Some puzzling decisions, a lack of heart, growing tension and a team on the brink
My Birmingham Legion FC talking points following their 4-1 loss to Hartford Athletic in Saturday's USL Championship game
That was ugly.
Before a ball was even kicked, there was some consternation about the line-up. Thirty minutes after the game had started, it had turned to despair.
In a game of sizeable significance for postseason hopes, Birmingham Legion dropped the ball in a big way. With just 10 league games left in the season, Saturday’s heavy loss felt like a new low for a team desperate not to miss out on the playoffs in consecutive seasons.
A startling starting XI
Mark Briggs has, so far, avoided a lot of the blame despite the team’s failings.
The Englishman came into the picture midseason, meaning he had neither a preseason nor the ability to sign the players he wanted, which gives him some slack. But on Saturday, there was no denying he was just as responsible as his players for the lacklustre display.
Briggs came close to admitting it himself, starting his post-game press conference by taking responsibility and apologizing to the fans, the media and the owners for an embarrassing performance.
Out of 11 players in the starting lineup, four inclusions were particularly questionable. Edwin Laszo had been yanked from the previous game just 30 minutes in with the team down 2-0. Maliek Howell had been subpar when making his debut in the same game. Both retained their spots in the starting lineup.
Dawson McCartney and Phanuel Kavita, meanwhile, were both returning from injury and could only play limited minutes. Rather than ease them back into action from the bench, both started and had to later be withdrawn as Briggs managed their minutes, forcing his hand on two substitutions while trying to get back into the game.
In the post-game press conference, Briggs was asked point-blank why the latter two got the start rather than bench minutes. His answer, filled with pauses as he searched for the right words, was that of a man who knew he’d gotten it wrong.
“Maybe… Yeah,” Briggs said. “Obviously we wanted to get Dawson minutes. Phanny coming back from injury… you’d think experienced player… Like I say, it’s on me.”
But the most baffling decision, to me, was the Edwin Laszo inclusion.
It’s no secret Briggs is a big fan of the Colombian defensive midfielder. He was the Englishman’s first new signing through the door following his appointment and has started every single game since.
Yet the performances have not always been there to support that lock on a starting spot, and that’s a problem.
I wrote in my midseason review that my one criticism of Briggs was an unwillingness to rotate certain positions, and that stubbornness was at the fore on Saturday. Despite a horror show of a performance the previous week, Laszo was once again in the lineup like nothing had happened.
From a man in Briggs who repeatedly preached the need for accountability early on in his Three Sparks tenure, the decision showed anything but.
Prior to the game, I asked the head coach about players becoming complacent if they feel they’re guaranteed a starter role no matter what. The question was with Laszo in mind.
“I think he now knows, if he had a feeling that he was safe or was complacent with his position, nobody’s safe in this business,” Briggs said. “Nobody’s safe in this business. I’m not safe, they’re not safe. It’s the way the business is.
“We can’t have any type of complacency in the club, and sometimes those decisions have to be made,” he continued. “Yes we have started the same team a few times now, but complacency shouldn’t be there because I’ll change it pretty quick if I have to.”
Strong words, but meaningless if they aren’t put into action.
Not only did Laszo’s inclusion allow the Colombian to become even more complacent, it sent the wrong message to the entire team. Other players who have been near ever-present when available — Ronaldo Damus, Tyler Pasher, Samuel Shashoua, Enzo Martínez, Phanuel Kavita and AJ Paterson — will now likely feel they are safe too, as Briggs will not actually follow through when threatening to bench a player.
Even worse, you can only imagine the dip in morale for those left on the bench in these situations.
Sam McIllhatton was Laszo’s replacement in Phoenix. He came in with the team 2-0 down and in disarray, yet the Three Sparks outscored Phoenix 3-1 while the Australian was on the pitch. I’m not saying he single-handedly carried the team, but he would certainly have felt good about his impact.
Yet on Saturday, he got to watch from the bench as his teammates once again sank to a 2-0 deficit in the first half-hour, all while Laszo and Martínez, his two competitors for a starting spot, completed a grand total of 11 passes between them in that opening period.
It’s no wonder Kobe Hernández-Foster asked to leave the club when he realized he was no longer favored. And if this continues Briggs is going to alienate plenty more players before the season is over.
When asked about the decision to stick with Laszo, Briggs did provide a bit more reasoning than with the McCartney and Kavita choices before stating McIllhatton might get a chance in future games.
“We just felt the style of play Hartford play, how direct they are and how they try to get balls in behind to Ngalina and Dieng, we felt the physicality of Edwin was better suited,” Briggs said. “Sam McIllhatton, I thought he went on the field and was fantastic again.
“He went on the field last week, and he’s somebody you know what you’re going to get,” he continued. “He’s going to give everything every time he steps on the field. That could be somebody who steps into the lineup and shows a little bit of pride and a little bit of character for that badge.”
