With a month or so left in the USL season, the Birmingham Legion are in the driver's seat to host a first-round playoff match. That game is likely to feature the Legion against a Pittsburgh Riverhounds side that fell short in Alabama a week ago. When Birmingham battled Bob Lilley, Enzo Martinez was crucial in earning a win for the home side. #19, an Uruguayan international, nominally took a striker's role, but his end-to-end engagement and flashes of a midfielder's sensibility decided things in his club's favor.
When Martinez signed for Tommy Soehn's Legion this offseason, I speculated that he might evolve from a deep-lying midfielder into an inside forward. Soehn did me one better and converted the ex-Charlotte man into a true forward. Birmingham's season turned from "adequate" to "potentially special" when they adopted a 4-4-2 press, and Martinez's contributions as the deeper member of that forward pair are crucial.
Martinez is utterly elite by the numbers. He's one of the ten leading assisters in USL history, and he's one of just six players with 20 combined goals and assists in the 2022 campaign. The Uruguayan projects as an upper-echelon progressive passer, high-volume creator, and efficient goal-scorer. Still, his top-half defensive actions as compared to all USL attackers betray the player's impact across all phases of the game.
This season's Legion base their system out of a 4-4-2, but the look varies by matchup. In the press, the wingers can push into a 4-2-4. If an opponent has especially strong wingbacks, a truer 4-4-2 prevails. As of late, Anderson Asiedu's wing deployment has created a narrower 4-1-3-2 or diamond shape. No matter what, Martinez sits in as a second striker that can break beyond an opposing defense or pull strings from the hole with equal efficacy.
The video bears out #19's impact in every phase of play. Below, Martinez's defensive contributions take center stage. With Mikey Lopez narrow in the back line, the star creator tracks back into what's essentially a left back spot. You aren't seeing direct interventions here, but the positional sense on display is staggeringly good. As mentioned above, the Uruguayan is around average for defensive actions despite his high-placed deployment, and his best contributions on that side of the ball come in the press. Still, his is an end-to-end, high-work-rate game.
Here, you get a sense of Martinez's vision and movement in attack. #19 lurks underneath Juan Agudelo to find space and pick up possession. On the ball, he slices rightward and puts the opposing left back between a rock and a hard place; commit to Martinez and leave the overlapping runner, or commit to that runner and let Martinez shoot. That defender is frozen and doesn't make a choice. Moments later, the ex-Charlotte man has played a stunning through ball to earn an assist. The intention of his dribbling, the weight of that pass, and the speed of his thinking are unmatched.
One more clip to tie the themes together. Birmingham presses high in a 2-4-4 shape, desperately needing a late winner. Martinez sits beneath his strike partner, but the star takes careful note of the angle at which his teammate closes to the goalkeeper. When that foe plays a rushed pass, Martinez is already on the move to intercept. He cleanly controls the ball, uses his body to repel the panicked centerback, and slots home a vital finish. You're seeing that brain at work again, but his energy in the press and technique on the shot deserve notice in equal measure.
In weighing the candidates for my MVP ballot, I'm increasingly convinced that Martinez has to figure into the race. His combination of positional excellence, world-class vision, timely goalscoring, and all-out effort are exceedingly rare. At times, he is the sole source of incision and creation in a defense-first team, but his defensive contributions are crucial all the same. Players like Phanuel Kavita and Jonny Dean are vital to the Birmingham Legion, but their playoff hopes will continue pend on Enzo Martinez.
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