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Racing v Current Preview
Courtesy Connor Cunningham
Back on January 19th, I posed a few questions about the upcoming season. That day happened to be the day that Kim Björkegren landed in Louisville as the new Racing Louisville head coach. I thought I might revisit a few of those question and see how much we have learned about the team in the last two months.
What is Racing doing about international players during the January transfer window?
I think we still can’t quite answer this question will full confidence but based on all of the data available we can assume that 1) Racing signed or began negotiations with 1 or more players and 2) the results of those negotiations will have to wait until the European season is over. There is absolutely no way that Racing plans to play the entire season with 5 defenders on its roster. If Racing didn’t have at least one or two signings lined up, there is no way that they don’t sign Charmé Morgan or Sydney Cummings, at least to the supplemental squad. Both Salmon and Bonner were not announced until the English season was over, but those deals were done in January of 2021.
Will Racing’s top draftees sign?
I think this one depends on how you define “top”. Back in January I sort of defined them as Davis (21), Goins (21), Howell (22), DeMelo (22) and Morgan (22). Of those five players, only Morgan didn’t sign. Jordyn Bloomer (22) signed early in the preseason, so the club saw something in her immediately (probably aided by her attendance at Racing’s goalkeeper camp in December). In my opinion, the right players were signed, but the late preseason injury to Emily Smith (21) hurt.
Will anyone make the team from open tryouts?
Neither Taylor Malham nor Hillary Beal was drafted by Racing in either of the past 2 drafts. Racing held the rights to Malham from 2021, but Hillary Beal was a non-roster invitee. I think I recall seeing Beal at open tryouts, so let’s go with “yes”.
Will Soccer Holdings replace Brad Estes before the season starts?
Unless you count this enormous tifo, then no.
Courtesy Louisville City FC
The other two questions were about a local TV contract and a new away kit, and I am no clearer on those, but it doesn’t look promising.
As for the match itself, here are a few things to watch:
In scrimmages and training Racing have played a 4-3-3 (or a 4-1-2-3 depending on how you look at it). I think it will be interesting to see how they keep their shape throughout the match. Expect Jae Howell to be the last player back in midfield in front of the defense more than as an attacking force. One day she will likely be the force in midfield that drives the team forward, but I think need (and Mewis and Williams) will dictate that she covers in defense a bit more in her first match.
Racing thought so much of Kirsten Davis that they protected her in the expansion draft. When interviewed after training on Thursday she seemed ready for her first match and that the situation wouldn’t be too big for her. Racing actually practiced at Lynn Family Stadium on Tuesday, so the numerous new players got to get a feel for the pitch. Several players including Davis were at Louisville City’s match on Saturday, so hopefully those two things help with opening night jitters. I expect Davis to start based on everything I have seen in preseason.
More than the score line, two items that will indicate progress for Racing will be deeper on the stat sheet. If Coach Kim’s philosophy is taking hold expect to see Racing have better possession numbers and more shots. KC is maybe the favorite to win Racing’s Challenge Cup group, so the possession numbers may not come in the first match, but KC is also unproven in defense. I think that Racing should get at least 10-15 shots off if Björkegren’s strategy is going according to plan.
Being early in the season, the newly christened (thankfully) “Availability Report” is pretty light. For KC it lists Jaycie Johnson and Mallory Weber as out. Taylor Leach, a projected starter is listed as questionable. For Racing, only Nadia Nadim is listed at out.
Opening matches are particularly difficult to predict. Expect rain to play a factor unfortunately. If you had to choose a winner, I suppose you would go for the more experienced squad, but a wet pitch and wet ball can mean that anything could happen.
Know Your Foe: KC Current
One of the first ideas I had for this website was to connect with writers who cover other teams. This achieved a couple of things. First, it allowed me to build a network of people across the NWSL world if I had a question about a particular team. Second, it allowed me to be really lazy and let someone else basically write a post for me. Thad Bell is one of those writers. If you are really interested in the KC Current read Thad’s preview of them here. Thad was gracious enough to answer a few questions for me leading up to Racing’s first match in the Challenge Cup.
Did you get an invitation to the Mahomes/Matthews wedding?
I am nowhere close to running in those circles…. I can claim to have been in the same room as both of them at different times.
With the acquisitions of Mewis and Williams, are the Current going "All In" on 2022, and will anything but a deep playoff run be a disappointment?
With a new coach, lots of moves last year to improve the team, and then all the offseason moves iit definitely indicates a desire to do well. There are so many questions about the team, formation, style, who starts, etc…. but one thing we do know is they want to succeed. So yes, anything other than a playoff run would be disappointing.
Which first year player are you most excited to see?
Good question, I want to say Alex Loera because I think she has a great chance to play a lot and make a difference. She was drafted last year but stayed in school and made good use of the extra year Covid year. She became a better leader and played well. The problem is defenders and d-mid types are rarely “exciting” players so I will cheat and say both Loera and Elyse Bennett. They expect Bennet to have the speed to break past the defensive lines and create chaos in the defense. Her shooting percentage is not high but with players like Williams and Mewis to follow up there should be some goals created from her runs.
How seriously will the Current take the Challenge Cup? Will they try to win it with experienced players or use it to evaluate younger players and prepare for the season?