The Rhode Island game will tell us whether he truly believed what he was saying, or if it was more empty words.
Playing for the badge
Briggs’ words on McIllhatton also touched on another important takeaway from Saturday’s showing. Very few players seem to be truly playing for the badge.
When Briggs first arrived, he made it very clear how he wanted players to give everything they had for the logo on their chest. In recent weeks, he has not gotten that at all.
While players should rightfully be criticized for that, Briggs should once again take some of the blame. And that brings us to the Maliek Howell inclusion.
Two games is too few to judge a player, so I’m not going to say much about Howell’s abilities until we’ve seen more of him. What can be said, however, is that his debut was subpar — he was at least partially at fault for two of Phoenix’s three goals — and Saturday wasn’t much better.
Howell was once again to blame in the build up to a goal, the second one. But my issue wasn’t so much with his inclusion, but in who he was replacing.
For the second consecutive game, Jake Rufe found himself on the bench. In Phoenix, he did not play at all, only the second time that happened this season after being rested for the US Open Cup game, while on Saturday he came on for Kavita at the break.
And in a team that failed to play for the badge like Briggs asks of them Saturday, the Alabama-native was sorely missed.
Rufe might not be the flashiest of players, but he has proven himself a reliable presence at the back. He has played whatever role has been asked of him, always with the same heart, fight and willingness to give everything for the team.
His exclusion, like Laszo’s inclusion, raises serious questions about the meritocracy in the Legion team. Since the switch to a 3-4-3, the defense has actually been quite good. In the eight games following the original system change in Louisville, the Three Sparks conceded more than one goal just once, at North Carolina FC. But in the last two games, they conceded seven.
I’m not saying Rufe prevents that from happening, but it’s certainly odd to mess with something that’s working in order to bring in a new player with limited time spent with his new teammates.
And without Rufe in the side, heart was sorely lacking at the weekend.
Sebastian Tregarthen was singled out by Briggs as the only player who “gave 100%” against Hartford. While that might be harsh on one or two others, the young Uruguayan was definitely the player putting in the biggest shift.
Playing first right and then left wing-back, Tregarthen had the most touches (70) of the night for either team. He was responsible for two of Legion’s five shots on target, assisted Martínez’ late consolation and attempted more passes in the final third than anybody else on the pitch.
Tregarthen also attempted six dribbles, completing four of them. Only two other Legion players completed a single one, and one of them was Matt van Oekel. Tregarthen’s three chances created were joint-top with Tyler Pasher, with nobody else getting more than one, and Pasher was also the only player to attempt more than Tregarthen’s four crosses, with everybody else on two or less.
As the USL Championship power rankings put it, “Credit to Sebastian Tregarthen for coming out with some credit from Saturday night. There wasn’t much else to be had from a dismal performance.”
But while he does deserve that credit, it leaves a bigger question mark hanging over the heads of his teammates.
This was a crucial game for Birmingham Legion, and Briggs went for experience in the lineup as a result. So the fact that a first-year professional was the only one who seemed to be playing to the occasion is problematic, to say the least.
Asked why that might have been the case, Briggs was stumped.
“I don’t know, and that’s what we have to find out,” the head coach said. “As a group there has to be players on that field who are going to give 100%, 100% of the time. That’s a basic. If you say it to your kids, if you say it to anyone, that’s just a basic thought. When you go on the field, just give everything.
“Hard work, give everything,” he continued. “If you don’t have that, the quality of a player or his technical ability is irrelevant. And some of our guys want to do things when we have the ball and want to try whatever they want to try, but don’t want to do, one, the hard work, but, two, what’s needed for the team.”
That final line is getting to the crux of the issue. Too often, these players have looked like they’re making choices in a vacuum rather than with a team mindset. And that results in disjointed showings like we got on Saturday.
The problem is, it’s a slippery slope. A lot of these players will likely not be in the Magic City next season. So with the season tanking as it is, they’re playing for contracts elsewhere. As such, their mindset can easily shift to doing what might put them in the best light rather than what might help the team most, because results become second-thought.
This isn’t a conscious choice by any means, but just a natural by-product of a team in free fall. The more that fall continues, the worse it’s going to get as the team loses any hopes of salvaging its postseason ambitions. It’s a vicious cycle, and it could doom the season sooner rather than later if nothing is done to stop it.
One thing that can alter that mindset is prioritising players who do genuinely want to represent this particular badge on their chest. Rufe, as an Alabama native who has spent nearly his entire pro career in the Magic City, is one such player. When you have someone like that setting the example of what it means to fight for the club, others tend to follow.
“I don’t think our players go on the field and don’t give 100%, I don’t think that’s the mindset,” Briggs said. “But something happens on that field where you have two choices. One, you either freeze and don’t do what you’re supposed to do and crazy things happen, which is what happens consistently. Or you pull you sleeves up and say ‘Guys, we’re not going to f***ing lose tonight. We’re going to work harder than the team we’re playing against. We’re going to run more, we’re going to fight more,’ and then things can be accepted.
