Racing 1 OL Reign 1 Post Match Thoughts
Yuki cleverly uses her media pass to get some great content for her YouTube channel.
Coach Mario Sanchez went with a new look starting XI, but ended up with another draw. Racing hasn't won a match in full time since their victory against KC in early August. This match felt very much like the draws against NJ/NY and Chicago with Racing taking an early lead but not quite being able to hold on for all 3 points. The Reign goal came from an attack from out wide, something to which Racing seems rather susceptible. The Racing goal was a typical one as well with an incisive pass as part of a rapid move resulting in a goal. Racing rarely scores from long periods of possession.
Back to the new look. I halfway expected Coach Sanchez to stick with the standard starting XI that Coach Holly used, but he went with a lineup that had never been seen before. The most unusual switch was Fox at Right Back and Martin at Left Back. Erin Simon, a usual starter never entered the match. Sanchez also preferred Baucom to Salmon, but both were rather quiet during the match with Salmon entering for Milliet at halftime. Milliet had plenty of starts early in the season so her entry wasn't as much of a surprise with Yuki out with an injury. Here's what I inferred from the changes:
Fox is deemed too necessary for defense to be moved into midfield and that may have to wait until next year.
Baucom will get a chance to make an impact up front.
Salmon may be getting a little tired, having played a full WSL season and being used quite often at Racing.
Racing is still trying to figure out their best back 4 and may be auditioning players for a back 3.
Zach Allen-Kelly is of the opinion and I agree that there isn't quite enough NWSL starting level quality in the team. Next year there will be 2 new teams that will thin out the quality even more, if teams don't find talent in the draft of overseas. I think Racing is definitely in talent evaluation mode.
If you watched the post match videos you saw that the team hasn't given up (which is good, but fans shouldn’t expect anything better than 9th) and Coach Sanchez sure does like to swear!
He does keep it clean during the match though and although he does yell a bit, he doesn't show his frustration with the players even if he does have to give the same instructions more than once. Most of those instructions have to do with pressing, and if this team is going to consistently apply a high press, they are going to have to communicate better with each other on the pitch. Matthews seems to know when to press pretty instinctively, but the rest of the front line is a little hit or miss.
I hope everyone enjoys a nice Labor Day weekend! Believe it or not, Racing only has 2 more matches in September, so October will be a busy month.
