Diving Deep: Birmingham Legion 1-3 Loudoun United

 There were at least four different problems evident in the Legion’s loss last Saturday, both old and new, and some just perplexing. Let’s go through them in particular order.

1. Player availability

   This would normally not be anyone’s fault, and it’s a rough way to start a season with key players not being able to play. Injuries to Tyler Pasher and AJ Paterson couldn’t be helped; that’s just the way it is. It further did not help that Danny Trejo and Roman Torres both got hurt during the course of the game.

   But Enzo Martinez is somewhat to blame for his own absence due to that red card literally at the end of last season. Also, Stephen Turnbull being kept out of the starting lineup was a baffling decision on which we have no elaboration.

   Little surprise then that the Legion made just two substitutions in the game – both for injuries – as compared to five by Loudoun, who ironically came into the game with a thinner depth chart.

2. Formational confusion

   The Legion started the game with what looked like either a 4-3-3 or a 4-2-3-1. Theoretically, this is a very flexible setup. It depends in large part on how the central midfielder is deployed. In this case it was Roman Torres, who was used mostly as a defensive pivot with both Dawson McCartney on the left and Kobe Hernandez-Foster on the right playing relatively advanced roles. So, essentially a 4-1-4-1.

   Conversely, if the central midfielder is used in a more attacking assignment, it’s a true 4-2-3-1. That was not the case on Saturday and as such it was a deviation from Tommy Soehn’s preferred lineup.

   Dawson ended up playing the most advanced average position of the entire team. That’s not entirely unexpected if the objective is to send in crosses. He only managed two of them, but that is a reflection of Loudoun’s defense, not his work rate.

   But Kobe on the other side is not used to playing that kind of game; indeed he has been typically used as a the defensive pivot in a true 4-2-3-1. He did not play a wide game. Not only that, but he actually gravitated to the other side of the field, further weakening what was already an underpowered right wing.

   After the second goal the Three Sparks moved more to a 4-4-2 with Danny Trejo playing as a number 10 and Ronaldo Damus as a false 9. That seemed to have some positive effect but came to an abrupt end with Danny being pulled at halftime. Lucca Dourado replaced him and played much wider in a true 4-2-2. That didn’t work out too well either.

   And then when Temi Ereku came on for Roman after 61 minutes he similarly played rather wider but still in a defensive role. All told, very inconsistent and perhaps too confusing for a squad that is still not used to each other.

   All of this can be seen in the team’s average position chart (playing from left to right; red arrows represent substitutions):

   Inability to deal with the press

   The chart above is a big clue to this. As you can see, no one on the team averaged in the attacking third and only three positions averaged entirely in the attacking half.

   This becomes even more obvious in the team’s heatmap (also playing from left to right):

   The Legion was absolutely stuck in its own half, an issue that was all too present a year ago and needs very much to be fixed. Granted, the Legion defense was short two presumed starters, but dealing an aggressive press such as Loudoun’s is to a significant degree the job of the midfield. They simply didn’t get it done.

3. Inverted wingers

   Tommy Soehn loves to use inverted wingers (i.e., right-footed players on the left and vice versa). Personally – and I’ve said this before – I’m not a fan. It requires the wingers to turn inside and backwards in order to deliver a cross with the dominant foot. That slows the play down and allows the defense more space and time to adjust. In open play the Legion managed 8 crosses, 5 from the left, 4 from the right. 2 were blocked short but the remainder did all reach into the 18, although only one found a target:

   A good crossing game helps to spread the defense out; this is another old issue the legion needs to solve.

   Note also that the heatmap above shows the play heavily biased to the Legion’s left wing. That is the result of Turnbull not playing and McCartney being switched over. In preseason it looked very much like the Legion attack would be pretty balanced (especially with Trejo working a wide game) but this appears to have been ditched in the season opener. Another strange decision.

The big question is this: can the Legion get past these issues in time for what is going to be a big test against Louisville City on Sunday? We shall see.