Michael Shaw 6/16/21 Michael Shaw 6/16/21

Can we talk? (with Robin Pryor)

Robin Pryor is the host of the awesomely named podcast “Hot Brown Soccer Town”. On Thursday she will be posting her podcast with Christy Holly. Be sure to listen! Find it here.

Only one more week until Racing gets back on the field. Who are you most excited to see in the pitch on Sunday?

I’m excited to see if Ebony makes the starting XI.

Me too. This will be the first Racing game with no attendance restrictions. Do you think we'll see an attendance record for Racing in the next match?

I don’t, simply because it is also Father’s Day.

Well, I'm spending my Father's Day there. How much airtime are you giving Racing on your Podcast?

I’m trying to split the time evenly between the teams. If I can get my life to cooperate a little more, my podcast frequency will increase. I’m actually chatting with Christy Holly this week, so that should be almost 2 hours.

What's the coolest thing about doing your podcast?

I enjoy so many things about podcasting, but the coolest thing is being able to talk to so many awesome people. My perspective is pretty unique in that it’s not focused on sports analysis, so I think people appreciate the more personal side of my guests.

That is cool. I'm too chicken to do one and hate the sound of my own voice way to much to edit one. Do you have a piece of favorite Racing merch yet?

My favorite merch I’ve purchased is a thin cotton hoodie. It’s obviously way too hot for that right now! Otherwise, I love almost everything they have released, and I wish I were a millionaire so I could buy it all.

I love the Nike Swoosh Tee. My wife and I have matching ones. Do you have a favorite player on the team so far?

It is hard to choose a favorite, because they all work so hard on the pitch. I tend to gravitate toward Savannah a lot. Her energy is so dynamic, and she hustles like every game is her last. I really enjoy watching her.

I agree with that assessment. Did you make it to the LouCity match on Saturday? What did you think of the atmosphere?

I did! I thought energy was electrifying, and taking the 3 points was the icing on the cake.

Thanks again to Robin for answering my questions. Follow her on Twitter @HotBrownSoccer.

Michael Shaw 6/15/21 Michael Shaw 6/15/21

A Closer Examination of the Nadia Nadim acquisition by Travis Murphy

Let me do a quick intro before I turn this post over to Travis. Until now, all of the posts on this site have been written by me. If all goes well, you will be seeing contributions from Travis and potentially others.

Michael Shaw - Fleur-de-lis-FC.com Editor

What went into Nadia Nadim’s signing with Racing Louisville?

Last week’s breaking news of Nadia Nadim’s signing with Racing Louisville was widely covered in the media. The club itself put out an excellent introductory video that clearly took some advance cooperation with Nadim. Several articles were prepared in advance for immediate publication that went through Nadim’s background for the fans unfamiliar with her. And the Racing coach, Christy Holly, was credited with contacting Nadim’s camp in January to initiate this entire process.

The true roots of the signing go back further than January, however. On October 26, last year, Racing acquired the organization’s first players in announcing a trade with the Chicago Red Stars. Racing received Savannah McCaskill, Yuki Nagasato, Chicago’s first-round pick in the upcoming college draft (number 5 overall) and an international player slot in 2021 and 2022 in return for full roster protection in the expansion draft. The first-round pick became Emina Ekic, but the international slot that was part of the deal was an afterthought until last week’s signing of Nadia Nadim.

What is an international player slot?

NWSL rules allow for each league team to have 4 international player slots on the roster in 2021. Put simply, any team signing an international player must have an empty international player slot before the league will approve the signing. These slots limit the amount of internationals, defined in the NWSL as non-US or Canadian, players on NWSL rosters at any given time. The slots themselves are tradeable assets and frequently are traded; there is no limit on the number of slots a given team may acquire or hold at the same time but there are only 40 slots available in 2021 spread across the 10 teams. Racing received an additional slot from the Chicago trade to bring their available slots up to 5, while Chicago’s slots decreased to 3 because of the trade.

Approaching the expansion draft with just 1 international player on the roster but 4 additional slots available surely played a role in who the front office chose in the draft. Ultimately, Racing selected 3 international players in the first 9 picks: Ghanaian Jennifer Cudjoe from Sky Blue FC with the 3rd pick and Australians Alanna Kennedy and Caitlin Foord from the Orlando Pride with the 6th and 9th picks. While the club has been silent regarding any negotiations with those three players, Racing was unable to sign any of the 3, ultimately trading Cudjoe back to Sky Blue for an additional 2nd round pick in the college draft.

Racing began the season with just 2 international players signed: Yuki Nagasato and Swedish midfielder Freja Olofsson, who signed with the club in December. Two additional signings came quickly at the beginning of the season: English defender Gemma Bonner signed in late April followed by English forward Ebony Salmon in early May. The 5th and final international slot was filled last week when Racing announced the signing of Nadia Nadim.

Chicago Red Stars trade recap

It’s always dangerous to evaluate the results of a trade so soon after it took place, and with so many games left in the season. That said, the Racing front office probably deserved an “A” grade at the time of the Red Stars trade that can now be upgraded to an “A+”. Both Nagasato and McCaskill have played every minute of regular season competition thus far for Racing, 2 of only 5 players to do so. Racing turned the 5th pick of the college draft they received from Chicago into Emina Ekic – who scored the winning goal in the club’s first ever NWSL win and who is also the marketing face of the club as the “Hometown Hero” Louisville native. Now Racing is set to debut Nadia Nadim using their 5th international slot – only possible due to this Chicago trade. Per the expansion draft rules, Racing was only permitted to select up to 2 players from Chicago. Yet the club executed a novel trade that produced 4 starters for them in 2021. Pretty safe to look back at this point and call this an “A+”.

Travis Murphy is a contributing Writer for Fleur-de-lis-FC.com.

Michael Shaw 6/14/21 Michael Shaw 6/14/21

Brief midday Monday thoughts

This is going to be a short one. Better stuff is coming later this week. It may include the first post on this site not authored by me, which I am sure will be a refreshing change.

LouCity had the “grand opening” for The Fam on Saturday, but the turf looked well beyond its years. I don't know if this is a particular concern, and the pitch has to be better than playing at Slugger Field, but it looked like pretty significant sections had new sod.

The previous week there were problems with the corners. It's not even summer yet. This could be a thing to watch if there are continued issues with the field.