When that question is asked the answer it of course we want to win. I think they will be happy with some wins/good results and experience gained. Knock off a couple wins and they might start believing though….
The Current are starting to nip at Racing's heals in terms of facilities. How excited are the fans to get a Current specific stadium?
With a new stadium in the near future, new training center popping up as I type this, new players, owners spending money all over the place, OF COURSE the fans are excited. The Current will play at Children’s Mercy Park this year, big field, good grass and then next year have a home of their own.
Any word on a new kit or will the Current just be using the new badge?
No word so far. I would not be at all surprised if one pops up before Friday….or before the regular season. Need more Teal though.
Do you have a prediction for KC's starting XI vs. Racing on Friday?
It is so hard to predict at this point but here goes… Franch, Edmonds, Loera, Leach, Mace, Scott, Pickett, LaBonta, Mewis, Williams, Hamilton
I would like to thank Thad for answering my questions. Check out his work on The Blue Testament and on Twitter @TheBackpost.
Another One…or Two
Racing filled out its roster today by signing two Arkansas Razorback products in Parker Goins and Taylor Malham. Malham is listed as a midfielder on Racing’s roster and Goins is listed at forward. I am issuing a slightly different take on the roster. This view is based on my tendency to separate positions groups into sub-categories. I may be off base on some of these classifications based on the fact that we haven’t seen them all play in a Racing uniform yet.
#1 Keeper: Lund
Backup Keepers: Beall, Bloomer
Central Defenders: Bonner
Wing Defenders: Fox, Simon
Flex Defenders: Martin, Merrick
Holding Midfielders: Howell, Otto
Box-to-Box Midfielders: DeMelo, Malham, Olofsson
Central Attackers: Kizer, Nadim, McDonald
Attacking Wingers: Davis, Ekic, Gordon, Salmon, Milliet, Goins,
You could quibble over whether Salmon and Milliet are central or wing attackers, but that’s how the roster stacks up in my mind. One sad note is that Emily Smith did not make the roster due to an injury. The frustrating addition to this is that Racing enters the season with one recognized center back. I believe that help is coming in that regard, but unless that player was playing in Russia, help isn’t coming for a while. Martin and Merrick are fully capable of covering at center back, but I think both may be more suited to the outer defense in the long team.
This means that Charmé Morgan (Racing’s natural 2nd round pick) and Sydney Cummings (Racing’s fourth round pick) are not part of the roster.
To me Goins sounds like a real talent, but maybe a bit of a development project. She put up gaudy numbers for the Razorbacks as a midfielder and you can never have too many midfielders that can score, but Racing is likely to play her out wide on the wing. Malham has to be the surprise of the roster this year, but Racing’s release made it sound like she worked really hard to make the team. Racing still have open spots that will surely be used via their international allocations. I would be completely shocked if the rest of the spots aren’t filled with defenders.
Sh’nia Gordon signs for Racing
Courtesy Racing Louisville
Today, Racing Louisville signed former CSKA Moskow forward Sh’Nia Gordon. FIFA’s recent ruling that allowed foreign players to void their deals with Russian clubs facilitated her move back to the US. It’s not easy to find any video from Sh’Nia from her time at CSKA Moscow but her time at West Virginia is fairly well documented.
She was the second most expensive transfer in the 2021 transfer window (behind Nikita Parris’ move to Arsenal) moving from Dijon FCO in France.
Racing has several attacking players, so giving Sh’Nia a two-year contract speaks pretty well of her talent and potential. She is expected in Louisville by Friday, but a debut in the second or third Challenge Cup match is more likely.
Racing Challenge Cup Preview
Courtesy Connor Cunningham
I hesitate to write a full “Season Preview” column at this point, but there is a game this week. I guess the definition of “season” depends on what you think of the Challege Cup, especially the 2022 edition. This will be the third iteration of said cup competition and it’s the first iteration where its purpose isn’t entirely clear to those involved, thus it might serve different purposes to the teams involved. For the San Diego Wave and Angel City FC, it will be the inaugural foray into NWSL action, so I assume San Diego will treat it as a way to see if any fans are going to show up and Angel City will treat it as they treat everything: as a chance to promote their brand. It will be interesting to see if winning is part of that brand as much as showing off 3-year-old owners or having their practice field be an hour away from their stadium during a period of soaring gas prices. Teams that are considered favorites for the league title (Thorns/Reign/Spirit in my mind) might use it as an extended pre-season camp. Chicago, Kansas City and North Carolina might use it to forge new identities. For the rest of the teams (Houston/Orlando/Gotham/Louisville) it might be their best shot at a trophy. However, you’re here for Racing (or because someone retweeted my completely biased and probably unfair criticisms of Angel City) so let’s focus in on what we know as of Monday for Racing Louisville.
What we know:
As of Monday, Racing’s roster consists of 19 active players with Cheyna Matthews being listed on the roster, but out of action for the season due to her pregnancy.
Coack Kim Björkegren will coach his first match for Racing on Friday.
Racing named a group of captains today that include Gemma Bonner, Emily Fox, Jess McDonald and Nadia Nadim. Unless they’ve changed the rules (entirely possible because the NWSL hasn’t released 2022 Competition Rules yet), you can’t have 4 captain armbands for a match.
