"Tear me apart and boil my bones"

Photo by Elizabeth Shaw

Match Haiku

Summer draws nearer,

But performances stay cold.

Time for a rethink.

“Tear me apart and boil my bones”

“Elizabeth My Dear” - The Stone Roses, 1989

The song chosen for this match is a song about regicide, based on the Scarborough Fair, a traditional English ballad. Most people know the Simon and Garfunkel version. “Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme” is the familiar refrain. It’s the recipe meant to mend something broken beyond repair. In contrast, the lyrics list a set of impossible tasks that need to be undertaken in order to fix a broken relationship. Infer from that what you will.

We’re all watching a last-place team, and this last-place team does last-place things. It’s frankly astonishing that Racing only lost by a goal when you look at the stats. By not taking a proper beating, Racing as an enterprise is allowed to continually point to one-goal defeats and pretend like things are under control and that they are losing by fine margins. Every single piece of evidence taken by itself can be explained away, but the overwhelming preponderance of evidence says that this is simply just a bad team. Honestly, I am a little sad that there is no relegation in this league because there is literally nothing else to play for at the moment.

A break could do some good, but things don’t seem fixable to me. I previously thought Bev pulled off a miracle last year and then convinced myself that I had misjudged the team. Now, I really do think she pulled off said miracle and that this season is the norm. My favorite stat of the moment is accurate passes. Racing completed 208 (68% accuracy) and Denver completed 382 (81% accuracy). Racing’s accuracy is embarrassing for a team happy to concede 60% of the possession. I don’t think it’s asking too much to expect that a team consistently complete 75% of its passes (league average is around 76%). Racing’s team percentage is around 70%. Based a couple of passing accuracy statistics, I don’t think it is overstating things to call Kayla Fischer one of the least accurate passers in the league. Using the ASA xPass model Kayla completes about 22% less passes that one would expect. Plus, the ones she attempts are riskier than 90% of the league. That’s our number 10 folks!

It’s unfair to heap blame on one player because there is plenty of underperformance to go around. Other than the odd bright spot, almost every returning Racing player is having a worse year (Weber is probably the only clear exclusion). If I am being honest, I am tired of watching this team and will be glad for the break.

Post Match Moment of the Match

I am going to spare you anything from the interviews after the match and get this section pointed back to its original intent, which is to highlight something that happened after the match that was fun or interesting (to me at least). There are a few to choose from this week.

• Maddie Prohaska’s parents got to see her start. After chatting after the match and heading back to the pitch Maddie told her parents to “drive safe and text me when you get home”. It was a sweet moment that we all can relate to.

• I talked to Janine Sonis for about 30 seconds and got an unexpected half hug from her. I wished her luck the rest of the season.

• I caught up with my close, personal friend Lianne Sanderson (her description of our relationship may vary) after the match and got to chat about Manchester United with her for a few minutes. She is definitely Team Carrick.

Thing I bought at ear X-tacy back in the day

Artist:  New Order

Album:  The Best of New Order

Year:  1994

Format:  CD (Import)

Store Location:  1534 Bardstown Road

Today, New Order are definitely guilty of having way too many “best of” compilations.  In 1994 this still seemed like a money grab, but to be fair New Order were probably hilariously broke.  It’s too long to go into why that was the case in this space, but if you really are interested plenty has been written about New Order and is readily available.  That begs the question, “why did I buy this album?”  This answer is a very Gen X one.

By this point, I owned just about everything New Order and Joy Division had released.  I actually bought New Order’s first (and still best) compilation album “Substance” at the mall in Elizabethtown.  This was so long ago that I bought it in a CD long box (I bet that even if you know what that is, you forgot that they existed).  Anyway, one song that I was missing was “World in Motion”.  It had never been released on an album until the "Best of" release, but it's video had been released on a VHS compilation.  I had heard the song but there was no good way to listen to it in my car...a very late 20th century type problem.  

If you are unfamiliar with “World in Motion”, it was the 1990 FIFA World Cup song for the England national football team.  If this seems like an odd concept for you, maybe think “Super Bowl Shuffle” and if THAT doesn’t register either WHY are you even reading this?  England had semi-official World Cup songs in the past and all of them were embarrassing.  The song was actually released with “ENGLANDneworder” as the stylized artist on the CD single cover.  It went to number one in the UK and is New Order’s only number one.  New Order being New Order, had originally tried to sneak in a (barely) veiled ecstasy reference into the song and wanted to call it “E for England” with lyrics to match.  New Order has always been prone to bouts of self-sabotage, but in this case, they were rightly convinced to go with “World in Motion” as the title. 

As a song, it is a bit of a hilariously catchy mess.  Comedian Keith Allen wrote most (all?) of the lyrics.  The verses stick to football (“It’s one on one”, “Create the space”) but the chorus could fit into any love song and isn’t about football at all as far as I can tell (“Love’s got the world in motion, and I know what we can do.”)  Then, there is the infamous rap.  As part of the “charm” of the song, the footballers that showed up to record “vocals” all got a shot at recording the rap section.  Ultimately, legendary Liverpool player John Barnes was dubbed to be the least terrible of the bunch.  35 years later this is the thing that people remember most. John Barnes still gets asked to perform it from time to time and he will likely get asked to do once again this June with England’s hopes high. 

Also, I beg you to go on a brief tangent and hear what might have been!

Ultimately, the outro is my favorite part.  Berand Sumner sings “We’re playing for England” and the players respond with the 3-syllable “Eng-er-land” several times as the song fades and the commentary from England’s 1966 World Cup win plays, just as it did to introduce the song.  All of this may sound like a disaster, but when you listen to it, it really isn’t.  This is almost certainly due to the quality of the actual music from New Order, who despite their frequent mismanagement of their career, almost always got the music right.   

The Taylor Flint Honorary Yellow Card of the Match

Milliet got the only yellow card in the match:

• 47th Minute: L. Milliet - Foul, Reckless Offence

I am handing out a bonus yellow to the Racing home fans for dissent. There were a couple of delayed offside calls that the assistant referees got 100% correct in their decision making and adjudication. Officials in leagues with VAR are always instructed to let a phase of play run out before lifting their flag to signal an offside offense. I know that some fans hate this delayed call, but there isn’t a real alternative if you want to use VAR correctly. Fans can boo whatever they choose to, but I can also chide them for it.

The Louisville (Draft?) Kings Sports Betting Corner

It’s going to be some time before you can see Racing in action again, but if you’re looking for the other type of “action” here are some things you can wager on until the NWSL returns in early July.

I think the bottom spot in the league is turning into a 4-team race. Here is how I would set the moneylines for teams finishing in 16th Place:

• Racing +110

• Boston +110

• Chicago +150

• Bay +175

I still think the safe money is on the expansion team. Chicago has Mal Swanson so they always have a fighting chance at points. Don’t sleep on Bay though. They definitely could end up in 16th.

When it comes to Racing’s end of the season leader in G+A, I think these are the right lines:

• Emma Sears +125

• Sarah Weber +150

• Katie O’Kane +200

• Kayla Fischer +250

I think this bet all hinges on what number you think Sears will end on. Right now, she is on 5. If that ends up being greater than 12, I am not sure that anyone catches her. If you think it will be less than that, I think wagers on Weber and O’Kane might be worth a shot.

One final one…Total points for Racing on the Season.

• Under 22 +150

• 22-25.5 +125

• 26-29.5 +125

• 30-34.5 +200

• 35 or over +250

On current form, Under 22 looks tempting, but I think Bev’s baseline form gets them to 28.

“I'll not rest”

Just kidding, I will do exactly that. I need a break from soccer. Elizabeth informed me that she may watch some of the World Cup, and I won’t change the channel or leave the room if it is on, but I am taking most of June off to try to recharge my soccer fan battery. Lou City has one home match in June, so that should be fairly easy to accomplish.

Winning never gets old, but losing gets old quickly. If I thought change was on the horizon, I might be more excited. I also don’t want you to think I am advocating for change either. I am advocating for improvement. I do know from experience that improvement rarely comes out of the blue. There have to be signs. Right now, I am not seeing any on this Racing team. I am seeing a team stuck in a system that isn’t working well. I don’t think you have to abandon the system, but I do think switching out a few parts and tweaking a few things is worth the effort. I rarely present myself to “die on a hill” with my opinions, but I will come close with this one:

Racing will not succeed with the midfield in its current configuration.

I have enough evidence that it is broken. Racing needs to stop pretending that Kayla Fischer is the answer as a creative force. She does many things well but playing her in the coordinator role hasn’t worked. I can all but guarantee you that it won’t. Much like moving Flint to the back line, it is a move born of seemingly having no other options, but it also does her a great disservice. Positionally maybe she can remain there, but the attack cannot run through her. It just doesn’t work.

I have kept most of my criticism of Sears confined to my player ratings posts. Personally, I think she could be doing more, and I will just leave it at that.

