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Can we talk? (with Ellie Hurley)
September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. If you are reading this blog then you surely know Ellie's story. If not, you can catch up here. Ellie is a great example of how sports can give hope and how to persevere. I sent a list of questions to Ellie's mom, Morgan to get some insight into how Racing's biggest fan feels about the team and the season. See Morgan's self-described “mom notes” in parentheses.
What has been your favorite Racing memory so far this year?
“Gorp!! And the women’s cup… since we won it!! And meeting Michelle and Yuki and Cece and of course Nadia and Jorian”
If you could go to any away game, which city would you like to visit and why?
“Paris! I’ve been wanting to go to Paris for a looooong time. If I can’t go to Paris, I think Chicago. They have lots of museums and stuff and I’d like to see Mallory Pugh again” (she then sang a song she made up for her). Ed. Note: I hope we get to hear that song one day.
I saw that you recently started playing soccer. Do you try to play like any specific player?
“I crow hop like Michelle, and I try to kick it out like Savannah but I don’t slide. When I’m a defender I’m a mix of Emily and Erin without the falling. I jump around a lot and try to move the ball mostly” (She’s referring to Erin falling in a few games in a row)
You got to attend the Women's Cup reception at the Muhammad Ali Center. What was your favorite part of that event?
“Gorp!!! That’s the day I met Gorp! I liked seeing the players too. They all talked to me and were really nice, but I always talk to them after the games. Michelle said the most ‘bad butt’ part was my armband” Ed Note: “I giggled way too much at the thought of Michelle saying “bad butt”.
(I’m sure Michelle used a different phrase)
What has been your favorite class in school this year?
“Science of course”
Do you have a favorite piece of Racing merchandise?
“My hat that everyone has signed and the scarf that everyone signed too”
Do you think Racing should have a mascot?
“We already have a mascot… Gorp” Ed. Note: I guess I walked right into that one.
Do you have a favorite non-Racing player?
“Mallory Pugh, Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe”
What other things do you like to do other than watch or play soccer?
“Spending time with my mommy, watch UK football, read my books, go to the comic book store.”
Racing have 8 more matches this year, how many do you think they will win?
“I want them to win all of them, but I’m gonna say at least 4 and not get out of my head”
Thanks again to Ellie for answering my questions and Morgan for transcribing her answers. Help fight pediatric cancer by donating to their favorite charity DanceBlue.
The Way Forward
One of the dumbest and utterly untrue statements that I have heard repeatedly in my professional career is “It doesn't matter who you report to.” This is usually given as a reason not to get upset when a boss leaves or there is a reorganization. I think corporations have maybe stopped using this so much recently, because times have changed. I have had dozens of bosses over the years and I can't think of anything more important when it comes to your job. Sometimes you get a great boss that you didn't sign up for and sometimes you get a terrible one that you did sign up for. All of this is to say is that your relationship with your leader matters a great deal.
Coach Christy Holly is no longer the leader of Racing Louisville FC on the field. There are probably some players happy to see him leave and some that are sad. It's hard to know what the players are thinking right now, but we know that Coach Holly was instrumental in getting several current players to sign with Racing. In fact, I’m sure he had a say in all of the roster decisions. Better writers and reporters will dig into the “why”, so I want to talk about the “what now?”
Sometimes clubs have a rigid philosophy. I’m not sure I like that. I think it's fine for a coach or organization to have a general philosophy about how they want to play in the short term, but times change. In fact I reject the idea of “the way we do things”. Appeal to tradition is a logical fallacy in which a person or people claim that just because something is tradition, it is the correct way forward. In short, it's the fallacy of “that's the way we've always done it.” Even though LouCity/Racing hasn't been around that long it's easy to fall into this behavior, especially if your highest leadership doesn't change much or all come from the same philosophical background.
I don't know how things run at the club. I have no real insight or access into the day to day. That's OK. The problem is that nobody does. The organization does what organizations do: they try to control the message. They have every right to do this. We as fans have every right to question their motivation when they do. We may never know exactly what happened that cost Coach Holly his job. I’m not sure that we even deserve to know. What we do deserve is an explanation on what the club will do to make sure whatever happened doesn't happen again. Part of that explanation I want to hear is how the club is changing to prevent history repeating itself. Let's be honest here. The NWSL has a coaching problem. How does Racing ensure that they expand the hiring pool to include better candidates and we just don't get more of the same? We'll be watching.
Dash 1 Racing 0 Post Match Thoughts
Courtesy ISI Photos
Racing fell to the Houston Dash last night, and that loss surely eliminated any real hopes Racing had of making the playoffs this year. I personally don't think that loss was attributed to anything more than Houston making the best of their opportunities and simply not creating enough opportunities on the Racing side. Sometimes the analysis is as simple as that. In the grand scheme of things, this will be a rather forgettable performance. It will be one of those matches for which I will struggle to recall any details after the season is over. Keeping this in mind, I think it is more interesting to start to wildly speculate about the remainder of the season.
The major thing I have noticed this month is Emily Fox's playing time. She has been subbed out of 3 of the 6 league matches in August and didn't play at all in the Women's Cup Final. I don’t think it is a stretch to think of Fox as Racing's most reliable player, if not their best one. I don't think any of these substitutions have had anything to do with performance, so I believe there are 2 possibilities for her usage this month. The first one is obvious…rotation. I believe this is part of it. August was full of matches and no player needed to or actually played all 90 minutes in each match. Fox completed 90 minutes 3 times in August, so she got plenty of work. The second possibility is that Coach Holly is trying to evaluate his other defensive options at Left Back. Julia Ashley has played at both Left and Right Back, and Erin Simon has picked up minutes there too. With nothing left to lose the remainder of the season I wonder if Coach Holly is thinking about shifting Fox to a midfield role.
