The USL was shut out of the U.S. Open Cup semifinals last season, but Indy Eleven advanced in this week’s quarterfinals to rectify that absence.
Indy did so by sticking to their usual style – the same could be said for New Mexico United and the Sacramento Republic, neither of whom flinched in their defeats against MLS competition. Losing with your head held high is a cold comfort, but it’s still evidence of a USL increasingly composed of teams with real tactical identities and talent worth respecting.
For the teams already out of the cup, it was a week marked by more profitable youth sales, interesting intra-league transfer moves, and 10 games that shook up the table. Who’s up and who’s down? Let’s dig in.
1. New Mexico (No change)
Result: Bye
Armed with a few charter flights’ worth of away fans, New Mexico made a valiant attempt at a Cup-set against LAFC but couldn’t come away with a win. Eric Quill deserves plaudits for coming out with a full-strength lineup that pressed high and went for the jugular. The game could’ve gone a whole lot differently pending a better punch from Alex Tambakis ahead of the MLS side’s opening rebound goal.
Having a week off to recover will be an asset for New Mexico, and they can’t lose their first-place spot in the interim. They entered the weekend five points up on second-place Oakland, and they exited it with multiple games in hand on 10 of their 11 competitors in the West. If Quill plays his cards right, New Mexico could carve out a comfortable margin for the top seed as the home stretch of the season approaches.
2. Louisville (No change)
Result: Bye
It’s been three losses in five games for LouCity, an unexpected downturn in form that’s tightened the Eastern race significantly.
The Achilles’ heel has been wing back play in the losses. Louisville plays with a high back line in a 3-4-3 or 3-5-2, and they want to win possession back and overload the half spaces as quickly as possible. Like sprinters ready to spring off their blocks, the wing backs often cheat high to deny passing outlets and dart into the attacking half.
That’s been a useful feature, but all three losses exposed the flip side of the dynamic. Tampa Bay played controlled passes into their forwards in the channels. Rhode Island allowed their wing backs to go one-on-one. Oakland used target wingers to pass over the press. Danny Cruz knows better than to panic and rip up a gameplan that’s mostly been a smash hit; Louisville has won the xG battle in two of the three defeats.
Still, he’d be wise to spend the off week hammering home the need for balance on the flanks.
3. Loudoun (+1)
Result: 1-1 draw at Indy
Loudoun's red-hot offense loves to build short, working up the rungs up their 3-4-3 through a patient double pivot. Indy, their foe this Saturday and a team wise to that pattern, tightly marked the Tommy McCabe-Drew Skundrich duo at the heart of the Loudoun system, and Ryan Martin needed a response. His answer drove through the wide areas.
Early on, wing backs Kwame Awuah and Keegan Tingey tended to hug narrow, providing an extra option in the half spaces to either receive or force a shape-changing reaction out of Indy. Tingey was particularly good at doing so on the right and ended the game with 68 touches, but Awuah - the more expressive player - created more danger.
