With their playoff push limping towards the finish line, Detroit City FC had a four game home stand to wrap up September and go into October.
Needing to take advantage of Keyworth Stadium, they only managed one win from the last four home games. Detroit City closed out the home schedule last Saturday with a disappointing 0-1 lost to Loudoun United. The loss dropped DCFC into the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Whether or not DCFC qualifies for the playoffs will come down to the final regular season game in Tampa on October 25. However, this weekend they face the daunting task of going to Charleston. The Battery are locked into the second spot in the East, well behind Louisville City. They will have nothing to play for against Detroit City except keeping the team in rhythm. They could even rest a few first choice players knowing the result won’t matter for them.
For Detroit City, the last two away games might go a long way toward determining who returns next year among the players and the coaching staff. Danny Dichio’s contract is up at the end of the season and it’s hard to make a case that he has improved the team.
Against Loudoun last Saturday, the team did not produce a shot on goal. The set piece deliveries weren’t dangerous enough. The few crosses that went into dangerous areas didn’t find anyone on the receiving end. Some of that is on the players who failed to execute the game plan, but the coaches are responsible for preparing them. They didn’t look prepared against Loudoun. They came out flat and Loudoun led the game in every significant statistic, especially the only one that matters.
While the offense sputtered, Carlos Herrera had a quiet first half. The regular back five of Haruki Yamazaki, Michael Bryant, Stephen Carroll, Devon Amoo-Mensah, and Alex Villanueva didn’t allow much past them. Loudoun tried to use their speedy right wing Omari Glasgow to get in behind the DCFC back line. That strategy eventually won the game. In the first minute of stoppage time at the end of the game Glasgow finally got past Amoo-Mensah and crossed for Riley Bidois to slip the ball past Herrera.
Before that crushing last counter, Carlos Herrera had made several super saves during a tense second half. Dichio finally tried changing his ineffective attack in the late stages. Bringing on Jordan Adebayo-Smith against tiring defenders is a good strategy, but taking out the dangerous Ates Diouf meant the attack gained no advantage. Throwing on Sebastien Guenzatti with just two minutes left little time for anything to gel up front.
Dichio has to regroup and get his team ready for the last two games. They have to win at least one of them to reach the playoffs. Even if they manage to hold off Indy XI for the final spot, their most likely opponents will be Louisville, the top team in the league and a team against whom DCFC doesn’t fare well. The verdict on this season won’t be complete until after the final game, but in its current state DCFC will need some major upgrades in the offseason.
USA BATTLES ECUADOR TO A DRAW
The US mens national team received a ton of criticism for the players’ lack of apparent commitment and drive to compete during the first few months of Mauricio Pochettino’s tenure. Since the failure to win the Gold Cup over the summer and the minor dispute with star player Christian Pulisic, Pochettino has removed the sense of entitlement among certain players. A number of regulars were dropped for the September games. The Argentine has gone out of his way to make it clear that no player has assured himself a spot on the World Cup roster.
For the October window, it looks like the players received and understood the message. The USA opened the two match window with a solid 1-1 draw against Ecuador. Weston McKinnie, dropped in September and heavily criticized during the Nations League in March, returned and delivered a performance worthy of a player who starts UEFA Champions League games for Juventus. Folarin Balogun scored in his third straight game, taking a firm grip on the starting striker position.
Ecuador had finished second in South America’s marathon qualifying competition. They conceded just five goals in eighteen games, making the USA’s goal a true rarity for South America’s stingiest back line. The visitors now have a twelve match unbeaten run, but only five of those have been wins. That might mean Ecuador will have to find some more attacking options to support 35 year old Enner Valencia, who raced by Chris Richards to score Ecuador’s goal midway through the first half.
After the game, the focus fell on Pochettino’s decision to play with three center backs, a major change from the USA’s traditional back four. Nobody asked about attitude or commitment or effort. All that looked the way it’s supposed to during a fast-paced and physical game. The US kept the ball far more than they usually do against top teams. They even had a strong home crowd behind them in Austin, Texas, something that hasn’t been the case recently.
Following the game, the US departed for Denver where they will meet Australia. The Socceroos beat Canada 1-0 in their first game of the window. The US will have to assess the fitness of Pulisic and Antonee Robinson ahead of the game. Robinson’s recovery from a knee injury has been slow. He hasn’t played much for Fulham and has mostly observed the US from afar. Pulisic has a sore ankle and only appeared for the last seventeen minutes against Ecuador. Alejandro Zendejas returned to Club America after his knee failed to respond to treatment. Pochettino will likely change a few players for the second game of the window. The expectations will be the same: a committed effort that reflects the manager’s demands for intensity and teamwork. The coaching staff will have a another month to review players before they select the squad for the November games against Paraguay and Uruguay.
