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USL Insights – Midfield Driving Monarchs

By NICHOLAS MURRAY - nicholas.murray@uslsoccer.com, 04/05/17, 8:24PM EDT

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Tandem of Velasquez and Adams pulling the strings in two-win start


Photo courtesy Real Monarchs SLC

One of the big issues confronting Real Monarchs SLC this offseason was the side’s lack of consistency in front of goal in the 2016 season. The Monarchs scored only 31 goals in 30 regular-season contests, tied for second-fewest in the league.

Two games into the new season, with four goals and two wins under their belts, things appear to have turned in a different direction. Helping drive that change has been the midfield tandem of Sebastian Velasquez and Charlie Adams, who quickly have seemed to develop a good understanding. Adams is nominally playing as one of two holding midfielders in the Monarchs’ 4-2-3-1, with Velasquez the central attacking midfielder, but as their heat maps and pass charts from the first two games indicate, the duo are feeling free to alternate back and forth as they look to create chances.

Adams (41) & Velasquez (55)
Completed Passes vs. Portland, 3/25/17

Adams & Velasquez
Heat Map vs. Portland, 3/25/17

ADAMS (41) & VELASQUEZ (55)
COMPLETED PASSES VS. PHOENIX, 4/1/17

Adams & Velasquez
Heat Map vs. Phoenix, 4/1/17

Thanks to his proficiency on set pieces, Adams is currently leading the league with 19 crosses, leads the Monarchs with seven chances created, and as a result logged two assists in the team’s season-opening victory against Portland. The numbers seem to indicate Velasquez is having arguably a bigger role in the team’s strong attacking start, though. Velasquez sits third on the Monarchs with 77 passes, leads the team with an 83.1 passing percentage, and also in passing percentage in the opposition’s half at 76.3 percent.

Velasquez’s numbers in fact compare favorably with recent All-League performers who are playing a similar role in Portland’s Villyan Bijev and Louisville City FC’s George Davis IV, and sit just behind former England international Joe Cole of the Tampa Bay Rowdies.

Player Sebastian Velasquez Joe Cole Villyan Bijev George Davis IV
Completion Rate 83.1 86.3 73.1 76.8
Completion Rate Opposition Half 76.3 88.1 66.2 65.9
Chances Created 2 2 4 3

 

The one thing those other three have got on Velasquez is all three have opened their goal-scoring account this season, although it took a big save from Phoenix’s Josh Cohen to deny that on Saturday. With the Monarchs going for three in a row on Thursday night against Reno, Velasquez could be the key to victory.

STRIKING SILVER: On the opposite side of Velasquez on Thursday night is likely to be Jackson Yueill, a 2017 MLS SuperDraft selection of the San Jose Earthquakes who has started both of Reno 1868 FC’s games this season. One of the top college playmakers in the country at UCLA, Yueill had 17 assists over his two seasons with the Bruins before signing a Generation Adidas contract prior to January’s SuperDraft.

Early returns have certainly been positive. Yueill is completing 82 percent of his passes, although that rate does drop to 65.5 percent in the attacking half of the field. What’s going to be interesting to watch, though, is how his chemistry with fellow attacking midfielder Junior Burgos develops over the next few games. Yueill was deployed wide on the left in 1868 FC’s game on Saturday against Vancouver, and it probably is not a coincidence that his three chances created on the night came in the second half when his touch-map indicates he was given more freedom to drift centrally to better influence play.

Jackson Yueill, Reno 1868 FC
Touches, 1st half vs. Vancouver, 4/1/17

Jackson Yueill, Reno 1868 FC
Touches, 2nd half vs. Vancouver, 4/1/17

Yueill has been touted as a candidate to make the final cut for the U.S. U20 National Team squad for the FIFA U20 World Cup next month. If he can up his accuracy in the final third and get Reno on a winning path, it might be enough to get Tab Ramos’ attention.

TIMBERS FALLING: In preseason there was the feeling the Portland Timbers 2 would be able to build on a strong end to the 2016 USL season and get back in contention for a playoff place. Three games and three defeats in, and that’s starting to look like an uphill struggle.

At the heart of T2’s issues has been the defensive end, where if not for Kendall McIntosh’s 19 saves in three games the side could have conceded quite a few more times. The reason McIntosh has had to pull off heroics in each of his team’s three games so far is pretty simple; T2 is allowing opponents get into its penalty area much too easily.

Portland has conceded 46 shots so far this season, and a remarkable 34 of them have come from inside T2’s penalty area. Sniffing out danger and ending it before it properly gets going has to be a priority for T2 from here on out.

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