Squad depth, Laszo proves a point, a promising position and a changing of the guard
My Birmingham Legion FC talking points following their 2-1 win over FC Tulsa in Saturday's USL Jägermeister Cup game
It wasn’t easy, it wasn’t always pretty, and it certainly didn’t seem likely 30 minutes into the game, but Birmingham Legion defeated FC Tulsa in Round 2 of the USL Jägermeister Cup.
Despite being outshot 27-8 and FC Tulsa accumulating 3.00 of expected goals, the Three Sparks defense stood firm. They conceded just one goal and took their chances on the counter for an improbable 2-1 win.
The game featured standout performances from a couple of players, regulars and backups alike, and leaves us with plenty to talk about halfway through the Jägermeister group stage.
Trusting the full squad
Since arriving at Birmingham a month ago, Mark Briggs has been fairly consistent in his lineup choices. Seven players have started in every game they’ve been available for, with the same handful more rotating in and out of those final few spots.
Saturday was a step away from that, as the head coach made five changes to the previous week’s lineup in Miami.
Matt van Oekel, Tyler Pasher and Danny Trejo were the most notable absentees, with all three relegated to the bench. Preston Tabort Etaka got his first start under the Englishman after being a regular as a substitute, Fernando Delgado continued his role as Legion’s cup goalkeeper and Sam McIllhaton got his first return to the starting lineup since the arrival of Edwin Laszo.
Roman Torres and Temi Ereku also got their first minutes from the bench after failing to feature in the past 2 and 9 matches, respectively. Kameron Lacey came on for his Black and Gold debut after signing two weeks ago.
There was a question going into his first cup game for the Legion on how Briggs would approach it, especially with a league game coming so soon after against an Indy Eleven side that did not play at the weekend. Options ranged from punting on the cup and playing a B team to going full strength.
Briggs chose the middle ground, and Legion fans should take heart from that.
Briggs is perhaps best known for his historic US Open Cup as Sacramento Republic’s boss in 2022. This is a man who both enjoys and knows how to oversee a successful cup campaign. Choosing to go half-rotation — keeping key players like Phanuel Kavita, Enzo Martínez and Ronaldo Damus as the core but rotating those around them — told us a lot about his belief in the team.
It showed he’s taking this competition seriously, but also that he trusts more than just the usual suspects to deliver.
Even as the game reached its critical stages, Briggs continued to display this faith in previously underused players. Torres came on at a crucial point — just after the Three Sparks retook the lead — while Ereku made his first appearance for the Englishman as the team looked to withstand a barrage of attacks in the final minutes.
And that trust didn’t go unrewarded, as Legion claimed the win.
If this game was a challenge to those fringe players to stake a claim at more playing time, many of them passed it. And that can only be good for the team moving forward.
Birmingham fans know all-too-well the importance of squad depth following the mini injury-crisis that started the season. On Saturday, Briggs showed that depth is now there, and he’s not afraid to use it.
Laszo’s return
When players return to face their former teams, there’s often a desire to prove the club were wrong to get rid of them.
After losing his spot in Tulsa towards the end of last season despite a promising start to his career in Oklahoma, and going on to barely feature this season ahead of his move to Birmingham, Edwin Laszo had every reason to want to do just that.
On Saturday, he showed Tulsa exactly what they were missing.
In a game that started with Legion players utterly by the wayside, Laszo looked like one of the few up for the contest. He prevented a near-certain goal 15 minutes into the game, stealing the ball off the toes of a Tulsa forward who was unmarked in the box, and repeated the trick 15 minutes later to clear a ball destined to be volleyed in.
Between those two highlights, the Colombian midfielder never stopped running, harassing Tulsa forwards and proving one of the more lively Legion players on the night.
The defensive midfielder led both teams in ball recoveries (9) and touches (75, tied with Tulsa’s Arthur Rogers) in addition to notching three clearances, one tackle and six duels won.
He wasn’t just effective defensively either.
With his 75 touches, Laszo completed a team-high 42 passes, one of them leading to a Legion shot, had the third-most final-third passes on the team and completed the most successful dribbles of anybody on the field Saturday with 4 (nobody else had more than 1).
Prior to the game, Briggs said he was sure Laszo “want[ed] to go there and show the best version of Edwin.” The Colombian certainly did that, delivering his best Legion performance to date in his still-young Three Sparks career.
If he can find that same motivation for every game, Birmingham could have a real gem on their hands.
Looking ahead
Halfway through the group stage, things are starting to take shape.
And it looks good for Birmingham Legion.
The Three Sparks currently sit second in Group 3, behind Indy Eleven only on goal difference. But more importantly, there’s already a four-point gap to third-placed Chattanooga Red Wolves.
That means that the team’s next game in the cup, a top-of-table clash with Indy Eleven, is almost certain to determine the group’s winner.
