RIFC will close out a run of 4 straight home games on Saturday night when they meet Birmingham Legion for the second time this season. The first meeting was a 1-0 RIFC win back on May 14th. An early goal for Maxi Rodriguez and a red card just before halftime for Birmingham made the difference. This weekend’s matchup sees both teams in similar positions as they were nearly two months ago. Neither team has fully figured themselves out yet and they are both still struggling to live up to the lofty expectations that were set for them before the season began. As always, we’ll take a look at what to expect from each team heading into this one.
RIFC find themselves in a similar spot to where they were a couple of games ago. They started this stretch of 4 straight home games with a dramatic 2-1 win over North Carolina FC. It felt like the team had turned the page and were going to start getting results only for them to lose 2-0 to Sacramento Republic the following week. Now, RIFC have just beaten a rotated Portland Hearts of Pine team 4-1 and we are all asking the same question yet again: has this team turned the corner?
That remains to be seen. But this weekend’s game should give us an indication as to where this team is headed. Some good injury news has me thinking positively:
The potential availability of JJ Williams and Amos Shapiro-Thompson is promising. I’d be surprised if either start, particularly JJ, but I would love to see them make appearances Saturday night. With that being said, this is what I have for a lineup:
- Goalkeeper
- Jackson Lee starts with Koke Vegas unavailable
- Defense
- If Aime Mabika is available, I’d expect him to slot in next to Yao and Nodarse would move out to the right. If he’s not available, Nodarse would take his place and Rio Hope-Gund would start at RB
- Midfield
- Holstad and Rodriguez play in a double pivot as they did last time out. With Ybarra just coming back from injury and playing 20 minutes last weekend, it’s hard to see him getting a start here
- Forwards
- Kwizera, Fuson, and Dikwa keep their spots from last weekend. The bold choice here is to start Dani Rovira on the right. Although he’s officially listed as a defender, I think he can provide some good crosses from the right to help feed Albert Dikwa up top. If it isn’t Rovira, it would surely be Joe Brito getting the start. With the team trying to get Noah Fuson to play more centrally, the right side of the attack is an area to watch, as the team doesn’t seem to have a natural right sided attacker in the squad
Keys to the Game
- Feed Albert
- Albert Dikwa is coming off his best game in amber and blue with 3 goals last time out. After receiving a lot of criticism over the past couple of months, he’s started to get himself into much better positions to score. He took advantage of some great service for his hat trick against Portland and RIFC need to make sure they keep finding Dikwa in good spots
- Get Maxi on the Ball
- Maxi Rodriguez took up a deeper role against Portland and was spraying the ball all over the field. He excelled as a deep-lying playmaker and RIFC will need that to continue against Birmingham. It should help them get better control and dictate things to their opponent, something this team has been trying to do since their inception
- Protect the Backline
- With Marc Ybarra and Amos Shapiro-Thompson still making their way back from injury, RIFC are short in midfield. If they do end up going with a Maxi/Clay double pivot, they’ll need to pay extra attention to their defensive responsibilities. They did well enough last time out, but that was against a rotated Portland side. It remains to be seen if they can hold up well enough defensively against USL Championship opposition
Birmingham Legion come into this game as a team struggling to get results. Since appointing Mark Briggs as manager 2 months ago, they have 9 points in 9 league games and 3 wins in 11 games when you include the Jagermeister Cup. The team had high expectations coming into the season after some marquee offseason signings but hasn’t come close to hitting the heights many of us thought they would get to. So what has gone wrong?
There are a multitude of things you can point to, but really it just comes down to the team being disjointed. There’s very little connection between their midfield and attack. And they don’t excel in any area statistically. Birmingham are 14th in the league in possession at just under 50% and they’re 20th in possession won in the final third. That means they aren’t controlling games via keeping the ball but also aren’t pressing high up the field to create chances.
Despite the poor performances and lack of results, Birmingham do still have some talented players to watch out for:
- Matt Van Oekel (GK)
- Legend of Birmingham Legion and the USL as a whole. Awesome mustache. Solid shot-stopper
- Phanuel Kavita (DF)
- Physically imposing CB. In the USL since 2018 and with Birmingham since 2021
- Enzo Martinez (MF)
- Fiery midfielder known for constantly arguing with refs. Another long time USL player and is in his 4th season with Birmingham
- Tyler Pasher (MF)
- Left-footed wide player who often plays on the right. Most consistently dangerous player on the team
- Ronaldo Damus (FW)
- Leads the team with 6 goals in the league. Dangerous and can get goals but often gets left on an island up front
Keys to the Game
- Get the Ball to Pasher
- Tyler Pasher has looked dangerous down Birmingham’s right side. If they can get him in space down RIFC’s left, he should be able to create some chances either for himself or for teammates. RIFC struggled with that side defensively a few games ago against North Carolina FC and Birmingham will hope they can replicate some of what Rafa Mentzingen did for NCFC in that game
- Control Dikwa
- Although it was against a rotated League One side, Albert Dikwa has to be feeling confident after a 3 goal performance last time out for RIFC. Birmingham will need to show that that was more of a product of the opposition rather than Dikwa catching fire. Phanuel Kavita is the main player that Birmingham will need to step up. He will have to use his physicality to make sure Dikwa can’t get around him and into good positions to score
- Pressure the Double Pivot
- Maxi Rodriguez and Clay Holstad can’t be allowed time on the ball or it will be a long night for Birmingham. If they can pressure Maxi and Clay, Birmingham can disrupt the connection between RIFC’s midfield and attack, while also possibly creating some chances of their own
Perhaps I’m being too optimistic here, but I think RIFC are clearly better than Birmingham Legion right now. Even though neither team has performed up to expectations, RIFC just appear to be closer than Birmingham. Legion also played on Wednesday, a 0-0 draw at home against Charleston Battery, and have less time to recover. I know that didn’t help RIFC against Sacramento Republic, who also played midweek before beating RIFC 2-0, but I think a combination of players getting healthy and some positive takeaways from last game can push RIFC towards 3 points.
I’ll be back right after the game with the Riptide Report and we’ll have player ratings and the postmatch pod as always. Until then, UP THE TIDE!
Tide Talk 
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