“But anyone who just watched that, that’s why I’m apologizing.”
If players don’t find that hunger soon, we might as well stop the season now.
An awkward post-game
Birmingham Legion’s On-Field Player Appreciation is one of the coolest things in the USL Championship.
For many young fans, the opportunity to meet, talk to, pose for photos and get autographs with their favorite players is a dream come true. They don’t care as much about the result, they’re just happy for the opportunity.
But when the game did not go well, it can lead to some awkward and tense situations.
If there’s one thing professional athletes hate, it’s losing. You don’t make it in any sport without an insane drive to be the best at all times, and losing is the antithesis of that mindset.
As such, Legion players deserve some credit for their ability to very quickly put that frustration behind them and show up for their young fans. But on Saturday, some of them found it harder than others.
Matt van Oekel, for example, just sat against an advertisement board and waited out the player appreciation period. A few fans did come over to get autographs, and MVO obliged with a good-natured smile, but anyone looking at him while nobody was near would have gotten the definite impression he did not wish to be there.
And for Samuel Shashoua, it was more than an impression.
The on-loan winger missed what could have been a crucial penalty Saturday, not once but twice after the goalkeeper encroached on the first attempt. He was understandably upset as a result, and wanted nothing more than to head down the tunnel as soon as the final whistle blew.
So that’s what he did, with Roman Torres, an unused substitute, joining him.
Unfortunately for them, Jay Heaps, Legion’s CEO and Chief Soccer Officer, was having none of it. Seeing the two walking down the tunnel, Heaps ran over and appeared to berate them while gesticulating back at the pitch. You don’t need to be a lip reader to figure out what was likely being said. The fans sat through that performance, the least you can do to make up for it is interact with them.
Torres immediately turned face and returned to the field, but for Shashoua it led to a brief debate with Legion’s CSO. The Englishman was visibly upset with the whole situation, and assistant coach Eric Avila came over to ensure nothing got out of hand. Shashoua and Avila eventually walked back to the pitch, with the player turning one last time to express a thought in Heaps’ direction.
This interaction is just one incident I happened to notice, but Shashoua was far from alone in not wanting to stay on the pitch too long. Many other players made their way down the tunnel as soon as acceptable to do so.
This situation will only get worse if results don’t improve. Fans are understandably upset with what they’ve seen, but players are just as understandably upset with their own performances. The worse the atmosphere gets around the club, the more risk there is for these interactions to become a tinder-box of tension.
A dire league predicament
Saturday was Birmingham Legion’s 20th game of the season. With the four USL Jägermeister Cup group stage games replacing league games from prior years, this year is a 30-game season, meaning there are just 10 games left to get back into playoff contention.
The Three Sparks have played more games than every other team in the East bar Rhode Island, and both teams will therefore get a bye this weekend so others can catch up. In a interesting coincidence, the two will then face off for a USL Jägermeister Cup quarterfinal the following Wednesday.
But if the Tampa Bay Rowdies defeat Phoenix Rising this weekend, Legion head into that cup game as the bottom team in the East. In the West, only Las Vegas Lights are below the Black and Gold, and that’s on goal-difference and with a game in hand.
Legion have just four wins from their first 20 league games. Every other team has at least five, despite most playing a game or two fewer than the Three Sparks.
Needless to say, it’s not looking good for Birmingham.
The Three Sparks have fewer points at this point of the season that any year prior. Even the 2020 COVID season, which featured just 16 league games, saw them collect more points (25) than the 19 they currently possess through 20 encounters.
Last year, despite missing on the playoffs for the first time in club history, they were on 28 points at the same stage of proceedings.
Since Briggs took over, the team has averaged exactly 1.00 points per game, far worse than any full season under Tom Soehn (1.26 in 2019, 1.32 in 2024). A big part of those dismal numbers has been the home form, which since the Englishman’s arrival reads 1W-2D-5L in league play, with just three goals scored across those eight games.
If things don’t turn around soon, 2025 will be the worst league season in Birmingham Legion history (not considering any potential Jägermeister run).
And looking at the remaining games, it’s hard to be retain any optimism.
The Three Sparks still need to travel to FC Tulsa, the current top team in the West, and San Antonio FC, currently third in that conference. They also travel to Charleston Battery and Loudoun United while hosting North Carolina FC, the current 2nd-, 4th- and 3rd-placed teams in the East, respectively.
That’s half the remaining games coming against some of the best teams in the USL Championship.
The other five are therefore crucial, and feature all three other teams (Indy Eleven, Tampa Bay Rowdies and Miami FC) currently out of the playoff picture in the East. Those are now must-win games for the Three Sparks.
A loss in any of them, and it’s probably curtains on the season.
But if the Hartford game was any indication of the standard of performance we can expect from such a crucial encounter, it’s going to be a long remaining few months for Birmingham Legion FC.
Puzzling indeed