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Good morning all, here’s some (mostly) Lou City-related news and thoughts from the past few days.
HOUSTON 2-0 CITY
It was a scoreline the Boys in Purple have become accustomed to over last week’s preseason trip to Texas, as City were defeated 2-0 to Houston on Sunday.
A quick goal from Fafà Picault on 5 minutes and another MLS journeyman Maximiliano Urruti at 27 minutes proved to be enough for the Texans, who were then held scoreless in the second half and throughout 25 minutes of extra time.
There’s no match report for this one because details were again scarce, and I didn’t really feel like there was anything too notable as we didn’t see a lineup photo as we had in the previous friendlies. Apparently Hoppenot, Gomez and Jimenez all threatened to score, but nothing materialized.
What might be worth mentioning is that academy members Carlos Moguel and Joshua Wynder both picked up minutes against the MLS side, which had to have been an incredible experience for the two of them. It’s certainly encouraging to see Hackworth and the rest of the coaching staff prioritizing the development of local talent.
In his post match interview, Hack seemed pretty positive about the team’s performance, although he did point out that we conceded another early goal, something that’s seemed to be somewhat of an issue for us in this friendlies. There’s still plenty of time to sort that out though, and as I’ve said before, preseason exists so we can identify deficiencies and correct them before it costs us points. It would’ve been nice to grab a result against a second MLS team to really prove our mettle, but we still have FCC again on April 7 following Chattanooga FC this Saturday. There’s no shame in this result, and it seems like we’re making progress.
SONG OF THE MATCH: “Step by Step” by Whitney Houston (Dynamo) because,
I know you're hurting, and I know you're blue,
I know you're hurting but don't let the bad things get to you.
Step by step, bit by bit, stone by stone, brick by brick.
OPEN CUP FORMAT ANNOUNCED
In more exciting news, Louisville City will be one of just one of 16 teams to participate in this year’s Lamar Hunt US Closed Open Cup, alongside other USL Championship sides El Paso, Phoenix and Tampa Bay. They’ll be joined by eight MLS teams which will be determined by the league table after the first three games of the season, which really feels like double-dipping with league points and cup qualification from the same year, but hey, that’s their problem. League One’s Greenville, NISA’s Detroit City and two yet-to-be-determined open division teams will round out the competition.
From an objective standpoint, I’m devastated to see the opening rounds scrapped and the field reduced to such a small size. To me, open cup competitions are the best event in world football, full stop. I know there’s enormous pressure on the USSF to go ahead with the tournament after its cancelation last year but seeing it reduced to this almost antithetical to the entire concept, and you can’t help but ask yourself what the point is.
From a Louisville City perspective, this is fantastic news. Three wins and you’re in the final: that is an absolutely feasible scenario with some top performances and a bit of luck in the draw. The small field has led to some grumbling on Twitter and elsewhere about the potential to bring in a couple quality players to push for this silverware.
While I definitely believe it’s possible we could make a deep run, I’m not sure if dropping loads of cash to try and win a single-elimination knockout tournament is the best idea. For one, modern history doesn’t bode well for second division teams in this competition. The last to do it was Charleston in 2008, and the only team to win it since the MLS formed was Rochester in 1999, back when the top-flight was still in its infancy and the Open Cup wasn’t really a key priority for most teams. Secondly, I’m not sure that splurging on two or three high end players is something that the club is in a position to do, and even if it is, I’m not sure it would make too much of a difference. The most valuable MLS squad in the league is Los Angeles FC, with an estimated market value of nearly $79m, roughly 18 times more than the value of our current roster. I know money doesn’t always win matches, especially one-off games, but would bringing in a couple of expensive MLS veterans really improve our chances that much? I’m not so sure. Personally I’d much rather see the club invest in a number of younger talents that we could potentially develop for sustainable success rather than go all in on a single tournament. That said, this year still presents a big opportunity for us, and this format could prove to be the most exciting component of our season.
The initial draw involving City will take place on May 4 with the opening round fixtures scheduled to commence May 18 and 19. Proving that this tournament was organized by the body responsible for the United States men’s team’s failure to qualify for the Olympics, the quarterfinal draw will occur simultaneously with the round of 16 draw and before the opening round has been played. This is a practice I loathe and one that should rightfully be condemned by all reasonable people.
LOWER LEAGUE TEAMS
Metro Louisville had a much better time in Houston than Los Morados at the weekend, as they brought home the PASL national title following a dramatic 5-4 extra time victory over Wichita Selection. Congrats to them, and it will be interesting to see how the team fares in its 2021 NPSL campaign.
In less happy news for the Louisville soccer scene, the attempted revival of Louisville Lightning has been unsuccessful, as the club announced on Monday it would be ceasing operations. This is a big disappointment given the history and the club’s namesake being the first professional team in the city, but is somewhat understandable given the proliferation of other professional and collegiate men’s and women’s clubs in the city.
That’s all for now. I hope to have some semblance of a match report following the Chattanooga friendly, dependent on the ability of a live stream. If that doesn’t materialize, please get in touch at purpleprosefanzine@gmail.com if you’re going to the match and would like to contribute with a match report. We’re always happy to take submissions.
25 days.