Matchday 15 Preview: Rowdies at Miami FC
June 10, 2022 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Tampa Bay Rowdies News Release
Matchday 15 Info:
Tampa Bay Rowdies at Miami FC
Saturday, June 11, 7 p.m. ET
FIU Stadium, Miami, FL
Watch: Fans can stream the match on ESPN+
Follow Along: Live updates on Twitter at @RowdiesGameday
The Tampa Bay Rowdies aim to maintain their positive trajectory as they head south for their second meeting of the season against Miami FC this Saturday. Tampa Bay fell 1-0 in the first matchup between the two in-state rivals, while Rowdies Head Coach Neill Collins watched from afar in Scotland as he was working toward his UEFA Pro License. This time around, Collins will be right there on the sidelines at FIU Stadium in South Florida.
"You're gonna suffer defeats and they'll be tough to take but that game was terrible to watch thousands of miles away," said Collins. "The biggest thing for me wasn't the result, it was the performance. The performance just wasn't what we wanted. Watching that was difficult, but we've learned a lot of lessons from that night that we've since implemented well. I'll be glad that I'll be there on Saturday and hopefully we can keep putting the lessons we learned that night to good use and we don't have too many performances like we did that night the rest of the way."
Miami enters the weekend on the back of a 1-1 draw at home on Wednesday night. The match concluded just before midnight due to a lightning delay. Miami scored just 20 seconds into the restart, but could not hang on and eventually conceded an equalizer in the second half. The draw with Indy is Miami's sixth of the season, the second most stalemates in the league. The Rowdies aren't too far behind themselves with five draw through their first 14 matches.
"Miami are full of talent and have got a really good coach who's starting to implement what he wants there," said Collins. "They're probably similar to us in that they're frustrated with two or three of the draws that they've had. We're going to have to produce the same type of performance that we have over the previous month if we want to pick up the three points."
Finding Equilibrium
Last week was one of the more trying weeks of the season for Tampa Bay, with travel delays on the way back from a midweek match in Tulsa forcing their weekend match against Louisville to be pushed to Sunday. The Rowdies pulled out the 1-0 win, but it took every bit of what they had in the tank to do so.
"The boys gave everything on Sunday night. They didn't have an ounce left. You talk about giving 100 percent, that's what that looks like... It's just about getting them back to equilibrium where they feel good, feeling fresh. They're feeling ready to go. That's been the big task this week. Of course we want to train and work on tactical points about how we play, but really the biggest thing is about how we can get these guys refreshed and ready."
New Defensive Depth
In the early stages of the season, defensive depth was in question for the Rowdies after loanee Robert Castellanos suffered a fractured ankle 12 minutes into the season opener. Taking a look at the picture a few months later, the Rowdies have reinforced their ranks with center back Thomas Vancaeyezeele in a transfer form Birmingham Legion FC and gotten solid shifts out of Conner Antley and Laurence Wyke, two players who were primarily utilized as midfielders last year.
"There's a lot of factors in deciding the back three every game," Said Collins. "Aaron Guillen, Laurence Wyke, and Jordan Scarlett have done very well when they've played as a three, but I equally think Conner Antley has been fantastic as a middle center back. I thought Thomas did excellently well in Tulsa. So we actually went from having limited options there to having some good options there... People talk about versatility up front, but I'm quite enjoying the versatility these guys have brought us at the back."
Upcoming Milestones
Sebastian Guenzatti is two goals away from breaking the Rowdies all-time scoring record of 60 goals held by Georgi Hristov.
Guenzatti is 9 appearances away from his 150th appearance for the Rowdies. He currently ranks second in the modern era in appearances, behind Hristov at 173.
Leo Fernandes' next appearance will be his 134th for the Rowdies, moving him up to third in the modern era in appearances. He is currently tied in appearances with Keith Savage.
Lucky Mkosana is 9 appearances away from his 100th appearance for the Rowdies.
Injury Report:
OUT: Robert Castellanos, Steevan Dos Santos, Dayonn Harris
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