What we can likely assume:
Racing will sign more players that are in camp before the start of the season, and the three most likely in that category are Parker Goins, Charmé Morgan and Emily Smith. Sydney Cummings could be signed as well. I am a big fan of Parker Goins, but she might struggle to make many gameday rosters in her first year due to the new depth in midfield and attack. There aren’t too many natural center backs on the roster, so that increases Smith’s and Cumming’s chances.
Racing will sign at least one international player, likely a center back. Don’t expect a full influx of international talent after the European season ends like last year, but Racing still needs help on the back line, especially experience in the middle. I will have a little more on this in the “Things to watch” section.
The team will almost certainly set up in a 4-3-3 formation. Coach Björkegren’s line-ups so far in scrimmages that have been open to the media have been in that formation, so it’s fair to say that it will be the preferred formation for the opening match. Racing don’t have enough experienced center backs in my opinion to use a back 3 unless it is to protect a late lead.
Gemma Bonner wears the captain’s armband in the first match. McDonald probably wears it at some point during the Challenge Cup. McDonald talked about the diversity in the set of captains on Monday, which is a positive. I am a bit old-fashioned when it comes to club captains, so I am biased toward having a single club captain. However, I doubt that it causes many if any issues on the field. On the pitch, Bonner will organize the back and McDonald the front regardless of who is wearing the armband. To me it’s more that it’s unnecessary to have 4 captains.
It’s anybody’s guess:
Everybody like to complain about the lack of a schedule, but it will eventually come (Wednesday looks probable), so here are some other things I would like to know but have no clue as to their likelihood.
Will Racing have a new Away kit this year? I guess it’s possible that it could debut after the Challenge Cup, but in all probability if there is going to be a new kit it will have to come before their away trip to Chicago. Last year the kits were announced 2 days before the first match, so I guess there is still hope for a new one.
Who will be in the Starting XI? I think there are 7 locks barring a last-minute injury: McDonald / Kizer/ Olofsson/ Howell/ Fox/ Bonner/ Lund. You can probably pick two out of Ekic/ Salmon/ Davis and two out of Merrick/Smith/Martin. I expect the rest of the signed players minus a goalkeeper to make the bench. We might see a surprise inclusion of a non-rostered player, but I say that’s 50/50. All of this goes out the window if the competition rules allow for more than 18 on the roster, but I haven’t seen those published yet.
How will Racing treat the Challenge Cup? Most coaches will tell you that they want to win every competition that they play in, but they all rate some competitions above others. Coach Kim said today, “For me it’s always important to win.” However, he conceded that Racing isn’t the finished product in his mind yet either. I believe Racing’s strategy will be to get cohesive minutes for their likely starting XI. This means that winning the cup (or at least the group) is also on the table. More established clubs that are looking to manage minutes or evaluate players may play it differently. In Racing’s group, I think Kansas City could go either way. They could rest stars or want to see them play together. Houston has won it before, and I think would be happy to win in again, so I think they will go for it to some degree. I can’t imagine Chicago doing anything other than trying to get the train back on the track.
Things to watch:
For the last few weeks, I have been thinking about center back combos. When you fill out a team sheet, knowing the two (or three) names that go there has to be a comforting feeling. Having to put effort into identifying those names every match I imagine feels the opposite. More than any other positions on the field, the center backs work as a combination and a set. When those two are known and their teammates know what to expect from them, it makes the entire team run smoother. I bring this up because I don’t think the long-term center back pairing is in place for Racing yet. Merrick could play alongside Bonner, but the team is probably better with her out wide. Martin played with Bonner quite a bit last year, but I have seen her being played out wide in the recent scrimmages. My biggest concern is how this might impact Jae Howell. If Howell has to provide more cover in front of a shaky back line, it will limit her opportunities to drive forward. My suggestion is to dedicate 5 -10 minutes watching Howell specifically when Racing is defending to see how she reacts. This might tell us early on how the season will go for her.
If Emina Ekic gets the start, keep an eye on her. She has looked more aggressive in scrimmages this year on the left wing. The Fox/Ekic combo could be where Racing finds the most joy in attack, so look for McDonald to slightly favor the left side in transition as well.
CeCe Kizer sometimes inexplicably gets lost in the shuffle when people are discussing Racing. Keep an eye on her interplay with Olofsson in the #8 position in this first match to see how Racing attacks through the middle when in possession.
By the way, if any Angel City FC fans clicked on this article, they probably didn’t make it to the bottom, so I retract my earlier caveat. Those criticisms are totally fair, and I hope Angel City lose every match unless it somehow benefits Racing.
Notes from the Racing/Youth Academy Scrimmage
First of all, let me apologize for not getting any photos of the scrimmage (thus the lack of a photograph above). I watched the 90-minute scrimmage and it never occurred to me to take a photo. The normal photographers for the team were given a well-deserved day off after a very long shoot for media day on Tuesday. If you are a “photos or it didn’t happen” type person, you are just going to have to trust me. However, there was a decent sized crowd to watch the scrimmage, which I assumed to be family and friends of the academy team that participated. The academy team in question was a Louisville City academy team. My guess is that is the team was comprised of high-school aged kids. I will update the article if I can clarify the exact age range. Regardless, the main purpose of the scrimmage was for the team to get 90 minutes. Here are the highlights:
I debated whether or not include the starting XI for this match in this post, but since Coach Björkegren told me after the match that this group was not necessarily the starting XI we will see for the Challenge Cup, I will share it.
