Far West Texas is on the horizon as the Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC begin their 2023 USL Championship campaign on Wednesday night against El Paso Locomotive FC. The match will kick off at 7pm at Southwest University Park, with live coverage by the voice of the Switchbacks, Ryan Kaufman, beginning at 6:30pm on XTRA Sports1300 AM and broadcast live from Trainwreck Bar and Restaurant. The Switchbacks will return to Weidner Field on Saturday evening to host Hartford Athletic with tickets available HERE.
Little Look at El Paso:
First-year Head Coach Brian Clarhaut has recruited heavily from Europe after spending the last seven years of his coaching career in Sweden – most recently with GIF Sundsvall. Swedes Petar Petrović and Erik McCue are two of the eight Europeans on El Paso’s roster in 2023. Spanish defender Yuma remains the Locomotive’s most recognizable face and central leadership figure.
Saturday evening saw the Locomotive fall 1-0 at Southwest University Park to Sacramento Republic. El Paso controlled the ball with over 60% of possession, but were not able to overcome a late first-half goal by Sacramento’s Russell Cicerone.
What the Switchbacks Say:
Switchbacks Head Coach and General Manager Stephen Hogan: “El Paso are always good and always a good football-possession team. [El Paso] always hold a lot of the ball because they are very technically savvy.
“Our lads just want preseason over and they’re ready to go. They’ve asked a lot of good questions and we have to understand that it’s not always going to be how we want it to be. And we talk about [that] quite a bit and how we get through those moments in every game is just as important as when we’re battering teams with transition moments or a press.
“Keeping our team structure – which we’ve worked on all preseason and we’ve been very good at [is key to a good result in El Paso]. The big question for us is obviously creating the chances – which we do – it’s just now putting them in the net. The big question in the league is, ‘oh you don’t have Elvis [Amoh], Hadji [Barry], and Michee [Ngalina], where are the goals going to come from?’ But there’s enough talent in [this team] that people haven’t seen yet and those guys are really annoyed about what people have been saying and what they’ve been reading so that’s the answer. Put the ball in the net and shut everyone up.”
Striker Aaron Wheeler. “It’s been a good productive preseason and a good first one under Hogie and everything we’re trying to build here. It’s been a good seven weeks. Obviously the first game of the season is huge. It’s a difficult place to play the first game of the season – or at any time of the season really – but we’re going there with the confidence that we’ve built the trust in one another throughout the preseason and the expectation is to go there and get the result. You look up and down the roster and we’re a very deep team. There’s a lot guys with CV’s and resumes that have won championships [and] have had really successful individual and collective rewards, so we’re expecting them to bring that into the team to hopefully get us over the hump. We all know that we were one game short last year and the mindset hasn’t changed – we’re not looking to just exist; we’re looking to get over the hump.”
Vargish’s View:
This may be a Switchbacks group with a ton of new faces, but the expectations and commitment to quality have not changed. El Paso have also undergone an offseason personnel refresh and will be keen to get a result after the frustration of last Saturday’s loss to Sacramento Republic.
The center of the field is going to be central to Wednesday’s outcome. El Paso’s Liam Rose and El Salvadorian international Eric Calvillo are two tenacious protectors in front of a back line that has pace deficiencies that can be exploited. Locomotive captain Yuma has experienced more in professional soccer than most of us could even dream, but the 37-year old Madrileños struggles for pace and has a penchant for a yellow card…or two.
There are so many options for the Switchbacks in the heart of midfield. The returning trio of Stephen Echevarria, Zach Zandi, and Jairo Henriquez are joined for 2023 by USL veteran Drew Skundrich and Canadian international Jay Chapman. And this is where Wednesday’s match will be decided. The focus from outside sources this offseason has centered on the attacking names that the Switchbacks can no longer call on. There’s a measure of validity there – the Switchbacks lost some top-quality players – but, for just one example, Norway have one of the best strikers in the world and they can’t even sniff qualifying for a major tournament. Big name attacking pieces are meaningless if there’s no service, no dictation of tempo, and a defense that resembles a thin slice of Swiss cheese.
It could take time for the Switchbacks to define themselves in 2023, but there’s nothing to support the idea that a group with this much quality and experience is going to struggle. Watch on Wednesday night. Watch the unity of this Switchbacks group. Watch them harry and press and defend as a group. Watch them implement new attacking players into their all-energy, quick-transition system. Wednesday night will be a good match that will be decided in midfield and a match the Switchbacks will give their all to win.