The Back Four: Colorado Springs, Spokane, and more
Catching up on USL Championship and USL League one standouts after Week 11
Welcome in to The Back Four!
Before we start, check out Backheeled for New Mexico’s bounce-back win, Wilmer Cabrera lore, and much 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.
Switchbacks, back up
A few days back, Nicholas Murray diagnosed the big holes for the Championship teams stuck at the one-win mark. In the case of Colorado Springs, he identified the need for a defensive midfielder as a primary issue.
To quote the man himself:
Colorado Springs has allowed 12 goals from open play, the most in the Championship so far, and…finding the right structure to help break down attacks before they reach the back line – or making a deal to add a defensive midfielder that can plug into that role – feels like a potential answer.
I’m in agreement about the problem. The Switchbacks have struggled throughout 2025 to figure out their defensive structure. I don’t wholly disagree about the solution, but Colorado Springs is a complex case.
In their 2024 iteration, the Switchbacks were uniquely dependent on the relationship between their fullbacks and defensive mids. James Chambers set up his press like a 4-2-3-1, but arcing runs from the weak-side winger (who served as a second No. 9 in the press) and strong advances from the ball-side fullback were this club’s secret weapon. Think about it like a tilted 3-1-4-2, a shape in which the pivot was responsible for plugging holes in the central areas and covering behind the wide shifts.
Running that back after the title was the obvious choice, but losing Speedy Williams and re-orienting the attacking midfield sans Tyreek Magee and Jairo Henriquez made it hard to do. Now, though, Chambers is innovating. This team is sitting deeper by design, and it’s doing wonders. In Saturday’s win against Pittsburgh, for instance, Colorado Springs’ average defensive action came just 38 yards upfield (about 10% below the USL median) in a match where they only conceded seven shots.
What does change look like in the Rockies? Deeper deployments for the fullbacks and altered relationships with the central midfield stand out. In recent weeks, Matt Mahoney – who got my Defender of the Year vote as a center back – has taken over on the right side. Meanwhile, Matt Real has been pinned lower on the left, a notable shift given his deployment as an out-and-out winger against San Antonio just a few weeks ago.
In build, that puts Colorado Springs into a 2-3-2-3 or 2-4-1-3, a shape predicated on staid defensive positioning and high wing play from Yosuke Hanya and Herbert Endeley. Meanwhile, midfielders like Zach Zandi are able to fan upward and outward, filling the spaces usually occupied by modern fullbacks.
The patterns are different than we’re used to, but many of the usual principles have stayed the same all the while.
Above, the Switchbacks are seen absorbing pressure in their own half, with Mahoney hedging toward a receiver to his right. Still, look at the elevation of the back four as opposing Las Vegas advances: they’re sitting up in classic Chambers-esque fashion. Even as they’ve re-oriented their press, Colorado Springs are sticking to a high line that’s drawn more offside calls than any other defense in the USL.
The rotation here is a standout. As mentioned, Mahoney is moving wide against the ball, but the space he’s conceding won’t go uncovered. Right-sided center back Garven Metusala is hedging that way, and defensive midfielder Aidan Rocha is tracking a Lights runner into the space. Las Vegas might be able to hit a pass, but it’ll be covered by at least two players.
For a team that struggled immensely in the wide areas early this season and rarely enjoyed that manner of organization, it’s major progress.
Like any tactical change, the new setup at fullback isn’t universal. There’s still room for experimentation and offensive adventurism, especially when Colorado Springs can push ahead into the attacking half and really settle around the final third.
Above, that’s seen via Real, who’s combining with Hanya, Zandi, and a lower-seated Rocha. It’s the defensive midfielder that initiates, but Rocha recognizes that he’d be best off splitting low and providing a safety net if his teammates elect to reset. Meanwhile, Zandi forges ahead toward the box and pushes the opposing Pittsburgh defense back.
That high-low split between the two midfielders lets Real and Hanya work into space. A foul ensues, and Colorado Springs will convert on the free kick thanks to none other than Matt Mahoney. The set piece earns the goal on the stat sheet, but what you’re seeing here is the Switchbacks’ new midfield-fullback relationship paying off in spades.
Between now and Independence Day, Colorado Springs has nothing but intra-conference matches on the schedule. This may be the most important stretch of the season, and it’ll be the true test for the Switchbacks’ stylistic evolution. I’m not betting against them.