A counter attacking team like Racing can’t be this trigger shy. Racing has to shoot quickly when they get into the final third. I wish it wasn’t this way, but as far as I can see, it is the only way for them to be successful. Too many times, players are passing up shots to try to get a better one. Racing isn’t a good enough passing team to work the ball for better shots. Either get better in possession or shoot earlier. What they are doing now isn’t going to work.

See you in July.

Racing 0 - Summit 1 Player Ratings

Once again the stats paint a pretty clear picture. Denver possessed the ball more, completed more passes and had the better chances

Prohaska-6: Acquitted herself decently, but Racing will be glad to have Bloomer back.

McMahon-6: Decent, but not outstanding.

Petersen-6: With Jean back she may see her time start to be limited, but she did well at center back in my opinion.

Wirght-5: Needed to cut off the pass that led to the goal.

Milliet-6: Picked up a rare yellow and made some vital challenges.

Flint-6: Fotmob gave her an 8. I just don’t see it.

O’Kane-7: Racing’s best player on the night.

Fischer-6: Isn’t a 10. Isn’t a 10. Isn’t a 10. Write it 97 more times.

Morris-6: Needs to shoot when gets an opening.

Sears-6: Getting tired of repeating myself on her.

Lardner-6: Brought energy.

Racing v Summit -1

Racing’s final match for a while will be in the rear-view mirror before Friday ends. The Summit is a fun team that scores lots of goals but also concedes their fair share, like Racing. The possession battle will be an interesting one to watch. Neither team is above 50% average possession for the season. Denver does complete about 100 more passes per match than Racing, so they find themselves in matches that are more fluid than Racing typically does. The Summit’s two most recent wins against Orlando and Houston had them beating their opponents handily and winning the possession battle. Orlando and Houston are low possession teams, so I expect Denver to come into this match to try to out possess Racing and dare them to show that they can string together some possession.

Racing sorely misses Janine Sonis, and she has been exceptional for Denver. Their left sided attack has produced 8 goals (4 from Kössler and her delightful umlaut and 4 from Sonis) so if Milliet finds herself behind the ball in transition against Denver like she has against Utah and North Carolina, expect bad things. This might be a match to have the more defensive minded Morris start on the right like she did against Portland. I am not advocating for benching Sears but potentially swapping her to the left because Morris had no joy on the left side against North Carolina and her heat map looked like she was playing a really defensive left back role. Racing’s coaching staff needs to figure out her best position soon or she risks being relegated to a utility player.

There is no official word on Bloomer, so well will have to wait for the Availability Report. At this point I am more concerned with Racing’s defensive structures than the defensive personnel because only one of those issues can really be addressed in the short term. It might be good for Racing to set up different defensively if Prohaska is called on again, to give her some extra protection. She performed well but wasn’t tested all that much because she really could do nothing on the goal that occurred while she was playing.

Mitch subbed for Bev today at media availability and did share that Racing is looking at the film to see where the breakdowns are occurring for the type of counterattacking goals that Racing is currently susceptible to. My very rudimentary analysis is that they are finding themselves unbalanced due to their lack of precision in the final third. Racing needs to focus on making sure that any attacking foray ends in a shot or the ball going out of play. They currently aren’t defensively sound enough to risk any loss of possession when 8 or more of their players are in their attacking third. I think this team needs to set a goal in this match of having a clean sheet at halftime at all costs.

“Now so much waste”

Photo by Elizabeth Shaw

Match Haiku

Wright’s goal is too late.

Another flat performance.

Another match lost.

“Now so much waste”

“Don’t Stop” - The Stone Roses, 1989

Where’s the fire?

My patience is running thin for hearing about the fine margins. Guess what: the fine margins matter. At the top level, they matter more than anything because every team is talented to some league-minimum level. Every coach is capable. I get that some teams are naturally better than others, but right now Racing looks like a team that is okay with the current level of effort going into these matches. Therefore, they are going to have to figure out how to get the finer details better. I don’t know if this is changing the focus in practice (nobody seems to think this because I asked both Wright and Milliet point blank about it) or having the players working more on their own, but Racing is doomed to their current status in the table unless someone, somewhere does something different.

The truth of the matter is that this team is sloppy. They are sloppy in their passing, and sloppy in their effort at the moment. Maybe that is unfair, but does this team look to you like a team that believes they are giving their best? This is starting to look like the team that I assumed we were going to get last season. Janine Sonis was one of their better players last year, but doesn’t she look even better this year on a team that is full of hope and expectations? Racing is currently carrying the air of a team with low expectations. We are definitely getting those types of results.

Personally, I think any kind of turnaround has to start with this team being more precise all across the pitch. Their passing accuracy was better in this match statistically, but the NSWL ought to track a new stat call a “groaner”. I would define a “groaner” as any pass that makes a fan groan out loud at the degree of inaccuracy. Several times Racing makes passes so inaccurate that they should count in the passing accuracy denominator twice. Frequently these woefully inaccurate passes kill counterattacks or lead directly to opponent’s goals as they have in the last two matches. The Courage’s first goal was a first cousin to the first goal Racing allowed in Utah. The second goal was similar in that lost possession led to Feli Rauch being so hilariously open that no Racing player got to within 10 yards of her until she made an easy pass to Sanchez, who ultimately scored. Both of these goals greatly penalized Racing’s attacking formation where their wing backs press forward. A defense as statistically bad as Racing cannot afford to lose possession with their wing backs consistently 20 yards behind the counter.

I think the biggest concern is that Racing’s opponents no longer look at Racing as a difficult match anymore. In the middle to latter part of last season Racing was a real annoyance to teams. This season, I think most teams wait for Racing’s inevitable self-inflicted wound, which has consistently come. The biggest shock for me is that Portland didn’t have this figured out and let Racing back into the match that Racing won against them.

Thing I bought at ear X-tacy back in the day

(I would have loved to have been a music journalist in the 90s in England, but unfortunately, I lived here. Therefore, I will do a little retrospective music journalism to amuse myself. I will even try to tie it to Racing or soccer in general.)

Artist:  XTC

Album:  Fossil Fuel: The XTC Singles 1977-1992

Year:  1996

Format:  CD

Store Location:  1534 Bardstown Road

This one’s a bit on the nose and that is exactly the point.

I had this stubborn resistance to buying an XTC album at a store named in their honor. The German language often has words for things that cannot be expressed in English, so I looked for a word that explained this feeling of resistance I had. I will describe it the best I can. I guess I would label it as shyness/nervousness at the possibility of having John Timmons at the counter when I bought it and having to make small talk, combined with having to admit that I knew nothing about XTC. By this point, he had to recognize me as the guy who always came in on Thursdays, bought import music magazines or newspapers or an import CD. I was predictable, like clockwork. I hated the idea of being so predictable as a 21-year-old.

Now, I wish I would have just done what I would do today: walk up and just ask him the best place to start if I was interested in XTC. I am sure he would have gladly told me. However, I was stubborn for no good reason. When this CD came out it seemed like a good place to start. Even then, I am sure that I was too embarrassed to buy an XTC CD in front of him and probably waited until he was busy with something else, so someone else would check me out at the register.

All this resistance did was just delay the joy that XTC ultimately brought me. “Generals and Majors” is still one of the only things I can play on guitar.

Sometimes we end up being stubborn for no reason or a worse reason: admitting that we don’t know where to start.

Post Match Moment of the Match

I don’t mind asking tough questions. This match was one of those times when I think I asked a few. As I alluded to earlier, I asked both Milliet and Wright if they thought the team was spending its limited practice time on the right things. They both answered in the affirmative which I obviously expected, but that question was really meant to gauge their reactions as much as the words themselves. I believed both of their answers, and I think they did too. It was just a quick pulse check to make sure the captain and vice-captain still seemed bought in, which they did.

Unfortunately, the field microphone didn’t really pick up the second question I asked Bev, to which she responded, “did you think we had the ball today?” I think I answered her “some of the time”. I phrased my question around possession, but my real question was about the level of precision when they do have it. She didn’t really answer that question other than to give some vague response that they needed to be better. My last question was if having two goalkeepers on the bench was because Bloomer was carrying some sort of known issue. The reason I asked that is that when Bloomer exited, her foot was pretty heavily taped, but that is not unusual. The answer was that they had two keepers on the bench to fill out the squad. We won’t adjudicate that again because you already know my feelings on that issue.

The Taylor Flint Honorary Yellow Card of the Match

Quincy McMahon got the only yellow card for Racing:

• 8th Minute: Q. McMahon, Foul - Tactical Foul

It was pretty cut and dry and she did a decent job of managing the rest of the match especially because she was nowhere near the ball on the two counters from which North Carolina scored. On the first goal was she was guilty of the bad pass that led to the break, so there was no chance of her being involved in the defending effort on that one.

The Louisville (Draft?) Kings Sports Betting Corner

We’ll keep it straightforward on this one.

Racing accumulated points going in the June break: Over/Under 9.5

I say take the under.

