The Back Four: (Semi)final countdown

Featuring Rhode Island’s defensive choices, League One analysis, and more USL miscellany

Welcome in to The Back Four!

As always, visit Backheeled for more USL content, including a deep dive into the Championship weekend. Also, check out This League! for an audiovisual dive into the week that was.

Without further ado, let’s get to it.

Rhode Island, tightrope walking

For those of you tracking at home, Rhode Island FC has given up just one goal in their last 524 minutes – including 210 scoreless minutes in the playoffs. They’ve given up a shockingly low 1.1 xG in total against Charleston and North Carolina, steadfastly denying the possessive patterns that defined two of the East’s top three seeds.

What’s making it happen? Across those clean-sheet victories, Rhode Island’s average defensive action has come merely 39.7 yards upfield. That’s two yards behind their season-long average, signifying an approach largely focused on containment. Of course, that’s not the same thing as negativity. RIFC is pressing with intelligence and aggression, but their defense is hyper-focused on central denial more than anything else – even if that strategy opens up the opposing long game and requires the best out of Frank Nodarse, Karifa Yao, and Hamady Diop at the back.

Essentially, Rhode Island are setting up in a 3-4-3 press that’s agile but steadfast through the middle. Facing down a classic double pivot alignment? You’ll often see Clay Holstad drop from an inspired right-sided deployment into a triangular midfield trio. Need to address a drop from someone like Mikey Maldonado or Aaron Molloy? RIFC has been equally able to bend into a 5-1-3-1 press with layers to stymie low-seated initiators.

I’ve loosely mapped out what that looks like here, taken in the context of last weekend’s win in Cary. In this hypothetical, Maldonado (a natural No. 8) has dropped a level and lingers above the center backs; further upfield, forward Pedro Dolabella positions himself near halfway to overload the middle third.

Rhode Island’s response in this situation was formulaic and near-flawless. Striker JJ Williams would rove against the ball, with a No. 6 (think Zachary Herivaux) stepping to mark the remaining member of the opposing pivot. Meanwhile, the Holstad-Noah Fuson wing combo could split their attention between (1) tightening potential halfspace passing lanes while (2) retaining the ability to cover against a skip pass toward the sideline.

I’m making it sound like there were too many contingencies, but this roster is built for such a scheme. Holstad is an absolute bulldog, and Herivaux might be Khano Smith’s most trusted player. Hugh Bacharach continues to prove he’s an elite USL No. 6, one whose long stride is the glue amidst the midfield. He dominated in both Carolinas, playing every single minute while pitching in 12 tackles, 17 ground duel wins, and implacable poise on the ball.

We’ve established the winning formula through the midfield, but there was a catch: using a relatively high back line to help compress the central spaces introduced vulnerabilities. In both playoff matches, forwards like Cal Jennings and Oalex Anderson found touches in genuinely dangerous positions against a backtracking defense.

Still, there’s a difference between a dangerous position and an actual chance. Though the Nodarse-Yao-Diop axis was dribbled past four times per the stat sheet, they kept Anderson in their back pocket where it truly counted.

Here, you’re seeing three of Anderson’s four highest-xG shots, moments before he releases the attempt. The St. Vincent and the Grenadines international lit up the box score with nine shots, but they were all like this: tight-angle, taken amidst a crowd of RIFC bodies, or a bit of both.

It’s useful to look at the defensive arrangements in more detail. The first example comes off a genuine fastbreak, with Nodarse played over. However, Yao rotates to pin Anderson into a hopelessly narrow shooting window as Diop hovers central to address any potential cutback. The other two screenshots are more muscular, evidencing the center backs’ ability to tighten up and put multiple bodies in the No. 9’s way post-cross.

When you’ve got this much chemistry in your own zone there isn’t a catch-22 between high pressure and the potential for bloodletting in transition. Moreover, having Koke Vegas behind it all is the ultimate backstop; he’s the best goalkeeper left standing for my money.¹ Rhode Island is walking the tightrope between defensive priorities without losing balance, and it’s defining what might be a second-straight run to a title game.

New Mexico’s attack

If you read my Backheeled column, you’ll be familiar with New Mexico’s shape in the final third – something akin to a 3-1-5-1 or 3-4-3 with Gedion Zelalem almost operating like an elbow center back at times.² As someone who was skeptical of Zelalem for much of the year, I'm carving out this space to eat crow. He’s 123-for-128 as a passer in the playoffs, absolutely lights-out.

Still, that’s familiar territory. United are in such terrific form because they’re a multi-phase threat. What impressed me most against Orange County on Saturday night was United’s ability to build out with a double pivot, stretch the field with an expansive front line (in a classic Dennis Sanchez-esque 4-2-4), and challenge what’s been a very organized OCSC defense.

