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Dayton Dynamo vs Detroit City FC (NPSL – May 15, 2016): Match Analysis

May 27, 2016 by Jaime Ventura Leave a Comment

Following the epic U.S. Open Cup victory over the Michigan Bucks and the NPSL league opener against the Michigan Stars, Detroit City FC headed south of the border to face the Dayton Dynamo. The match in Dayton was the first without standout goalkeeper Evan Louro and the third in the space of five days which led to some important changes in terms of personnel and tactics.

dayton-lineup Who’s On First?

Head coach Ben Pirmann fielded his third consecutive different starting XI against the Dynamo. The big question ahead of the match was without question who would start in goal for the departed Louro. Pirmann gave Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (yes, that is a real place) goalkeeper Joe Smith his first ever start for Detroit City FC. In principal, the rest of the team appeared to line up in a modified 4-4-2 formation with a back four consisting of Zach Schewee, Matt Nance, Omar Sinclair, and Seb Harris. In midfield Danny Deakin returned to the first eleven after having been rested against Michigan Stars. Deakin lined up with captain Dave Edwardson, George Chomakov, and Ali Al-Gashamy. Up front it was Tyler Moorman partnering recently unveiled Loyola University Chicago striker Alec Lasinski.

However, once the opening whistle blew, there was a lot of interchanging of positions and, particularly for Danny Deakin, freedom to roam. In attack, Al-Gashamy and Deakin both took up wide positions from the start. Interestingly, Pirmann had the right footed Al-Gashamy deployed on the left and the left-footed Deakin out on the right, indulging both of the creative players’ inclinations to cut into the middle of the pitch onto their stronger foot as they looked to create in the attacking third of the field. However in defense, Pirmann seemed to ask Moorman to tuck in and defend on either the left or right wing. Al-Gashamy covered the opposite wing leaving Alec Lasinski up front to press the Dayton defenders.  In these instances, the team shape more closely resembled a 4-2-3-1 with Chomakov and Edwardson covering just in front of the back four.

dayton-1

Another important tactical feature of the team against Dayton was that Pirmann gave full license to the fullbacks, Nance and Schewee, to get forward. The two full backs played very high up the pitch, hugging the touchline and giving the team width. This was highly important considering the theoretical, wide midfielders were taking up more central positions with great regularity.

dayton-2

Blitzkrieg

Detroit City FC started the match somewhat tentatively but then opened fire scoring four goals in just over twelve minutes. The first goal was a direct free kick by Deakin in the 22nd minute. His curling left-footed shot cleared the wall and dipped in to the top left corner. Minutes later, it was Deakin again hitting a swerving direct free kick that the Dayton goalkeeper could only parry and it was an unmarked Lasinski that followed the play in before tapping the ball into an the empty net. Lasinski was on target again on 29 minutes. An excellent sequence of passes saw Chomakov and an overlapping Schewee combining on the edge of the box before Schewee slid the ball out to the right wing for Deakin whose first-time cross found the head of Lasinski who made no mistake.

dayton-3

The final goal came in the 34th minute with Deakin once again in the middle of the action. Dropping deep in to receive the ball from Harris, Deakin turned and spotted Al-Gashamy making a diagonal run in behind the Dayton backline. Deakin dropped the ball in over the top of the Dayton backline, hitting Al-Gashamy in stride who then outpaced the Dayton defenders before coolly nutmegging the goalkeeper. Al-Gashamy doesn’t have world-class speed but the timing and the angle of the run left the Dayton players sure that Al-Gashamy must have been in an offside position. Al-Gashamy started his run from wide on the left and snuck in behind the Dayton left back just as Deakin released the ball. By the time the Dayton defenders picked up on Al-Gashamy’s clever movement, he was already in on goal.

dayton-4

Parking The Bus

With a four goal lead and a second round U.S. Open Cup match in Louisville, the City players understandably took their foot off the gas in the second half. The team played much deeper than in the first half, often getting 8 and 9 players back behind the ball setting up a wall of rouge and gold, ceding possession to Dayton and daring them to find a way through. Pirmann left only Lasinski higher up the pitch and the team looked to play quickly and directly to Lasinski, a willing runner, whenever they won the ball back.

dayton-5

For the most part, Dayton didn’t have the guile or precision to cause too many problems for the City backline. The first goal came from a fluky deflection off of Edwardson as he tried to carry the ball out of the defensive third. The ball ricocheted and fell right into the path of one of Dayton’s Khristian Montoya who broke in on goal before Harris intervened. The referee, rightly so, called a penalty in Dayton’s favor and it was Montoya who stepped up to slot the ball home.  Smith went the right way but just couldn’t get a hand to it. Dayton scored a second in the 75th minute from a corner kick. The marking was actually not bad; Tristian Lyle simply out jumped Tyler Moorman to head home. Detroit continued to try and hit Dayton on the counter attack and Lasinski had a third goal disallowed for offsides before the final whistle blew.

