Bay FC v RLFC -1
Photo by Elizabeth Shaw
It will be a late one
Ha ha…couldn’t help myself on this Kentucky specific pun
in the bay area (San Jose technically) on Saturday. Racing found road points difficult to come by in 2024, so this will be an opportunity to grab some early. Racing is the not-so-proud owner of two losses against Bay. The home loss was particularly dreadful match all around with only one shot on target for each team. Racing only managed one shot on target in the return match in San Jose compared to Bay’s six. I feel pretty good in saying that the key to winning this match will be to have more than one shot on target. Racing managed seven against the Courage, which is pretty encouraging and more than they had in any match against the Current last season.
With Bethany Balcer out for an indeterminant amount of time, Racing will need more firepower up front. Kayla Fischer had a grand total of zero touches in the 18-yard box last Saturday against the Courage, so she has to do better if she is going to be the nominal 9. Her heat map surely wasn’t very indicative of one (attacking on right half).
It is more indicative of a central midfielder who likes to be on the left. Compare to DeMelo’s.
When Fischer is a sub, she brings energy and something different for the defense to think about. As a 9, well I think there might be better options if the cameo we got from Weber is any indication. Here is her touch map (the heat map lacks intensity due to limited minutes.)
She had 3 touches in the box in much less time than Fischer. I am not calling for Swebs to start (yet), but Fischer will need to earn her place from week to week if she is going to stay in the Starting XI.
Lo and Bev were made available for the media today. I asked Lo about the back line’s performance last week at home. She said that she was pleased at how well the line was shifting together and that she felt as if the line mitigated many potentially good chances for North Carolina. She was also pleased with how other players were stepping in to cover defensively. Bev said that Racing will be looking to nullify Bay’s wingback threats during the match on Saturday but was also pleased at the performance of the back line. I asked about keeping calm on the road and Bev stated that the key to being calm is to focus on staying composed during the shifts in momentum, especially focusing on remaining composed during possession changes. If I had one nit to pick for Racing’s performance on Saturday against North Carolina it is that several times when they won the ball back, they gave it right back to the Courage by trying to play too fast. Racing had pretty even possession battles last season against Bay, so they shouldn’t necessarily see a quick counter as their most viable option on Saturday. I would like to see them concentrate on connecting a few more basic passes after winning possession, especially early in the match.
