The Back Four: Tactical takeaways from Week One
The Back Four: Tactical takeaways from Week One
Tactics, stats, and other developments that defined the week that was for Las Vegas, Oakland, North Carolina, and Central Valley
Welcome to The Back Four, another attempt to shoehorn “John talks about some tactical things” into a punny name. This season, I’ll be hitting on four key items from the past matchweek in the USL Championship and USL League One that particularly caught my eye.
Want a more thorough look at the league? Backheeled is the place to be. I’ve already got 5,300 words of team-by-team power rankings for you there, and that’ll be the case every Sunday or Monday all season long. Also: the 2024 Depth Chart Log and Attendance Tracker is up and running! I’ve got Championship attendance data there and squad info for both the Championship and League One.
Without further ado, let’s get to it.
Las Vegas’ rocky start
We all want to believe that this year is different for the Lights, and while I’m 100% on board with their revitalization project, but their opener in Memphis was a reminder that Caesar’s Palace wasn’t built in a day. Las Vegas didn’t even garner half an expected goal in attack, and their defensive effort was sloppy to put it mildly.
For the audiovisual gang, see my USL Tactics Show breakdown of this topic.
Charlie Adams’ absence in the midfield didn’t help the cause. The veteran was named to the lineup half an hour before the match, but he didn’t appear. There was no explanation, because the classic Lights never go away, and the team suffered for it.
Dennis Sanchez lined the Lights up in a 4-4-2 to start the game, pairing Khori Bennett and Edison Azcona as a big-little partnership up top and putting Valentin Noel next to Giovanni Aguilar (the Adams replacement) in the pivot. Azcona has experience in the central midfield, so you’d hope he’d drop low and help solidify the middle, but that was rarely the case.
The Lights’ central players only put in four defensive actions in the Memphis half, and three of those actions were on the sidelines: Las Vegas could not stop 901 down the middle, and it really hurt. Memphis completed 47 of 60 passing attempts in zones 11 and 14 and absolutely had their way around the box, especially with Nighte Pickering dropping in for touches.
The initial 4-4-2 was something of an “empty bucket,” with the right and left midfielders seated higher than their partners in the pivot. Those wingers - Coleman Gannon and Joe Gyau - could’ve committed upfield and turned the shape into a fierce 4-2-4 press, but they never had that fire.
Instead, their lack of communication with the Noel-Aguilar pair constantly put the Lights on the back foot. No one for Las Vegas wanted to claim responsibility for stuffing out danger even after the initial line breaks. You see it above: Memphis’ Nighte Pickering is about to get a touch without a hint of midfield attention heading his way.
After the break, Sanchez moved the Lights into a 4-2-3-1, shifting Joe Gyau to the right, putting Coleman Gannon in the No. 10 spot, and substituting Solomon Asante onto the left. Asante isn’t exactly known as a defensive stopper; that’s not his game, nor should it be. Gyau, however, was a left back in Sweden before moving to Las Vegas, and he should’ve brought a strong work rate.
Not so, because the same patterns persisted. Here, you see Memphis center the ball an unmarked central player as Noel (the center mid), weak-sided Gyau (at right wing), and Bennett (the striker) fail to decide who’s responsible. There is a balance to strike in the press in terms of overcommitting and losing structure, but this is the opposite end of the spectrum. No one commits at all.
Ultimately, the Lights are going to get better as the season rolls on. This roster has only been together for a month at most; Memphis, by contrast, has returned a dozen players that ran their system in 2023, and they had a full preseason to get up to speed. Time will tell how far this Las Vegas can go, but the gap between their unit and the elite defenses is a vast one for now.
Shape-shifting Oakland
In the first half against Indy, the Oakland Roots took a lead after 180 seconds, with a dummy run from new striker Miche-Naider Chery freeing space for a Jeciel Cedeno finish from the edge of the box. It was downhill for the Roots’ 5-2-3 from there. The visiting Eleven dominated the center of the park in their own 4-3-3, constantly holding a man advantage in the middle areas. Tyler Gibson, Jack Blake, and Cam Lindley completed 70 passes in the first half alone because of that dominance.
Noah Delgado knew things were amiss and responded in kind. At halftime, the manager took Chery off and replaced him with natural No. 8 Daniel Gomez, moving the Roots into a 5-3-2 (or 3-5-2) that could match Indy three-for-three in the midfield.
Taking off your star acquisition, the only piece you’ve added to bolster your offense over the winter, is bold no matter how you slice it. Still, the decision was 100% correct. Oakland now had three midfielders able to fend off the guests. What’s more, Delgado encouraged one of his forwards (either Cedeno or Johnny Rodriguez) to drop below the center circle and form something akin to a defensive diamond.
The effect showed up in the numbers: the Roots’ midfielders attempted 10 defensive actions in the second half, winning nine of them. They pitched in nine additional ball recoveries. Indy had 14 shots in the first half, but they only mustered six in the final frame, none of which were on target.
Look where the guests got their touches: the Eleven were constantly accessing the box and owning the center of the pitch before the break. Once Delgado shifted his side into a 5-3-2, Indy was shunted toward the sidelines and couldn’t find rhythm where it counted. It was a feat of bold coaching, one that portends ongoing success for a Roots team with the versatility to beat opponents in a lot of different ways.
On Indy: I’m not overly concerned. The passing variety and early chance creation was really promising. There was a nice tidbit from the commentary team about Sean McAuley’s familiarity with the USL given his recruitment role while at Minnesota United, and it showed out of the gates for the Eleven. He’ll only continue to get better and improve this side, especially as Aodhan Quinn and Danny Barbir get fit.
Collin Martin, par excellence
I broke down North Carolina’s 3-4-3 press on Twitter and at Backheeled, but to recap, the system was so good because of a few basic principles.
