Hartford Athletic travel south to take on Tampa Bay Rowdies at AL Lang Stadium on Saturday night. It’s the 15th meeting all-time between the two clubs; in the entier USL Championship, Hartford have only played more times against Pittsburgh Riverhounds (18 games) and Loudoun United (19 games).

And those 14 meetings have been dominated by the Rowdies, with the Florida club winning 10 times, and Hartford failing to secure all three points in early five years, with their last victory coming in July of 2021.

Heading into this meeting, Hartford are running into the best team in the league, unbeaten in 15 games in all competitions to start the season. And with a result, the Rowdies would join Orlando City (2014) and San Antonio (2017) with the best unbeaten run to start a season in the history of the league.

Tampa Bay’s offseason acquisitions - 100 USL Championship goal contributions worth of Russell Cicerone, former Charleston striker MD Myers who had 29 goals in just 60 appearances for the Battery, former USL League One all-league first-teamer Max Schenider - totally reshaped a team that missed the playoffs last season. It’s an expensive overhaul, a fact underlined by Hartford manager Brendan Burke.

“Well, you can still buy a league, that's clear. I mean, they didn't not buy the league. So, I think you go in with a huge amount of respect for the player pool, for what the staff has done with the player pool too. They deserve credit. Dom [Casciato] deserves credit. They're playing good soccer. They keep it simple. Their structure is fantastic. So we have a huge test.” 

And Tampa Bay have spent, make no mistake, with a roster full of players who didn’t come cheap. But spending big is no guarantee of success. Just take the example of Lexington, who spent an eye-watering amount of money by USL Championship standards to buy out both Aaron Molloy and Philip Goodrum to add to an already towering wage bill, but currently find themselves only kept off the bottom of the Western Conference by strugglers Monterey Bay.

What’s different in Tampa is that the spending has been in the thoughtful execution of a plan. Dominic Casciato’s team isn’t a hastily assembled group of all-stars, it’s a carefully constructed roster that balances high-profile veterans like Cicerone with budding superstars like Myers - and throws in a health dose of players who made their bones in League One, Schneider chief among them.

It’s been a highly effective mix for the Rowdies this season, and it’s also a lesson for clubs like Hartford. If you want to truly compete at the highest level, you have to be willing to invest the resources. With sources inside the club suggesting that a contract extension for Brendan Burke could be announced as soon as next week, now is the time for Hartford to match their commitment to the manager by giving him the resources he needs to truly execute his vision.

On Saturday night, Hartford will get to see first hand what that kind of investment can produce, but despite the gap in investment, Burke has confidence that this version of his team can get a result: 

“We have guys that can make plays against anybody so I'm not worried about that. It hasn't fully clicked, but it took till summertime last year for it to fully click. I said to the group, you know, these are the type of games and the type of teams that trophies are going to run through this year, or it appears that way anyway, so we might as well see where we're at.”

With Hartford not fully clicking, their approach in this one might more on the pragmatic side, with Burke more focused on defending well than going out to score goals. And that’s a sound strategy, as the Rowdies have really limited chances this season, while seemingly being able to get exactly as many goals as they need to get results. For a Hartford team that is already struggling to score, but has an excellent defensive record, leaning into their current strength makes a lot of sense.

“If you put up a clean sheet there, you can put up a clean sheet anywhere. You're on a great surface with a great crowd, with a huge roster with, you know that they have infinite resource seemingly compared to a lot of the teams in the league. So if you can shut them down, and we intend to try that, I think that's more important than us worrying about being pretty about it.”

It’s the toughest test Hartford have faced yet this season, and a result one way or the other will be a good measuring stick. But more than anything, the team on the other side of the pitch is a stark reminder of what you can do if you are simply willing to give your manager the right resources.