Racing v Dash Preview
Racing played two home matches vs. the Houston Dash in 2021, and each of those matches had a wildly different outcome. Since I have a very spotty memory, I went back and reviewed my analysis of those matches starting with the rather infamous 0-4 loss. Bekki Morgan remembers this match as Racing’s worst ever performance. I tend to agree and called it “their worst performances in recent memory”. Before reviewing my analysis, 2 things stuck in my mind about the match. First, Nichelle Prince was virtually unstoppable. From my player ratings “Fox-6: Nichelle Prince bullied her the entire match.” I think I was being generous with that rating as well. To date, it has really been Fox’s only sub-par performance in a Racing kit. Secondly several of the players were in tears at the end of the match. I don’t think the match technically eliminated Racing from the playoffs, but it virtually did. There is one other excerpt from my analysis that I want to highlight:
“This next sentence is going to sound self-contradictory, but it's what I think it sums up Racing's major problem. Racing plays too slowly from the back which causes poor decisions by rushing their passes. Playing out from the back can be a really effective way to control a match if you can do it effectively. Racing plays too slowly from restarts and allows the defense to push up on them before they make their next pass. When you play slowly from the back you invite pressure. When you play quickly but intentionally from the back you can slice through a defense effectively.”
Since Coach Björkegren’s preferred style is to play out from the back, it will be interesting to watch if this is improved from the match vs. KC. Arguably, KC’s goal in the last match was a direct result of playing from the back but it didn’t happen from a restart and Bonner had only just won possession. I have heard/read several people say that Bonner’s mistake was an errant pass or intended pass, but I think you can chalk it up to Lynn Williams’ excellent pressure and the point of the statement above, which boils down to “don’t rush, but be quick AND vigilant.” Sometimes I think people forget that there isn’t this long history of playing out from the back, at least under the current set of FIFA rules (2019 being the first year of the 18-yard box goal kick change). With players being able to receive a pass from the keeper inside of the 18-yard box on a goal kick, many teams have embraced playing out of the back. In a nutshell, no current professional player has a more than a few years of experience in playing out from the back starting with a short pass inside of the box. All of this is to point out that Racing is still learning how to play out from the back.
From the earlier match in the year which served as Ebony Salmon’s audacious debut, here is what I said:
Without a doubt, Sunday afternoon was Freja Olofsson's best performance. From the first few minutes, I kept a close watch on her, because she looked like she had something to prove from the beginning of the match. The stats have her with a 78% passing accuracy, which I am sure is correct. However, her off the ball performance was a delight. Whenever the ball was near her and not in her possession, she put forward every effort to win it. She took possession away from Houston in the middle of the field more than a couple of times. If she lost possession, she always fought to win it back. I think she slowed down several Dash attacks and after a while, I think the Dash midfield was looking over their shoulders in fear of another tough challenge, which she often provided. The general public will usually favor a goal scoring performance, but I thought she was the player of the match hands down. It was a really encouraging performance.
I am a huge Olofsson fan. Not everyone is. More than any other player position, midfielders tend to divide opinion. In the previous match vs. KC, Olofsson had a similar match to one I described vs. Houston. Some people hold the opinion that your box-to-box midfielder should be driving the attack. I am of the opinion that balance is key. It’s almost impossible to balance that attacking/defending split evenly in every match, so people who have a more offensive mindset tend to look at the lack of forward-moving passes as a clear detriment. The ball doesn’t always have to move forward for the pass to be effective, but never passing the ball forward is almost always ineffective. I believe you need steel in the middle of the pitch, especially in Racing’s forward heavy roster.
Everyone remembers the 1-0 victory vs. Houston for Salmon’s goal. I finally bit the bullet and went back and watched all of Racing’s goals from last year. Of the 27 from last year and the one from the KC match, here is the breakdown of goals.
Let me explain the categories:
In possession from transition with opponent shape integrity: This is probably the most difficult to explain. I wouldn’t call these necessarily counter-attacking goals or purely transition goals. The key difference for me here is how much time the opposition defense is given to get their back line into shape. Let’s use the Salmon goal as the example. McCaskill receives the ball from Bonner around midfield and moves the ball effectively forward until Salmon receives the pass. As Salmon takes her first couple of touches, the back four for Houston are all in their correct defensive “shape”, but not necessarily “settled”. The move itself isn’t a long piece of sustained possession, so it doesn’t really qualify as a sustained possession goal. I coded this in a shade of yellow with its two similar categories. The yellow really signifies scoring moves with possession won in Racing’s defensive half.
With sustained possession: This is fairly straightforward. Racing is experiencing an extended stretch of possession in their own half and the goal comes from that sustained possession.
From Pressing: The ball is won directly from pressure applied to an opposing player, usually resulting in an error and ultimately leading to a Racing goal.
In transition: Almost purely a counter attacking goal. The difference here is that the opposition defense hasn’t regained it’s defensive shape due to the quickness of the move.
