Story of the Club | Boys In Rouge

CityBits ’15: Stars (I)

July 13, 2015May 21, 2016

Saturday, July 11^th, 2015 – Detroit City FC 3, Michigan Stars 1

Baby, Please Don’t Go We saw flashes of it last year (see what I did there?), but in his second season Will Mellors-Blair has become the most dangerous attacking player in City’s history. His most obvious asset, his speed, is a nightmare for even the quickest defenders, but his ball control, dribbling, and finishing are what make him such a dynamic threat. He’s your 2015 Black Arrow Award winner; even though the voting has yet to take place, he could sit out every remaining game this season and nobody else would even come close.

The problem is, he very well may have just played his final game of the season. Word is that UM head coach Chaka Daley wants his players to rest and recuperate right around this time of year so that they come back to preseason training healthy and fresh. This is completely reasonable and understandable, and I’m sure most college coaches would agree with his line of thinking.

I’m not sure what say WMB has in the matter, but if he has future professional aspirations, I would argue that playing as the lead striker for a team looking to compete for an NPSL championship is a fantastic opportunity to increase his profile and gain exposure. It’s a tough situation, but hopefully it can be resolved with as little difficulty as possible.

Contingency Plans If he does have to shut it down, things get awfully dicey for City. What appeared to be a strength at the beginning of the season (attacking depth) has become an area of concern, mainly due to injuries. Zach Myers has been absent for most of the year, and in the couple games he got into, he clearly wasn’t healthy. Javi Ramirez should be getting closer to a return from his knee surgery, but it would be unfair to expect him to come in and immediately return to the level he showed before he got hurt.

In the event of a WMB departure (as well as James Murphy, another UM forward), City’s strikers are as follows: Tyler Channell, Charlie MacInnes, Wade Allan. That’s just not enough depth to make a title run, and if you take away WMB’s dynamism, City go from favorites to win the Midwest tournament to just about even with whichever other three teams make the playoff. If Jeff Adkins could be pried away from the Bucks it would help, but as it stands now it appears Ben Pirmann may soon have to get creative with his lineups.

New Cardinals The aforementioned Channell has provided strong hold-up play and chipped in a couple goals this season, and his college teammate Alexandre Bouillennec has noticeably improved over his past several games in goal, but among this year’s SVSU newcomers, the one that has stood out the most has been Troy Watson.

And by stand out, I refer to the quality of his play, not how noticeable he is on the field, because most of the time you hardly realize he’s out there. If you watch closely however, you can see what a big impact he has on games – primarily in breaking up attacks and closing down the ball to slow or derail opposing runs.

The gif above shows a typical moment from him – chasing down his man after a nice 1-2, easing him off the ball, eluding a would-be tackler, and playing a simple pass out to the flank.

His play helps shield the back line and I think it’s one of the main reasons why team defending has improved so much from where it was last year and early on in this season.

Fashion Police I’m not gonna beat the proverbial dead horse about Stars coach Mark Christensen’s criminal past. You can read all about it here if you so desire. What I WILL do is talk about his most recent offense, the crime against fashion he committed on Saturday:

Yes that is a t-shirt under a suit coat, and yes that is a gold chain.

For comparison:

The day Caesar wears a t-shirt with a sport coat is the day he’s given up on life for good.

Attendance 3884 is the new home record. Every time the mark is broken, I think: “So that’s what Cass’ real capacity is. No way we can fit any more.” At this point, though, we might as well go for 4000. I’m sure there’s enough standing room to make it happen. Fire marshal shmire shmarshal.

Standings & Playoff Picture With Sunday’s results, City has officially clinched a spot in the Midwest tournament. They still have work to do if they want to play said tournament at Cass, though. The current table:

Madison is also in, and it’s down to Buffalo, Cleveland, and Indy Fire for the final two spots.

Your Moment of Zen As a footnote, I have to mention The Lansing United’s zero-point weekend, capped off by a 5-0 drubbing at the hands of AFC Cleveland. After going unbeaten in its first 7, TLU has now lost 4 in a row by a combined score of 9-0 and has been eliminated from playoff contention. The hip thing seems to be posting a picture/gif/video that metaphorically represents this epic collapse, so I thought I’d join in the fun.

