“But still shadows they come”
Courtesy Connor Cunningham
Match Haiku
The streak ends at four.
Pure class shines through from Swanson.
Racing: defenseless.
“But still shadows they come”
“Speak to Me Someone” - Drawn to the Deep End, 1997
It was always going to end. We all knew that. While the Stars might not seem like the most likely opponent to end Racing’s hot streak, in retrospect it was utterly predictable. Racing seems to frequently luck out when it comes to facing Chicago in that Mal Swanson frequently is unavailable when these two teams meet. I was sad to see her go off with an upper leg injury in the second half. Racing’s defense probably wasn’t, but by then Racing had been exposed and the Stars’ confidence had to be high. I have said it more than once: Racing does not have a playoff caliber defense. Of course, the best attackers in the league are going to have a field day against Racing. The question is always going to be “Can Racing outscore their opponent?” On this day, two goals wasn’t enough.
Most worrying however, it that the back line looked disorganized. They played the entire match like they typically play the final few minutes. Wright looked especially off her game and made more than a couple uncharacteristic errors. Racing’s back line rarely looks as cohesive as the best units, but on Sunday they looked particularly puzzled about who was supposed to mark who, especially in transition. The first goal by Joseph was created by a comedy of errors. Gacioch gambled by trying to win the ball high up the pitch and when she got beaten, left Flint isolated against Swanson. She was nowhere near her actually, and then Swanson drew all four Racing defenders to her leaving Johnson isolated. The looked like a group that has never played together in that moment. The second goal was created by allowing every Stars players that touched the ball too much space. Full credit to Chicago in this sequence, as they moved the ball quickly and with purpose. There should be a full inquest on the third goal. Grosso was left grossly unmarked. Gacioch, O’Kane and Flint all stood in a straight, vertical line ball-watching and were in no position to stop Grosso’s shot. Overall, it was a masterclass in how NOT to defend.
The good news is that I think some of Racing’s issues are fixable in defense. The formation has done much of the heavy lifting, but Chicago is the first team to see the three-center-back system twice. It’s likely that their coaching staff found some weakness that now Bev and her staff can also diagnose and try to correct. On the other hand, some of Racing’s problems on the last two goals looked to be a slight effort problem. Let’s chalk that up to fatigue and hope that it corrects itself.
Offensively, Racing still looks capable of scoring in a plethora of ways. Milliet probably won’t take too many corners the rest of the season, but she did okay here. It was good for Morris to see the ball go in, and now she should have even more confidence. Flint finally scored from open play, and she will always be a weapon.
Let’s talk about Katie O’Kane. I felt like the team was so much worse without her in the starting lineup. She has to get some rest at some point, but maybe this match turns out differently if she starts. She is Racing’s engine. It is not quite to the degree that Sav DeMelo was Racing’s engine in the past, but it is pretty close. McKeen and Milliet don’t have as much controlling influence as she does, so without her in the lineup maybe Racing was tilted a little too much towards attack. Going back and looking at the previous few matches in the win streak, O’Kane often sits deeper when Milliet goes high. In this match, McKeen and Milliet ended up playing a similar role and that resulted in Racing being over-indexed high up the pitch and slightly to the right side on attack. The good news here is that if healthy, O’Kane should start and play significant minutes in the remaining matches, especially with McKeen on international duty.
Post Match Moment of the Match
Ellie Jean and Makenna Morris were made available after the match. They both said that they weren’t going to let a single match define the season and that they will just have to build upon what they learned in this match. Makenna was excited to get her first goal for Racing, especially since it was so quick after coming on. Jean did concede that the communication in the back probably could have been better in this match when I asked her about how Racing seemed to be a little disorganized at times. Bev has been pretty open that during this stretch, the staff hasn’t dwelt too much on over analyzing the film when they win and have such short turnaround times. I asked that if after a loss it was a chance to go to the film and try to be selective on some things to review with the team. Bev said that she would have to “narrow in” on what to focus on. I think when she reviews the tape, there are some things that will leap out at her.
The Taylor Flint Honorary Yellow Card of the Match
It was the third match in a row with no cards for Racing. Early on, Corbyn May set the tone by allowing some contact and letting a pull back from a Chicago defender on Sears go unpunished as Sears broke away. I rather prefer the “let them play” officials, especially if they keep a lid on the match by doing so. It was one of the better officiated matches in my memory so credit where credit is due to May and team.
Racing has the reputation as a gritty team that likes to play physically, so it does beg the question if Racing has lost some of its physicality in the change of formation. They rank in the middle of the league for fouls committed and in the bottom third for tackles. I am not complaining, as I like a cleaner style of play. However, Racing probably should have tried to be more physically imposing in this match. It’s something to keep an eye on.
Madchester Song to Make You Feel Better
It’s a bit “Route One” but sometimes that’s for the best. It's impossible to be in a bad mood after listening to this song. Hey Rowetta…what’s he gonna do?
“Will I ever dream again?”
Racing came tumbling back down to earth, so now the task at hand is to not crash too hard. Since the start of the season, the San Diego Wave has been a bit hit and miss. Racing will be hopeful to catch them on a “miss” night on Friday. I think fans can still hope and dream, but a splash of cold water to the face now shows Racing still needing to climb above five teams to reach the playoff positions. Racing was the worst defensive team in terms of goal conceded in the playoff positions last year. The fact that they have already allowed 40 goals in 21 matches this season compared to 38 goals in 26 matches last season tells the story. Top tier central defenders are one of the rarest commodities in the NWSL, and even they have off stretches. It was a position that needed upgrading, and I think Gacioch speaks to that because she has been solid. However, Racing still needs offseason upgrades. All signs still point to Emma Sears leaving either this season or during the offseason, so Racing should be looking for center back prospects in return for her. Straight cash (homie) doesn’t help because I think we all know that it would just be used to buy down financial losses.
Racing has gone from being awful, to mid, to pretty awful again in terms of goals conceded in its six-year history. Winning starts from the back line. It is painfully much easier said than done though. However, this does seem like one area that could be addressed through Racing’s roster building philosophy. They aren’t going to make many (any?) flashy transfers, so Racing is going to have to scour the college ranks and current NWSL rosters for opportunities. They have shown the ability to do that with pretty good results. What they haven’t been able to do is get much consistent production from gambles on players from leagues outside of the NWSL, other top leagues, or the college ranks. Some of these players showed flashes, but there were just as many forgettable ones. Scour here to be reminded.
In the meantime, the technical staff is probably going to have to be clever in how they disguise what got exposed in Chicago. I hesitate to call out the glaringly obvious too much, but I guess I will. Racing hasn’t played in this new formation long enough for the back five to know where each other is going to be on a consistent basis yet. All three goals might have been prevented if Racing covered Chicago’s spacing better. As Jean alluded to after the match, it looked to be a communication issue to some degree. However, there often isn’t time to communicate during an attack and until the defensive spacing for Racing becomes more instinctual, they will be at some risk.
