Game Preview: Birmingham Legion v. El Paso Locomotive

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

It’s not exactly the dawn of a new era, since the Legion has not yet announced a permanent head coach. Call it the twilight of a new era. But whether it is astronomical, nautical or civil twilight is uncertain (yeah, look that up). I’m hoping civil but only time will tell. Meanwhile…

The Three Sparks are back home after three games on the road (including the Open Cup). The Stallions have their home opener tonight also (v. Arlington Renegades, 7:00pm, Fox) so it will be a busy weekend at Protective Stadium. It will be interesting to see how both teams fare in terms of attendance. That’s especially true of the Legion who have seen home crowds thin significantly over the past year. Has the news of Coach Soehn’s dismissal reached enough ears and piqued enough interest to have an immediate impact? Let’s hope so.

The game will be Sunday (4:00pm, CBS Sports Network). The opponent is El Paso Locomotive. With no competing games on the schedule, Tommy’s departure and a wild Western opponent it’s going to get a lot of attention from USL Championship fans around the country. TV viewership should be pretty good then.

Who are the Locomotive? The Legion has played them twice now, each team taking one win, both on the road. The Three Sparks have a 4-3 edge in scoring. And scoring is something El Paso are doing in abundance this year. In 5 games they have netted 10 goals, a rate matched only by Indy Eleven and the Colorado Springs Switchbacks who have 8 in 4 games. But all three allow goals at pretty much the same rate; El Paso and Indy have a +1 GD and the Switchbacks are at zero. The Locomotive were in the highest-scoring game of the season to date, a crazy 4-4 draw with Phoenix Rising. Their record is 2-1-2, the two wins coming in the past two weeks. Both were by 2-1 scorelines, over Hartford Athletic and Lexington SC. The Hartford win is hardly impressive (and that was the only goal Hartford have scored all year). The Lexington win perhaps somewhat more so, although Lexington’s only win this season was also over Hartford. The game (last week) was a tightly-contested affair.

It’s not surprising then that the Locomotive has some of the highest-scoring players so far. Amando Moreno is on 3, Roberto Avila and Wilmer Cabrera (Junior, that is; Senior is the team’s head coach) are on 2 each. The top assister is Gabriel Torres, who has only 2. So they have 6 players scoring. That is spreading it around to say the least. They have played out of two formations this season, 5-4-1 and 3-4-3, the latter being the more successful. Generally speaking, Avila is the striker and Moreno and Cabrera the wingers.

Both of those formations suggest a relatively defensive approach and that appears to be the case. The only game in which El Paso had consistently deep penetration was against the Switchbacks (a 2-2 draw in the 5-4-1). That further implies that the team relies on counter-attacking and scoring on the break. In fact, 7 of El Paso’s goals have been unassisted. On the other hand all 10 were scored from inside the 18.

But a defensive approach depends on a good defense. The Locomotive do not appear to possess one. Despite at least 3 backs in all games, of the 9 goals allowed 7 were inside the 18. Of the 2 from outside 1 was Goal of the Year contender from the center circle scored by Phoenix’s Mohamed Traore. And that does not indicate a good defense either. The centerbacks are mostly Wahab Ackwei, Tony Alfaro and Arturo Ortiz, sometimes spelled by Bryan Romero. There’s a good reason you’ve never heard of those guys. Behind them in goal is Jahmali Waite who has been with the team since last season having previously been at the Pittsburgh Riverhounds for two years. Waite is an avedragish USL keeper, having allowed 102 goals in 86 games. He’s also on the small side for a netminder at 6’1″.

As for how the team is responding to the change in circumstances, Jake Rufe today stated that it “came as a bit of a shock.” Kobe Hernandez-Foster described it as “unexpected” and “hard.” Thus it seems that the change was not on anyone’s mind. Jake commented that there is “a bit more structure, how we’re building now and how we’re keeping our space in the attacking half. I think it’s going to be good having a bit more structure to operate out of.” That is quite a revealing statement on how the team was playing previously. On the team’s focus and attitude Kobe said that “I think it’s just about sticking together and battling it through, and going into this week and trying to get our first win at home.” He added that the squad is very motivated. Hopefully a whole new mindset.

I also spoke with Sebastian Tregarthen who confirmed that he is now fully fit, although today was his first full training session but he is anticipating minutes off the bench on Sunday. He is also impressed with the facilities he now works in that are better than anything he has previously experienced at Asheville City, Lindsey Wilson College or back in Uruguay.

Eric Avila commented that it was a “sad day” and that it “takes some time to digest.” He also said that “you always want to have a…good bump…[that] is what you hope for. The last two training sessions have been a positive way. High energy.” Jay Heaps was assisting in training today and judging by his, er, colorful language high energy is what we can expect.

He noted that adjustments since the firing have largely been tweaks rather than drastic changes, which given the timing you would have to expect. But he does want “more exciting football, attacking style football.” Without giving any details he did add that most of the team are now back. AJ Paterson remains on the sidelines of course and will for a while but we should see a team that’s close to full strength this week.

On the Locomotive he observed that they are “a well-organized team. Wilmer Cabrera [Senior] is a guy that I used play under¹…It’s all the little details of the game and his style. It;s going to be a tough game…mostly a tactical game for both sides.” He added that they are a good counterattacking team which is something they will have to worry about. Further, on the Locomotive’s three centerback setup – long a problem for the Legion – he said, only slightly cryptically, that “those are the questions that we’re trying to fix here. Can’t get into too much detail, right?”

Prediction: Eric Avila mentioned getting a bump. That tends to happen a lot when there is a coaching change. Teams have something to prove, not only to themselves but to the fans and to the upcoming management. That will be a big advantage for the Legion. That and the Locomotive’s leaky defense means the Three Sparks get the first win of 2025.

(Excerpted from the Football Forge)