The sun was so bright for Saturday's game that the Memphis keeper wore a baseball cap in the first half, which I always find hilarious for some reason. Racing's match with Houston is scheduled for kick-off at 3:00 PM on Sunday, June 20th, so both keepers will have to deal with the sun at some point. Betos in a hat? The NWSL season will surely have many matches where the sun could be an issue. Many fine baseball caps are available in the team store.
Addisyn Merrick is back in training today. This is a bit of a pleasant surprise since the last word we heard from Coach Holly was that there was no specific timetable. I imagine that the training sessions are getting more intense day by day.
M

Michael Shaw 6/11/21 Michael Shaw 6/11/21

Numbers - A poorly researched look at how Racing could line up

In 1993 the English Football Association decided for some reason (probably money) to abandon the shirt numbering system that had been in use since 1940. This system was somewhat invented by Herbert Chapman, Arsenal FC's first great coach. Numbered shirts were first worn by an English top division team in a match by Arsenal against Sheffield Wednesday in 1928. Over the next few years most teams adopted a system of assigning numbers based on the players position on the field. Regardless of who the team played at striker (#9) the striker wore that number for that game. If a different player started the next game at striker, then he would wear the number 9 jersey. The numbers weren't so much squad numbers, as they were match jerseys. Theoretically a player could wear 11 numbers in 11 games, although I’m sure nobody ever did. Since this was a new concept, players didn't really think of themselves as having a “number”. However, soon players began to covet certain numbers, mostly because it meant that they were playing in their preferred position. Here is an example of traditional numbering system for a 4-2-3-1 formation:

1 Goalkeeper

2 Right back

3 Left back

4 Central midfielder (more defensive)

5 Center back

6 Center back

7 Right winger

8 Central midfielder (box-to-box)

9 Striker

10 Central midfielder/playmaker

11 Left winger

This was not a system without flaws for fans. Say as a fan you had a favorite player. This player was a bit of a utility player and could play out of his natural position, so you might not know what number to look for on the field during the match. In addition, while you knew where to look for number 2 on the field, you might not be sure who was actually planning right back. Enter names on the back of the jersey, increased kit sales and the birth of the squad number. Many players today still like to take the jersey number of their preferred position. The numbering system is important to me for a couple of reasons. One, it’s how the players from the prior generations of English footballers who are now pundits and analysts talk about the game. It’s a language shortcut. Second, if you don't know much about a player you might be able to infer something about that player by their squad number. You don't often see a center back wearing #9, so I would assume someone with a squad number of nine is almost certainly a striker.

Now, what does this have to do with anything? Well, I like to predict how my favorite teams might line up. Racing now has 3 new players who haven't played a second for the team, but very soon will likely be in the starting XI. We also have a player wearing #5, playing out of position, but that position is definitely not center back.

How might Racing line up against Houston?

This is where the poorly researched part comes in. I did just enough research on each player, but not exhaustive. I finally found some good resources thanks to Bekki Morgan and other users on Twitter, but by that time I was tired of researching and many of these assumptions may be flawed. I tried to look at recent history as much as possible. Someone might tell me that in Nadia Nadim's last stint in the NWSL, she lined up as a right sided attacker exclusively. Fair enough, that could be true (like I said I didn't research it), but I am basing most of my analysis on recent history.

Let's start with the easy one. Gemma Bonner plays center back on the left side. She has done it in a back 3 and also a back 4, which was Manchester City's preferred setup. She will almost certainly slot in at center back on the left side.

Here's where is gets harder. I don't think Salmon or Nadim have recently been lining up as a true #9. Nadim for example, wore #10 for PSG but to my eyes played as a center forward vs. a playmaker that traditionally wears number 10. It looks like she lined up a position directly behind the main striker. She has also been referred to as a striker in her recent interviews. Ebony Salmon, who will wear number 9, also wore #9 for Bristol City. She lined up in all three forward positions: left, right and center. I think most of her starts came on the right. My gut tells me that Nadim and Salmon might interchange quite a bit on the pitch or play in a front two instead of a single striker.

Now for the hard one. CeCe Kizer has started in the striker position for all of the league matches. While at Houston, she quite often came off the bench, so it's hard to tell what position she took as a sub. She did start a couple of games, so that had the potential to be helpful. NOPE! She started at striker in those game too. For someone who's constantly being complimented for playing out of position, I can't tell what her preferred position might be. She is listed on some sources as a forward/midfielder and midfield is where Racing needs the most help, so I assume that's where she is going to be for the time being.

The Lineup

So I think we know the following names are no doubters in the Starting XI:

Betos, Fox, Bonner, McCaskill, Kizer, Nadim.

I think right back, right center back, one midfielder, and two forwards could be up for grabs. For the time being, I think those positions will be filled by Simon, Hendrix, Milliet, Nagasato and Salmon respectively. I think Salmon is all but a shoe in. She was the top scorer on a team that was relegated. I assume Bristol City probably didn't have a lot of possession in many games, so she should be used to scoring on the counter. Again, that bit was not researched at all, but it seems reasonable. This is almost certain to be wrong, and Nadim might not even be in Louisville in time to start against Houston, but here's my projected lineup for that match.

Disagree and have a better idea? Feel free to comment below, or start a pointless Twitter discussion with me @FleurdelisFC1.

Eight more days to go before the next match. (Audible sigh)

Michael Shaw 6/9/21 Michael Shaw 6/9/21

Can we talk? (with Bekki Morgan)

Photo by Connor Cunningham, courtesy Racing Louisville FC

This week I chat with Bekki Morgan, who excellently covers Racing Louisville FC for the beautiful game network (while The Courier Journal slowly abdicates their responsibility to cover professional sports). She is awesome and I am prepared to go into a Twitter war with anyone who disagrees.

What's been your biggest surprise covering the team so far?

Honestly? How easy it’s been. When Benton asked for volunteers I thought I’d be writing in a bubble with no access or contact with the front (back?) office. But they immediately set me up with press access and have gone out of their way to be accessible. It’s really phenomenal and shows the dedication the club has to building dedicated local support.

The team has 4 points from 4 games. Is that a fair representation of how they have performed?

I would say yes and it might even be better than expected. We should have beaten KC, in my opinion, because they aren't that strong a team and we were at home. We were also incredibly lucky to beat the Spirit. Betos put in a master class that night, but the Spirit's number of shots weren't that off from the Thorns and the Courage so it's looking more like luck that we won that one. I honestly think we're performing well for where we are and the league that we're in.

We both saw a rumor on Monday about a potential acquisition...Nadia Nadim (Wednesday update: not a rumor, confirmed loudly and clearly!) How much more roster movement should we expect?

I’ve heard rumors about another possible signing but have seen no indication of it happening so I really don’t know. It’s hard to tell because the club has kept everything very close to the chest. Salmon and Bonner were both surprises right up until the day they were announced, so anything could happen. But Holly has said for a while that the roster won’t be finalized until June and June’s just begun.

Switching topics a bit, I have been transparent about my love of Arsenal, and my relative indifference to international soccer because of that. How did you first fall in love with soccer and do you have a club or international team that impacts how you see soccer?

I fell in love with soccer watching the 1999 Women’s World Cup like many, many people my age. It was the first time I’d seen women play a sport outside the Olympics and get that much attention. My attention waxed and waned, but I was what I described above: a fan of the sport who watched the international game mostly, followed the NWSL a bit when it started but mostly got truly interested around the 2015 women’s WC. I didn’t get deeply involved until the last several years. I’ve never had a club before Racing. I liked almost all the teams and watched all the games I could because I liked the league. I still watch most NWSL games because I’m invested, but I’m absolutely 100% Racing focused as far as club goes. And it’s been a weird transition to throw myself fully into a team for the first time. A great experience, but an adjustment.

Racing has 3 games in pretty quick succession after the break. What is a good amount of points to take from those games?

