Las Vegas Lights FC: 4 - Seattle Sounders 2: 1 - It's All About the Mistakes

Man what a wild ride we've been on.

The last four games for this team have been a 7-2 loss, then a 4-1 win, then a 4-0 loss, and now another 4-1 win. Talk about inconsistency.

Here are three thoughts from the Lights' latest 4-1 win over Sounders 2.

1.  Focus on the Mistakes

Famously, Jose Mourinho's footballing philosophy is defined by a focus on mistakes. In his mind, for most matches, the team that makes the most mistakes loses, and the one that makes the least amount of mistakes wins. Therefore, not only does he drill his team within in inch of their lives to avoid costly mistakes, he also foregoes possession. The theory is that the less you have the ball, the less opportunities you have to mess up, and the more opportunities the opponent has.

That's kind of how this game went down.

The Lights' first goal came from putting pressure on the Sounders 2 backline. When their defender made a poor decision to head it back to his keeper, Ochoa was ready to pounce and make it 1-0. Same for the second goal, Ochoa put in some good work to pressure the keeper, who made a mistake, and it had a fortunate bounce to make it 2-0.

On the other hand, the Lights were diligent in keeping their own mistakes to a minimum, and keeping the Sounder 2 attack relatively quiet.

2.  Staying Alive

The coach and the team has come under a lot of pressure recently - both for the results on the field and the technical director's ludicrous antics off of it. It has gotten so bad that the owner has given the Chelis the ominous "100% vote of confidence." (For those who don't follow european soccer much, a "vote of confidence" from the owner/board of directors is more often than not following by the coach getting sacked within a month or so).

This win was exactly what the team needed to relieve a bit of that pressure.

Let's be clear - Sounder 2 are not a good team, and the Lights were at home. They should have won this game, and they did. This win keeps us within touching distance (4 points) of the final playoff berth, which is what the goal for this team should be in their inaugural season.

We need to, at a minimum, keep beating the teams that we are expected to win (such as Sounders 2). And if we are serious about challenging for that last spot, we need to start picking up a result or two when we aren't the favorites. Next weekend, on the road at Swope Park Rangers, would be a great place to start.

3.  Pick Something and Stick with It

In the last five games, the Lights have tried to play in a 4-2-3-1, a 4-1-4-1, a 4-4-2, and twice in a 3-4-2-1.

Let's just pick something and stick with it, shall we? That could go a long way to achieving the kind of consistency that the team has been lacking in recent weeks. It's hard for players, especially at this level, to get familiar with their roles and surroundings when the formation, spacing, and players around them are constantly changing. You need to build up unconscious patterns in the players' mind, and when things are always changing, that can't happen.

Out of the formations listed above, I think the 3-4-2-1 (or 3-4-3, or whatever you want to call it) is the best suited for our players. Our defense can be, to put it nicely, a bit creaky at times. While Huiqui seems to come up with goals as often as our strikers do, his backline can also look a bit slow and a bit disheveled.

With three at the back, that should give the center backs a bit more cover for when they do inevitably let someone run by or lose a runner. Think of it as a safety net.

One thing though - in the Phoenix game, we tried a 3-4-3 with Carlos Alvarez, out best #10, as one of the midfield two. And clearly, it wasn't very effective.

If we stick with the 3-4-3, we need to make sure to have two more solid midfielders in the middle, who are a bit more adept at playing defense. This will give the backline a bit more protection, and will also move Alvarez (who is probably our most effective attacker) closer to the opposition box, where he can do the most damage.

Let's hope we stick with it and find some consistency in both performance and results, starting next weekend.

-VSB