G-Lund
LB-Fox
CB-Emily Smith
CB-Bonner
RB-Martin
Holding Mid (6)-Howell
B2B Mid (8)-Olofsson
CAM (10)-Kizer
Left Winger-Ekic
Central Striker-McDonald
Right Winger-Kirsten Davis
As far as subs, Merrick came on for Martin, Otto for Howell, Milliet for Kizer, Salmon for Ekic, and Goins for Davis.
Kizer scored the goal for Racing. Racing did concede a late goal, so the scrimmage ended at 1-1.
The game started off a little ragged, but Racing played much better as the game progressed. To probably nobody’s surprise, the early action came down the Fox/Ekic side on the left. As the game progressed, the attack became more balanced.
Olofsson played in her more natural 8 position. When asked about not playing in the 6 position, she said “I’m relieved.” On Jae Howell, Freja said that she was “excited to have her as the 6.” On Coach Kim, Freja shared that he is very clear on what he wants. A couple of times during the match he gave immediate, specific instructions to players. When I asked him about this, he shared that these instructions are almost always technical in nature (the specific example was telling Davis which way to turn her body so that she is ready to attack) and are about the details.
Emily Fox, who was fresh off a SheBelieves Cup victory for the USWNT, looked a sharp as ever. When I asked her if she saw the time with the USWNT as a disruption to the preseason, she said “Any time that I get the opportunity to go to (USWNT) camp I see it as an advantage.” She did however share that she did feel a little “exhausted”, but I think that was shared more tongue-in-cheek than any actual cause for concern. She played the full 90, which was a bit of a surprise to her since she just returned to Racing, but she is used to that.
Finally, I wanted to say that I enjoyed getting to spend another 90 or so minutes with Bekki Morgan. She works tirelessly to cover this team and it is much appreciated by me. If you don’t know by now, one of Bekki’s greatest strengths is as an interviewer. The club asked us which players we wanted to talk with after the match about 20 minutes before the match ended. Bekki always asks what I want to know (more eloquently, too) and had great questions prepared on such short notice. If you haven’t already, check out Bekki’s interviews for BGN and her “Extra Cuts” for Butchertown Rundown.
Monday Afternoon Notes
Coach Björkegren and Dr. Nadim were available to the media after today’s practice. Here are some of the highlights and takeaways:
“War is dumb.” That was Nadia’s take on the situation in the Ukraine, but she also talked at length on the subject, and I am sure other outlets will post video of her full comments. Be sure to check them out.
Late in the season last year, I would sometimes be the only non-Racing person in attendance at media availability (especially if there wasn’t breaking news and there was quite a bit of that last season.) I made note of this and was pretty critical of the lack of attendance. Today, just about every media outlet was there and that has been the norm this year. Expect broader and better coverage of Racing this season based on what I have seen so far. Kudos to the local media for stepping up. Nadia is a big draw, but I expect the media to continue the increase in coverage especially if the team can win a few matches early in the year.
Both Coach Kim and Nadia said that her injury is progressing ahead of schedule. They both are setting a target at a few months for Nadia to be ready for match action. Theoretically that could mean that she could be ready for the season opener. I believe a late May/early June return is likely.
As seen above, Nadia was working on cardio and regaining strength in her knee. When asked about the current focus of rehab, both Björkegren and Nadim said that getting her knee strength and muscle strength back up to par were the top priority.
Nadia was also asked about her offseason. If you think you are a busy person, you sure hear what she does on a normal day. While rehabbing she was carrying a coursework load 50% higher than normal with double the number of exams while also working in the hospital from 7:30 AM to 3:00 PM. She said she sleeps great now that the exams are behind her.
On a non-Nadia note, Björkegren was asked how Katie Lund was progressing being the (presumed) starter in goal. He stated that he believed that being the US #1 was an opportunity for Katie in a few years. If she reaches that level, all Racing fans should be ecstatic.
One final note is that all players were back from international duty and were participating in practice today. Björkegren singled out Fox and said that she was doing “more or less whatever she wants to do with the ball.” Year 2 for Fox sounds very promising.
Picking the Right Racing Jersey for You
Courtesy Racing Louisville
As of yet, there has been no official announcement from Racing on whether or not the team will have a new light/away jersey for the 2022 season. The home jersey from last year will once again be worn this year. If you are looking to purchase a player jersey for the upcoming season, I came up with a few suggestions to help you pick if you are on the fence about which player to pick. These suggestions are based on selecting a player whose public/social media/on field persona best matches yours. Not knowing any of the players beyond a quick nod of recognition, these suggestions are completely based on my limited knowledge of their background and personal observations. Not all players are listed (no goalkeepers since you can’t buy a keeper jersey unless the NWSL shop changes policy), but I tried to include as many options as possible. Anyway, it’s just a bit of fun to pass the time until real games start.