First let’s look at the teams: Houston, NC, and Chicago. All three teams have been pretty chaotic and inconsistent with their results. Houston and Chicago have been pulling together a bit more though. So a lot of it depends on which team shows up to each game. Our being at home will help us against NCC and Houston, but we travel for Chicago and that might be a tougher trip. The fact we have new personnel and a deeper bench with Salmon and Bonner (and possibly Ashley) is very good timing. But it’s still going to be tough on us to have three in such quick succession. I’d be happy with 3 points from draws, but not 3 points from 1 win and 2 losses. I think I’d be happier with 2 points from 2 draws than 1 win and 2 losses. So I think we should be satisfied with 2 or 3 points. More than that and I’d be ecstatic but I’m trying to be realistic. And honestly, if we do lose 2, but they’re close and competitive and show growth and we manage to score goals, I’ll be content. Not happy but I’ll be fine.

Is sixth place (the last playoff place) possible?

I think we can definitely have a shot at it, but it’ll be very hard. But that is realistically what we should be aiming for as our best outcome for the season, based on how we’ve done thus far. Finishing in 7th or 8th would honestly be pretty good too. However, this question is almost impossible to answer right now because we don’t know how the team will look by the end of the month. Bonner, Salmon, and now possibly Nadim, would drastically alter the starting lineup. We haven’t even gotten a chance to really see Otto, Ashley, or Merrick either. What potential depth could they bring? So 6th is going to be hard, but if things start geling, it’s the most realistic goal we could set for the time being. Whether that’s too pessimistic or optimistic can be adjusted based on how the team performs as time moves on.

What's a good attendance number for the next game now that "The Fam" is at 100 percent capacity?

Well we did sell out the last limited capacities so I’d think sustaining around 6-7k would be great. That would put us in 3rd-5th place in league attendance compared to past years. More than that would be phenomenal but I think the growth will come in time.

Speaking of growth, what are the keys to being ready to win some silverware in a couple of years?

Developing the young players we chose in the drafts. Milliet, Fox, Kizer, and Ekic in particular are playing extremely well and could be built around to create a solid team. We can’t be a team that develops young players then lets them move on. We need to be a destination. The culture also needs to be sustained. Right now everyone says it’s phenomenal but will it hold through a tough season? Probably but we’ll have to see.

Thanks again to Bekki for answering some tough questions. Follow her on Twitter @sukiisacat.

Michael Shaw 6/9/21 Michael Shaw 6/9/21

Quick lunch time thoughts about Nadia Nadim

Oh man. This job (well hobby really) is actually quite stressful sometimes. I have an actual job where I get paid and so my routine is to write the night before and post during the lunch break. Today I guess I will have to do both. I’m sure better analysis on what Nadia Nadim will bring to the team is forthcoming, but I wanted to chime in with some quick thoughts:

Nadia comes to Racing in absolutely fantastic form. She averaged a goal every 78 minutes for PSG this year. That is a bit crazy. I couldn't find the numbers quickly, but I assume with as top heavy as the French league is, that PSG had an overwhelming possession advantage in those games. I don't that that rate of return is fair to anticipate when she joins Racing, but I am hopeful that she will bring goals and soon.
Nadia will have an immediate impact all across the team when she joins, hopefully in 10 days to 2 weeks. Coach Holly said a few telling things in the quick presser today. First, Cece Kizer will now almost certainly play deeper on the pitch. Second, Nadia is a true pro and will have an immediate impact on the training ground as well as the games. Third, she is a true “striker”. A brief asside: strikers quite often seem to covet that number 10 jersey even though they are a true 9. I mean everyone wants the number 10, so I did find it a bit odd that Racing started the season with no 9 or 10 on the roster. I think we know why now. Fourth, I think I heard Coach Holly hint at a potential change in formation. Somehow this team has to get the ball to Nadia. Might he set up to counter more often with a natural number 9? Fifth, Nadia is available as soon as she arrives. She will do so fit and in form.
Nadia herself said some interesting things. She thinks the league suits her “direct” playeing style. With the possession issues, that should really help. She also noted how impressed she was with the clubs commitment and facilities. These things are important to players and I think can continue to be a real strength for Racing.

I could say more, but lunch is over so back to work.

Michael Shaw 6/7/21 Michael Shaw 6/7/21

Everybody loves me, but you…the International Break

Don’t get me wrong…I don’t dislike international soccer, I just don’t love it like most American soccer fans. The USMNT and USWNT are not appointment viewing, even though I heard last night's game was insane. I have an mild dislike of American golden boy Christian Pulisic on principle, since he plays for Chelsea (nothing particularly against him, although I do find him a tiny, tiny, tiny, almost miniscule bit overrated). I would brace for the hate mail if I thought anyone actually reads this site. I again remind you that a) I am an Arsenal fan, and b) I am of the opinion that club soccer is better than international soccer. All of the world's largest men's clubs are global entities at this point, so you really do get a chance to see the world's best players quite often and don’t have to wait for international competition’s to do so. For the women I’m not sure that holds, so more on that later. My other Twitter account has 1300 followers, simply through following back other Arsenal fans. I think over 100 of them are from Nigeria. A majority are from England, but it's not an overwhelming one. While Arsenal is an global club, my feelings about international soccer probably most closely mirrors an English Arsenal fan. Not an insignificant number of them don’t care at all about the English Men's National Team. In fact they were probably more thrilled by France's 1998 World Cup win. That's not to hard to understand because England seems to always disappoint and recently has been full of Tottenham Hotspur players (gross!). England's greatest contribution to world soccer in the last 50 years didn't happen on the pitch (I am a massive New Order fan). Anyway the international breaks during the Premier League season are seen as an unnecessary chance for a star player to get injured at worst, and at best, a 2 week gap before you can see your team play again.

That's my main complaint here. I selfishly want to see Racing get the taste of two bad losses in a row out of their mouths. On the bright side, this actually comes at a good time since almost all of the players will be available to practice together over the next two week, and they will get a few well deserved days off. On the down side, what am I going to write about for 2 weeks? I should probably enjoy some days off too because I haven't quite figured out how I am going to handle 3 games in a week starting on June 20th.

Now the USWNT is a little bit of a different scenario. For many fans of women's soccer in America, it was the only widely televised game in town for quite a while. If you wanted to see women's soccer at all, that was it. I would imagine all but the very youngest soccer fans were a fan of the USWNT before they were fans of a club. In fact I think they think of the USWNT as their club. I am a fan with a passing interest…World Cup and maybe the odd match here or there. I wouldn't say I am going to make Olympic soccer appointment viewing this summer, and thanks to the decision not to suspend the NWSL season, I don't have to. Since soccer is a full year sport you are always going to have that balance between club and country soccer. Just give me my Racing with a few interruptions as possible. However, taken through the lens of an international first soccer lover, I can't imagine what the club schedule feels like when all they want to see is the USWNT. I guess I should be thankful that I am only mildly inconvenienced for a week or so. I guess the smartest (or dumbest depending on your slant) of us have great loyalty to both club and country. For now, Racing has all of my attention, but you never know.