Whoever wins that game, taking place June 28 in Indianapolis, would go three-clear at the top of the standings, with only the day’s losing team still able to catch up to them. If either side wins on penalties, Chattanooga and One Knox could tie them on points if they went 6/6 in their final two games, but given they still play each other only one team has the opportunity to do so.
Regardless of how they win, whoever ends June 28 with the most points will have their destiny firmly in their hands, and the schedule only furthers that. Because both Indy and Legion play the Group’s bottom two teams in their final game.
Birmingham will host Forward Madison July 26, while Indy will do the same with Tulsa. Both visiting teams, in addition to currently being bottom based on performance, will come into those games with nothing left to play for. As a result, they will likely field weakened and rotated sides to focus their efforts on their league form.
The winner of the Indy v Legion game would only need a draw against these potentially weakened teams to guarantee top spot. In Birmingham’s case, that would mean needing a draw against a team currently 9th in USL League One and with only one win to their name in USL action.
And even if Birmingham lose in Indianapolis, there’s more good news.
Following their perfect start to the cup campaign, the Three Sparks are well-placed to claim a wildcard spots should they miss out on top spot in the group.
After two rounds of action, only three groups (1, 3 and 4) have two teams with 100% records through two games. Many teams in Group 2 have yet to play a second game, however, but the two teams with a win in their first game — Colorado Springs Switchbacks and San Antonio FC — play each other in their second, preventing more than one 100% record (the current group lead, New Mexico United, has four points).
What this means for Birmingham is that the team is ideally situated to challenge for one of the two available wildcard spots available should they miss out on top spot in the group.
The wildcards will go to the two teams who accumulate the most points while failing to finish top of their group. Birmingham Legion are currently one of those teams, and only two others are vying for contention at the moment.
The second criteria, should more than two second-placed teams finish with the same number of points, is goals scored. Once again, Legion are well placed. Goals conceded don’t matter, and the Three Sparks’ five goals scored are currently beaten out by just one team, Miami FC, who are already on fewer points than Birmingham.
When you remember that Legion’s final game will be against a, on paper, very beatable Forward Madison, there is reason for optimism.
Of course, the goal should be to win in Indianapolis and claim top spot in Group 3. But if Legion do not return with the three points, they are still well placed to not just compete for the wildcard spots, but be one of the favorites to claim one.
A Farewell to Spangenberg
Fernando Delgado, Birmingham Legion’s 18-year-old backup goalkeeper, deservedly earned the Man of the Match award from Saturday’s game.
In addition to coming up with several vital saves early in the game to keep things 0-0, he essentially got an assist for Ronaldo Damus’ goal, making the pass that led to the penalty.
It was a stellar performance by the young prospect and a good reminder why Legion were keen to sign him permanently this offseason following his brief loan spell in the Magic City in 2024.
But another interesting goalkeeper storyline was taking place on the bench as much as on the field.
In Delgado’s two previous appearances this season — first in the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup and then in the first Jägermeister game — Trevor Spangenberg was the bench option, with Matt van Oekel left out.
Despite Briggs using his full roster, on Saturday, it was Spangenberg who was nowhere to be seen.
In a game where the GK2 spot was confirmed beyond a shadow of a doubt, the team’s GK3 drifted even further away from the limelight. It has now been six games since Spangenberg was included in a Birmingham Legion matchday squad, having never done so under Briggs’ reign.
This might not seem like much, but if Spangenberg has, as now seems likely, played his final game for the Black and Gold, it signals the end of an era. Though van Oekel, by virtue of his 164 appearances in Legion colors (second only to Prosper Kassim) is generally thought of as the veteran GK1, the man between the sticks since Legion’s first ever game, Spangenberg is actually the team’s first ever goalkeeper.
On March 10, 2019, when Birmingham Legion took to the field for the very first time against Bethlehem Steel, it was Spangenberg standing in goal.
With the offseason departures of Mikey Lopez and Kassim, he is the last player remaining on Legion’s roster who featured in that inaugural game.
He might not get the attention van Oekel has garnered since then, but Spangenberg has been just as loyal to the Birmingham cause. Now 34 years old, he might be willing to stick around as a break-glass-in-case-of-emergency keeper, he might move down a division or to a team with a stronger need in their goalkeeper department, or he might well just hang up his gloves.
Whichever it it, it will probably happen quietly and without much fan attention do the slow-burn nature of his drop down the pecking order. But whenever Spangenberg does exit the Birmingham organization for good, it will mark the definitive end of an important part of the club’s history.
With seven seasons in Birmingham under his belt, 41 appearances in Black and Gold and 11 clean sheets, Spangenberg was a crucial part of getting the Birmingham Legion project off the ground. His drop down the pecking order is the right move for all involved, but nobody should take for granted the role he has played all these years in the Magic City.