First Playoff Game: Home vs. Birmingham Preview
Date: Saturday October 21, 2023
Kickoff Time: 7:30 pm EST at Al Lang Stadium in St. Petersburg, FL
Records: Tampa Bay Rowdies (63 pts 19W-6D-9L); Birmingham Legion FC (46 pts 14W-4D-16L)
Standings: The Rowdies are 2nd in the East and the Legion are 7th
It’s finally that time of year: the USL Championship Playoffs! After finishing second in the East, the Rowdies will host the 7th seed Birmingham Legion in a do or die game. The stakes don’t get much bigger for teams at this level and right now, as the old saying goes, every match is a final. Get down to Al Lang this weekend to make sure the boys have as much support as possible!
How did Birmingham beat us home and away this year?
The Tampa Bay Rowdies started the 2023 season on a down note. After two draws at home vs. Indy Eleven and away to Orange County, the Rowdies lost to Charleston away, Birmingham at home, and finally won their first game of the year vs. amateur NONA FC in the US Open Cup. They recorded their first league win vs. The Miami FC before losing another three straight games, the final one of those at home vs. MLS side Houston Dynamo, again in the Open Cup.
After that, however, Tampa Bay went on a streak of 11 games without a loss. The team that dealt them the loss in the twelfth match? Yes, indeed: it was Birmingham Legion. Home or away; good form or bad, the Hammers were able to handle the Rowdies this year. Now comes the playoffs.
Despite their bad start and Legion’s two wins, the Rowdies were able go on and win many of their games this season. Their record led to a second place finish in the East, earning home games against any opponent in the league except for possible matchups against Pittsburgh or Sacramento out west. Birmingham finished seventh, comfortably in, but still close to dropping out of the playoff spots entirely.
So how did that happen? How did Birmingham have a comparative down year and still beat the Rowdies in both fixtures? Youth team coaches might describe this as “having our number.” They simply have the psychological edge and know what it takes to beat us. In certain ways, this argument makes sense. It’s very simplistic; but, have you ever heard of Enzo Martinez?
Enzo has a reputation around Al Lang as the Supreme Pest. He is known for small kick outs that border on fouls. He is known for getting away with those. He is also known for complaining to the referee for any borderline foul that would penalize his opponents. He’s a player anyone would hate to play against – and anyone would love to have on their side. With his bun and large beard, he also stands out on the field just by his appearance.
Martinez scored in the second game between these sides in the middle of July. In the first one, Neco Brett had a double, with assists from Prosper Kasim and Matthew Corcoran. All these players, too, have varying reputations around St. Pete. Corcoran is one of two teenagers the Legion have used to good effect all season, the other being right back Collin Smith. They have combined down the right side with Kasim to create numerous chances and, ultimately, goals.
On the left side, Tyler Pasher and Juan Agudelo have proved deadly over and over this year. Both these players have represented their national team, Canada and the USMNT, respectively. Pasher played for the aforementioned Houston Dynamo in 2021, when his form was sufficient to get that first cap for Canada. Dropping down a level, he has shown his quality on the ball, both while dribbling and combining with a targetman – often Agudelo.
Linking both sides of this attack has been Corcoran sitting deeper, Anderson Asiedu in a more roving role, and the Supreme Pest Enzo Martinez creating wherever he can. Asiedu and his partner Corcoran will break opponents’ attacks up before passing to find someone higher up the field. To wit, Corcoran’s ability to do that has led to his being called up to the US national under-17 team. (Yes, he really is only 17-years-old.)
Martinez will switch from a central #10 to either wing and allow his teammate who started out wide to slide into his position. Smith on the right and Gabriel Alves or Moses Mensah on the left will step up from their defensive roles to try to add numbers and create overloads near the edge of the opposition box. Numbers out wide are important for Legion, who’ll then try to find someone inside the box or, quite often, Martinez crashing in as a late runner.
Can they do it yet again?
In both of the above games, the Rowdies lined up with three at the back, flanked by two wingbacks, whose goal it was to join in the attack as possession switched sides. In the first match, it was Tate Johnson on the left and Seb Dalgaard on the right. In the second, Jake Areman started on the left and Dalgaard again was on the right side.
One can assume that, in addition to positional familiarity in this formation, the Rowdies intended to prevent the Legion from building up those numbers on the wings. Whether or not the personnel was correct to handle that is up to the coaches. However, what is indisputable is the failure to get the job done. Both of Birmingham’s goals in the game in April came from crosses.
Enzo’s goal in the Birmingham home game – the lone one in that match – came off a long ball from keeper Matt Van Oekel to Prosper Kasim streaking down the Rowdies’ left side into space. His cutback ball into the box found Martinez. That was all they needed that day. It all looked so easy to do at the time – and again on rewatching it.
After that fixture in the middle of July, the Rowdies faced injury crisis after injury crisis. Multiple times the Rowdies could not fill out their bench. Three players were brought in on loan, for two or nine games, and Jake LaCava for the rest of the season. Josh Perez was signed permanently off of his being a free agent. Still, Tampa Bay could not bring a full complement to game day and had to experiment with their formation, likely more than they would’ve wanted.
In that time, Rowdies fans will hope that all that fiddling with the starting XI and their formation will give the coaching staff plenty of ideas. Tampa Bay was able to handle the adversity of numerous injuries and come out the other side. Much of that was surely down to the attacking exploits of Charlie Dennis, JJ Williams, and Cal Jennings. Now their input will be more valuable than ever.
If the Green and Gold score against the Hammers this Saturday, it will be the first time this year they’ve managed the feat. Those three Rowdies attackers have 32 goals between them so far. Truly, very few clubs in the USL have managed to shut them out. The Legion won’t put this down just to their defense: a goal differential of -9 all season does not speak to a top class back line.
What the Rowdies will need to do – and what they failed to do in the prior two meetings – is control the flow of the game. It was the Legion midfield that created the two wins earlier in 2023. Corcoran and Asiedu were able to break up attacks, distribute to creators like Enzo, and allow the fullbacks to step forward so their team could rule the flanks. Both matches’ highlight reels are dominated by Birmingham chances. If Tampa Bay, bolstered by their returnees, can set the tempo and control the ball, this time could actually be different.
Score Predictions from the RBLR Rowdies Podcast:
Carlos Rueda: 3-1 Rowdies win
James Knowles: 1-1, Rowdies win on penalties
Yurika Wheeler: 2-0 Rowdies win
Special Guest: 2-1 Rowdies win from @KaylorHodges of the @HammeringDwnPod and @TheUSLShow
