New Mexico United Vs. Fresno Football Club

After a hard fought match at Isotopes Park, the Foxes ended with just 1 goal for and 1 goal against. We were able to capture a point away from home, despite United being hyped as one of the strongest expansion teams in the league. It may prove to be a vital point in the playoff race, but only time will tell. It is a good start to our run of away games and should lead to more points in the future.

A note about the atmosphere and marketing

Before I get into the details of the game and player ratings I want to comment on the atmosphere of Isotopes Park. It was packed, they sold over 12,000 tickets – putting United among the top clubs for attendance in the league. 12,000 people is a massive amount of fans to bring to a new club, and it would put them in competition with many mid-table MLS teams. I won’t lie, I am jealous. Albuquerque is smaller than Fresno, both in the city, and in the metro. They are taking a small city market of less than 500,000 and packing their stadium more than many 1,000,000 pop. cities – that is impressive.

Fresno has a huge potential, but until the FresnoFC management group steps up and actually takes responsibility for the mistakes they have made, in failing to market the right way, our team will still get numbers slightly better than when we were a PDL team and that is a shame.

Just looking at United’s twitter (trying to do my pre-match write up) I found it difficult to navigate and find match reports because of how much their social media team was interacting and updating fans. They actually put how many season tickets they’ve sold, something I often wonder about as a 3 ticket holder for Fresno, and they not only reply but also are retweeting their fans, players, and partners constantly.

Seeing how a well-run marketing program operates really sheds light on our deficiencies in marketing as a business. I was distressed to find that my season ticket actually included fewer games (17 instead of 20) and cost more this season – a business decision that probably didn’t have to be made if the club was doing what it should to bring in more fans. All of this really highlighted the distance we have to go as a club to come up to professional caliber – something that United seems to be doing out of the gate.

Recap

First half – United 1(25′ Sandoval) – Fresno FC 0

The game started slowly. The Foxes were working to get their legs back, and United was testing the waters. While New Mexico held the majority of possession for the entire game in the first 20 minutes we were the more dangerous side – putting forward many more shots and probing to make something work. United’s defenders put on a good show bossing our forwards around, something that would happen throughout the game. We did test the goalkeeper a couple of times, but nothing came of it.

In the early game, Jemal Johnson sent in a screamer off the foot of Arun Basuljevic (seemed that Johnson was chomping the bit a little too much) but it was blocked. Chavez also got a nice shot on goal, but it was also blocked. That would be one of the last shots he would take.

In the 25th minute Devon Sandoval(apparently an Albuquerque native) made a run towards the box and shot in a rocket towards the right side of the goal. It went in, to racous celebration from the home fans. There was really nothing Cochran could have done, the shot was unexpected and it was a good shot. The midfield seemed to be having trouble with link-up, and defending wasn’t up to snuff to take care of the threat Sandoval posed at the time.

The next 20 minutes passed without much going on. Johnson continued to try to shoot from outside, he made a number of shots that were off target something he will need to change before we get too far into the season. Caffa was largely absent for the game for the first half, he made a few good passes, but being placed so far back into the formation didn’t do him any favors.

Cooper and Ellis-Hayden showed their importance to our side the entire match, but especially in the first half. They provided creative outlets to the attack and still managed to defend very well. Let’s hope that we don’t have any injuries to them during this season because it will mean our team slows in getting the ball forward. Cooper made a huge impact in the game (most plays came from the left) and Ellis-Hayden added his own touches crosses as time went on.

The half ended without much fanfare.

A few notes before the second half:

ESPN Mistakenly listed Jackson (7) as Kirimoto, who tweeted that he was still in Japan. The mistake became even more comical when Jackson later scored.

The camera person in New Mexico needs to step it up, they often were a step behind the play and it made watching the game difficult.

Chavez may have done well in pre-season but he seemed absent, especially in the first half of the game (1 real test of the goal keeper) – Strikers need to score goals and whether it is him or Smith that need to make a change, the change needs to be made. NM is not a top-class opponent(at least not yet) so having only a few shots against them is not a great credit to his abilities.

Midfield has a lot of kinks to work out, showed in the first half, especially in the goal. Moses was alright, he improved a lot in the second half. Caffa needs to be up front, perhaps pivoting with Basuljevic – who played very well for his first game.

7 shots but 2 on target seems pretty on brand for us. We need to improve the number of shots on goal if we are going to improve as a club.

Second Half – United 1 – Fresno FC 1 (’47 Jackson)

The second half seemed to start slowly, but then suddenly we got a cross in and a goal from Jackson in the 47th minute. The play was a lot of passing back and forth before Alex Cooper curled in a cross from the left. Jackson, unmarked, managed to get the ball into the goal off his head despite the best efforts of Mizell who got a hand on it.

The foxes looked much more cohesive in the second half of the game, but goals still alluded us despite our best efforts. There was some fancy footwork on Caffa’s part and some fouls on Ellis-Hayden. Johnson continued to rocket the ball towards goal, but nothing to show for it.

In the 53rd Caffa showed why he is a free kick master with a great curved show into the right corner. Mizell managed to keep it out, and Daly couldn’t finish the rebound. It was a beautiful moment none the less and one where Caffa shined in the game.

