Courage 3 Racing 1 Post Match Thoughts
Courtesy ISI Photos
On a night where the actual game had much less meaning, it was difficult for me to be critical of any player. This made doing my normal player rating post virtually impossible. If you are interested in objective stat based player ratings you can visit Fotmob. I am going to stick to positives and neutral observations from the match in this post, for the most part. Bullet points feel like the right format.
Michelle Betos said in the post match interview that the plan was to have the players stop for 6 minutes in an effort to demonstrate how long 6 minutes is and to compare that length of time of inactivity to 6 years of silence from the league on improving player safety. Ultimately the players didn't think that they could handle those 6 minutes emotionally and then continue to play.
I found Kaylyn Klye's reactions during the Paramount Plus broadcast to be pure and honest. I found her emotional reactions refreshing and I wish that she didn't feel the need to apologize for expressing her genuine emotions.
In his post match interview, Coach Sanchez used the word “proud” frequently to express his feelings on how the Racing players have responded in the last few days.
Moving more to the on the field observations, Katie Lund made her NWSL debut and I thought she performed well, but she still has room to grow.
Emily Fox is what Racing has been missing in midfield: someone who can drive the team forward from the defending third to the attacking third in multiple ways. She can pick a pass to find a teammate, but maybe uniquely on this team can dribble effectively through the opponents midfield and create mismatches in attack by leaving defenders behind her. Racing will have to decide next year after the player movement/draft period whether the team's need is greater in midfield or at left or right back and assign Fox to the area of greatest need.
Emina Ekic finally looked like the player she did earlier in the season in her 30 or so minutes. She has been dealing with nagging injuries, so maybe those are behind her now.
I think it was important that Ebony Salmon get a full 90 minutes. This may be a coincidence, but she looked much more comfortable with Emina as a strike partner vs. Matthews. In the final 30 minutes she looked more sure of herself and played better in my opinion. The next Racing coach will be key to continuing her development.
McCaskill's goal was a fine piece of skill and quality made by it's much less cooler partner - hustle. Erin Simon's effort to recover he misplaced pass led directly to Savannah's opportunity. One of the things that I believe people miss in soccer is how much effort and hustle contribute to your ability to show your flair and quality. If you have a chance, check out the current Womens European champions Barcelona. I watched them tear through my Arsenal team on Tuesday. They were relentless. Arsenal may be the best team in England and they looked completely outmatched. Barcelona hustled to every ball. This is often an overlooked component in high pressing teams with as much quality as Barcelona. While their passing accuracy was a mind blowing 89% the more impressive thing to me is that they treated the 11% as an affront to their performance and looked to immediately recover their mistakes. To be fair, when only 11% of your passes are incomplete you can fight fiercely for every errant one. I think Racing's philosophy would like to mimic Barcelona's. My ill-informed suggestion would be to focus on the passing accuracy, then the pressing. Maybe this is what they are doing in practice, but the numbers haven't shown it in matches.
I don’t want to end on a downer, so I want to finish on a more positive note. In their post match interview Betos and McCaskill were firm on the players demands, but I thought they seemed optimistic on the opportunity for change. They also said, prompted by an excellent question from Becki Morgan, that the fans can help by amplifying their message. I would encourage everyone to spread their message for the need for accountability and change to as many people as possible.
