Home Loss to Louisville City Review
Date: Saturday April 19, 2025
Result: Tampa Bay 1-2 Louisville City
Records: Tampa Bay Rowdies (3 pts 1W-0D-5L); Louisville City FC (14 pts 4W-2D-0L)
Standings: The Rowdies are 11th in the East and Louisville are 2nd.
In one way, last week was a success. The Rowdies moved on in the Open Cup and, despite some hiccups, will now host a hated MLS side at Al Lang. In another way, the week truly laid bare just how big a task that’ll be. Louisville City, who actually entered the USL Championship in place of that MLS club, won their first game in St. Pete in many years on Saturday. There’s a lot to unpack here. Sadly, not much of it points towards success in the immediate future.
What is it with purple teams anyway?
Taking both games from last week together, a lot of issues the Rowdies are dealing with were on display. I will avoid being as granular with the Naples game in the Open Cup, as that was covered in another article. However, the loss at home vs. Louisville followed several similar patterns. This club had the ability to overcome Tampa Bay’s defensive efforts, though.
Continuing from the prior weekend, the Green and Gold are already dealing with the injury bug. After Blake Bodily and Lewis Hilton were forced from the starting lineup, joining Nick Moon who was subbed out early the week before that, Laurence Wyke has now also been forced out of contention. Four potential starters out of the lineup before May is not a good sign.
Thomas Vancaeyezeele took over Wyke’s position at right back. In the Open Cup match, it was Joey Skinner who started on the left, with Aaron Guillen playing as the left sided center back. His reckless challenges earned him an early yellow, forcing manager Steve Coleman’s hand further. Forrest Lasso entered in a game they probably would have had him avoid for the turf.
Against LouCity, Guillen was the left back and Lasso stayed in the center. This was a fair enough switch even if Skinner did well in his appearance. He would come on late in this game for a cameo shortly after the Rowdies had given up the lead and then went down a goal. At right back, French Guiana international Vancaeyezeele retained his position from the Open Cup tie.
Sticking with two forwards up top, Manuel Arteaga and Woobens Pacius continued to put in the hard work up front. The former played 70 minutes, while the latter played the whole match. This is still problematic for the reasons outlined in earlier columns: too much wear and tear. Arteaga has yet to score this season. That isn’t already down to miles run; but, it won’t help come the fall months.
The Rowdies rode their luck at times, both defensively and in the attacking sense. Ollie Bassett in particular benefitted from an incredible deflection off the Louisville defender Arturo Ordonez. The latter will feel hard done by watching the replay. How many times would a shot like that careen in? Certainly not enough to be relied upon by the club.
Naturally, that luck ran out as the second half wore on. You make your own at times, and the Rowdies weren’t doing anything to give themselves a leg up over this dangerous opponent. After the equalizer, a shot from just outside the box under little pressure, Louisville created a numerical advantage on their right side of the field. All the time in the world was afforded to set up and get the perfect cross in.
Both goals were most preventable in the buildup to them – that is often the case, of course. But, there’s a lot for Tampa Bay to work out right now. A starting lineup and formation is probably the priority. Those are both impacted by the injuries, too, so it’s likely to fluctuate before anything can settle down. Rhythm and confidence are lacking at the moment. When they’re likely to return is anyone’s guess.
RBLR Man of the Match:
Carlos: Cammy MacPherson
James: Danny Crisostomo
RBLR Sports Predictions Standings:
Carlos: 1
James: 5
Yurika: 5