Michael Shaw 6/6/21 Michael Shaw 6/6/21

United 1 Racing 0

The brutal tweet above won Twitter on the night, but Racing still fell to defeat against the Portland Thorns. It wasn’t a completely unexpected defeat, and I thought for the most part Racing played hard even if the stats didn't necessarily translate into reflecting the effort.

The Match

I want to start by taking about that 2nd goal. I don't like to blame the officials as a rule, and they weren't necessarily to blame here, but I think it warrants a closer look. Just before the attack leading to the second goal, Simon held the ball for what evidently she thought was a Racing throw in. Klingenburg quickly knocked the ball out of her hands and hurled it toward an open Horan who deftly crossed into the box where it found Rodriguez's boot and the back of the net. Simon was woefully out of position on this one, which likely contributed to the goal. I couldn't tell on the Twitch stream if the touchline official was slow to indicate the direction of the throw, but the lead official blew her whistle to indicate that Simon incorrectly assumed a Racing throw. I thought the official should have blown the whistle again when Klingenburg knocked the ball out of Simon’s hands, but what do I know. Regardless, this is why during pick up games I never let the opposing team immediately have a ball that I tracked down. I always toss it a few yards away. This is often jokingly referred to by me as “strategic bad sportsmanship”, but you can see what NOT doing it can lead to.

Racing once again lost the keys stat battles: possession (41%), completed passes (by over 130) and shots (28-4). These numbers look eerily similar to the last three matches, including the victory. I think against tough competition these are likely to be the norm. I don't think you can fix all of these at once, so I think Racing should focus on passing accuracy. This was a little bit better than past games at 77%, but in the upcoming games it needs to get better. Especially early in the games, Racing has needlessly given away possession by making unforced errors. It is tough for a young and inexperienced to stay composed all of the time, but is especially important early in the game. The mental approach that I would take, although it is probably hard for a professional athlete to do so, is that as soon as the whistle blows you already have something to protect…a draw. A point would have been a fantastic result last night, but Racing seemed like they were chasing the game from the start, and due to an early deflected goal they soon were. In the next match, I would like to see better ball possession and composure early. Being at home will surely help. All of that being said, the effort was still there and they could have given up at 2-0 or 3-0, but kept fighting. They had a travel nightmare as a built in excuse, but Racing never showed signs of being tired. It was an effort from which you can take some positives.

The second thing that needs to get better almost immediately is the number of shots per game. Even in the victory last month, Racing was woefully outshot. It's hard to shoot when you don't have the ball, so what I would like to see at home vs. Houston in a couple of weeks is sustained possessions lasting more than 30 seconds that ultimately end up in a shot. Easier said than done, but I feel like part of the problem is that Racing are rushed in possession. There is a difference between playing quickly and playing recklessly. Make the easy passes quicker, and save the riskier passes for the final third. I felt like in this game some of the misplaced passes happened when trying to play a risky pass to the middle third of the field when deep in Racing's own third.

Now is the time where I regularly praise Racing's captain for her fine performance. Was she ever fantastic last night. For many other countries in the world, she is keeper #1 on the national team. She is especially great for this team as she brings so much experience and her shot stopping skills will fill this season's highlight reel. I don't think any player performed poorly last night, but if Ekic isn't now a first choice forward, I would be shocked. I could see Salmon coming in for Kizer as well. Coach Holly will have decisions to make, but I think it will be more about a player winning a job rather than losing one.

The trip

More will surely come out over the next week about travel issues, but here are a few of my thoughts:

Almost everyone who regularly uses airlines to travel will run into a nightmare scenario like this at least once. Most of the issues are systemic breakdowns, or the combination of several things going wrong. It seems like everyone kept their chin up through the whole situation.
In case you missed it, the club arrived with at least 3 different experiences:
- Coach Holly and a few others arrived on time to Portland after leaving later than most of the team, without issue it seems.
- The largest contingency arrived a day late after spending the night in Houston.
- A last group spent the night in Houston and then flew to California before reaching Portland.
Racing's Twitter called out the offending airline. All airlines have problems and there are several that are way worse (Allegiant, flying out of Lexington is a roll of the dice at best), but the good news is that I think many of the remaining flights are direct and the next long flight isn't until a trip to OL Reign on July 31st.
Yuki's vlog this week could be a really good insight on how the team dealt with the travel. It's a must watch this week for sure.

Final Thoughts

I think a return to the friendly confines of “The Fam”, which I just coined, should be a welcome respite for the team (How isn’t Lynn Family Stadium “The Fam” in our vernacular yet?). With 3 games in seven days, I would like to see Racing pull at least 4 points from those.

By the way I also think our song should be “We Are Family” by Sister Sledge and not the song they played last victory, which I associate with darts coverage from England. Victory songs are quite odd. They often play the ghastly “Sweet Caroline” after Arsenal victories, so that sucks and the Red Sox used it first. I swore off attending any more Nashville Predators game due to the horrific Tim McGraw music they play after goals. They deserve to never win a game again. Oh well, I guess there just isn't any accounting for taste. However, your song should mean something (You’ll Never Walk Alone, right Liverpool fans?). During the travel issues I felt genuine concern for the team. Not that I worried for their safely, but it was the feeling you get as a parent when your child is dealing with a tough situation. This team is special because of what it means to city. It is THE top tier professional sports team in this city in my cognizant lifetime. They feel like more than a team. Plus what says family like a shared travel nightmare! Here’s to a song you can play win, lose or draw!

“We are family

I got all my sisters with me

We are family

Get up everybody and sing”

Michael Shaw 6/6/21 Michael Shaw 6/6/21

Sleepy thoughts and player ratings (Lou@Por)

It was another tough road loss with a few positives, so let's start with those:

Betos was great again. At no fault for the first two goals, and probably not much she could have done on the third.
After a rough start giving away possession too easily, the second half saw a more composed Racing team in possession.
Miramontez and Matthews see the field for the first time.
This team shows no signs of quitting. After a rough travel week, they could have phoned it in after the 2nd goal, but continued to fight.

I could list some negatives, but I don’t think I will tonight. I might consider some places for improvement in my post later today.

Ratings:

Betos (Woman of the match): 8 - Multiple highlight reel saves, and is building quite a reputation as a brick wall.

Fox: 6 - Some uncharacteristic give aways, and she could have done better on the third goal, but good in attack.

Riehl/Martin: 6 - I thought the centerback combo played well for the most part. Covered for each other well.

Simon: 6 - It was a mixed bag for her. She was out of position for the 2nd goal, but not convinced that was her fault. Several good defensive plays to keep Racing in the game early.

Olofsson: 6 - Struggled early and gave possession away clumsily a few times, but grew into the game and played much better as the game progressed.

Milliet: 7 - I didn't see her put a foot wrong, but was subbed off instead of Olofsson for Baucom.

Ekic: 6 - To my eyes, has won the starting forward job over McClure.

McCaskill: 7 - Another solid night for her and she was all over the field.

Kizer/Nagasato: 5 - Not really given much service, so there wasn't much to do.

Subs: NR - Baucom was on the longest, but see the previous rating. McClure didn't have her best night early, but did better in the latter stages.

More coming later today.