In the face of the high 4-2-3-1 press here, center back Kipp Keller and midfielder Zico Bailey play catch at the back. It’s seemingly anodyne, but the spatial relationship between the defender and the Bailey-Zelalem pivot prevents OCSC from springing a three-man trap onto New Mexico’s right.

Because there’s a lane available, Bailey can dribble into the gap and break lines in an instant. I’ve highlighted as he dribbles through, emphasizing that another midfield-driven overload is in progress. This time, it’s Valentin Noel pairing with Bailey to do the job.

Noel has taken a modest 67 touches in the playoffs, 12% under his regular-season rate per 90 minutes. That’s far from an indictment; the Frenchman has been stellar these last two weeks. Noel has created four chances and taken three shots, but it’s his off-ball movement that makes New Mexico tick. As Bailey advances here, Noel picks a Goldilocks position – wide and high enough to pin the opposing right back, but low and tight enough to stop a No. 6 from flying at Bailey.

The eventual pass into Noel is behind, stopping immediate final-third entrance. Still, United is on the front foot, and they’ll be able to hit Dayonn Harris and work into the box. It’s a perfect example of how Sanchez has created a wonderful dynamic throughout New Mexico’s midfield.

The beauty of United’s attacking form? This is merely one way they can break you down. They completed 26 long passes against San Antonio and 29 against Orange County against a 21.7 season average. That space you’re seeing through the middle? It’s a result of New Mexico keeping the defense honest with a legitimate ability to switch play or go over the top. In every sense, this is a team that’s hitting their stride.

Knoxville’s table-setting defense

USL League One named the all-league teams last week, featuring One Knox’s Jordan Skelton and Jaheim Brown as first- and second-teamers, respectively. The beauty of the Knoxville back line is that you could’ve thrown Sivert Haugli and Stuart Ritchie into those same spots and been equally valid. The all-encompassing quality of this defense is what carried Knoxville to a victory over FC Naples on Saturday.

Matt Poland’s side put up a good fight, of course. Their 4-1-4-1 press has been stingy all season, and it shut down a then-rampant Union Omaha barely seven days ago. Still, Knoxville’s ability to stretch the field in a proper back-four base (on top of their occasional 3-2-5ish machinations with Ritchie bombing upfield) tested Naples time and again.

At the League One level, it’s rare to find defenders that are able to break lines with the ball at their feet while…uh….defending. Haugli – someone with ample experience as a No. 6 – is just that kind of piece. He completed eight passes into Nico Rosamilia through the left channel; 11 of his passes to Ritchie ended in the attacking zone. Haugli’s poise, emblematic of Knoxville writ large, tested was what supposed to be a narrow Naples press.

You see two examples of that line-breaking impetus here. In each case, Naples uses Kevin O’Connor and Marc Torrellas to man mark the opposing pivot. The challenge is to find balance around those players, namely by using striker Karsen Henderlong and the two wingers to clamp down on One Knox’s center backs.

With that framework in mind, there’s an immediate problem: Henderlong is behind the ball in both screenshots. In each case, Knoxville has patiently goaded the No. 9 high and worked around him, finding Haugli in a stressful position for winger Ian Cerro.

In the top frame, Cerro is about to close toward the center back, but he won’t do so in time. Instead, Haugli will hit a firm pass into Ritchie’s feet to help Knoxville into the attacking zone. That play trained Cerro’s reactions, hence why you literally see his head turned toward the sideline in the second frame. There, the Naples winger will cheat wide and allow for another line-breaking pass – one that allows Rosamilia to turn toward goal.

This wasn’t a one-sided phenomenon, either. Brown did very well to mix it up at right back, dually providing spacing up the sideline and mixing up his own initiating service through lines. All of that came without any abandonment of defensive responsibility; the all-leaguer was dribbled past just once in a tough matchup against Jayden Onen, who created two chances but didn’t take a shot or a box touch.

Knoxville’s winning goal was a testament to their utter confidence. That sequence kicked off with Haugli having charged into the final third to receive with forward momentum, freezing the opposing right back and giving Ritchie the room for a decisive assist.

It was almost poetic – a perfect representation of how Ian Fuller is getting the best out of this squad. Now, the onus is on One Knox to win one more match at Covenant Health Park and cement their place in history.

Spokane, sticking to the script

Finding balance in the postseason is never easy. For most playoff teams, you’re still alive in November because of a specific tactical framework. Still, when is it right to take big matchup-specific swings? There’s no categorical answer to that question, but Portland and Spokane took vastly different approaches on Sunday. Where Hearts of Pine went bold, the Velocity’s measured approach ultimately won the day.

