Union Omaha (10-8-2, 2nd Place) vs. FC Tucson (8-6-8, 4th Place)
Morrison Stadium, Omaha, Nebraska
7 PM (CST), ESPN+
It’s game day, Búhos fans! We’ve been excitedly promoting this match for a while now and the day has finally come. From the sounds of it, there’s going to be a healthy crowd filing into Morrison Stadium. With all of the buzz surrounding the match, the atmosphere should be electric. The team store was teasing limited-edition merchandise and even Parliament was slipping a bit of info into the ether about a possible surprise. There are great things on the way, but let’s focus in on the match ahead.
This week’s opponent is FC Tucson, the team that was sitting in 11th place at the end of August. Now we’re at the end of September, they’ve played four matches, earned ten points, and they’re suddenly up to fourth place. They haven’t lost a match since August 14th, the last time these two clubs met. That kind of transformation is rare at a club, but whatever they’re doing is working. They’ve scored the most goals, the highest conversion rate from shots to goals, and are tied for third with passing accuracy. It’s amazing what they’ve managed to do and change so quickly. Fortunately for Union Omaha, they still have the same problems plaguing them: a soft defense and predictable ball movement on offense.
After watching footage from previous matches, against Union Omaha and as a whole, they have several problems on defense. First off, they aren’t given sufficient support most of the time because the midfielders get sucked up too high with the forwards. Because of that, opposition routinely slips personnel behind the midfield and wait for the play into transition. The backline also sets their line too far back, further enabling the opposing offense to take advantage of the defense. FC Tucson is extremely susceptible to the fast break and match footage shows it time after time. When in 1v1 situations, the defenders seem more focused on holding the opposition and delaying for numbers to get back. The defenders don’t stab at the ball all that often and look hesitant to get physical with the attacker. I haven’t found a whole lot of footage of their goalie going horizontal, either. It’s almost as if he knows that shots are out of reach and simply doesn’t feel the need to dive for it. Once the defense gains possession of the ball, that’s when their other batch of problems begins.
Most of their attacks develop from the right flank. They tend to bring the ball into the opposing final third, dribble right to the top of the 18-yard box, and turn inside to look for options in the middle. Even after they turn inside, more often than not, they keep the ball on the ground. They have their fair share of crosses, but with the numbers moving up the field as quickly as they do, they seem to have more options by means of a simple pass. One thing they do well on offense, and could cause trouble for the Union Omaha defense, is how the stagger their runs into the opposing third. By not holding their positional lines as they move up the field, defenders have to keep checking for another runner into the box or up the flank. FC Tucson has scored a number of their goals by delaying their just long enough to pick up the rebound or deflection and have a second chance on goal. We saw a well-disciplined Union Omaha defense last week, so hopefully they are up to the challenge again on Saturday night.
Union Omaha looks to continue their momentum toward the playoffs and earn the home field advantage throughout. The Owls currently sit two points behind first-placed Chattanooga Red Wolves, but have two games in hand. In eight home matches, Union Omaha has only allowed six goals. That’s a testament to the discipline and teamwork from top to bottom. The offense had some neat tactics up their sleeve to punish North Texas. Coach Jay Mims and his assistants are doing a great job of training the team, installing new ideas, and preparing for the next opponent.
The Owls will need to keep that discipline alive, especially on defense. The team has done a good job of getting back quickly and same liveliness will be required against the speedy FC Tucson offense. When I was watching the footage, I didn’t notice a lot of teams loading numbers in the area near the ball, which resulted in more freedom for the attacker. If Union Omaha can do that again Saturday night, they’ll be limiting FC Tucson a lot while in transition. We saw how well it worked against North Texas SC. This is a new chapter to the one-sided history, so I’m curious as to what tactics they’ll bring to Morrison Stadium.
These two clubs have on five occasions in the past and Union Omaha won every single one of them. The Owls have collected three wins against them this year and two last year. The overall aggregate is 8-3 for Union Omaha. So far this season, FC Tucson has only scored one goal on the Owls. When Tucson plays on the road, they average just about two goals scored and two goals conceded. There’s reason to believe there could be multiple goals, but this match could just as easily become a chippy affair. Both clubs are in the top 5 for fouls conceded and they’ve been awarded 13 more yellow cards than Union Omaha this season. This could turn out to be quite an interesting match, full of drama.
If you haven’t picked up on my excitement for Saturday’s match, then I’ll be completely transparent: Saturday night is going to be such a wild night. You should plan on being there because who knows when Union Omaha is going to play a home match in a soccer-specific stadium again? The weather is going to be beautiful, too. Oh yeah, and make sure to head over to The Session Room at 4 PM. There’s going to be a big hangout with Búhos fans, good drinks, and delicious tacos, too. Bring your friends, bring your family, and let’s cheer Union Omaha on to victory. ¡Viva Búhos and see you at the stadium!
Who Gives A Hoot? 