Know Your Enemy: Texoma FC

Hearts of Pine will continue their league campaign Saturday night, taking on Sherman, Texas side Texoma FC. Kickoff for the match will be at 8:30 PM EDT with the match broadcast on ESPN+. The Dirigo Union nor the Heart of Pine have an official watch party for this match but the Portland Zoo in East Bayside and the June Cork Pub in Dover, NH will be showing all the action. The next DU watch party will be on July 19th at Sacred Profane in Biddeford.

History

Englishman, Adrian Forbes has headed up a recently resurgent Texoma as Head Coach and Sporting Direction. USL1

Playing an hour north of Dallas, Texoma FC rose fairly suddenly after being announced in October 2023. After announcing their name and hiring Head Coach and Sporting Director Adrian Forbes on May 9^th, 2024 – fairly early for an expansion club – the club struggled to announce player signings. With 3 months before the season ready to kick off, the club signed their first player, Mason McCready, but with weeks leading up to the start of the season, only a handful of players had been signed. With a large number of last-minute signings being forced through practically on the eve of their first match, Texoma got off to a rough start, falling to the bottom of the league table in the opening month of the season. Slowly, but surely, however, the club has begun to come together and, as of last week, drew league leaders Spokane Velocity while sitting in a solid 6^th in the table.

Texoma plays their home games at ‘historic’ Bearcat Stadium, a municipal field.

Key Players

·       Philip Spengler – A 24-year-old has been a recurring starting striker for Texoma, scoring 5 goals and 4 assists in the USL1 this campaign.

·       Javier Garcia – USL1 Player of the Month for May, Garcia has been a leader for the Sherman-side and is credited with being the force behind their May turnaround. As a keeper, he has kept 3 clean sheets in 8 appearances this season.

What to Expect on Match Day

In defense, Texoma has made great efforts to improve upon their performance in March and April and maintain shape. Using a 4-4-2 ,the midfield & defensive lines will compress, at times almost fully blending into a single 8-man wall. At times, though, it seems as if either discipline can break down, or Adrian Forbes has specific orders for defensive situations – namely, a lone attacker coming straight down the middle of the pitch into the box. In this situation, center backs and even occasionally wingers converge to wrestle the ball back at the expense of open space.

In transition, Texoma takes on a more fluid shape, morphing from a 4-4-2 into a 3-4-3 as they work through the midfield. Once across the midfield, a solid line of 3 attackers pushes further up, but the midfield line divides to form a 3-2-2-3 formation. Usually, this is done by building out of the back.

In attack, Texoma often tries to cross late into the box, not unlike Hearts of Pine’s strategy. Utilizing their top midfield line as wingers, the ball is scooted into any of the 3 waiting strikers. This strategy was used several times in their match against Spokane last week with no real success. Where they did score was on a rapid pace play down the middle, which saw midfielder Preston Kilwein pass the ball up and over the center backs to Maciej Bortniczuk, who outraced the men marking him to tap the ball into the net.

Final Thoughts

We’ve had a tough few weeks not getting the results we need. At this point in the season, I think its helpful to remind folks we are only 2 victories outside of a playoff spot – the stated goal of this year’s campaign. We remain well within the fight and are getting stronger as players return to health. Michel Poon-Angeron’s return last match and the pending return of Azaad Liadi will open up many more options for Bobby Murphy when it comes to match day selection and substitutions. We continue to have a USL1 top 3 keeper in Hunter Morse (biased USL1 midseason keeper nomination snubs aside) and have 3 players ranked in the top 6 for their positions in Messer, Wright, & Wada.

As far as Texoma goes, it’ll be an interesting watch. Texoma is playing well, but a quick look at their statistic will show they are close to being the league leader in goals against. They are the only team in a playoff spot with a negative goal differential. Now, a lot of that was a result of their early-season flops, but as recently as a month ago, they allowed 4 goals against USLC side Phoenix Rising. Suffice it to say, this might be a match-up between a team with a solid defensive record (Hearts), and a team trying to outscore their opponent more than playing defensively.

Let’s go get the 3 points!