Actions speak louder than words:
You are a person who doesn’t shy away from the spotlight but is not prone to overly flamboyant celebrations. You are tough when it is required, but never without a smile on your face. Your flexibility is a strength and others know they can count on you.
Suggestions: 5-Kizer/Home; 2-Milliet/Away
Racing ‘til I die!
Who cares if Racing finished in 9th place last year. This year we are going to win it all. We will bring every piece of silverware up for grabs home to the greatest city on the face of the earth.
Suggestion: 13-Ekic/Home
With great power come great responsibility
Sometimes you feel like you carry the weight of the world on your shoulders, but it’s a welcome burden. You try to be everything to everyone and most of the time you succeed. People gasp in surprise when you show a hint of weakness, because demonstrated greatness is the standard and the expectation. \
Suggestion: 11-Fox/Away
The Firebrand
Passion dominates your life and you pour yourself into every worthwhile cause with every fiber of your being. You are a change maker and are not afraid to take radical action. If your team doesn’t win the match on the field, you let your opponents know that you’ll win the fight in the parking lot. Frankly, you are a bit scary.
Suggestion: 10-Nadim/Home
The Bruiser
You remind people that soccer is a contact sport. You embrace a shoulder-to-shoulder challenge in any level of pickup game whether your opponent be and adult, a teenager, or a child. You see reprimands as badges of honor. You have talked yourself out of a warning and into a speeding ticket.
Suggestion: 6-Howell/Away
The Sage
You’ve seen it all before, but you want those around you to benefit from your experience. You are a leader in every sense of the word, but also teacher. People look up to you and hang on your every word.
Suggestion: 14-McDonald/Home
The Resilient One
Life isn’t always far and can be downright cruel sometimes, but you persevere. Every time that you get knocked down you get right back on your feet. You can’t wait to show the world what you are capable of after overcoming adversity.
Suggestion: 26-Merrick/Away
The Sky is the Limit
Potential is the word most associated with you. You have talent and time, two of the most valuable assets on the planet. You’ve shown flashes of brilliance, but now it’s time to show the rest of the world that those flashes are now sustainable. In the old adage “Form is temporary, class is permanent”, you hope to make the transition from great form to top class.
Suggestions: 22-Davis/Home; 9-Salmon/Away
The Influencer
You are the tastemaker and the trend setter. You are the social planner for you group of friends. You are a leader, but also a seeker. You want to know what’s now and what’s next. You could see yourself with over a million Instagram followers.
Suggestions: 19-Otto/Home; 8-Oloffson
The Backbone
You are the source of strength of those around you. You give so much support to those around you that sometimes your influence is taken for granted. You lead from the ground up and not from the top down.
Suggestion: 4-Bonner/Away
The Tom
You are a fanatic about Racing. You come up with nicknames for all of the players and have lavender tinted glasses for just about everything relating to Racing. You are an Oklahoma State grad and fan of Big XII soccer. You are Tom Benson.
Suggestion: TBD-Charmé Morgan (Home)
Regardless of my suggestions, I hope you decide to support the team with a new jersey this year if you are able.
Notes from the Intrasquad Scrimmage
Courtesy EM Dash Photography
Racing held their first intrasquad scrimmage of the 2022 season today at Lynn Family Sports Vision and Training Center. The scrimmage was open to the media, so here are a few things that I noticed.
Emily Fox and recently called-up Jae Howell were obviously absent due to their inclusion in the USWNT’s roster for the She Believes Cup. It’s a little tough to get a read on the team with out them there, but the 70 minute scrimmage as a whole was definitely offensively oriented.
Salmon and McDonald look especially effective playing together. Salmon had two goals to my recollection (the teams had the nasty habit of scoring when I was engaged in conversation with Bekki Morgan or Jeff Greer), and McDonald had 1. Racing are deep at forward, and I would go so far as to say that they might even be “deeply talented”. Kirsten Davis and Parker Goins both looked fast and physical going forward. Emina Ekic looked like a player who spent the off-season getting better and should be ready to compete for more minutes.
The appearance of Addisyn Merrick on the field was a sight for sore eyes. When asked about her position after the scrimmage, Coach Björkegren said that he wasn’t sure yet where she would play. In the scrimmage she played at CB, but Coach Kim said that right back was another opportunity for her. If Racing are to make a playoff push this year, Merrick will have to stay fit and in the lineup in my opinion.
On the injury front, Charmé Morgan missed the scrimmage. However, she was in attendance and is scheduled to see the doctor today. Björkegren said that Nadia Nadin is scheduled back in a couple of weeks. June is the normal timetable for an injury like the one Nadia suffered, but Coach Kim suggested that an earlier return wasn’t out of the question because Nadim “is not the normal player”.
The other absence was Cheyna Matthews who recently announced that she is pregnant with her third child, so congratulations to Jordan and Cheyna.
Sav DeMelo was interviewed after the scrimmage, and you can watch it here. She was impressive in a central midfield role. She said that she is adjusting to the speed of play and the speed of thought (knowing what your next move is prior to receiving a pass vs. waiting to decide after you have received it) as a professional. Ebony Salmon also answered questions after the scrimmage and talked about her preparations for the season, the team starting to gel, and getting minutes in their legs. For Salmon, this will be the first chance to experience a full NSWL season and preparations for that season. She took a few weeks off over the break, which was a luxury she wasn’t afforded last year. Along with scoring twice, Salmon hit the woodwork a couple of times with the first one leading to McDonald’s goal.
