FC Tucson defender Kyle Venter trusts the system.
He can’t help there are new players flanking his left and right, or that some familiar faces play in different spots. That’s part of the battle for the Phoenix Rising FC sister team in its first year of USL League One. In this new model, winning isn’t everything; conformity is.
“We’re moving into an area of the season where we’re going to playing extremely similar (as Phoenix Rising), if not the same,” Venter said. “The idea with that whole relationship is we’re all playing the same way, or at least trying to. So you can intermix, guys can go up and down, a higher or lower level, but you plug right in. You know the role. You know the system and you just have to do it to the best of your ability.”
For a man who has played on seven different clubs since 2012, that’s easy to understand. For others, it’s still a work in progress.
As coach Darren Sawatzky tries to rearrange the puzzle pieces once again for Saturday’s 7:30 p.m. home match against the Richmond Kickers at Kino North Stadium, he’s reminded of the difficulty of his task.
FC Tucson will be without defenders Andrew Wheeler-Omiunu, Austin Ledbetter and Kyle Bjornethun, all of whom are training with Phoenix Rising.
“The reality is, the reason they are up there is they are being rewarded for playing well,” Sawatzky said. “So, we built a foundation based on the guys that are doing well and then, we have to re-do it again. The guys here are totally capable, but some guys are in form and some aren’t. So it’s a challenge.”
This is why the season, as Venter puts it, “has been a bit of a roller coaster as far as results go.”
FC Tucson is just two points out of the final playoff spot with a game in hand over Lansing Ignite FC. Greenville Triumph SC and Chattanooga Red Wolves SC also stand in the way, but they have also each played one more game than FC Tucson.
Teams are awarded three points for a win and one for a draw, making last week’s 2-2 home draw against Orlando City B, in which Tucson led 2-1 and had a late goal erased by an offside call, a real missed opportunity.
The Men in Black get another chance on Saturday. The Kickers have lost their last three matches; before that slide started, they beat FC Tucson 2-0.
Continuity — and consistency — are important, a reason why Venter focuses on sticking to the system. Small mistakes, especially on the road, result in dropped points. With eight of its next 11 matches on the road, the longest road stretch of the season, FC Tucson knows it needs to step up.
“We’ve proven that we can play at an extremely high level here at home,” Venter said. “On the road we’ve been in games, but just little things here and there have bit us in the butt.”
