In Week 9 of the USL League One campaign, both Fort Wayne FC and Corpus Christi FC finally made their long-awaited home debuts.
While Corpus Christi had to delay their stadium plan, Fort Wayne inaugurated Ruoff Mortgage Stadium. The brand new, soccer-specific facility will eventually seat 9,200 fans and looks the part of a modern venue – the kind that League One clubs everywhere should try to emulate. Paired with Athletic Club Boise’s stadium, Fort Wayne is helping push the league forward.
Beyond the infrastructure, Week 9 was the first round of the season to feature a full slate of eight matches. What stood out amidst the jam-packed slate? Let’s dig in.
On the New York Cosmos’ defense
With 16 goals allowed from seven matches, no club in League One is leakier than the New York Cosmos. Try as he might, Davide Corti hasn’t found the right mix at the back, and that shortcoming is undercutting an offense tied for the division lead with 12 goals scored. In Week 9, New York travelled to Portland and suffered a 3-1 drubbing that laid bare the defensive conundrum.
The Cosmos began the year as a 4-2-3-1 team, but that formational consistency disguised major personnel changes. Corti has only used the same back line in consecutive matches twice. That tendency – forced by red cards and injuries to some extent – has hurt an expansion club that, by definition, is short on chemistry.
