Trying new things, defensive solidity, varied approaches and the balancing act

My Birmingham Legion talking points following three USL Championship games in eight days against San Antonio FC, North Carolina FC and Loudoun United

Stephen Turnbull warms up ahead of the North Carolina game. (TIMOTHY BELIN)

Even though the season is mathematically over, the last week for Birmingham Legion brought some unexpected positives.

After twice falling apart in the previous week’s doubleheader, the Three Sparks found a new resilience, better performances and, eventually, their first win since July.

While it means little for 2025, there might be some lessons and hope for 2026.

Time to experiment

There is one minuscule silver lining to the way the season has ended for Legion: the opportunity to try new things.

Mark Briggs arrived midseason into a roster he was not familiar with and immediately needed results. That means being risk-averse and focusing on what’s known to work (or supposed to work, in this case). While the results weren’t there regardless, it’s understandable that he did not veer too far into experimentation.

But with the season all-but-over after the dismal Tampa/Indy week, that quickly changed. In the last three games, Briggs has had more leeway to operate in new ways, try players in new positions, and essentially start focusing on the 2026 season.

The biggest way this has been evident is in the use of Stephen Turnbull, who for the past three games has been converted from wing-back to centerback.

“Stephen’s done really well there,” Mark Briggs said following the North Carolina game, where Turnbull got the crucial late equalizer. “It’s something I wanted to experiment with a little bit. He’s been working on it in training.

“I think he has quality in possession,” he continued. “He can break lines with his passing. He can play longer balls, he can play shorter balls, and he’s a good defender. … But one of the main things for me is Stephen talks and Stephen has leadership qualities. That for me is a big thing.”

In addition to the goal against NCFC, Turnbull made massive contributions down the other end in both other games to preserve those clean sheets. In San Antonio, he made a goal-denying block, while in Loudoun he cleared a ball at the back post that was otherwise destined to be headed in. That all went to earning him an inclusion in the latest USL Championship Team of the Week.

He’s also had a 100% success rate in the tackle across all three games, won possession on 16 occasions and contributed six clearances in the Loudoun game alone.

“It’s alright,” Turnbull said of his new position. “Obviously it’s different. More time on the ball, bigger responsibilities defensively, but it’s good for me. I feel like it’s a position that I have no problem playing and I think Mark trusts me to play there, which is big because being one of the three centerbacks is an important role in this team.”

He added that playing centerback is not as easy as it looks. But with two clean sheets from the last three games after 12 in a row without a shutout, it does seem like Briggs might have finally found a defensive partnership he can rely on.

And Turnbull isn’t the only player to have been tried out in a new role in recent outings, though the others have made less of an impact.

Jake Rufe, one of the players losing out to Turnbull in that centerback position, has made three substitute appearances in these past three games. Two of them (at SAFC and Loudoun) saw him replace a midfielder and take over that position for the remainder of the game.

While there is less time to judge him on in this new role (he had just seven touches across both games), it is notable as we look into the offseason. Rufe is someone who has shined at Legion through his versatility, starting games at right back, centerback and left back this season alone.

Adding a defensive midfield role to his bow will only further his use to the team as its Swiss Army Knife, and seems a sign that Briggs is interested in keeping the Alabama-native around for the 2026 season.

Finally, Tyler Pasher, back from injury, has also been deployed in a new role in recent outings. The veteran winger lined up as a support striker in the first two, before switching with Enzo Martínez in Loudoun to take up a midfield role.

It’s no secret that Mark Briggs is a big fan of the Canadian, having handed him the captaincy halfway through the season. But as with many end-of-career wingers, Pasher no longer has the same speed and explosiveness he once had to terrorize the flanks.

Converting him into a central role where his soccer IQ, dribbling and passing abilities can still allow him to shine seems a no brainer moving forward, and it looks like that transition is well underway.

Consistency is key

Stephen Turnbull’s shift to centerback is one piece of a larger puzzle in the team’s recent defensive improvements. Another one is consistency.

In the 20 games since Briggs changed to a three-man backline, there have been 11 different combinations in that role. If we are to consider the goalkeeper as well, that number rises to 13. Eight of those quatuors were used only once, and, until the last three games, there had been only one previous occasion where the same four players started three successive games alongside each other.