Then in the 60th minute Sandoval fouled Ellis-Hayden in a reckless challenge. This lead to a near brawl and a lot of shoving in the midfield before the ref could sort it all out. Sandoval, luckily, was the only card to resort from the whole thing despite Mickey Daly getting pretty involved in the physical situation. It was a tense moment, I worried about cards, but I was also sort of proud that our players would stand up for Zach so fiercely. Fans love passions and there was a lot of it.

Haden put in a good cross to Chavez but he failed to finish. United continued to be fairly quiet this game as Fresno continued to search for something.

70th minute Chavez comes off and Lawal comes on, which gives us a good look at him. Almost immediately Jackson hits a cross to Lawal that he head on target but Mizell was too good.

The game wrapped up slowly – Daly got a yellow for mowing a player down, Jackson came off in the 78th, Cochran made a great save and Basuljevic continued to impress. In the 85th Cooper came off for Martins and it signaled that we were going to wrap it up and take the draw.

A few notes on the second half:

The ESPN announcers couldn’t tell who made the assist on Jackson’s goal, incorrectly they attributed it to Chavez.

We were lucky to escape without yellows or reds from the fight in midfield.

Getting a draw feels so familiar but also awful. I think we should have won that game, despite having less possession we had more shots and more chances. We just couldn’t finish efficiently and that has been our constant flaw.

Player Ratings

Cochran – 5

Despite the goal, he had a solid game. He made some good saves and stops. He will have to put in a full shift against a better attacking side.

Ellis-Hayden – 6

Had a good game defensively. Led the defense in tackles and duels won, while only losing 3 duels. Would have been higher but his play going forward could use some more accuracy, 1 cross connected 5 didn’t. He did look great in attacking play, but more efficiency is needed for the future.

Cooper – 8 (MOTM)

The happiness I felt when he was resigned was vindicated in Cooper’s performance. He made the most crosses of anyone in the team, 3 successful and 7 unsuccessful. He was the foot behind the assist. He tied many of our attacking players for chances created and showed that he is a complete player. He didn’t slack on defense, making clearances and tackles.

Daly – 5

Generally, he worked well with Del Campo. Defending was solid, but he didn’t have any stand out stats. He did the work and managed the draw. He was passionate for the team. He also almost go something off the rebound from Caffa’s free-kick. Hopefully more to come from him.

Del Campo – 6

Did well defensively, and was a major distributor for the team. He had an 89% passing accuracy in the opponent’s half. Made a great showing this game and hopefully,he will keep it up.

Moses – 5

He had a solid second half but he was shaky the first half. Partially his defensive capabilities were responsible for the chain of passing that lead to the United goal. I can’t wait to see how he settles in but for now, there is a lot to be desired.

Jackson – 8

I was raking Jackson over the coals for the first half of the game. He seemed ineffectual and honestly kind of out of the action. His stats aren’t amazing, but he did score a good headed goal. His score is largely due to the goal, though he did make some contribution to the team in terms of duels and keeping possession.

Caffa – 4

Caffa was in a tough spot. Our captain led the team in passes, and his accuracy wasn’t bad, but he was in a defensive position and he was the one marking Sandoval when he made his fateful shot. If not for Caffa’s failure to mark properly the goal might not have happened. His stats were hampered by the position change, and hopefully, Smith makes a change because Caffa is our most effective player when in position.

Johnson – 5

Johnson didn’t have a great game. He did make 2 shots on target, a massive amount of our total as a team, but his passing was abysmal and he had a difficult time keeping possession. If he had scored all might have been forgiven, but having no successful crosses as a winger in a front three is an awful record.

Basuljevic – 6

Basuljevic was a treat to watch this game. He was great on the ball, kept possession, and distributed well to teammates especially in the opponents half. He also made 4 tackles despite being a CAM, quite impressive. More to come hopefully.

Chavez – 5

Chavez had a lackluster debut. He did lead the team in duels won, but he also led the team in duels lost. He had two shots total and created 2 chances. The main issue is that he is a striker and he didn’t even shoot. He didn’t score, but he also didn’t contribute significantly to our attack.

Martin – 4

Not on long enough to make much difference. He made 2 passes total and didn’t really have much to do as a defender.

Casillas – 4

On for 12+ minutes, he didn’t make much impact on the game. He only had 2 passes.

Lawal – 5

He seemed more involved than Chavez, though he played close to 20 minutes. He had a single shot on target and needs to do better with passing in the future. Not a horrible impact, but once again the point of a striker is to make shots and goals.

Final thoughts

I predicted 2-1 in favor of the Foxes and I am disappointed that we didn’t come through. We had almost twice the shots that United managed, but we still ended in a tie. Smith needs to sit down and figure out how the team should work tactically, there is no reason to waste Caffa’s output by putting him as a deep-lying player in the midfield. We had the same issue with putting the ball forward and turning shots into shots on target/goals – until we reckon with that issue we are destined for low scoring games, ties, and losses. That will be the difference between a playoff berth and falling into obscurity as a bottom table team.