"Don't worry kid, you're still on the clock."
Courtesy of LCC
Stolen The Wire Epigraph
“Don't worry kid, you're still on the clock."
For those of you who haven’t seen The Wire, it is a show about a guy in an inflatable frog suit who terrorizes the local law enforcement.
This match was somewhat of a microcosm of Racing’s season. Start fast but ultimately get nothing from it, fight back hard and get everyone’s hopes up, then bungle it in the end but not bad enough to lose hope completely. Now, if Racing makes the playoffs, it will be in the “barely made it” category. I think most of the fan base was somewhat expecting that to be the case, but this team has had every opportunity to take the drama out of the final match and just can’t seem to do it.
Retrospect always gives better analysis, but with 15 minutes left I was surprised how defensive Racing set up. I get wanting to protect a lead, but I think Racing has proven that they can’t really protect a lead like this against a good team for this long of a period. Shift the decision forward 8-10 minutes and go into your shell at the 83rd or 85th minute and I think I can get on board. The 75th minute is just too early. Obligatory Arsenal aside: my beloved Gunners (men) might just win every match this way this season and win big things doing so but they have, when healthy, the best back line in the world (line up in the comments sections to fight me on this). Jose Mourinho’s teams frequently got accused of parking the bus, but they did know how to do it effectively. I guess my point it that setting up to defend in this manner takes world-class players and a mentality to commit to it. You can’t park the bus when you have players trying to be heroes. You do it as a unit with a plan, or not at all.
Of course, Racing was going to set up in this manner in the final minutes, but it seemed to be a plan without a decent way to counter. To my eyes, it didn’t appear all that organized like it did against San Diego and Angel City. It was definitely not as disciplined. It’s a real shame because is stole a terrific moment away from Sarah Weber. She looks to have a really good shot at being a solid up-front option for Racing.
Racing lives through its press. For some reason it just isn’t willing to die with it. That baffles me. For all of Bev’s and the players’ talk of focusing on their gameplan and on what they do well, they do seem to abandon it with a lead. Everyone knows why, but I don’t think this team is good enough defensively to consistently win matches in the last 15 minutes going into a complete protective shell. We have all seen the number of dropped points in those situations. It’s a “next season” problem to solve, but for now I don’t think Racing should ever take the foot off of the gas with a one-goal lead.
One thing that did strike me in retrospect was the decision to leave Petersen on the bench. Why not commit fully to going defensive and substitute Weber off for her?
However, the team is still on the clock and needs to figure out any possible way to win against Bay. They do have a bit of good fortune in that Gotham will surely want to beat or draw North Carolina and avoid KC. It was a bad weekend for Racing, but not a disastrous one, so they are still in the driver’s seat and at the beginning of the season, I would have taken this deal in a heartbeat.
Post Match Moment of the Match
Bev pretty much jumped in right away to defend the decision to sit back so deeply in the last 15 minutes. “Absolutely, there is not even a second thought about that. You’re closing out a match away.” I asked a follow up about how the players didn’t seem to be set up to transition out of that formation and get some possession. I didn’t get a sense from Bev that she thought that there was anything different in the set up that she would have changed. I will he honest, I hated that answer. It was the one I expected though.
Janine however did give a better explanation tactically for the shift. According to her, Gotham’s midfield is flexible and they do tend to drop players deeper from time to time (Howell being the obvious one here) or out to the sides. That meant Racing felt comfortable to shift Flint into the backline earlier. Gotham’s front three were playing a little narrower, so an extra central defender was prudent, giving the fullbacks the ability to defend wider. That’s a really good two thirds of a plan. You expect your forwards to keep up pressure, but multiple times when Fischer, Weber and Sears got touches, there wasn’t even a thought to try to hold the ball, if only to give the back line a chance to step forward and get out of the last quarter of the pitch for a few seconds of relief. Teams that deploy this strategy well don’t always get counter attacking opportunities, but they do at least make the midfielders expend some energy to win back the ball from attackers and disrupt the flow of attack. A team built on rhythm as much as Gotham is surely going to find a way to get good chances, especially if their defenders don’t have to expend any defensive energy worrying about a counter.
Weber said that she “trusted the technique” on her instinctual finish that gave Racing the lead. I think we now can see the type of striker she is going to be, and it is one that complements Sears well. Next season I would like to see her get some tap ins from follow ups on shots from distance. When she doesn’t have to dwell on the finish, she is quite good. I think the rest of the finishing will come with a few more goals to lift her confidence. Weber did admit that she could have done better to step into the pocket to receive some of Racing’s clearances in the last 15 minutes, but I don’t recall any clearance having any attacking purpose behind it other than just hopefulness. Weber did say that the set up was trying to exploit Gotham’s high line, but because the attackers were not getting pressure on the midfielders, I personally don’t think that was ever going to work because Gotham consistently had 3 defenders back to cover that danger.