Story of the Club

The Fourth Legion

July 1, 2015March 20, 2016

by Andrew 0 Comments

Dies Solis, Iunius XXVIII, MMXV – Detroit Urbs FC 1, Lansing Consocius 0

Caesar had been in many battles before, once as a foot soldier before he gained a command of his own. He’d won more than he’d lost and had gained crucial experience while remaining relatively unscathed. His love of victory drove him, and his calm disposition concealed a burning desire for excellence and supremacy over his foes.

He’d dealt with upstarts and pretenders before, often with far greater amounts of retribution than mercy. An apocryphal account suggests that when word reached his ear that the barbarians from the north were marching on the City itself, he smiled to himself and said “We will show them the path home.”* Though his foray into their province earlier in the year had been met with an ambush, he couldn’t have imagined that they would be so bold as to attempt a direct attack on the heart of the empire itself, especially with the strength of an entire legion defending her.

The bulk of the populace was behind his army, eager to defend their homeland from the foreign incursion. As he and his soldiers readied themselves for battle, their baggage train stretched for miles and miles behind them.

This was the third legion he’d commanded, but the fourth in the City’s history, which was reflected in their name: Legio IV Civitas. It included many veterans of his previous campaigns, as well as several youths eager to earn glory in the field.

When the day finally came the barbarians marched to what they were sure would be a certain victory. Unease crept into their minds, though, as rows of silent citizens peered down at them from above.

Caesar’s men had had trouble adapting to the open fields of the north, but in the tighter, more compact home terrain, they were nearly unbeatable. The wet and slippery conditions further unsettled their foes, and the battle began with thousands there to witness it.**

The barbarians, led by Brunus, fought valiantly, and for much of the day it was unclear which side would be victorious. With dusk gathering, a young centurion from the province of Britannia rallied those around him and broke through the enemy lines to turn the tide.***

As smoke filled the air and the ground turned to mud, the invaders mustered a final attack. If it had succeeded, the outcome of the battle and indeed the future of the empire itself may have been drastically altered. Children today may have grown up wearing baby-blue sashes across their chests instead of the imperial rouge and gold.

As it stands today, the ancient battleground remains surprisingly unchanged. Though modern construction has grown up around it, one still may be able to catch the scent of sulfur in the air or hear echoes of the voices on the wind. While some of the details about the battle may be more myth than fact (one account suggests that a white bear was present), what is known is that the City did not fall on that day. The names, faces, and other memories of the Fourth Legion have endured to this day, while some are remembered only by the dead.

– – – – – – – – – –

* Head, Richard. The Rise and Rise of City. Faber College Press, 1986. 678.

**Contemporary historians claimed that the crowd of spectators numbered from 100,000 to 250,000, with one source going as high as 1 million. Modern research and archaeological evidence suggests that the true number was much lower, likely between 3700 and 3702.

***His full name is lost to the ages, but his initials “WMB,” were found in a recently discovered set of parchments. This may be a Greek translation of the original Latin because that’s how ancient languages work or something. I really don’t know, go ask your mother.

Stats & Analysis - Story of the Club

This Perfect Day

June 22, 2015June 26, 2017

by Andrew 0 Comments

Saturday, June 20^th, 2015 – Detroit City FC 3, Cincinnati 1

11541002_10152818937310826_2502806713962935412_n — Photo by Michael Kitchen

Whether you’re old or young, male or female, sinner or saint, the reality of the modern human experience is that much of your life will consist of drudgery. Sitting in traffic, waiting in lines, spending the bulk of your day at a job that, if you’re lucky, doesn’t suck too hard – these things are typical to most of our lives. Put it all together and things can get a bit frustrating. Throw a little adversity and a couple personal troubles on top and it can feel overwhelming.

What makes life livable are the golden moments that occur in the midst of this daily grind. They may be found in the ecstasy of love and companionship, the thrill of new sights and experiences, or simply by losing yourself in a hobby or activity for which you have true passion. One moment of bliss can make all the difficulties of the previous weeks or months seem like distant memories.

