals less than expected in league play, which leads League One.

You probably picked up on the narrative. Brian Kleiban has built a team that keeps the ball at their feet, finishes with robotic efficiency, and never makes errors in net.

That’s nice, but I’m here to pay respect to the wonkier aspects of the Alta machine. Efficiency is great! Still, Kleiban’s in-game choices and lineup variations – the harder-to-quantify features – are the reason Antelope Valley has remained hot where some of their expansion peers have cooled off.

Nowhere was that clearer than against Union Omaha last weekend. In that match, Omaha did what any smart team might consider: man marking Jimmie Villalobos, particularly as Alta built from back to front.

When you commit to one player with such intensity, you’re liable to slip up elsewhere on the pitch. That was the case for Los Búhos, and Kleiban took full advantage thanks to the personnel elsewhere across his 4-2-3-1ish setup.

If you’re a USL Championship fan, you might remember Walmer Martinez as a solid utility player that held down a spate of positions on Monterey’s left wing. Indeed, Martinez primarily served as a left back – and a wicked strong-foot crosser – in 2024 before decamping to Lancaster Municipal Stadium in the offseason.

Versus Omaha, Martinez inverted as the right winger and was allowed to run toward the central areas to find that all-important left foot. Paired with the adventurous running of striker Emmanuel Alaribe, a 5’8” forward who excels when he can receive at his feet, and you had a highly mobile attacking group.

Those interconnected strengths and relationships play out above. Omaha collapses toward Villalobos, so there’s space between lines. Alaribe tucks inside, and Martinez makes a central run above him to receive behind the brunt of the Omaha press. The kicker? Martinez isn’t just receiving; his run opens a massive hole that’s replaced by Sebastian Cruz out of the right back spot.

Cruz isn’t a fullback, really. He was a star attacking mid in MLS Next Pro, finishing sixth in the league in chances created last year on 9.5 xGA. Kleiban has rightly identified that he can do a job in defense before providing what you’re seeing above – devastating, late-breaking movement into the final third.

Cruz doesn’t get a touch in this instance, as Martinez dribbles to the endline and earns a set piece. Still, this is everything that makes Alta special. They’re clinical and intentional with possession, and they kill you with clever spacing at every level. The xG might not love Antelope Valley, but they’re passing the eye test with flying colors.

Off-kilter Orange County

Orange County is down to 10th place after an in-conference loss to Monterey, and I can’t help but worry about their back end. This team has the ninth-best defense in the league in terms of xG against (1.35 per match), but that largely owes to their conservatism. Few other clubs are as meek in the press, trading upfield intensity for a doctrinal commitment to structure.

That system has limits. OCSC is one of four teams in the league to allow a completion percentage of 80% or higher. The temerity means that transition moves come at a premium, hence why Orange County has generated just 10 break shots this year (17th in the Championship) despite their wealth speedy wingers. 47% of their possessive regains have come in the defensive third, meaning that they’re allowing opponents to get close to goal more than you’d like.

Even when he wants to be aggressive, Danny Stone hasn’t been able to find a better balance in his more aggressive moments. Friday’s loss made that shortcoming clear.

This is a play that goes well for Orange County. Stone wisely decided to focus on Monterey’s Wesley Fonguck as a creator, marking him whenever he tried to take a touch in proximity to the midfield. Coverage varied when those close-downs occurred; here, it’s Kevin Partida charging forward from the pivot to track Fonguck, flying past Ousmane Sylla at the No. 10 spot in the process.

The sense of responsibility across the team is what stands out. Bryce Jamison knows that there’s a hole developing behind Partida, so he tucks inside to shadow a possible receiver. Cameron Dunbar drops a tad on the opposite side, creating a safety net if Fonguck decides to turn into a right-footed pass.

Because the rotations are connected at every level, Orange County ends up with an interception and can break upfield. As we learned through the numbers, this isn’t a situation that you get particularly often. You don’t enjoy the full context from the USL’s highlight clip, but OCSC went down when Monterey realized the basic pattern and entered the final third with a diagonal over Partida’s head.

Only Las Vegas wins the ball back less than Orange County in the press, and just three other teams allow more entry passes into their third of the pitch. That’s a problem, one that’s putting a cap on this club’s ceiling.

If the mid-block 4-4-2 was staying compact and preventing access between the lines, you’d understand the decision. If Orange County was tearing foes apart in the press and creating short-field transition opportunities, you’d be more forgiving of the penetration. Neither of those things are happening, and OCSC isn’t even making up for it with especially rapturous transition play!

Can Stephen Kelly help? Potentially, but the big-ticket signing was deployed in an overwhelmingly passive role in Week 19. Partida got to be the attack dog as his Scottish teammate sat deeper and was tasked with initiation more than anything else. I’d expect Kelly to push forward more and more as he settles in – the guy put up 80th percentile pressing and 90th percentile recovery numbers in the Scottish Premiership!

For now, though, Orange County is frustrating. The upside is clear, and Danny Stone’s system is explicable enough on paper, but the on-field result is full of contradictions.

Quick Hits

In other news this week…

• I answered some questions about Monterey Bay for my friends over at The Union Report, so give that a click.

• The Patrick Leal hype train left the station a bit too early for me this year, but I love what he’s bringing to the table as Las Vegas’ No. 10 these days. Leal has a modest return of two assists so far, but you watch him play and can’t help but come away impressed with his positioning and ability to get between the lines. The Tulsa game this weekend was a case in point: no shots, no key passes, but 78% passing accuracy in an elevated position and eight duel attempts.

• Elite strikers pull rabbits out of their hat, and Karsen Henderlong is an elite striker. Naples got completely outplayed by a promisingly resurgent Westchester this Saturday, but Henderlong – who took just three touches in the box – found his moment to turn and fire in the 83rd minute to give his side a crucial three points. Henderlong leads all League One strikers for dribbles (14) and duels (99) on top of the scoring!

• The new Clipse album ruuuuuuuuules. That’s all.