Michael Shaw 6/4/21 Michael Shaw 6/4/21

Well, it would've been, could've been worse than you would ever know

I wrote this before discovering Racing's travel misadventures. This song is hilariously relevant even more now. The first line of Modest Mouse's Dashboard serves as the title for my pre-match thoughts for this week. I'm not great at deciphering lyrics, but the overall theme of the song is finding the positives in a bad situation. Racing Louisville FC takes on the monumental task of traveling to Providence Park to face 2021 Challenge Cup winners, the Portland Thorns. I have to say that the numbers don't look good.

A Bad Situation

Here's a quick rundown of the reality facing Coach Holly's team this week:

The Thorns have the leagues 2nd best possession numbers at 55.1%. Racing is dead last in the league at 43.5%.
Portland leads the league in xG (expected goals) overall with 1.86/ game and at home with 2.12/game.
The Thorns lead the league in goals/ game with 2.0 compared to Racing's 0.7.
As for shots on goal, I’m sure you will not be shocked to learn that Racing's opponent once again leads the league with 8.8/game compared to 1.7 for Louisville.

The Positives

“Oh, the dashboard melted, but we still have the radio”… The second line of Modest Mouse's Dashboard provides a little hope in the face of impending doom. Here are some potential positives that could help Louisville weather the potential storm in Portland:

Michelle Betos has been great in goal and is 2nd in the league at 6 saves/ game. Portland's keeper, Adrianna Franch only has had to make 1.7 saves/game. However, this uber-athelic keeper for the USWNT is unlikely to make too many errors. Maybe Racing can catch her on a poor night.
Providence Park will soon open up to 80% capacity, but Racing will be a bit lucky to only face an estimated 6,300 fans.
The Thorns, for all of their dominant stats, have scored only one goal in each of their last three games.
Also to make things worse, as I type this at 11:20 am on Friday, the team is stuck at the Houston airport. Some of the staff including Coach Holly decided to fly in later and are now in Portland without their team.

“Now here we go”

With all of that being said, here are the keys for Racing to get a point or three this week:

Weather the first 20 minutes. This is absolutely critical for any road team facing an aggressive and talented team. If Racing can keep it dull and boring for those first 20 minutes, there is a chance to silence the home crowd and gain their footing in the match.
Do not concede more than a goal in the first half. I fear that a 2 goal lead may be too much to overcome for Racing. Even a 2-1 deficit at halftime may be a bridge too far. I know this seems counterintuitive, but a 1-0 deficit sometimes makes the team with the lead chase that 2nd goal a tad aggressively. At 2-1, the team with the lead knows their opponent is dangerous enough to score, having done so already.
A player or two needs to put in an outstanding performance. I believe this one might be more possible than it appears at first glance. Gemma Bonner and Ebony Salmon are going to walk into the team's starting eleven pretty soon after the international break. That means 2 players are going to lose their starting roles. One of the center backs and probably one of the forwards will soon be on the bench. There should be plenty of motivation to perform well on Saturday. Also, after the international break Racing has 3 games in 7 days. Coach Holly will have to rotate, so the players not in the normal starting eleven are going to get a chance to show what they bring to the team. A bad performance on Saturday could doom you to the bench for a while, so I expect full effort from all eleven players. I asked Coach Holly about rotation during the Friday afternoon press conference, and he said that the increased competition for spots could only help the team and hinted a bit towards rotation.

“Well we scheme, and we scheme, but we always blow it”

As for a prediction…I am terrible at those, so I will give you a hopeful projection of what might happen, and then a realistic one. I guess those are still predictions…oh well.

If Racing can go into halftime at 0-0 or 1-1, there is a chance to snatch and grab victory late. If they are down 1-0 at half they might grab a point late. Optimisticly I am going to say Racing gets a draw that feels like a win.

However if I'm realistic I think we'll see a one goal defeat and say “Well, it would've been, could've been worse than you would ever know.”

Michael Shaw 6/3/21 Michael Shaw 6/3/21

Know Your Foe (with Grant Little from Stumptown Footy)

I got a Sophia Smith card in one of my NSWL Trading Card Packs. Is she the one to watch? Courtesy of Parkside Cards — *I got a Sophia Smith card in one of my NSWL Trading Card Packs. Is she the one to watch?*
*Courtesy of Parkside Cards*

Grant Little from Stumptown Footy was kind enough to give me his thoughts on the Matchup between Racing and the Portland Thorns on Saturday, June 5th at…ugh 10:30 EDT. Take a mid-afternoon nap Racing fans!

Congrats on the Challenge Cup Victory. Any piece of silverware is always welcome, but I imagine the ultimate goal is to win the league. How realistic is that for the Thorns this year?

The team has been pretty candid in all of their press conferences that they want to win every competition that they play in. It was their goal to win the Challenge Cup which they did. Now they will turn their head to the race for the NWSL Shield which they will also strive to win. But the Thorns’ ultimate objective will be to win the NWSL Championship for the first time since Lindsey Horan’s goal delivered the title in 2017.

I believe fans are back at Providence Park. What are your attendance expectations this year?

Providence Park is allowing 25% capacity at the moment. Usually the stadium holds 25,218 but the max capacity under the current restrictions is just above 6,300. Hopefully, the number of fans allowed at the stadium increases as the season progresses and more people get vaccinated, but even with 6,300 the Thorns fans have made their presence felt.

On May 1, Merritt Paulson (Timbers/Thorns owner) tweeted that there will be a big announcement about stadium plans coming this week so the capacity may be increased for the match on Saturday.

With this being an Olympics year, how many players are you expecting the Thorns to lose for the those games and do you feel like there is enough depth on the team to cover absences?

It’s logical to plan for the absence of Christine Sinclair, Crystal Dunn, Lindsey Horan and Becky Sauerbrunn. All of those players should be locks for their respective national teams. The only real question is whether Sophia Smith and Adrianna Franch will be called up to the U.S. Women’s National Team. Personally, I think it is unlikely Smith makes the 18-player roster, considering the amount of experienced attacking talent at Vlatko Andonovski’s disposal, but she has played well for the Thorns and in her brief minutes for the USWNT. There is a possibility she makes the roster but I think there is a greater chance of her being listed as an alternate for the U.S.

Franch may make the roster, she may be an alternate or she might not make either. Franch was recently called up for the first time since the 2020 SheBelieves Cup so it may be a case of having too little time to sneak on to the roster. But two keepers will make the roster and one will be listed as an alternate and she was one of the three keepers called up, which should be a good sign for Franch’s chances of being part of the USWNT that travels to Japan.

The Thorns definitely have enough depth to succeed without their international stars. Obviously, it is impossible to replace the likes of Sinclair, Dunn, Horan and Sauerbrunn but the Thorns showed they can stick to their identity and get results without these players at the beginning of the Challenge Cup.

Morgan Weaver, Celeste Boureille, Marissa Everett, Rocky Rodriguez and Tyler Lussi, among many others, stepped up to help the Thorns get the three points vs. Kansas City and an away win against the Chicago Red Stars without these players. The Thorns have a distinct style and will stick to it regardless of who lines up. They may not have as much of the ball during the Olympic stretch but they will retain much of their backline and forwards and have dangerous pieces they can slide into the midfield to replace the internationals. Also, Bella Bixby demonstrated her quality in the 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup and will be able to step into goal if Franch is called up.