Out of the gates, Portland surprised by adopting a 4-3-3, one that pressed with far less intensity than we’ve become accustomed to. Why that approach? In theory, the trio of deeper No. 8s made it far harder to find Luis Gil at his feet a line back. Hearts could still curl a winger into the box and close on goalkeeper Carlos Merancio while also retaining a pressing shadow (i.e., striker Titus Washington blocking lanes) against the pivot.

Most 4-3-3 teams want to flatten into a 4-5-1 in block, but Portland resisted that temptation. Doing so allowed wingers Natty James and Ollie Wright to sit higher, maximizing their potential threat in transition. James was his usual self in those phases; he’s quick, but he loves to draw a defense on the dribble and then hit a switch to the opposite flank.

That manner of transition was rare. It’s not as if Portland was “conservative,” but the new look gave the Velocity too much time to think in build. Admittedly, Spokane needed to feel things out against an unexpected approach, but they looked rampant at the end of the first half once they settled.

Here, you see the crux of the issue for Portland. Wright, the left winger, stays high as David Garcia receives the ball, but Washington bites and takes a half-step inside to close on the center back. The No. 9 immediately stutters back to shadow Bryce Meredith in the pivot, but the initial feint is just enough to open a window for Garcia. One left-footed pass later, and Spokane’s wide triangle has freed right back Lucky Opara to burst ahead.

Spokane also teased out longer passes to clear the narrow press, using either Opara or Gil as a just-above-halfway target for Merancio in the right channel. One such move created a golden opportunity in the 28th minute, when Portland left back Nathan Messer – just named an all-leaguer – overstepped to the long ball and let the Velocity rush through.

By the 35th minute, Portland dispensed with the experimentation and got back to basics in more of a 4-2-4 or 4-2-3-1 template, shifting Masashi Wada up into a No. 10ish position to make it happen. The change genuinely put Hearts in a better, more disruptive position – at least until a long throw from Opara changed the face of the game on the stroke of halftime.

Portland only looked feistier down a goal, and Messer’s ability to push into the final third as a narrow runner was Hearts’ heartbeat on the comeback trail. Within 10 minutes of second-half kickoff, the interchange between a heightened Wada, an ever-marauding Messer, and a drifting Wright teed up a sensational curled finish to equalize.

Wright (as we’ve seen all year) loves to drop toward the sideline and demand attention from opposing fullbacks. That movement combined with Messer’s forward impetus to test the Velocity’s 4-4-2. If Spokane didn’t step to Wright, you got results like that in the top frame: #10 will play forward to Messer, cut toward the box, and put himself in position to score that aforementioned equalizer.

The alternative wasn’t much better. In the bottom screengrab, Spokane has sent their right winger to close on Messer and their right back to address Wright, but it doesn’t prevent a completion. Because the close-downs don’t do their job, there’s a gaping hole in behind – one that the underlapping defender will use to push Hearts in the final third.

In other words, the original sin was allowing Wright to receive at all. Spokane felt out of whack and couldn’t balance the multifarious threats, hence why they only netted a 40% field tilt in the second half. When Portland scored on the break moments into extra time to pay off the momentum, it felt like a death knell.

At that point, Veidman changed the approach. Spokane didn’t stray from a 4-2-2-2ish baseline, but their possession focus changed – along with the entirety of the front four. Center back Jalen Crisler entered at striker alongside Anuar Pelaez to provide an aerial threat, whilst Marky Hernandez came onto the right wing to provide fox-in-the-box instincts. At left, Nil Vinyals’ team-best final ball stirred the drink. The Velocity started to play far more direct, but they had enough midfield skill to take advantage of Portland‘s ever-deepening block and equalize in the 121st minute.

Did Hearts’ initial gameplan cost them the game? Probably not, but it’s hard to deny how much better they looked by getting back to basics. Spokane, meanwhile, weathered the storm with the composure and poise we’ve seen throughout 2025. Veidman knew what needed to change when the moment arrived, and that’s why the Velocity are going back to the title game.

DC, Brooklyn, and adaptability

Two weeks ago, DC Power went into the Cotton Bowl and did two things at an extremely high level: tilt the field with high pressure and swiftly break lines in possession. Omid Namazi’s 3-4-3 shut down the central areas while using variable No. 10s – namely Alexis Theoret and Jaydah Bedoya – to catch the Dallas Trinity out before they could find their structure.

Brooklyn, on the other hand, felt like they escaped Fort Lauderdale with a point at the start of the month. The New Yorkers weren’t bad, per se, but Tomas Tengarrinha’s tendency to push too many buttons left his side lacking structure. A fifty-fifty field tilt undersold the state of play in a game where Kelli Van Treeck personally put up more xG (0.74) than Brooklyn (0.72) as a collective.

