Stolen The Wire Epigraph

“All in the game…”

For those of you who haven’t seen The Wire, it is modern adaptation of the Agatha Christie novel, “Lord Baltimore’s Folly”.

The NWSL season is one match shy of reaching the 10-game mark for every team. In my opinion, it is the first opportunity to look at the table and get a sense of things. The result of the one outstanding match (North Carolina at San Diego) probably wouldn’t change my assessment much, so I think it is fine to go ahead with it. Similar to last season, there appears to be about 4 teams at the top (I am a believer in San Diego) and the next group of teams competing for the remaining 4 playoff spots is comprised of eight teams. I didn’t think Racing would be in that group. I do now.

Racing has discovered its formula. It won’t always work, but I believe that it is good enough to beat any team outside of the top four (although on any given night, Racing is capable of that too) when Racing has their finishing boots on. Racing controlled large sections of the first half of the match and Angel City were second best pretty much throughout the rest of it, bar one dazzling display from Riley Tiernan. I am still a little concerned about the finishing (in the first half Racing were pretty poor in that department) and the discipline (more on that later) but it is hard to argue with the result.

Racing will have its ups and downs throughout the remainder of the season (like Omar says, “It’s all in the game,”) but they have shown me enough for me to believe that they have a real shot of making a run at the playoffs.

Post Match Moment of the Match

“That’s identity. That’s our team, and that’s Racing Louisville,” were the comments from Arin Wright after the match. Arin was really delighted to win after going down a player and almost seemed to say that she actually enjoyed the challenge that it presented. I think what she was getting at is that the team showed toughness and resolve. They have shown those things before, but to see them result in a road win was really good to see. The post-match press conference lasted to nearly 1 AM EDT because there was so much to talk about.

Bev (ever coy) mentioned the tactical switch to deploy Sonis on the right and Sears on the left to start the match but didn’t give anything way as to the reason for doing so. She hinted that she would do it again, if the situation warranted it (which was the reason for not going into the details). I did ask her if she considered taking off Fischer before the red card (Fischer frequently gets subbed off between the 55th and 65th minute (her red card here was in the 67th). She said that she doesn’t like to second guess herself (I agree with that philosophy), but that Fischer was likely going to be the first sub. Fischer (for once) was not on a yellow. Had she been, I think she gets pulled before the 65th minute. I think the lesson going forward is that you should pull her the second you get up two goals.

Were the Announcers Good?

Maura Sheridan and Jordan Angeli were the Ion crew. They were hit and miss.

Subsection: How was their “Louisville”?

Louisvillians are persnickety on the pronunciation of their beloved hometown. I will be monitoring the broadcaster’s commitment to getting it right.

Maura: “Lou-wuh-ville” was the most frequent choice with the odd French one slipping in. I expect better from the play-by-play lead.

Angeli: “Lou-uh-vul” for the most part, which is acceptable, I guess.

The crew had the chance to talk about eyeballs more than anybody needed to hear thanks to Courtney Petersen’s contact lens issues. Their analysis of the game play and tactics was good in my opinion. They drove me nuts on the infringements.

They made way too big of a deal about a shoulder pull on Fischer in the box. They commented that it could have been a penalty (in what universe?) and that is put Fischer off (I highly doubt it).

There was the ultra-moronic commentary on the potential handball by Jean (I am amazed by how many ex-players and current players don’t understand the rules or how the game is managed by the officials). On the replay you could clearly see that the ball hits Jean’s thigh first before hitting her hand. Officials almost never give this because it is almost never deliberate.
They made a meal of Anderson’s shirt pull on Fischer. I hate when keepers are treated like the rules don’t apply to them, but in this case, it was a nothing shirt tug and official was correct to play on. It was moot due to the handball that followed, so it was rightly much ado about nothing.

This is the hardest part of the match to get right and announcers in this league in general need to be better. They also gave Angel City way too much credit in their analysis and seemed to expect and anticipate the equalizer. Call the match based on what is happening and not what you think might happen.

TV Kit Rating

Angel City’s kit was a holdover from last season. It stunk then and it stinks now. The pink numbers are its only redeeming feature.

3/10

“International” match to rewatch instead of any of this International Break nonsense

Europe has its utterly pointless Nations League during this international break. It serves no purpose other than offering some of Europe’s best players the opportunity to become injured. Literally nobody cares about this. Shame on UEFA.

Hooray for UEFA however for giving us this match:

This was a great match for a neutral (which I am definitely not) and a terrific showcase piece for the women’s game. Barcelona has been dominant, but it is good to see the dominant teams lose big finals from time to time. Arsenal’s win will always be a better story than Barcelona’s would have been. You could practically just pencil in Barcelona for a semifinal run every year for the foreseeable future.

