This past weekend we got to see a much more nearly complete performance out of the new-look Birmingham Legion than we have to date, at least at home. That excludes the first 25 minutes or so of the second half; fix that and the team looks as good as the current roster is going to get (injuries notwithstanding). Here’s how the various players all did on an individual basis (remembering of course that this is a team sport):
GK: FERNANDO DELGADO – 7. Madison put just 2 shots on goal in the game. Fernando saved one and as is too often the case was let down by his defense on the other. The save he made was a chance of his own making after an ill-considered headed clearance. Passing was a bit off at 73.9% accuracy on 23 tries.
LB: RAMIZ HAMOUDA – 7.5. It was good to see Raz back on the field and overall he had a good game. Despite hampering himself with an early yellow, in 77 minutes he recorded 1 tackle and 1 block and won 7 of 13 duels. He connected on 29 of 36 passing attempts, sent in 2 crosses, had a shot blocked and created 1 scoring chance.
CB: A.J. PATERSON – 7.5. A.J. picked up a latish yellow card for a rough tackle but that did not faze him any. Overall he racked up 3 tackles and 2 clearances and won 4 of 8 duels. His passing was an impressive 90.7% accurate on 43 attempts. He also had a shot on target and another off
CB: JAKE RUFE – 7. 3 tackles, 4 clearances and an interception. 6 of 8 in duels. Connected on 39 of 45 passes. An ordinary day at the office for Jake.
CB: TIAGO SUAREZ – 6. Tiago is usually reliable despite his youth and like Phanny is often avoided by opponents due to his size. In this game he generated just 1 clearance and won 4 of 8 duels. Passing was OK at an 81.3% accuracy rate on 48 attempts. BUt it was his deflection that allowed Isaac Angking’s shot to get past Fernando.
RB: SEBASTIAN TREGARTHEN – 8. Unsurprisingly, Seba played a very right fullback position. Even so, he put up 2 tackles and 3 interceptions. He only won 5 of 11 duels though and was shown a first-half yellow card. He only tried 23 passes and completed 18 of them. In attack he had 2 shots on target and sent in 4 crosses, albeit unsuccessfully.
LW: TYLER PASHER – 8. Tyler tried 3 shots, 1 of which was on target. He pumped in 4 crosses, 1 finding his man. He made a hefty 61 passes, finishing an equally hefty 57 of them. All over the field as usual and very difficult to deal with. And there’s the small matter of the assist…
LM: EDWIN LASZO – 8. Edwin was primarily the defensive pivot in the setup. He logged 4 tackles, 1 clearance and 1 interception and won a whopping 9 of 15 duels. His passing accuracy rate was 83.3% on 60 tries. He also managed to create a scoring chance.
RM: ENZO MARTINEZ – 8. Enzo had 3 shots off target and should have found the net on at least one of them. But he was credited with creating a total of 6 scoring chances. That’s almost unheard of. If he can keep that up the team will be in good shape.
RW: SAMUEL SHASHOUA – 8. Sam played 77 minutes and was much more visible in this game than in his previous outing for the Legion. He had 3 shots, all on target, sent in 6 crosses, connecting on 4 of them and was the assist on Ronaldo’s goal. Responsible for 4 scoring chances in all.
FWD: RONALDO DAMUS – 7. Ronaldo had 3 shots in all, 1 in the net, 1 off target and 1 blocked. He lost all 7 of his duels, but getting in the face of opponents has become a hallmark of his game. That includes doing it literally to keeper Wallis Lapsley who had something in his eye in the funniest moment of the match. Off just before regulation ended,
SUB: STEPHEN TURNBULL – 8. Replaced Seba (despite being erroneously on the pre-game starting XI). He was busy. 1 shot on target and 2 scoring chances created. 1 tackle, 1 clearance and the winner of 6 out of 9 duels. Pretty good for 42 minutes.
SUB: ERIK CENTENO – 7. Erik came on for Ramiz and was not really called on to do too much other than general cleanup. He did create a scoring chance with a good cross and connected on all 6 of his passes.
SUB: SEBASTIAN SAUCEDO – 7.5. It’s not too often that we award the Man of the Match to a sub and also not too often that we give it to a player with a yellow card. Especially not one who got the card before he was even in the game1He was yellow carded for dissent by entering the pitch while on the bench.. But that goal was stupendous. On top of that he was perfect on 7 passes and won 3 of 4 duels.
SUB: PRESTON TABORT ETAKA – 7. In for Ronaldo and was pretty quiet. 1 good pass and 1 lost duel. That’s it.
SUB: SAM MCILLHATTON – 7. Like Preston, Sam was in for short time, replacing Enzo. He exactly double Preston’s numbers.
HC: MARK BRIGGS – 8. Do the Three Sparks finally have Briggs’ philosophy down? I think the answer is a definite…probably. Whatever the consequences were after the Colorado Springs loss they certainly had an effect. Briggs gets the better of his best friend Matt Glaeser and heads to the knockouts.
