Match Day 2 Preview: One Knoxville SC v. Union Omaha

Omaha Take on a New Foe with Familiar Faces

Last week was the beginning of a new era for Union Omaha, but the results of last week were pretty much old hat as JP Scearce headed in from a set-piece and Rashid Nuhu stood on his head resulting in a 1-1 draw with Forward Madison. The results were familiar, but how we got there was still rife with unknowns. Expect more the same this upcoming weekend, at least with the unknowns, as Union Omaha are on the road for the first time this young season to take on USL League One debutants One Knoxville SC.

The template before last week’s game was practically clean, so it was going to take a lot for any tactics or facet of the starting lineup to surprise Omaha fans. However, there were two specific calls made last week that probably qualify; Alex Steinwascher making the opening day start in his first professional game outside of indoor soccer, and Joe Brito staying on the bench as an unused substitute. It’s possible both of these decisions were related to player availability. High-profile signing Steevan Dos Santos subbed on fairly early and expected starting CB Luca Mastrantonio did not make the matchday roster, it’s possible other lineup decisions were made revolving around these two players not being available to start. It’s fair to say that we aren’t anywhere close to learning who Casciato’s favored XI is yet, much less the entire 18.

Tactically speaking, there might not be much in common between Madison and Knoxville, at least not much that can be learned from one match. But if evaluating just those matches, the main difference to find was Madison’s capabilities of attacking from the middle, while Knoxville favor playing the ball from the right-hand side of their attack. Right back James Thomas is a player worth keeping an eye on. In Knoxville’s opener against Lexington he averaged playing higher up than his midfield counterpart Jimmie Villalobos, won three fouls (including a penalty) while conceding none, and had four successful tackles to lead his team. It wasn’t until Lexington switched their attack to the opposite side that they finally started seeing progress offensively.

As mentioned above, Knoxville are a new team with a lot of familiar faces. Beyond just that of former UO defender Gabriel Claudio (left off the roster in Knoxville’s opener) and the previous mentioned Villalobos formerly of Chattanooga are former Richmond defender Jalen Crisler, Jordan Skelton from NCFC by way of Tormenta, Derek Waldeck of North Texas and Greenville, and of course, Jake Keegan also of Greenville. But the League One names aren’t the only ones to keep track of from Knoxville. Starting midfielder Angelo Kelly-Rosales has had a very accomplished career in USL Championship, and Ilija Ilić comes in with past experience at Louisville, Indy Eleven and New Mexico, though he’s seen as more of a role-player that will probably primarily come in off the bench.

It’s clear this match won’t (and shouldn’t) be approached as a perennial USL League One contender playing an expansion side. Knoxville will certainly be chomping at the bit to prove itself against an established team, one that will still be finding its new footing. Both Omaha and Knoxville have been involved in some of the more offensive-minded games with more attacking than most of the games in the league have had so far this season, so expect to see a lot of up-and-down action early in this one. If Omaha can weather an early barrage, I like their chances to come out of this with one or three points.