It might seem a little too obvious and perhaps a bit basic, but when it comes to the Riverhounds this season, the basics just don’t seem to be getting through to them, so you might as well try to address them first.
A stat flashed across the screen early on in the match Saturday night against Charleston Battery that summed up the Riverhounds’ season perfectly. Their xG on the season heading into the game ranked 5th in the USL Championship… the actual number of goals scored though, was just 11, which puts them joint-worst in the whole league along with the likes of Hartford Athletic and Rhode Island.
And that is the key difference between this year and last. In 2023 when they took home the regular season title, their xG per game was just 1.19 per game, joint 18th in the USL Championship, yet they scored 50 goals, good enough for 9th overall. The big change of course comes through the loss of Golden Boot winner Albert Dikwa, who was able to mask a lot of those problems by being so clinical in front of goal.
The man tasked with taking over that role has been Kazaiah Sterling who came to the team from USL League 1 side South Georgia Tormenta and 32 league goals in the past two seasons, and whilst his lack of goals so far could be put down to him still going through the adjustment stages when it comes to stepping up to the USL Championship, I think the answer is a little bit more simpler than that…
He isn’t playing the center-forward role the way a center-forward should. There’s no denying he knows how to finish, his stats from his former team prove that, but he isn’t ‘leading the line’ the way that you would want your main forward to do so.
This can best be summed up with two images, the first from the recent loss to Memphis 901, and the second being the draw with FC Tulsa, which shows Sterling’s ‘average position’ (so the spot on the pitch that he spent the most time in on average). Sterling is #45 on the graphics:
USL Championship
Player position map for Pittsburgh RIverhounds v Memphis 901 FC
USL Championship
Player position map for Pittsburgh Riverhounds v FC Tulsa
What do you notice about the two images? In the game against Tulsa, the one he came off the bench to score in, he is the main man, deep in opposition territory and a constant threat to the back line. Against Memphis, he has central midfielders that were in more attacking positions than him.
It’s somewhat ironic that Sterling wears the number 45 for the Riverhounds. If you combine the two numbers, you get the number 9 and that’s what he needs to become. And whilst he doesn’t have the physical prowess to do the traditional role justice (with the Hounds’ website listing him at just 5’10 and 170lbs), he can at least start by staying deeper against the back line and being closer to the box for when the chances fall.
And maybe, just maybe, then he’ll be able to replicate Dikwa when it comes to his goalscoring output and give the Hounds the rewards that their attacking production deserves.