I personally think Fox would be most effective in a 3-5-2 formation as the left winger, or as a left sided midfielder in a 4-2-3-1 formation. Racing doesn't have the CBs yet to play with 3 at the back, or at least enough healthy ones. I think a 4-2-3-1 formation might be a better fit for more than just Fox. Here are the players that I think would benefit from the switch:
Fox: Emily could use her passing and dribbling skills more in the middle of the field and actually flow in and out of the attack more deceptively from a midfield position. Her defensive skills could also be used just as much in the middle of the pitch as on the outside.
McCaskill: Savannah is Racing's engine. She runs the team. She often drops deep and picks up the ball in the defensive third and attacks in the final third just as effectively. The NWSL is used to seeing her in more of an attacking role and almost every time I watch the Twitch/Paramount Plus commentary someone brings this up. I think McCaskill is good enough to play anywhere on the field but some midfield help would let he play higher up the pitch where she wouldn't have to expend so much energy on defense, which I personally think sometimes makes her attacking prowess suffer. The other thing this would do is that is would not allow opponents to focus so much on Savannah and lock her down.
Nadim: To my eyes Nadim is a 10 and not a 9. She doesn't need service to be creative. She is the smoothest player on the pitch. That's what you want out of a number 10. You want equal parts passing and shooting. To me she is just at good in the middle of the pitch as the final third. She also likes to drop deep to pick up the ball. It would be nice if when she did that she had a passing option further up the pitch.
Salmon: Ebony has looked a little isolated when playing out wide and I think she is more effective when she gets the ball supplied to her vs. having to attack from out wide. She is most effective when she can get a shot off in 3 touches or less.
Here is what this formation would look like:
It would potentially weaken the wing defense, but if you picture Fox sliding over to help Simon and Olofsson sliding over to help Ashley, I think it could work.
I don’t know if Racing's staff will try a formation like this, but I think it may be time to experiment a bit with the focus toward next year. I think Racing will use the rest of the season to evaluate talent and look for the biggest areas needed for improvement in the draft.
Dash 1 Racing 0 Player Ratings
Courtesy ISI Photos
Racing were beaten by an excellent goal, but some of the old habits are creeping back in. Racing's style of play seems to be dictated philosophically at the executive level. I would like to see a few more direct attacks vs. the over passing that you see in possession many times. Racing plays best when they are direct, regardless of whether it is a 10 pass move or a coordinated high press which forces a mistake. Their lack of a cutting edge showed very much tonight.
Betos-6: Same old Betos. Stopped plenty, but nothing to do on the goal.
Fox-7: Curiously subbed early. Was good while in.
Martin-7: Played well in 2 positions.
Riehl-6: Made a few odd decisions playing the ball into pressure unnecessarily.
Ashley-7: I thought she had a good game, but was nursing an injury so only got 53 minutes.
McCaskill-7: I don't know why the NWSL commentators want to focus on what she isn't doing vs. what she is doing, which is being the engine that runs the team.
Milliet-6: Looked lively early. Subbed off in the 65th minute.
Olofsson-6: Recovered from a poor performance with a solid one.
Kizer-7: Just couldn't quite find the right last touch or pass to unlock the defense.
Nadim-7 (Player of the Match): In another puzzling bit of commentary on Paramount Plus, she was criticized for…well I couldn't quite say actually. I guess it was for not playing as a natural 9? Anyway had a shot on goal and a great cross on Racing's best scoring chance.
Ekic-5: Anonymous, and I wonder if this will be her last shot starting for awhile.
Quick Preview: Dash v Racing
I’m a little late posting a preview for tonight's match vs. The Houston Dash, so I will keep the preview short and sweet. The Dash are in a group of teams fighting for a playoff spot with about 5 other teams. All of these teams are capable of winning or losing any match. Houston being the home team tonight should give them a slight edge. Zach Allen-Kelly predicted “pain" for tonight's match in our predictions column for the State of Louisville. He is also a terrible prognosticator, so we won't read much into that. I expect a bounce back performance tonight with Racing getting at least a point.
One thing to watch for will be the starting XI. Coach Holly has either made wholesale changes or none at all (barring a replacement for injury). It would be nice to see how this team looks with 2 to 4 changes. There may be a chance to see that tonight. I predicted earlier this week that we might see a full NWSL debut for Katie Lund tonight, which would be fun. Racing will be without Miramontez on the bench due to her red card, so look for at least one difference in the roster vs. Wednesday.
A Look Forward to the Expansion Draft by Travis Murphy
Editor's note: Travis Murphy is taking a look at the upcoming NWSL expansion draft. We disagree slightly on the list of players to protect and if it comes down to actually having to protect players, I will share my thoughts. Regardless expect that the college draft to impact roster moves as well.
Two new teams will be entering the NWSL to compete in the 2022 season: Angel City FC in Los Angeles and a yet-to-be-named team in San Diego.
That means an expansion draft will be held in the offseason on the 16th of December. Other than the date, the only detail of this draft that’s currently known is that teams will be able to protect only 9 players, down from 11 in last year’s expansion draft when Racing had an opportunity to begin building their team. The Racing front office has likely been preparing different scenarios for this expansion draft all year so let’s speculate on the team’s strategy.
One key piece of that strategy took place this week – Racing traded the rights of Christen Press to Angel City FC in return for roster protection during the expansion draft. Racing just reduced their exposure in the expansion draft from losing four players down to losing two at most – Angel City cannot select from Racing, and San Diego will be limited to selection no more than two per team.
That is, of course, assuming the 2020 expansion draft rules remain in place: each club can select no more that two players per team; only two US National Team players could be taken overall by the selecting teams; and if a National Team player is selected the picking team cannot select an additional player from the team. Racing must submit a protected player list to the league in advance of the draft, all other players under contract with Racing or whose rights are held (draft picks and players selected in last year’s expansion draft but not under contract) will be available for selection by San Diego.