Reasons for Concern

  1. City’s defensive record – After a heroic effort by the entire team defensively, shutting out the Michigan Bucks, Detroit City conceded two goals in consecutive league games. There was a bit of misfortune in the play leading up to the penalty but still four goals conceded through two games is troubling.
  2. Lack of continuity – Ben Pirmann has had no choice but to rotate the players in this opening stretch of the season. The number of games in such a short period of time has made it essential to use the entire squad. However, with a number of new players in the fold to begin with, the constant changes to the lineup have made it difficult, particularly at the back, to build raport and understanding with one another.

Reasons for Optimism

  1. Danny Deakin – The first half against Dayton was the Danny Deakin show. One goal and three assists for the University of South Carolina midfielder made him the man of the match. Deakin, who looked isolated on the left wing against the Bucks, was much more involved in the buildup with his free role in midfield and, as was the case against the Bucks, seemed to grow in confidence the more touches he got.

dayton-6

  1. Alec Lasinski – Following the departure of Will Mellors-Blair, City’s top scored in 2015, everyone wondered – who was going to score the goals? Defenders Andre Morris and T.J. Stephens found the back of the net against the Michigan Stars but against Dayton, Lasinski provided a legitimate threat up front. Lasinski has the pace and the finishing but he also takes up very intelligent positions. His darting runs between the defenders resulted in him finding room inside of the box on numerous occasions, twice resulting in goals. Lasinski looked really sharp against Dayton and will hopefully continue to be a reference point in attack going forward.

Filed Under: 2016 Season, Previews & Recaps

Michigan Bucks vs Detroit City FC (U.S. Open Cup – May 11, 2016): Tactical Overview

May 16, 2016 by Jaime Ventura Leave a Comment

After weeks of speculation, beginning with the first roster announcements in early March, head coach Ben Pirmann finally unveiled his first official starting XI of the 2016 season.  With only a handful of the first team regulars available, the first pre-season friendly against Windsor was more of a conditioning exercise than anything else, offering very few clues about who would be starting and where.  The second friendly against Muskegon, however, offered the first hints that Pirmann might deviate from his standard 4-4-2 formation. Indeed, the team started the opening round U.S. Open Cup (USOC) match against the Michigan Bucks playing a rather unconventional, but highly effective 4-3-3.

dcfc-11-bucks-lineupThe goalkeeper

It was a surprise to see Evan Louro’s name on the team sheet in the friendly against Muskegon after announcing that he wouldn’t be playing for the team in 2016 and it was Louro who again made the start against the Bucks. Nobody seems entirely sure how long Louro will be available for selection but Wednesday’s USOC match showed why he was coveted by the coaching staff in the first place. Louro was a commanding presence in the City penalty area. Louro exuded confidence in the air, dealing comfortably with the Bucks’ crosses, both from the run of play and from numerous corner kicks. Louro demonstrated great shot stopping ability and was also quick to come off his line to snuff out the dangerous Bucks’ through passes. Of course Louro will go down in Detroit City history for the two huge saves in the penalty shootout. The first was not well placed but it was struck with a lot of power and Louro did well to cover it, diving to his right. The second save though he demonstrated exceptional goalkeeping technique, taking a step forward and pushing off with his front foot before reaching across with his right arm to palm the ball over the crossbar. Textbook.

The backline

Many of the questions going into the season related to the squad and Pirmann’s tactics surrounded the defense. With Josh Rogers retired and Bennett Jull pursuing his education elsewhere there was a big gap to fill in the middle. In previous seasons, a flat back four was the default but with only three recognized center backs on the roster and a plethora of attacking options, many wondered if Pirmann might experiment with a back three. Against Muskegon it was clear he would not. Having featured as a right back in the past, Seb Harris’ aerial prowess and strong tackling now make him an automatic first choice at center back. The interesting thing was that Pirmann preferred Billy Stevens as his partner in the center of defense. While Stevens lacks the height often characteristic of central defenders, he is exceptionally quick, reads the game really well, and is strong in the tackle. He often plays as right back for the University of Michigan but didn’t look the slightest bit uncomfortable in the middle. Pirmann utilized newcomer Matt Nance at left back and the versatile and experienced Zach Schewee on the right. Schewee is normally a marauding full back and sometimes it is hard to work out if he is playing as a defender or an out and out winger. But against the Bucks he limited his forward runs, focusing rather on not allowing the Bucks left winger to exploit the space behind him. Nance, on the left, was also conservative in joining the attack and this was most certainly down to Pirmann’s instructions to try and keep things tight at the back.

