by Friday, June 7th, 2019 – Detroit City FC 5 FC Indiana 0
Sunday, June 9th, 2019 – Detroit City FC 0 Grand Rapids FC 0
We’ve reached the season’s midway point, and something that was a promising development over the first few weeks has now come to the forefront, demanding to be acknowledged.
Detroit City is an elite defensive team; the level at which they’re performing is unprecedented in the club’s history. Going further, defense has become the identity of the 2019 squad and may ultimately be the chief factor in determining how successful the season turns out.
City has given up a paltry 0.43 goals per match and is on pace to allow just 6! over the course of the 14-match regular season. Obviously, the clean sheets won’t go on forever and they’ll give up a goal at some point, but what we’re seeing is remarkable.
DCFC Goals Allowed Per Match
2012 – 0.83
2013 – 0.67
2014 – 1.21
2015 – 1.17
2016 – 1.75
2017 – 1.36
2018 – 1.25
2019 to date – 0.43
City hasn’t approached this level of stinginess in six years, and even in their most successful season, 2017, they still allowed well over a goal per match.
Aside from the numbers, this team also looks different to the eyes. In the early years, City’s defensive success appeared to be based in large part on big saves, timely tackles from Josh Rogers, and the general ineptitude of the opposition.
Post-Cass, competition has gotten better, and opposing forays into City’s defensive end have generally been breath-holding events. To be fair, there were a few such moments on Sunday in Grand Rapids, but those were exceptions to what’s been established in the aftermath of the loss to Kalamazoo.
In soccer, it’s curious how closely goals scored correlate with feelings of success. When your team’s attack is clicking, everyone can see the results and feel the euphoria. Excellent defense, on the other hand, tends to sneak up on you.
For much of this season, my focus has been on how I felt City needed to vary their attack, shoot more, and take more chances in the final third. What didn’t really hit me until today, though, was that this is the best I’ve ever seen them defend.
Naturally, the question arises: how have they done it?
I’ve discussed the 3-5-2 formation in several recent posts so I won’t rehash everything here. The main takeaway is that it’s been super-effective at killing off opposing teams’ counter-attacks, which have been City’s Achilles’ heel for years.
When it comes to players, all of the goalkeepers who’ve played have been solid, but I think the back three of Stephen Carroll-Moussa Gueye-Jalen Crisler deserve the majority of the credit. All three look comfortable playing with the ball at their feet, their positioning and awareness of what’s around them has been good, and they’ve made very, very few mistakes.
When Trevor James was introduced, he said that he wanted to play an attacking style of soccer. While some may look at the current defensive ascendance as counterintuitive to that statement, I don’t believe that’s the case at all.
There are many different approaches to playing “attacking” soccer. One entails recklessly throwing players forward in an effort to create chances and goals while leaving yourself exposed in defense.
James clearly favors a more calculated strategy in which a solid foundation at the back allows City to build up slowly and probe for the right opportunities to strike.
Up to this point, City’s attack has been a little up and down, but the overall trend has been encouraging. What’s really carried them through the rough patches has been the consistent defending as a team.
As the second half of the season begins, that may be what will separate City from the rest of the pack in the division.
Gallery photos by Franzi Loetzner
The thing I find amazing is that the three goals we have conceded all came in one game. Seven matches with six clean sheets at the halfway point. .