Must Protect: Freja Olofsson, Gemma Bonner, Ebony Salmon, Nadia Nadim, Savannah McCaskill, Emily Fox
I don’t think there are any surprises on this list. Olofsson, Bonner and Fox have played all 90 minutes anchoring the Racing defense numerous time this season. Salmon, Nadim and McCaskill are the key players in the Racing attack. These six represent the core group moving into 2022 that the club will protect.
Pick 3: CeCe Kizer, Michelle Betos, Emina Ekic, Yuki Nagasato, Erin Simon, Kaleigh Riehl
For the three remaining slots, decision making for the club becomes more difficult. Five of these players are regular contributors, both in minutes played and importance to the team. Ekic is not at that level yet but is also the “Hometown Girl”, the team’s fifth draft choice and has a lot of untapped potential. Riehl has settled into the second CB role recently and would solidify our backline into next season, protecting Simon would have a similar impact on our defense’s right side. Betos is the captain, has immensely helped the club’s growth through early struggles, helped set the club’s culture, has had some spectacular performances in net and become a fan favorite. Kizer and Nagasato have both contributed solidly in the attack but been missing at other times.
Of the six outlined, the club should protect Riehl, Kizer and Ekic. All three players are young and should continue to grow and contribute more. There are other options than Simon at right back should she be selected in the expansion draft. Leaving Nagasato and Betos unprotected is a gamble that they will not be drafted due to their age – they’re not likely to be building blocks for the future of the new teams. In addition, there is a wealth of good goalkeepers in the league, and it seems likely that other, younger players will be available at that position. In particular, goalkeeper Abby Smith was just traded to Portland but should be backing up Bella Bixby at that position and left unprotected as a result.
Connections to Southern California are another consideration for the front office. Matthews’ husband signed with the San Francisco 49ers recently and she may desire a move to the west coast as a result. Racing also has rights to two current Pac-12 NCAA players – Smith at Cal Berkeley and Talley at USC. They may be interesting choices for the expansion sides depending on how their fall NCAA seasons progress.
What most Racing fans are hoping for is that the front office can put together a similar trade for the rights to Heath to turn an unused asset into roster protection from San Diego as well. That is certainly a scenario being looked at right now, but it may be a little more difficult to execute depending on Heath’s desire to play there. Another possible scenario: a three-team trade between Portland, Racing and San Diego. Heath loved playing in Portland, San Diego could negotiate for a couple players from Portland and Racing receives allocation money and roster protection.
The following list is what Racing would need to submit to the league office if there are no other roster changes between now and the deadline.
KC NWSL 2 Racing 1 Post Match Thoughts
Courtesy ISI Photos
Coach Holly used the word hangover to describe the effort last night, and I have to admit that I thought of that word too based on Racing's first half performance. “Fatigue” was used as an explanation if not an excuse seemingly every minute during the match commentary on Paramount Plus. Whatever the reason, the first half effort was poor. KC had done nothing in my eyes to indicate that an effort like the one that put forward against Racing was forthcoming. They looked frankly awful against Racing in Louisville earlier this month. The announcing team said that they “played well" in a 4-0 loss vs. NCC in Cary, but how well could you have played losing by 4 goals? Regardless, KC didn't necessarily look like the better team last night, but the effort they put forward meant they got to enjoy all 3 points. Sometimes a team can win a game in a single half.
While it was encouraging to see Racing pull back a goal with plenty of time to spare, a 2 goal deficit is a tough hill to climb for most teams, let alone an expansion one. I asked Sean Rollins who covers the Orlando Pride at what point did he feel like Orlando was no longer an expansion team. He said it took into the second year. I think that's a fair assessment. However, Racing is still on pace to set the expansion team record for points and win percentage, and have won a trophy. I was hoping that maybe they could shake off that expansion label a little earlier, but I think based on last night's performance it’s going to apply for the remainder of the season.
Speaking of the trophy, I stick by my assessment that Racing needed to win in KC for that victory in The Women's Cup to be an unqualified success. The trophy now came with a verifiable cost. There was no guarantee that if Racing had completely rested its normal starters for the Women's Cup final that it would have picked up all 3 points in KC, but if a “hangover” is going to be used as an excuse then I get to say that the trophy is a bit tarnished. The good news is that the tarnish is only temporary and will hopefully be forgotten by the time the season is over. For now it seems like Racing potentially sacrificed at least 3 points in the league for a (let's be completely honest here) “minor trophy”. I think that's probably a fair trade in a league that they aren't going to win. Arsene Wenger, Arsenal's greatest coach used to say that qualifying for the Champions League is “like a trophy". He was lambasted in the press for saying this during a 9 year trophy drought at Arsenal in which they qualified for the Champions League every year. Now almost every team in England would rather qualify for the Champions League vs. win the FA Cup, let alone a smaller honor. I say this because I would consider “First Expansion Team to Qualify for the NWSL Playoffs” a higher honor/accomplishment that winning an exhibition trophy. However, they don’t give out a trophy for that and qualifying for the playoffs seems less likely now.
Back to last night's match for a few comments. Sometimes you can throw the stats away after a match because they provide almost no illumination. Your eyes told you all you needed to know last night. KC clearly jumped on Racing's slow start and pelted the Racing goal with shots and crosses until they got a lead. They used Racing's continued sloppiness to get a second. If you need one stat to explain the match I guess shots on goal will do the trick. KC won that battle 7 to 2.
Racing has to recover from their hangover quickly because they have a match to play in Houston on Saturday before returning home to host OL Reign. Racing will likely not be favored to win any of their remaining matches, so now we get to see if this team is really ready to fight for a playoff spot.
