Sacramento Republic is in historically bad form right now

While the story of Sacramento Republic FC is a mostly positive one, it has not been all sunshine and happiness. Not a season has gone by that the team and the fans haven’t endured some sort of trying time on the field.

Something about this time feels different, though.

It is arguable that the 2014 campaign, undoubtedly the Republic’s most successful, was one without much hardship. After all, there’s not that much to complain about a team that took USL by storm to win the championship its first year in the league.

That being said, Republic didn’t waltz through the season undefeated. The worst streak was three losses in four April games. But even then, the team won one in that stretch so it wasn’t all that bad.

2015 was the first year that it could be argued that Republic fans truly had some tough times. From June 27 to August 22, Republic got only seven points of a possible twenty-one in a seven game stretch that included four home games.

The 2016 season is probably the closest comparison we have to this recent run of bad form, but even it pales in comparison to what we’re seeing right now. Republic’s worst run last season went from July 6 to July 30. In that time the team took only two points from five games, including a tough 3-2 loss to Real Monarchs at home. At five games without a win, it was the team’s worst run ever until this year.

As of today, the Republic have gone six games without a win. To make matters worse, all but one of those six games have been losses. That makes one point out of a possible eighteen. That’s already the worst run of games in the team’s history.

But the worst part of the recent run is arguably not the results. Not only have Republic failed to gain more than a single point in the last six games, they have not even managed to score a single goal. Not one. It has been 563 minutes since Tyler Blackwood’s 67th minute goal against Tulsa. That’s over 9 hours.

We are in the midst of the worst scoring drought in the team’s history. The previous longest scoreless steak came last season and lasted for 291 minutes.

That being said, one thing should be apparent to all Republic fans: This current team is much better than the recent run of games makes them out to be. This is arguably the most talented Republic team ever put together. They’re better than this.

So what can be done to help the team out of this funk? ICS columnist Matthew Webber has offered two good ideas — one suggesting tweaks to the players on the field and another suggesting a change in the tactical approach.

Do you have a suggestion for how Republic could turn things around? If so, I’d love to see it down in the comments below.