One of the main reasons we watch sports is that, unless your team is utter trash, they can provide us with those precious moments of spontaneous joy. That’s why we subject ourselves to, for instance, driving through hours of highway construction and absurdly low speed limits with barely a sight to see. We know that at the end of the journey there’s a chance, however small, that we might see something special and feel THAT feeling once again.

Random Thoughts

The Game As I predicted and hoped for at the beginning of the season, the team appears to be coming together after a couple of early-season hiccups. They were clearly the better team on Saturday as well as last week at Minnesota Utd. Reserves, and getting 4 points out of two road games which each featured highly questionable red cards is a big accomplishment.

City wasn’t able to generate much in the first half, but absolutely dominated the last 30 minutes of the game, especially after going down a man. The bulk of their chances and pressure were generated from Will Mellors-Blair and Alex Isaevski combining down the left wing. The team ended up scoring 3, but with a hit post and a couple other near misses, it easily could’ve been 4 or 5.

The Refs Speaking of the red cards, I don’t really know what to say that hasn’t already been said dozens of times. We’ve grown accustomed to ridiculous refereeing decisions over the years, and until we move up to a higher league, it’s unrealistic to expect things to change. That being said, as a league that’s one step below the professional level, things like this are unacceptable:

If someone is too young to be an official at a high school match, he should not be part of a crew that’s calling a match between teams of grown men.

PirmannWear™ I’ve been slacking off in this department lately, so here’s a double dose: (both photos by Michael Kitchen)

Daydreaming Caesar Photo by Michael Kitchen — Daydreaming Caesar

False Alarm Yes the Cincinnati Fire Department really showed up: four trucks in total, in response to the dozen or so smokesticks set off simultaneously after Danny Dragoi’s go-ahead goal.

“That time the fire department showed up because of our smoke,” will now go down in City lore and be remembered by everyone who witnessed it.

Up Next This coming weekend is crucial – first up is another road trip to a weak team that should be beaten (Fort Pitt), and then there’s the rematch against Lansing at home. A win on Friday and any result on Sunday would put City in very good position to secure a playoff spot.

Story of the Club

Feel Bad Inc.

June 1, 2015March 20, 2016

by Andrew 6 Comments

Friday, May 29^th, 2015 – Detroit City FC 6, Minnesota TwinStars 1

Sunday, May 31^st, 2015 – Detroit City FC 1, Lansing United 3

I don’t have a clever reference or anecdote today. All I have is how I feel and how I feel is, in a word, bummed. Not sad, not depressed, not disheartened, just bleh. And the thing is, it has nothing to do with Sunday’s result. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned to get over losses almost immediately. I’ve come a long way from that one time when Spartan Bob shattered my adolescent world for a solid week.

For the first time as a City supporter, I went through a match weekend without really enjoying it. Friday against Minnesota was a joke. That team travelled 13 field players and should probably be playing in the USASA or some other lower division. Their lone goalkeeper leaving with an injury effectively turned the match into an exhibition, and when I later learned that he had broken his leg, it put a damper on what was already a victory without much meaning.

Sunday was the low point, though. As I said, it wasn’t the result that affected me most, nor the spectacularly-awful officiating, or even the cold, wet weather. It was the general mean-spiritedness that permeated the whole afternoon.

At this point, an opposing fan might say,

“Hey, wait a minute, you guys shout obscenities and throw up middle fingers the whole game and now you wanna complain because someone else gave you a taste of your own medicine? Guess you can dish it out but you don’t know how to take it.”

Hypothetical opposing fan would probably include a statement about how much more money he makes than you and would probably throw in a Detroit bankruptcy joke for good measure, but you get the general idea.

I have no problem with trash talk. We ship it out by the metric ton, so it’s only fair we get some sent back our way. We’ve developed a pretty good dynamic with Buffalo, Cleveland, Erie, and Cincinnati – lively banter goes back and forth, but at the end of the day, it’s all fairly good-natured and ultimately based on supporting your respective club.

