The Back Four: Richmond’s midfield, flexible Indy, and more
Takeaways from the penultimate weeks in the USL Championship and USL League One
Welcome to The Back Four, where I’m analyzing four things that drew my eye from across the USL. Need a recap of the entire Championship? Hit up Backheeled!
Now, let’s get to it.
Richmond Clinchers
“Star power” is a rare thing in League One, but Richmond has it twice over in Emiliano Terzaghi and Nil Vinyals. The former is unmatched as a goalscorer in League One history, while the latter tops the assist and creation charts almost every year. That the Kickers have often used their stars as subs recently seems counterintuitive, but it’s why they’re going dancing come November.
Against Omaha a few weeks back, Vinyals still created three chances in 25 minutes off the bench in a draw against League One’s best team. He nabbed the winning assist in the back half against Chattanooga to lock up that playoff berth. Both Vinyals and Terzaghi played the entire second half in a draw against Tormenta two Saturdays ago. Darren Sawatzky’s re-emphasized, defensive-minded midfield has created a new balance while still allowing the two leading lights to shine when needed.
Take that comeback versus South Georgia. In the early stages there, Richmond’s central trio of Dakota Barnathan, Joao Gomiero, and Zaca Moran Correa tended to get isolated in second-ball situations and overcommit against the same runners. On the ball, they didn’t have the incisive spark Richmond needed; the higher No. 8s felt disconnected from a deep Barnathan. All three players in that set are useful, but they didn’t mesh in that particular matchup against Tormenta.
Enter Vinyals in the left-sided No. 8 spot and Terzaghi (circled) as a false-nine-ish striker. Suddenly, Richmond was almost in diamond mode in possession, and their ability to make hay down the middle improved tremendously.
The defensive attention committed against Terzaghi had benefits all over the pitch, granting the Kickers’ midfield more space to breathe. Vinyals created two chances off the bench, going three-for-three on dribbles all the while. Tempo improved, and the Kickers were able to break down an opponent sitting in low block.
Sawatzky kept iterating versus the Red Wolves, much to his team’s benefit. Terzaghi got the start next to Chandler O’Dwyer this time around, putting Richmond into more of a 4-4-2 or 4-2-3-1, depending on whether one of the forwards had dropped low. It was the match that sent the Kickers to the playoffs, and also the incredibly pleasant game where Richmond won 2-1 with an xG margin of 1.99 to 1.04.1 Who says numbers lie?
In practice, the double pivot of Moran Correa and Barnathan proved extremely good at limiting touches for opposing creators like Stefan Lukic and Lucas Coutinho. You see an example against Chattanooga transition above. Richmond keeps an extremely shapely 4-2-3-1, with O’Dwyer (see the arrow) rotating low to collapse on the carrier.
Chattanooga ended the game with just two successful entry passes from zone 14 into the box and one completed cross. You can credit the Kickers’ shape for denying central joy, not to mention the solid one-on-one efforts from Simon Fitch and Max Schenfeld at the full back spots to limit wider assaults.
Of course, the winning goal relied on a new entrant to the match: none other than Nil Vinyals. The Spaniard put his side into more of that 4-1-4-1 shape, one that generated 10 corners and 19 touches in the opposing box in the second half alone. Naturally, Vinyals’ absolutely terrific right-footed serve to the post won the game.
How Sawatzky lines up in a likely first-round match against Union Omaha will be fascinating to see. The “super sub Vinyals and Terzaghi” method was the choice when these teams drew a few weeks back, but I’d expect to see the Kickers come up with something novel come November. In the meantime, Sawatzky’s bold use of his squad deserves praise for merely getting a young Richmond team over the line.
Variety in Indy
Most clubs in the USL pick a lane. Detroit, for instance, committed to a back three about halfway into the season and hasn’t looked back. Loudoun did the same, and it has that club closer to playoff qualification than they’ve ever been.
Indy stands in opposition to that rigidity. Sean McAuley continues to swap between back threes and fours, and that flexibility has the Eleven back into contention after an up-and-down summer. Since their elimination in the US Open Cup semifinals at the end of August, Indy has been a top-six goalscoring attack and has posted a top-ten expected goal difference. A home game at Carroll Stadium come playoff time is now likely.
