Racing v Pride Preview
Racing prepares to face the Orlando Pride on Friday evening at 7:30. It will be the first match at Lynn Family Stadium since the “Fill the Fam” debacle. During the most recent Butchertown Rundown, Bekki casually mentioned that she expected attendance to be lower next year. Friday nights in the fall are an especially tough sell and this Friday not only has high school football to compete with, but also a University of Louisville home football game. Having been a Louisville Football season ticket hold for 5 years, I know what winning does for attendance, but more importantly I know what losing does. I think it is pretty much a forgone conclusion that this year’s Racing Louisville attendance is going to fall below last year’s. For most people, there is only so much losing they can take before they start to express their displeasure with their wallets. For me, I am more dedicated and invested. There are still quite a few people who are. I don’t think Racing Louisville are in danger of dropping too far down attendance, but they do seem to have squandered the initial momentum that a new club brings.
If you haven’t yet watched Jess McDonald’s interview from practice on Wednesday, you should. Jess talks about what she sees as the team’s main issues. In a nutshell, it boils down to a lack of identity, fear when the team hits the pitch, poor communication, and not believing in themselves. With as much as she said, there were still some things that she didn’t say either on or off the record. I don’t like to assume so I won’t over speculate, but when she pointed to losing their identify in the middle of the season, it does coincide with the timing of the roster turnover. The encouraging thing, I guess, is that the team seems fully aware of the issues. And if you are a child of the 80’s, you have heard that “knowing is half the battle.”
As an adult, you know that platitude is complete and utter crap. “Knowing” may be the first step but there is definitely more to improving than problem identification. As an adult you understand that almost all improvement comes in small steps. Therefore, don’t expect a complete an utter turnaround. Here are some signs of improvement to watch for:
Go the first 30 minutes without conceding. Emily Fox was back in training on Wednesday and if everything goes well, will be back to full training on Thursday and available for selection on Friday. She should surely bring some more stability to the back line defense. The last two 4-goal defeats were disheartening, but the first one took place by having to shift Fox into the middle mid-match. Part of this need was down to Murray’s one match suspension vs. Chicago. In the second one, Fox wasn’t available. For this match vs. Orlando, Racing has the opportunity to try to limit the goals. That starts with being ready to defend from the first minute. Racing will have most of their defenders available (Lester may still be a question mark).
Better on the pitch communication. This has been an issue all year, and frankly last year too. The most experienced teams know how to communicate with each other. Sometimes it only takes one person willing to be vocal. Racing may still be missing a true vocal on the pitch leader. In my experience there are things that you say to each other in the heat of competition that you would never say to each other when you are off the field. I think you have to get over that mental hurdle. I have heard hilariously mean things said in pick-up matches that would surely cause a fight if said in a bar. However, usually those things were said as a follow up to not listening to a teammate about something that could have prevented a mistake. I believe that you should always be talking on the pitch. I for one never shut up. The point is that the dialog should constantly flow on this pitch and not be restricted to correction or encouragement. It should be instructional and frequent.
Score a team goal. There are all kinds of ways to score, but the most encouraging ones are the ones scored where multiple players are involved in the build-up. I truly believe that the way you score matters. Scoring from open play is better for the team psyche that scoring from a set piece. Scoring from set pieces proves that you can score from a plan or design. Some of the best open play goals are the results of united cohesion. That is what Racing needs right now.