KC NWSL 2 Racing 1
Courtesy ISI Photos
Racing showed that they are not quite ready to be a consistent team yet. I don't buy the fatigue narrative given by the Paramount Plus team. You can't lift a trophy and then put in a performance like this. Winning a trophy also means I also won’t pull any punches in my player ratings going forward.
Betos-6: Typical game. Had to make too many saves, but I wonder if she got caught a little flat footed on the second KC goal.
Fox-6: Anonymous for the most part. Not her best effort.
Simon-4: Needed taking off if just to get some rest. Also needed a teammate to shout that she had time on the own goal, but still made an absolutely awful mess of it.
Riehl-6: Solid, but unspectacular.
Bonner-6: I think she must have broken a mirror while walking under a ladder and stepping on a crack in the pavement, because she has had a rough few games physically. Still fought hard.
McCaskill-5: For some reason looked two steps slower going forward vs. defending. Seemed to always pick the wrong way to pivot when in possession too.
Nagasato-6: I thought she injected some energy in the 2nd half.
Olofsson-4: Racing finally paid the price for overworking her. Her bad pass led to goal one and was caught flat-footed on the second.
Salmon-5: Seems like a different player when she plays too wide. Tonight she often received tbe ball in wide areas, but could do nothing with it.
Nadim-7: Surely only substituted to protect her hamstring. Her class shows in every match. Racing's chances of finding a second goal fell precipitously when she was subbed off.
Kizer-8 (Player of the Match): Hit a stunning goal from a difficult angle. Had 2 chances created as well.
Otto-6: Steady as a replacement for Olofsson.
Miramontez-5: Played fine until the first yellow. Then absolutely deserved a straight red for the hair pull. I’m not sure how the NWSL reviews cards, but I wouldn't be surprised to see that second yellow upgraded to red.
KC NWSL v Racing Preview
Courtesy EM Dash Photography
These two teams faced each other about two and a half weeks ago, so I don’t think much has changed other than this match being in KC vs. Louisville. In a nutshell, KC is the worst team in the league by quite a distance. For a comparison, Racing are closer to 3rd place Washington (6 points) than they are to last place KC (9 points). The key to this match will be for Racing to put on a calm, professional performance and leave KC with 3 points. That should be the expectation at this point. If Racing can take care of business, they will enter the weekend at 19 points and be within striking distance of a playoff spot. In my opinion other than Portland and North Carolina, no other team can feel safe about securing a playoff spot. It's basically a 7 team race for 4 spots. I was just about ready to write off Racing at the end of July, but now I think they have a shot. It's probably the least likely of the 7 to ultimately make the playoffs, but the team has to be brimming with confidence.
That is why this match is probably the most important match of the league season so far. A draw or a loss won't eliminate Racing from the playoff picture, but winning a match like this where you are the favorite is key to the growth of the club. Prior to this match I didn't feel like any outcome would have been a disaster. Anything other than 3 points here still may not qualify as a disaster, but it would be close.
Racing should be somewhat rested. I think Betos should be good based on media reports and the brief interaction I had with her on Saturday while she was toting a toddler around the field following her trophy lift. I think the fact that Nadia Nadim was on the bench means that she should be available, but that will depend on how her hamstring feels during warm up on Wednesday evening. Other than that, I expect the injury report to be the same as it has been. Hendrix could be on there, but was fine after the match according to her comments to me. One of the nice things that players do is stick around to sign autographs after matches. One of the hazards of this is me asking questions after they sign a few items. However, I generally only ask about how they are feeling. I didn't want to mislead anyone into thinking that I have any extra access other than the access that my seats provide. I am usually too busy during the week with work or busy writing players ratings after the match to engage in any proper media outlets that Racing provides. Full disclosure: I did get invited to the reception the Racing hosted for the Women's Cup, but I mostlly just talked to fellow content creators there, bar a quick picture with Gorp and a chat with Christy Holly about Arsenal. All of this to say that I don't get any extra insight or access into the club than any other fan could get. I’m just pushy enough to politely ask questions to players in hopes of getting a response.
Prediction time: Last time Racing played KC I predicted a Racing loss. I was blissfully incorrect. I don't believe in superstitions or jinxes so I’m going to say 2-1 to Racing with KC scoring a late goal to make the last few minutes a little nervous.
Racing 2 Bayern 2 Post Match Thoughts
Courtesy EM Dash Photography
If I were the head coach of Racing Louisville FC, I would have made a list of priorities for Saturday's match. My priorities would have been in this order:
Rest as many starters as you can.
Use the match to evaluate talent you normally don't get to see in a match.
Don't have any major injuries.
Win a trophy.
This is what I call “The Cup Strategy”. It is the tried and true method that the biggest clubs in Europe use in their domestic Cup competitions. The league is always the primary focus. If you have a European competition it is usually 1a. In England you have 2 domestic cups so those get to be used as chances to see younger players and fringe squad players. Since the cups clog up the schedule quite a bit, you have to rotate your squad. If you're lucky, you advance while saving your best players for more “important” competitions. Of course, if you continue to advance ultimately you use your best players to try to win a trophy.
Unfortunately there is no direct correlation for women's club soccer in America. The Challenge Cup is not played during the regular season, so there is no need to rotate for it. I wish their was a Cup competition. Maybe one day when there is a true Women's soccer pyramid in America.
In Racing's case you have the Women's Cup. How do you rank this trophy? If you played 6 matches over 5 months and survived and advanced, I think you would really value it, but probably not as much as a league trophy. To win this trophy Racing “won" two matches on penalties. It was exciting. It was good for the city. It was Racing's first “trophy”. It probably isn't super important. Or maybe said better: Racing's goal as an organization is to make this trophy less and less significant. It will always be remembered fondly, because it is the first trophy. Racing now has something even better than a trophy. They now have belief.
