The boys in amber and blue travel down to the 305 for a matchup with bottom of the league Miami FC on Saturday night.  Rhode Island are coming off a hard-fought 3-3 draw at home against Indy Eleven.  Indy went up 2-0 in the first half but the halftime introduction of Noah Fuson for Rhode Island helped turn the tide (pun maybe intended).  Fuson dictated the attack for RI and helped keep the Indy backline under pressure.  This pressure helped lead to the two corners swung in by Marc Ybarra that were both met by the head of center back Frank Nodarse and buried in the back of the net.  Despite the momentum seemingly in Rhode Island’s favor, it was Indy who would score next to take a 3-2 lead through a well-placed shot from Tyler Gibson.  We would all have the last laugh however, as Isaac Angking buried a cut back from Albert Dikwa into the roof of the net to send Beirne stadium into a frenzy and ensure both sides came away with a point.

Coming into this game, I would expect Rhode Island to again set up in the same 3-5-2 that has seen so much success in recent weeks.  The only question marks are who is going to start in the back 3 next to Nodarse and Yao, and is Noah Fuson going to start as a number 10.  Against Indy, coach Khano Smith chose to play Clay Holstad in the back 3.  I personally am not a fan of this because despite his versatility, I would rather see Holstad in the midfield where he has more of a chance to create and to unleash his lethal long range shots.  In an ideal world, Grant Stoneman would be ready to get the start in the backline but if he isn’t, there are a couple of other options.  Stephen Turnbull could be moved inside and replaced by Collin Smith outside.  Another option would be to put Connor McGlynn back there.  McGlynn played center back several times in the past and even though he prefers to be in midfield, I feel like it isn’t too much to ask for him to fill in defensively when we’re in a tight spot due to injuries.  As for the number 10 position, I wouldn’t be opposed to playing Fuson there.  While I don’t think he had success playing inside earlier in the season, he proved in the 2^nd half against Indy that he is more than capable of being dangerous and orchestrating the attack.

As for Miami, they are coming off another poor result, losing away from home to North Carolina FC 4-1.  Miami started off well, taking a 1-0 lead.  A defensive miscommunication from North Carolina lead to a goal from Miami’s Khalid Balogun, in just his 2^nd appearance and first start for Miami.  He recently arrived on loan from USL League One side Lexington SC.  Miami would take the 1-0 lead into halftime but it all fell apart in the 2^nd half.  Rafael Mentzingen got the scoring started for North Carolina in the 50^th minute followed by two goals in two minutes from Evan Conway in the 63^rd and 64th.  Oalex Anderson would add a penalty in the 70^th minute to finish it off.  

This result continues a very worrying trend for Miami FC.  In their last 10 games, they have lost 9 and drawn 1.  Their last win was a 2-1 home win against San Antonio on April 27^th.  Miami have also conceded at least 2 goals in each of their last 9 matches.  And before their 4-1 loss to North Carolina, they lost 4-0 at home against Detroit City FC.  Miami did get a red card in that game, but only 1 of Detroit’s 4 goals came after the sending off.  

I’ve watched some of the chances and goals that Miami have conceded recently.  On numerous occasions, I’ve seen their backline get stretched and pulled out of position.  They have recently been playing a back 5, and I think some of their issues are due to wingbacks getting caught too far up the field.  If this happens on Saturday, this should play into our hands as we have been very good in transition.  I would expect our wingbacks to benefit from this the most so hopefully my guy Jojea Kwizera proves me right.  Miami are also prone to defensive lapses when building out from the back.  We should be able to take advantage of that as well if we press effectively.  On the attacking end, Miami do have some dangerous players.  Frank Lopez is a skilled forward who leads the team in goal contributions with 3 goals and 3 assists.  Midfielder Allen Gavilanes is also dangerous and leads the team in goals with 5.  It’ll also be interesting to see how forward Kahlid Balogun does in what should be his third appearance for the club.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention one additional interesting tidbit about Miami FC.  They’re managed by former Italy midfielder Antonio Nocerino.  Nocerino came through the Juventus academy before playing for several clubs in Italy, most notably for Palermo and AC Milan.  As I’ve started to pay more attention to the USL since the addition of our great club, I’ve found it fascinating how many random names I recognize in the league and I often wonder how they got here (see the likes of Emerson Hyndman at Memphis and my personal favorite, Gabriel Obertan at League One Charlotte Independence).  Nocerino made his way to the US at the end of his career, where he played for MLS side Orlando City.  It was in Orlando where he got his first coaching experience, working in the youth academy.  Miami FC is his first job as a first team manager and this is his first season.  Clearly it hasn’t gone well for him so far, perhaps showing that players who played at the highest levels aren’t always the best coaches.  Luckily for us, Khano Smith only played in MLS so we have nothing to worry about (sorry Khano, I was actually a fan of yours back in the day with your pacey runs down the wing for that team up the road in Foxboro, just don’t tell anyone).  

So with all of this being said, what should we actually expect after the 90 minutes on Saturday?  If you’ve made it this far, you know that Miami FC has struggled massively this season.  And we know that RIFC look to be on an upward trajectory.  So therefore we should expect an easy win on Saturday night for the good guys, right?  I would say it’s not that straightforward.  I certainly don’t want to sit here and say that we’ll put 4 or 5 past them.  I’m too superstitious for that.  So I’m going to go with the cliché coach speak and say if we respect the opponent and don’t take the game lightly, we should be coming out with a win.  Miami have a good enough attack to cause some issues, but their defensive struggles have greatly overshadowed that all season.  Thus I’m predicting a 3-1 win for Rhode Island FC.  Up The Tide!