It may be a little tougher to have a lot to say when much of the game’s action (including both goals) happened during a streaming outage. However, keeping an eye on the personnel, there was still a good amount to glean. Here it goes.
Goalkeeper
There wasn’t a ton of action for either CJ Cochran (73 minutes) or Micah Bledsoe (the final 17). Of course, that includes a goal scored by the opponent in Cochran’s time, so… maybe there was! And we’ll never know!
Without knowing much detail about the Ottawa goal, Cochran faced just a couple shots on frame. On one in the first half, he punched one from the top corner of the penalty area wide, where it deflected off the frame before going out toward the wing. In the second half, he made a great save when his defense left him out to dry a bit (stay tuned for a film room on this play tomorrow), reaching behind to make the save. He did have a few sketchy-ish moments with the ball at his feet (which is sort of the tradeoff for his ball-stopping ability).
Bledsoe didn’t face much danger, stepping out to the top of the box to cut off service on one occasion and wisely distributing it to a defender quickly for a potential counter. He didn’t face a shot.
Defenders
This was our first chance to see backup personnel in the base (5-man) backline, and for the most part, it went pretty well. Let’s start by looking at two trialists who took the field with NSC (but by all accounts are not going to sign contracts).
Adam Olsen started the game and played the first 32 minutes of the game. At right centerback, he seemed really uncomfortable with the spacing, staying way too close to Ian McGrath, and was very tentative in doing anything other than cycling it back through McGrath next to him. He carried the ball forward once and tried a number of (unsuccessful) long balls when in possession. The 22-year old Cal Poly grad was more comfortable in defense, though he did lose a tackle when the Ottawa player was able to dribble by him.
USF grad Gabriel Pfeffer was a little more well-rounded as a defensive prospect. It took him a while to settle in after replacing Olsen (and he only played until the 55th minute, so he got less time on the pitch, though spread across halves), with a couple bad long services. He did seem more comfortable stepping in front of attempted line-breaking passes from the Fury. However, he was largely responsible for a dangerous opportunity out of the Fury (the same one mentioned above in Cochran’s section), so it wasn’t all good.
McGrath and Jordan Dunstan started at centerback and left centerback, respectively, and both had their moments. I was especially impressed with McGrath, taking on a lot of responsibility in the defense after initially signing as a midfielder. He combined with Pfeffer to be responsible for the Fury’s best televised chance, and is a little too tentative standing over the ball, not knowing his passing outlets in possession. However, he’s decent at boxing opposing forwards out to win aerial battles or let a ball trickle out for a goal kick. He definitely has potential at the position with more experience.
Dunstan looked the best he has in this young preseason, with a couple really skillful traps, including one that he corralled with his chest and dished off to Taylor Washington out of the air. His tackling form looked better, he showed better recovery speed than we’ve seen yet, and he’s developing a feel for when to take the risk of leaving his feet. However, he was partially responsible for the play I keep mentioning by losing an aerial battle in embarrassing fashion giving an opposing winger tons of space.
Taylor Washington earned the start at left fullback and came off for Ryan James at the 55th minute, while Mike DeGraffenreidt went the distance on the right side. He’s at his best ranging the sideline, tracking back defensively to allow his center backs to be a bit more aggressive since he’s there to cover. He had more responsibility with the ball at his feet than we’ve seen so far, for better and for worse (including one play where he went on a bit of a walkabout, and didn’t see that he had three-on-two at the top of the offensive box if he’d popped the head up and made the pass to space).
DeGraffenreidt showed Kosuke Kimura-like energy on a day when Kimura rested up (presumably to go 90 against Orlando City a couple days later). He’s very comfortable bursting up the right sideline to be a bit of an offensive threat, and is looking for service from his midfielders on those overlapping runs. He should have earned a penalty kick in the second half on a play that was inexplicably called a goal kick (there were plenty of inexplicable calls both ways – he also committed a very dangerous foul that should have been at least a yellow but didn’t even stop play). He wasn’t confident enough in finding space and picking out a cross on a couple of occasions that he might have had the opportunity, but that should come with more game action on the pitch. Once he over-dibbled into a turnover, another time he made a nice move but took a heavy touch allowing the defender to recover, and a third time he tried to first-touch the cross and left it wanting.
The starting defenders all entered together, and while at times it felt like NSC had shifted to an even back-line, in reality it was just a concerted effort to keep a high line with the three-man back (and giving Justin Davis a bit of freedom to raise that line even higher). By the time they came on, NSC seemed to be working on that high line more than anything, and there wasn’t a ton to note here. Liam Doyle remains very accurate on his long service from the back, London Woodberry is very calm in heading out service or making tackles along the sideline, and I already mentioned Davis getting upfield a bit more.
James at left fullback missed a couple stabbing attempts at tackles, but his recovery speed allows him to take those risks at times. He also played a beautiful cross that probably should have been a headed goal for Lebo Moloto.
Midfielders
The starting midfield was the second-team unit of Bolu Akinyode and Ramone Howell defensively, and Martim Galvão in a bit more advanced a position (though this was as fluid as we’ve seen this year out of the base 5-3-2 formation, with Howell moving to a more advanced position and forward Alan Winn sinking into the midfield at times for a bit of variety).
