After Wednesday night’s USL Cup action, just four clubs are left standing. Hartford, Louisville, San Antonio, and Colorado Springs all managed to advance through the quarterfinals into the tournament’s final four, and they did so in completely distinct ways.
What set those clubs apart and kept their trophy hopes alive? I’m digging into the big themes that defined each USL Cup matchup.
Hartford’s tactical changes prove superior
Result: Hartford win 4-2 over Charlotte
Across their USL Championship slate, Hartford Athletic have refused to keep the ball on the ground. This team has gone long on 21% of their pass attempts and put up just 2.9 passes per possession – two categories in which Hartford is a bottom-three team in their league. Brendan Burke’s willingness to subvert that identity in Charlotte is why Hartford are advancing to the USL Cup semifinal.
Hartford’s full-bore 3-1-4-2 attacking shape was no different than usual, but it was optimized with a number of star players that rested during Sunday’s trip to Indy. Augi Williams was back at the No. 9 spot. Michael Adedokun lined up behind him as a No. 8. Crucially, wingbacks Emmanuel Samadia and Sebastian Anderson – who’ve only started four league matches together this year – reprised their partnership for the first time since early July. Burke used all those offensive weapons to keep the ball, spread Charlotte with a side-to-side threat, institute a sharper high press, and punish the home side up the middle.
For his part, Independence manager Mike Jeffries went too deep into his bag of tricks. Charlotte skewed into a 5-2-3 shape as expected, but they didn’t tilt right wingback Clay Dimick up as an overlapping attacker in possession. Instead, the Independence kept a flatter back four in which veteran Sega Coulibaly – who’s only made three League One appearances all year – stepped from central defense into a No. 6ish spot. The idea wasn’t bad and was designed to steady Charlotte’s short build game, but Coulibaly looked rusty, and the shift from phase to phase was a chore.