“How we’ll be teased”

Racing is another bad result away from me starting to openly advocate to see the younger talent start to get some real minutes. I don’t think we yet know how good players like McKeen, Lardner, White, et al. actually are. I would like to find out. I know the strength and limitations of the current starters. It’s too early to throw the towel in, but it’s also not too early to see if some infusion of youth here and there might inject some much-needed energy. The club likes Gacioch as an on-ball defender, so she needs minutes. The concern for me is that the new players aren’t forcing themself into the squad. Some of that could be Bev trusting her starters. Some of that could be that they simply aren’t ready. Either way, it doesn’t seem like there is much competition for spots and there have been enough injuries for a player like Morris to impose herself into the Starting XI, but she has not done it.

Racing seemed tantalizingly close to something last season. This season? Not so much. They like to pretend that they are the victim of fine margins. I think they are just getting outplayed and possibly outmaneuvered. I am also sure that no real help is coming in terms of a mid-season talent infusion, so Racing is going to have to figure it out with this group.

Racing 1 - Courage 2 Player Ratings

It was another lackluster performance from Racing. Until Racing figures out how to increase it precision in possession, they will continue to give up exactly the type of goals they did today.

Prohaska-6: Not bad on her debut.

McMahon-5: Early yellow meant she had to watch herself carefully.

Petersen-6: The other defenders didn't give her much help.

Wright-7: Got a late consolation goal.

Milliet-5: Can't be caught as high up on the pitch on a team that can't defend the counter.

Flint-5: Her lack of precision passing has got to be addressed.

Hodge-5: Subbed off after 60.

O'Kane-6: May be the only player at the moment that can be counted on to be effective.

Sears-5: Seemed disinterested at times.

Morris-6: Probably needs to be pushing Milliet for time at right back instead of playing forward.

Fischer-6: Tries hard…isn't the answer.

Racing v Courage -1

Photo by Elizabeth Shaw

Remember last year’s terrible weather in the home opener versus North Carolina? Maybe not, because it felt like Elizabeth and I were the only ones there. The above picture captures the downpour pretty accurately.

I would also be remiss if I didn’t say that frankly nothing is going to make me come down for cloud nine for a quite a while.

I plan on being a terrible winner to anyone who engages me on the subject, so be forewarned. All Arsenal fans have digital storage full of receipts.

Back to Racing, where hope is a less frequent visitor. They do have two matches in a row at home before another break in the season (which seems woefully mistimed if it is actually meant to benefit the player’s safety, which we all know it isn’t). They probably need 4 points from these two matches to feel like they are still within striking distance for the playoff before an extended break. Ignoring the cynical timing of the break, it actually comes at a pretty good time for Racing. There is no official word on Hase, but unless you were born yesterday, you know that her injury likely requires a 4–6-week recovery period at a minimum. The key for Racing in these two home matches will be to find some consistency. They can’t keep taking one step forward and two steps back. Well… they can…let’s not kid ourselves. However, keeping the team in the right headspace is Bev’s self-declared most important job at the moment. Racing has shown up at home so far. North Carolina is kind of puttering along with the same level of mediocrity they have demonstrated over the last few seasons. They can be ripe for the picking if Racing shows up ready to play on Saturday.

Unfortunately, North Carolina is exactly the type of team that Racing can’t quite seem to figure out at the moment. They possess the ball and make accurate passes, two things to which Racing seems to have a congenital allergy. Until Racing figures out how to consistently hem in a team like the Courage, they are much more likely to come out on the wrong side of the result. They definitely will unless they can once again harness the same energy we saw against Portland. In that match, the Thorns bizarrely invited Racing to do it. The Courage will suck the life force out of you by lulling you to sleep, just like Gotham does and sometimes Washington does when they are in the mood. Racing can allow the Courage to have the ball, but they can’t let too much of this possession be in the final third because as Racing has proven time and again, they can’t find their way out even if they win possession there.

"Every member of Parliament trips on glue"

Courtesy Connor Cunningham

Match Haiku

Cold Sunday evening

Sees Racing lost on the ball.

Utah: Royal pains.

“Until the sky turns green, the grass is several shades of blue,
every Member of Parliament trips on glue…It'll take all these things and oh, much more.”

“(Song for My) Sugar Spun Sister” - The Stone Roses, 1989

Racing got a good glimpse at what they aspire to be on Sunday evening. They saw pressing and counterattacking done right and ruthlessly. The broadcast called what Utah did and does, chaos. That is a lazy description, and it is insulting. Utah plays with relentless ball pressure. It isn’t a high press, it’s an “all” press. There is clear intent in what they do and how they play. Jimmy Coenraets has to be the clubhouse leader to replace Bev Yanez as NWSL Coach of the Year.

Utah wasn’t perfect all match, and Racing gave it a go. Let’s highlight the two sequences that framed each team at their bests.

Sequence 1: Racing is pressing Utah to win the ball high in Utah’s half. Hase comes away with the ball and is immediately looking for space to shoot or pass. A couple of Utah players frustrate her into making a lazy negative pass to try to keep possession, that gets stolen and moved quickly up the pitch with several players, but especially Paige Cronin, running furiously to join the counter. Her cross creates a mess, and Milliet scores an own goal. McMahon had run hard to catch up, but Cronin turned on the jets to leave her in the dust eventually. Ultimately, Utah used Racing’s high defensive line against itself to create the opportunity. The other thing of note is how coordinated the counterattack was with 4 Royals players drawing defenders into spaces. It was organized, decisive and lethal.

Sequence 2: Racing is once again pressing Utah high, but with the keeper in possession this time. They lure the Utah keeper into committing the cardinal sin of trying to play out of a high press through the middle. Before anyone can think, Fischer has snapped a shot into the back of Utah’s net. Hodge’s pressure forces a terrible pass and a mistake that is quickly pounced on. Racing too, are organized and disruptive in this sequence doing exactly what the press is meant to do.

What are we to make of teams doing what they do best? In my opinion, not much. Matches are won and lost in moments where you have to dig deep. On Utah’s second goal, Racing had several chances to avoid the ultimate danger and didn’t take them. After going back and watching, it is I think, very clear to see how much McMahon is struggling when she gets the ball early in the sequence. The smart thing here is to play the ball out for a throw and drop to the pitch to get treatment. Instead, she plays it forward to Morris who likely has no idea that McMahon is struggling. She tries to turn out of trouble and then turns the ball over. Utah pounces and Morris doesn’t exactly go all out to try to win the ball back and lets a cramping McMahon try to stop my least favorite ex-Racing Player CeCe Delzer from getting into a good space to make a cross to Tanaka to score the winner. It highlighted the main difference between the two teams in my opinion. Utah fought to win back lost possession more frequently and with more desire and energy than Racing did.

It was another case of one step forward and two steps back for Racing. All of the good things from the Portland match seem to have vanished and it doesn’t look like sustained excellence is on the horizon until the sky turns green, the grass turns blue and every Member of Parliament trips on glue. Or maybe (definitely) I am just looking for an excuse to use that brilliant lyric…

Post Match Moment of the Match

I get why teams have post-match media availability and I obviously keep showing up, don’t I? Sometimes you just aren’t going to learn anything until you more closely examine the video of the match with some distance. That seemed to be Bev’s perspective on the performance. I think when she goes back, she will see little things to work on. Me? I think Racing is pretty easy to figure out. You can draw a line at 50% for the average possession stat for the league. Racing can likely get results against teams below 50% but will struggle against teams that have more of the ball (Boston excluded, but you never know). It’s not the amount of possession itself, but what it symbolizes which in most cases is organization and control in possession. Utah showed you can have high possession and have a relentless press. This is classic Pep Guardiola football, the philosophy being you ultimately have more energy to press hard for short periods if you aren’t having to work hard out of possession other than in short bursts. Racing cannot play this way right now, so you will get what you get unfortunately.

I was actually more interested in Wright’s opinion on the second goal. As a player she has seen it all. I don’t think she saw the full sequence of what was happening with McMahon and of course she said that you can’t depend on officials to stop play. Once Utah has possession, I agree with this sentiment 100%. However, I believe McMahon was struggling before she played that fateful pass into Morris. Only she knows for sure. If she was, she has to know that she is a liability if she stays on the pitch. Play it out, get treatment, and live to fight another day. Hase smartly went down when she felt her hamstring and the Royals politely played the ball out. Nobody (except Manchester City) wants to win unfairly. I believe if McMahon plays the ball out when she is first struggling, the second goal could have been avoided.

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME MCCALL ZERBONI?

I don’t know why poor McCall can’t help herself. If you listen to her calls, you can hear some really insightful stuff if you can ignore when she openly contradicts herself or throws out another lazy platitude. Color analysts love to make up words, but they really like to make up 8-syllable ones like “counterattackability”. If they just stuck to 7-syllable words, I could use that as the middle line of my match haiku at least.

