There are twenty-seven teams in the USL, they're all ranked here, and I have no creativity: thus, a column name was born. These are my weekly power rankings featuring write-ups and snide remarks on whichever clubs capture my sprit. If you want more, make sure to check out:
The USL Show, as always. We're live on Tuesdays at 9:00 Eastern and in your podcast queues shortly thereafter. The USL Tactics Show is there as well.
Backheeled, a site covering American soccer where I contribute on all things USL. Subscribe to the Weekly Recap, and submit questions for my Wednesday Q&A.
The Fan Experience, a Phoenix Rising podcast where I contribute a weekly USL news recap.
But without further ado...
Title Contenders
1.) LOUISVILLE: Tampa Bay is immaculately organized in their defensive block, but Ray Serrano proved crucial in most of the moves that let Louisville penetrate against their Central Florida foes. #21, who came in with two goals and three assists in 2022, proved astute in his choices to dive deep after Tyler Gibson sucked in the midfield or to come narrow in attacking situations to open up Manny Perez on the overlap. Still, the Rowdies largely held firm even with the Serrano-represented fluidity of this side.
Defensively, Louisville was maybe the better side, or at least the one playing on the front foot. Their midfield shape deserves note. The two advanced central midfielders, Jorge Gonzalez and Corben Bone, sat much higher than Serrano and Enoch Mushagalusa on the wings. THe former's advanced positioning denied central angles for Tampa Bay, while the wing depth cut off the wingbacks. As a result, the home side dominated possession (they were around 66% before the goal changed the dynamic) and limited the Rowdies to nary a shot on target.
2.) SAN ANTONIO: At midweek, San Antonio hosted Loudoun in what could've been a trap game, but Alen Marcina never lets his side slip. The first goal was indicative of everything that makes this team special when they’ve got their preferred front three. The forward line forced a long turnover, and Justin Dhillon pops wide into space. When Loudoun adjusted to Dhillon's side, Santiago Patino stepped back to the top of the box as a centerback followed him. Thus, the space was there for #11 to cross into Samuel Adeniran. Pressure led to a break, and a break created a goal. What could be more San Antonio? A concession came with a rare mistimed intervention from Fabien Garcia - wild that he takes free kicks, by the way - but Marcina's side kept to it and earned a well-deserved three points.
Mitchell Taintor missed out at the weekend amidst a yellow-card suspension, but his teammates looked sharp in their new red-accented third kits. I need to focus on that Nicky Hernandez goal and his season in general. In 2022, the FC Dallas loanee sits in the:
100th percentile for forward passing
95th percentile for fouls drawn
92nd percentile for tackle win rate
86th percentile for expected assists
Hernandez does everything. On that stunning goal, he ran the length of the pitch to burst behind the Las Vegas left back, beat his man one-on-one on the dribble, and hammered home a banger. He's increasingly able in providing secondary creation and scoring beneath the forward line. Hernandez isn't a number ten, but this team has no room for a tempo-slowing creator, and they're better off by letting his uniqueness shine.
3.) TAMPA BAY: Dayonn Harris earned a rare start alongside the insanely technical Lewis Hilton-Nicky Law pivot in the weekend's pivotal top-of-the-East matchup, a brave choice meant to challenge Louisville's fullbacks and target the Kentuckians in transition. Still, Tampa Bay ended up on the back foot for long stretches, and while that isn't a death knell for one of the league's best defenses and most underrated counterattacking sides - think about Jake LaCava dribbling on the break - it's a state that invites trouble. Ultimately, Louisville pressed too effectively too allow for Harris to get out on the break, and that same press utterly denied the Hilton-Law pair in the middle. Tampa Bay didn't get much creation out of their typically aggressive centerbacks either. This is still an elite side, but they should feel chastened. There's a clear number one in the East, like it or not, and it's not the Rowdies.
4.) BIRMINGHAM: The Legion carried on in a 4-1-3-2 press as they hosted the red-hot San Diego Loyal, and the shape proved wildly effective at stemming the tide of one of the league's best attacks. Enzo Martinez was endlessly flexibly flitting between lines and marking midfielders as they showed deep, and Phanuel Kavita put in a man-of-the-match performance keeping Kyle Vassell in his back pocket when the Loyal looked long. In the other direction, Martinez was every bit as effective popping into the manifold gaps in the opposing 3-5-2 and launching teammates into the channels beyond the narrow San Diego back line. More than the Memphis game a few months back, this felt like a real statement for Tommy Soehn's side. Shutting down the Loyal like that is impossibly hard, but the Legion did it in style.
