by Sunday, May 12th, 2019 – Detroit City FC 1 Michigan Stars 0
(1) This was City’s first regular season-opening win since 2015. It wasn’t a dominant performance, but was a very good grind-out result with a shorthanded roster that hasn’t been together for very long.
(2) The 5-1-2-2/3-3-2-2/3-1-2-2-2? formation was the most unorthodox I can remember City ever playing.
The teams that played at Cass were strictly 4-4-2 or 4-4-1-1, and the narrow field severely restricted experimentation. Upon moving to Keyworth, Ben Pirmann typically rolled with a 4-2-3-1 or some variation thereof.
The players available on Sunday likely played a large role in Trevor James’ setup. With a good pool of defenders and midfielders and a scarcity of attacking options, loading up at the back made plenty of sense. Once Tyrone Mondi, Roddy Green, et al. arrive, I’d expect to see some more attack-minded formations.
That being said, defense has looked like City’s strength so far this year, and playing a three-man backline of tall trees – Jalen Crisler, Seb Harris, Moussa Gueye – with two wingbacks could be useful against opponents who try to sit back against City and hit them on the counter-attack (which is basically what 95% of teams do).
At the very least, it’s something that can create confusion and cause problems for other teams, and it shows Trevor James’ willingness to adapt to the players he has at his disposal.
(3) One of those players, Stephen Carroll, started at right wingback on Sunday, after playing there extensively in the preseason. Apparently it’s more than just an experiment, and it’s a bold decision to move your most consistently excellent centerback of the past two years out of his natural spot. Once you see all of the options there (Crisler, Seb, Gueye), though, it makes more sense. It will be interesting to see if he remains at RWB for the duration of the season; if so, his progression in his new role will be something to watch.
(4) Shawn Lawson scored via penalty and is on pace to meet my prediction of 10+ goals 😀
City’s penalty-taking has been hit-or-miss the past few seasons, so hopefully he can keep converting and put those fears to rest.
(5) Now officially rostered are Tommy Buono (FW) and Owen Finnerty (GK).
