by JAKE NUTTING

The Secret to Pickens’ Success

Do not be alarmed, but I have come to the conclusion that Matt Pickens is a wizard. The evidence was always there really. Like all the great wizards, his magic is derived from his long, flowing beard.

But I digress. It’s not even just the great poise and sharpness he demonstrated in saving Tomi Ameobi’s stoppage time penalty attempt last night. The savvy veteran was in position to come up saves to prevent the Eddies from getting a goal against the run of play three times.

His first save was on a free kick every keeper worth their merit should knock away, but his denial of Jake Keegan two minutes later after an unlucky bounce sprung hum behind the back line took some quick thinking. He also completely stuffed Sainey Nyassi with a kick save from a tight angle at close range just before stoppage time.

Pickens looks in midseason form already. Hopefully that bodes well for the Rowdies going forward.

That was pretty. Can we have some more please?

Saturday night’s game-winner was exactly the type of play Stuart Campbell has been preaching — good combination passing and a sense of urgency inside the final third. The sequence began with a throw in from Darnell King to Eric Avila, who used his first touch to swiftly create space and advance toward the endline before sending his second touch inside the box to meet the head of Tommy Heinemann.

All that happened in the span of four seconds, depriving Edmonton’s typically well-organized back line of a chance to set up before they knew what hit them. We’d love to the Rowdies pull off sequences like this more regularly.

Keep Feeding Heinemann

A hearty congrats to Tommy Heinemann on nabbing his first goal in a Rowdies shirt with great aplomb. He’d probably get more down the road if the Rowdies found a way to involved him more consistently.

Edmonton deserves credit for shutting some crosses into area, but too often last night the Rowdies stagnated in the final third. They made it easy for the Eddies, who looked more than happy to clog the area as the Rowdies kept moving the ball laterally.

The match could’ve opened up more with some direct play into the area for Heinemann. Despite notching the game-winner, Heinemann finished with his fewest amount of touches so far (25) and three total shots. Through three matches, he’s only averaging 2.6 total shots a match. If the Rowdies can bump that number up to around five, they’d likely see it pay off with more goals and rebound opportunities for others.

Random Trivia: Heinemann’s first goal during his career-year last season came in a 1-0 win for Ottawa in week three of the Spring Season. Please let this be a good omen.

Holding Midfielders Struggle to Hold the Ball

The Rowdies totally dominated the match with 66.6% possession, but they were still troubled by some intensity from the Eddies throughout the first half. The high-pressure had a particularly negative impact of the two holding midfielders, Juan Guerra and Michael Nanchoff. Guerra’s night was marred by 8 turnovers near the halfway line or inside Tampa Bay’s defensive end. Nanchoff had four of the same, and in total the entire team gave the Eddies 26 interceptions. However, most of those came in the first half and the Rowdies became more assured on the ball in the closing 45 minutes.

Maybe cool it with the yellow cards, guys

I realize that yellow cards reset after the Spring Season, but the Rowdies are forming a potential dangerous habit. Through only three weeks, they led the league with 10 total yellows earned. These things can be fluky thanks to the bewildering officiating in the NASL, so hopefully this does not become a serious concern. If you were wondering, five yellows earns you a one-game suspension. Darnell King, Neil Collins, and Georgi Hristov have all been shown two yellows so far.