So, what changed with DC and Brooklyn facing off last Saturday afternoon? For Tengarrinha, a commitment to a consistent system centered around the wingback-midfield axis of Sam Kroeger, Antoinette Williams, Mylena, and Leah Scarpelli made the difference at Maimonides Park.

First, it’s useful to understand why Power ran the show in Dallas. Namazi’s side leveraged tight central midfield marking to do the job, splitting their pivot high-low, tucking the wingbacks up a line, and almost going 3-3-3-1 without possession. In low block, a more standard 5-2-3 understood exactly how to get upfield after taking the ball away.

Here, the pivot pairing of Ellie Gilbert and Katie Duong compresses as Trinity try to break lines, aided by a brave step up by one of DC’s center backs. A turnover results, and you can see how natural wingback Anna Bagley (highlighted in blue, making the first pass) essentially cuts in like a No. 8 through the vacant midfield. From there, a receiving Duong will be able to play Bedoya through for a breakaway goal.

The mix of Bedoya’s verve on the counter with Theoret’s drop-and-receive steadiness was key. Theoret attempted 38 passes versus merely 23 for Bedoya, but that imbalance was intelligently designed to test Trinity’s phase-based shape.

The secret for Brooklyn this weekend? Refusing to play into that DC press and structuring the resting shape to deny transition space.

The long ball underpinned Brooklyn’s approach. Last weekend, Trinity’s three deepest defenders and goalkeeper Rylee Foster combined to attempt 76 own-third passes, of which 13 ended in the opposing half. Brooklyn didn’t dally that same way; their three center backs and netminder Kelsey Daughtery went long on 17 of the mere 36 passes that originated in their own zone.

Brooklyn supported that approach with vertical compactness – probably their biggest improvement week-over-week. Where Fort Lauderdale sliced through an expansive 5-2-3, Tengarrinha’s unit held a tighter 3-4-3 that set them up for second-ball success against DC. The starting midfield foursome combined for 14 recoveries, helping the home side to dominate the field tilt.

Here, you’re seeing Brooklyn fresh off of a final-third turnover after a throw-in. You’ll notice that few numbers have been committed forward, and the central foursome (in black) stands ready to halt the break. DC has a carrier outside, but she’ll swiftly be closed down by Scarpelli. On the weak side, Kroeger – one of the better No. 6s across the Super League last year, recast as a fullback over the last month – stays tight to stop any pass into Bedoya.

The Opta algorithm credits Power with one fast break chance by way of Gianna Gourley in the 18th minute; I’d call it a successful long ball from the back rather than a legitimate break. No matter how you’re splitting hairs, it was the exception that proved the rule of Brooklyn’s tempo control.

There are lessons in moderation and adaptability on both sides. Refreshingly, this was a game where Brooklyn stayed consistent in terms of tactics (i.e., same shape as the United draw but with a different posture) and deployments (e.g., Kroeger on the left, Williams firmly as a No. 8) without changing horses at midstream. Meanwhile, DC failed to make enough adjustments to meet a new challenge. There’s a happy middle between intelligent tactical changes, pure overreaction, and deleterious conservatism. Neither club has found the balance yet, but Brooklyn looked closer on Saturday.

Quick Hits

In other news this week…

• At some point in the next few weeks, I’ll be transitioning the blog from Substack to Ghost. This will (hopefully) have no impact on y’all, but it’ll give me more customization options and mean I’ll make slightly more from your kindly subscriptions.

• Shoutout to the Tampa Bay Rowdies, the first team to provide an offseason roster update. Lamentably, league policy doesn’t allow clubs to announce whether they’ve exercised team options until after the title game. I think that’s new, given that FC Tulsa announced their options this week in 2024?

• I might be more excited about Phoenix’s prospects for next season than any other Championship club. Jean-Eric Moursou is the truth in the midfield, the kind of player that makes Rising’s late-breaking 3-4-3 come together. Yes, Phoenix mustered merely 4.3 xG and four goals in five games in that shape, but I’m expecting their offseason to feature fairly considerable investment in attackers that better fit the system.

• There’s a new Netflix miniseries about the assassination of James Garfield, and it’s perfectly fine if you’ve got four hours to kill. My real recommendation: Destiny of the Republic, Candice Millard’s eminently readable book on the same topic (and the credited inspiration for the show). 1880s politics are super interesting! As it turns out, it’s actually important to disinfect surgical tools!

Cover Photo Credit: Spokane Velocity / Twitter

1. I may’ve already noted it on here, but Vegas got my second-team all-USL goalkeeper vote. More on my ballot when the league announces results imminently.

2. You’d also get some Ryden-Keller-Maples moments in more of a 3-2-5 mode. Flexibility is king.