The Legion has a short turnaround to correct the issues from Wednesday evening and get on track. It;s not going to be easy…
The most important part
In the first season series to complete in 2025, Detroit City comes to Birmingham Sunday (4:00pm, ESPN+). The two teams drew 2-2 in Week 3 but the situation has changed dramatically since then.
The changes at the Legion are obvious, as is its track record. Detroit, on the other hand, has played extremely strongly so far. They are also one of a few teams not to have had a bye week yet, and their Jägermeister Cup game was against a Championship team (the Pittsburgh Riverhounds) so there are no weak points in the team’s season. Detroit’s record is an impressive 4-1-4. The only loss was a 0-2 setback in Louisville in Week 4, which is hardly shocking.
The wins were over The Miami FC, the Colorado Springs Switchbacks, Phoenix Rising and Rhode Island. The Switchbacks win was courtesy of an own goal though. The draws were with the Legion, Monterey Bay, Indy Eleven and, just last week, Hartford Athletic. They also beat Pittsburgh in the Cup. In the only US Open Cup game they were whipped 0-4 by the Chicago Fire.
A moderately mixed bag of results but still good enough for 4th in the East.
Starting with the Legion game Detroit has used a 3-4-1-2 exclusively in league play. That’s both defensive and aggressive and will cause the Three Sparks all sorts of headaches at both ends of the pitch. In the previous game the Legion had difficulty penetrating into the Detroit half let alone the final third and ended the game with just 8 shots. Only 3 were inside the 18 and only one was on target (the second goal was an own goal if you recall and the Legion came close to a winner on a second).
However, that was in the notoriously narrow confines of Keyworth Stadium. Protective’s wide dimensions will spread that defense a bit and if the team can get back to the attacking mindset we saw against Tampa Bay then it could be a very different game.
As to the Detroit attack, they have scored 13 goals in league play and 1 in the Jäger Cup. Darren Smith has scored 8 of them and is tied for the league lead. They are hardly a one-trick pony though, but keeping him under wraps will go a long way to keeping the score under control.
Just as the Rhode Island game was a visit by an old friend in Khano Smith, so will this game be for Mark Briggs. Danny Dichio was an assistant to Briggs at Sacramento Republic for 2 years before taking over at Detroit last season. Like Briggs he is English (with the utterly English full name of Daniele Salvatore Ernest Dichio) but is actually several years older. This is also his first-ever head coaching assignment.
Speaking with Briggs earlier this week he noted that Detroit plays a very similar style to Rhode Island which means that the preparation is rather easier than it might be if the two were different. I asked how hard it is to prepare for a game on short practice and he said, “You have to be creative. You have to. You can’t be on the field every day. You can’t have them doing your normal sessions every day. We’ve got to make sure that they’re fresh and they’re ready for the game. So, a lot of regen, a lot of video analysis. A lot of individual meetings doing everything you can to make sure they’re prepared for a very, very good Detroit team.”
After the Rhode Island loss he reemphasized that last point. “We’ve got to pick the guys up. We’ve got to analyze certain things, gotta have some individual conversations. And we’ve got to lift the level, we’ve got to lift the energy.” He added, “So I hope the guys go home tonight. I hope they look in the mirror. They only screwed themselves and then we come back tomorrow and we’re ready to work.” Not the words of a happy man.
Prediction: Unless the Three Sparks really change things up in just a couple of days’ work, I don’t see this one going well. A draw is about as good as we can expect at this point and I doubt even that will be the result. Detroit wins this one.
Best of the rest
There are games all weekend again and there are some pretty attractive matchups among the 12 games on offer. That also means both the Legion and Rhode Island have double-game weeks, with Rhody doing it all on the road. Here are the Forge’s recommendations for your viewing pleasure:
El Paso Locomotive v. Indy Eleven (Friday, 8:00pm, ESPN+)
El Paso is a seriously improved team this season and pretty much always worth checking out. Indy Eleven is one of the teams in a tight battle in the middle of the Eastern Conference standings and as such the Legion really needs them to drop points whenever possible. And they haven’t won since the first game of the season.
The™ Miami FC v. Loudoun United (Saturday, 6:30pm, ESPN+)
If we had selected this fixture as one to watch a year ago you would have questioned our sanity. Maybe we are living in a dream (nightmare?) world because these two clubs are looking good right now, Loudoun especially. Miami is another team in the East’s belly so this is also important for the Three Sparks.
Tampa Bay Rowdies v. Rhode Island FC (Saturday, 6:30pm, ESPN+)
This clashes directly with the previous pick but is an important one for the Legion. The Rowdies are going through some struggles, arguably worse than the Legion’s. Now that Rhode Island have vaulted well above the Three Sparks in the standings we need Tampa to grab points. That might be a tall order.
Orange County SC v. New Mexico United (9:00pm, ESPN+)
Two Western heavyweights here but both are coming off slightly surprising losses. New Mexico has in fact lost two straight, a rarity. OC has been alternating wins and losses all season. Someone has to get right here and both teams will be highly motivated to make sure it’s them who get on track.
Phoenix Rising v. Monterey Bay FC (9:00pm, CBS Sports Golazo Network)
After some poor results earlier in the season the Rising looks to be playing much better and is one of 4 Western teams on 10 points. Monterey Bay are looking very good this year in second place. They also beat Phoenix 3-1 in the opposite game earlier in the season so potential revenge will be a factor in this one.