Don't get me wrong. I’m sure they had some belief prior to this: belief in the system, belief in their coaches, and belief in each other. Now the belief they have is the belief that than can win every match. Of course they won't win every match, but they should believe they can. I’m not sure that the team that took their first trip to Portland really believed they could win that match. Now they believe and know that they can.
But back to the match…
Every decision that Coach Holly made for this match seemed right to me.
He rested most of his regular starters, with only Betos and Simon starting. Betos never “needs" to rest and Simon rarely plays 90 minutes, and both were subbed off.
With Matthews struggling with what appeared to be cramping, and Bayern overwhelming the midfield in the last part of the first half, he brought on Freja Olofsson and changed formation.
He learned these tbings by his use of rotation:
Jorian Baucom probably deserves more playing time, but the strikers in front of her make her a victim of the numbers. Jorian was one of the big winners in my mind because her value to the team increased in everyone's mind and she will look pretty tempting to San Diego and Los Angeles in the expansion draft if she doesn't get much more playing time here.
Hendrix and Martin can still be counted on at center back.
Taylor Otto can give Freja an occasional break in the midfield.
Lauren Milliet has not had a drop in quality or effort, even if she has been dropped from the starting XI.
Your can trust Katie Lund as your backup keeper. Coach Holly said in a post match interview and reiterated when I asked him directly after the match that the plan was always to give her some game time in this match. It turned out better than anyone would have dared dream
He sent on some regular starters when the trophy was there for the taking. I was 95% certain that as soon as Racing went behind a goal, that Katie was getting minutes in goal. Coach Holly had her warm up almost immediately and gave her specific instructions. I don't want to put thoughts in his head that he didn't have, but if it was me I would have been thinking “We’ve played well, but now it time to see what I have in Katie, and it’s much easier to send her in down a goal.” Of course before she could come in the game was level. I think he decided to go for it at this point. On came Yuki, Savannah, Riehl for Hendrix and Lund for Betos.
He put the pressure on late. Early in the match neither team seemed too interested in pressing. Bayern pulled the trigger on their pressing in the later part of the first half. Racing reciprocated with extra pressure late, but with fresh legs.
The fans will always want to their team to win a trophy and beat a big name team. Fans want memories, but coaches want progress. Christy Holly was brave in his selection, but it was the right decision to rest starters in the grand scheme of things. If Racing would have lost, it still would have been the right decision. His team rewarded his decision with a nice victory.
There is one more thing needed to make this victory complete and that is to win Wednesday night in KC. There cannot be a trophy hangover. Win in KC and this victory will be even sweeter, because this victory was a very happy ancillary benefit of preparing for Wednesday.
Racing 2 (7) Bayern 2 (6)
I was going to write this win or lose: Coach Holly didn't get distracted by shiny things. In the end he had his cake and ate it too. Racing achieved winning a trophy and didn't have to burn their starters.
Betos-7: Had her usual good night before being subbed off for what I assume to be concussion concerns since Racing got a 7th sub.
Hendrix-7: Acquitted herself well before being subbed off with an injury.
Milliet-8: Showed that she is of starting quality and had the assist on Yuki's goal.
Miramontez-6: Steady, but had one great pass and one not so great give away.
Martin-7: Played the whole match and made a case to start again.
Simon-7: Will this woman ever get a day off?
Ekic-7: Played hard and was good going forward and in recovery.
Otto-7: Filled in admirably in Freja's usual spot.
Matthews-6: Will need to watch over her shoulder now to keep Baucom out of the squad.
McClure-6: A bit of an anonymous performance but had a few good touches.
Baucom-8: Her hard work paid off in a goal and probably earned herself some minutes.
Olofsson-7: No rest for the weary because Racing needed her to steady the midfield.
Nagasato-8: Hit a fantastic goal on the cross from Milliet. Worked hard in limited minutes.
Lund-9 (Player of the Match): An easy call. You make the last penalty for your team and save the next one, you get player of the match. It’s good to know what quality Racing has in its backup keeper.
Racing v Bayern Preview
I spent a very nice evening at the Muhammad Ali Center last night. If you would have told me on January 1st that I would spend 10 minutes talking to Christy Holly (about Arsenal of course) at an event celebrating a tournament that included Bayern Munich and PSG, I would have said you were joking. Anyway I found myself talking to new friends I had never met prior to this year, and taking a selfie with the most famous puppet in Louisville. It was a fun night.
This is supposed to be fun, right? The city of Louisville is having fun with this team. This tournament is fun. Twitter continues to baffle and amaze me. Most of my timeline is filled with selfies with Gorp and the players visiting Louisville enjoying the city. However, Twitter will gut punch you right between tweets of Gorp and reminders to attend The Women's Cup on Saturday.
If you haven't seen “What We do in the Shadows” on FX, you should immediately watch it. One of the funnier things on that show is the concept of “energy vampires" (Colin Robinson played by Mark Proksch is pictured above). They don't suck blood, but drain your energy either through boredom, forced empathy, or trolling. They basically suck the fun out of everything. I am convinced that Twitter is packed with energy vampires and they hang out in the women’s soccer feed. Can you imagine getting mad at the city of Louisville because a referee might have missed a goal in a penalty shoot out in a friendly match for a team you don't support? (I think the referee did miss the call by the way). Would you then equate this to the NWSL not being able to attract international talent? If this is you, I might suggest taking a long look in the mirror. (FYI, energy vampires can see themselves in the mirror, but they are a pale version of an actual human being.)
Now that I have that out of my system, here is my preview: This is a friendly match where I have no idea who is going to play on either team, and it doesn't matter because I am going to have fun. End of Preview. Enjoy the match.
