Altering the approach, Shashoua's new role, two roster additions and nine quarterfinals
My Birmingham Legion FC talking points following their 1-1 draw with the Pittsburgh Riverhounds in Saturday's USL Championship game
Birmingham Legion should have won on Saturday.
The xG might not support this, reading just 0.74 to Pittsburgh’s 0.62, but that’s why xG only takes you so far. Despite spending much of the night below the 40% possession mark, the Three Sparks were a constant threat to their visitors and would have scored two or three with a bit more composure in the final third.
In an incredibly tight playoff race, the draw was two clear points dropped, but also showed that Legion shouldn’t be counted out just yet.
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A new counter-attacking approach
With just one game left in August, Birmingham Legion have yet to win this month.
Their last win came in the USL Jägermeister Cup on July 26, while their last league success dates back to July 11 in North Carolina. And yet, despite a midweek cup exit and a frustrating result at the weekend, the mood was positive Saturday night.
That’s because, for the first time in a long time, you could see signs of change.
In midweek against Rhode Island and Saturday against Pittsburgh, Mark Briggs put out unexpected lineups. After stubbornly sticking with the same players through a poor run of games, it was a welcome shift from the head coach.
But more than that, the personnel choices also came with a clear change in how the team set up. Pittsburgh illustrated the shift well, but hints of it were already apparent in Rhode Island. In both games, the team came in with a defensive mindset and looked to hit their opponents on the counter.
Legion’s possession numbers against RIFC and the Riverhounds were 37.2% and 40.3%, respectively. The RIFC possession was their lowest of the season, and only the Charleston Battery draw falls between that game and the Pittsburgh one at 39.4%.
There is a saying in soccer that “possession wins games,” but that could not be more wrong in the USL Championship. A stark exception to that rule, this league actually sees the team with the lower amount of possession win a majority of the time.
“If you look at the stats across the league, I would guess in 90% of games the team that has the most possession loses the game,” Briggs said. “It’s not even close.”
So while some may think this is a bad think, it was instead a sign of intent. Against Pittsburgh especially, with the pace of Preston Tabort Etaka and Sebastian Tregarthen down the wings, there was a clear plan to soak up pressure and run at the Riverhounds on the break.
It worked nearly to perfection, and should have resulted in a win. Both at RIFC and against Pittsburgh, the sole goal conceded was due to a mistake rather than a failing of the system.
That’s a risk that comes with allowing so much possession to the opposition, but one that can be worth the reward if executed well.
“It’s tough,” Phanuel Kavita said. “We have players who want to be on the ball, who want to create. When you’re defending for a long period of time, obviously your legs get tired and once you start going forward it’s tough. It’s far, because you’re dropping and dropping and dropping. The more possession you give them, the more opportunities eventually they’re going to create.”
Still, the new approach not only gave the team a clear plan, it gave them new life.
After several below-par displays, culminating with that embarrassing Hartford Athletic loss, the Legion were in a funk. Losing becomes a vicious cycle, and sticking with a losing approach just makes it worse.
Changing the mindset thus allowed the players to put those performances behind them, and it showed with energy and heart that had been sorely lacking from recent outings.
“We just went through a couple of really hard weeks where we had to reflect on ourselves and find a way to mentally come back and compete, and I think now we’ve had two games where we’ve definitely competed at a high level,” Samuel Shashoua said. “We’ve matched teams’ intensities, and probably surpassed them at moments.
“It’s just having more of an identity as a team,” he added. “Obviously the first thing you’ve got to do is compete and match people’s energy, which we didn’t do against Hartford. So that was the first thing that we had to improve, and we did that. Now it’s about the little nuances and improving in that aspect.”
When players buy in to what they’re doing, they’re always going to give more on the pitch. Saturday was not perfect, but with more positive performances with this approach, things will only get better.
“As performances like that keep improving, then I’m sure the quality of football will match that,” Shashoua said. “Every time you defend well in that low block, it creates confidence within us.”
A revelation in central midfield
A huge component of that successful style shift Saturday came in the center of the park, where Samuel Shashoua lined up as a central midfielder.
Usually a winger or attacking midfielder, the on-loan Englishman embraced his new position. He was at the heart of nearly every positive attacking move from the Three Sparks and made the entire system tick.
“I thought he was fantastic tonight,” Briggs said. “Really happy with him. We had an honest conversation last week, and I asked for more from him. And I thought tonight he gave more and he looked like the player I wanted to bring here.”
Shashoua revealed that Briggs told him he would be playing as a central midfielder the day before. The change was inspired from the Rhode Island game, where Shashoua came on in a similar position for the last 10 minutes when the team was chasing the game.
While it did not bear fruit in that game, it planted the seeds for Saturday’s double Sam pivot with Shashoua alongside his namesake, Sam McIllhatton. And with the Australian the more defensive Sam of the duo, Shashoua was free to pull all the strings of the Birmingham attack.
Shashoua had the second most touches of any Legion player against Pittsburgh and put them to good use. He completed more passes (37, tied with AJ Paterson) than any of his teammates, and did so with the highest pass accuracy (88.1%) of any Birmingham starter on the night.
He also completed more passes in the final third than any player on the pitch, finding his target with all 12 of his attempts in the Riverhounds’ defensive third, and won a team-high four fouls.
But the attacking output was never the question for a player used to playing in forward positions. In a two-man midfield, Shashoua was also tasked with a significantly increased defensive workload, but passed the test with flying colors.
“It’s not that new on the ball, but without the ball it took a little getting used to,” Shashoua said. “Shifting side to side, it’s not as high-intensity as wing defensively, but there’s more ground that you have to cover.”
