On Saturday evening the Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC make their first ever trip to the Deep South as they face Birmingham Legion FC at Protective Stadium. The match will kick off at 5:30pm MT. Live coverage on XTRA Sports 1300 AM with the voice of the Switchbacks, Ryan Kaufman, starts at 5pm.
The Switchbacks defeated Monterey Bay FC 1-0 on Saturday night at Weidner Field, through Elvis Amoh’s first Switchbacks goal. Jeff Caldwell kept his first clean sheet of the season behind a Switchbacks’ defense that held Monterey Bay to a smattering of chances.
What the Switchbacks Say:
Jeff Caldwell. “It feels great to get that first clean sheet out of the way and not just for me but for the whole group. Now we know how to do that and we know what it feels like and that’s always important to set that tone early, and now we can work to build on it. Anyone who’s been in this league knows what the travel can be like and we’re an experienced group. It’s one game at a time for us and down to the southeast this week for what should be a really good matchup. I thought that against Orange County [in week one] Elvis was magnificent in holding the ball up for us and linking, and doing all the hard running, so for him to get rewarded a week later with the goal will take a weight off and he can continue to go about his business – which is very good business – because he’s a top striker and a handful in the box.”
Elvis Amoh. “Most importantly it feels good that we won. I’m really happy that the team stuck together and even though we started a little bit slow we stuck together and got the win. We’re excited [for Saturday] because this will be our first time traveling and I’m looking forward to it. We take it one step at a time. We’ve started this week very well even though the weather is making it difficult for us with snow and storms, but we’re working through it.”
Head Coach and General Manager Brendan Burke. “Elvis does a lot of hard work for us – he does a lot of running off the ball and helps us establish our shape higher up the field. He does a lot of the things that can sometimes go unnoticed with a number 9. I’ve been really pleased with his performances and there will be a lot more goals coming between him and Hadji [Barry]. I thought we left four or five [goals] on the table the other night. It’s hard for opponents to key on one guy – you can’t key on Michee [Ngalina], you can’t key on Hadji, you can’t key on Elvis, and you can’t key on Malik [Johnson]. They can hit you from all angles. It took us a while to get going, but I thought we dominated the game from about the 20th minute on, and we did it by keeping the ball, which is great – we didn’t have to work against the ball as much as we did the week before. And Macca [Macauley King] will probably be in the 18 for the first time this weekend.
“I think it’s important to talk to people who are seeing [Birmingham] on a regular basis. I talked to the guys in Tampa about Birmingham and what they present. Now there’s video on everyone over the last couple weeks – it’s not preseason anymore – and the book is kind of out on most teams after two or three games. We need to go there and try to dominate possession. We need to be the aggressor and not go there and sit and hope to counter. Our game-model doesn’t change, home or away. When you’re in the form we’re in at home you don’t want to leave, but we’re not going to change our approach and we’re confident going on the road.”
Birmingham Legion Ones to Watch:
Brazilian Marlon Santos scored in Birmingham’s first match of the season, a 1-1 draw on March 13th against the reigning USL Championship Eastern Conference winners Tampa Bay Rowdies. Longtime Birmingham attacker Prosper Kasim notched the Legion’s lone goal in the 3-1 loss at ONEOK Field to Tulsa FC last Saturday.
Goalkeeper Matt Van Oekel has started both of Birmingham’s matches this season, behind a back line of Congolese defender Phanuel Kavita, Freddy Kleemann, Jonathan Dean, and Alex Crognale.
On Tuesday afternoon, former University of Maryland Terrapin standout and Birmingham Legion stalwart Eli Crognale announced his retirement from professional soccer. Crognale’s older brother, Alex, has started both matches for Birmingham this season at center-back, but will be suspended for the match against the Switchbacks after being sent off in the 78th minute of last Saturday’s 3-1 defeat to FC Tulsa.
Vargish’s View:
To echo Head Coach Brendan Burke: keeping the ball is key. In Birmingham’s opening-day match – the aforementioned 1-1 draw against the Tampa Bay Rowdies – the Legion had over 60% of possession. That number fell to 52% in the 3-1 loss to Tulsa. Birmingham’s two central midfielders Anderson Asiedu and Mikey Lopez can control the tempo of games when given time and space to dictate play.
Spurred on by the home crowd at Weidner Field, the Switchbacks have shown great tactical awareness, energy and tenacity in their defensive pressing during the opening two matches of 2022. There’s space to be had on Protective Stadium’s large field, and the Switchbacks need to control the ball to fully utilize the speed and quality of their attacking players