Game Preview: Birmingham Legion v. Hartford Athletic
It's all on the line from here on out
The Legion desperately needed 3 points last week. The battle for the playoffs has become far too competitive to drop points against arguably weaker teams, especially teams in the other conference. The consequence for the Three Sparks is that they continue to bounce up and down around the playoff line. Now they have to play every game as if it were the final.
Hartford Athletic started the week 12th in the Eastern Conference. A 2-0 home win over The™ Miami FC put them on 19 points, even with both Miami and the Legion. Tiebreakers make them 1st of the trio and in 9th place. The Legion started the week in 8th. The Hartford win, combined with Rhode Island's midweek 1-0 win over Detroit City, dropped the Three Sparks all the way down to 10th. So Saturday's home game with Hartford (7:00pm, ESPN+) looms large.
The good news is that all four Eastern Conference teams who played Wednesday evening used up a game in hand over the Legion. Even so, the Legion has still played more games than any other team except Monterey Bay FC. The Legion is off next week for a league-mandated mental health break (nicely timed ahead of the midweek Jägermeister Cup quarterfinal in Rhode Island) so more teams will catch up in games played.
Hartford remains 2 games behind the Legion. That's both a blessing and a curse: a blessing in that you have more opportunities to generate points. A curse in that the remaining schedule is comparatively crowded. The reverse is of course the case for the Legion, who get more rest but also watch as other teams pick up points in a very crowded table.
How crowded? 3rd through 12th in the East are separated by only 11 points. 6th through 12th are separated by just 5 points. The West is similarly jammed up. A schedule-maker's dream scenario (to go with the wild ending of the Jäger Cup group stage) but a nightmare for everyone else.
So this week's game is a critical 6-pointer. Moreover, the Legion needs to win by at least 2 goals in order to take the season tiebreaker over the Athletic, who won up in Hartford 1-0 back in April.
Hartford have historically struggled; they made the playoffs just once in 2020. A revolving door to the head coach's office hasn't helped. But that looks to have finally changed as Brendan Burke is now well-established behind that desk (at 20 months he is the team's longest-serving head coach) and has his team looking like a true competitor.
That became patently obvious when the Athletic gave New Mexico United a 4-0 ass-whupping last Wednesday. That was admittedly New Mexico 3rd straight loss—all to Eastern squads—but by the widest margin by far. They were in total control all night and looked nothing like a cellar-dweller. The follow-up 2-0 win over 10-man Miami was less impressive but a streak is a streak.
Hartford, then, is extremely dangerous. Stylistically, they started the year in unpredictable fashion but have become far more stable as the team has gelled. In the last 6 games (including the final Jäger Cup game) they have used just 2 formations: 3-4-2-1 and 3-5-2; the latter they used just once. They are also a low possession team; against New Mexico they had a mind-boggling 26.8%. In the last 6 games they broke 50% jut once and averaged 40.3%. The Legion under Mark Briggs tends to play that same way so something is going to have to give.
Mark Briggs had a very simple explanation for Hartford's recent improvement. "Brendan's a very good coach. They've had a lot of injuries this year and they're just starting to get healthy and you're starting to see the quality that they have now." The Legion has been suffering from similar problems. On that, judging by training earlier this week Phanuel Kavita will be back and Dawson McCartney will see more minutes than the 38 he played last week. Danny Trejo was also at work and talked extensively with his coach afterwards; no idea what that might mean.
As far as attacking threats are concerned, the biggest is Mamadou Dieng who has 7 league goals; Kyle Edwards (who is used mostly as a sub) is just behind him at 6 goals. Briggs had some strong praise: "Dieng up front…I'll be very surprised if he's in the USL longer than this season…he tore New Mexico apart on his own, you know. He scored twice He could have had five." Dieng is only 21 and Hartford is his only pro club to date.
But he's far from the only threat. "[Left winger] Michee Ngalina, top player. [Marlon] Hairston in midfield who played in MLS for a long time. [Right mid Beverly] Makangila. They've got [defender Joe] Farrell. They've got players all over the field that have good experience and know how to get points in big moments." He also had positive things to say about goalkeeper Antony Siaha. "He's a big boy [no kidding; he's 6'6"] who makes good saves, kind of has a real presence about him."
Sebastian Tregarthen also had some comments about the Athletic. "We know that they're a very physical team, they're a very fast team. But also we know that they leave a little bit of space behind for us, for wingbacks and wingers to explore." Obviously that means getting into that space, which means being fast. Which both he and Tyler Pasher certainly are. I asked him who is the fastest: "I believe I'm faster, but he's very quick." Hmm, a future politician. He also admitted to not liking the wingback position when he was put into it but has grown to like it.
Duplicating that speed on the left side has been a problem, mostly due to injuries. Those look to be getting corrected and the addition of Samuel Shashoua has clearly helped as well. If that space truly exists, the Legion has the players who can find it.
Prediction: Frankly, I'm not too sanguine about this game. The Legion is far too erratic still and is hardly the greatest team at home. Briggs also remains concerned about the team's mindset. "They should have an internal motivation [as opposed to motivation from the coaches and fans]. They shoujd understand that this Hartford game is a massive game. It's our season. That's how big it is. You know, we've got to turn up. There's no excuses now. Turn up and do your job." For real. If the team can do that Saturday then they should come away with at least a point. But I really think they won't.
(Excerpted from the Football Forge)
This is going to be a tough one. If Legion finds a way to get three points, I'll take it as a great sign. I'm just not sure how they're going to handle Dieng galloping up and down the pitch.