Ahead of the full review of the weekend that was in the USL Championship in the Championship Hangover, Phil has four players who really rose to the occasion this week and set themselves apart. This will be a chance for us to see how the eye test stands up to the stats and what impact each player had on the outcome of their particular match.

Tumi Moshobane - El Paso Locomotive

(0-2 Win v Loudoun United)

There probably isn’t a player in USL Championship who is more relieved this weekend than Tumi Moshobane. Deployed up to this point largely as a central midfielder, Tumi got the chance to show his stuff in attack next to Justin Dhillon and he repaid that shift in approach handsomely.

Within 40 seconds of kickoff, he had the ball in the back of the net, the beneficiary of another player liberated by Brian Clarhaut’s (and assistant Jon Burklo’s since he was on the sideline in Clarhaut’s absence due to his red card in Colorado Springs) change of system, Amando Moreno. Moreno stood Drew Skundrich up, shifted the ball from right to left and absolutely breezed past the defender before playing the ball into a dangerous area in front of the Loudoun goal. Moshobane in previous matches would have been standing on the edge of the area but since he was utilized as a striker he was in the right place at the right time to make the decisive contact and give Locomotive the platform to go on and grab their first win of the season.

His ability to carry the ball and license to run with it benefitted the team later as he picked up the ball after Dhillon showed strength to hold off a Loudoun defender. Moshobane ran onto it and carried the ball a good 40 yards to the edge of the Loudoun area. He had the option to shoot himself but opted to lay the ball off for Eric Calvillo who also looked refreshed in the new system. Calvillo blasted past Fauroux and made sure that the lead was not going to slip in this crucial Locomotive victory.

By the numbers, Moshobane’s overall performance was just fine, if not spectacular but it was in the chance creation, and indeed chance conversion area that he made the biggest difference. He created two big chances for Locomotive, one of which led to a goal and finished one of his two big chances he was on the end of. Locomotive have had plenty of graft and toil and hard work but they have severely lacked creativity and a ruthless finish. Moshobane has shown that he can be that player to help this Locomotive side get back on track.

Enzo Martinez - Birmingham Legion

(0-1 Win v Tampa Bay Rowdies)

Listen, I don’t know exactly how Legion got out of Tampa with a win, or how Rowdies were that wasteful but I know a decent reason has to do with the performance of Enzo Martinez. He scored the goal which obviously helps his case a lot but it was his work off the ball that made this decision to choose him all the easier. If you watched this match, the goal may be the only of Enzo’s contributions that you actually remember. So let’s take a look at how it played out in the stats.

I could say that the goal was simple in the end and for sure he has a fairly easy task once the ball is cut back to him but you have to say that Enzo makes this particular genre of goal look so easy because of the level of quality he has. Otherwise, this was a quiet match on the ball for Enzo. He only completes ten passes and he scores with his only shot of the match.When you start to peel back that four of those ten passes were into the final third you start to see the broader picture of a complete performance. He isn’t dispossessed a single time the whole match either. When you see his numbers off the ball it becomes more obvious.

His work rate is already known but he wins 100% of his four tackles and eight of his eleven ground duels. This added to another solid performance from Kobe Hernandez-Foster who is helping balance things out in midfield and in tandem they did not let Danny Crisostomo and Lewis Hilton settle in for the Rowdies. New Rowdies signing Nate Worth was unable to change the dynamic in midfield and while Tampa will certainly feel they could have had more on the night, they were ultimately frustrated by a Legion side that worked a bit better than it has so far this year.

Taylor Davila - Louisville City

(3-0 Win v Orange County)

Let’s get one thing straight, I still stand by this OCSC midfield performance and I think they deserved more on the night. All the more reason to highlight Taylor Davila, who was absolutely instrumental to Louisville exerting their influence on Saturday night.

The opening goal highlights Davila’s willingness to get involved and be proactive in the press. He cuts out a weak pass into midfield and immediately finds a smart layoff to Jorge Gonzalez who feeds Wilson Harris to finish off the move. He was stepping into these sorts of spaces all over and his variance of positioning was really giving OC fits as they tried to stick to their principles. He caught them out again and nearly created the second as he closed down on the left side of midfield and found Ray Serrano who was denied by Colin Shutler (who made five saves on the night.)

*Image courtesy of Louisville City and Connor Cunningham*

Davila got involved in the second goal tracking back on the right side to initially win possession and there’s absolutely no prizes for who starts the move for Louisville’s third after they regain possession in their own half. Davila is at the heart of everything good that Louisville does and against an opposing unit that sports Kyle Scott and Sofiane Djeffal it was all the more impressive.

So how was it by the numbers? In a word, stunning. 93% pass completion. 80% long pass completion. EIGHT chances created. 67% of tackles won. He recovered possession for Louisville THIRTEEN times. Taylor Davila is playing to the standard of the absolute elite in the USL Championship. In a team with Harris, Serrano, Adrien Perez and more you have to know that they will get the headlines with their goals, but make no mistake that Davila is in the engine room making this machine hum.

Noah Fuson - Rhode Island

(2-2 Draw v Sacramento Republic)

Noah Fuson is just a handful. There are very few teams and indeed even fewer players that will unsettle Sacramento Republic this year but Rhode Island was just such a team and Noah was just such a player. In fact, if you told me I could only watch one player run with the ball and one other player strike the ball I might pick Fuson and Clay Holstad. Watching Noah ghost past people on the dribble is matched only in Joy Creation per Phil (JCP) by watching Clay Holstad hit the football.

I really love the sort of chaotic nature of Noah’s game because he is just simply impossible to predict. In the 18th minute he absolutely cracks the crossbar with a wonderful, swerving shot. You’d have no idea that he was on his backside just three mortal seconds earlier. He improvised to win possession and then nearly scored a worldie.

At 2-1 to Rhode Island, Sac Republic had a corner headed away into Fuson’s path and he ate up the entire field. Holstad ran infield and Fuson found the perfect weight to play him in before he laid it off to Prince Saydee for what should have been the goal that put RI two goals clear and in sight of a famous victory. But this move highlights all that is great about Fuson. He’s quick on his feet. And I mean that in the sense that he is fast but I also mean that he has such a knack for making the right choice, even when he’s improvising.

As for the stats, Noah was brilliant by most metrics. He creates three chances, has four shots (one of which hit the woodwork as I mentioned) and completed four of his five dribbles. Fuson is electric and RI showed just how tough a team they are by hanging with Sac Republic for 90 minutes on Saturday night.

- Phil Baki