Three weeks of soccer is a small sample size in which to judge any club, so we’re learning more about each team’s style and quality with every passing match. This weekend, a few clubs staked their claims as real contenders in 2024, but others undercut seemingly bright starts to the season.
With 11 more matches across the USL Championship in the books, where does every team sit? Let’s dig in.
1. Louisville (+1)
Result: 3-1 win vs. Pittsburgh
LouCity's decade-long era of dominance has come thanks to an ability to control territory on the field. In the early days of their historic run, they possessed opponents to death, using a 4-3-3 shape that constantly formed passing triangles to generate chances and play keep-away. In 2023, the style began to change rapidly. Louisville still landed in the Eastern Conference Finals, because of course they did, but they began to prefer a back three and move to a more direct style from the back.
This season, the 3-4-3 is the only shape this team wants to use, and they've designed it to press and counter press ferociously to tilt the pitch in their favor. Against Pittsburgh this weekend, they outshot their guests 17 to four, but they only held 49% of possession and went long on 19% of their passes, which would've been the third-highest rate in the USL last season. Check out this tactagraph (name patent pending) illustrating the long pass and counter press tendencies in Louisville:
The counter press is best weaponized on the right side. There, veteran center back Sean Totsch is allowed to carry forward with the ball at his feet, and right wing back Jansen Wilson gives him the space to do so by bombing into the final third. Say Totsch gets stood up? He's more than willing to punt a long pass into the right channel.
