Away vs. Indy Eleven Preview
Date: Saturday July 22, 2023
Kickoff Time: 7:00 pm EST at Michael A. Carroll Stadium in Indianapolis, IN
Records: Tampa Bay Rowdies (34 pts 10W-4D-5L); Indy Eleven (21 pts 5W-6D-7L)
Standings: The Rowdies are 2nd in the East and Indy are 8th in the East
After a shaky performance and their first loss in twelve games, the Rowdies look to bounce back on the road. Indy Eleven have ambitions of their own to climb the Eastern Conference table and further cement their position in the playoff spots. With similar defensive records, it’ll be a contest to see who blinks first – and whether one blink will be all that’s necessary. RBLR Rowdies is hosting a watch party at Barriehaus off the Ybor strip in Tampa, so join us to take this one in!
Why did the Rowdies look so static last weekend?
After a sendoff for the ages, fans were buoyant and probably expected a result even on the road against a tough Legion team. (This columnist certainly did.) However, Birmingham rode the wave of a lesser performance and more than one lapse in concentration into the wins column. It was not as rough and tumble as predicted, either, with the Rowdies going down more on a whimper.
The first half seemed to be very frustrating for the players in Green and Gold (or Volt yellow as it was on the night). Despite several promising moments in the first twenty minutes, the Rowdies were limited to just two shots before halftime. This came down mostly to key passes going astray at the worst moments, right when a dangerous attack seemed imminent.
The first memorable one came from Jake Areman on the left, whose cut back toward the opposing box ultimately did not find a teammate. Following that, Cal Jennings was the recipient of two balls in promising areas, with the option of Seb Dalgaard on the right wing in space. Unfortunately, neither of his passes found the Dane, with Dalgaard each time ending his run with wanting hands hanging in front of him.
JJ Williams was responsible for another one of these sequences in the first half, and the second half picked up much the same for Tampa Bay. As much as Birmingham did not do a ton of quality chance creation themselves, one very good chance came early in the second, and they were dangerous from distance all the same.
The Rowdies sat back a bit more than usual when out of possession. That intensity off the ball led to more than one weird chance for the home team in Alabama. Seventeen-year-old Matthew Corcoran was the beneficiary of one such instance, taking the ball from near his own half to the top of Tampa Bay’s box, from where he took a deceptive shot. Juan Agudelo followed that with his own good shot and another for the Legion came about five minutes after that.
This same lax defending led to the opening and only goal early after the break. With Jennings sauntering toward Legion’s Matt Van Oekel, the keeper had all the time in the world to pick out a pass into space for Prosper Kasim. He was nearly entirely unmarked by either Aaron Guillen or Areman when his first touch led him perfectly toward the Rowdies’ box. The cross to Enzo Martinez was also inch-perfect, and the USL’s #1 villain would not miss from that close.
Despite substitutions, the Rowdies would not turn the tide in the one or even really threaten. Tampa Bay ended the game with five shots, of which only two were on target, and no Big Chances created, according to FotMob. It almost harkened back to the beginning of the 2023 season when intensity was more than a buzzword, notable for its absence more than anything.
Will Indy fancy their chances in this one?
It is inevitable in the hands of fans and writers alike that questions about that game will point in one direction: coaching. How much of this comes down to the Neill Collins-shaped hole in the locker room? Does interim coach Stewart Dobson have the same nous for motivation, subs, and man management? What will Indy see when they watch this game and how it played out?
As was stated in this column and on RBLR Rowdies, some amount of change is also inevitable, whether that’s good or bad. A new coach will be brought in eventually with new ideas and a new sense for those items listed above. Being Tampa Bay’s manager is now a premier position in soccer in America. Collins’ work and record over the past five years saw to that. It now comes down to ownership to find someone whose prestige and ability matches their salary options.