The last 3 are pretty self-explanatory. For a visual explanation of the move “started with the goalkeeper from the back” click here. It is a distinct category in my mind, because it is a dream goal if you like the playing out from the back mentality.
Their has been a lot of backward looking stuff in this preview, so for the forward looking piece I employed the help of Laura Gómez.
Me: Houston lost their opening match in the Challenge Cup to Chicago. On your Just a Dash podcast, you said that Houston should try to win the cup. Does that mean that the match against Racing on Friday is pivotal to how the Dash will treat the rest of the cup based on Friday's outcome?
Laura: In the first half, there were for sure at least three close plays that could have ended in a goal for the Dash and I was feeling pretty confident that another goal might be coming and that a win could be very reachable if not a tie as a second option. I was wrong. Unfortunately, in the second half when closing we have seen the Dash struggle in the past and was their undoing. In the Just a Dash podcast by The Striker Texas, I did say the team should try to win the Challenge Cup maybe even a little more than other teams. It would also get the team good traction for the upcoming season, so yes the game against Racing is of extreme importance, we know in cups games are all important because there isn't enough of them to recuperate points, you need to add points make it to the final.
Me: What were some of the positive things you saw from the match against Chicago?
Laura: The Dash has so many quality players with a lot of potential. Some are new to the team so it's going to take some games to get them to really understand each other. Just to name a few players that will be key to the team in certain situations: Nichelle Prince, Maria Sanchez, Sophie Smidt, Shea Groom. I mean there is talent in this team. I feel like the club has established a culture and ambiance where players can really flourish. With that said, things need to start to fall into place soon inside the pitch, this upcoming season is a do-or-die one because the Dash has never made it to the post-season.
ME: President of the club Jess O'Neill hasn't been with the team very long, but what do you think she brings to the Dash?
Laura: Having a team president it's huge, important. I would stay a historic step adding that position to the team. Even more so when it someone so qualified as Jess O'Neill. She comes with a lot of experience, with actual on the ground experiences in the U.S. soccer scene. O'Neill, will be key in the leadership of the team in several areas, from fan experiences and engagement to helping the team grow and reach new historic accomplishments.
Me: The Dash had only 1 selection in the 2022 college draft and selected Ryan Gareis. Is she a pick for the future, or do you expect to see her at some point in the Challenge Cup?
Laura: Ryan Gareis, is a hard-working player, I've had the opportunity to talk to others and she really wants to make Houston her home, and that is something that is key to the adaptation of a player. Not wanting to stay in the city will eventually have inadvertent effects in other areas like inside the pitch, as we saw in the earlier days of the Dash with some players that came to the team but didn't want to be in Houston. Gareis, has skills the team can use for sure. She adds depth, she's a lefty, all in all, a well-rounded player. I do expect to see her in the Challenge Cup, it's the perfect opportunity to see how adapted she is and for the coach James Clarkson to see what she's good at now and what needs work before the season start.
Me: Since the club only had one pick in the college draft, the Dash signed Maria Sanchez and Paulina Gramaglia. Do you think the Dash's season will depend on how they adapt?
Laura: As far as Maria Sanchez, she will have an influence on how the team advances this upcoming season. As we are all aware she has had a big impact already and the season hasn't even started. Of course, this has mostly been done as an amazing marketing campaign from the club, but also because she has the potential to be huge. She is charismatic, has embraced Houston, is relatable to a lot of the youth in the city, and has a different type of soccer than many NWSL players. She gives the team that extra "magic". As for Paulina Gramaglia, she is very young and has a lot of raw potential. It's good she came to the NWSL now and is still in her "learning years" and can adapt easily to the playing style. She has good basic ones already coming from Argentina, where soccer is like a religion and she has already debuted in the national team at 19 years old, and that's not easy to accomplish. Gramaglia, accomplished a lot in her previous team UAI Urquiza, from Argentina where she scored nine goals in one season and became essential to that team. Something similar can happen here as well. For me, it's matter of adaptation time.
Me: Who is the player who needs to have a breakout year in order for the Dash to make the playoffs?
Laura: I have always said that a team needs to play as a team. One player can go in and score 10 goals but if the rest of the team isn't playing well the rival can find ways to get the same amount of goals in. So it's vital that the team plays as just that a team. I do believe that if Maria Sanchez stays healthy and keeps adapting to the team as she has shown she can be a vital key for the Dash to finally make the so elusive play-offs.
I want to thank Laura for her help. You can follow her on Twitter @LauraGomezNews. Check out her work on the “Just a Dash” podcast for The Striker Texas.
As for my final thoughts on the match and what to watch for, I will say to look for Racing to emphasize more width in the midfield and attack. Casey Whitfield pointed this out in the most recent episode of Butchertown Rundown. This is a winnable match for both teams. Maybe the biggest difference between the 0-4 loss and the 1-0 win was the central defense. In the 0-4, Racing started Hendrix and Martin at center back. The expected pairing of Merrick and Bonner should be a better option for Racing this time around.