Racing 1 Red Stars 1 Post Match Thoughts
Courtesy Connor Cunningham
On the whole a point from last night's match was a fair result, but Racing may consider themselves just slightly lucky based on their play in the final 20 or so minutes. It really was an odd match. Racing somehow won the possession battle 62% to 38% and had a much higher passing accuracy at 84% compared to 74%. It seemed like Racing just absorbed pressure continually over the last 20 or so minutes, so the possession numbers must have been much higher prior to that. I don't think you will see many matches where you out possess and out pass your opponents by such a wide margin AND get out shot 20 to 8. One stat that I believe really defined the match was crosses from open play. Chicago had 23 compared to Louisville's 5, 17 of those coming in the 2nd half. The Red Stars’ goal came as a result of one of those crosses. It was Simon with the “poor clearance” but I don't know what else she could have done. She was definitely on her back heels when the shot came in and I think it was more of a reaction block than a poor clearance. Either way, it showed the Red Stars their best plan of attack and they spent much of the 2nd half trying to replicate it. Betos had an outstanding match with 6 saves, and Racing as a team had several clearances.
Racing had chances too, but they seem to want to over pass in some situations. This is where they missed Nadim, who is always good for a few shots. Either way, no passing was needed on Salmon's goal where she ruthlessly gained possession from Colaprico and buried her shot. This goal was a textbook example of the danger of playing from the back. There is no room for error. It would be interesting to see how many goals like this have occurred world wide since FIFA changed the rule about the ball coming out of the 18 yard box on a restart.
While Racing earned a point, they also advanced to Saturday's final against Bayern. There was a lot of Bayern support in the stadium, so it should be a fun match on Saturday. The Chicago fans came to town too in what surely is the largest away support for any NWSL team at the Fam so far. Saturday's match will be interesting for a few reasons. Bayern and Racing will have to decide how many changes to make. It's obviously preseason for Bayern, so I would expect that they will have several changes to their starting XI. This trophy won't mean much to Bayern although they won't insult their hosts by saying so publicly. Why risk injury to a starter through overuse or contact in a friendly? Which seques nicely into my second observation: the style of play was vastly different in thr two matches on Wednesday. This was not unexpected, with the first match being a friendly and the second being a league match-up. However, if I were either Jens Scheuer or Didier Ollé-Nicolle and watched the Racing v Red Stars match I would be slightly worried about the difference in physicality that I saw. The opening match on Wednesday was a lot more free flowing and the second match was a lot more contentious with several fouls awarded and several more not called due to advantage given. It will be interesting to see who dictates style on Saturday. Racing will probably rotate some too on Saturday with another 2 match week coming up. I think there is zero chance that Nadim is risked on Saturday. She seemed to be in good spirits after the late scratch, but there is no need to send her out on Saturday.
The penalty shoot outs were a novelty that I’m glad we don't see very often. They are a necessary brutality, but make me nervous even if I don't care about either team. There is very little personal reward for scoring one, but missing one can be painful. I hope Bonner shakes off her miss. Betos and McClure were the heroes of the shootout, with Katie being lucky on a ricochet. For my money Miramontez had the best penalty for Racing. I hope Saturday's final is settled in full time.
Racing 1 Red Stars 1 Player Ratings
Courtesy Connor Cunningham
It was a draw that was a win…sort of.
One point in the league was a fair result and good enough to face Bayern on Saturday. That will be a very interesting style match up, but more on that later.
Betos-8 (Player of the Match): Had several key stops in a wild second half.
Riehl-5/6: I have to go back and see if it was her poor clearance that led to the goal or someone else.
Bonner-7: Defended really well and probably prevented a few good chances for Chicago.
Simon 6/7: The other player that might have been responsible for the poor clearance. Otherwise had a good game, especially being on a yellow card so early.
Fox-7: At some point she needs to pull the trigger on a shot or continue one of her long dribbles further into the box.
Olofsson-7: Played well again, but will surely deserve a rest a some point. It's just hard to envision who takes her place.
McCaskill-6: Solid if unspectacular on the night. Worked hard as usual.
Nagasato-8: Yuki is the hardest player on the team to figure out. Sometimes she hustles her tail off like tonight, but sometimes she is invisible.
Salmon-7: Got one of those goals that you expect your striker to get from time to time by forcing an error and making the other team pay.
Kizer-8: I feel like she has a goal coming soon. Played a bit like Nadim in her absence.
Matthews-6: Played well for not expecting a start. Might have been better as a threat coming off the bench late however.
More tomorrow.
Racing v Red Stars Preview
Courtesy ISI Photos
This match serves double duty as a league match and a semifinal for The Women's Cup. There is also another NWSL match-up tomorrow that will not count in the standings when the Dash take on the Thorns in Portland in the Women's International Champions Cup. Barcelona and Lyon are the two European giants participating in that competition. Before we get to the preview let's talk about meaningless trophies. If Racing win this competition it will be a meaningless trophy, but one that I would be proud to celebrate. These type of tournaments have become more and more prevalent over the lasts few years, so there is plenty of meaningless silverware to go around. However, you would have to have a pretty empty trophy cabinet to celebrate it much…
Couldn't resist a dig at the Spuds
Being a new team and not one that hasn’t won a “major" trophy in nearly 5000 days…
Arsenal is so bad, I have to celebrate something.
…I think an exhibition trophy would be a nice addition to the trophy case at the Fam. If Racing advance I expect a strong starting XI in the final. If not, expect wholesale changes.
