Coming off a much needed break, Detroit City FC will jump right into the USL Championship home stretch with a massive two game week. First up on Wednesday is a trip to Pawtucket to face Rhode Island FC, then Le Rouge will return home over the weekend to meet Indy XI at Keyworth. These six points could either launch them into a solid playoff spot, closing the gap to the third seed in the Eastern Conference, or make the rest of the season a tougher watch than the past three months.
DCFC has only one league win since May 1. That was a comfortable win over Miami FC back in June. They didn’t win a game in either May or July. This only wins in that time were in cup competitions. They beat Westchester SC in both the US Open Cup and the USL Jagermeister League Cup before the Chicago Fire of MLS knocked them out of the Open Cup. They also lost in embarrassing fashion to League One Portland Hearts of Pine in the League Cup when they had only a sliver of a chance to advance to the quarterfinals. With the season now clear of any cup involvements, they can focus on moving up the table.
Even with the poor results of the past three months, DCFC, with twenty-one points, only trails third place Loudoun United by six points in the Eastern Conference. The rest of the teams DCFC is battling for playoff position have also been generously dropping points during the summer months. That’s what makes this week’s two games so important. Both Rhode Island FC and Indy XI are below DCFC in the standings. Winning these games would put distance between DCFC and their close rivals. No team is going to catch Louisville City and the Charleston Battery, who are level on forty-one points at the top of the league. Even Western Conference leading FC Tulsa only has thirty-two points.
Coach Danny Dichio will be feeling the pressure, especially after the abrupt departure of Sporting Director Trevor James. That has left a massive hole in the club’s structure. However, his departure has not stopped recruitment for the first team. Last week the club announced the acquisition of left wing Kobe Hernandez-Foster from the Las Vegas Lights. It was the last transaction in a three team move that saw Hernandez-Foster move from Birmingham Legion to Las Vegas to Detroit. Las Vegas received a transfer fee from DCFC in the move.
The arrival of Hernandez-Foster raises questions about the short and long term future of Alex Villanueva. Villanueva missed the club’s last game before the break and no announcement appeared regarding his absence. With Ben Morris and Stephen Carroll already long term absentees, the club cannot afford to lose any more starter level players. Dichio has too many issues to address without worrying about more injuries.
The biggest issue DCFC will have to address is its anemic offense. The club has a negative goal difference in spite of only conceding 22 goals in 17 games. They have only scored 20. The loss of Morris looms large in this area. Darrin Smith, who started the season on fire, has cooled off significantly since the end of April. The rest of the team hasn’t picked up the slack and hasn’t been creating enough chances for him.
Inserting Ates Diouf into the lineup has given the team an injection of pace on the left wing, but he has to combine more effectively with his teammates. He tries to go it alone too often and has a low success rate. DCFC has had virtually no production from the right. Rhys Williams and anyone who covers him when he isn’t on the field have to be more of a threat. With the wings and the center forward lacking goals and chances, much of the threat has come from the midfield and defense. Devon Amoo-Mensah and Matt Sheldon have been among the goals from the back.
When it comes to creating chances, the team has lacked midfield play. Nobody on the team has more than one assist. Dichio has been throwing out every combination he has, tweaking it game to game, without finding a spark. Jeciel Cedeno, Jay Chapman, Ryan Williams, Abdoulaye Diop, and Dominic Gasso have all seen time in the engine room, but none have seized the opportunity to lift the team. They aren’t able to connect well enough among themselves and then find the right pass at the right time to the forwards. DCFC’s front line does not have a physical presence. The forwards have to find gaps and play through them to beat defenses. It hasn’t been happening.
Given the lack of creativity and killer passes from midfield, DCFC might have to become set piece specialists. Amoo-Mensah and Michael Bryant have been threats to score due to their prowess in the air. As long as the service is good, a major caveat, they can threaten at any time. The club will have to lean on them unless something clicks during the run of play. Ideally, the team has spent a lot of training figuring out how to open up the field for the forwards. Smith has been stuck on seven goals for a while. He often cuts a frustrated figure during games. It’s up to the team to come together collectively and figure out how to find their most dangerous attacker in positions where he can be their most dangerous attacker. That will be the key to a successful run-in.