But, in the meantime, Dobson is absolutely the man for the job. Not only was he here during all of Neill Collins’ reign, he was actually here before then. He knows this team better than anyone who isn’t currently in Barnsley, England. If nothing else, reproducing what his Scottish counterpart did should be second nature for Dobson. This performance is likely down to other factors.
Indy, of course, will look at this game licking their chops. The narratives write themselves: Tampa Bay in disarray after gaffer’s departure. Do they have what it takes without Neill’s shouting on the sidelines? Surely, the Rowdies can be rattled while in a transition period this season.
Another narrative waiting in the wings has to do with the former Rowdies on the Indy roster. Can Seba Guenzatti or Jack Blake come back to haunt their former club? The motivation will surely be there to show Tampa Bay they made a mistake in letting each go. Plenty of Eleven players have history against this team, as it turns out. They’ll all want to take their bites at us.
The first game this season, Tampa Bay hosted Indy. It ended a little ugly. Seba won the Eleven a very late penalty, despite being pulled down outside of the box. His antics, such as they were, did not go unnoticed by new team captain, Aaron Guillen. Guillen let his former teammate have it, arguing as Guenzatti seemingly tried to calm him down. Whatever that achieved, goodwill disappeared when Aodhan Quinn stepped up to stroke it home. The game finished 1-1.
Since then, fortunes have merged and diverted for these two clubs. After eighteen and nineteen games, respectively, Indy has given up 21 goals to the Rowdies’ 20. It’s on the attacking side that they have really been far apart. Tampa Bay has 32 goals this year, while the Eleven have 20. The Indiana team’s inability to score is their real achilles heel.
Indy will absolutely want to take something from this game, ideally three points. As stated above, they will perceive multiple problems in the opposition locker room – even if those don’t actually exist in the locker room to begin with. They will want to create similar conditions so the Rowdies get frustrated and tired quickly with the proceedings. If they can take advantage, mentality starts to set in that two games in a row might end up this way.
Luckily for the Eleven, the wingbacks and wingers are the main threats in their system. Central midfielder Quinn is the leading scorer with six, the beneficiary of crosses from Douglas Martinez and Younes Boudadi. Guenzatti has two goals and three assists as well, with his mobility contributing to the club’s success yet again.
The other main central midfielder and local boy Cam Lindley is responsible for the most chances created on the team as well as the most successful long balls. His role since his college days has always been to sit centrally and spray the ball around to those players on his team with the dribbling skills to beat people individually. He will be looking for the aforementioned Martinez or Boudadi, as well as teammates like Bryam Rebellon, Robby Dambrot, Solomon Asante, or Harrison Robledo. They will want to do exactly what Prosper Kasim did last Saturday.
All of these players, with the strong defensive base on which they sit, will fancy themselves to beat Aaron Guillen in space on the left, or Freddy Kleemann or Conner Antley on the right. If they don’t necessarily have the pace, they do certainly have guile. Shutting down the passes into their feet with proper pressing off the ball will be key for the Rowdies. Inevitably, some of these balls will find their mark, and good one-v-one defending followed by good tracking of late runners such as Quinn will make or break Tampa Bay’s trip up north.
Behind Enemy Lines with Special Guest Michael Betz (@betzmhs20) of the @cuethesmoke podcast
After a tough draw last time out against the Charleston Battery, The Indy Eleven look to get just their second win at home on Saturday night. The boys in blue are sitting at eighth on the table with twenty-one points through eighteen games played.
The Eleven traveled down to St. Petersburg in the first weekend of the season. Since then, both teams have gone through some changes, For the Indy Eleven, the biggest news has all been player related. The most recent news for the team was the return of Stefano Pinho to the Circle City. Pinho was with with the team last season scoring a team high 13 goals.
Score Predictions from the RBLR Rowdies Podcast:
Carlos Rueda: 2-1 Rowdies win
James Knowles: 2-0
Yurika Wheeler: 1-1
Special Guest: 2-1 Rowdies win (Chris Glaser @theonlytp on Instagram)