5.) SAN DIEGO: Kyle Vassell returned to the starting fold on Wednesday, fresh off a dominant substitute appearance in the earth-shattering San Antonio game last week. Increasingly, San Diego sits in a 3-5-2 with regularity. I liked the shift into an off-ball 4-4-2, but Elijah Martin (93rd percentile Goals Above Average, 80th percentile pass volume and defensive actions) is active and intelligent enough to make up for the difference. The overall performance against Monterey with that dynamic in mind took on a workmanlike mien, but Koke Vegas came up big in net, and the Loyal got a result.
The Legion performance was similarly drab, and you can't let that happen against one of the USL's best-drilled units. Birmingham's press greatly limited what the Loyal could create down the middle, and their physicality eliminated Vassell's efficacy in hold-up. San Diego was fine at back, albeit with a few foibles in the wide areas, but the offensive drought this week is somewhat concerning. I'll have more on that and my thoughts on the Loyal as a title threat in Backheeled's Weekend Recap.
6.) MEMPHIS: A warm welcome back to Laurent Kissiedou as a starter! He slotted centrally and pushed Chris Allan to the left flank as Jeremy Kelly missed out, pitting a box-to-box sort of player in Allan against Pittsburgh's high-powered Alex Dixon. The side didn't miss a beat, and their opener saw Kissiedou's perfect positioning and sniper-esque shot threat open a gap for Luiz Fernando to score after some of the best counterpressure you'll ever see. Memphis is second-from-bottom for tackle attempts in the USL this season, but they're remarkably well-structured; on that goal, 901 FC found their 4-2-3-1 instantly after a turnover, allowing Rece Buckmaster to step up for an interception that launched the scoring play. The second goal was better yet. Fernando collapsed into defense to aid Buckmaster, forcing a turnover and sparking a ball over Pittsburgh's elevated defense. Phillip Goodrum - who's in the 99th percentile for value and does it all - held up and drew a slew of centerbacks, opening up a paralyzing switch to the opposite flank. The 'Hounds overreact, and Aaron Molloy arrives late to seal it. This team is so unselfish in attack. Even the Kelly-esque dribblers only hang on to the ball with a clear end in mind. Their tempo and chemistry create a viable title-level offense.
Playoff Form
7.) SACRAMENTO: Rodrigo Lopez has a quarter of the Republic's assists and twice as many shot-creating key passes as any of his teammates, and the Monterey game was a showcase for how pallid this team is with #8 off the pitch. I've been on the Lopez-for-MVP train as of late, and his absence was as supportive of my case as his on-field contributions. That said, Keko was bright aping some of his common runs and showing into the midfield; the Spaniard is in the 80th percentile or better for forward passing, expected goals, and expected assists, and he carried the offense and linked with the fullbacks in Sacramento's best moves. At back, the side was solid despite an early set piece allowance. I don't shout out Conor Donovan enough, but he's really brilliant, and he's borne a big load in commanding the back line as the centermost centerback. The ease of that transition shouldn’t be undersold for #20 after he played as more of a marauding wide centerback with OKC last season.
To make subtext clear: I’m not dropping Sacramento if Roro is out. Sorry, not sorry. I don’t claim to be consistent or unbiased.
8.) PITTSBURGH: This week, I wrote about the leading title contenders in the USL over at Backheeled and struggled to come up with a real weakness in this Pittsburgh team. I ended up targeting Bob Lilley's lack of any success in the playoffs, but the Memphis game made me realize what the Riverhounds' flaw is: they don't have a true ball progressor in the middle. Kenardo Forbes' best moments come as a higher-placed #10, Danny Griffin is a natural recycler, and the Ybarra/Argudo/Kelly-Rosales types all fail the test as well. Robbie Mertz can absolutely be the guy with his high passing volume and top-third progressivity, but Lilley seems to prefer him higher up. The end result is that the Riverhounds are below 50% for their average possession and play long balls at a roughly top-ten rate, and well-drilled sides like Memphis can addle them.