When Arsenal won the Champion’s league in 2007, they did so in a two-legged tie that had a combined attendance of less than 10,000 fans. The two stadiums that the matches were played in could be politely described as quaint (but more accurately described as “dumps”. Arsenal still plays a (un)fair share of matches at Meadow Park in Borehamwood but is getting more and more at the Emirates). This match was played in a proper European venue in Lisbon where almost 40,000 fans watched the match (still a little disappointing considering that Arsenal regularly draws 50,000 to the Emirates). The crowd was slightly partisan to Barcelona, but the Gooners showed up well.

The match itself was a fine display of hard-nosed defending and creating just enough chances to snatch a victory. On paper Barcelona was the better team, but Arsenal was clearly better on the day as Barcelona rarely troubled Arsenal’s keeper. Quite a bit of that was down to Leah Williamson, who everyone in the world is happy for (I assume so at least unless you are a dirty, dirty Chelsea fan). Arsenal remains the only English side to win the UEFA Women’s Champions League, so in your face Todd Boehly, Emma Hayes, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and Sam Kerr.

Also, congratulations Emily Fox!

Watch the full replay here!

Series to Binge Instead of Watching Pointless International Friendlies

I hate international breaks because I don’t like international football or any flag-based competitions for that matter. You could spend your leisure time watching something much more entertaining.

I always struggle to properly describe Letterkenny because there isn’t really a similar show, at least in my experience. There are 12 seasons to watch, so this show can get you through this international break and potentially the NWSL summer break. For me, this is a show about the English language. It is a particular provincial version of the language, but the language is the star of the show, especially the colorful insults. Maybe a similar type of show would be Veep, which is also full of creative insults. However, there is tons more fighting and sunbathing in Letterkenny.

Lightning-in-a-Bottle-O-Meter

Whenever Racing wins a match, I will rate how much of it was down to catching lightning in a bottle versus Racing just doing the things they do well.

Racing did everything in is power to make this match harder to win than it needed to be. Once they went up by two goals, all that they needed to do was keep their heads and stay at full strength. They still saw it out and maybe there is value in winning in the manner they did. I am a huge fan of winning easily and boringly, but that just may not be in the cards for Racing. The press worked as intended, and the tactics played out well. Their finishing could have been better, so 3 goals was not a flattering scoreline at all. -1/5

The Kayla Fischer Honorary Yellow Red Card of the Match

The winner once again, is Kayla Fischer! For her win, she will likely receive the coveted “paid suspension” mentioned in so many police shows and movies. Enjoy your time off, Kayla!

She snatched the red card with surely just moments left in her evening. She cleverly picked up the card by doing the one thing you will always be caught doing, pulling hair! She even did it in the box to make sure there was extra scrutiny! Arin Wright wanted to win a tough match, so congratulations to Kayla for setting up the drama and making the end much more interesting.

“We’re addicted to friction too”

Enchanted/From Langley Park to Memphis/1988

Nothing ever seems to come easy for Racing. It is a long season, and certainly you are better off not making things harder on yourself than they need to be. Racing was clearly the superior team on the night and except for the goal from Tiernan, Angel City didn’t really seem to have any answers for playing through Racing. Louisville still hasn’t created much from open play with possession from a goal perspective, but they have started to create the situations that lead to goals. Racing’s penalty and set piece came from longer spells of possession. The counterattacking goal will always be an option with their press.

“Now we’re living”- The team was so full of energy and life in this match. I gave Kayla Fischer a hard time for the red card, but she was brilliant before that. If she can just learn to keep her head, she can become a special player for this team. The other goal scorers already are special for Racing and the team needs them to continue to be that way. Louisville will also need players like Jean (who I thought was just excellent) and Sonis (who worked extremely hard in defense) to continue to step up when called upon. I do believe that the players are starting to believe in themselves and each other in a way that translates on the pitch.

“It’s a disbelieving world”- These types of scrappy displays from Racing are likely to keep them under the national media’s radar and that is probably how they like it. Arin Wright talked about the pleasures of quieting a rowdy road crowd and Racing has been really good on the road this season. Racing has had more than its fair share of adversity this season, but the players and staff have done well at overcoming it, when they can get away from home.

At home is another story itself. Racing will have the chance to put on a better show at home in a couple of weeks, but will anyone be there to see it? Regardless of who/what is to blame for the lack of crowds at Lynn, it is starting to become a real problem. Racing doesn’t seem to be able to conjure up the same fire at home that they do on the road. It won’t matter the reason if the city still refuses to show up for this club. This team needs energy in the stadium, support or antipathy. The antipathy seems to be driving them on the road. They are often met with indifference at home. It’s fine if our enemies don’t believe in us, but it stings when our friends don’t.

All in the game