Louisville City FC coach James O’Connor couldn’t ignore the conversation entering this season about his defense, which was missing a pair of last year’s starters due to red card suspensions.
“Makeshift,” they called it. But O’Connor didn’t buy that.
“I smile when people have said that, because I know how I am and the players know how we are,” the coach said at his weekly press conference. “There’s no makeshift back line at Louisville City.”
O’Connor shifted new signing Oscar Jimenez from midfielder to left back, similar to how he handled eventual USL Midseason Rookie of the Year Kyle Smith a year ago at right back. Tarek Morad and Sean Totsch took over the center back spots.
With Sean Reynolds and Paco Craig suspended for the season opener — they were serving suspensions that carried over from 2016 — LouCity posted a clean sheet against Saint Louis FC. Only an own goal last Thursday at Orlando City B separates the club’s defense from a perfect start to the year.
“For us it’s never a case of we’ve got squad players,” O’Connor said. “Every one of our players can step in and can play. That’s how we build our squad. There’s no player that we can go, ‘Well he’s a sub,’ or, ‘He’s going to play a little piece in what we’re trying to do.’
“I think for us we’ve got players who can all play, and it’s on them when they play to keep the shirt.”
Craig was eligible for selection in Orlando after a one-game suspension. Reynolds has to sit three and can return after Saturday’s away game against the Richmond Kickers, which kicks off at 5 p.m.
Neither are guaranteed playing time based on past performances.
“With the defenders, we’ve been really pleased, as we have all the players,” O’Connor said. “But again, it’s two games. We’ve got another 30 to go.”
More from coach’s weekly press conference…
• On the Kickers, who enter off a 1-0 defeat to New York Red Bulls II: “We’re looking forward to it. Leigh (Cowlishaw’s) a very good coach — very organized. They look to have changed formations this year, so they’ll pose different threats with how they’re playing. So again, we’ll need to do our homework and make sure we analyze what they’re going to do. I thought they were very unlucky against New York. I thought they deserved perhaps to get a draw. I thought the goal New York scored was a bit fortunate.”
• On the season so far: “I was really pleased with how we’ve played in both the games. I thought we were unlucky not to win the Saint Louis game. I thought in Orlando, we gave a good account of ourselves. Our penetration was good. Our passing was very good. We made good decisions. So I’ve been pleased with the performances in both the games, but again, it’s two games. We need to do our work.”
• On comparisons to 2015 and 2016’s teams: “We’ll find out, I think, is the simple answer. I tend to not make too many statements before. I like our talking to be done on the pitch. I don’t necessarily like to be shooting my mouth off on what’s going to happen. I prefer to see it first on the pitch and over a consistent amount of time. We’ve had two games. I think it’s very difficult to make any statements or comparisons with this team to other teams after two games. After 32 games, we’ll have a much clearer idea.”
