Know Your Enemy: AV Alta FC

On June 21st, the Boys of Maine will trek to the high desert of the Antelope Valley to play California side AV Alta. It’ll be a late night for us New Englanders with kick-off at 11:00 PM EDT. Due to the late match time, no official in-person watch party will be taking place, however, the Dirigo Union will be hosting an online watch party for its members on Discord. The match can be watched via ESPN+.

History

AV Alta has grown a sizeable following in the Antelope Valley Footy Kit Archive

Much like the Hearts, AV Alta has had a multi-year, community focused effort to bring the beautiful game to the Antelope Valley, about an hour north of Los Angeles. While it may not be obvious to us New Englanders, California has rich soccer history especially in the Los Angeles Metro area which includes the Antelope Valley. Of course, while the likes of LA Galaxy and LAFC play at the top of the game today, southern California has also had such famed teams as Maccabi Los Angeles, the LA Aztecs and the USLC’s Orange County FC. It should come as no surprise that fans north of Los Angeles would want a team of their own to represent their community.

AV Alta as a club, was launched as an expansion side under the leadership of managing owner, John Smelzer, a USSF collaborator who worked on the 1994 World Cup. The team has leaned deep into the rich cultural heritage of the Antelope Valley and its Latino population and has worked with fans including their SG, the 661, to develop a representative culture. Adding to this home grown reputation was the club’s first signing, the Valley’s own, USMNT veteran, Miguel Ibarra.

AV Alta plays its home matches at Lancaster Municipal Stadium, also called the Hanger. Originally a baseball venue, the club made great efforts to convert it in the offseason to be a 5500 seat soccer venue, utilizing the existing grandstand and building out several modular stands including a safe standing section on the far end of the pitch. Occupying that stand, is AV Alta’s SG, the 661 which brings a distinct element to each match day, most noticeably through their band. The head coach of AV Alta is Brian Kleiban.

Players

Jerry Desdunes move in the offseason from the Independence to Alta has proved impactful to Alta's offensive capabilities. USL1

Jerry Desdunes – The left wing of Alta’s midfield line, Desdunes is a conduit for action with 74% passing accuracy in the opposition half.

Alexis Cerritos – Holding high up the pitch as the lone striker in formation, Cerritos has seen 3 goals this season and averages at least 1.5 shots per game.

Jimmie Villalobos – The second signing in club history, the midfielder has proved to be a playmaker with 3 goals and 1 assist so far this season.

Carlos Avilez – USL1 perennial, Avilez has played 6 seasons in the league and currently is 4th overall in saves (246), matches played (99), minutes played (8,784) and matches started (99).  

What to Expect on Match Day

Current Form: DWDDW

Tactical Shape: 4-1-4-1

League Position: 5th

AV Alta has been very impressive this season in keeping true to their tactical identity and holding their 4-1-4-1 shape. As John Morrissey of USL Tactics pointed out, in Kleiban’s system he likes to allow interchange on his midfield line to test defenses and probe for weaknesses and mistakes from the opposition while on attack. This play often draws opposition players up the pitch leaving space behind them. In that space, Alta forwards or wingers move in and use that freedom of movement to set up a 1-2 play with 2 players in scoring position coming at the goal from opposite sides leaving the opposition keeper incredibly vulnerable to a last-minute cross.

In defense, AV Alta compress far less than many of their league peers, preferring once again to largely maintain their shape. Given their 4 defenders on the back line and a defensive midfielder for support, usually their defenses prove formidable enough to prevent tom foolery in their half of the pitch. In hairy situations, such as when they faced Spokane Velocity on the 7th, you will see them place 2 central defenders close to the goal acting final line of defense while an additional midfielder drops down to enter into a 2-4-3-1 shape.

By maintaining shape in many situations, Alta proves very capable in transition. By maintain forwards and, at times, most of their midfield line further up the pitch, an attacking movement happens quite naturally for them once play has transitioned.

Closing Thoughts

Bad news, this will be the latest game this season in terms of start time. Good news, watching the replay Sunday morning is perfectly acceptable (just make sure to turn off those Discord notifications to prevent spoilers!). A lot of discussion went into last week’s match against Union Omaha about a successful end to our season looking a lot like winning most if not all home games and drawing on the road. In that respect, we need to get a draw out of tomorrow night's match which is doable. On paper, Alta is better in almost every statistic as a team, but we have repeatedly drawn league leaders on the road including Spokane & Naples. To say we can draw Alta is not a stretch. A victory, however, would be hard fought especially given the travel & time change.

For us to draw or win in Lancaster we are going to need to break up the 4-1-4-1 and pull Alta out of its sacred geometry. This will likely be a big MPA & Mickey Lopez game as we watch them try and control the midfield and hold Alta up at that point in the pitch. As we have discussed we cannot have our defenders get drawn in to Alta’s trap and allow forwards in behind our line which will also require Quinones and Messer to potentially move more centrally into the defensive zone should situations arise.

Overall should be for an interesting night in the California desert. Reports from the National Weather Service show heat will be low that day although they are calling for 25+ knot winds. While not quite a back-to-back, this AV Alta match up will be repeated at Fitzpatrick on July 2nd, making for a rapid response to whatever happens tomorrow night. Potentially this could be a barn burner of an east-west rivalry. The Jetlag Derby?

PS: Keep your eye out for another DU Crossover episode featuring the AV Alta community before kick-off tomorrow on Youtube and Spotify!