9.) TULSA: Rodrigo Da Costa rightly wins praise for his excellence on the ball, and he's utterly talismanic in that context, but his defensive contributions should be noted. Few forwards press with such efficiency of movement. Da Costa is only in the 29th percentile for defensive actions, but he hustles to put himself in positions that deny the center and force opponents to try and beat Tulsa down the touchlines. This dynamic worked nicely to start against Miami on Wednesday, and Da Costa's carriage through the opposing midfield and smart in-box marauding set up the first goal for the side. Still, Dario Suarez was the star with a goal and assist in the first half. He's been down a bit in 2022, often left out for new-age Lebo Moloto and below-water for expected goals per 90, but every bit of nous and class that the Cuban provides was on display here. The playoffs remain a possibility.
10.) NEW MEXICO: Neco Brett is great, and a seven-goals contribution is lovely, but what if you could bring in someone with Brett's quality plus greater engagement in build and a relationship with the fanbase? Welcome back, Kevaughn Frater. In 2019 with New Mexico, Frater rated in the top fifth for expected goals and assists as well as defensive actions; his overall value was in the 95th percentile. He can be game-changing for a side that's not always dynamic in attack.
Before Frater could re-join the eleven, Cristian Nava and Romario Williams got chances to start against Los Angeles on Sunday evening. New Mexico moved into a 4-4-2 with a diamond midfield to overload a foe with a strong central drive in their attack, and the results were largely solid. Nava was especially impressive on the right side, and there were moments that the diamond turned into a "Y" as Chris Wehan sunk deep beneath Nava and left-sided Sam Hamilton. On the side's second goal, however, the diamond struck true and both #45 and #41 bombed high in the press. Harry Swartz intercepted the rushed pass, and Nava absolutely cooked his Galaxy foe to force an own goal. He's special, folks, and he shines whenever Zach Prince unleashes him in that diamond.
11.) EL PASO: The first ten minutes of a road trip to Colorado Springs were an utter disaster for the Locomotive, a masterclass in poor spacing, an isolated pivot, and sloppy backpassing. How, then, did the game end with El Paso feeling robbed of three deserved points? It all began in the midfield. Eric Calvillo dropped next to Liam Rose, turning a 4-1-2-3 of sorts into a double pivot. The opposition had to commit bodies to this supercharged central pair, opening lanes down the flanks, and El Paso suddenly had twice as many footholds to break from back. When Dylan Mares and Richie Ryan came on as second-half reinforcements, the dam broke. The Locomotive ran rampant against the now-outnumbered heart of Colorado Springs' 4-2-4, feasting as Lucho Solignac, Aaron Gomez, and Ricardo Zacarias interchanged with abandon. Erase those first few disasters, and this turns into one of the best Locomotive performances of the season, but that mercurial nature can't be ignored, and it's why El Paso isn't out of the woods in the playoff hunt.
12.) DETROIT: First things first: those rainbow-ish charity kits were lovely. On the pitch against Oakland, Detroit City faced a side that plays a similar back-three-using, wingback-driven system. The visiting Roots came to play and smothered Le Rouge defensively. Want some unsolicited advice, Trevor James? play a Maxi Rodriguez-Connor Rutz pivot and play a Macky Diop- or Francis Atuahene-style speedster in the front line. Both #21 and #11 are workmanlike enough that you can give up the presence of an out-and-out holder, and the commitment to creativity could give this side the spark they need to more regularly create through the middle. Further, getting that extra, defense-stretch forward on can anchor Detroit in the box and complement the wandering character of Antoine Hoppenot and Pato Botello. I'm a fool, and this won't happen, but it's food for thought for a side that's in a funk. Oh, and I drafted this tirade midgame before Atuahene got his goal; the 5’9” speedster is in the 88th percentile for expected goals per 90 and maybe deserves more than just his sparing late-game cameos.
13.) MIAMI: After their crushing 3-0 win on Saturday in New Mexico, Miami opted to keep an unchanged eleven for their huge game against Tulsa at the midweek. That meant Joaquin Rivas would once again hold down the left wingback spot, but the general unbalance - Rivas higher than Mark Segbers on the right, Aedan Stanley further up at left-centerback than Callum Chapman-Page at right - was more marked this time around. To his credit, Chapman-Page's dummy run opened up the set piece goal that gave Miami the lead, and his defensive depth relative to Segbers drew that side up for Tulsa and opened some nice diagonal runs to the touchline from Richie Ballard. Still, the rotation back to stasis from that off-balance shape doomed Anthony Pulis' side on both of the guest's first-half goals, ostensibly keeping the door ajar in the playoff race. The attacking play was good again, but it wasn't quite enough for a statement.