Indy’s stalled engine
If you only watched the second half of Indy’s away trip to El Paso this weekend, you probably came away impressed with the Eleven. By that point, they were already down by two goals on the way to a 3-1 loss.
The Eleven have made a habit of digging themselves into holes. We’re only halfway through May, a month where Indy has already trailed for 180 minutes. The problems tend to start early; Indy has conceded five goals in the first 15 minutes since mid-April!
Much of the problem owes to Indy’s personnel. I’ve come around to the way Sean McAuley sets this team up on paper, but the players in the mix aren’t really fit for the style. As I noted in Backheeled, the Eleven are the second-oldest team in the USL, and no one looks slower in recovery. That’s a huge dilemma.
In recent weeks, McAuley has returned to a back-three system to try and stem the tide. Indy now presses in a 3-5-2 and defends in a low back five, but the big change has been to drop Jack Blake into a proper midfield role. I spent most of March and April decrying the isolation of Indy’s two-man pivot, so that particular shift has been music to my ears.
Against El Paso, McAuley delineated responsibilities within his team in order to maintain structure and shut down the Locomotive’s preferred options. El Paso likes to play wide, so Indy used their wingbacks as ball-stoppers toward the sideline.
You see it above, with Aedan Stanley (white) closing to the ball instead of Aodhan Quinn (blue). Many teams facing this situation would push one of their center mids up and expect the other two to rotate low on the weak side. Not Indy, at least on Friday night.
In theory, that setup should’ve solidified the central areas and allowed the grouping of Quinn, Blake, and James Murphy to come up big defensively. In practice? Well, we saw the opposite.
Quinn and Blake combined for only three attempted defensive actions. Throw in Murphy, and the trio combined for just one clearance. You don’t necessarily expect center mids to rack up clearances in their own zone, but their absence can be an indicator of issues in low block – whether as a sign of poor structure in the deep 5-3-2 or the betrayal of a team that cedes so many breaks that “structure” is a mere twinkle in their eye.
To make up for the lack of midfield muscle, Indy’s central defenders needed to take on a more active role. In the example, the Locomotive elect to skip lines and play directly into their striker, forcing the center backs into action. By the time the No. 9 receives, he’s faced down by a closing run from right-sided defender Ben Ofeimu. Meanwhile, left-sided defender James Musa is also way upfield, having man-marked an El Paso forward all the way into the opposite half.
All of that activity requires rotation. Right wingback Josh O’Brien has to drop low and fill deep like a center back. Because he’s occupied, there’s suddenly a massive gap on Indy’s right side. It’s a domino effect: space is everywhere, and El Paso has the potential to quickly ping toward an overlapping fullback if not for sloppy passing.
At risk of indulging in the caliber of screenshot you’d expect from a Bigfoot photo, I want to key in on a moment from Indy’s second concession. Here, El Paso has worked from the Eleven’s right toward their left and hit a through ball behind Aedan Stanley (again in white).
Above, I commended Indy for the choices they made in terms of wide coverage. Here, though, those trade-offs come back to bite. Stanley is caught in no-man’s land, forced to backtrack against an opposing forward in full stride.
Still, the central areas are the real problem yet again. You trust Stanley, one of the USL’s best fullbacks, to get back and make life difficult in the situation. He can’t stop everything, however, and the fact that two Locomotive players have wrong-sided the Murphy/Blake/Quinn group (blue once more) is a recipe for disaster. Eric Calvillo, the higher-placed of those two runners, will score on a cutback cross because none of Indy’s center mids deign to mark him.
We’re seeing these scenarios far too often from Indy. I want to love this team, and the star power on the lineup card certainly recommends improvement, but there’s a real chance that the rest of the USL has taken a stride beyond this Eleven team.
Chattanooga is…good?
*splish-splash noises ensue*
The Red Wolves are at their best when players like Jason Ramos, Pedro Hernandez, or Alhassan Alhassan can drive at opponents on the dribble in the wide areas. The trick is making it happen, and Scott Mackenzie has done so consistently thanks to a hard-nosed 3-4-3 press and clever management on a pond-like pitch.
Indeed, extenuating circumstances on the operational front are making Mackenzie’s job that much harder in 2025. He’s passing that test with flying colors.