Now on to the next opponent: Good ol’ unpredictable Chicago. The Red Stars followed up a frankly embarrassing performance against Racing in Chicago with 3 straight wins and moved up the table. They then followed up their hot streak by losing 3 of 4 and slid right back down into the packed mid table logjam. Based on the stats, 5th place is probably even too high for Chicago. The Red Stars are last in possession, and accurate passes per match. They are also next to last in goals conceded at 1.4 (with Racing being last at 1.5). This team is entirely beatable, but just as capable of scoring 3 goals on their opponents.
It is unclear (to me) at least if their Olympians will be back. They have been announced as returning for the next home match.
I think this means that they won't be in Louisville, but who knows.
On the Racing side, the team has been playing pretty well over the last few matches, with the last 2 matches producing points. Racing will be faced with quite a few matches over the next few weeks. I expect that we might see a change or two, but not more than that for Wednesday. I think Salmon could use a break and Racing have plenty of attacking talent to replace her in the Starting XI. We could see Simon get a rest too. Of course, as soon as I typed those words it pretty much guaranteed that both players will play the full 90.
No prediction this time around. I don't have a good read on how the match will go and I’m never right anyway, so no loss there. A couple of things to watch will be a) the weather with a possibility of storms and b) the crowd with hopefully all 4 teams represented well in the stadium. Hope to see a packed stadium!
Gotham 1 Racing 1 Post Game Thoughts
Courtesy ISI Photos
Racing earned a well deserved point in yesterday's match vs. Gotham. It's always a little disappointing to drop points in a match that you once led, but a draw against one of the better teams in the league is a good result regardless. Gotham dominated possession once Louisville took the lead and won the overall possession battle 57% to 43%. Gotham also completed more passes and had a much higher passing accuracy (81% to 74%). Racing however did win one key stat: shots on target which was a 4 to 2 advantage for Racing. For all of Gotham's possession and accurate passing, they only really looked close to scoring on their 2 shots on target. Onumonu's fantastic effort was the only thing preventing Racing from taking all 3 points.
Could Racing has done better on the goal? I think the answer is like the answer to many questions: “it depends “. With the players that Racing had on the field, I don’t think an equalizer was particularly unexpected. In this particular instance, Racing allowed Gotham to have too much space to get the ball into the box. A team a little more experienced or constructed a bit differently might know how to see out a late one goal lead, but this team will almost always need a 2 goal lead to feel comfortable. That isn't necessarily down to the players on the field or the coaching, but more down to how the team is set up. Sometimes it's hard to get attack minded players to do the little things on defense. Racing is definitely set up as an attacking side. Many of their players in the middle of the pitch are really forwards and not traditional midfielders. I think more defensive minded players know how to close down space in the final third. Freja Olofsson tried to close down the pass into Onumonu's feet, but was a little too late getting there. Freja is really the only natural midfielder in the starting XI, so many times she has to cover a lot of ground on defense. In the final third, players have to understand that the risk comes from giving your opponents too much space. Further up the pitch, the risk is having someone beat you for pace or get in behind you. The defensive strategy of how to close down passing lanes changes in the final third, and sometimes it hard to get your attacking players to work as hard to close down space.
With a more balanced team, Racing will learn how to close out matches like this. That isn't to say their weren't chances to grab those 3 points at the end. Racing has a couple of decent chances inside the box, but over passing made them fizzle out. Getting that goal so early was key to earning the draw. Gotham appeared to be disinterested until Racing scored. It's always good to catch a team napping early. Incisive passing from Kizer and Salmon made that goal. Unfortunately they were both on the bench when Racing needed a late score.
One thing to keep an eye on for the rest of the season will be Racing's commitment to keeping a clean sheet. Now, I don't know if this is unique to the NWSL or even unique to this season, but keeping a clean sheet is a pretty good indicator of success. This may seem clearly obvious because a clean sheet guarantees you at least a point. However, based on all of games played so farz this year, keeping a clean sheet merits a team on average 2.5 points. Giving up at least 1 goal drops that number to .83. I know where my priority would lie. Fans love attacking football, but just because you are attack oriented doesn't mean you shouldn't strive for the clean sheet. By the way, the four worst teams at collecting points when allowing a goal are KC (2) Racing (5) and maybe surprisingly NCC (4) and Portland (5). The keys is that Portland has nine clean sheets and NCC has eight. I believe Racing’s success for the end of the season will follow this pattern. Be committed on defense and success will follow.
Gotham 1 Racing 1 Player Ratings
Courtesy ISI Photos
Racing used a quick start to share the points in New Jersey. A draw is a good result on the road against a team like Gotham.
Betos-6: Not asked to do much and was only beaten by a fantastic finish.
Fox-7: Did Fox things. Good as usual.
Simon-7: Another solid outing.
Riehl-7: Has my vote to stay as Bonner's CB partner.
Bonner-7: Had a good clearance off the line in tbe 37th minute. Solid as usual.
Olofsson-7: Worked hard both on and off the ball.
Kizer-7: Was instrumental in the build up to the goal. Looked dangerous going forward.
Nagasato-6: Unfortunately one of her more anonymous performances. Subbed off in the 73rd minute.
McCaskill-7: Was super lively early, but Gotham seemed determined to keep her off the ball in the 2nd half.
Nadim-8 (Player of the Match): Got her second goal and was probably the most consistently dangerous Racing player.
Salmon-7: Had a nice assist and came close to a goal on an effort off the crossbar.
I will probably sleep on this result and post full analysis tomorrow.
Racing v Gotham Preview
Courtesy ISI Photos
With all of the excitement going around about the Women’s Cup next week, this match almost seems like a forgotten game. Gotham and Racing played to a scoreless draw earlier this year in the Challenge Cup, with NJ/NY only needing a draw to top the Eastern group. It seems like Gotham has been overlooked as one of the top teams because for just about the entire season they have played at least a game less than the other top teams. Racing and Gotham now are the only two to have played 12 matches instead of 13 or 14.
