When Danny Cruz looks at Louisville City FC’s performances early this year, the head coach says he truly sees his team.
There have been a number of differences from a 2021 USL Championship campaign when Cruz took over after a game had been played and this one, where he oversaw offseason transactions and preseason training.
The word that continues coming up is “bite,” which Cruz saw in full effect as LouCity shut down Loudoun United FC last Sunday in a 2-0 victory. The boys in purple held Loudoun to just two shots attempted and 0.09 expected goals but did amass 21 fouls in the process.
The collective fight — and willingness to make an aggressive late tackle — are traits Cruz hopes to see on display again at 10 p.m. Saturday when LouCity plays at San Diego Loyal.
“When I see that, it certainly makes me feel like a group of players that is coached by me,” the coach said. “That’s something that’s really important to me. I say it all the time: Players are going to make mistakes. it’s normal. But if you have the right mentality and the fight, I can live with those mistakes.”
Cruz, who previously served as LouCity’s top assistant, was promoted to interim head coach in April of 2021. The club removed that tag in October, making him its permanent manager.
The 32-year-old marked his first offseason in charge by retaining most of a roster that advanced to LouCity’s seventh straight Eastern Conference Final. But he also brought in a number of young signings that have provided the boys in purple a boost early, among them striker Wilson Harris (four goals across all competitions) and wing back Manny Perez (multiple Team of the Week nods).
To boot, goalkeeper Kyle Morton has conceded only one goal in seven games, a credit both to him and a player like Amadou Dia, the 28-year-old former Phoenix Rising standout newly signed this season.
“There’s a strong belief in the group right now,” Cruz said. “The culture that is set at this club, you can tell that the new players coming in are integrated and completely bought in. For us, that’s what it’s about.
“As a team comes together and begins to grow with one another, everybody is obviously fighting for a common goal and relationships begin to build. I think certainly from back to front, whether players are starting, or whether players are on the bench or not in the 18, you absolutely have that collective buy-in right now.”
San Diego will provide perhaps the toughest test of that yet. The Loyal are 5-1-1 and atop the Western Conference table. LouCity, meanwhile, is first in the Eastern Conference while off to its best start to a season since 2018, when the club won its second consecutive USL Championship title.
Not only are the boys in purple winning. Especially defensively, they’ve been dominant. Loudoun didn’t take a shot in the first half Sunday and even chasing the game down two goals couldn’t manage any desperate chances to claw back.
A fifth clean sheet for LouCity leads the USL Championship. It took LouCity until late August — 22 games in — to match that shutout total in 2021, when the side tended to allow goals late in halves.
“From a defensive standpoint, I talked to the players yesterday, about when anybody watches us play, I want them to take away that this team fights for one another,” Cruz said. “That they have a strong mentality and that they’re looking to press for 90 minutes. And so far, throughout this season we’ve certainly had that.”
“If you have that defensive fight and you have that mentality, you’re going to give yourself a chance to win a lot of games, and I think you’re seeing that so far.”