After a resounding, rain-soaked win against Naples on Wednesday, Chattanooga found themselves all the way up in sixth place – with a plus-0.28 expected goal difference (xGD) per 90 to boot. That number is jaw-dropping when you consider that the Red Wolves finished last year with a minus-1.11 xGD, the second-worst in the entire history of USL League One.
How’s Mackenzie making it happen? For one, the Red Wolves haven’t conceded a set-piece goal yet, and they’re conceding just 0.17 xG per match in dead-ball situations. In the run of play, defensive grit in pressing situations defines Chattanooga.
Chattanooga, by far the longest-passing team in League One, starts this play by directly lumping it toward their forwards. The Red Wolves have completed just 60% of their passes in 2025, so this is par for the course. That number isn’t just low – it’s the lowest in the history of the league. No team has ever finished below 70%, much less flirt with the fifties!
In any case, the incompletion breeds chaos, and all three forwards are immediately compressing to try and regain. By the time Naples recovers enough structure to try and break through, Chattanooga has thrown Alhassan and Zahir Vazquez in the face of the passer, with Hernandez having tucked in to pester the opposing center mids. Meanwhile, midfielders Ualefi and Wynand Wessels are poised to pounce just a few yards behind the line of confrontation.
Wessels intercepts, and he pairs with Ualefi to quickly work upfield. Vasquez and Hernandez can’t link-up, but this manner of break – using pressure to breed chaos and quickly drive toward the channels – is the Red Wolves’ modus operandi.
It’s the same sort of play that bred Chattanooga’s equalizing goal. Consecutive chips toward the box from defender Eric Kinzner created discomfort, eventually allowing Ualefi to possess at the edge of the area and spring Ramos in on the right. The way that the Red Wolves hammered the central space addled Naples, ultimately buying Ramos the room to pick up an assist.
As mentioned, the Red Wolves use an extreme style relative to their League One peers. They’re the only club in the division to post an average pass length above 10 yards. Moreover, Chattanooga’s defensive actions have come nearly 42 yards upfield on average, a top-five mark.
Mackenzie isn’t parking the bus. The Red Wolves have a bizarre statistical profile, but no club is better at dictating how the match is played.
It doesn’t always work, of course. Naples found a number of opportunities to work behind the pivot last week, leveraging aggressive steps up from Ualefi and Wessels. Doing so put Declan Watters, the centermost center back in Chattanooga’s 3-4-3 block, in no-man’s land and forced him to make hard decisions. The first Naples goal last week might’ve been a chip from 40 yards, but it was also an example of central penetration causing trouble.
Avoiding those situations is the key for the Red Wolves, and they’ve mostly done an excellent job at making it happen. Chattanooga is zagging hard against a collective zig toward possession and technique in League One, but it’s working! You might not find it pretty, but Scott Mackenzie has turned this club into a genuine playoff contender in record time. That’s an achievement already.
Spokane’s self-confidence
Rarely has a USL team looked as comfortable in their own skin as the Spokane Velocity. You might look at the pressing data and think otherwise – no team wins the ball back less in the final third, and only Texoma posts a deeper intervention height – yet Leigh Veidman’s side is a portrait of assured soccer.
Now riding a six-game winning streak across all competitions, the Velocity haven’t won the possession battle in a single match since April 13th. They’re playing a fundamentally less controlled style according to the stat sheet, yet their average pass is still travelling less than seven yards forward this season.
It’s a beguiling mix on paper, but it’s really a sign of a team that understands how to modulate their tempo. Spokane understands when to be patient and when to pack it in, but they’re ruthlessly efficient when they end up on the ball. The big difference in 2025 versus 2024 is that the Velocity don’t need the ball to succeed.
Entering this weekend’s 1-0 win against Richmond, Spokane was already playing 56 less passes a game but generating 0.28 fast-break xG per match. That’s about a 30% jump year-over-year, and it’s the most in League One this season. What I love about the improvement is that it’s predicated on familiar players and principles, just applied in a different manner.
Consider the break above, split across three key stages. This play comes from Spokane’s fairly dominant victory over the Oakland Roots in Jagermeister Cup competition, and it ends with Luis Gil knocking home a goal in the box.
Start at the top, and you’ll see Gil having dropped low near the Velocity pivot to triple up on an Oakland receiver. This is what’s familiar for Spokane: the 4-4-1-1ish shape hasn’t changed, nor has the ability to clamp down in the central areas.