Gotham plays in what I believe to be the most successful style…possession oriented while being defensively disciplined. Many teams like to dominate possession at the expense of leaving themselves open to counters. Gotham only gives up .7 goals per match, although that number has increased recently. Their weakness is that they don’t score a ton of goals. They lead only Racing and KC in that category. Back to style…the main weakness in their possession oriented but disciplined style is that they always seem to be in tight matches. They have only lost 2, but have drawn 5.
Based on Gotham's style preference and Racing’s continued improvement, I expect this to be a tight match. One thing that will be interesting to see is if Gotham sets up to absorb pressure or tries to possess the ball early. I think that Gotham will set up to possess the ball with discipline. Racing may have to be content with not seeing too much of the ball early. Racing doesn't have the midfield to win the game there, so I think Racing's best opportunities will come when Gotham drops its guard a bit.
All that being said, I am going to predict a 0-0 scoreline to mimic the earlier match-up. That would be an excellent point for Racing.
Know Your Foe with NJ/NY Gotham supporters group Cloud 9
Cloud 9 is the official supporters group of NJ/NY Gotham. Their leaders were kind enough to answer some questions about the team.
What do the Gotham fans think of the rebrand?
Love it. A rebrand was definitely needed to break away from the baggage of Sky Blue. Many of us were hesitant at first, especially after getting bombarded with Batman themed tifo requests. But we eventually started leaning into it (the name, not the Batman tifos).
Gotham is first in the league in possession and second in goals allowed. That seems like a great statistical formula for success. What's something the numbers don't show that is a reason Gotham is in a good position for a 1st round bye for the playoffs?
Defense has improved tremendously compared to past seasons. The shots our defense does allow are low percentage shots. Some worldies have been scored on us, but that's about it. Also teams can't score on us if they don't have the ball. Seems cliche to mention team chemistry, but that’s a factor too. There was very little roster turnover from last season, which is something new for this franchise.
If I were to pick one area that Gotham may need to improve, I would pick scoring more goals. Is this a concern or do you think Gotham has enough fire power?
Losing Paige and now Purce to injury hasn’t helped in the goal department. But Injuries happen. Even still, firepower is there though we can afford to shoot more, including the midfield.
Has the team's success this season been a surprise, or do you feel like the team has been building towards competing for a trophy for a while?
It’s not a surprise to fans. The team has been putting in the work. We saw that with the Challenge Cup and even in 2019. Again, minimal roster turnover is key to building a competitive team. Even though we didn’t have a full season last year most of these players have had time to develop within Freya’s system. You also can’t discount that the team now has access to proper resources and a world-class stadium.
Who has been the biggest surprise on the team so far this year?
No question, it’s Caprice Dydasco. Some players never quite make it back from one ACL injury, let alone THREE!
Who should Racing fans pay special attention to in this weekend's match?
Dydasco, obviously. Ify (Ifeoma Onumonu) has been a force up top. Look for Long to dictate the midfield. And keep an eye out for a patented Estelle Johnson Tackle™.
Thanks to Jen and the Cloud 9 leadership again. Follow them on Twitter @Cloud9GOTH.
Racing 3 - KC 1 Post Match Thoughts
Courtesy EM Dash Photography
Racing had, dare I say it…a rather easy victory today vs. KC. I’m not quite sure what to make of it because I thought: a) Racing played well and b) KC looked exactly like a last place team that has only earned 4 points all year. Other than the clever free kick that caught Racing napping at the end of the first half, and a couple of last ditch efforts late that required saves from Betos, KC's efforts were rather tame. Now, I know it's starting to seem like I'm beating a dead horse here, but the numbers don’t tell the entire story. The stat sheet is going to tell you that KC outshot Racing 14 to 12, and 9 to 3 on target. This is incredibly misleading. Other than the goal and the late last ditch efforts, none of KC's shots were remotely threatening. I would go so far as to say that their overall performance lacked conviction. I almost fell out of my seat at the end of the first half because I was convinced that KC were already set to go home, let alone go to the locker room. This also demonstrates Racing's tendency to lose focus, and how dangerous that can be.
However, that's enough of the negatives. On the positive side, Racing controlled the match for the most part. All 3 goals were well taken, with Salmon's being the pick of the bunch. Another statistical anomaly that I don’t think paints the complete picture is passing accuracy. The numbers say that Simon only completed 58% of her passes and McCaskill only 61.5% but I don't recall any of those incomplete passes being a bad decision or causing any real harm. Simon was extremely active and led the team in touches (71). Savannah was second in touches with 69. Two of her passes turned into assists. She threw herself in front of a shot late that probably wouldn't have changed the outcome, but definitely reminded you what Savannah is all about. On a side note, Savannah's parents were in attendance and I can't imagine how proud they must have been with her performance. I stated in my Player Ratings post, that this may have been the best performance ever by a Racing player. I stand by that.
Nadia Nadim won the Player of the Match in the fan vote, and it's hard to be too bothered by that because she had a fantastic game too. She scored and created 3 chances, so I see how she won the vote. Salmon scored as well, but somewhat worryingly only had 19 touches of the ball in her 69 minutes. For comparison Cheyna had 11 touches in 21 minutes and also scored. Cheyna looked impressive to me and I think she probably deserves a chance to start in one of the Women's Cup matches because I think there will be some rotation in those.
Overall, it was a good performance and 3 points count the same regardless of who the opponent is. I still think Racing is probably still just a notch below the 8 teams above them in the table, but clearly better than KC. I know there has been some hand wringing about KC not having to protect any players in next years expansion draft, but I’m not sure any of them would be drafted anyway. It will be a tough remainder of the year for KC, but maybe they will prove to be a tougher match-up for future opponents. As for Racing, Gotham should be an interesting test next Sunday.