Pride v Racing @ Daytona Soccer Fest Preview
Alex Chidiac expressing every Racing fan’s sentiment entering into Sunday’s match
Racing enters Sunday’s match in Daytona vs. the Orlando Pride in dire need of a positive result. Based on practice today here are the players available for selection on Sunday:
GK: Lund, Bloomer, Beall
D: Zaneta Wyne, Allison Whitfield (both National Team Replacement players for now), Lester, Bonner, Martin
MF: Chidiac (pending a face mask), Malham, Milliet (who feasibly could start as a defender or forward too), Howell, DeMelo, Olofsson, Otto
F: Goins, Gordon, Ekic, McDonald, Davis
Orlando will be missing Gunny Jonsdottir and Eric McCleod to international duty, but also will be playing their first match without Sydney Leroux after she departed for Angel City. Orlando has the worst points per match average in the league (.888), but Racing isn’t much better at an even 1. I’m not sure actively tanking is a thing in the NWSL, but if it is Orlando seems like it might be doing just that. Therefore, this is a golden opportunity for Racing to pick up 3 points. Then again, this match is taking place at a motor speedway on a newly constructed pitch that will be seeing its 3rd match in 2 days by the time Racing and Orlando take the pitch, so who knows how the ball might bounce. I am a little concerned about the pitch. Coach Björkegren confirmed that the team will get to test out the pitch prior to the match but will be seeing it at its best and not its worst. This soccer fest thing seems gimmicky to me, and I am not a fan of playing soccer outside of soccer specific stadiums (or at least stadiums equipped to handle multiple sports). Knock on wood, cross your fingers, or do whatever superstitious thing you do in hope that the pitch holds up for 3 matches.
Racing’s practices for the next month or so are going to be really limited by the fact that they are only currently carrying 17 outfield players. This pretty much precludes their ability to scrimmage 11 v 11. Coach Kim acknowledged as much but sees it as an opportunity to work on other things. The bonus for me is that I have no clue how the team might line up, so I am not giving up any state secrets by hazarding a guess. My prediction for Daytona with it coming so early in the Racing careers of Whitfield and Wyne (which wouldn’t be the worst name for a small batch bourbon) is that we will see something like the following:
Lund
Milliet/Lester/Bonner/Martin
Olofsson/DeMelo/Howell
Chidiac/McDonald/Davis
Expect 2 deep lying CMs in front of the back 4 with DeMelo at the 10 again, so more like a 4-2-3-1. I don’t think I have ever been right however, so this surely won’t be right either. I did ask Milliet about her flexibility and she was clever enough to know what I was hinting toward and deftly avoided giving anything away. Because we have often seen Björkegren go with players he trusts out of position over those he doesn’t, I say there is a 75% change we see Lauren at left back to start.
In a random, bizarre scheduling note, Racing will go from June 11 to August 27 without playing on a Saturday. In that span they have this upcoming match on Sunday, one on a Tuesday and 5 on Friday nights. They also have a Women’s Cup match on a Wednesday and a Sunday. If you group the NWSL schedule in “match weeks” that include Fri/Sat/Sun/Mon, and any match that occurs outside of that window as a “make up” game, Racing plays the last match during this match week, then the following 6 match weeks have them playing 2nd, 2nd, 2nd, 1st, 1st, and 2nd. If you are trying to make up ground and put pressure on the teams around you, winning early in the match week is a good way to do it.
