KC NWSL 2 Racing 1 Post Match Thoughts
Courtesy ISI Photos
Coach Holly used the word hangover to describe the effort last night, and I have to admit that I thought of that word too based on Racing's first half performance. “Fatigue” was used as an explanation if not an excuse seemingly every minute during the match commentary on Paramount Plus. Whatever the reason, the first half effort was poor. KC had done nothing in my eyes to indicate that an effort like the one that put forward against Racing was forthcoming. They looked frankly awful against Racing in Louisville earlier this month. The announcing team said that they “played well" in a 4-0 loss vs. NCC in Cary, but how well could you have played losing by 4 goals? Regardless, KC didn't necessarily look like the better team last night, but the effort they put forward meant they got to enjoy all 3 points. Sometimes a team can win a game in a single half.
While it was encouraging to see Racing pull back a goal with plenty of time to spare, a 2 goal deficit is a tough hill to climb for most teams, let alone an expansion one. I asked Sean Rollins who covers the Orlando Pride at what point did he feel like Orlando was no longer an expansion team. He said it took into the second year. I think that's a fair assessment. However, Racing is still on pace to set the expansion team record for points and win percentage, and have won a trophy. I was hoping that maybe they could shake off that expansion label a little earlier, but I think based on last night's performance it’s going to apply for the remainder of the season.
Speaking of the trophy, I stick by my assessment that Racing needed to win in KC for that victory in The Women's Cup to be an unqualified success. The trophy now came with a verifiable cost. There was no guarantee that if Racing had completely rested its normal starters for the Women's Cup final that it would have picked up all 3 points in KC, but if a “hangover” is going to be used as an excuse then I get to say that the trophy is a bit tarnished. The good news is that the tarnish is only temporary and will hopefully be forgotten by the time the season is over. For now it seems like Racing potentially sacrificed at least 3 points in the league for a (let's be completely honest here) “minor trophy”. I think that's probably a fair trade in a league that they aren't going to win. Arsene Wenger, Arsenal's greatest coach used to say that qualifying for the Champions League is “like a trophy". He was lambasted in the press for saying this during a 9 year trophy drought at Arsenal in which they qualified for the Champions League every year. Now almost every team in England would rather qualify for the Champions League vs. win the FA Cup, let alone a smaller honor. I say this because I would consider “First Expansion Team to Qualify for the NWSL Playoffs” a higher honor/accomplishment that winning an exhibition trophy. However, they don’t give out a trophy for that and qualifying for the playoffs seems less likely now.
Back to last night's match for a few comments. Sometimes you can throw the stats away after a match because they provide almost no illumination. Your eyes told you all you needed to know last night. KC clearly jumped on Racing's slow start and pelted the Racing goal with shots and crosses until they got a lead. They used Racing's continued sloppiness to get a second. If you need one stat to explain the match I guess shots on goal will do the trick. KC won that battle 7 to 2.
Racing has to recover from their hangover quickly because they have a match to play in Houston on Saturday before returning home to host OL Reign. Racing will likely not be favored to win any of their remaining matches, so now we get to see if this team is really ready to fight for a playoff spot.
