We have not gotten around to posting in the Diving Deep series yet this season, for which our apologies. We have reasons but no excuses. That being said, at this point the revamped team has developed enough that we have a pretty good indication of what it looks like. So, while we will take a close look at this game, we will also summarize the season to date.
First off, what tendencies have we noted so far? Well…
- As far as formation is concerned, the Legion used a 4-1-4-1 in Week 1 in the 0-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Rowdies. Every game since has been a 4-2-3-1. Given the current roster that is likely a good option and should have produced results better than what the Three Sparks have achieved. Dubious refereeing decisions have contributed significantly to that (including a missed PK this week) but there are also other reasons. Notably, a lack of finishing. It also hasn’t helped that the back line has been a rotating cast of characters. With the impending departure of Ramiz Hamouda that will continue. Either that, or a change to a 3-man back line is in the offing.
- This team plays at a far higher speed than the 2025 or 2024 editions. This is mostly a very good thing. For a start, it’s way more entertaining to watch. Secondly, it’s much harder to defend against. It is partly due to a much younger squad. For example, Enzo Martinez, who turned 35 late last season, is gone and that will bring the average down by itself (as will the retirement of Matt van Oekel, but outfield players are the concern here). Incoming recruits have been relatively young. Tyler Pasher is 31 but is also more mobile than he was last year with a few nagging injuries (more on him later).
- A fresh squad also means a squad not encumbered by the failures of the last two seasons. They weren’t here, so aren’t to blame and have their own value to prove. Which means they are hungry. However, it also means they can be prone to mistakes.
- The left wing is now unbelievably strong, something of a reversal from 2025 when the right wing was dominant. Dawson McCartney and Gevork Diarbian are a huge double threat to create opportunities from out wide. Of the young additions, Diarbian (who, by the way, talks about as fast as he plays) could well be the best pickup this year. And that’s among a great rookie class. The pair formed an instant partnership that is only getting better every week. Their overlapping play is a joy to behold.
- The team has a superlative defensive pivot in Seth Antwi. That’s been lacking since the departure of Anderson Asiedu (whose career has sadly gone downhill since he left the Legion). Seth’s 29 defensive actions rank him 3rd on the team so far (Raz has a massive 38 and Dawson 31). His passing is also staggeringly accurate. He has attempted 307 passes, more than anyone except Raz (yes, him again!) with an accuracy of an unbelievable 92.2%. Only Sebastian Saucedo is better at 94.1%, but that’s on just 17 passes.
- The team also has a central attacking midfielder. That’s another hole left unfilled for a while after Bruno Lapa left (who is now back in the USL Championship with FC Tulsa after a year in South Korea with Ansan Greeners who finished dead last in K-League 2). More than a while, to be frank. The stupid thing is that the player filling that hole isn’t new. He’s been with the club since 2023. Who dat? Tyler Pasher. This week alone he was responsible for 8 chance creations.
Now, even though there has been a lot of turnover in the squad since last season, 13 of 23 players were with the Legion last season. They will not have forgotten how things went in that dismal campaign and effectively have had to unlearn the bad habits they developed. That process is still ongoing. And even Sunday against Indy we observed at least one bad habit that still needs to be excised.
That problem, in a word, is complacency. Speaking after the game Tyler Pasher, Sam McIllhatton and Jay Heaps all emphasized that the Three Sparks could and should have finished the game off way before Indy got its first goal. Heaps put it this way: ‘The first half was all us and we have to find a way to punish teams…they’re just trying to get to half-time. You can feel it; we weren’t urgent enough after we scored that goal…so, coming out for the second half it’s still our game. If we play the right way—and we know how to play—but we get caught up in some bad foul [by Seth Antwi in the 47th minute], a stupid play that just changed the whole feel of the game…It’s about finishing your team off when you have the chance and then be lethal. Second half, be smart when you’re up a goal, you’re at home. Don’t give the other team any reason to want to get back in it.”