Whether or not Jess McDonald is nominally the captain of this team, she is the leader. It was crystal clear that she was the leader of her side today. During the halftime break, she was using practice cones to show her teammates something she noticed from a tactical perspective in the first half. On the field, she is vocal and encouraging to her teammates. I have the feeling that this is becoming her team and it is only a week or so into practice. I think this is a good thing. I don’t want to say that the team didn’t have a true leader last year, but this year I think it will be obvious that the team is hers.
I believe that some of the players that will ultimately not be on Racing’s squad this year might find a way into the USL W team. There were a few Academy players in the scrimmage today, and none of them looked overmatched. There were some non-roster invitees as well and they held their own too.
It was interesting to me to here Coach Kim talk about how he is communicating his philosophy to the team. He sees the preseason as a modular learning exercise. So far, he has focused on the buildup play from the back, which is the core of possession-oriented football. From a sequential perspective, it sounds like the plan is to move on to the midfield, and then to forwards and wingers in terms of what the focus will be in the next practices. He did mention that he planned to work with the starting XI next week. I took that to mean that he has his starting XI, at least preliminarily, already identified. The work with the team will also include “finding lines” (in my parlance keeping your shape in your formation) and working on a high press. In a nutshell, he is taking a building block approach to getting the team to play in his preferred high-pressing style.
Racing Sign Jordyn Bloomer/Other News
Courtesy EM Dash Photography
Racing signed goalkeeper Jordyn Bloomer to a one-year contract with a club option for an additional year on Tuesday. Jordyn was the 26th overall pick in the most recent NWSL college draft and had a stand out career at Wisconsin registering a 82.3% save percentage. For reference, Kailen Sheridan (89%) and Bella Bixby (85%) were the only two keepers in the NWSL with a percentage higher than 83% last year. The league average was around 76% and Racing’s keepers were at 75% (Betos) and 71% (Lund) respectively. I would not expect the level of NCAA competition to NWSL competition to be a straightforward comparison, but those are the numbers. In case you didn’t remember, Bloomer also attended the Pre-Draft Goalkeeper Camp for Racing in early December.
Racing will likely carry 3 goalkeepers on the roster, so Jordyn earlyish signing isn’t a surprise.
Racing also recently announced the Challenge Cup schedule which you can find here. The home games don’t conflict with JCPS’s (and likely the rest of the region’s) spring break for schools, so you won’t have to contemplate your mandatory trip to Destin conflicting with a Racing Home match. The rood match on April 2nd in Kansas City will be an opportunity to see if any beachside bars are up to date on their Paramount Plus subscriptions or willing to put a Twitch stream up on a big screen.
Finally, I would like to put in an (early) plug for a new Racing Louisville podcast for the Beautiful Game Network featuring Bekki Morgan and Tom Benson called Butchertown Rundown. I got to listen to a practice episode and the first episode will be up on Spotify/Apple etc. soon. I think all Racing fans will enjoy the podcast. If you can’t wait until tomorrow, you can take a listen here. Check out their cool logo.
Racing sign No. 4 Overall Pick Sav DeMelo
Courtesy Connor Cunningham
For the 3rd week in a row, Racing has announced the signing of a player. Today Savannah DeMelo signed her first professional contact. It is a 2-year deal. DeMelo was taken with the 4th overall pick by Racing in its natural position in the 2022 NWSL College Draft (Howell being taken by the pick from Angel City). In her career at USC, DeMelo scored 17 goals and provided 28 assists from the midfield. With another midfielder signed, Racing has significantly upgraded their midfield roster for 2022. While you can almost certainly pencil in Jae Howell as a starter, it will be interesting to see how much “New Sav” (coining it!) will be on the pitch this year. She suffered an Achilles tendon injury that made her miss her entire junior year at USC. Her senior season at the Trojans saw her recover most of her form. She had been first-team All-PAC-12 in her freshman and sophomore year and was second team in her senior year. I believe that she will be allowed to ease into the team and get minutes as a sub throughout the season with a target of earning a starting role as the season progresses.
In other news, Racing’s USL W-League announced its schedule yesterday. Home matches will be Lynn Family Sports Vision & Training Center, where admission is free and open to the public. There is an 11 day stretch from May 15th to May 25th where Racing will play 4 matches at home. If you can’t ever get enough soccer, that may be a dream week for you. I would like to get out to all of those matches, but that might be a difficult goal to achieve for me. If anyone knows that they will be attending all of those matches and would like to give match reports on this site, let me know. The easiest and most reliable way is to hit me up on Twitter, but you can also get my email address in the About section of this site. Even if anyone wants to do a single match, let me know.
First Practice of 2022
Courtesy EM Dash Photography
Coach Kim Björkegren conducted his first official Racing Louisville practices today. It was also the first practice at Lynn Family Sports Vision & Training Center for several players like Jae Howell and Jess McDonald. There were a few familiar faces as well like, CeCe Kizer. “It’s really weird being told that I am one of the older players,” according to Kizer. It will be her 4th year in the league, and she said that she was ready to step into a leadership role. On Coach Björkegren, CeCe said that her was “very funny” and “pretty loud”. She also commented that his practices were very focused on technical details. Rookie Jae Howell echoed those sentiments in regard to the technical nature of practice. Howell said that the first practice was spent getting to know her teammates and coaches. The practice itself had a lot of touches on the ball according to both Kizer and Howell.