Ninety minutes is a long time to always have something interesting to say. I am rooting for McCall, because I think she has interesting things to say at times. She just needs to be a little more in tune with what is going on with a team instead of making up what she thinks is going on. Many of her comments on Racing were true but only because she said the exact opposite thing earlier in the match. I know the NWSL probably thinks its broadcasts need to be mostly for a general audience, but that kind of thinking makes it hard for the announcers to know every team in depth. Since that is the case, McCall would serve herself better by not presenting herself as an expert on Racing, which she did a few times, when she clearly is not.

Hey! Look at me! I’m Elton Garcia!

(One of USL PRO’s “top” officials stops by to “discuss the match”)

That’s right! Look at me! Don’t look at the match unfolding in front of you! Everything I do is much more important than what is happening in the match! Watch me run to break up imaginary fights that aren’t going to happen! Watch me spend my time chiding players for simply trying to get a ball to a player on a throw in! Look! There is another coming together that I need to insert myself into for no reason! You came to watch me run all over the pitch to pretend to deescalate situations, but actually make them worse, didn’t you! Nobody watches my matches and says, “gee I forgot all about the referee because he didn’t insert himself prominently into the match!”

Thanks Elton…he did get just about every call right, and he’ll be sure to let you know it.

The Taylor Flint Honorary Yellow Card of the Match

One of the problems with Flint picking up so many yellow cards, other than the blatantly obvious reason, is that when she picks up an early one and gets a final warning, she loses much of her effectiveness. She had to play more tentatively at times during this match because of it.

• 45th Minute +4: Flint-Reckless Offence

Where have I heard that one before?

She now sits on 4 yellow cards, so expect her annual suspension to be coming soon.

Madchester Song to Make You Feel Better

Don’t wimp out and go for the 7-inch version. You deserve the very best, so stick with the 12 -inch, 10-minute version with its long meandering outro.

“It'll take all these things and oh, much more”

Most of the time this season it feels like the stars have to perfectly align for Racing to have a chance in a match. When “the breaks” never go your way, you have to question if they actually are “the breaks”. In the “you make your own luck” category you have several things to point to in this match. You definitely don’t make your own luck with a 65% passing accuracy. I can live with a lack of possession, but Racing just has to be better when they have it. Racing’s goal came with virtually no possession tied to it. It did come with clinical pressing and a deadly accurate finish. Racing pays a lot of lip service to being better in moments, but I haven’t seen much proof in the pudding. When they trailed late, they lacked the ability to possess the ball effectively enough to give themselves much of a chance, especially in stoppage time. Reality isn’t comprised of single big things being true. It is made up of a bunch of smaller things providing a preponderance of evidence. When Racing plays well it is by showcasing their identity AND a whole lot of other positive little things that go mostly unnoticed. Those unnoticed things tend to turn into glaring weaknesses when they don’t do them well. Racing got a little bit of Fool’s Gold through their solidified identity last season, which may have caught teams by surprise. It is going to take little things to get better this season, and it is going to take a lot of them.

Royals 2 - Racing 1 Player Ratings

Utah looks like the team that Racing aspires to be. Racing can't string enough passes together when it matters to come back a second time.

Bloomer-6: Fantastic save in the 9th minute.

McMahon-6: To me it looked like she was struggling with a cramp right before Utah's second goal. It couldn't have happened at a worse time.

Petersen-6: I think she is subbing at center back decently.

Wright-5: Beaten for pace more than once.

Milliet-5: Own goal was tough but offered little going forward.

Flint-6: Managed the match decently after getting a final warning.

Hodge-6: Was involved in the press that led to the goal.

O'Kane-6: Not as effective in this match.

Hase-5: Her terrible negative pass led to the opening goal for Utah and her injury looks worrying.

Sears-6: Needs to embrace the responsibility of doing more.

Fischer-7: Scored a very Fischer-esque goal in a very Fischer-esque match.

Royals v Racing -1

Racing heads out to Salt Lake City, a place where they have had zero success, looking to change their fortunes. Utah started to turn things around as a franchise at the tail end of the last season and have come out looking even better this season. For those unaware, Salt Lake City sits over 4000 feet above sea level, which sometimes is used as a headwind for playing against the Royals. Katie O’Kane played in Salt Lake City for 3 seasons as a Utah Ute and said that she advised her teammates that the whole altitude thing was only a factor if you let it be. I tend to agree that playing at altitude probably doesn’t impact the average athlete all that much, unless they have an underlying health condition.

Racing is coming off of its best match of the season (so far…fingers crossed) and it is a little difficult to move past that match because there were so many interesting things that happened in retrospect. Something that flew a little under the radar because Racing won and Sears scored, was the fact that she started on the bench. I asked Bev about this both immediately after the match and yesterday, and what she both times really didn’t tell me what everyone wants to know: was benching Sears tactical, for rest, or something else? Let’s ignore the “why” because we will likely never know, so let’s look at the impact. Brendan Devine mentioned on BTRD this week that Lo Milliet’s heatmap was interesting. I went back and checked it out and she was deployed forward quite a bit. I don’t get too worked up about formations, but I did want to go back and get a sense of Racing’s defensive structure. To me, the heatmaps don’t actually show a back 3, which may have been postulated with Milliet playing so far forward. Honestly, I was checking for any winger inversion that I might have missed live. When I think of winger inversion, I think of a left or right back moving centrally into the midfield. That wasn’t what was going on. What was happening was that Morris was covering Milliet’s forward runs. Their heatmaps were so similar if you didn’t know who the nominal right back was, the map wouldn’t have told you. On the left side, McMahon and Hase’s maps make it clear, but McMahon got forward almost as much as Milliet. I guess my biggest point is that Racing played with different structures with Morris on the pitch instead of Sears. If you go back on look at the heatmaps for Racing’s other win against the Pride, you see some pretty standard winger heatmaps. Petersen was the left back in that match, so that was different too.

I think we may see Racing start to deploy some tactical things from the start of matches that maybe we haven’t seen as much in the past. Against Portland, a team that doesn’t possess the ball that much, you can afford to have all of your wingers as high as Racing deployed them. Utah neither scores, nor concedes as much as Racing, so it will be interesting to see how they play. They do tend to possess the ball more than their opponents, but not by a tremendous amount. Utah sets up similar to Racing from a formation perspective which is also similar to how Portland set up.

I definitely liked O’Kane in a higher role, so it will be interesting to see if that continues. The Flint/O’Kane/Fischer midfield was definitely more effective when they didn’t have to defend quite as much in their final third. If Jean returns (no official word on that until later today or tomorrow) I think McMahon has done enough to keep her spot at left back over Petersen, who deputized well at center back. I expect that Sears will start, but despite her excellent play I don’t think Milliet is guaranteed to start at right back every match with Morris as a clear option there. I expect that now that the roster is healthier, we could see some more tactically influenced rotation.

“Come taste the end. You’re mine.”

Courtesy Connor Cunningham

Match Haiku

A perfect evening

Highlighted by Katie’s brace,

Exposes the Thorns.

“Come taste the end. You’re mine.”

“Bye Bye Badman” - The Stone Roses, 1989

Where has this been from O’Kane? Let’s not beat around the bush and dive right into her performance.

Here is the story in a couple of heatmaps.

The directions of attack on heatmaps go from left to right. The above heatmap was from her rather pedestrian performance at Gotham. That performance also included her going 0 for 9 in her ground duels won and she was dribbled past twice. In my opinion, she doesn’t work well as a deep lying midfielder against teams that like to possess the ball as much as Gotham. You’ll see from above that she spent most of the match defending and the results of her defending performance didn’t yield anything good statistically. Of note, she did get off the two best chances that Racing had in that match.

Now look at this one. She lived in Portland’s half, both in attack and while defending. She was high up in the press. This was maybe a tactical decision or maybe just effort but likely a bit of both. Her defensive numbers don’t give her credit for how much her presence contributed to the press. She was definitely disruptive to the Thorns comfort as they tried to play out from the back. She got off 5 mores shots besides the two that went in. Maybe Portland’s chosen style was the perfect way to opponent to showcase what she can do, but she needs to be deployed forward more frequently to be most effective.

Again, If I ever find out who comprised the 5% of people who didn’t vote for Katie O’Kane as Player of the Match I am going to personally spit in the next concession item that you purchase at Lynn Family Stadium.

There were good performances all over the pitch, but the back-to-basics approach tactically seemed to be the key. The press, after an early glitch where Portland lulled Racing to sleep before sending a long ball into Wilson, made Portland uncomfortable through effort and cohesion. The Racing players pressed together much more in this match than any of the previous ones this season. After Racing got their press right, they were definitely the better attacking side. The possession battle was relatively even all night, and Racing looked the calmest they have looked in possession all season.

In the end, they made Portland play the match the way Racing wanted to play it. I don’t get why Portland seemed to abandon what worked as soon as they got up a goal. Then again, their coach used to lead Tottenham, so there’s that. It was good to see him bring a little Spursy-ness to Portland’s performance, even if it was only for one night. Racing owned the Thorns for the last 80 minutes of the match. It tasted so sweet.

