Racing v Red Stars Preview
USA Today Sports Images
Racing return to action after the international break on Saturday Evening at 7:30 vs. the Chicago Red Stars. The two teams met in Chicago last month and played to a 0-0 draw, even though both teams had a few really good opportunities to score. Both teams will be looking to take away the full 3 points this time and that could position either team at the top of the group depending on the other result (Chicago is at the top of the group currently).
It’s always a bummer (at least for me) when the international break interrupts a good run of play. Racing has consecutive clean sheets which incidentally (or maybe not) lines up with Julia Lester’s introduction into the Starting XI. A high pressing style often links up nicely with a playing from the back philosophy and when you play from the back you want calm, secure center backs. Lester has been referred to as calm on multiple occasions and looks assured in Coach Björkegren’s style of play. It’s a really small sample size, but Lester seems like an upgrade at center back over any of the other options.
While Coach Björkegren commented that “The momentum is in the process,” I have to believe that some of the momentum is in the roster too. It’s hard not to look across this roster and see improvement at just about every position. Lund hasn’t been tested as much as Betos, but has shown no signs of being anything other than a rock-solid stopper. The back four of Fox-Lester-Bonner-Merrick has looked formidable and probably more importantly, flexible, with Fox able to flip to whichever side is showing the most attacking threat. The double pivot (or double 6 if you like) seems to be working well with whatever combination of midfielders are selected from the Olofsson/Howell/DeMelo/Otto and now Chidiac group. There is almost an embarrassment of riches at forward. One hates to get too excited about a team in its second year and is 1-2-1 in its current cup competition, but this team really looks like it can challenge for something.
That something could be the Challenge Cup, but that will all hinge on how the match against the Red Stars plays out. In my opinion, you almost always need to score first against them to come away with 3 points (although the Sprit proved otherwise in the final last year). Look for Racing to come out attacking early, especially with 2 weeks of practice for the majority of the players. Howell should be relatively well rested coming back from the National Team, but I do worry about Fox being overworked. I believe it is entirely within the realm of possibility that she gets some or all of the match off on Saturday, which will greatly reduce Racing’s chances. If Rebecca Holloway was in Louisville, I would have expected to see Fox get a rest, but she isn’t so she may be forced to start unless Lester is played wide again. Once the full roster is here, I worry less about rotation, but the fact is that neither Chidiac nor Holloway has arrived.
Speaking of rotation, I fully expect that we are likely to see a lot more appearances in the 18-19 range vs the 21-22 range for the league season. Last year, there were 7 players that appeared in over 85% of the matches. The roster is constructed for everyone to contribute, and I expect that they will. I don’t expect anybody (bar the keepers) on this team to have less than 5 appearances in the league. There is at least a game per week until mid-June, so the robustness of the roster will be fully tested.