That’s the last thing you want as a defensive unit.

Yes, there have been caveats as to why this has happened. Phanuel Kavita, Ramiz Hamouda, Maliek Howell and Matt van Oekel have all been sidelined with injury at one point or another, while the first two have also missed games for international duty. But far too often, Briggs has also dropped a player after one bad performance in search of his best backline, even admitting at one point that he might have been “harsh” on Jake Rufe for doing exactly that to him.

“My problem as the coach, the team changes quite a lot because of inconsistency,” Briggs said at the beginning of September. “People that have been consistent with their performance usually stay on the field, but we find ourselves still trying to find the best personnel, the best 11 at this point.”

The last three games showed why having the same players line up alongside each other for multiple games is key. The three outings have been three of the best defensive performances by the team all season, doubling their clean sheet tally for 2025 and keeping their opponents to less than 1.0 xG on all three occasions.

When you watched the three centerbacks against Loudoun, you could see them anticipate each other’s, and Fernando Delgado’s, movements to cover space and support each other. That’s exactly what you want from a backline, and something that only comes with repetition.

The more the same group can play together, develop chemistry and understanding and learn to predict each other’s movements, the more reliable that group becomes. As the team turns its attention to 2026, it’s now crucial Briggs settles on a first-choice backline that can do just that.

Birmingham’s next game might throw a spanner in the works because two of the current back-three — Kavita and AJ Paterson — are on international duty this week. While they will be back for the Miami game, there is no guarantee they will be ready to play, especially Kavita after returning all the way from Africa.

But if they are fit to play the full 90, Briggs would be wise to keep starting Delgado, Turnbull, Kavita and Paterson for the final two games of the season. Even if the offseason brings in a new face that challenges for one of those spots, it will be easier for the newcomer to integrate into a well-oiled machine rather than the chaotic carousel of defensive partnerships Legion has found itself using all season.

Different approach, same result

There is one more positive to take away from the team’s recent performances. They haven’t just tightened up at the back, they’ve done so in two very different circumstances.

Against San Antonio, Birmingham Legion had both their lowest possession of the season (32.4%, nearly five points less than the previous low of 37.2% in the Jägermeister quarterfinal) and fewest completed passes (263, the first time they sank below 300 all season).

It was a classic defensive performance, conceding possession and space in favor of a focus on solidity at the back.

For a team that had conceded 19 times in the previous seven league games and had yet to register an away clean sheet all season (a run of 16 games, the joint-longest in club history), it made a lot of sense. Briggs was clearly frustrated at the leaky defence and decided to hit reset, rebuilding his team back to front with the defensive solidity his first priority.

It worked wonders, with the home team limited to just 0.58 expected goals, the third lowest of any Legion league opponent this season.

The surprise was in how drastically the approach shifted just four days later against North Carolina.

In stark contrast to their game in Texas, the Three Sparks’ return to Protective saw a clear front-foot mentality. Birmingham bossed the ball, dominated the field tilt and threw bodies at the NCFC defense. The Black and Gold ended the night with 57% possession (their third-highest in the league this season) and 585 completed passes, their most across all competitions in 2025.

And yet, despite scoring on the counter, North Carolina’s expected goals were even lower than San Antonio’s at just 0.45.

Rather than parking the bus, the North Carolina game was a masterclass in suffocating the opposite team. Particularly in the second half, the visitors barely left their own half. Their lone shot in that period came deep in stoppage time and from way out as they tried to catch Delgado out of position.

And then in Loudoun, the approach reverted once more. Legion held 34.6% possession, completed only 303 passes and had to make a whopping 43 clearances over the course of the 90 minutes (exactly twice their season average of 21.5).

Once again, away from home, the team focused on counterattacking soccer. They absorbed pressure and hit the home team with quick, controlled bursts upfield. The result? A 1-0 win backed up by a 1.08-0.98 expected goals scored tally (yes, the penalty makes up 0.79 of Legion’s total, but had Pasher gotten a shot off it would have also been a high xG chance).

One only needs to look at the average position from the last three games to notice how different the mentality was at home versus away.

Birmingham Legion average positions in last three games. (Source: Opta Reports)

The San Antonio game was played near the halfway line, with only the two strikers (#9 Ronaldo Damus and #15 Tyler Pasher) truly spending the majority of their time in SAFC territory.

