That was bad. Just when I thought the Bethlehem Steel game was about as bad as it could get, it got even worse. Louisville City dropped points in their third straight match, gave up the opening goal for the seventh consecutive time, and lost to an MLS 2 team for the second game in a row. Our Morados have won just one match in their last seven.
LouCity lined up for this game in a 4-3-3, more or less, though the club’s pregame lineup graphic made it look like a 4-5-1. In any event, the three-man back line experiment was more or less shelved for this match. Hubbard started again in goal, with centerbacks Taylor Peay and Alexis Souahy in front of him. Oscar Jimenez and Shaun Francis played fullback. In central midfield, Napo Matsoso partnered with Speedy Williams, with Magnus Rasmussen ahead of him. Niall McCabe and George Davis IV played the wings, and Luke Spencer started as the lone striker. Notably absent from the team sheet was Paco Craig.
City started the game fairly brightly, but once again gave up the opening goal on a really nice strike from the corner of the 18 yard box by Antonio Bustamante. Loudoun had actually just completed a really nice piece of attacking play, a driving run into the box and a short cross that didn’t come off. Bustamante arrived late to collect the rebound and was generally unmarked before uncorking his shot that bounced off the far post and in.
If that sounds like, I don’t know, maybe five or so other goals City’s given up since June 8, that’s because it was basically just like those other goals. Apologists can’t keep calling these strikes “lucky” because it’s consistently the kind of play that’s getting LouCity beat. Luck is happenstance. This is a trend.
For their own part, City, offensively, kept doing the same thing they’ve been doing to try and score all season: long runs down the wing to the byline and a cross into the penalty area. It’s about as predictable as death and taxes. There were very few attempts to try and build any attacks out of the middle of the field at all. I don’t know whether that’s because Napo and Speedy are good at breaking up play and cycling possession but not at setting up shots, or if that Magnus’s job and he’s too closely marked to do it effectively. In any event, it’s jarring to watch Niall or Cuatro or Oscar or Franno just burn up possession by pumping 20 yard crosses to no one for 90 minutes a weekend.
It’s not their fault, either – that’s what the game plan is. The problem is it hasn’t worked for almost two months.
Alexis Souahy didn’t do the team any favors by getting a red card at about the 30th minute. It was deserved. Taylor Peay had the game’s most sparkling offensive moment when he juked two defenders in the box in the second half but then couldn’t stay in front of the Loudoun defender who erased the danger.
Think about that – the best offense City had all night was a dribble into the box by a center back. Also, yes, he ended up on the grass at the end of the play, but he wasn’t fouled. It was a clean play.
The two goals City gave up at the end were the result of exhaustion, and I’m not going to diagnose those.
As far as numbers go, they’re actually fairly even. Loudoun had a slight advantage in possession, which is largely due to the fact that they were up a man for about an hour. Loudoun won more duels but City was better in the air. Both teams passed the ball pretty efficiently, around 80%, and City was actually more accurate than usual from crosses, connecting on 40% of their 20 attempts. Of course, none of those eight went in.
City took 16 shots, with six on target, which isn’t bad. Again, though, most of them were taken directly at the keeper. They gave up 18 shots, nine on target. Not great, but again, when you’re down a man, that’s going to happen.
City got out-coached and out-played in this game. Whereas not long ago I was sure our Boys in Purple were just grinding through the gears and they’d finally get humming at some point, I’m now convinced that those gears are worn out. Something is broken with this team, and it’s not just one thing.
The tactics on offense are predictable, and don’t create high-probably scoring chances. Sending a ball over the top, even if it’s a lateral cross from the wings, only creates a chance for a one-time finish with a header or a volley. That’s not a high-probability play.
The worse part is I can’t tell that there’s anyone on the field that can do anything else.
I’m not going to pretend that I have any idea how to fix this problem. At this point, we have to trust the club and the coaching staff to do that. So far the results don’t inspire much confidence: running out a different personnel group to execute seemingly the same tactics hasn’t improved anything. But these guys know more about soccer than I do – it’s their profession. Let’s hope they can turn the right knobs and get it right this week.