Sam McIllhatton summed it up this way: “We need to find that ruthless edge and push for that second and third, because I think this season, like, last season we would ahve lost that game, this season, well, we didn’t win it but a big result’s coming and I think we’re going to beat somebody four- or five-nil eventually.” Brutally honest but optimistic all at once.
Still, the Legion has given up leads 4 times in 6 games: 2 goals up against the Charleston Battery, 1 goal up against Loudoun United twice, and 1 goal up against Indy. It’s clearly an issue that needs to be fixed. Mark Briggs last year repeatedly talked about how the team would switch off, which generally seemed to happen for about 15 minutes early in the second half, a critical phase of the game. Let’s hope they fix it soon.
One problem the Legion does appear to have under control is the lack of shooting. That is directly tied to getting penetration into the opposing 18-yard box, which the Three Sparks has struggled mightily to achieve. Perhaps not so much anymore. The chart below tracks 5 metrics over the 6 games to date in 2026. All 5 of them were at a low point in game 1 against the Tampa Bay Rowdies but have shown improvement since. Not in a linear fashion, but the trend is definitely on the upswing. The Indy game was the high point for all 5 of them so far. Against the Eleven the Legion racked up 28 touches in the box, and 12 of a total 18 shots (including goals) were in the box. Every shot on target was in the box as well, which rather says it all. The same was true 2 games ago against Loudoun, albeit with lesser totals. Overall, 15 of 19 shots on target have come from inside the 18. 43 of a total 73 shots were also from close in.
The importance of this penetration is also reflected in the xG. The Legion’s high xG for the year was this week, not surprisingly, at 2.07. With the exception of the Pittsburgh Riverhounds game, in which the team opted for a massive defensive performance late, xG has improved every game, starting at a low 0.46 against Tampa. Even against Hartford, playing down a man down for 31 minutes, the team put up an xG of 1.59. You get in the box, your chances of scoring increase dramatically. Which is not rocket science.
But you have to create that penetration. Previous editions of the Legion have been very committed to wing play. The lack of a strong central attacking mid, as noted above, more or less forces that. But when you have a CAM your ability to work the channels doesn’t simply increase by 1, it increases exponentially because the defense has to take much greater care to cover all attacking options. Tyler Pasher, who has historically been used as a winger, has moved into that slot and is filling it admirably. He has a self-deprecating take on the shift: “I like it a lot. Um, I mean, I don’t have the running ability, like the work, anymore, and I’m a bit older so I enjoy sitting in that space to help the play and help the team combine and keep possession and move forward.” I countered that he covers a lot of lateral ground. “Yeah, very much so. It requires a lot of moving in behind and kind of moving the ball and pressing as well. So, yeah, definitely. Just a different kind of tempo.”
That being said, he does tend to drift to the right, which favors his stronger left foot. He also stays very high. Of his 66 passes against Indy only 9 were in the Legion half (and only 5 of the total were unsuccessful!). Here are his passing chart and heatmap overlaid:
High and to the right. And inswinging corners. Interestingly, other than the PK, he only touched the ball in the 18 twice. Which means he was taking his job as distributor seriously. Even so, he accounts for 3 of the Legion’s 7 goals, with no one else having more than 1.
Another key issue, and one that can be somewhat outside a team’s control is having a deep bench. With limited total rosters, injuries and other absences can really limit the ability to bring in strong reinforcements late. The Legion was able to manage without that last week against Pittsburgh, but it could have been a big problem this week. Jay Heap’s substitution choices were on the money though. Bringing in Ronaldo Damus and the underappreciated Serge Ngoma in the 66th minute almost paid immediate dividends as they combined for a pass and shot on goal that was just a tad too soft to get past Eric Dick. Damus especially is looking much more like his normal self and once he is back to 90 minutes fit the Legion’s attacking threats will explode now that he can rely on good service.
So, a draw that feels like a loss? Yes, but it is still far too early to get down on this team that everyone in and around the league is recognizing as a valid contender. 6 total points is just 1 win out of the playoffs and only 10 points out of first. With 24 games to play. And, as Jay Heaps noted, “the parity is tight. That’s one great thing about being in this league is never, it’s not like you have a layup of a game. You gotta fight every time.”
