Midweek Musings: Birmingham's buildup and signing quick hits

Welcome in to another midweek post. We're finally getting into the thick of transaction season, and I'll drop some transfer takes in a bit, but I wanted to start today with an analysis of how the Birmingham Legion tried to kickstart their attack this past season.

In general, the Legion were a fairly high-possession team, one that played a medium-height defensive line and didn't press with a particularly marked level of aggression. They defended well across back-three and back-four approaches throughout 2021, and all of their position groups ranked in the top 20% of the USL by my points-added metrics. In the final third, you had stars like Bruno Lapa and Neco Brett leveraging prodigious creativity and pure instinct to terrorize opponents, although the team's goalscoring did lag shot creation by a shade. Altogether, though, this was a very competitive Birmingham team that deserved its high position in the table.

On top of the star power up top and the all-league performance of Matt Van Oekel in net, this team had two players that shone their brightest in the buildup phase: Anderson Asiedu and Jonathan Dean. The former, sporting #6 in a midfield role to match, was a dynamo who found his way into my team of the year, while the latter, a pacey right back wearing #24, blew opponents away with his ball carriage and precision. You'll see both of them pop up here, so let's dig in.

For context, I'll be referring to five instances of buildup play from Birmingham's October matchup against the visiting Austin Bold. The guests lined up in something between a 4-4-2 and 3-5-2, often pressing an extra man up to try and stifle the hosts. Consistently, you saw Austin rely on a central pair to hold down the middle of the pitch. In terms of Birmingham's approach, they lined up in a 4-2-3-1 as shown in the graphic. A few key patterns emerged, centered around a fluid central midfield trio, regular Asiedu forays to the defensive line to pick up the ball and drive progression, and high wingers dropping low and inside to facilitate attacks from Dean and Mikey Lopez at left back.

Here's example number one. Asiedu drops into the back line alongside Phanuel Kavita, himself a strong passer. Up the pitch, Ryan James stays high on the left wing. In frame, you then see Eli Crognale show to the ball and knock it first time to Asiedu. As a result of the off-ball movement and patient passing, Austin is bent out of shape, allowing Asiedu to pick up possession and dribble into Birmingham's left half-space.

In this second instance, possession starts with Lopez at left back. Austin applies light pressure initially, and Birmingham is able to easily progress to the halfway line. There, James and right-winger Prosper Kasim both move inside as the interchanged midfield triangle gets involved. With the wingers central, the fullbacks are able to bomb up the pitch; you can see Dean advancing on the right as the video ends.

Clip three sees Dean progress the ball on his own. Trevor Spangenberg directly feeds him the ball from his spot in goal, and Austin focuses their somewhat higher pressure on denying the center of the pitch; Birmingham keeps two central midfielders deep to further open the wings here. As a result, Dean progresses untouched into the attacking half, again accomodated by those tucked-in attacking midfielders.

My fourth example comes after a Birmingham defensive stop. Asiedu had come deep to defend, and he wastes no time in demanding the ball and carrying it forward. Met with pressure, he switches play to left-winger Ryan James, who (stop me if you've heard this before!) has come deep and inside. Austin is drawn in by #6's dribbling and #7's movement, opening up space for Lopez down the left. It's another successful zone entry in the end.

Finally, the fifth example here sees Spangenberg take a long goal kick. At this stage, Thomas Vancaeyezeele had entered to create something akin to a back three, with Bruno Lapa taking a left-central attacking midfield role and Mikey Lopez moving into the middle amongst other shifts. Nonetheless, there are plenty of familiar principles at play. Substitute JJ Williams tucks in from the right to open up high Dean positioning, and a midfield triangle forms again to open passing angles if possession is gained. The long kick itself is meant to play past Austin's increased pressure and avoid a costly turnover.

What can we take away from this mess of clips? As I showed in the initial 4-2-3-1 graphic and discussed throughout, Anderson Asiedu is absolutely key to the Legion's buildup. He tracks back with the best of 'em, and he's a massive driver of offense. Likewise, Jonathan Dean is vital on the flanks. You get a bit more teamwork and guile on the left, but Dean is someone that you build an attacking style around, and he can drive zone entrance in a similar manner to Asiedu. Additionally, this team gets joy out of the connectivity and motion of their central midfield, which can dually ease short passing and open up the wide regions.

As seen in the graphic showing Birmingham's current squad, Asiedu is back and Dean is a question mark. For me, this Legion side would be deeply hurt if #24 doesn't find his way into the 2022 squad. He's a talismanic presence down the right. The attacking core with Lapa and Kasim is still in place, and I'm expecting more moves to supplement the Amadou Diop addition at forward, but it may be for naught if Dean doesn't return. Without him, buildup for the Legion could become something that's stoppable with, say, a central man-marking scheme. It'll be fascinating to see what gives.

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Two quick hits from the West now, starting in Colorado Springs. Malik Johnson and Cam Lindley, a right back and central midfielder respectively, joined what's quickly becoming a Western Conference favorite. Johnson is an absolute dynamo on the right side, combining immense strength and pace with a sharp cross and a great head on his shoulders; he'll be a wonderful fit replacing the more technical Sebastian Anderson post-loan. Lindley, meanwhile, is a pressure release valve in the middle. He's impossible to press into mistakes, and his vision is awesome. Imagine him with Ngalina and Barry running in behind! Speaking of Ngalina, we shouldn't sleep on his return or that of Lamar Batista at the back; he impressed me with OKC in their back three last year. This team is looking deep and scary in every area.

Last note: Orange County announced the returns of Ronaldo Damus, Patrick Rakovsky, Kobi Henry, and Mikko Kuningas. What a core that is! Every position group is represented here, and this foursome assures that more than a third of OC's value-added from last season is already back for 2022. Damus figures to be a dominant forward presence again after an amazing debut season in the Championship, but I'm so excited to see Rakovsky back in action in goal and to watch the progression of Henry in his central defensive role. He could be key for this team as they look to the future.

That's all for now. Hit me up on Twitter (@USLTactics) for any questions or comments, and I'll be back with a new post come Sunday.