Post Match Moment of the Match

I covered the highlights here. Bev is evidently a rather superstitious person because she told Joe, Cody, Kaitlyn and I that we all had to wear the same things every match going forward to bring Racing luck. I reminded her that she definitely needed to take most of the credit for the win, which made her smile. Once the video was rolling, I asked about how satisfying it must be to have a performance that so perfectly demonstrates what the team was working on all week.

“Incredibly satisfying,” was her initial response but she quickly pivoted to the players having trust in her and believing in what they can do. The main theme from her was just how pleased she was in the response.

Quincy McMahon also said that the response included everything that they worked on all week, highlighting the work rate, mentality and finishing. When I asked her about how they fixed the press so quickly after giving up an early goal she said that recognition and communication were the keys to making sure that they all pressed in unison. Katie O’Kane said that the back-to-basics approach was about “not over complicating anything” but did add that their cohesion was vital because, “we know how to play soccer, we just lost it a little bit,” in reference to Racing’s recent performances.

Thing I bought at ear X-tacy back in the day

(I would have loved to have been a music journalist in the 90s in England, but unfortunately, I lived here. Therefore, I will do a little retrospective music journalism to amuse myself. I will even try to tie it to Racing or soccer in general.)

Artist:  Teenage Fanclub

Album:  Grand Prix

Year:  1995

Format:  CD

Store Location:  1534 Bardstown Road

I think 1995 was probably my highest volume year for purchasing music. The purchases were not all new releases, but this one was. Before you could sample music freely like you can today, you had to make some purchasing decisions based on trust. For me, a big consideration was whether or not I liked the previous album. In the case of this album, the previous album would have been Thirteen, a rather notorious misstep (although retrospective reviews are kinder). Teenage Fanclub’s third album, Bandwagonesque, is a stone-cold classic from 1991 that I owned on cassette tape as a high school student. It was revered enough at the time by music magazine Spin to win “album of the year” over Nirvana’s Nevermind.

Back to Grand Prix…the Fanclub’s fifth. It was an album with something to prove. Instead of doubling down on any trend-chasing that they could have rightly been accused of in the past, Teenage Fanclub became what they ultimately are beloved for on this album. They went simpler, more earnest and focused on what they did best: harmonizing over each other’s songs (the 3 mainstays always shared independent song writing duties). Personally, I liked Thirteen just enough to give them another chance, even though the lead single on this album was the perfectly nice but unassuming “Mellow Doubt”. I wasn’t blown away on the first listen, but it still stayed in heavy rotation for me over the summer.

Their back-to-basics approach showcased their talent. They stopped trying too hard and then the songs on the next few albums sounded effortlessly perfect. Focusing on their best parts, songwriting and vocal harmony, got their career back on track.

I hope I don’t have to draw the parallels for you.

The Taylor Flint Honorary Yellow Card of the Match

Kayla Fischer got a very “Kayla Fischer” type card in the 41st minute. Here are the explanations for the cards on the evening:

• 41st Minute: K. Fischer - Reckless Offence - Foul

• 73rd Minute: T. Flint - Foul - Tactical Foul

I have a bone to pick on the second one. It didn’t look like there was too much in it and Vignola committed a much more tactical foul on Flint in the 82nd minute that just got awarded as a foul. Other than those two missteps, the officials did a good job in the match and definitely kept a lid on things by calling it consistently close. Good job officiating team!

The Louisville (Draft?) Kings Sports Betting Corner

After the match there were many jokes about who might be in line for the next home brace after back-to-back ones from Milliet and O’Kane. I will do my civic duty and set the moneylines for you for the next home brace this season:

No brace -110

Sears +175

Flint +175

Weber +200

Fischer +250

O’Kane +275

Hase +300

Morris +500

Petersen +550

Milliet +600

Wright +800

Jean +800

McMahon +900

Any other player +1000

“I want you black and blue”

Phuoc Nguyen’s match recap is a good read for the Portland perspective. Racing maybe didn’t beat the Thorns “black and blue” but Phuoc described Racing’s performance as “suffocating” which I guess would leave one blue at least. Since I don’t follow Portland, I haven’t watched many of their matches but this line from Phuoc was telling:

“The metrics and statistics have been unkind to the Portland Thorns throughout the season, but despite that, they have found a way to win those matches.

Tonight, that was not the case. The numbers matched up and gave the three points to the rightful winner.”

For those unfamiliar with my tone from my “As It Happened” pieces for Lou City, I tend to go over-the-top negative on City’s opponent or the city they represent. In last night’s piece, which is likely to be a one-off occurrence although I did enjoy it tremendously, I called the Thorns posers. Based on Phuoc’s assessment above, that may not be far off the truth.

They definitely didn’t seem all that keen on imposing themselves like the Spirit and Gotham do. That probably played a part in how well Racing played, but I also don’t want to be dismissive of Racing’s very good performance. Your opponent is always going to dictate some of how you perform, but they shouldn’t dictate your effort. Last night’s effort from Racing would probably best be described as “all-out”. However, it wasn’t one in which they seemed exhausted in the end. By pressing together, they carried each other through the difficult parts. Now we just need to see if this type of performance can be sustained in the long run.

Racing Louisville 3 - Portland 1 As It Happened

Courtesy Connor Cunningham

Let’s talk about the Thorns

Look at these posers coming in all high and mighty on 19 points with 5 clean sheets and their 44% possession. The Racing players love to stick hard tackles on these shrinking violets. Moultrie flops so frequently that Lebron James is embarrassed. Sophia Wilson stole Lo Milliet’s goal of the week because of idiotic fan sentiment. Makenzie Arnold owns dingoes that eat babies. Their coach led Tottenham Hotspur (yuck!) to stunning mediocrity, which I guess is an accomplishment. It rains 390 days a year in Portland.

Racing Louisville lined up as:

24-Bloomer, 2-Milliet, 3-Wright, 4-Morris, 6-Hase, 8-Petersen, 9-Fischer, 12-McMahon, 20-O’Kane, 26-Flint, 42-Weber

1st Minute

Bloomer has to make a rather easy save but there are warning signs early,

3rd Minute

Portland cuts through Racing's first attempt at a pressing pretty easily.

4th Minute

The Thorns are going to try to beat the press by going side to side on Racing.

6th Minute

Goal. This time they beat it easily through patience and a long ball into Sophia Wilson who beats Bloomer easily. Easy peasy.

Racing 0 - Thorns 1

7th Minute

Hase makes a nice run but her cross can't find anybody.

8th Minute

Sophia Wilson almost makes it 2 inside 10 minutes but Bloomer has the angle covered so the shot goes wide.

10th Minute

Racing has their best attack so far but it kind of fizzles out.

11th Minute

O'Kane's shot is saved onto the post and then eventually the ball goes out for a corner.

14th Minute

GOAL! Racing equalizes on a nice, composed finish from O'Kane who seems to be hitting an extra gear tonight.

The early work on the goal was done by Hase who has also been good.

Racing 1 - Thorns 1

21st Minute

I think Hase can win her matchup all night.

28th Mintute

Portland is kind of getting away from the things that worked earlier and trying to go more down the middle which is bizarre.

32nd Minute

The match is being called tight and there have been a lot of fouls in the last few minutes.

34th Minute

Racing wins a free kick in a dangerous spot but Peterson's delivery leaves much to be desired.

37th Minute

The ball makes its way to Milliet but she doesn't have her shooting boots on tonight and it goes over the bar.

39th Minute

Racing wins a corner on a nice reverse pass into Morris.

40th Minute

The Thorns’ counter ultimately ends up in a rather tame shot that Bloomer saves easily.

41st Minute

Fischer gets a very Fischer-esque yellow card.

42nd minute

Racing is very fortunate as a ball flashes right by Bloomer in front of the goal.

45th Minute

O'Kane fires in another shot which goes gets blocked out for a corner. The corner is taken quickly but is ultimately seen out for a throw.

Halftime

Racing 1 - Thorns 1

Racing should be pleased with the response after going down 0-1. Portland looks dangerous at times, but is this really the best team in the league?

47th Minute

Racing has a couple of tame efforts stopped pretty easily.

50th Minute

O'Kane has a decent chance, but it goes way over the bar.

51st Minute

Fisher almost gets on the end of a ball from Hase.

53rd Minute

"Hey Arnold...you are my least favorite Nickelodeon show." This is directed at Mackenzie Arnold. The Waterfront Supporters Zone is its usually rowdy self.

56th Minute

The Thorns get a promising counter-attack all wrong.

60th Minute

Sears on for Morris.

69th Minute

A promising attack for Racing goes out for a corner.

71st Minute

Larnder in for Weber.

73rd Minute

Yellow Card for Flint. Awful call.

74th Minute

The Thorns resulting free kick is tame and right at Bloomer.

76th Minute

Hase is fouled right outside the box. Yellow Card for Portland’s Sam Hiatt.