As an American soccer supporter, I take great pride that a feature of the sport’s culture in this country (as well as in my own particular group) is near-universal opposition to violence, racism, sexism, homophobia, and other related ideologies.

Unlike supporters in some other places around the world, we don’t throw bananas, we don’t get in massive brawls, and we don’t have to worry about making it home from the stadium alive.

What has me so down is that, for the very first time since I began following the game I’ve come to love the most, I saw a tiny flash of that ugliness with my own eyes.

In the end, nothing happened, but when a few Lansing supporters insisted on taunting a few hundred City supporters, a physical altercation seemed like a very real possibility.

I’m not sure why certain United supporters have taken a more pernicious tack than those at, say, Buffalo, and I’ll also never understand why some of them seem genuinely more gleeful about City’s failures than the successes of their own club. I guess there’s really no point in trying to understand that type of thinking, and at this point I’m not really interested in doing so anyway.

For now I’m treating this as a one-off incident, and hoping that it won’t happen again. All I want to do now is smile and move on.

Stats & Analysis - Story of the Club

CityBits ’15: Buffalo

May 26, 2015March 20, 2016

by Andrew 0 Comments

Saturday, May 23^rd, 2015 – Detroit City FC 1, FC Buffalo 1

First It wasn’t a goal, and it wasn’t even close. Watching the WNYmedia stream*, it was tough to tell where the ball wound up…

…but video later confirmed that the correct call was made:

Our @GoPro caught @FCBuffalo Bobby Ross’s save of the game against @DetroitCityFC pic.twitter.com/RExkdTjHvx

— WNYmedia Network (@wnymedia) May 24, 2015

If City was going to win this game, Tyler Channell’s chance immediately preceding the goal line clearance was where it was going to happen.

*Sponsored by Pallet Services, Inc., which sounds awfully lot like a Mafia front company.

Props to them for the suggestive corporate motto, by the way.

Overview The game was just about dead even. Each side had a handful of decent chances but neither team’s play was obviously superior to the other. A draw felt like the fair result, even though City needed another late goal to secure the point.

Defense After giving up 5 goals in the first two competitive matches of the season, going on the road and conceding only once is a definite improvement. Buffalo did have a couple nice 1-2 moves that resulted in good chances, and for the second straight game City gave up a back post headed goal, but the overall performance was better.

Lumping It Up Two games into the regular season, the biggest concern I have is with the preponderance of long balls. I get that this game was played on bouncy turf and that two of the team’s most technical players, Saydee and Catalano, didn’t make the trip, but those two did play against Cleveland and the team’s style didn’t seem much different. Hopefully once this group of players gets more familiar with each other they will be able to possess the ball more and rely less on lobbing it upfield as a first instinct.

Standouts Nobody from either side set the world on fire, but I thought Alex Isaevski showed great touch and control in several instances, helping to win the ball back a few times and sending in some dangerous crosses.

Tyler Channell started at striker with Zach Myers (great to see him back so soon after his concussion scare) and had a few nice chances, the best of which started the frantic sequence resulting in the controversial but not really controversial goal line clearance shown above.

There was a hiccup in the stream but you get the idea. While listed at 6’2”, he’s shown that he is more than just a target forward; he has some quickness to him as well.

His SVSU teammate Troy Watson also got his first start, playing mostly in the center and right side of midfield. I thought he looked calm on the ball and made some good passes to move the play forward. It will be interesting to see where he best fits in since he’s capable of playing anywhere in defense or midfield.

Rust Belt Derby Since City did not win this game, the RBD will be decided on June 27th when Buffalo visits Cleveland. Buffalo essentially needs to win by 2 goals or win in a high-scoring game to beat City on tiebreakers. Handy graphic from Dale Paradowski is here:

City may still be the statistical favorite to win, but we still need to root for Cleveland. I know, I know. Just pretend it’s another blue team or something.

Next The first two-game weekend of the season – home against Minnesota TwinStars, away to Lansing. One week from now, a third of the season will be in the books and we’ll have a much better idea of how City stacks up with the rest of the Midwest.

For the latest NPSL Midwest results and standings, click here.

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