Racing v Courage -1
Photo by Elizabeth Shaw
Remember last year’s terrible weather in the home opener versus North Carolina? Maybe not, because it felt like Elizabeth and I were the only ones there. The above picture captures the downpour pretty accurately.
I would also be remiss if I didn’t say that frankly nothing is going to make me come down for cloud nine for a quite a while.
I plan on being a terrible winner to anyone who engages me on the subject, so be forewarned. All Arsenal fans have digital storage full of receipts.
Back to Racing, where hope is a less frequent visitor. They do have two matches in a row at home before another break in the season (which seems woefully mistimed if it is actually meant to benefit the player’s safety, which we all know it isn’t). They probably need 4 points from these two matches to feel like they are still within striking distance for the playoff before an extended break. Ignoring the cynical timing of the break, it actually comes at a pretty good time for Racing. There is no official word on Hase, but unless you were born yesterday, you know that her injury likely requires a 4–6-week recovery period at a minimum. The key for Racing in these two home matches will be to find some consistency. They can’t keep taking one step forward and two steps back. Well… they can…let’s not kid ourselves. However, keeping the team in the right headspace is Bev’s self-declared most important job at the moment. Racing has shown up at home so far. North Carolina is kind of puttering along with the same level of mediocrity they have demonstrated over the last few seasons. They can be ripe for the picking if Racing shows up ready to play on Saturday.
Unfortunately, North Carolina is exactly the type of team that Racing can’t quite seem to figure out at the moment. They possess the ball and make accurate passes, two things to which Racing seems to have a congenital allergy. Until Racing figures out how to consistently hem in a team like the Courage, they are much more likely to come out on the wrong side of the result. They definitely will unless they can once again harness the same energy we saw against Portland. In that match, the Thorns bizarrely invited Racing to do it. The Courage will suck the life force out of you by lulling you to sleep, just like Gotham does and sometimes Washington does when they are in the mood. Racing can allow the Courage to have the ball, but they can’t let too much of this possession be in the final third because as Racing has proven time and again, they can’t find their way out even if they win possession there.