77th Minute

GOAL! O'Kane smashes it right at me and it goes into the upper corner.

Racing 2 - Thorns 1

81st Minute

Fischer's shot goes wide. She looks gassed. Great effort from her tonight.

83rd Minute

Hodge on for Fischer and McKeen on for Hase.

90+1 Minute

Great tackle from Peterson to stop Wilson on a dangerous break.

90+3 Minute

Racing clears a bit of danger.

90+6 Minute

GOAL! Racing keeps the pressure on, and Sears seals the victory with a composed finish.

Racing 3 - Thorns 1

Full Time

Racing 3 - Thorns 1

The renewed focus on the basics of the press seems to have worked, at least for tonight. I told you that the Thorns were posers and that performance kind of showed it. Bev was proud of the effort and pleased that the week’s message translated to the pitch. McMahon said that early communication from the team allowed Racing to stop how Portland was trying to counter the press. O’Kane said that by not overcomplicating anything and going player to player, Racing was able to execute it gameplan.

A full report will follow tomorrow.

Racing 3 - Thorns 1 Player Ratings

Now that’s more like it. The back-to- basics approach to the press seemed to work after and early goal from Wilson. It was a great team performance.

Bloomer-6: Not given all that much to do because the defense in front of her was so good.

McMahon-7: Really solid from her.

Petersen-8: Maybe her best performance at center back.

Wright-7: Got beaten for Wilson's goal, but was good after that.

Milliet-7: Lively both ways.

Flint-8: Classic performance from her.

O'Kane-10: Where has this been? Just a stunning performance.

Fischer-8: Great pressing performance from her.

Hase-8: Won her matchup all night and won the foul for O'Kane's free kick goal.

Morris-7: Good deputizing for Sears.

Weber-7: Worked hard all match.

Sears-8: Killed the match to make the last minute comfortable.

Racing v Thorns -1

The theme for this week in Racing’s camp was definitely “Back to Basics”. Bev, Wright and Bloomer all talked about how Racing’s press wasn’t working. Wright talked about Racing being a team that doesn’t recognize itself in the mirror right now. She added that “our press hasn’t been on” and she attributes that fact to their recent struggles. She fully admitted that when Racing gets its press wrong that it has a “domino effect” on the rest of the team. Bloomer stated that Racing needs to find early success with their press against Portland this week and get stuck into some tackles early in the match to set the tone. She also talked about Racing needing to find its rhythm like they did in the second half against Orlando. I do think that Racing has seemed out of rhythm many times this year. It is something they will have to fix to have a shot against Portland. Later in the interview Wright attributed a portion of that lack of rhythm to some of the newer things that the team is trying which could potentially be distracting them from the things they do well.

Joe Havelda asks a good question about how Racing seems to not be as visibly frustrated as fans are. Bloomer reassured us that “we are also frustrated.” She also added that as players, many time they are asked to manage any outward shows of their visible frustration. I get that, and historically I have probably been the number one instigator of trying to get a reaction out of them after matches. I sometimes used to ask questions designed to try to get them to show a bit more raw emotion. I can’t ever remember that tactic working, so I try to do it more subtly now. I have also figured out, especially with Bev, that you are going to get a better answer from her once she has had a chance to process the match. But like I said, Joe asked a good question, and I do think Racing might be served in the short term by showing more raw emotion in the media, win or lose.

When we spoke to Bev, she was also completely focused on a back-to-basics approach and getting back to the things that Racing does well. Bev was also very insightful on what she thought maybe the difference is in the press this season compared to last. She stated that Racing was still getting into the right spaces but maybe not instigating the contact or the tackle enough to get “very fiercely into that moment.” Essentially, Racing hasn’t been as effective at that final, most important part of the press, which is either winning the ball or forcing a mistake. They will need to fix that to have a shot versus Portland.

“I don’t care where you’ve been or what you plan to do”

Courtesy Connor Cunningham

Match Haiku

This given Sunday

Gotham a different class.

The goals have dried up.

“I don’t care where you’ve been or what you plan to do”

“I am the Resurrection” - The Stone Roses, 1989

It was hard to look at the two starting elevens prior to kickoff and not imagine the performance and the scoreline that we got on Sunday. There are some NWSL rosters that when you use them as a yardstick, you see just how far the talent gap is for Racing at the moment. At this point in the season, Racing is often getting “out talented” but also outplayed. Nothing that Racing did seemed to cause Gotham any problems. Racing’s disruptive style isn’t yielding any results and the better teams in the league have figured out that Racing can’t play through them. Gotham managed the game using possession and then dared Racing to prove that they can manufacture a goal. My opinion is that Racing needs to have a rethink about the midfield composition. Fischer isn’t an accurate enough passer to play in the central attacking midfielder role. Unfortunately, I am not sure there are any better options. It is hard to identify who the orchestrator of Racing’s attack is supposed to be.

Things are not working at the moment. That could just be that Racing can’t match up with the league’s best. It could also be that teams have Racing’s number now. It is hard to look at the match against Gotham and say that Racing played poorly top to bottom. I just think that Racing has become too predictable. That is the downside of having a strong identity when you don’t necessarily have the talent to back it up. This team isn’t as good as last year’s team right now. It is too early to write off a season, but I think it is time to start sprinkling some rookies into the starting eleven. Racing went all in on signing young talent this year, so I would like to see what they have, outside of 10–15-minute cameos.

Post Match Moment of the Match

Lo and Quincy McMahon were made available to the media after the match. Lo has to be sick of me at this point. We are in our 6th year of doing this. However, she is a consummate professional and spoke honestly about the performance. I did ask both her and Bev if the team needed some kind of spark or catalyst to change things. Lo said that she felt that the team needed “something” but doesn’t think that it has to be “life-altering”. She also spoke about “getting over that final hurdle” and “kicking things into gear’. The one specific item that she identified was that the team wasn’t creating enough quality chances. I totally agree there.

I pressed Bev a little on her comment that she thought the second half of the match was better for Racing. In the second half, they didn’t register a shot or touch in Gotham’s box until the 86th minute. She pointed to the relative improvement in possession and more composure that allowed Racing to have more attacking options. She did concede that Racing was not quick enough in their decision making once they started their attack. I saw quite a bit of forward, then directly backward, passing at times and it really stood out against Gotham’s more purposeful movements. Something that I made a mental note to do going forward is to spend a couple of minutes each match comparing Racing’s first touches in attack to their opponent’s. There was a sequence from Racing where almost every first touch was way too loose. The ball seemed to bounce away too far for the next touch to be a good one. In contrast, Gotham’s players kept their first touches close during that same period. Personally, I think a poor first touch sometimes negates your decision making because you run out of options if you are just trying to regain control.

On my question relating to whether Racing needed a spark or some kind of catalyst Bev said that it is hard to “manufacture” those types of things. Instead, she said that the team needs to stay in the right headspace because the players and the staff feel like they are “just shy” of getting the results that the team needs. The focus remains on the process, not the outcome at the moment. That mentality is about to run out of shelf life if Racing doesn’t start to get points very soon.

The Taylor Flint Honorary Yellow Card of the Match

I have decided to pull in the Opta descriptions of the yellow cards in this space going forward:

• 7th Minute: O’Kane-Tactical Foul

• 50th Minute: Flint-Reckless Offence

• 2nd Half Stoppage: McMahon-Tactical Foul

The Flint card was the only contentious one. She was obviously frustrated to lose possession in the spot that she did, but I didn’t think that a yellow was necessary. The other two were no-brainers.

NWSL Watch Party Drinking Game to Help You Get Plastered

If you’re out watching a random NWSL match (I had lunch at Shogun yesterday and the Stars-Thorns match was on at the bar) have someone turn up the volume if Merritt Mathias is on the broadcast. Do a shot/take a sip/destroy a Buzzballz every time she says the word “comfortability”. On second thought, maybe stick to sips. The other options are bound to lead to a stomach pump.

Madchester Song to Make You Feel Better

Your choice: chunky or smooth.

The top version is the album or “chunky” version. I prefer it.

The bottom version is technically “WFL”, which is the Vince Clarke remix. It’s more “Madchester”.

Would you call what Shuan Ryder does “singing”?

It’s good to be Jae

I am happy to see Jaelin Howell thriving in NYC. She seems happier. It’s a good time be Jae.‍

I don’t know what Racing could have or should have done to keep her here, but I think things worked out for the best for her.

That dress is such a great idea.

“Don’t waste your words”

I told Bev that I don’t look at the standings this early. She admitted that she doesn’t either. Both of us know the points total though. Four points from seven matches is nowhere near good enough. There are explanations and excuses, but you have to put those behind you now. I think I heard on the broadcast that Utah had won four in a row. Utah? The only thing you can say about figuring out this league is that you can’t figure it out. Racing frankly needs a “Utah-esque” run to pull itself out of the funk they are currently in. Everything seems low energy to me. I know we are supposed to “trust the process”, but I hate that phrase. What if your process is bad? It’s time for actions and results to speak instead of relying on words.

