We sit here a few days after North Carolina FC gained “promotion” to the USL Championship by winning the league title in penalty kicks vs Charlotte Independence. We turn our attention to the offseason and the feeling of “we got a chance” starts to flutter around in our hearts as teams begin to make moves to improve. One of those teams that everyone will have an eye on will be the Richmond Kickers. We have already been through it before but if you haven’t, the 2023 season will not be remembered in the history books. The back end of the season left a sour taste in everyone's mouth and I am sure the Kickers are looking to get things back on track.
So, in order that we don’t have a repeat of the tail end of last season, here are my top five needs for the Kickers. From what to do with the Goalkeeper spot to how to have a balanced midfield.
#1 Find out who is the #1 Goalkeeper
If the 2022 season was unveiled as Akira Fitzgerald as one of the greatest goalkeepers in Kickers History then 2023 was a sequel that no one wanted. Not only did Akira's numbers drop from those that were put up in the past season but there were a few moments where fans were left thinking in the stance “Akira of last year would have saved that”. In the midst of all of that, Last year’s backup Will Palmquist aka Willy Palms had a strong sophomore season as he was in between the posts for the Kickers in ten starts. In those ten starts. Willy also showed that he is starting to enter his peak as a Goalkeeper, as over the course of the year his distribution and play out of the back started to increase game after game. Having your direct competition as your coach has to be difficult but you cannot argue that Willy has improved with having Akira as his coach. Akira has shown at moments this past season that he can still be a more than serviceable goalkeeper in USL League 1, just not a “game in game-in-game-out” starter, and with father time catching up the time is now for Richmond to make the switch. Whether it is bringing in a number 1 in the off-season or handing the duties over to Palmquist, the goalkeeper spot that Kickers need to figure out quickly.
#2 Use the youth but rely solely upon them
Darren Sawatzky has made it known that he wants “local kids to play for their local club and still be able to sleep in their own bed at night”. This Season imparticular, Darren and the Kickers staff have had to rely more on Youth players playing meaningful minutes. Four players who started that season on Academy deals registered official minutes for the Kickers totaling up to 1000 plus minutes with Becket Howell leading with 435 minutes. We have already seen from the Kickers this off-season that they do not play the kids if they deserve to play. However, with that, You can’t overly on Kids to play in key spots such as we did last year with Becket, Nicholas, and Landon. I'm sure next year that this trio will have an increase in minutes played but let's hope that not in crucial moments as it was last year.
#3 Find a younger options in the Attack
Let’s be flat-out honest, The Richmond Kickers attack (outside of set pieces) was horrible. A mixture of injuries, players not meshing well together on the field and players going in and out of form was the story for the Richmond Kickers attack. Sawatzky has gotten the best out of his attack when he is able to have mobile wingers that get in behind the backline and stretch them wide creating cutback opportunities for incoming strikers and mids. The Kickers right now need to find 2-3 players between the ages of 20-25 that can bring some energy to the attack. Also with younger players you have the ability to mold into what you need to fit your squad, it was hard to do that with veterans because they were already who they were at that point. Having younger players in the attack will give The Kickers the ability to be more mobile in attack and have teams guessing. Yes, will there be some growing pains while having younger players, of course, but that is the trade-off when molding and young player.
#4 Depth at Defensive positions
If you were to ask any bout the first half of the season what was the “calling card” of this team it would be without a doubt the defense. But once Hornsby went down with his injury in the early part of the season, you started to see how fragile the depth was. Aune, Dak, and Fitch were consistence starters in the backline, but they truly never got a chance to rest during the season which led to the poor defensive record down the stretch. So to save this problem Sawatzky would need to look at bringing in quality depth that plays in multiple positions and put pressure on guys to start. With the CBA in place, it might be difficult to have three starting center-backs like we did in the past but to have depth that can play meaningful minutes isn’t too far out of the question.
#5 Find Balance in Midfield
This goes without saying but the midfield was less than stellar last season. Outside of Nil Vinyals who had a good year, the Midfield either struggled to create chances or slow down teams in midfield. I for one, will admit that I thought Justin Sukow was gonna be a game-changer for this team, and he was for the first part of the season much like the defensive with the lack of depth started to wear down later in the season. Joao Gomiero was a bright spot proving a spark in attack while Sukow was showing signs of being a good solid defensive anchor when Zaca needed a rest. The part of the midfield that was lacking was having a midfielder that could connect defensive to attack and keep the ball moving. Finding a midfielder that can do that can help speed up the possession style that Darren is looking to play with now instead of the former route 1 style.
