Racing v Thorns -1
The theme for this week in Racing’s camp was definitely “Back to Basics”. Bev, Wright and Bloomer all talked about how Racing’s press wasn’t working. Wright talked about Racing being a team that doesn’t recognize itself in the mirror right now. She added that “our press hasn’t been on” and she attributes that fact to their recent struggles. She fully admitted that when Racing gets its press wrong that it has a “domino effect” on the rest of the team. Bloomer stated that Racing needs to find early success with their press against Portland this week and get stuck into some tackles early in the match to set the tone. She also talked about Racing needing to find its rhythm like they did in the second half against Orlando. I do think that Racing has seemed out of rhythm many times this year. It is something they will have to fix to have a shot against Portland. Later in the interview Wright attributed a portion of that lack of rhythm to some of the newer things that the team is trying which could potentially be distracting them from the things they do well.
Joe Havelda asks a good question about how Racing seems to not be as visibly frustrated as fans are. Bloomer reassured us that “we are also frustrated.” She also added that as players, many time they are asked to manage any outward shows of their visible frustration. I get that, and historically I have probably been the number one instigator of trying to get a reaction out of them after matches. I sometimes used to ask questions designed to try to get them to show a bit more raw emotion. I can’t ever remember that tactic working, so I try to do it more subtly now. I have also figured out, especially with Bev, that you are going to get a better answer from her once she has had a chance to process the match. But like I said, Joe asked a good question, and I do think Racing might be served in the short term by showing more raw emotion in the media, win or lose.
When we spoke to Bev, she was also completely focused on a back-to-basics approach and getting back to the things that Racing does well. Bev was also very insightful on what she thought maybe the difference is in the press this season compared to last. She stated that Racing was still getting into the right spaces but maybe not instigating the contact or the tackle enough to get “very fiercely into that moment.” Essentially, Racing hasn’t been as effective at that final, most important part of the press, which is either winning the ball or forcing a mistake. They will need to fix that to have a shot versus Portland.
