Preseason Friendly: DC United 1-0 LouCity

It occurs to me that I did absolutely zero in terms of previewing yesterday’s opening preseason match against DC United. For that, I am sorry. Then again, it wasn’t broadcast in any way other than via tweets that didn’t really tell us anything about how LouCity was playing or who in purple was doing what in the first half. We did learn that Hubbard stopped a penalty, and that’s great! But other than that, nada.

The starting lineup:

And the halftime subs:

You’ll notice that 2nd half roster is three names short. City did not just play eight guys in the second half. At least I’m pretty sure they didn’t. Later tweets mentioned Lancaster getting in on the action in attack, which gave me all the feels. More on him below.

DC United’s main fanblog didn’t have much more info that I did. They felt pretty good about their new signing Julian Gressel, and were pleased to note that their lone goal was scored by Loudoun United player Michael Gamble in the 70′.

City tried hard to claw back into the game, including a pretty good chance from newcomer Corben Bone, but it was too little, too late. Still, DCU played a pretty strong lineup, and City did pretty well to keep it close.

Overall, I was pleased with the way we tried to play. I felt like we created some good opportunities there, but we probably should have finished a couple of chances. We certainly have some things to work on, but, again, from a perspective of this being our first opponent, the first time you are going against somebody? I’m pretty pleased.

John Hackworth

The missed chances comment sets off some alarm bells for me. Then again, it’s the first preseason match of 2020. Let’s see if we can put some away this weekend against Nashville. I’ll make sure to nominally preview that match, promise!

Cam officially back!

The club officially acknowledged yesterday that Cameron Lancaster was returning to Louisville City on loan from Nashville for the 2020 season! That’s good news, both for City’s striker corps and for my anxiety!

Less good was the revelation that one of the terms of the loan deal was that Nashville could recall Lancaster at any time. While that’s not necessarily likely or even uncommon, I don’t like it. I also doubt LouCity was in much of a position to do much about it, given that Nashville’s picking up most of his wages.

Not all loan deals are the same. They don’t all have recall provisions. In some cases, a club will loan out a player for a season, a half season, between transfer windows, or for a whole calendar year. Each situation is different, depending on why the loan is being made. Some clubs loan out players that probably won’t make their senior team just so they can continue to develop and get game minutes. Some do it because of roster restrictions or rules on international players. Some clubs just sign way too many players and there’s not enough room at the training facility for them all, so they deposit them everywhere and sometimes even forget they exist, CHELSEA.

Nashville’s motivation for loaning Lancaster was probably due to international slots. They have way too many international players for the spots they’re permitted under MLS rules. Cam, a player with only USL experience, must have been considered expendable, in spite of the fact he’s still under contract. That’s too bad for Lancaster, but I’m sure LouCity is glad to be the beneficiary of NSC’s poor planning.

Welcome back to Louisville, Cam!

Kevin Kernen goes to Memphis

Former Louisville City radio play-by-play and sometimes also color commentator Kevin Kernen announced yesterday he had accepted a media position with Memphis 901 for the 2020 season. Kevin recently graduated from UofL and was looking for opportunities to further his budding broadcasting career in soccer. Kevin’s a great guy, a former writer for this fair website, and will definitely be missed. Best of luck, KK!