The North Carolina one has just three outfield starters (the three centerbacks) in their own half, with Sam McIllhatton, the most defensive midfielder, touching the halfway line. That leaves six players entirely in the NCFC half, with Amir Daley (#26)’s positioning being particularly noticeable, as the right wing-back was nearly as high as his two forwards.

Finally, the Loudoun trip provided the most glaring difference to that home game. Every single player, substitutes included, is either in Birmingham’s half or at the very least on the halfway line. On their day, Loudoun are one of the best teams in the league, and it took a true backs against the walls performance by the Three Sparks to keep them out.

Despite these different approaches, the main takeaway is the same: Birmingham Legion have finally found previously unimaginable defensive solidity.

The fact that they were able to show that same resilience while both dominating a game and letting the opposition have control shows it’s not a fluke. It seems Briggs has finally found the foundation he’s been looking for all season, one that stays true even when adapting for different approaches.

This epiphany is unfortunately far, far too late to have any impact on a woeful 2025, but it should provide some hope that with a proper offseason and some key additions, the Three Sparks will be competitive once more in 2026.

The flip side, feat. Ronaldo Damus

The biggest issue that remains to be addressed is the attack.

As mentioned above, Briggs has hit reset and started reshaping his team back to front. The back half seems solid, but the offense still needs work.

Despite bossing that North Carolina game, the Three Sparks still found it incredibly difficult to break down a disciplined NCFC defense. They attempted 13 shots but put just three on target, and all their final third possession resulted in just 1.05 expected goals, with Turnbull’s late equalizer accounting for nearly half that number.

Particularly in the first half, it was clear the team lacked creative impetus in the middle of the park. The side currently has three main players capable of picking a pass and unlocking the defense, but unfortunately none of them lined up at central midfield on that day.

Dawson McCartney was forced out wide to cover for the absent Jackson Travis, Tyler Pasher was further up the field in his new support striker role, and Samuel Shashoua remains injured. Without that creativity, a lot of the passing and possession was sideways rather than vertical.

The most notable player this stuttering offense has impacted is Ronaldo Damus.

Even in a torrid season for his team, Damus has been productive and reliable. For the first half of the season, no matter the opponent or the result, you could count on the Haitian to score every other game. That output has however slowed down, with none in his last five.

Most worryingly, Damus hasn’t even had a shot in the last three games.

Obviously, when playing with the more defensive approach Legion did in Texas and Virginia, chances are going to come at a premium. But to go from averaging just shy of four attempts per game in your first 30 outings of the season to not taking a single shot in the last three is a deeply worrying trend.

Damus isn’t a striker who’s going to create his own chances. He doesn’t pick up the ball and run at a defense, but rather shows clever movement to get on the end of through balls and crosses. If the service isn’t there, he cannot thrive.

Whether he’s still around next season remains to be seen, not because the club wouldn’t want to keep him but because he is on loan with an option to buy. Even if the club takes up that option, they still need to agree a contract with the Haitian forward, who shouldn’t lack for suitors given his showings in a struggling team.

But regardless of who is to lead the line come 2026, the team will need to create better chances if they are going to win more games. That’s probably why forwards should be the biggest focus of the offseason, as nobody other than Damus has truly pulled their weight this season when it comes to goal contributions.

Amir Daley, a late addition with just nine games to his name, currently has the joint-most assists at a measly three. The second most goals on the team, behind Damus’ 13, is currently shared between Danny Trejo — who left midseason — and Sebastian Tregarthen — a first-year professional who spent half the season as a wingback — with just four. None of those numbers are good enough for a team with playoff ambitions.

One excuse is that the team has struggled with injuries in that forward department, with Pasher, Tregarthen, Shashoua, Kameron Lacey and Sebastian Saucedo all spending time in the recovery room. That lack of options was particularly apparent on Saturday, when Preston Tabort Etaka was the only attacking option on the bench.

But even when these players have been available, their outputs have been limited.

Moving forward, it is clear is that this team will need to find the balance between its newfound defensive strength and still posing an offensive threat. Whether that comes with offseason additions or striking the right partnerships out of the current crop remains to be seen, but something will need to change if Birmingham wants to do more than just eke out 1-0 wins or 0-0 draws.

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