After a 3-3 draw in Colorado Springs, Sacramento Republic FC return to Bonney Field on Saturday, August 22nd to host last placed Real Monarchs.
Bogeyman Team
For most teams in the USL Western Conference, Real Monarchs have been punching bags. That is not the case for the Republic, however. It is fairly safe to say that the Monarchs have been Sacramento’s bogeyman team in 2015.
Real Monarchs have been almost perpetually in last place in the Western Conference this year, earning only 13 points in 22 games for an atrocious average of .6 points per game. Of those 13 points, 5 have come at the expense of Sacramento Republic FC. With the exception of the Republic, every team in the USL Western Conference has been victorious over the Monarchs at some point this season.
With the push to the playoffs in full swing and half of their final 6 games of the season away from home, Sacramento will need to overcome the Monarchs and earn an important 3 points at Bonney Field to keep their playoff fight going.
Needs Improvement
While the Republic have not been terrible by any means during this season, they have had some nagging issues throughout the season. Although these problems do not rear their ugly heads every single match, they still pop up often enough to be concerning and will need to be improved upon in the Republic are to win against the Monarchs and be successful in the playoffs.
Sacramento have tended to play down to the level of their competition this season, an observation that the numbers back up. Against the Monarchs this has been particularly true, as the team has been largely disappointing in each of the matches the teams have played.
The Republic have also had issues for most of the season with silly defensive errors and incidents of miscommunication all over the field. The most recent time these particular issues have popped up was last week against Colorado Springs Switchbacks, when a combination of miscommunications and silly defensive mistakes almost cost Sacramento all three points.
If the Republic are to get past the Monarchs and move back into a playoff position, they will need to mitigate these nagging issues. But there are also other specific things to watch for in Saturday’s game.
What to Watch For
More often than not when teams come to Bonney Field to face the Republic they end up adopting more of a defensive posture, preferring to stay compact, absorb pressure, and counter. Although this is often the go-to strategy for visiting teams, the Republic have not yet figured out a way to break down teams who employ it.
This was especially evident duirng the 1-0 loss at home to the Colorado Springs Switchbacks. By the end of the match Sacramento looked as though they were out of ideas and had resorted to just sending in hopefull crosses from the fullbacks. The Republic will need to be able to figure out a way through a team sitting back behind the ball if they are to get all three points against the Real Monarchs.
Another point of interest is the disciplinary situation that Sacramento find themselves in. Nemanja Vuković and Ivan Mirković, both important first team players and key components of the Sacramento defense, are on warning for this weekend’s match. Vuković will receive a one game suspension if he is shown a yellow card in Saturday’s match, while Mirković will receive a two game suspension. The Republic cannot afford to be without either player, so many, if not all fans are going to be hoping that the referee keeps the cautions tucked safely in his pocket.
A worrying tidbit of information though, is that Ivan Mirković has apparently seen a yellow card in every game that Matthew Buckman, the man in the middle on Saturday, has been the center referee for. Buckman was the center referee in two Republic matches last season, July 17th against Orlando City and July 21st against West Bromwich Albion. Hopefully that pattern will be broken on Saturday.
How to Watch
Sacramento Republic FC kick off against Real Monarchs on Saturday at 8pm PDT. It can be viewed, as every USL match can, live on YouTube.