Six points from twelve is a decent start, but not great. What will be the keys to finishing at the top or in one of the prime playoff positions?

The team has been really disappointed about their start. Yes, they have two wins but the two losses hurt, especially considering that they played pretty well during the two matches but were undone due to the oppositions’ efficiency with few chances and the Thorns lack of efficiency despite having more chances and more of the ball.

The keys for finishing in the top two for the race for the Shield will come down to a few things. The Thorns need to limit mistakes that gift the opposition quality chances in transition, especially in their own final third. We saw this come back to bite the Thorns in both of their regular season losses.

Portland also needs to be better in front of goal. The Thorns have outperformed everyone they have played in xG(expected goals). The Thorns are creating the opportunities they need to win games but have been hesitant or have tried to be too precise in front of goal. If the Thorns improve in the final third I think it will spell trouble for the rest of the league.

Finally, the Portland Thorns will need to manage the Olympics. Players will need to step up when the internationals are gone and Mark Parsons will have to figure out how to reintegrate the internationals after the Olympics. The Thorns will also have to manage extra matches. They are hosting the Women’s International Champions Cup which will make them play two more matches than every other team in the league except Houston, who is also participating in the tournament. (Editor’s note: Racing and the Red Stars have 2 extra games at well through The Women’s Cup. Reserve you tickets today!)

Despite potentially missing up to six players during the Olympics, I think that period could prove crucial to the Thorns’ success. They are one of the deepest, most talented teams in the league and I believe they can consistently get results during the Olympic period whereas other teams may struggle more without their internationals.

To whom do Racing fans really need to pay special attention during the match?

There are so many players to pick from and as soon as you focus on one player another international superstar could step up and make you pay. That being said, I have to go with Sophia Smith. Horan, Sinclair and Dunn usually take the headlines and Dunn scored a wonderful goal and played her best match of the season against NJ/NY Gotham FC. However, I thought Smith was the player of the match in Red Bull Arena.

Smith was very unlucky not to score in the match. Despite this, she constantly tormented Gotham’s flank. She has the ability to beat players off the dribble, get in behind, hold-up play and can finish expertly. Smith is growing into this Thorns side and I don’t think it will be long until she is scoring for fun and getting regular starts for the USWNT.

What's your score prediction for the game this Saturday?

I think the Thorns will benefit from finally having some rest after this stretch of three matches in eight days. It will also give the team more time to diagnose what has gone wrong during that period and attempt to remedy it. Because of all of this, in addition to the match being at Providence Park, I’ll predict a 2-0 win for the Thorns courtesy of goals from Sinclair and Smith.

Thanks again to Grant. You can follow Stumptown Footy on Twitter @StumptownFooty or Grant personally @grantlittle09.

Michael Shaw 6/2/21 Michael Shaw 6/2/21

Can we Talk? (With Benton from Vamos Morados)

*Photo by Anne Evans Courtesy of Racing Louisville FC*

Each week Fleur-de-lis-FC will talk to someone who follows Racing FC in some capacity. This week, Benton from Vamos Morados joins me for a chat.

FDLFC: At the end of the 2nd week Racing were at the top of the league. They currently sit 9th, but tied for 4th on points. What is a reasonable expectation for the team this year?

Benton: Being an expansion side is an enormous uphill battle and has historically resulted in the new team hovering at the bottom of the table. In 2014, the Houston Dash finished last with only five wins and in 2016 the Orlando Pride finished their first season ninth (out of ten teams) with six wins. Realistically, I don’t expect Racing Louisville to be far from those performances. It a tough pill to swallow but asking for them to end up in the top half of the table is likely not feasible. Closer to the bottom is more likely and that hurts to type. With that said, I am optimistic about the vision for the team constructed by Coach Holly and James O’Connor as well as some of their early performances. If pressed for a prediction, I’d say they will land in seventh. This squad is capable of a few upsets, especially at home in Lynn Family Stadium.

FDLFC: Since the sixth club makes the playoffs this year, I think that should be the goal. I looked back over the NWSL standings from previous years and there were a couple of times that the 6th and 7th team were equal on Points. I know it's early, but do you think Racing should have done a little more damage limitation against NC knowing that Goal Difference could be a potential tie breaker?

Benton: I believe that Coach Holly deployed what he believed to be the best eleven as well as his ideal tactical setup. Unfortunately, I don’t believe there was much that could have been done to stop the bleed. Racing faced a top team, with their full roster, firing on all cylinders. As an expansion team, this was bound to happen. This will be a huge learning opportunity for the young team and a source of motivation in upcoming matches. They can see what went wrong in film review and adjust their strategy going forward or work to execute their plan better. That goal differential could come back to hurt Racing but there is still plenty of time to make up for that bad night.

FDLFC: If you've read my post about the last match, then you know that I am a big fan of using a back three when you might be the less talented team. With Gemma Bonner coming in, do you think there is any chance that Coach Holly changes formation now that his best eleven might change? I know a formation change isn't easy especially mid season, but to my eyes Racing has been exposed on the counter, and has been really susceptible to switches in play. What are you seeing on the defensive side of things?

Benton: During one of the Zoom call’s with Coach Holly shortly after being introduced as head coach, I asked him about formation and tactics. He stated that he is a fan of a back three formation but didn’t see it in Racing’s immediate future. I’d venture to guess that we likely won’t see that this season and will instead opt for the team to become more adept with their current strategy (but you never know). Gemma Bonner will certainly help and at a bare minimum provide Coach Holly with more options on the backline, however, I am personally a bit more concerned with the midfield and possession than defense. They are not winning the possession battle and keeping the ball out of their half. Too much pressure and defensive mistakes are bound to happen. Racing can’t expect Michelle Betos to put on a performance like she in their first win. Find a way to control the game a little more and I think there will be more offensive opportunities and a little less defensive pressure (easier said than done though).

FDLFC: Fair enough. To change the subject a bit, have you been paying attention to the NSWL Trading Cards market? I think all of the cards in Louisville sold out on the first day and now the packs that go for $9.99 retail are going for two to three times that on eBay. The creators of the cards, Parkside Cards have also sold out on the website. There seems to be a built-in rabid appetite for products and content. Are you at all surprised?

Benton: Yes, I am a bit surprised at the recent boom in the trading card market. I didn’t expect something that has been around for as long as trading cards to experience the same level of investment by consumers as cryptocurrencies and NTFs. I am happy that the NWSL was able to get into the action at the right time. It's disappointing that some of these cards are falling into the hands of individuals trying to make a quick buck rather than actual fans of the NWSL. Anything the league can do to expand their exposure will help them grow.

FDLFC: Do you have any thoughts about this week's match with Portland? Care to make a prediction?

Benton: Away at Portland has all the making for another long night. They were the 2021 Challenge Cup winners and are the second-best team in the league according to FiveThirtyEight. The thought of trying to contain Christine Sinclair, Canada’s all-time leading goal scorer, makes me nervous. I’m going to guess this match will not be as bad as the NC match. Thorns win 3-1 with Yuki finding the back of the net for Racing.