Racing’s hot start offensively now looks like fool’s gold (quick digression: Fool’s Gold by The Stone Roses is ineligible for selection for post titles because it wasn’t part of the original album). Teams are starting to make Racing “play football” and when Racing does that at the moment, they can’t sustain meaningful possession. Racing needs help in the midfield. I don’t think Bev is considering a formation change, but she may have to think about some sort of inversion to get numbers there when Racing has possession. The Flint/O’Kane/Fischer midfield is a factory for inaccurate passes. Against Gotham they had accuracies of 54%/67%/36% respectively. No philosophy, formation, tactic or identity can disguise those numbers well enough to make them not matter.

Jordyn Bloomer needs to have taken her last free kick from the forward two thirds of the pitch. Watching Berger distribute compared to Bloomer is night and day. Distribution is not Jordyn’s strongpoint and when she had another free kick from midfield in this match, it floated harmlessly into Berger’s arms. When Racing deploys Bloomer in this way it just makes them look like a team that has run out of ideas.

Racing often looks clueless on the ball instead of supposedly comfortable without it. I think the team needs to try to focus on possession more in matches, especially in the first half. Racing is not a team that can consistently go down a goal early and expect to get an equalizing goal in the run of play. The Spirit and Gotham have shown the league that playing within yourself is the way to neutralize Racing’s biggest threats.

Gotham 1 Racing 0 Player Ratings

Racing again lacks any real bite in attack and put in another tame performance. It's hard to picture where the spark is going to come from.

Bloomer-6: Made a good save in the second half to keep Racing in the match.

Petersen-5: Subbed off at half.

Wright-6: Better than last match but she and Jean were caught out of position more than once.

Jean-6: Hard to fault the defense as much in this match.

Milliet-6: Offered more going forward than most.

Flint-6: Needs to do more to stitch things together.

O'Kane-6: Had one of the few half chances.

Fischer-5: Lost almost all of her duels. She isn't the answer at the 10.

Hase-5: Need to rethink her regular inclusion in the starting 11 if she doesn't start to deliver more.

Sears-6: Offered more than the last match, but that wasn't difficult.

Weber-5: To be fair, didn't get service, but has to work to get on the ball more.

McMahon-6: Making a case to be the starter at left back.

“Soak me to my skin”

Courtesy Connor Cunningham

Match Haiku

Spring Potomac rains

Dampen Racing’s forward thrust.

Rodman’s goal enough.

“Soak me to my skin”

“Bye Bye Badman” - The Stone Roses, 1989

Anemic is the word that comes to mind to describe Racing’s performance on Wednesday evening. The Spirit never seemed to get out of second gear, nor did they need to. All that it took was one very good attacking move from the Spirit to take early control of the match and they never relinquished it. I had the feeling that if Racing did manage to equalize with any time left in the match that Washinton would shift up a gear and retake the lead. Racing’s attackers offered little to nothing up front, and the two most dangerous chances came for the outer backs. It was the Spirit’s fourth clean sheet in a row, so some of that is likely credit to them. However, Sears didn’t offer much and Weber even less.

Racing needs to be able to rotate players, and I think last night’s lineup was strong enough to be considered full strength. Morris did okay and McMahon will probably find herself in the mix at left back as long as she stays healthy. I think Racing needs to keep mixing things up until they find a lineup that works. They are definitely missing the spark that they seemed to get when Bloomer replaced Lund last season. It’s been a very tough fixture list for Racing at the beginning of the season, but that can’t be the excuse. The next few matches will be a real test for Bev to see if she can figure out some formula to make Racing a feared opponent again. Nothing in last night’s performance against Washington rose above the level of minor nuisance.

Post Match Moment of the Match

Kayla and Arin were made available after the match. They commented that the slow first half was down to playing timid and not sticking to the game plan. Specifically, they felt like they got baited into playing long too often, instead of playing into space. Brendan asked about rotation and got an interesting response from Wright who said, “there’s going to be rotation” and said the squad was built for 26 instead of 11. I am going to dive deeper into this later.

Bev said that the team was unfortunate not to walk away with any points. I highly disagree. I know that she has to say these types of things, and we are not in the post-match huddles or any of the behind-the-scenes discussions. I just happen to think it would be nice if she was a little more vocal about the team’s current lack of fire. She did malign another slow start, but we need a little more “run-through-a-brick-wall” Bev at the moment, especially in her public forums. The mood is coming across a little too casual for me right now. However, she obviously knows what she thinks will work in terms of volume and tenor, so I have to trust her.

I recently have spent a decent chunk of time around Lou City and players like Kyle Adams and Interim Head Coach Simon Bird. I have gotten used to the cadence of how often they talk about the performances not being up to ‘the standard”, even win Lou City wins matches rather easily. I get the feeling that “the standard” is this: playing hard, flawlessly, 100% of the time. That is an impossible standard but as a sound bite, it’s pretty good. I’ve not ever heard any talk about playing well enough to win or deserving more than they got from a points perspective. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t hear Racing players making excuses, but there is a subtle undercurrent of an inferiority complex mindset in some of their public comments. Lou City has the opposite issue. I think both teams could move towards the middle a bit more.

The Taylor Flint Honorary Yellow Card of the Match

Fischer got a very soft yellow card. It was quite ridiculous.

Madchester Song to Make You Feel Better

Depending on your perspective, Damon Albarn is either a chameleon or a poser. I lean more towards the chameleon side, as I was a big fan of Blur for a while. However, I could see your point if you wanted to argue the other side. This song sounds “baggy” but probably isn’t proper “Madchester” if you are super pedantic. Anyway, Blur quickly evolved into something much more interesting, if never quite original.

“Will you drown me in your sea?”

I have been somewhat transparent in the past about my soft spot for the Washington Spirit. I think they are a relatively well-run operation from a footballing perspective. It was interesting to see how they approached this match. They went all in with a “no change” line up from their recent 4-0 victory over Kansas City (who I have also been fairly transparent about my disdain for). Washington is the team that I wish Racing was, but for several reasons they cannot be. The Spirit is built for midweek matches. Their squad strength is much better than Racing’s. If, as Wright stated, Racing is going to have to play with all 26 players this year, I can’t say I am super excited by the prospect. Personally, I think Racing’s squad this season is deeper than last season, but not as talented at the top. The midfield options aren’t as good. That has to be clear now. The attack is probably better, but not astronomically so. There are more defensive options, but none as good as Janine Sonis. Racing’s squad is built to be competitive in every match but not have as high of a ceiling.

I guess that is what I find admirable about the Spirit. They don’t seem to drop off much when their subs come in. They can bring on a young player like Claudia Martinez and develop her slowly and steadily, where Racing has to throw their rookies into the fire to some degree. From time-to-time I like to identify a “non-Racing” favorite player. Based on the 2 matches I have seen from her this year, that player is Rosemonde Kouassi. She made a leap last season, and to me, is just a terrifying player to have to defend. She may not have the goal contributions yet this season, but in the two matches where she faced Racing, she was involved in the most threatening attacks. The Spirit has the luxury sub her off frequently to keep her fresh, which is something their squad depth allows them to do.

I do feel like Racing got drowned in the Spirit’s sea to some degree last evening. There was wave after wave of talent playing football on the pitch for that team. In hindsight, a 1-0 loss to them isn’t that bad. It was probably to be expected.

Spirit 1 - Racing 0 Player Ratings

Racing generates next to nothing in attack and the Spirit cruise to a 1-0 win. Racing's attackers have to show more grit and desire in matches like this.

Bloomer-6: Didn't like her being the free kick taker late in the match.

McMahon-7: Had Racing's only real threat on goal in the match.

Wright-5: Lucky that the scoreline only showed one goal for Washington.

Jean-5: The Spirit could have easily had 2 or 3 goals.

Milliet-6: Had one of the only other half decent chances.

Flint-5: Looked slow getting to the ball to my eyes.

Hodge-6: This is probably the right position for her.

Fischer-6: Got a harsh yellow, but needs to do more.

Morris-6: Was decent in her 66 minutes.

Sears-5: Virtually invisible. Has to give more in a match like this.

Weber-5: Not really involved much.

Spirit v Racing -1

Racing's schedule will be pretty congested over the next 10 days, so the first question at the top of my mind is whether the squad depth can handle it. I asked Bev to confirm on Monday that there were no new availability concerns coming out of Friday's win against Orlando. She did confirm that, which is a great relief. Makenna Morris was also made available to the media and the 20 minutes that she got against the Pride will likely prove very important. Racing will need minutes from several different players over the next few matches in order to keep up with the physical demands of the schedule. Morris commented that those 20 minutes were vital for her to shake off any rust and work on her touch. I could envision Morris getting a start soon and she would likely relish the chance to face her former club (she missed out on the playoff match last season and the match against the Spirit earlier this season).

