One of the most persistent jokes in USL fandom derides the Western Conference as "The Simulation," dating back to the days when that half of the league was dominated by less-than-scintillating games between developmental teams. In recent years, however, some of the division's best soccer has come out of the West. Think about some of the more memorable sides in the division, and this becomes apparent. There's the Phoenix Rising juggernaut, pinning you back out of a 4-3-3 that can look like a 2-3-5 on the ball; Mark Lowry's El Paso kept the heat up with a counterpressing diamond; who could forget the manic man-marking of Ian Russell's Reno sides? Even affiliates like 2019's Real Monarchs rate as some of the more intimidating teams in recent vintage.
That isn't to say that the Eastern Conference is weak or unimaginative by any stretch of the imagination. Tampa's back three is, dare I say, the preeminent defensive force in USL history, and Bob Lilley's Pittsburgh casually throws out 3-6-1 formations just because they can. Hell, even a miserable side like Loudoun can grind out results because of well-thought-out tactics built to bite you in transition.
One of the most common asks I get as an armchair tactician is to assess the stylistic differences between the conferences. In that vein, @el_mansfield on Twitter asked me to compare my ideal tactical setup for each division based around these gaps. Frankly, I never have a good answer for these prompts, and that's because I don't perceive much of a stylistic gulf in the first place. Anecdotally, I'd claim the West is more dependent on back-three defensive trios and more aggressive in the press, but I'd always give the caveat that it's unwise to make such sweeping assertions. With that caution in mind, I turned to the numbers to see if any trends emerged over the last two years.
To conduct my comparison, I looked at goals scored and allowed, shots taken and conceded, long pass rates, goalkeeper long pass rates, goals saved above average (GSAA, a measure of goalkeeper quality), and passes allowed per defensive action (PPDA, a measure of press intensity). Only one category yielded a statistically significant difference in means, but I wanted to report some close-but-no-cigar results as well:
The only real hit was GSAA in 2021. Over the course of the season, Eastern goalies performed more than a full goal under expectation, while their Western counterparts were above water by half a goal. I tend to blame atrocious performances out of Loudoun and New York here, but the West was exceptional in its own right. Still, this isn't really a tactics thing.
2020 saw slightly more distinction than 2021 overall. Of note: Western teams outscored Eastern ones by 0.12 goals per game, and Western presses were a few percentage points more aggressive.
If you're comparing team shapes and tactical identities, Western sides were something like 5% more likely than their Eastern peers to use a back three. Nothing major, but it's interesting.
In the end, we're left with a pretty boring answer: the West and East aren't that different as we head into 2022. If I had to guess why, I'd point to the crosspollination of coaches and players between the two divisions, and I'd gently suggest that the perceived differences were never there in the first place. Still, after spilling all that ink for a non-answer, I do want to walk through the style that I'd choose to play as a USL manager, with some subtle differentiation for the dual conferences.
As a baseline, I'm assuming that my team is pretty run-of-the-mill in terms of quality, something like a fringe playoff contender. What fun is this if I've got a fully-loaded roster? In any event, I'm basing my system around a 4-2-3-1 shape. I'm tempted by a back three in the vein of a Tampa Bay or a San Antonio, but I think this look gives me more flexibility up the pitch. Additionally, very few USL sides play with three true forwards, leaving me at parity with most attacks through my two central defenders.
As you can see in the graphic, my preferred shape ends up standard indeed. I draw a lot of inspiration from the defending champions here; Orange County SC's defense-first, high-work-rate system feels adaptable to average personnel. Exceptional talent put that team over the top in 2021, but I think that their approach has more general merit. In essence, my principles break down as follows:
When building up, I want to play short and be patient. Long goal kicks have merits, especially against presses, but I prefer to keep the ball low and work through the central defenders and a RB-CM-CM-LB line of four. If possible, we will look to play into the striker's feet, but most progression will come from the #10 and wingers coming deep to pick up the ball.
In the final third, the wingers should hug the touchline to stretch the opposing back line. The striker should focus on probing the defense, moving to challenge their shape. My #10 and #8 should be playing high and seeking out through balls; the fullbacks should sit behind the wingers in support, with overlapping and underlapping runs encouraged. Lofted crosses are to be seen as wasteful; possession in the final third breeds mistakes, given enough patience.
When defending against opponent buildup, the striker should press opposing CBs with energy, but he shouldn't advance up on the goalkeeper. My #10 should sit behind the ST, putting out fires and marking CMs. The wingers should position themselves near to the opposing FBs, cutting them off with press shadows. Ultimately, the goal is to stifle lanes rather than aggressively win possession. In that vein, my CBs should sit in a low line at back, and my #6 and #8 are to close aggressively when opponents break past my forward line. Central breakthroughs are the primary press trigger in this approach.
Finally, in the set defensive block, I want my side to be deep and narrow. Here, the shape should look like a 4-5-1 or 4-4-1-1, with the central pivot encouraged to slide wide against overlaps and the #10 coming deep to cover. My side should stay firm in the middle and keep positional rigidity. Aggressive goalkeeping is encouraged, as is hard tackling by all players but the CBs, whose primary role is to put out fires.
If I were to label this approach with one adjective, it would be "adaptable." I'm recognizing that my team isn't going to be dominant. As such, I'm looking for a commitment to all-out defending in the right moments; at the same time, I'm encouraging wing- and #10-driven breakouts after this shell does its job. Successful transitions should breed well-supported and lengthy bouts of final-third possession. My side will ride the waves of momentum in a given match.
For me, the most important player here is that #10, embodied by (and pretty exactly copied from...) the role played by Eric Calvillo in Orange County. He supported buildup by coming deep and involving wingers, but he also knew when to sit in defensively versus pressing high going the other way. Against Western teams focused on pressure and back threes, I'm adjusting the #10 role in two key ways. Defensively, I want this man to press high and support my striker in cutting off passes for opposing CBs, as shown in the graphic. My second shift is deeper base positioning in attack, meant to give another outlet against that press. That said, my stylistic approach is much the same overall.
At this point, I've indulged myself a bit too much, but I want to emphasize that the conferences are more similar than different at the end of the day. A successful manager is adapting to team-by-team matchups more than they are to broad assumptions; they certainly internalize big developments, but the granular style points of a foe are the key. I think I'd be an utter failure as a coach in this league, but I hope that my style walkthrough gives a hint of how a team might approach system definition.
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