McAuley’s formational choices aren’t overtly matchup-based. Indy used a 4-4-2 against a LouCity side that employs three center backs, but they went for a 3-5-2 against the aforementioned Loudoun and Detroit back threes. That unpredictability makes the Eleven harder to prepare for, and it hasn’t come at the expense of their offensive chemistry.
Within the back three formation, Maalique Foster’s deployment has been a fascinating thing to watch. Best known as a dynamo dribbler on the wing, Foster has taken up the No. 10 spot in McAuley’s 3-5-2 (really more of an 3-4-1-2) and done his business between the lines.
It’s easy to miss Foster’s intelligence amidst the flair. From that famous panenka to no-look, head fake assists, the 27-year-old often steals the spotlight with bold decisions and his breakneck pace in the wide areas. As you see above, however, Sean McAuley has elected to use Foster in a different manner and is reaping the benefits.
Against Loudoun, #99’s only defensive contributions on paper as a central player were two recoveries. Still, he showed a solid ability to man mark one of Loudoun’s center mids to frustrate their build patterns. Foster truly came alive as the “one” in the 3-4-1-2 against Detroit, where he made two tackles and four recoveries while going six-for-seven(!) on dribble attempts.
McAuley rightly identified how Foster could adapt to a new spot. The attacker’s speed? It plays just as well down the middle in defensive transitions. That masterful ball skill? It makes Foster a keen receiver between the lines.
When Indy possessed, the Jamaican international was allowed to do his thing. Curling runs into the channels around a narrow forward were a regularity. Foster was key to zone exits from defense into offense as well. You see that fact mapped out in the two screenshots above:
Initially, Foster sits deep in the defensive zone. He and the two other center mids sit near the defensive line to form a block of eight.
When Indy recovers, Foster sprints up the left channel as an outlet. His speed and dribbling deny the opposition from effectively counterpressing.
This sort of play was a regularity. The Jamaican international would dig deep in low block before making a clever run to lead a transition move. That skill allowed Indy to earn positive results back-to-back against conference foes.
With a desperate Birmingham team in town this weekend, however, McAuley opted to go for his familiar 4-4-2. With Foster restored to the right wing, the Eleven seemingly traded the surety of an extra central defender for an added man on either sideline. That’s a key difference between a 3-5-2 with solo wing backs and a 4-4-2 with winger-full back pairs, at least in most cases.
Indy’s unique strength comes from rejecting that trade-off. In their 4-4-2, you’re just as likely to see both wingers get extremely narrow down the middle, leaving full backs like Aedan Stanley as the lone options out wide.
There’s a similar playfulness in the half spaces between the formations. When the Eleven use a back three, they allow their ball-side central defender (think Adrian Diz Pe on the left or Ben Ofeimu on the right) to push high and get touches in the attacking half. In the 4-4-2, Aodhan Quinn fills that role, drifting wide out of the central midfield.
You see that situation play out above. Quinn is about to receive for a left-footed cross from deep, while the wingers - Jack Blake and Foster - have both tucked into the 18-yard box. Moments later, it’s a go-ahead goal for the Eleven.
System change feels like a big deal on paper, but formational distinctions can be misleading. Indy creates similar attacking overloads regardless of their shape, and that consistency is why they’ve found a new groove just in time for the postseason.
Stop-and-go Greenville
Can Greenville make a playoff run? I’m increasingly convinced that their defensive integrity is the thing that’ll make the difference. Lyam MacKinnon is going to get his. Leo Castro, Ben Zakowski, and Sebastian Velasquez all make valuable contributions. Their ability to coalesce atop an aggressive Triumph press is another question.
Against Spokane two weeks back, we saw the highs and lows innate to Rick Wright’s 4-1-4-1 system. The Triumph went up by three goals thanks to their ability to quickly turn takeaways into chances. They nearly blew that lead in a lackadaisical second period, and the same sorts of issues recurred a week later in a loss to Central Valley.
When Greenville is humming, their 4-1-4-1 is extremely good at flexing against the ball side to limit space in the press. In the mapped-out example above, that sort of rotation is focused in two key areas.
Let’s say an opponent is building out from the back and moves toward Greenville’s left. The striker, left winger, and leftmost No. 8 will rotate toward the ball. You’d also expect to see the left back (i.e., Tyler Polak) push upfield in support of the trap. The goal is to minimize space and create turnovers.
