Sacramento at Tulsa: Tactical Analysis
3/28: Sacramento’s line up, the good, the bad, and what stood out
The Lineup
Game three for the Quails was a tough watch, there’s no getting around that. A 1-0 loss on a baseball field with just about 2,000 fans in attendance doesn’t make for good looking football. Still, there is some good the Quails can take away from this game, even if the final result left a lot to be desired.
Collins’ had the team in a different look this week, playing with 3 up top for the first time this season. The formation played out as a 3-4-3, with three straight forward attackers instead of utilizing a CAM in the middle of the field. In practice, Portillo, playing in his first match of the season, and Felipe played as CM’s, though Portillo sat back as more of a CDM in front of the back 3 while Felipe pushed up field.
The Good:
Unfortunately, when you lose 1-0 on the road, there isn’t a whole lot of good to highlight. A few things stand out. First, and I think the most important impact long term for the Republic, was Roro stepping back on the pitch in a professional match for the first time since May 21st, 2024, when he tore his ACL in the Open Cup against San Jose. It’s been a long return for the captain, and it’s great to see him back on the field. It will be interesting to see where he slots into this team once he’s ready to start matches again.
Elsewhere, the defense put in a great shift, especially the back three and Portillo. Unfortunately, being really solid at the back doesn’t necessarily provide specific moments we can highlight, but let’s look at the match performance numbers:
Chibi, LCB: 7.1
Kleemann, CB: 7.9
Benítez, RCB: 7.5
Portillo, CDM: 7.3
For those of you new to match ratings, these are out of 10; 6.5-6.9 is considered roughly an average performance, while anything above it is considered “good” and anything below is considered “poor.” Based purely on the match ratings, the defense put in a great shift, despite the goal allowed.
The Bad:
Now to the bad, where it’s really hard to look at or blame any one thing. Let’s try and keep our focus on the numbers here, because both Sacramento and Tulsa were all over the place; there is a world where this match easily ends 3-3.
The Republic has been unable to get shots on target consistently and this problem has been ongoing for years. Tonight was a perfect example. Let’s look at the numbers:
Republic out-shot Tulsa, as they have all 3 opponents this year, but had zero shots on target, even with 10 of those shots being in Tulsa’s box. That is… really not good. Looking at the distribution of these shots, Tulsa blocked eight of them and the other seven were off target. That means two things; one, Republic is not being smart with their chances and are just shooting the ball into bodies instead of picking their spots, and 2, when Republic is able to get a shot without bodies in the way, they’re completely missing the net. I really don’t know the solution to this; it feels like Republic needs a player who is going to put away all these chances that the team creates, or at least someone to put shots on target.
Let’s look at a few of those chances, like this one in the 17th minute:
If you’re shooting the ball from that far out of the box, it needs to be on target. Instead, this shot goes a good 10-15 feet to the right of the goal. Not only that, but I question the decision to take a shot here; even if this is on target, there are at least six Tulsa players between the ball and the goal. Shots like this kill momentum; it’s an easy turn over at a time where Sacramento is threatening.
Let’s look at another chance in the 25th minute now:
This is exactly the same thing. There are two outlets back if you can’t put this shot on target, and two players in the middle waiting for the ball to whipped across the face of goal. Shooting here, however, is fine… if you put it on target. Instead, this ball goes 10 feet over and outside the net, it’s not even close.
And those are just 2 of the 15 shots Republic had. Shot choice and attempt has to be better.
Then, in the second half, Republic really struggled with defending set pieces. While the actual defensive players played great, set pieces as a whole were an issue in this match. Tulsa had three back-to-back-to-back set pieces in the 64th minute. First, Vitiello drops the ball from a free kick by running into his own player, but fortunately Kleemann is there to clear the shot off the line. This leads to a Tulsa corner where a runner on the back post completely wins their header and Vitiello is very fortunate that the ball that bounces off him goes out of play for a corner instead of into the back of the net. Tulsa then gets a third really good chance on the third straight set piece in the 66th minute, when a poor punch by Vitiello sets up this chance that somehow doesn’t get finished:
And then, of course, the winner given up in the 87th minute:
Gurr gets beat on the ball here and Tulsa gets a free header, despite being outnumbered in the box, which they finally put a finish on. One big thing to notice here, and on all three significant corner chances Tulsa had, is that Sacramento doesn’t put a defender on the goal line. While it doesn’t guarantee a save, a player on the front or back post on this play either has a chance to clear the ball or lets Vitiello slide over and cover the far post more thoroughly. Something to watch for in future games.
What Stood Out:
What a bummer of a game. Tulsa is a good team, but this was a match where Republic expected to at least come home with a point. Coming off the back of a late draw with Colorado makes it sting even more, and the Quails are now 8 points off of 1st in the West after only three games. However, there are some positives here. Over the first three matches of the season, Republic have outscored their opponents 4-1 in the first 80 minutes of each match. If they can tighten things up in the final 10 minutes of the match and close things out, this is a very good team. Additionally, as we’ve highlighted elsewhere, Republic ended up scheduled with a very difficult opening four-game stretch. If Republic can draw or win against Louisville at home on Saturday, I’d consider this opening stretch of the season a success.
After such a frustrating loss, how do you think Republic should respond in their tactics? Let us know in the poll below!