Coach Kim said that it was an “amazing feeling to be back on the pitch.” When asked about his immediate plans for training, he said that he was likely going to change “almost everything”. He said that he sees potential in the team but will be looking to change tactics quite a bit. When I asked him about formation, he said that he is planning on sticking with a back four and that the changes will likely be in how he sets up the midfield and attack. Above all else, I believe that he is looking for a change in attitude on the field. Björkegren stated in his first press conferences and reiterated today that he has watched a lot of film of Racing and sometimes saw the players playing with “low energy” and playing “scared”. From the sounds of it, he will try to get Racing to play more aggressively and will tell players to “take chances” and not to be afraid of making mistakes.
The weather may put a damper on the rest of the week for practicing outdoors, but the team seems ready to attack 2022 with new energy and a fresh start.
Racing Releases Preseason Roster
Racing announced its 28 player preseason roster today. Here are some items of interest:
26 Players have reported, with the 2 players not yet reporting being Nadia Nadim and Cheyna Matthews. Nadia is still recovering from injury, and Cheyna is likely getting things in order after her husband Jordan’s deep playoff run with the San Francisco 49ers. I would expect them in Louisville soon.
Racing currently only has one fully rostered goalkeeper in Katie Lund, so Jordyn Bloomer, Gabby Kouzelos (University of Louisville) and Hillary Beall (Michigan) will be fighting for a spot, possibly two. Racing carried 3 keepers last year, so I would expect the same this year. My prediction is that the 3rd spot will come down to Kouzelos and Beall. Beall stands at 5-11 compared to Kouzelos’ 5-7 and had a better goals against average at Michigan (.74 compared to 1.65 in 2021).
Last year's draft picks that returned to school like Parker Goins are listed as non-roster invitees. There are 3 players whose rights have been held by Racing since last year’s draft. In addition to Goins, defender Emily Smith (California) and Taylor Malham (Arkansas) were selected by Racing but returned to school for an additional year. Parker Goins is still listed as a forward, so that puts the number of forwards at nine. Goins if definitely an attacking players but could be deployed in the midfield.
Since Goins is still listed as a forward, Racing has invited Sadie Sider-Echenberg to preseason to flesh out the midfield. If there is to be another story like Nealy Martin this year, it will be her. I couldn’t find much about her, but she scored 2 goals and had 4 assists in her “rookie” season with the University of Ottawa. Sadie’s inclusion in the preseason roster puts the number of midfielders at 7, but only 3 of those have any NWSL experience.
If the roster rules for the 2022 season mimic the rules for 2021, Racing will be able to keep 24 fully rostered players with an additional 4 players on the Supplemental Roster. Racing has open international spots to fill as well, so I would expect some cuts to come from this group of 28. If I interpreted last year’s rules correctly, a team must have a minimum of 22 players on the full roster. Obviously with the new CBA in place, the rules for this season will be different. If the players had to make any concessions, it might have been in keeping the roster size the same. I’m not really basing this on anything, but I expect the roster size to look the same as last year.
I predict that these 28 players will get narrowed down to 22 or 23 like Racing carried last year. The 3rd keeper will almost surely be on the Supplemental roster, so I expect Racing to hold 2 open spots for international players, similar to last year when they added Bonner, Salmon and Nadim in midseason.
The most exciting thing about this preseason is that half of the roster has played together for Racing compared to zero last year. Buried a little bit deeper in the press release was a confirmation of the Challenge Cup start date as March 19 which means that there are only 6 Fridays between now and the start of NWSL action.
Racing Hold Open Tryouts
When Nealy Martin attended open tryouts in January 2021, the conditions were worse that they were for today’s session. She offered to shovel snow off the field at last year’s tryouts, just to be able to show what she could do. This year, she was able to attend tryouts as an observer with her place in the team secured. She described the field last year as “straight ice…we were basically ice skating.” Even though the temperatures were far from warm at about 15 F°, the conditions this year were not all that bad. Some of the trialists looked a little cold before taking the field, but the Racing coaches put them through the paces to keep them from worrying too much about the frigid temperatures.
The open tryouts this year will likely not yield as many opportunities as last year’s tryouts did. Racing is much more stable from a roster perspective at this point when compared to last year. However, it isn’t hard to imagine that maybe one or two players might make the squad. At this point in the process, a trialist’s goal is to get that critical invitation to pre-season camp. For Nealy, that is how her journey started. “I just focused on every little detail: what can I do, how can I make this pass better, this touch better, and give myself the best chance of making the team. Then after the trial I went home, and they gave me a call and I am so grateful for that and asked me to come to preseason. The process began then, and I just focused day by day on what I could do and keeping the same mind set: leaving with no regrets.”