Instantly, though, you see the growth. Upon regaining, Spokane works around the edge and sprints forward. Derek Waldeck and Pierre Reedy receive up the left side to lead the charge, but there’s also central support. You can’t even see Ish Jome or Anuar Pelaez (in white, bottom frame) in that second image; they’re crashing the party up the right.
Meanwhile, the left-sided duo is able to double up on an isolated wing back, with Reedy slowing things down to allow Waldeck to work behind. One cross later, and it’s 1-0.
Reedy has been one of the breakout stars of the USL season so far. A week ago, he torched Tormenta to the tune of four shots and four dribble attempts in yet another Spokane win. The 27-year-old, who has a goal and three assists already in 2025, found his opportunities in Statesboro by preying on the edge of the box as the Velocity worked up their right and by creating solo chances of his own off of pressing takeaways. He’s a two-way dynamo, someone that understands the need for tempo in this season’s iteration of the Veidman system.
Still, Reedy and the rest of this team know how to pack into impenetrable banks of four and defend when required. Sunday’s win over Richmond, during which the Velocity spent 77 minutes down a man yet conceded just 0.2 xG, was a masterclass. Even before the red, however, we saw Spokane’s principles on full display.
What you’ve got here is about 30 seconds of optimal possession soccer. Against the Kickers’ punchy 4-1-4-1 press, Spokane elects to push both Jack Denton and Andre Lewis low to keep the ball. Denton essentially takes up the position of a third center back as he shields against Richmond pressure, but neither he nor his teammates ever feel rushed.
Camron Miller and David Garcia both get touches, and Richmond reluctantly drops their line of confrontation. Lewis, meanwhile, takes up a position that draws the guests ever-so-slightly narrow, and that’s the window Spokane needs. On a dime, they work from one side to another to hit Javier Martin Gil at right back. He pairs with Jome on the flank, and it’s off to the races until a cross comes in.
This is classic Spokane, the sort of play we’d see a year ago at about this time. It’s everything else that’s making the difference right now, but the ability to break opponents down in varied ways is still paramount. Spokane hasn’t even seen the best of Neco Brett nor Nil Vinyals, yet they’re cruising. It’s hugely impressive, and it’s a massive credit to Veidman.
Quick Hits
In other news this week…
Josh Drack’s move to Westchester didn’t get much love at the end of last week, but it’s a massive get for Dave Carton and company. Once upon a time, Drack was one of the Championship’s better left backs as a member of LA Galaxy II. While he didn’t stick in Charleston thereafter, the 25-year-old is highly steady with the ball, bold in his movement, and capable defensively.
We saw all of that during Drack’s debut against Madison on Saturday. After some formational experimentation, Westchester returned to a true back four that notably allowed Rashid Tetteh to step into the midfield as a No. 6. It created a domino effect, with Conor McGlynn also able to step up, combining with players like Drack in lieu of his typical defensive responsibilities. WSC only got a draw, but they’re looking sharper and more multi-faceted every week.
I haven’t talked much about Braxton Montgomery in Phoenix, but he’s really a remarkable story. No one expected the defender to contribute this season, yet he’s been the single most reliable player in Pa-Modou Kah’s back line while covering a plethora of positions. It’s going to hurt when he takes off for Northern Illinois.
Lucas Melano’s still got it, as it turns out. To call Miami’s performance this weekend a “masterclass” might be strong, but Melano looked a cut above slicing in from the left wing and putting a good Loudoun team to the sword. Go read the aforementioned Nicholas Murray for more on this team.
It’s still Tom Cruise week in this household, and a revisit to The Color of Money kinda blew my mind. Martin Scorsese is obviously one of the most stylish directors we’ve got, but that movie absolutely oozes with bravura. It’s much more of a Paul Newman star vehicle than I remembered (as opposed to a Cruise spotlight), but it’s a banger.
I don’t devote many words to my reading habits, but I’ve been on a major Haruki Murakami kick over the last few months. There’s a certain “slice of life” sensibility that makes his books so cozy, but the tonal balance between realistic rhythms of Japanese living and bizarre abstraction rocks. It’s fascinating how so many of his protagonists are basically avatars for Murakami himself – they’re listening to jazz, citing their childhood baseball fandom, and can’t escape a darkly comic miasma that’s somehow super compelling.
In any event, I’m midway through The Wind-up Bird Chronicle right now, the main character has been stuck at the bottom of a well for about 60 pages, and I’m having a ball.
