Home vs. Colorado Springs Preview
Date: Saturday May 27, 2023
Kickoff Time: 7:30 pm EST at Al Lang Stadium in St. Petersburg, FL
Records: Tampa Bay Rowdies (17pt 5W-2D-4L); Colorado Springs (16pts 5W-1D-5L)
Standings: The Rowdies are 2nd in the East and the Switchbacks are 5th in the West
Coming off of a good streak, the Rowdies come up against their stiffest competition since the beginning of the year vs. Eastern leaders Charleston Battery. The Colorado Springs Switchbacks are listed fifth in the West, but actually have only one fewer point than the Rowdies. This should be a very good competition between two teams who know how to score lately.
Neill Collins is staying. Now we move forward.
Some of the biggest news of the week for Rowdies fans doesn’t impact the players on the field – at least not directly. News broke out of England this past week that the transfer saga worrying western Floridians did not come to pass: Neill Collins will not be moving to Walsall FC. Cue the fireworks. Cue the trumpets. Cue the banjo-playing all-alligator band of miscreants. Our savior has come – or rather he has stayed.
With that pleasant bit of business out of the way, we can get back to the stuff on the field. We can discuss tactics and how they win games. Last Saturday’s game away to Rio Grande Valley was a perfect example. Collins tried one formation, it didn’t work, and he switched things up. The dividends were not exactly immediate, but were certainly huge.
In the first half, the Rowdies trotted out in what has been a recent favorite of the manager, a 4-2-3-1. This included Charlie Dennis playing as the number 10 with JJ Williams up top. The fullbacks, in this case Conner Antley and Aaron Guillen, would play a little more centrally and help out there. What we saw, though, was an opponent ready for this.
The Toros attacked when they could down the wings, which were left a little more open than usual. Antley following a player centrally, in particular, almost paid off for RGV, even if this play didn’t stem from a wide attack. That run on net was snuffed out by Freddy Kleemann after he chased down the man he lost in the scramble fifteen minutes in. it would be their best chance of the half.
After the interval, the Rowdies did the aforementioned switch and pulled Kleemann off. In his place came Cal Jennings and the tried and true 3-5-2. Antley was moved to a wingback spot and the ever versatile Ryan Spaulding moved back on the left. Suddenly, RGV’s options for an outlet pass looked worse and Tampa Bay had the momentum.
Built to handle a different lineup, the Toros were too slow to adjust and space opened up. This led to the first goal the Rowdies scored, before which Dennis received a ball in the box that created his penalty. Both of the next goals came directly from wide play, one off a third Spaulding assist on the season, and the final goal coming from a great solo run. Being able to not only play different lineups, but then adjust on the fly, is where Collins has really shown himself to be a capable tactician in moments. Many exciting comebacks of the past bear this out.
The only thing still up in the air for the Rowdies after this past weekend? Where exactly are they in the table? Depending on the source, the Green and Gold are either second or fourth in the Eastern Conference. This column will take the advice of FotMob, who has goal differential as the points tiebreaker, and assume Tampa Bay sit fourth. Still not too shabby.
How will Colorado Springs hope to win this?
Moving past the confusion over the Eastern Conference standings, there’s a lot for Colorado Springs to figure out this weekend. They’re coming off a three-game losing streak, and will want to get what looked like a good campaign back on track. It’s good form vs. bad form; but, it’s also much more difficult than that reductive overview.
Colorado Springs looks to be a similarly versatile team. They have played with multiple starting XIs and lined up in many different ways. However, it’s fair to say that the Switchbacks also will default to a system in which wingbacks are key. In this sense, it comes down to two teams that can play like each other and will have to sort out a way to beat their opponent despite that.
Maalique Foster has lined up on the right side from wingback to being listed as an out-and-out striker. On the left, Pat Seagrist has locked down a starting position from which he will often also get into the attack. Defending each could be similar to holding Dayonn Harris and Ryan Spaulding in check. The comparisons from the more attack-minded Harris and Foster to the very defensively poised Spaulding and Seagrist will probably differ only in individual preferences.
However, shutting each of them down will be among the key parts of the game for each side. As well as the fullbacks, for the Rowdies, two players stand out on the stats sheet if not in the game footage. Deshane Beckford, less frequently a starter, and Romario Williams lead in assists and goals, respectively. They will be the ones looking to insert themselves into the attacking moments created by Foster and Seagrist.
Beckford is mostly listed as a winger; but, with the use of the aforementioned wingbacks, it’s likely to see him in this game cutting inside and taking players on one-v-one. He will try to get defenders off balance with his dribbling and possibly find Williams once space has opened up elsewhere. Converging opponents will allow the two Jamaicans to combine and create chances.
All of this will be backstopped by the playmaking brilliance of yet another Jamaican: Devon “Speedy” Williams. While pace may not actually be one of his most important assets, Speedy has been around the USL for years at this point. Rowdies fans will remember him – fondly or not – for his two-year stint at The Miami FC.
This Williams will sit at the base of the midfield and spray the ball around to all the aforementioned attackers. His ability to cut out entire lines of Rowdies defenders has been a problem since his days at Louisville City and New York Red Bulls II before that. This skill of his is so renowned he has earned over 30 caps for the senior Jamaican national team, playing against the likes of Hirving Lozano, Christian Pulisic, and Alphonso Davies. He will be the player to shut down before any of the other more reactive parts of defensive work need to be activated.
Score Predictions from the RBLR Rowdies Podcast:
Carlos Rueda: 2-0 Rowdies
James Knowles: 0-0
Yurika Wheeler: 1-0 Rowdies
Special Guest: 2-1 Rowdies from Amy Beamer (@amybeamer)
