I gave myself about fifteen or so hours before writing this so I wouldn’t be so despondent or angry. Louisville City lost 4-0 to Chicago Fire in the U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals last night. That City lost isn’t necessarily surprising. That the game wasn’t particularly competitive was. Morados didn’t bunker and pray, and frankly should be commended for that. But they were outclassed and looked it, the first time I can remember ever saying that or feeling it.

Chicago, in spite of their league record, is a good team. They sliced through the purple defense like a hot knife through butter at will. That it took them until past the 90th minute to score their third goal was honestly something.

I don’t think Louisville City looked or played badly until the first red card. They got beat on two counters, which is a weakness of this team no matter who they play. They possessed the ball pretty well, but couldn’t do anything meaningful in the final third. I don’t know if anyone did an expected goals output on this game, but if City’s was above 1.0, I’d be surprised.

For the second game in a row, Morados looked like a team without a coach. That’s because they’re a team without a coach. I’m sure the guys in the locker room are trying to hold it together, and Luke, Paolo, and Cuatro are trying their best. But they weren’t prepared for any of this. They tried playing their game and got their asses handed to them. Again, I don’t blame them for trying to do the only thing they really know. But a coach wouldn’t have stuck with Plan A once it was pretty clear it wasn’t going to work. One look at this shot chart basically tells you all you need to know:

Two of City’s three shots on goal don’t even hit the chart because they were literally taken from the center circle. The third was a 30 yard free kick attempt. One of them was Cam’s hopeful effort from just about midfield two seconds after the second half started. Chicago got five shots on target inside the 18, and frankly should have had more.

I’d have been okay with a 2-0 scoreline, really. But the two straight reds and utter implosion that led to the two late goals were really, really telling. The guys got unraveled. No one could reel them back in. It was discouraging, to put it mildly. Worse, there’s no time to lick the open wounds that are there in this game because we play a tough Charlotte team this weekend. Hang on tight, y’all. With no change in leadership in sight, things could get pretty bumpy before they smooth out again.