Louisville City FC pushed its win streak to two games, unbeaten streak to three and climbed into a playoff spot when outmatching Sporting Kansas City II by a 4-1 score on Wednesday night. More went right than wrong. A lot more.
I left off after last weekend’s victory asking whether a 2-0 result against Loudoun United FC was going to mark a blip on the radar or a beginning of a trend. Granted, two games do not make a trend, but the performance against SKCII was LouCity’s best of the season.
Here’s my take on what worked, and what still needs to be polished.
The Good
Scored through buildup
The majority of goals so far this season had been coming up through moments of transition, and that works for some teams. It has garnered LouCity a few goals and it will continue to yield more in the future, but it also requires opposing teams making mistakes. Instead, being able to build from your own possession means that you can dictate terms and implement ideas. All four LouCity goals came from plays that started in their own half, and they each involved multiple members of the team to make happen. Again, there is nothing wrong with scoring through transition, but you have to be able to be especially proactive.
One other note: finishing was much better on Wednesday. LouCity took half the shots it did against Loudoun and finished with double the goals. The boys in purple looked like they were just more comfortable out on the field, and I think a more holistic approach to creation may have had something to do with it. The team was not pressing as high as usual, and I think that winning the ball back in their own half rather than playing a lot higher up the field and starting possessions on the other side of the field meant they valued possession and chances more.
Continued to spread the ball around
With the departure of midfielder Magnus Rasmussen earlier this season, the responsibility for the creative midfielder role shifted squarely onto Corben Bone’s shoulders. To see him break through and follow it up with a second goal was pleasing to those partial to the home team.
Cameron Lancaster got his customary goal and assisted Bone’s first tally as well. Plus, between Antoine Hoppenot assisting the bookends of goals, Napo Matsoso with a goal and assist and Bone’s producting, this club is certainly distributing more opportunities. It’s not about how good your striker is, but about how good your front three or four are — and right now City’s front four are the hottest in the group.
The Bad
At this point it is hard to come up with concrete points where LouCity fell short, but here are a few things that could get tidied up a bit.
Waited on mistakes
LouCity trailed the possession stakes nearly 40 to 60 percent, although SKCII had a near-monopoly on the ball at the end as the boys in purple nursed a three-goal lead. While possession means less and less nowadays, it can still indicate things. In the opening phase of the game, I noticed City was not pressing SKC II very high and instead relying on mistakes from the opponents.
It is demanding to play a pressing style throughout an entire game, and that was simply not the plan here, which ultimately proved to be the right approach. Coach John Hackworth obviously nailed the setup on Wednesday, although that does not mean that the team couldn’t have been a bit more aggressive, especially against a team that had some shaky players on the ball.
Momentary lapses
While it is fair to say that LouCity had a pretty complete performance on Wednesday, it was not spotless. There is the obvious concession of the goal that made things 2-1 at one point. While there may be questions surrounding the awarding of the free kick, the ensuing chaos from the half clearance needed to be dealt with better. The initial defense was good, but the goalscorer from Kansas City just lost his defender a bit too easy. It happened right before the first water break pause and meant that LouCity could regroup, which led to the third goal before halftime.
There were a few slip-ups in the late stages, too, that sprouted from playing at the back. Beginning with the goalkeeper can yield results. It also carries risks, such as leaving yourself susceptible to turnovers within your own half and putting the most important passing of the game in the hands of the goalkeeper, who is generally the weakest passer on most teams. This isn’t to say that playing out of the back was the wrong approach, but it can sometimes be a high risk, high reward proposition.
As we look on to the back nine of the regular season, the schedule gets pretty crowded with Group E games. There’s still plenty of time to move up or down with a real test up next as group-leading Indy Eleven visits Lynn Family Stadium at 8 p.m. Wednesday. That is when we’ll know exactly where LouCity measures up.
