Having reviewed last weekend’s win over the Richmond Kickers in detail, Louisville City FC coach James O’Connor went beyond the numbers of the 2-0 victory Monday.
He pointed out the consistency in both halves — something LouCity has lacked as of late — as reason for why it was an ideal performance. Throughout all 90 minutes, the club constantly fended off attacks, assembled counters and got in behind Richmond, a team that hadn’t allowed more than a goal during its 10-game unbeaten streak.
“To play to that level against a team that had been so hot is really, really encouraging — really pleasing,” O’Connor said at his weekly press conference. “It’s making sure now we continue from that. Don’t spend the week patting ourselves on the back. We go again and we work even harder and get after it again for Saturday.”
Next up is a trip to play King’s Cup rival Saint Louis FC. Since LouCity knocked off Saint Louis on May 14 at Slugger Field, the Western Conference club has undergone a coaching change from Dale Schilly to interim manager Tim Leonard.
Saint Louis sits 12th on the Western Conference table but just four points out of eighth place, the cutoff line for the playoffs.
“They’ll be desperate to beat us,” O’Connor said.
The guys in purple will battle before that for playing time, a fight seems to have hit its peak. Guy Abend and Paolo DelPiccolo are both seeing time in the midfield, while Cameron Lancaster got the start at striker Saturday and Tarek Morad shifted to left back.
Regular starters Chandler Hoffman — LouCity’s leading scorer — and defender Ben Newnam weren’t listed on the lineup sheet.
“We’ve got good competition with the guys that we have,” O’Connor said. “That’s the biggest thing — that we make sure we max out our squad and get the most out of all our players. That’s something we’ve done throughout the course of the season.”
The coach added, “Once you get the shirt, it’s up to you to keep it.”
Here’s more from Monday’s press conference…
- O’Connor on the absence of leading scorer Chandler Hoffman and left back Ben Newnam from Saturday’s lineup: “I think people want to speak about Chandler and Ben, but they’ve both performed well throughout the season and given us a good contribution. So I think for them, it’s do what you’ve been doing. They’re back into the team. They’ve been working hard in training. And look at what some of the other guys have done. They’ve done it as well. People want to speak about Chandler and Ben, but there have been other guys throughout the course of the season that have been in the same situation. Obviously, you have to work hard to get back into the team, and when you do, you’ve got to keep your spot.”
- On the versatility of Tarek Morad, who has played in the central midfield and along the back line recently: “I think Tarek has got such great character and mentality. For us, it’s the trust and belief we have in him. He’s someone who can play a number of positions and has done so throughout the course of the season. It’s a credit to Tarek that he’s been able to play in three different positions. It shows his game understanding, his attitude, his mentality. But equally, when you’re a good player you like to think you can play a number of positions, and he’s someone that has been able to drop into numerous positions for us. It speaks volumes about his character and his mentality and his willingness to help adapt for the team.”
- On the return of Greg Ranjitsingh from the Trinidad and Tobago Senior Men’s Team, for which he played in World Cup qualifiers: “I think he’s obviously taken on board some of the things we spoke about before he went away. His development is the priority. For him to have developed so quickly — he goes in eight months a kid from Mercer (University) to an international goalkeeper is fantastic. When you get get growth like that, it’s about managing and understanding sort of how you’re going to develop and capitalize on that. For us, it’s having good conversations and good communication with the players and making sure they’re on the path that we want them to be on. He’s one of the guys that has been really open to all the instructions. He’s a pleasure to coach. He’s someone we have a lot of respect for.”