Greenville accounts for the weak side by pushing up a presser or two against the nearest available outlet. In the graphic, that means midfielder Sebastian Velasquez (the No. 8 on the right side) would push against an available defender. Velasquez’s step would then be supported by a step up from Chapa Herrera at the No. 6 spot and/or by a drop from the right winger. Every move begets a supporting move in rotation.
When it works, it works. That’s the case here. Though the Triumph’s left-sided trap is played through, defender Jamie Smith and Herrera are in position to slow down the potential break. They buy time for both Velasquez and right winger Ben Zakowski to recover, force a turnover, and instantly push ahead to earn a go-ahead penalty. The second-wave backstop pays off handsomely.
That’s the sort of hugely consequential play that goes Greenville’s way when the system is working. If the defensive step is timed wrong or the recovering runs aren’t there, that sequence turns into a break for Spokane.
Breakdowns happened too often late-on in Washington, and that’s why Spokane came back. The hosts could able to generate two-on-one advantages against the Triumph full backs and cut the ball back toward the edge of the 18-yard box with ease.
Central Valley sought out similar patterns a week later, and they did so by playing over the front two lines of the 4-1-4-1 as directly as possible. Fuego played about 18% of their passes long, a mark 50% higher than the Velocity’s rate. The difference was palpable.
Here, you see two examples of Greenville inviting trouble during that 1-0 loss to Fuego. In each case, overeager defensive responses with the Triumph on the back foot put Greenville at a disadvantage.
The first play comes after a Central Valley long ball. Both Daniel Wu and Brandon Fricke have pushed up to contest, but opposing striker Dembor Benson has still managed to wrong-side them. While Herrera has done a decent job at moving low as a replacement for the dual center backs, Fuego is still able to overload the wide space with Nate Shultz (the right back) forced to hedge inside.
The second example is similar, but it comes after a grounded entry pass between the lines. Fricke steps to the Fuego receiver - League One assist king Alfredo Midence - as Shultz tucks inside against Benson. Once more, there’s an easy window to generate a wide one-on-one that’ll force Shultz to turn and scramble in recovery.
Greenville wasn’t bad by any stretch of the imagination in the defensive zone, but they faltered just enough times to lose the game. The Triumph have all the tools in the world to go toe-to-toe with anybody, but they lapse with enough frequency to sew seeds of doubt in their case to be a contender.
Post Mortems, Part II
Another week, another batch of eliminated clubs. This time around, I’ll be taking a quick retrospective look at Monterey, Tulsa, and San Antonio in the West. Birmingham and the rest of the Eastern left-behinds are up next week. Without further ado…
Monterey
Projected: 12th, West | Actual: 11th, West
My preseason modeling put Monterey at last place in the West, and it estimated their points return somewhere in the low 30s. Bang on!
What the model couldn’t have predicted is the injury trouble in attack or the midseason coaching change that saw Jordan Stewart take over for Frank Yallop. On the former point, almost no other team in the league was as hard for luck up top. Tristan Trager only made 15 starts. Chase Boone only got to seven. Luther Archimede’s troubles kept him to just three appearances in the lineup. The task at hand was made all the more difficult by those absences, and it probably doomed Yallop.
Amidst those issues, Monterey was still able to nail down a style. Their defenders were uniformly aggressive, stepping up from the back to cover space and deny opposing attackers. Carlos Guzman looked like a star on the left side of the defense, and Morey Doner continued to be the most underrated full back in the league.
The tenacity often allowed Monterey to break upfield against recovering opponents, but they were wasteful in those moments. Penetration was constantly at a premium, and Monterey constantly settled for crosses from wide areas instead of finding a killer through ball; this team has a ton of good center mids but none that actually operate like a No. 10. Finishing was a persistent problem as well; Monterey’s 8% conversion rate has been one of the lowest in the USL.
Even so, Jordan Stewart has pieces to work with heading into the future. Xavi Gnaulati looks like a budding star in the attacking half. That injury-addled offensive core is still quite young. If Monterey truly wants to compete, they need to invest and give Stewart the pieces to do something useful around the building blocks already in place.
FC Tulsa
Projected: 8th, West | Actual: 10th, West (as of writing)
In my season preview, I dreamed up an FC Tulsa lineup with Philip Goodrum up top, Justin Portillo and Nate Worth in the midfield, and a healthy Arthur Rogers holding it down at right back. Life comes at ya fast!