Lamar Walker spelled Rivas on the left at the weekend, and I love him as an attacking talent, but he lacked Rivas' tireless work rate. That's less of a problem with Aedan Stanley behind you, and the 3-4-3 proved rather difficult for Atlanta to break down. The Peach State side was fresh off a midweek game in their own right, and they looked off the pace against this well-organized Miami defense, especially after a quick goal allowed them to get compact. On that goal: hot damn, Mark Segbers! #98 raced into the heart of the pitch on the underlap, getting fully left of Atlanta's back line to link with Florian Valot and score. Segbers has two goals now, as many as he got last year in Memphis, but his attacking contributions are unbelievably important. In a way, Miami's been trying to replicate that impact on the left all year.
Middling West
14.) COLORADO SPRINGS: Cam Lindley absolutely shone as the Switchbacks hammered El Paso out of the hates on Friday. #6 had two assists in the first ten minutes as his side dominated the Locomotive in a 4-2-4 shape with Jairo Henriquez pressing up into the forward line. The look kept El Paso under constant pressure and challenged their build to great aplomb, resulting in numerous turnovers. These scenarios are where Lindley shone. He's in the 97th percentile for expected assists and the 94th for total passing this year, and his vision was lethal against the unsettled Locomotive. What went wrong? The Switchbacks' high defensive line and aggressive midfield play proved self-defeating as the match wore on and El Paso loosed their best creators. Four concessions came in short order, and a controversial Aaron Wheeler equalizer rewarded a truly underwhelming performance at the end of the day. This defense has absolutely lost the plot.
15.) MONTEREY: With Chase Boone upgraded to "questionable" at midweek, we grew ever closer to fully-actualized Monterey. They faced a tough turnaround against San Diego and started Jesse Maldonado at the #10 spot in lieu of the criminally unerrated Adrian Rebollar. #7 provides flank-to-flank energy in the press, and Monterey intentionally chose to push their wingers high into a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 compared to their typical 4-4-1-1 without his presence. The added aggression stifled San Diego's back three for most of the match, and Frank Yallop's side matched the hosts for shots on target, powered by a great Sam Gleadle game with three such contributions. Monterey, one of the lower-possession clubs in the USL, was able to break into the winger's speed against a possession titan, but even Gleadle couldn't quite get them over the line.
On Saturday, Christian Volesky returned to the starting squad and put Monterey up off a set piece rather early. Yet again, the side was strong and pesky at home. If you throw out the seven games before Cardinale Stadium became usable, Monterey is playing at a playoff pace; they'd be on 35 points, give or take, if they were equal to seventh-placed Las Vegas for matches played. Nevertheless, this team still has a shot thanks to a great defense. Grant Robinson shone bright at left back against Sacramento, never hesitating to step up to make a stop. He's in the 81st percentile for defensive actions this year. Paired with bottom-ten-percent expected goals, his stat line might as well be a microcosm of how this Monterey team operates.
16.) ORANGE COUNTY: Milan Iloski simply cannot be stopped, but the defense behind his was nearly as impressive in a huge win against Phoenix. Richard Chaplow's side sat in a 4-3-3 with three box-to-box, industrious midfielders. At right, Brent Richards was absolutely vital. He's in the 93rd percentile for his tackle win rate and the top third for total defensive actions, and he leveraged smart positioning to shut down the opposition's only true threat in the form of Santi Moar. At times, Richards would tuck narrow as Ian Hoffman tracked down the flank, or Richards himself could extend wide as one of those central players formed a back five. The fluidity and organization were a breath of fresh air for a team that's not quite out of it yet for all of the struggles.
17.) LAS VEGAS: The defense for the Lights took on a proper diamond look this weekend, but the narrowness innate to that shape was the wrong call. San Antonio dominates the flanks with their prodigious wingbacks - a factor that often drew Mohamed Traore and Morten Bjorshol high - and stretches you with their three-man forward line. Las Vegas is typically one of the most disciplined sides in the USL, but the opposition caught them out on the regular. Take the opening San Antonio goal. Traore gets sucked up to the wingback, no one covers, and the hosts work into the open space, scoring off the ensuing one-on-one. The Lights are still hanging on to that last playoff spot, and San Antonio is fiendish, but this was a weak harbinger of their ultimate success.
