Not a whole lot of movement in the tier list this week. A brace by Luke Spencer keeps him firmly in the S tier while two solid assists from Oscar Jimenez jumps him up two rankings. The man is a free kick-placing machine. Ranjitsingh had two potential USL Goals of the Week, bumping up his placement as well.

S TIER

• Luke Spencer – (Last Week: S) Three goals and two assists since I started the list. Look at the height… just look at it.
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A TIER

• Oscar Jimenez – (Last Week: B) Three assists since starting the list. His Cincy game was lackluster other than the assist, but he killed it this week. The argument could’ve been made that he should’ve had an assist for the second goal Sunday night, but full credit went to Spencer. But that goal doesn’t happen without Oscar’s service to the initial header.
• Greg Ranjitsingh – (Last Week: B) Four saves, most of which were huge in keeping Louisville City FC in front. Ranjitsingh moves up a spot. He actually had to do some work this week and he showed up big time.
• Paco Craig – (Last Week: A) Our CB anchor had two key blocks against a sneaky Steel attack.
• Sean Reynolds/Sean Totsch – (Last Week: A) Another solid defensive outing for the Seans. No up or down movement in their rankings. I think our current starting defenders are probably the most optimal set up… unfortunately that means Morad sits.

B TIER

• Cameron Lancaster – (Last Week: C) He headed in the nail in the coffin for LouCity’s win after subbing on for Spencer in the 61′. Getting on the stat sheet earns him a modest promotion from last week.
• Speedy Williams – (Last Week: A) I still love Speedy. Don’t let the tier downgrade fool you. A solid outing tonight kept him above average. I feel like the dominating performance against FC Cincinnati was an outlier. Maybe I’m undervaluing him. We’ll see if he gets the start Wednesday, or if DelPiccolo reclaims the starting job.
• Guy Abend – (Last Week: C) Abend felt like more of a physical presence in this game than he did against FC Cincy. Perhaps that’s because Bethlehem actually made him work Sunday. He moves up a ranking to a solid B.
• Mark-Anthony Kaye – (Last Week: A) Kaye didn’t have a bad game. He did a decent job of squeaking past the Steel’s back line. Unfortunately, none of his effort resulted in a goal or assist. I feel like Kaye is one of those players that is too unselfish in the box. Extra touches are sometimes lost chances.

C TIER

• Paolo DelPiccolo – (Last Week: DNP) He played perfectly average. According to the USL Match Center, he completed his only attempted pass after subbing on at 84′. Can’t really fault the guy if the ball doesn’t come to him, but it definitely isn’t noteworthy.
• Richard Ballard – (Last Week: A) Wasn’t impressed with Ballard as much this week. He didn’t seem to find his stride like he did against FC Cincy. I’m not looking for goals, so much as I am chances out of him. Didn’t see much of that Sunday.
• Niall McCabe – (Last Week: A) Didn’t see much of McCabe. While rewatching the game, I had honestly forgot that he had started. A minor let down considering what he is capable of.

D TIER

• Kyle Smith – (Last Week: C) Ohhh Kyle. A quiet game from him was reminiscent of the Cincinnati game. But the man is a machine. He leads the team in minutes played with 1799 according to USL’s site. Unfortunately, he’s going to miss out on 90 of them on Wednesday because of a stupid red card in the 94′. He could probably use the rest anyway.

Projected XI against Harrisburg City Islanders (13th, Wednesday 7:30pm, Slugger Field)

I was incorrect last week suggesting Ownby and Davis would start. I’m sticking to my guns this time though considering the short turn around in games. One Wednesday, against a rested Harrisburg (their last game was on the 12th of August,) then one Saturday against an Orlando City B team that is on a 10 game unbeaten streak. I’m going really bold here and saying that, with Smith’s suspension, we’ll revert to a 4-2-3-1 formation.

F – Spencer

MFs – Ownby, Davis, McCabe, Abend, DelPiccolo

DFs – Morad, Totsch, Reynolds, Jimenez

GK – Ranjitsingh

Other Stuff

Something I noticed in making my second list is that I’m heavily weighting statistical game impact, i.e., goals and assists. This will result in some undervaluing of certain players, specifically our holding midfielders. I’ll do my best to not let this affect my rankings to much, and to try to see their contributions to the game despite them not putting shots on goal.

Right now, tentatively, I’m doing one of these articles after each game. In the interest of preventing burnout, I already concocted a contingency plan. Weekly articles, probably posted on Wednesdays, and if there is a midweek game that would affect rankings, I’m planning to put out a short, supplementary article explaining those changes. This prevents information overlap from other articles, that way you guys, as readers, don’t get fatigued with the information.

Photo Credit this week goes to Louisville City FC and the incomparable Jonathan Lintner, who allowed me access to some LouCity FC photos. I know EMDash and Matthew Ballard do good work, but I’m not sure who the photographer is in this particular case, but thanks either way.

~J