Given the ups and downs, it’s in some ways a success that Tulsa was in the thick of the playoff race until the bitter end. I’ve been quite critical about the way this club handled the transition into the Mario Sanchez era, but I was won over by during the June-through-July stretch where Tulsa allowed just three goals in seven games. At that point, a back line featuring in-season adds like Johan Penaranda and loanee Owen Damm seemed untouchable.
Still, Tulsa couldn’t quite escape the pitfalls of a thin roster. The defense began to falter at key moments, especially when Penaranda cooled down from his Player of the Month form. If Edwin Laszo - the USL’s leading center mid in both interceptions and recoveries - missed time, the defense felt unshielded. Later additions like Matthew Bell and Faysal Bettache didn’t prove additive in attack.
For most clubs, allowing your new manager to trim the fat and start building anew wouldn’t be as irksome. Given that Tulsa just did this same thing under Blair Gavin, the do-over nature of 2024 is a bit more frustrating.
Frankly, I don’t know how many questions about this team were actually answered in the process. We have a sense of Sanchez’s style - back four, fairly direct and narrow, not married to possession - but not the pieces that will be executing it in 2025. I wouldn’t be surprised to see most of this roster turn over ahead of next season.
Ultimately, FC Tulsa hasn’t made the playoffs since 2021 and still hasn’t won a playoff game in their 10-year history. If you think that 2024 was a legitimate stepping stone toward the end of those streaks, more power to you. Even though I believe in Mario Sanchez, I’m not quite sold that 2024 contained enough progress.
San Antonio FC
Projected: 3rd, West | Actual: 9th, West (as of writing)
San Antonio has used 33 different players this year, a number only surpassed by their Copa Tejas rivals in El Paso. They added at least eight new pieces after opening day. When you consider why SAFC will miss the playoffs, you can’t separate the roster churn and injuries from the inability to execute on Alen Marcina’s style.
If I listed all the players that have missed significant time for San Antonio, I’d burn through the email word limit on Substack.2 Jorge Hernandez, Kendall Burks, and Luke Haakenson were essentially the only three contributors to stay fit. Constantly changing up lineups undercut a demanding tactical style that requires high levels of chemistry.
Consider how San Antonio’s ball recoveries in the final third have compared over the last few years, and you’ll see how the execution dipped:
2022: 6.6 final third recoveries per match, 2nd in the USL
2023: 5.3 final third recoveries per match, 1st in the USL
2024: 3.5 final third recoveries per match, 13th in the USL
The inefficiency wasn’t for a lack of trying. San Antonio still leads the league in fouls per match and often runs a highly aggressive 5-1-4 press. The returns just haven’t been there.
Marcina was able to change up his club’s possessive identity to a degree, but SAFC still stood out as one of the most direct clubs in the USL. San Antonio will end the year as one of only four clubs with an average vertical passing distance in excess of 9.0 yards. That’s a decline from previous seasons, but it’s still high.
Uniquely, SAFC has only gone long from goal about 25% of the time, the third-lowest rate in the league. Having Kendall McIntosh (or Pablo Sisniega, or Richard Sanchez, or Brandon Gongora; again, injuries!) simply kick it to Mitchell Taintor instead of going long from the jump ended up being a parlor trick more than an effective change.
Could Marcina have been more flexible? Absolutely. There were plenty of matches where his in-game decisions seemed counterintuitive. That said, the 2022 title-winning manager was dealt an incredibly difficult hand. The future for Marcina and his distinct brand of soccer are the primary thing to watch in San Antonio heading into the offseason.
Threads!
Here’s a backlog of my bigger game recaps. Looking for a breakdown of Memphis’ unique use of Akeem Ward? Check out this week’s USL Tactics Show on the socials.
Final Thoughts
In other news this week…
Can you believe the season is almost over? Wild times. March feels like it was just the other day.
Doing an old pennant-style title game between the top team in the East (Louisville) and West (New Mexico) remains the coolest possible way to run the playoffs.
I got to be, like, 10 feet away from Adam Driver by virtue of seeing him in a new play he’s starring in. The dude is an absolute unit, for one, and he’s got the most incredible control on his facial expressions. I’ve basically got season tickets for whatever he’s starring in (even 65, a forgotten dinosaur/alien survival action thing - real heads know!) so getting to watch him live was a delight.
That’s all, folks. See you soon!
Cover photo credit: Indy Eleven / Twitter
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