18.) LOS ANGELES: Against a New Mexico side somewhere in the space of a midfield diamond, Galaxy II stuck with their 4-4-2 look and closed hard against the multi-level split central midfield on the other side. What does mean in practice? A diamond gives you three horizontal lanes in the heart of the pitch, whereas Los Angeles' 4-4-2 occupies but one. When New Mexico took advantage, Yoann Damet's side proved astute at stepping up with coverage to cover for the disparity. Liam Doyle would get high to cut out the #10; Josh Drack would slide inside to cover when a central midfielder popped high.
As a result, Los Angeles forced turnovers and got out in transition, often breaking into right-sided 18-year-old Jonathan Perez, a player who came into the match with two goals and three assists in less than three full games played. Still, the side conceded in the first half by failing to maintain proper space in their back line and losing out to that varied verticality. It's tough to play with such a fluid, high-intelligence structure when your team is a bunch of unfamiliar 20-year-olds, though I will say that the Galaxy probably had equivalent chances. One such look saw Perez’s gravity draw the opposition high, opening a hole behind the fullback frim which to launch a cross into Cameron Dunbar. Not all bad, eh?
19.) OAKLAND: Darek Formella took the striker spot as the Roots roadtripped to Detroit, and I think the extra smidge of athleticism and on-ball guile he provides was useful as Ottar Karlsson missed out on paternity leave. Formella, who still gives you some physicality and boasts a 96th percentile aerial win rate, did well to integrate Mikael Johnsen and Charlie Dennis on his wings, sucking an expansive Detroit side narrow at times. That exact situation is where Oakland wants you, liberating the ten-goal fullback pair of Edgardo Rito and Juan Azocar to race down the open flanks. Matias Fissore and Jose Hernandez were delightful popping high in the press as well, and Oakland deserved three points. Of course, then, the Roots only earned a draw after a late concession. The back line was bizarrely high for a team with a late one-goal lead, and Detroit made the guests pay. Oakland is still just three points out of the playoffs, and I like their performances more than anyone else in the hunt, but the results never come cleanly.
Down Bad
20.) PHOENIX: I've been adulatory towards Phoenix since they found defensive form and moved Darnell King to the left, but the swap hurt the side as they took on last-place Orange County. Milan Iloski tore Joey Calistri to shreds on the right side, and the narrow positions Irakoze Donasiyano took up as the ostensible winger on that side forced the veteran to cover a ton of ground to start with. Meanwhile, Rising's attack was rudderless against a compact defense; the usually shot-dominant club only forced a single save. It's hard to discern a structure for Phoenix in attack a lot of the time. There's a lot of lumps into JJ Williams and an unstated intention to, uh, kinda just hope that Aodhan Quinn does something magical. My playoff model still fancies this team as a contender, but performances and results like this and Phoenix's dry offense have me doubting anew.
21.) CHARLESTON: On Friday night in Montclair, Avionne Flanagan debuted on the wing shortly after being announced as a loan signing. He slotted into a shape that approached a 4-2-3-1 in build and a 3-4-3 in defense; still a back three, but hedged. Andrew Booth also returned to the bench, and I can't wait to see him back, but Charleston didn't need him here. This game saw the Battery blend their early-season reliance on long balls with the hard pressure that carried them to results against Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay a few months back. Robbie Crawford would look over the top with pinpoint precision, players like Flanagan and DZ Harmon would close at a clip, and the Battery were off to the races. Refreshing stuff in an up-and-mostly-down campaign.
22.) RIO GRANDE VALLEY: It's an off week for the Toros, so let's take stock. Right now, RGV is seven points out of the playoffs with no games in hand on seventh-placed Las Vegas. They're tied for last place in the West on points and haven't won since June 18th. Indeed, the side has just three goals in seven games since that point. RGV's press is always fantastic, but they can't leverage that dynamism to create transition chances. When the looks do come, the Toros can't finish; they have the second-worst conversion rate in the USL at 8%. No one is out of it in the West, and you can't count this team out until an all-important matchup with the Lights in two weeks, but rubber has to meet the road soon.
23.) HARTFORD: If you had told me in the preseason that Danny Barrera would be below average for expected goals and expected assists deep into the season, I'd be curious what injury kept him out. Instead, deep deployment and a side without a true striker have derailed the start creator, which made his opening goal against Indy Eleven all the sweeter. Hartford went with an all-out-offense midfield with Barrera alongside Luka Prpa and behind Ariel Martinez, and all three had great moments of ball carriage while showing responsibility when someone burst into attack. #10's opener followed a strong sequence from Martinez that sucked Indy narrow, allowing Barrera the time and space to score. The goals haven't come easy in Connecticut in 2022, so that made Barrera's contribution that much sweeter.
