Tampa Bay Rowdies Away to The Miami FC Preview
Written by James Knowles
Date: Saturday March 22, 2025
Kickoff Time: 7:00 pm EST at South Dade Kia Field at Pitbull Stadium in Miami, FL
Records: Tampa Bay Rowdies (0 pts 0W-0D-2L); (The) Miami FC (0 pts 0W-0D-2L)
Standings: The Rowdies are 10th in the East and The Miami are 12th.
Despite a tough start, there is much to build on for Tampa Bay. They continue to play on the road; although, this upcoming trip is much shorter than most. The opponent this weekend is one of two teams below the Rowdies in the Eastern conference, meaning there is every reason to be optimistic. Tune in if you’re not going down to Miami to see how things go this weekend!
Surely we can win this one?!
Tampa Bay has started the year with some negative historical precedents, losing for the first ever time to both Las Vegas and FC Tulsa. No player wants that record, and the team is looking to get things on the right track again. There is a very good opportunity now to do that. Only The Miami have also played and lost two games in the East – and the scorelines were not flattering.
Playing with two vastly different starting XIs in their first and second game, Miami hosted Detroit City and then Indy Eleven. Against the Michiganders, it was only 2-0, which is not that bad considering Detroit’s early form. When the Eleven came to town, the score ended 3-1, with Argentine-American Kevin Hoyos getting the only goal for the side from Florida.
It should also be noted that Miami joined the 2025 US Open Cup in the first round, playing on Tuesday night of this week against amateur side Naples United. Not to be confused with the new professional team from that area, Naples were clearly overmatched and could not stem the tide. The game ended 4-1 with Francisco Bonfiglio getting a double before halftime.
To say the team is still figuring things out is likely an understatement. Former US men’s national team keeper Bill Hamid has taken up the starting role in net. In front of him, only Daltyn Knutson and Alejandro Mitrano have appeared in all three competitive matches as defenders. Jonathan Ricketts is likely to take up the right back role, while Bolu Akinyode has been forced onto the backline.
Allen Gavilanes has also started all three games. He was last year’s top scorer for the side, and he is likely to remain dangerous in moments. He also scored in the Open Cup match, for example. Which of the many new Argentine players are around him is up in the air until Saturday. Miami may try to clog the midfield with more players sitting centrally.
More likely for this one, though, is that they’ll be forced to cover the wide players for the Rowdies, as they are the ones charged with helping create the biggest chances. Ollie Bassett and Blake Bodily will combine while Nick Moon and Woobens Pacius try to do the same on the right. (Pacifique Niyongabire will be away on international duty with Burundi.)
This isn’t a bad formation; it just hasn’t fully settled in yet. Big names veterans with Miami may be less likely to track back, which should allow the Tampa Bay midfield plenty of time to carve things open as they please. Danny Crisostomo and Cammy MacPherson have looked the best players so far for the Rowdies, and they will have plenty of chances to continue their good start.
The final key, of course, is bringing their actions together with the attacking players listed above. In a more concerted fashion, Bassett and Bodily should be dragging players out of position and opening pockets for Manuel Arteaga. Crisostomo and Moon will look to give Woobs the room he needs to get his own shots off. Focusing on fine-tuning the attack is paramount against a team of Miami’s current caliber.
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