Firstly: You’ve got three forwards, so use them. Oalex Anderson, the centermost striker, was tasked with shadowing Aaron Molloy in the Charleston pivot whenever he came low for a touch. The wider forwards - Louis Perez and Rodrigo Da Costa - split responsibility. One would rotate to the ball carriers in the channels on the strong side while the other would go low to defend against a switch on the weak side.
You see that tenet bear fruit above. Perez (at left winger) shows low to prevent the opposing full back from dribbling; he funnels play to the sideline. Meanwhile, Anderson moves over to cut off a centering pass that would help opposing Charleston reset. It’s all about limiting possibilities.
Deeper in the 3-4-3, the press relied on a medium-high defensive line and reactive defending from the wing backs to limit space between the levels. As we’ve established, North Carolina want their forwards to be involved, but that can create gaps when those attackers overextend. By encouraging the defense to be active in marking runners and stepping up to put in challenges, you limit the possibility of those gaps arising.
Take that same play from above, and note how Lamar Batista (the leftmost defender in the back three) and Ezra Armstrong (the left wing back) hedge up against possible Battery threats. Again, by stepping up, you’re limiting options and making passes down the sideline or into the channel an unattractive proposition.
The thing that underlies both scenarios, and the final plank of the press? Collin Martin, a star defensive midfielder signed from the San Diego Loyal this summer. Martin made 33 appearances for the Loyal last year, where he anchored the pivot thanks to a 98th percentile passing volume and 94th percentile passing completion rate. His defensive action numbers were lower, but that’s because of world-beating positioning; Martin needn’t lunge into challenges when he’s proactively denying the lanes that would necessitate them in the first place.
Against Charleston, the midfielder had a modest two tackles and an interception, but his activity in the eye of the pressing hurricane was paramount to North Carolina’s success. Nowhere was that more evident than in their ability to deny Aaron Molloy from dominating the game down the middle.
Molloy is a player who thrives in deep areas where he can initiate offense and hit passes beyond the press toward the edge of the opposing box. You can see that the Irishman wasn’t denied the ability to find touches, but look at the passing angles. All of his service was backwards or sideways.
North Carolina never let Charelston’s star break the lines down the middle, and that’s in large part due to the excellence of the 3-4-3 with Martin at the heart of it.
Fuego on fire
I had Central Valley Fuego last in my preseason League One predictions for the year, as did Ethan Triebsch over at the USL site in his power rankings. “Cautious optimism” has been the vibe for Fuego in the wake of their hiring of Jermaine Jones, especially given a roster build that lagged far behind traditional standards. Moe Espinoza was announced as a signing about 90 minutes before kickoff!
That Espinoza went on to score without minutes is emblematic of a big night for Jones and co. Despite the outside-looking-in foibles, Central Valley hung 2.25 expected goals on Tormenta, the best return of the six League One teams in actions this weekend. They did so in a wildly direct manner, one befitting of a side that may lack the chemistry to build short and on the ground.
Fuego’s average pass completion length was almost five yards longer than any other League One team during the round, and they completed 96 less passes than second-from-bottom Northern Colorado. Jones knew that Tormenta was a pressing team, identified a lineup that could heave passes over that press, and benefited from it.
The Central Valley shape was something between a 4-3-3 and 4-2-3-1, with Robert Coronado - a former Rio Grande Valley midfielder who hadn’t been announced as a signing(!) at kickoff - anchoring the No. 10 spot. He’s a player I love, and he’ll pay off handsomely for this team in 2024.
5’10” and not known for his prowess in the air, Coronado was on the end of a crucial flick-on opportunity barely 40 seconds into his Fuego career, heading the ball into the path of Shavon John-Brown and Zahir Vazsquez’s crossing runs. You see that situation mapped below.
The formula, as hinted at in the screenshot, was simple: punt it to your attackers, (1) head the ball on, and (2) let good things happen in the ensuing chaos. Central Valley had an astonishingly bad 44% accuracy on pass attempts ending in the opposing half, and their attackers went five-for-15 on headers.
Inefficiency didn’t hurt them a lick: the beauty of “route one” soccer is that you just need things to go right once. Jones can’t count on his team taking an early lead every week, but banking three points in your first-ever match can’t be argued with. The defensive effort with a lead for 87 minutes was positively decent, too.
Are they a playoff team? We’ll see, but this is a good start to get there.
Threads!
I post too much, so here’s a backlog of my bigger game recaps…
Final Thoughts
Again, be sure to hit up Backheeled, where you get as-instant-as-possible analysis and breakdowns for every single USL Championship club, every single week. That’s the number one place for recaps, tactical insights, and key stats.
In other news…
I didn’t touch the Lexington-NoCo game in League One, so be sure to visit Crane Kicks Lex for any and all coverage of the third division’s refurbished Kentucky juggernaut.
Spokane really struggled to defend behind Derek Waldeck, their star left back, while facing the break. He’s a necessary attacking counterweight on the left given what Kimarni Smith showed as a self-creator on the right against Greenville, but how can you find balance? Nevertheless, kudos to the Velocity for officially existing!
Pittsburgh looked bad bad in New Mexico, and some of the squad choices caught my eye in the process. Danny Griffin - an elite No. 6 - anchored the back line alongside returners Illal Osumanu and Mike DeShields; NEXT Pro standout center backs Pierre Cayet and Sean Suber barely cameoed and were used as wing backs when they entered. Kazaiah Sterling wasn’t even in the team. We’ll see what gives when Bob Lilley settles on his best lineup, but opening day was a toughie.
The Golazo broadcasts were good! My one complaint: I need access to replays. Say what you will about ESPN, but they make it extremely easy for content creators to do their thing by making match streams simple to find.
See y’all soon!