24.) LOUDOUN: Say what you will about Loudoun, but they never rest on their laurels. An away match in San Antonio might as well be a guaranteed loss, but Ryan Martin reacted smartly by dropping his pivot crazily low to support build against the USL's best press. Jeremy Garay, a holding midfielder in the 95th percentile for pass volume and below average in every other area, regularly dropped between the centerbacks to ease progression. I liked the gambit in theory, but it just didn't work with the talent gap on the pitch. San Antonio got their opener off an intercepted Garay diagonal. Jacob Greene was caught high, the centerbacks were poor marking the opposing front three. An equalizer came off a set piece, but the Texan side proved too powerful in the second half. Such is life with Wayne Rooney hoarding talent in the nation's capital.
25.) INDY: Ayoze and Neveal Hackshaw paired in a double pivot in a unique Eleven lineup, and I think this is their best deployment going forward. The holding midfield is an area that requires less end-to-end running, suiting two players who have frankly looked slow in 2022. Both, however, are superbly technical and can meet the needs of the spot under pressure and duress. Mark Lowry traditionally relied on Richie Ryan in that spot, and Hackshaw and Ayoze give you interesting variants on his patient skillset. Of course, the opening Hartford goal came from that pair and new man Robby Dambrot failing to close down to Danny Barrera, so I might just be an idiot. There never seems to be a correct answer when you're trying to line up this side in 2022, though it might not hurt to stick with a team and style for more than a game or two, results be damned.
Also, I'm somewhat baffled by the midgame Stefano Pinho entrance. This is a player with seven goals and an 86th percentile conversion rate, and you're putting him on the wing? I think Pinho is pretty excellent given that he gets no service, but that's not his role. He's a mediocre dribbler and not the most energetic. Odd choice.
26.) NEW YORK: After a somewhat dominant stretch in the central midfield, Michael Knapp anchored the Red Bulls' back four in a less-than-enthralling matchup with Atlanta. Steven Sserwadda remained in the middle the 4-2-3-1 ahead of him and showed why he's made a few senior cameos at Red Bull Arena. As a #10, he dictated play and linked wonderfully with Caden Clark at right, taking advantage of Raimar's overlapping tendencies. He put in a shift tracking back and flattening out New York's midfield. Indeed, on the year he's in the 76th percentile for defensive actions. His side continually generated four-on-three breaks against the opposing back line.
The Baby Bulls took on Charleston on Friday with a similar lineup, albeit one featuring Hassan Ndam. Still, the MLS veteran was doomed in a side that couldn't hold firm in the midfield, and his pairing with Daniel De Leon didn't help. #90 is in the upper echelon of USL defenders for defensive actions and clearances by volume, but that's because New York is inept and constantly under pressure. He interacted very poorly with Ndam and left back Curtis Ofori and was particularly burnt on Charleston's second goal. There, a ball over the top turned into a "mano a mano" matchup, and De Leon came out worse for the wear. Altogether, it was a play representative of a disappointing performance.
27.) ATLANTA: Lacking the stalwarts (Conway, Mejia) and breakouts (Trager) that've kept the side afloat this season, Atlanta looked terribly outmanned in Montclair. Another low-chemistry, low-experience back line was in a tough position against a foe laden with MLS transients, but the lack of discipline at the wingback spots from Raimar and Erik Centeno did nothing to help the cause. I've mentioned it a fair bit, but if you want your developmental affiliate to actually succeed at development, you can't leave them out on an island to suffer unprotected. Robbie Mertz was that safety net for much of the season, but he's gone for the Keystone State. What's left often isn't enough to tread water.
The positive 18-year-old defender Efrain Morales held his own in a central midfield deployment. He's been a clean, no-nonsense presence in block - roughly 90th percentile returns in defensive actions, clearances, and aerial wins don't lie - but flashed a few moments of technical control and passing in the heart of the park. That's big for a high-potential teen like #35.
Still, the Miami game on Saturday wasn't much better for Collison's crew. Eight minutes in, the back three got horribly tangled and the wingbacks failed to track an underlapping run to concede. Half an hour later, Atlanta went down a man and never recovered. The recent stretch for this club has truly been brutal, eh? I'm still clinging to the small joys, chief of which is Morales.
28.) NEW ORLEANS: I'd gladly take some etouffee...
29.) RHODE ISLAND: ...over a clam cake.
Comments