Thanks again Benton. Benton is contributing writer for The Beautiful Game Network. Check out Benton’s site VamosMorados.com and follow him on Twitter @PurpleSDF.

Michael Shaw 6/1/21 Michael Shaw 6/1/21

What did I just watch?!?! (A guide to Yuki’s Racing Vlog.2 -Week3)

My terrible attempt at a painted logo. I am not an artist, but Yuki is.

For those of you unfamiliar (although if you’re reading this I can’t imagine who that might be), Yuki Nagasoto has her own YouTube Channel. It seems like she posts regularly and the content (at least in English) I can vouch for as being very entertaining. This week she posted a vlog on the trip to Cary, NC. Let’s check into Yuki and her teammates world…

0:10 - Yuki asks obviously the most influential figure in Louisville, Emina Ekic if she can do something about the lack of direct flights at Muhammad Ali International Airport. I did a little checking, and many of their future destinations will have direct flights: Orlando, Houston, NYC, Washington DC, and Chicago. However, I imagine the next trip (Portland) may be even a bit longer to endure. Better bring plenty to do on the plane. Having not flown in a while I was made aware that not all airlines are serving alcohol during flights. In fact Southwest just extended a ban on alcohol on flights. Come on people, behave yourselves! Nobody wants to be on an airplane for over 2 hours stone cold sober. I imagine our players abstain prior to the game regardless. If Emina can use her magic powers to increase the number of direct flights, I would be in favor of a direct flight to San Francisco.

0:40 - Babies! Aren’t they cute and so well behaved on the plane? I can’t imagine what it must be like to be a professional athlete with a young child. Well, they are in better shape than the rest of us, so maybe that gives them an advantage. I recently babysat a toddler. He was delightful, but it reminded me of why toddlers are the world’s greatest birth control measure, especially for those of us whose kids are much older.

0:59 - Queen Patch? I’ve got nothing on that one…Betos looks like all business, but does give a little smile.

1:15 - I feel distinctly unqualified to comment on the utterance made at the beginning of this section…best not to comment at all. The team seems relaxed during the team meeting. I hope they figured out how to arrange the chairs.

2:15 - “No Paparazzi, please!” This does beg the question, how much are the players getting recognized around town? To be completely honest, I am still putting names with faces. I think I should probably come up with a set up flash cards to make my game recaps better. I hate to rely strictly on the numbers.

2:26 - There is an Orlando City/Orlando Pride Pub in the Orlando Airport. What an awesome idea. Emina should wave her magic wand and get us a Racing Louisville themed pub at our wonderful airport! On second thought…why not a chain if we’re using magic.

2:39 - “Is he sleeping?” Yuki discovers The Traveler by Duane Hanson (1986). This piece used to be fully exposed, but is now encased in glass because so many people touched it. I am sure this adds to the confusion.

2:53 - “Don’t say that!” Neely Martin utters けつの穴, which phonetically is ketsu no ana. Uh…this is probably a reference to the famous shirt. It’s somewhat reassuring to see that when every generation learns a new language they start with the swear words.

3:15 Assistant Coach Gary Curneen shows off his keepie uppie skills. I am terrible at keepie uppie. My personal record might be 7 seconds. The current world record is 26 hours held by Dan Magness of England.

3:38 - The famous shirt makes its appearance on the vlog. Gary continues to run the team through the paces, as he wrote the book on training…literally.

4:15 - “How do you like Gary? Comments Pls.” I think Gary looks like a fine coach and the team looks ready to prepare hard for next week’s game at the Portland Thorns.

4:45 - It’s the Racing Louisville FC merchandise truck. Does it have a song to play like the ice cream truck to alert us when it’s in the neighborhood?

I rather enjoyed the vlog. If I missed something of note, you can add any additional insights by leaving a comment or connecting with me on twitter…@FleurdelisFC1.

Michael Shaw 5/31/21 Michael Shaw 5/31/21

The Lull

Win, lose or draw there is always an anticipation for the next game. If you win, you want to ride that momentum. If you draw, there is an eagerness to fine tune and make that little bit of difference that could result in a win. If you lose, stepping back onto the practice field to get ready for the next game is all you can think about. Well at least that's what I think it would be like. I never played competitively, and have only played pick up games for about 10 years.

For fans, there is also usually a full week to obsess, agonize, and theorize about the next match on the schedule. My goal with this site is to (hopefully) fill that terrible void between matches. I am starting to formulate a schedule in my head where there is new content on the site 4 or 5 times per week to help with “The Lull” between games. I hopefully will have a surprise or two up my sleeve in the coming weeks so stay tuned.

Michael Shaw 5/29/21 Michael Shaw 5/29/21

What can you learn from a 5-0 defeat?

Three is a magic number . Yes, it is, it’s a magic number…

You can learn from a lopsided defeat, but I think you can learn more from a trend.

A quick perusal of the basic stats from Racing’s 7 games so far showed me some things that I expected, and some things that I didn’t. I was certain that Racing had lost the possession battle in all of their games, but they actually won the possession battle (albeit narrowly) in 2 of their draws: Home to Orlando 2-2 (51%) and Home to KC 0-0 (51%). In the previous game against NC at home, a 2-3 defeat, Racing had 48% possession. The Road paints a different picture. Washington (44%), Gotham (45%) and NC (39%) all road games show Racing struggling to hold possession away from home. The warning signs were also there in the 2-0 win vs Washington where they held possession for just 40% of the time.

The passing numbers in those games are even worse. Racing was out passed by 108 at Washington in the Challenge Cup, 101 by Gotham in the same competition, 165 in the victory against Washington, and 171 last night against NC. On the year Racing has been outshot by opponents 129-65. Those are the numbers.

However, you can’t just look at the numbers, you have to take into account what you see on the pitch. Here is the part where I remind you that I am not a soccer coach and very well may not have any idea what I am talking about. On the other hand…I have watched a lot of soccer. I also probably need to disclose a couple of other things about myself:

I am a huge Arsenal FC fan
I find club soccer much more compelling that international soccer

You may ask yourself what these two facts might have to do with anything, but let me assure you that they are important. Arsenal is (typically…ugh these last couple of years have been rough) one of the historically better teams in the English Premier League, but also haven’t been THE best in quite some while. What this means is that against weaker teams their tactics quite often look different than when they set up against Liverpool, Chelsea, or Man City. Beyond that, they quite often set up differently at home vs. on the road vs. these teams. Take Chelsea for example. Chelsea play in the Champions League final today, and have had a much better season that Arsenal. In fact they have had Arsenal’s number for quite some time in the league, but Arsenal defeated them twice this year (H 3-1, A 0-1). That second victory is the important one in this context, but more on that later.

The second fact is more of an insight about me I think. I find international soccer to be played with a different intensity than club soccer, at least in the qualifying and group stages of competitions. That isn’t a positive or a negative, just an observation. This is important because the league season in a grind. The level of competition can vary greatly at the international level, and let’s be honest here…the US Women’s National Team are bullies. I don’t mean that in a negative way, but in the way that means that they tend to dictate style and tempo through force and a talent gap sometimes. Theoretically in a league competition, the teams should be closer in skill and talent level with a pretty important distinction…an expansion team. Now that you know those two things about me, you can take or leave my analysis based on those or any other factor.