At this point, I officially don’t know what to think of Akinyode, other than to know he’s a very good player. Prior to friendly season, I had thought his okay athleticism and good physical nature would mean an eventual convert to centerback, but he’s better this year in different ways than he had been previously. He doesn’t win the ball all that consistently tackling, but is very able to make that attempt, and maintain contact with the player if he doesn’t win the tackle to slow down any offensive threat and let his defenders finish the play. He’s very comfortable receiving the ball and turning in traffic, and even using some skill dribbles to pop through traffic (again, more midfield than CB skillset). He still does have a bit of improvement to make in flipping from offense to defense and tracking back after a turnover, though, making the CDM role though if he’s pushing upfield. I’m interested in seeing him play in more two-way roles in the final few preseason games to know if he can do it a bit more consistently.
I’m growing to really, really like Howell. His first touch lets him down a bit at times, but when he cleanly traps the ball, he can really make some nice plays. He’s also got the physical nature to win battles in the midfield. Those two attributes combined to put a pair of Ottawa defenders on the ground, pictured here:
His ability to beat a defender with the dribble or the pass is a really nice bonus for this team. Still, he needs full speed reps to hopefully hone in that first touch – even when trying more difficult traps (like the old “instep behind the plant leg to change directions immediately”) he’s a bit heavy on it. I’m excited about his potential going forward, though.
I’m extremely happy to be wrong about my preseason pessimien on Martim Galvaão. The early friendlies against MLS competition had me even more worried that the level of play would be too great a bar for him to climb to be effective this year. Against a middling USL East team, though, he looked like he could be a highly effective player. He had some nice weaving dribbles through traffic to get into dangerous positions, and has very good vision. At times, though, he doesn’t pick out the pass quickly enough, or put the proper weight on the ball (or place it accurately). A little more physical strength will help him build that confidence, and adjusting to this level of play should let him contribute certainly against lesser league opponents, in addition to the expected late-game substitution role.
The starting midfield entered in the 55th, with Michael Reed and Matt LaGrassa their typical selves, albeit with a bit more involvement in the offensive end. Frankly, both those guys are what we think they are at this point (which is a good thing), and we probably won’t learn much more until the games count.
Lebo Moloto was the offensive midfielder after the sub (and he’s been first-choice in that role all Spring, of course), but he didn’t have a great day, in part just because he didn’t have enough time to make a huge impact, in part because he didn’t have the chemistry there with his forward pairing. He should have headed James’s nice cross home, he whiffed on trapping another ball at the top of the box shortly after coming onto the field, and by the time he got in a rhythm, NSC wasn’t really trying all that hard to find a winner.
Forwards
The “Alan Winn is a striker” experiment finally got under way, with a start up top along with Tucker Hume. That’s a pretty good combo (Winn has the style of a winger or secondary striker running onto the ball, whereas Hume is a pure target-man), and while we don’t know how NSC earned the penalty that Winn scored, we do know Hume earned it.
Winn does have a tendency to drift wide or drop into the midfield – no surprise; those are the roles in which he’s most comfortable – and in certain situations that plays to NSC’s advantage, though in others it can be a minor hindrance. He’s comfortable in space, willing to track back defensively, and probably the fastest player on the roster. Just needs the game reps to get shots when it matters.
Hume has been playing the ball with his feet more than most expected already this season – and his dribbles have had a bit more success than most expected, too. He’s still a bit lumbering when controlling the ball, and that sees him lose it at times, but as a secondary skillset, that’s not a huge problem, especially when there’s room for improvement in getting the whole offense moving effectively.
Ropapa Mensah and Michael Cox came on during the great mass substitution, and Mensah (like Moloto) took a little while to get into the flow of the game. He had a couple nice dribbles up the sideline, but couldn’t control passes consistently enough and hit a bad cross or two. But he did start a fight with a moderately dirty tackle, putting him a third of the way to a Gordie Howe Hat Trick.
Cox… didn’t have a great game. He was a little tentative receiving the ball a couple times, trying to let it come into his body rather than stepping to it – and a defender stepped around to intercept (I am the expert at this particular giveaway tactic). He didn’t really recover to show as many flashed as the other starters who came on and took a minute to get into a groove. He did score against Orlando, so it may have just been a bad day.
Robin Shroot didn’t see the pitch (likely one of those resting for Orlando City), but he, Mensah, and Winn seem like the best attackers in terms of getting goals and versatility – some combination of them is my preference based on what we’ve seen thus far in preseason.
Tactics and overall
I’ve previously mentioned the high press making a big appearance (and it will come into play to an extent on tomorrow’s film room segment), and that was the major tactical change – though NSC stayed in its base 5-3-2 formation, it had more flexibility to it as the team worked up the pitch.
The main question becomes how the scores happen – and without knowing how NSC bagged three against Orlando City, we still don’t know. There seem to be chemistry issues on connecting in the final third. That’s probably not a surprise at this point in the year (especially with an entirely new roster), but NSC needs to figure it out. Bad luck has played a role, players not comfortable with different lineups, etc., but we shall see how it plays out. For now, it’s the biggest concern entering USL play – and it’s not a particularly big one at that.
It is important to note that the majority of this game was NSC’s second unit against Ottawa’s starters… and the Boys in Gold were still consistently on the front foot. The form isn’t exactly mid-season, but it’s better than it feels with a relative dearth of goals at this point in preseason.
What will we see against Lipscomb? …probably a lot of the backups (and even deeper bench backups, at that) with a friendly against Cincinnati just two days later. Giving the Bisons a bit of run is probably possible with the bench, and the result isn’t all that important.
Club and Country 