Racing 1 Spirit 1 Post Match Thoughts
Courtesy Connor Cunningham
Racing and Washington traded goals in the second half and both had really good chances to get the winner either saved by the keeper, or the official’s whistle. It was another case of Racing playing well enough to win, but a draw was fair based on the overall chances created by either team (with maybe Racing having a few more grudges with the officials).
It’s hard to tell how well the officials are doing in real time at the stadium, so I try to go back and watch the difficult calls. There was an alleged handball in the buildup to the goal, and I based my initial opinion on the reaction of the fans in the corner. However, I couldn’t really tell if Baggett handled the ball before her assist to Hatch. Clearly her arm was up and in an unnatural position, but I couldn’t clearly tell if touched the ball with her arm or not. I tend to look to the players on the replay, and Bonner didn’t really react or complain so I think maybe there wasn’t one. There was also a non-call on Nadim, where in real time it appeared that Rodman fouled her. On review, that was simply a good clean tackle. Racing had a goal ruled offside in the 70th minute. That call looked correct to me in real time, and the replay showed no reason for me to change my mind. Later on, Davis was clearly pulled back, but was able to make a pass to Nadim so I guess the official thought there was an advantage to be played. Upon replay, that call seemed the most suspect, but a call there would only have led to a free kick, albeit in a dangerous spot. On balance, I don’t think it was a terrible night for the officials, but I will say this to those thinking that VAR will help next year: I wouldn’t bet on it.
I think VAR works when you have these two key elements: good officials and lots of good cameras. In the case of good officials, I haven’t seen any evidence of this. If you don’t have good officials, no amount of video assistance can help and you could be constantly stopping the match for reviews. There have been too many questionable calls in this league this season for me to consider this group of officials anything other than marginally competent (the match officials are supplied by PRO-the Professional Referee Organization). However, the more important element is the right number of cameras to cover the field. From as far as I can tell, the good VAR systems seem to use around 30 cameras, but recent enhancements could lower that to the 20s or even as low as 16 which was the number used in the Women’s Euros group stages. There is some debate if 16 was good enough. Regardless, I don’t think that Lynn Family Stadium has a current setup for 16 cameras, let alone 30. Using the cameras from last night’s broadcast, and contrary to what I said on Twitter I don’t think any calls from last night would have been reversed by VAR.
Racing used (at least according to Fotmob) a 3-5-2 formation last night. I try not to get too hung up on formations. To me it still was strictly 4-4-2 personnel, which is more important that the formation anyway. I know that Lester has played a lot of center back, but to me she is a little more useful on the wings. Milliet and Lester did really play more wing back roles in the second half for sure. Like I said in my player ratings, I like the Bonner/Murray pairing. I guess Fox was the other nominal center back in the back 3. Anyway, here is the map of the average positions from last night:
and here is the one from Tuesday:
which probably lends some credence to the idea of a back 3 on Friday, especially with Murray to the right of Bonner on Friday compared to her left on Tuesday. Milliet and Fox look tight on Tuesday, because Milliet has to deputize for Fox at halftime. Regardless, the shift gave Racing an early advantage in the match that they unfortunately couldn’t turn into a goal.
Nadim had a really composed finish on her goal last night. When I asked her about it, she talked about not having a ton of time and getting a good touch on the ball. I thought it was a great demonstration of being quick and composted at the same time.