I promise to keep the digressions to a minimum (bar one important one) for the rest of this post.

I say all of this to frame up a brutal reality. Racing Louisville FC are going to be the second best team on the pitch several times this year. They won’t be able to dictate tempo. This shouldn’t be breaking news, but it still stings a little bit to type those words. That is why it is important to know who you are.

I attended the first NC game in person with my daughter. She played soccer a bit growing up, but isn’t what I would call a huge fan. However, she was there and heard (or completely ignored…which is her right) my commentary on the game. Here is what I saw in that 2-3 defeat.

NC loved to attack down the left
Racing was too narrow in defense, especially on the counter attack

So, going into last night’s game I wondered if Racing would set up any differently. The answer to that was a disappointing NOPE! The formation was 4-3-3 and they got run off the field. I thought NC was most dangerous when they used the width of the field, especially on the left side. A couple of times there seemed to be no Racing player on the right-hand defending/left-hand attacking side in the last third of the pitch. Any switch of possession from right to left was exposed.

With all of the items I stated above I want to congeal my thoughts into these basics facts

Racing is a team that struggles to hold possession, especially on the road
Racing is a team that get frequently gets out passed by 100 passes/game
Racing is a team that gets out shot 2 to 1

Now how do you combat this? I don’t have definitive answer, but many things have been tried and some quite successfully.

Concede possession and “park the bus”: For those unfamiliar with the term, parking the bus basically is a derogatory term for having a purely defensive mindset, mostly to protect a lead or a point. Jose Mourinho’s teams used to be that master at this. There are two very glaring negatives: A) your team almost always needs to score first and B) It is like watching paint dry. Stoke City in their stint in the Premier league was a stubbornly negative team, but they did grind out a lot of draws and a few wins and avoided relegation for quite some time. I was delighted when they finally were.
Have an unbalanced formation: Racing needs help on the right defensive side, so theoretically Christy Holly could give his RB some extra cover on that side by employing a second MF to cheat to the right side. While this has been tried a few times, I can’t recall any team using it more than a one or two off situation.
A Back 3: To my eyes this is a solution that I would at least like to see attempted. Several teams play consistently with 3 Center Backs and a Left and Right Winger. Back to my final digression. Arsenal defeated Chelsea 0-1 this year at Stamford Bridge using a back 3 and in the 2020 FA Cup using a back 3. The 0-1 victory this year was really only notable for 2 reasons. The first was that Chelsea gifted Arsenal a hilarious goal, and secondly that Chelsea never really got close to scoring until they added extra attackers at the end of the game.

Here is what I think a back 3 would do for Racing:

You create defensive width naturally by having an extra CB on the field. The CBs have specific sections of the field to cover and the LCB and RCB have natural support from the Left and Right Wings (or Left and Right Backs if you like it stated that way).
You free up Emily Fox to attack even more. Emily would still have plenty of defensive work to do, but in attack she would be able to push even further forward with 3 CBs vs 2.
Guess who is coming to town! I don’t know much about Gemma Bonner yet other than she is an England International and she is a central defender. Slot her into a back three and give it a try.

I believe Racing is going to have to embrace being a counter attacking team, at least on the road. A change in formation would greatly help that.

I look forward to the 4-3-3 set up against Portland…

Michael Shaw 5/28/21 Michael Shaw 5/28/21

Racing @ NC Courage Player Ratings and Instant Analysis

The good news is that NWSL Official Cards are out…

Well there was bound to be a game or two like this during the season…

Congrats to the Courage for what I thought was a well played game by them, especially in the 2nd half. Racing seemed a bit off the pace from the beginning of the game and despite a decent spell in the later stages of the 1st half, tonight just wasn’t their night. It’s difficult to know how tough to be on the players from a rating perspective for a game like this. With dishonesty being the second best policy I guess you know where that leaves us.

Before we get to the player ratings, a few things I noticed:

LEFT, LEFT, LEFT! The Courage sure loved to attack down the left. If this was a surprise to anyone, they must not have watched the Challenge Cup match against NC. They did also find success down the right…once Fox was taken off in the 86th minute.
The Courage are a really good side. I was super impressed with Williams (above), Mewis (of course), Debinha (duh!) and Pickett.
Racing will have to find that fine balance between playing quickly and staying composed. It’s a fine line to walk. Tonight I was satisfied with the speed of play, but disappointed in the passing accuracy and composure.
When you allow 5 goals it’s hard to give much credit to the defense. To my (obviously uneducated) eyes I thought the problems were more around positioning and discipline than effort. The effort was there and the other things are coachable. It was a bit worrying that I saw the same issues in the previous game vs. the Courage.
Ratings (out of 10):
GK: Betos - Could really do nothing about any of the goals. Did have an uncharacteristic spill on a save in the 3rd minute.
Rating: 6
RB: Simon - There will surely be great games for her in this uniform, but this wasn’t one of them. Continually beaten for pace and out of position on several occasions. Could have used more help
Rating: 4
CB: Riehl - Had a good interception or two. Most of the inside out play left her blameless for the goals
Rating: 5
CB: Hendrix - Had a nice tackle in the sixth minute. See above.
Rating: 5
LB: Fox - Was dangerous in attack, and most of the attack for NC seemed to go down the opposite side of the field while she was on the pitch. Easy to see why she was the #1 overall draft pick in this year’s draft.
Rating: 7
MF: Milliet - Didn’t do Simon any favors. Subbed off at the same time.
Rating: 4
MF: Ollofsson - Had a really good first half, but as the middle of the field opened up late she disappeared a bit.
Rating: 5
MF: McCaskill - Feisty, and quick on the ball. She didn’t linger in possession as much as she did in the previous games. If Racing were ever going to score, it was going to come through her. Hit a cracking effort late that was a yard or so wide. Worked her legs to death. Her best effort in a Racing uniform so far.
Rating (Woman of the Match): 8
LW: Yuki - Fought really hard and showed good toughness. Not given much service.
Rating: 6
RW: McClure - Unfortunately rather anonymous…subbed off early.
Rating: 5
F: Cece - Wasn’t given much to do, but still worked hard.
Rating: 6
Subs: Ekic (53’) - 6 /Martin (53’) had a slip that led to the second goal - 5/ Baucom - NR/Kara - NR

Michael Shaw 5/27/21 Michael Shaw 5/27/21

Welcome to Fleur de lis FC

This is the first post. I hope it will be the first of many posts. I am new to blogging, running a website, and many of the other technical things that make an idea that seems simple, actually quite complex. However, there has to be a first post and this is it. Hopefully other posts will be more insightful, relevant and useful.

The idea behind this website is really simple. It is a fan blog. I will post about Racing Louisville FC. Some of the posts will be news related. Some of the posts will be one person’s opinion on the games and other activities around the club. Some of the posts I’m sure will be digressions.

Hopefully they won’t be as boring as this one.