Racing was a decent road team last season but haven't picked up any road points yet this year. I asked Bev about the importance of the first 20 minutes in a match like this. She responded that one could frame any section of the match as important based on what is occuring. Fair enough. My thinking behind that question was really more related to managing a hostile environment and not having a poor start. Against Orlando the first few minutes were fairly shambolic defensively. You definitely don't want to come out with a shaky defense at Audi.

If Racing is to pick up points in DC they will likely need another good couple of performances from Weber and Sears. Sarah's confidence has to be pretty high right now and there is a difference to how she carries herself now with a full year of experience under her belt. Sears has always been confident, but she has turned into a more balanced player this season. Like I said previously, Racing is likely going to need 2-3 goals in most matches to give themselves a shot at points, so having this duo firing on all cylinders will be key against the Spirit.

“I can feel the earth begin to move”

Photo by Elizabeth Shaw

Match Haiku

Cloudy afternoon:

One a banger, one cheeky

Milliet steals the show

“I can feel the earth begin to move”

“She bangs the drums” - The Stone Roses, 1989

There are obviously many things to talk about, but let’s start with this. If I ever find out who comprised the 3% of people who didn’t vote for Lauren Milliet as Player of the Match I am going to personally spit in your next concession item that you purchase at Lynn Family Stadium.

Just kidding…probably.

Milliet scored the goal of her life to give Racing an early lead that was somewhat fortunate based on how shambolic the defensive effort had been to that point. Based on what we have seen so far, Racing isn’t going to win many 1-0 matches. However, they did manage to hold a 2-goal lead pretty effectively in the second half and only the last few minutes of stoppage time ended up being extra nervy. You have to admit that Racing is nothing if not entertaining.

The good definitely outweighed the bad in this match, but Racing once again looked susceptible on the counter. I am tremendously grateful that Emma Sears in on Racing’s side because can you imagine having her running at this back line? It sends shivers down my spine. Speaking of Sears, she would also benefit with another teammate who could match her speed and determination on the counter because at least a couple of times her attacking moves fizzled out because there was no teammate to pass to.

On the positive side, Racing definitely seems more clinical in their finishing this year. They are getting in good spots and scoring enough goals to be competitive in matches. It remains to be seen if they can be stout enough defensively to see out a match that requires a bit more steel.

What did we learn in this match? We saw just a fraction more composure and purposeful possession for possession’s sake, something that was a focus for the team in the last couple of weeks. It’s not a seismic shift yet, but there are signs that things may be started to, if not turn around completely, at least stabilize.

Some of this has to be due to having a full strength back line. Wright and Jean had a decent, but not great match as a pair. However, allowing Taylor Flint to do Taylor Flint things is always a welcome sight.

Post Match Moment of the Match

Lo and Weber were obviously delighted by Lo’s upper 90 finish. Elizabeth captured this great shot:

Photo by Elizabeth Shaw

Lo called it the goal of her life. It surely was. It will take some doing for it not to win goal of the week, but those types of polls are dumb anyway, so it will be my goal of the week regardless. Bev talked about the slow start defensively and said that it was something that was discussed at half and that she showed a couple of pressing clips to highlight what she saw. I asked Weber a follow up from Thursday where she highlighted the focus on possession and composure. She said that she was “super proud of the team’ and highlighted their ability to “stay calm on the ball”. On Lo’s second goal she said that she was just trying to put herself in the frame of the goal because Emma is such a good crosser of the ball.

Thing I bought at ear X-tacy back in the day

(I would have loved to have been a music journalist in the 90s in England, but unfortunately, I lived here. Therefore, I will do a little retrospective music journalism to amuse myself. I will even try to tie it to Racing or soccer in general.)

Artist:  The Cure

Single:  a letter to elise

Year:  1992

Format:  CD single (Import)

Store Location:  1140 Bardstown Road, probably

My copy

I blame Robert Smith for my lack of skill on the guitar. Okay…he doesn’t get the full blame, but if I had to come up with a percentage of the blame he shoulders, I would put in 20% range. Elizabeth has to accept an equal 20% of the blame because just around the time I was starting to get competent, she came into my life as a beautifully wonderful distraction. The remaining 60% is simply that I lack any natural ability and have a terrible musical memory. Back to Robert. The Cure was the band I was listening to when I decided to start learning. His meandering guitar lines from Disintegration were fun and somewhat easy to play, but not great for somebody that should have been learning technique.

The album that this single comes from Wish was released in 1992 and was their most commercially successful album, if not their creative peak. I won’t go into labyrinthian logic about why I purchased a single of a song I already owned (stop me on the concourse one day if you want to hear that boring story) but I bought it for one B-side and ended up discovering that the other B-Side was even better.

“a foolish arrangement” is an odd song. It has a wordless chorus. That wordless chorus is composed of one of the laziest guitar runs you will ever hear. I love it. It is easiest enough for me to play and to me it’s hypnotic. There isn’t anything else like a good B-side. It’s like a song especially for you.

It was a most unexpectedly delightful purchase. I got what I wanted (the B-side that prompted the purchase) but so much more. Kind of like a win with a Milliet brace (which I never dreamed was possible).

The Taylor Flint Honorary Yellow Card of the Match

There was only one yellow card for Racing in the match. It was a late tactical foul from Morris, so not much to write about there. Let me then use this space to complain about the official’s management of the match. I think they (eventually) got almost every call right. It was a well officiated match. It was also an inefficiently managed one. Shortly after the match, there was lightning in the area, so we were rather fortunate to get the match in before it happened. I frequently complain about the amount of stoppage time that gets added in NWSL matches. The numbers yesterday didn’t bother me (6 in the first and 7 in the second) because they seemed right to me. What bothered me was that too much of that stoppage time was the officials doing administrative things very slowly. There were a couple of VAR stops for no reason that I saw. After one stoppage the officiating team almost awarded a dropped ball to Orlando instead of a freekick to Racing for a handball. Sports at is core is entertainment, so these unnecessary delays detract from our enjoyment.

The Louisville (Draft?) Kings Sports Betting Corner

(Racing’s new co-tenant at Lynn Family Stadium surely only exists to quench the thirst of those who must “have action” on sports 365 days a year. I am not a gambler, but if you are I will suggest “easy money” from time to time. Your challenge will be to see if you can actually bet on it.)

I wonder what the payoff would have been on a Lo Milliet brace in this match. +1000? +10,000?

Anyway, the real future bet should be this: Lo Milliet goals in 2026 Over/Under 2.5

I say take the over now that her confidence is up. Sometimes you score in bunches. Here’s to hoping she blows that 2.5 over out of the water.

“I hear my needle hit the groove”

I think we now know the songbook for Racing’s success this season: score lots of goals. The team has enough attacking threat up front that goals shouldn’t be the issue, especially when your right back can score two in a match. Early indications are that Weber may have made “the leap” in that she could be ready to contribute goals in the 8-10 a season range. Sears has expanded her skill set to include more left-footed strikes and she looks to make passes just enough to be a true multi-dimensional player. You have to have Fischer in the lineup somewhere, so for now the 10 is the best spot for her, but she needs to work on her field vision and distribution more. I believe Hase will get her fair share of goals as well.

I don’t know how to put this nicely, so I guess I won’t. Right now, the defense stinks. Racing could have (should have?) been down a couple of goals before Milliet scored her first goal. There was a lot of desperate defending, luck, and good shot-stopping from Bloomer to keep Racing in the match early. It will take a while to get Wright up to speed and comfort. Jean looks a little shakier recently than she had at the tail end of last season. To help out with this, Racing has been working on possession and composure, which is the right thing to do. You can’t change your system mid-season and there aren’t lineup changes that would make a difference right now. Bev is trying to figure out this specific version of Racing. Her adjustments at half probably won Racing this match, but it was still too nervy at the end. Racing finally conceded from a corner. They went all of 2025 without doing so, but I think that was a statistical anomaly (and Taylor Flint) instead of any ground-breaking tactical thing they were doing.

The good news is that Racing will likely win, lose or draw the fun way…in matches with a bunch of goals. It will be hard for any of the future ones to be as fun or memorable as this one. The team now has a Wednesday/Sunday road gauntlet to get through. “Defense travels” is the conventional wisdom, and Racing will likely need to do much better on that front if they want to continue to accumulate points. For now, it may take 3 or 4 goals to win a match, but it will be fun to watch them try.

Racing 3 Pride 2 Player Ratings

Racing weathered early and late storms to get their first win of the season. Between those storms, the performance was very good.

Bloomer-6: Had a few decent saves.

Petersen-7: Good performance from her and good on the corner delivery again.

Wright-6: Decent return from her.

Jean-6: Solid.

Milliet-10: One (or two) collector's item(s) deserves another.

Flint-8: Much better in her natural spot.

O'Kane-7: Nice two-way performance from her.

Fischer-7: Got an assist on Lo's wonder strike.

Hase-7: Did well for as much as she was isolated in attack.

Sears-8: An assist and another really good performance.

Weber-8: Terrific header on the goal.