Courage v Racing Pre Match Thoughts
Racing find themselves in a rather poor but certainly not unprecedented run of mid-season form which now means that they are on the outside looking in when it comes to playoff position. It isn’t a great time for a road trip to North Carolina, but if you've ever been to WakeMed Park you know that there is never a great time to visit that dump (although the field itself is nice).
Carm Moscato was the coaching staff representative at media availability today, so I asked her if the team felt at all down about the recent run of results. I prefaced my question to her about the team's form by stating that Racing seemed to be falling into the all too familiar pattern of a mid-season slump. She she that personally, she didn't feel any kind of “heaviness” related to the team’s mindset, but rather “excited to get it right”. It is tough to understand the “why” of Racing’s recent results, and Carm called it the “million dollar question”. I think it's simply a bad break here or an unfortunate bounce there. Racing simply hasn't shown an ability to overcome the random misfortune that will inevitably be encountered in some matches. Put another way, things seem to happen TO them versus them being in control of their own destiny. I will pose a question: has it ever felt like Racing coveted control? Personally, I think control in football is a two-sided proposition. Focus too much on your opponent and you miss the details important to your own system. Focus too much on your own system and you leave yourself vulnerable when Plan A doesn't work and your opponent starts to dictate the match. Based mostly on what I have seen from this team and heard the staff, I would say that Racing are likely more guilty of the latter. When things don't go their way and they don't have immediate success, it takes a halftime talk to adjust, or when things are going their way, they sometimes seem to forget that a very capable opponent is on the other side.
I am pleased that Jae Howell seems to be back to full strength. I asked her how she felt and she joked that playing down a player and in a match with a 100 degree heat index wasn't ideal. Here is her full quote. “Physically I feel great. My past two 90 minutes, we were down one and then it was like 110 degrees out, so that just threw me in the fire a little bit, but it's been great. You know I said last game that it's my favorite thing playing on the field with those girls, and it's just been a joy to be back and a blessing to be healthy and so hopefully just keep it that way but, yeah, I'm feeling great right now.”
Racing really needs to get a result in Cary, but I think they could use some time off just as much. I feel like this team needs a reset. The last few matches have been labored affairs. The mental weight of never having gotten a result against North Carolina is something else the players will have to contend with on Sunday. After that, they will get some much-needed time off.
