Daniel Karell

Louisville Courier Journal

Louisville City FC coach James O’Connor’s offensive philosophy revolves around the strategy of creating and finding space on the field and then playing into it.

In the team’s recent run heading into Saturday's home game against FC Cincinnati, the club has been creating and making use of that space very well, to the tune of 14 goals since the start of June. Take out Louisville City's 9-0 U.S. Open Cup win win over Tartan Devils Oak Avalon and the team has many goals in the previous seven games as it scored through its first 14.

“What was very pleasing was the movement of the players,” O’Connor said after a recent win. “I think when you look at the movement, it definitely caused some problems (for the opposition) and it was encouraging to see the understanding from the players on the movement and to see the quality that they showed.”

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Off-the-ball movement is one of the most important facets of soccer, according to Mercy Academy and Kentucky Fire Junior’s soccer coach Lora Gralheer. As a coach for Kentucky Fire Juniors, Gralheer is tasked with teaching young players the fundamentals of the game, including positional awareness and movement to help connect with teammates on the ball.

By constantly moving around a teammate with the ball, the teammates can give the player on the ball either options to pass to or space in front of the player to dribble into. For most teams, the goal is to have at least two passing options at any time, creating a triangle with the player on the ball.

“Everyone should move all the time,” Gralheer said. “It’s angles, understanding that we’re always trying to make triangles on the field. We’ll talk about ways to make a triangle, so it’s what you’re doing to help your teammate out.”

Louisville City’s off-the-ball movement in creating a goal was on display on June 11 at New York. In the 51st minute after a turnover in midfield, the ball fell to the feet of captain and midfielder Paolo DelPiccolo. With no pressure on the ball, DelPiccolo took a touch forward and looked for options.

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Forward Cameron Lancaster checked, or ran toward, DelPiccolo, giving him a short passing option while also opening up a big gap behind him.Midfielder Brian Ownby recognized this and made a diagonal run into the spot Lancaster just vacated. DelPiccolo spotted the run and hit a long pass to Ownby, which led to an easy goal for Louisville City.

Watch the play that lead to this goal:

“If you’ve got players on the pitch that are always moving and always on their toes ready to make runs, there are always going to be spaces created,” Lancaster said of that play. “That could have been on the other side of the pitch and then someone else making that run. As long as everyone is moving there’s going to be spaces created and then with that spaces comes the runs and the balls through.”

In another example, during Louisville City's 2-1 win over the Ottawa Fury on July 1, midfielder Guy Abend raced over to the sideline to quickly take a throw-in. After passing it to teammate Sean Totsch, Abend began to move back into his position of defensive midfielder before realizing there was space in behind the defender advancing on Totsch.

Abend made a bee-line across and became another passing option for Totsch. Totsch gave him the ball and Abend continued moving at the goal, eventually playing a pass toward two teammates at the top of the box. Had Abend stayed where he was after the throw-in or run back into position, Totsch would probably have had to force a pass into right back Kyle Smith down the right side or pass backward, hurting the offensive momentum.

Watch the play from 48:30 to 48:41:

Later in the game, Smith was involved in another example of impressive off-the-ball movement.

Smith picked off an errant pass in midfield, and after controlling the ball, played it into the middle to DelPiccolo.

DelPiccolo looked for an option to his left and played the ball to Paco Craig, who ended up sending it right back to DelPiccolo after sensing pressure from a defender. DelPiccolo then turned and played a pass to his right to Abend, and Abend swung it to the right sideline to Totsch.

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During this span, noticing the Fury's left back is out of position, Smith floated further up the field and ended up in an attacking position when he eventually received the ball from Totsch down the right sideline.

Smith's cross into the middle didn't immediately find the net, but Luke Spencer cleaned up the mess for the game-winning-goal. However, without Smith's awareness to take the open space behind the Ottawa defense, the goal may not have happened.

Watch from 1:40.00 to 1:40.40:

In last Saturday's game at the Charleston Battery, Ownby gave another example of off-the-ball movement creating a goal-scoring opportunity.

With Louisville City in transition in the second minute, midfielder George Davis IV dribbled at the Battery defense. Ownby and forward Ilija Ilic initially serve as two passing options who are then limited when the defense closes in.

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That's when Ownby noticed the Battery back line trying to hold an offside trap on the top of the 18-yard box and Ownby ran into space behind the defenders. Davis saw the run and played a pass over the heads of the defenders into the run Ownby was making. Ownby wasn't able to get a shot on goal, but he did redirect the ball into the path of Smith, whomanaged to hit both posts with his shot on an empty net.

Ownby's perfectly timed runcreated an early goal-scoring opportunity and showcased why constant movement into space is crucial in O'Connor's system of play.

Watch the play unfoldfrom :18to :30:

It’s hard to pinpoint one reason for Louisville City’s improved finishing for a host of goalscorers — nine different players have scored in the last seven games — but it’s likely that improved chemistry in training and through games has helped the team’s understanding of each other’s strengths and weaknesses on the field.

“It’s been pretty free flowing,” Lancaster said. “I feel like the movement has always been good off the ball and when we have the ball at our feet. I don’t think it’s just the last few games, it’s been there the whole season.”

UP NEXT

FC Cincinnati at Louisville City FC

Saturday, July 15, 7:30 p.m.

TV: WBNA-21; Radio: WHAS-840