Prior to beginning his postgame interview, Shashoua told the media that he felt utterly exhausted by the effort. When he left, he announced he was headed straight to bed when he got home.
Looking at the stats, you can see why his defensive duties took so much out of him.
In addition to his starring offensive contributions, Shashoua was a defensive workhorse. He both competed in and won more duels than any of his teammates (12 and 7, respectively), won back possession more than any other outfield player from either team (9 times), and added the second-most interceptions (3) to his name.
He also had one clearance and successfully completed his one tackle attempt.
With that performance, there will suddenly be significantly less anxiety at the idea of a winger playing in the two-man pivot. Shashoua’s output was not only a star performance on the night, but illuminated a new way forward for the Three Sparks.
The main complaint in recent weeks has been the midfield, where Edwin Laszo and Enzo Martínez have struggled to operate as a tandem. On Saturday, Shashoua showed that the solution might have been waiting in the wings all along.
More newcomers join the fray
Saturday’s game was also notable for the first start of Amir Daley, signed Tuesday on loan from FC Cincinnati 2, and a bench appearance for Trevor McMullen, picked up on a free following a collegiate career with Mercer University.
Both signings came out of the blue, and both posed some questions in their own right.
Starting with Daley, it surprised many to hear of his signing on the day Legion traveled to Rhode Island. Photos from the team in Pawtucket later confirmed the new man had made the trip with his teammates, and he ended up playing just under half-an-hour off the bench.
But the biggest puzzlement at Daley’s signing was not the suddenness of it all, but rather the position the 23-year-old occupies.
In 41 appearances for FC Cincinnati 2, Daley has operated nearly exclusively as a right back or right midfielder, with just two appearances at centerback the exception. Yet Legion have two natural right backs already on the books, and Sebastian Tregarthen had been starring at right wing-back in recent weeks.
But Daley’s appearance against RIFC, replacing Dawson McCartney at left wing-back, suggested he might actually be here to replace the injured Moses Mensah, whose only natural replacement is McCartney, himself just back from a lengthy injury-layoff. After the game, Briggs confirmed that was the case.
“He can play right or left,” Briggs said. “You saw what he can do. He’s more comfortable on the right, but he can play on the left and add quality, so we just needed someone who can give a balance for Dawson. He’s still coming back and we don’t know if we’ll have Dawson continue week after week, so I thought it was a a chance to sign a quality player who can help us in the run-in.
“When he came in he gave energy, he gave quality on the ball and he defended well,” he added. “So I was very happy with him.”
That explains that, but also places a massive question mark over a different player in the team: Erik Centeno.
Centeno is himself a Briggs-signing, having joined in May. Like Daley, he’s a right back who has also been used at left back. And yet, despite being fit, he has not started a game since June 14 and hasn’t even made an appearance since July 26.
While Daley might be an upgrade on Centeno, it raises questions over the team’s recruitment that a player brought in just three months ago by the current manager is already surplus to requirement.
Trevor McMullen’s signing is less confusing, though the timing was even more surprising. The former Mercer man was announced just 90 minutes before the lineup was put out for the Pittsburgh game, where he featured on the bench.
Unlike Daley, however, McMullen had been on trial with the club for several weeks. His sudden contract, and subsequent matchday squad inclusion, were simply a result of an injury to Matt van Oekel.
“Matt made a save in midweek at Rhode Island and the back of his leg is extremely bruised,” Briggs said. “So he couldn’t move or strike the ball with his left foot. So no matter how good he is, he can’t play with one leg.
“Trevor’s been training with us for three weeks, so he got his opportunity to be on the bench and hopefully he enjoyed the experience,” he added.
Van Oekel was still involved in the goalkeeper warm-up and does not seem he will be out long-term. With both Delgado and MVO competing for the number one spot between the sticks, McMullen is most likely a depth-signing who will only see the pitch if something drastic happens to the two others.
Assessing the run-in
After the Hartford game, things felt bleak. Legion were second-to-last in the East, and every team around them bar RIFC had one, if not more, games in hand on the Three Sparks.
In the two weeks since, things have started to look a bit better.
Birmingham played only one league game in that time, collecting a singular point, and yet the outlook is suddenly more positive. While the race for the postseason remains an uphill battle, Saturday’s performance and results from their competitors going their way mean it feels like a winnable one once more.
Birmingham are still three points off the eighth and final playoff spot, chasing an Indy Eleven team that holds a game in hand and boasts a better goal difference. However, Miami FC is back below the Three Sparks with the same number of games played, while Tampa Bay’s game in hand could, at best, see them go one point clear of the Black and Gold.
Crucially, Birmingham still face all three teams listed above.
After the Rhode Island game, Briggs said he had seen a shift in his team for the quarterfinal. With only the postseason left to play for, he challenged his players to treat the remaining 10 league games as 10 more quarterfinals.
That started with Pittsburgh, and it seems the team took those instructions to heart.
“One of the messages that we’ve all just been telling ourselves is to stay positive,” Kavita said. “Eventually, something will work our way. And if you get momentum at the right time, you never know what could happen. That’s what we’re focusing on, one game at a time.”
With two trips out West next on the docket, Birmingham has a chance to build up that momentum before its crunch six-pointers with its direct rivals for the postseason.
“Any team you play, whether it’s in the West or in the East, is a difficult team,” Briggs said. “So we’ve got to go there with a plan and understand their tactics and then give the guys a plan that hopefully they can execute. And then come back with some points against West Coast teams, which are invaluable.”
There’s still a long road ahead if Birmingham is to return to the postseason after last year’s absence. In addition to playing their direct rivals, the Three Sparks also face some of the toughest teams in the league in their run-in.
But while the task ahead might still be too big to overcome, at least Saturday showed the team won’t be going down without a fight.