Were the Announcers Good?
JP Dellacamera and Jill Loyden were on the call.
What did Janine Sonis do to these two? Loyden called her Beckie, an honest mistake, but come on you’ve had all season. JP got the pronunciation of Sonis right a few times at the beginning when Jill caught herself and switched back to Janine’s married name but then slipped right back into “So-niece” early in the first half. He must just have a mental block on that one. Retire.
I had a slight chuckle at Loyden’s reference to Racing players as “physically robust”. I think I got what she was trying to say, but definitely enjoyed that phrasing.
Then Jill just openly kind of admitted what I think the general consensus is among the league and fans. They prefer Racing getting that final spot versus North Carolina. It’s honestly best for the league if Racing makes the playoffs. That doesn’t change the facts on the ground, but at least to Jill, Racing is the sentimental favorite. Or maybe just for this broadcast. She did know which set of fans were watching.
TV Kit Rating
Racing and Gotham went with their 2024 primary kits in this match. In my 2024 rankings I had Racing at 6th place and Gotham at 5th although at the time I wasn’t that crazy about either of them. You’ve got to respect Gotham’s commitment to a two-tone color scheme. You turn on a match, and you immediately know it’s Gotham. I like that. I definitely prefer the 2024 iteration to the 2025 version. By the way, I missed that Red Bull arena (which I guess wasn’t technically on a naming rights deal because their entire sporting enterprise exists to sell caffeine to the over caffeinated) changed its name to Sports Illustrated Stadium. I struggle to see how SI is relevant in today’s world, but whatever. The group that owns SI also owns the image and likeness rights to Muhamad Ali, Elvis and Marilyn Monroe. So, you know, a real blue-collar enterprise. Anyway, the jersey is alright. 7/10
The Kayla Fischer Honorary Yellow Card of the Match (brought to you once again by Taylor Flint)
The Friday leading up the match, Paul Miles asked Taylor Flint a question I was too chicken to ask her. He basically asked her if she needed to “dial it back” coming off of suspension. She basically said that she “turns it up a notch” partially joking but added that she was going to play her game regardless. At the time it made me think of this:
Not so funny now.
The foul she committed was reckless and unnecessary. To my eyes, she looked to be trying to win the match on her own in that situation. A clearance there would have been good, but Racing’s goal wasn’t under any more immediate danger when she committed that foul than it had been in the previous five minutes. Her recklessness allowed Gotham to put the ball at the foot of the one player as a Racing fan you absolutely do not want to see have a chance: Rose Lavelle. I saw someone comment that “parking the bus doesn’t” work. We can debate that, but what definitely doesn’t work is having the driver of the bus come out and assault a pedestrian with a tire iron. The bus has to work as a unit, thus the metaphor. Flint tried a little hero ball, and it cost Racing two points in my opinion.
However, if I am interpreting the rules correctly, a yellow card in the last match does not carry over into the playoffs.
“Any Suspensions for yellow card accumulation earned in a Player or Team Staff’s last Regular Season Game will not carry over into Playoff Games; however, the applicable fine will be collected in the 2025 season. All Players and Team Staff will start the Playoff Games with a zero yellow card total. “
So, rest easy, Racing fans. Don’t rest so easy, Taylor Flint’s wallet.
“Infinities of dreams imploding into one”
“The Ice Maiden”/Jordan: The Comeback/1990”
Now there is only one guaranteed way forward. Racing needs to beat Bay. Here are the point totals that Racing has accumulated against every team based on their current position.
KC-0
WAS-1
ORL-4
SEA-0
SD-3
POR-1
Gotham-4
NC-4
HOU-4
AC-6
UT-3
BAY-0
CHI-4
The ones that stick out to me are the 0 against the Reign, the 1 against the Thorns, and the 0 against Bay. Match by match you can quibble with results, but Seattle and Portland at the ones where I think you need to be in the 2-3 point range. To salvage the season, they need to get 3 points against Bay at home. Racing has 3 losses in its 3 matches against Bay and if my memory serves, they came on 3 pretty lackluster performances.
Of course, now we have a cursed international break. International Friendly is code for “pointless chance for a player to get unnecessarily injured”. Racing sends key players away to hopefully return in one piece. Upon a healthy return (fingers crossed) they will be faced with the third consecutive “most important match is Racing’s history”. It’s good for drama and terrible for Racing fans’ health.
You can spend the next two week searching the past for two dropped points in the list above, or you can concentrate on bringing a positive attitude to Lynn Family Stadium on Nov 2nd at either 3pm or 5pm. The stadium will likely be nervy, but a good and large crowd always helps. It’s the one thing you can control as a fan.
