Sacramento vs. Las Vegas: Tactical Analysis—USL Jägermeister Cup Edition
05/31: Sacramento’s line up, the good, the bad, and what stood out
The Lineup:
Another game, another thrashing of the Las Vegas Lights. As far as I can tell, nine goals for and zero against is the best back-to-back match performance in club history in competitive play. You have to go all the way back to 2017 to find back-to-back matches with nine goals scored, but the goal difference in those matches was “only” +5, due to giving up four goals. The next best performance was in 2022 when the club won back-to-back matches 4-0. So this is impressive stuff! Both of these games being against Vegas is where some fans may have some doubt though; is this breakout a result of Vegas being bad, or has Sacramento finally found their momentum? Let’s take a look!
For the starting XI, Collins made a few changes from the last match two weeks ago. Mazzola puts on the gloves in goal, Cicerone returns from injury to play up top, Benítez moves over from left wingback to the middle of the pitch, and Spaulding takes his place. That midfield rotation remains very interesting to watch—Republic has only started the same two players in midfield twice in the last eight matches, and Collins subbed a midfielder out at half in four of those.
To be fair, Collins has a wealth of choices at his disposal: Felipe, Ross, Willey, Roro, and now Benítez have all contributed heavily in the midfield. And that’s without counting Portillo who, despite making 22 starts for the club last season, has only played a single league game this year. This rotation has not been completely without reason; Ross and Roro are returning from injuries and need to manage minutes, and Benítez has been filling in at both center back and left wingback to reinforce injuries in the backline. Still, while the backline and two out of three strikers appear to be cemented in the game day starting XI, the midfield is a total tossup and will probably remain so for the foreseeable future.
But let’s take a look at Vegas real quick. While Republic had a bye week and a full 14 days between matches, the Lights played an additional two games in that span, losing at home to both El Paso and Phoenix. Safe to say, it’s not a good time to be a Lights fan, who have now given up 12 goals and scored 1 in 14 days. To make matters worse for this Vegas side, all these extra minutes required some heavy rotation before playing away in Sacramento in a kick-off temperature of 98 degrees. Vegas only utilized four players who played in the previous matchup against Sacramento: Singer, Nigro, Pickering, and Brewer Jr., all who roughly played the same position. The rest of the squad, including Vegas’s entire midfield, is rotated. Vegas also played wider this game than they did in the first match up, in an attempt to limit Republic’s wing play:
You can really see how Vegas tried to play and defend through the middle in the first match. Then, the tactical response to losing 5-0 was to try and stop Republic’s wide play in the second match. Meanwhile, Republic barely change form:
The Republic front line and midfield play a bit more centrally this week, but there’s no real structural change. Clearly, the system Collins implemented worked well regardless of how Vegas lined up.
The Good:
For the second match in a row, we get to see exactly how Collins wants this team to play. When out of possession, Republic utilize a high press, seeking to suffocate the opposition in their own half. Republic only held 44% of the possession in this game but that largely does not matter, because the vast majority of Vegas’ time on the ball was in their own half. Look at the average positioning for each team above; Vegas has four players spend most of their time outside their own half, but Sacramento has six, and those six are pushed way further up than Vegas’ four. Republic are at their best when they are aggressive on the press—most of Vegas’ chances come when Republic either does not press enough or back off the ball and play more defensively. But that aggression also leads to turnover and control on the opposing side of the field. Benítez’s first goal of the season largely comes about because Republic has Vegas pinned in their own half:
There’s a lot of pinball here, but Vegas just cannot get a good clearance on the ball because Sacramento puts a body on it every chance they get. This leads to Vegas’ line being in disarray when the ball turns over, and an easy breakaway leads to Benítez’s first goal in Old Glory Red. Benítez had a particularly impressive performance this week; to go along with the goal, he had 38 completed passes on 39 attempts, which really helped Sacramento control and distribute from the midfield.
While in possession, Republic have been much pickier about their shots, to great effect. The number of shots from outside of the box has dropped substantially from the beginning of the season, with this match only featuring two—one of which resulted in a goal:
What a finish this is by Cicerone! If you are going to shoot from outside of the box, it needs to at least be on target, and this is perfect. Republic shot just under 50% on target, though Jamieson’s shot that hit the woodwork would have put them just over 50%. Four goals on 13 shots is a conversion rate of ~31%. That is a marked improvement on the second worst in the league rate of ~10% we saw in the first few weeks.
What is even more impressive is the variety of ways the Republic have scored their nine goals in the last two games. All nine goals came from different players, and six different players registered assists. Three of the goals came from set pieces: one from a corner, another from a PK, and another from a throw-in. Four goals were from a right foot, four from a left foot, and one off a header. And where Republic is aiming is just as varied; four goals were shot to the left side of the net, three to the center, and two to the right side. It does not matter how it needs to get done, the Republic find a way to get it done.
Also, a big shout out to Spaulding for also getting his first goal in Old Glory Red this week:
Somehow this corner gets through a mass of bodies, and he does a great job getting it onto his right foot and smashing it home.
The Bad:
Similar to last week, it’s hard to find things to criticize when the club scores four and has a clean sheet. Vegas did have a few dangerous chances though. Fortunately Mazzola had himself a fantastic game, but Republic were beaten over the top a few too many times to be comfortable, especially against a Vegas team that primarily tried to play balls over the top on the counter. Let’s look at this chance in the eighth minute:
No one presses the Vegas player on the ball, Republic gets beat on a pass over the top, and only one defender is back. Ultimately, Vegas only had one striker forward and settled for a poor shot from distance, but it’s an early sign of what's to come. The Lights were 50 for 68 on long balls, good for 58%, compared to Sacramento’s 14 for 42. Vegas also won just over 50% of the aerial duels, one of the few times this season that Republic have not been the more dominant team in the air. Another dangerous chance arises in the 29th minute:
The same thing happens here that happened in the eighth minute—Republic does not press the ball quickly enough, get beat, and Vegas is one key pass away from being in on goal. Fortunately, Mazzola reads this perfectly and comes out at the exact right time to shut this down, but this is a very different game if Las Vegas grabs the first goal. It happens in the second half too:
Just lazy defending on all three of these chances, with no one following the runner. But what a save!! This game could have easily had 2-3 Vegas goals in it, and the only reason the scoreline shows zero is Mazzola; five saves, one punch, several clears, and a great clean sheet.
What Stood Out:
Despite some squad rotation, and some concern that the bye week would kill momentum, Republic came off of 14 days rest firing on all cylinders. The result sends them to the top of the Group A table in the USL Jägermeister Cup, and the goal difference gives them a leg up on the tiebreaker as well.
But the real test is what comes next. Beating Las Vegas Lights twice by so much is impressive, but it still does not fully answer the question: is this Republic team finally ready to start dominating games? While Vegas looked to be a solid team heading into the first match up two weeks ago, and were actually the third-best defense in the league at the time, they have since been in free fall and now sit ninth in the West with a goal difference of -8. A home match up this Saturday with third place Tulsa, who have not lost a league game in over a month, will be the real test of this team's momentum.