Sacramento at San Antonio: Tactical Analysis - Dust-Up at the Alamo
08/02: Sacramento’s line up, the good, the bad, and what stood out
The Lineup:
A fiery match-up in the Lone Star State really had it all: a weather delay, a physical game with multiple cards, a questionable referee performance, and arguably one of Republic’s best tactical wins of the season made for one hell of a Saturday night match up. The big story in this match, in my opinion, is the shift Sacramento made after halftime—one of the first really, really good halftime adjustments we’ve seen Collins make this season.
Neill Collins’ sent out nearly the same starting XI as he did last week against Spokane, with the only change being Willey coming in for Roro. Sacramento’s look remains a 3-5-2, and thrives off of a high press without holding on to the ball. Look at the average positioning for tonight:
That’s a really interesting look. Republic is playing a really high backline, with Desmond (4), Kleemann (6), and Timmer (5) staying up-field as much as possible. At the same time, Republic’s attacking three are almost level with the midfield, with even Gurr (2) at right wing-back regularly playing further up than every forward other than Parano. This match was definitely a slog through the midfield, but a huge part of this is Republic letting San Antonio control the ball outside of the Republic’s third of the pitch. San Antonio controlled 63% of the possession, yet only had 11 touches in Republic’s box compared to Republic’s 21 touches in San Antonio's box. So how did that midfield slog lead to a 3-1 Republic win? Let’s take a closer look…
The Good:
Sacramento Played Their Game
First, Sacramento is so good when they are able to play the game they want to play. But what is that game? Well, I’ve hammered home the possession point all season, but the reason that Sacramento thrives when they don’t control the ball is because of what they do off the ball. If you look back above at the average positioning, Republic essentially “trap” San Antonio in their half of the field. They press high, which, ideally, forces the opposition to play long balls in the air over the top, and… is exactly where Sacramento excels. They’ve won 56% of all aerial duels this season, which is good for second in the entire USL Championship. Tonight, they won just over 68% of all aerial duels in the second half alone. We talked about this earlier this season too—just look at the quarter season analysis:
On the opposite side of things, one of the reasons Republic’s defense is so good this season is that they just don’t let the opposition anywhere near their goal. Of the 758 total passes in this match, only 167 passes (22%) were attempted in Sacramento’s third of the pitch. That’s for both teams. So even when Republic have control of the ball, they very quickly move it to the other two-thirds of the pitch. That’s why you see the defense’s average positioning so high up the field; the focus is to move the ball forward as quickly as possible and then play high up the pitch.
Half Time Changes
The big story in this match is Collins halftime adjustments. While there were no subs made, Republic went from a fairly nervy ending to the first half, to completely dominating the second half. Let’s compare some numbers:
Republic really just started forcing the issue in the midfield much more firmly in the second half. They get a slight uptick in possession, but most of that possession is a result of a much more aggressive press up top and in the midfield. 15 minutes into the match, Republic sat back into the midfield more than they pressed up:
This is on a goal kick, and it allows SAFC to play the ball from the back on the ground. 20 minutes later, San Antonio’s lone goal comes from a lack of press as well (we’ll look at that later). Compare that to how high Republic press in the second half:
This is also on a goal kick, but this time Republic are pushed way up. SAFC opt to go for a long kick instead of playing it short, and Republic win the aerial duel, which quickly turns into a chance at goal for the Quails.
Both coaches saw this change too. Republic Head Coach Neill Collins had this to say:
“We gave a couple of chances, which we don’t really like to do, but at halftime we knew that we were well in the game. We felt that we just needed a couple of little tweaks to go out and implement the things we worked on, and the players could not have done that any better.”1
And those tweaks were masterfully made and then carried out. On the other side of things, San Antonio Head Coach Carlos Llamosa said this post match:
“What we saw out there, we went from a good first half to a terrible second half,” said Llamosa. “I don’t know why we changed so much. I don’t think Sacramento changed. They kept the same formation. They kept pressing the same way with a 5-2-3 formation…”2
Now, we have the benefit of not being interviewed immediately post match, but in the chess match of tactics, a lot can be said when the winning coach comments on what he changed, and the coach on the losing side says he didn’t see a change at all.
Goals Goals Goals!
The other big positive this match was watching the scoring boots come to life. Desmond and Bennett both netted their first goals of the season (Bennett’s being his first for the club), and Parano put the game away with his finish in stoppage time. Republic has now outscored their opponents 9-1 in the last 5 matches, and brought their goal difference up to +12, good for third in the USL-C. What was fun was how these goals were scored, because we had three different looks. First, Lee scores off of a perfect set piece ball from Gurr:
It’s just a fantastic ball into the box and then a great header. Gurr has been putting perfect crosses in with regularity all season; Sacramento having someone get a head on the receiving end is a great development.
Then, Bennett opens his tally with Republic with a top-class chip of the keeper:
This does come off of a SAFC defensive mistake, but the control and then chip are excellent work. And, despite the defensive miscue, Bennett is able to so easily get to the ball because he has timed this run perfectly through the back line.
And finally, Parano puts the game away after a great read by Roro:
This goal comes about because of Republic’s high press, which allows for both Roro and Parano to be in a perfect position to act on the ball after Sacramento’s midfield wins it. It’s the ideal goal for Collin’s system: an aerial duel wins possession back, while a high press immediately punishes the opposition for losing the ball.
The Bad:
Defensive Lapses
Republic’s defense is good, but they still do need to watch the occasional defensive lapses that have hurt them throughout the season. One thing that Republic struggles with is when they allow goals as a result of mental slips. We’ve spoken before on how Republic has allowed late goals that have cost them valuable points multiple times this season; in my mind, allowing a goal 73 seconds after you score one of your own is in the same ballpark of errors. Republic just don’t press to win the ball nearly at all:
No one presses the SAFC backline, and then no one challenges for the ball in the air, then no one follows the runner off the ball… and then it’s just off to the races for the goal. It’s purely the result of a loss of composure during big moments, and it’s these types of goals that need to be cleaned up before playoffs.
What Stood Out:
Other than one defensive breakdown, this was a really complete match for the Quails. They came out with a game plan, made the half time adjustments they needed, and won on the road and with a weather delay against one of the best teams in the Western Conference. The win puts them tied with San Antonio in points for second, but well above them in goal difference and head to head. After a slow start, Republic have crawled their way back into contention for the Western Conference title, trailing only Tulsa.
I’d be remiss to not shout out John Morrissey’s USL Tactics article this week, where he gave Republic some love; he beat me to the punch on some of these tactics by about a day, and his article is very much worth the read:
Republic return home from a two week road trip this coming Saturday to host Monterey Bay, a team reeling after losing four of their last five matches. To make things worse for MBFC, they’ll also be coming off a midweek match against first place FC Tulsa, which should give Republic an advantage on what should be a warm Sacramento night. Sacramento shouldn’t be happy unless they win all three points.
Quote credit: Nicholas Murray with USL
Quote credit: Nicholas Murray with USL