The midfield

Pirmann’s 4-4-2 was exposed in the match last year’s USOC match against the Bucks when he paired Spencer Thompson with Dave Edwardson. The Bucks outnumbered City in the center of the pitch and were able to dominate possession and exploit the spaces through the middle. This time, Pirmann countered by deploying two holding midfielders, Troy Watson and Brett Nason, just in front of the back four. With Watson and Nason covering and tackling, it gave Dave Edwardson, in theory, the freedom to burst forward from midfield in his typical box-to-box style. Edwardson, because of the Bucks’ quality in midfield, did a great deal of covering and pressing and only had a couple of real opportunities to break forward. Edwardson was also more subdued after an early yellow card for a crunching tackle in the first five minutes. It’s hard to say if it was intentional or not, Edwardson is never one to shy away from getting stuck in, but that tackle really set the tone and sent a message of intent.  Watson and Nason, though, were key. Not only did they provide a shield in front of the four defenders, cutting out several Bucks’ attacks before they even had a chance to develop, they also provided cover for the outside fullbacks on the rare occasions when they did venture forward.

The attack

The three-pronged attack consisted of newcomers Danny Deakin, Spiro Pliakos, and ex-Bucks player Tommy Catalano. Pirmann opted to play without a traditional center forward despite having Tyler Channell on the bench. In the past Pirmann has preferred to pair a more physical target man (Channell, Wade, Myers, etc) with a quicker forward (Mellors-Blair, Bautista, etc).  Instead it was Catalano, normally an attacking midfielder, who lead the line with Deakin on the left and Pliakos on the right. Catalano, however, was frequently dropping very deep, playing at times almost as a false ‘9’ – a forward that plays between the lines, rather than playing higher up the pitch, occupying the two opposing center backs.  While they started in those positions, there was a great deal of flexibility in the scheme as the game went on. All three of the front players interchanged with one another, turning up at various times on the left, right and through the middle. The same was true after Ali Al-Gashamy and Jeff Adkins entered the game in the second half, although Adkins stuck closer to the left wing. It looked as though Pirmann was hoping to try and unbalance the Bucks’ defense keeping the front three in constant motion and having them swap in and out of different areas of the pitch.

Question marks

  1. There wasn’t a ton of pace in attack until Adkins came on for Edwardson. Deakin, Pliakos, and Catalano are all technically adept players but none of them are particularly fast. Especially on a night when City was going to have to defend and counter, for the most part, the lack of speed up front killed several chances to create danger in the final third. Adkins’ speed caused more problems for the Bucks’ back four and it’s not coincidental that City’s best spell in terms of play coincided with Adkins’ introduction into the game.
  2. Nance struggled. He seemed a bit tentative and gave the ball away too easily at times. Hopefully he will settle in after he gets a couple of games under his belt. Nance plays at very good Division 1 program (Xavier) so the quality is definitely there. But with Schewee patrolling the right and Alex Isaevski still out through injury, he needs to find his footing quickly.
  3. The team needs to find a way to get the ball to Danny Deakin. He seemed isolated on the wings and he struggled to get involved. When Edwardson came off, he played more centrally in midfield and showed signs of improvement. He seems like the sort of player that grows in confidence the more he touches the ball and in the second half when City was able to keep possession for some longer stretches, Deakin was able to get on the ball and looked sharper working short, quick combination passes with Catalano and Al-Gashamy especially.

Bright spots

  1. Pirmann got his tactics right. City was able to weather the storm in the first 10-15 minutes which is something the team was not capable of in last year’s meeting with the Bucks. They weren’t over run in midfield, everybody got behind the ball when the Bucks had possession, and the positional discipline of the players kept City in the game. Of course, Louro had to intervene on several occasions but Pirmann and the players had a clear approach to the game and for the most part they executed that plan very well.
  2. Al-Gashamy, by his own admission, was feeling a little rusty. It was hard to tell. He has great ability to hold the ball under pressure and then wriggle away from one and even two defenders before playing an intelligent pass. He combined really well with Deakin and Catalano in the final third. You can tell he has that extra bit of quality and while he didn’t quite find the opening against the Bucks’ stingy defense it’s clear that once he gets on the same page with his companions in attack and up to full match fitness he has the ability to unlock opposing defense to create important goal scoring opportunities.
  3. Someone on Twitter mentioned that Billy Stevens was going to quickly become a fan favorite. If you have seen him play for the Michigan, you knew that Stevens plays with guts. He doesn’t back down from anyone, he’s a leader on the pitch, and very communicative, always shouting instructions to his teammates. He might just be the perfect foil for Seb Harris in the center of defense.

To end

 

photo from Detroit City FC.

photo from Detroit City FC.

If Wednesday’s match answered a handful of questions, it also posed several more. Was Wednesday’s 4-3-3 designed specifically for the USOC matches and will Pirmann will revert to a 4-4-2 for league play? How will players like Javi Bautista, Tyler Channell, and Cyrus Saydee, who figure to be important contributors to the team’s success, be utilized going forward? And perhaps most crucially, how will the team cope without Evan Louro once he departs? Regardless, one thing that is clear: one game into the 2016 season, the new look Detroit City team appears capable of great things.

 

 

Filed Under: 2016 Season, Previews & Recaps

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