With Sacramento Republic coming off both its first win following a four game winless streak and its first multi-goal game of the season, the question of the week is simple: Now that Sacramento has finally broken through and scored some goals, how to they continue this success in upcoming matches?
Evan Eyster (@IronPonyChef)
The Republic need to continue to simply stay the course. In 2014 Sacramento ended up with 10 points after 7 matches, in 2015 it was 12 points. Now we are back at 10 points in 2016. This is not bad from a results oriented standpoint.
We are however in a different era, "Buckle Ball" as some have referred to it. This is statistically both the best defensive (to a point where if it continues Sacramento will set the USL record for best defense ever) and worst offensive start for the Republic. Taking a look at the West though, which has been highly defensively oriented with only 7 of the 15 sides averaging more than a goal a game, is this a bad thing?
With a healthy Williams playing up top with Stewart, I fully believe Sacramento can get to that one goal a game average. With that average and with their defense who has mostly only allowed careless goals instead of well earned goals by the opposition, I think the Republic are poised to keep climbing the ranks.
Keep calm and play solid defense.
George Shiel (@GeorgeMShiel)
The defense will need to continue dominating which should give time for Buckle to find the right combination of players up top. The exodus of Roro and Braun was devastating to the offense. They brought leadership to the attack which I believe is missing this season. During their three game losing streak, the offense seemed to lose confidence.
The offense needs leadership. Williams looked to take an active role up top but I'd like to see him start multiple matches before concluding that he is the answer. I think in time the offense will become more confident and learn to score more often.
Josh Beeman (@josh_beeman)
As much as I love what we saw from the Republic last Saturday, I still have some concerns with the offense. However, if they continue putting forward what we saw from them against Los Dos I will be pleased.
I would like to see the lineup we saw against Los Dos be given more time to gel together. Although I am a fan of Max Alvarez, it seems as though Cameron Iwasa has found a pretty good spot on the left wing. Octavio Guzman has done well since coming back into the lineup and Harry Williams has put in some good performances as well.
Overall, I want to see more of the crisp passing that we saw last Saturday. The team looked like they were going forward with some real purpose against Los Dos and put together some good attacking moves on the counter attack. Now that they've put in some goals, hopefully the Republic will get back into the swing of things and prove to us that the April slump was an exception rather than the rule.
What would you do to keep the Republic's win streak alive? Do you have any other questions you want to see us address in the coming weeks? Let us know in the comments below!