As for what Coach Kim Björkegren is looking for in an open tryout, he mentioned that he would be looking for players that bring something “extra” which I took to mean raw talent, and also players that were “useful” which if you look at Racing’s current roster, I think it would be easy to assume that depth in defense and midfield would be useful to the team. Coach Björkegren went on to say that “we are still looking for a couple of players,” and noted that personality and working hard would be considerations. When I asked about how much research he does on players ahead of the tryout process, he said that he gets a little information on the players but likes to get his first impression based on what he observes during the sessions. The evaluation process is a group effort that involves multiple coaches and players have two additional sessions after the first session this morning (one this afternoon and one tomorrow).
I wish the best for all of the trialists that attended the sessions today and maybe Racing can find another gem like Nealy.
Racing Officially signs Jess McDonald
Courtesy EM Dash Photography
Jess McDonald officially signed a two-year contact with Racing Louisville today. If “winning the press conference” is a real thing, then she won this one 3-0. Here are the three items she “won”:
She wants to be here. She mentioned that Louisville was one of only two destinations that she asked her agent to pursue. She also mentioned that she wanted to be in a “family environment”, especially for her son. McDonald said that she wasn’t a big city person, so my assumption is that she sees Louisville as a bit of a small town, which if you have lived here for any time at all you realize that it sort of is. It has most big city amenities and most big city headaches, so let’s try to keep those headaches to a minimum as we welcome Jess.
It is clear that she sees herself as a veteran leader. Racing was young last year and may be even younger this year. McDonald sounds willing and eager to take on the leadership role. I put her as the even money favorite for team captain. Regardless of whether that honor is bestowed on her, she will definitely be a leader on the pitch.
She has a winning personality. She started off the press conference with a joke about needing a chap stick sponsorship and seemed at ease in front of the camera. To my eyes and ears, I could see her being in front of a camera after her playing career is over if that is something that interests her. I don’t want to call out any players or be too harsh on players since their job is to play soccer, but if I ever needed a quote after a match, Jess would be first on my list.
It was simply a great introductory press conference. Let’s hope she continues her success on the pitch.
Racing appoint Schmidt to Lead USL W Team
Courtesy of Racing Louisville
Racing announced today that academy director and former Racing interim head coach Mario Sanchez has named an “All-Female USL W League Staff”. The staff is comprised of Kincaid Schmidt (moving from her role as U5-U10 Director) as head coach, Libby Stout (current Director of Goalkeeping for Racing Louisville Academy) as an assistant coach, and Kiley Polk (current youth academy coach for Racing) as team administrator. This is a good step for Racing Louisville, and I look forward to seeing success on the field very soon.
Site Redesign and NGWSD
First of all, I want to thank and give credit to Anne Evans for the look and feel of the redesigned site. Anne and I talked in December, and I gave her some very vague instructions on a site redesign. I believe I said I liked a certain kind of fleur-de-lis and honestly that’s about it. She came back with a set of logos, colors, and brand guidelines. It’s more than I would have ever expected, but Anne definitely over delivered. When I started this site less than a year ago, I developed a really basic logo and selected some random colors and fonts for pages. The goal was to work on my writing and worry about site design in the off-season. For the redesign, I basically just wanted a more professional looking site, which I believe was achieved. The fact that Anne put so much thought into the logos and colors was a great surprise. If you ever need any design work done, I can’t recommend Anne Evan Creative highly enough.
Second, I want to let everyone know that I am always open to suggestions. I made the initial decision to go with an ALL CAPS look but got a suggestion from a Twitter follower (Marie @marielynn502) that the all caps look was difficult to read. I agreed and since it was just a setting, made the change. I anyone ever has suggestions on the site, I will consider them even if I don’t implement them.
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The University of Louisville Women’s Basketball team celebrated National Girls and Women in Sports Day by defeating Wake Forest 72-60. Prior to the game, 5 Racing Louisville players were made available to sign autographs: Emina Ekic, Addisyn Merrick, Taylor Otto, Nealy Martin, and new signee Kirsten Davis. It was good to see so many players in town to train early. In fact, Nealy told me that they were likely returning to training shortly after signing autographs. Here are a few pictures.
Racing Sign Jaelin Howell
Courtesy ISI Photos
Jaelin Howell signed a contract with Racing Louisville FC Today. The crucial piece is that the contract runs for 3 years. Jaelin will presumably play in the #6 jersey for Racing and will be the first Racing player to ever don that squad number. By all indications, she will play in the traditional 4/6 central holding midfielder role that she played so well for Florida State while winning back-to-back MAC Hermann trophies. I will try to get a report on if Bekki Morgan was able to contain herself from audibly shrieking when she heard the announcement.
In site news, you may notice the new look. I am still tweaking it, so I will talk more about it in a later post.
Kim Björkegren in Louisville/Off-Season Answers and Questions
Today served as part 2 of Kim Björkegren’s introduction to Louisville. Coach Kim arrived in Louisville via Frankfurt, Germany where he was sorting out his final visa issues. I’m not sure he has slept much, if at all since arriving in Louisville, but you couldn’t tell that from his demeanor or his hair. Jeff Greer commented to me that he wanted the name of Kim’s barber, as his hair looked perfectly coifed for someone who had been going non-stop for the last 20 hours or so. Here are some answers that Coach Kim supplied to the local media:
He “almost promised” that Racing will score more goals in 2022. Racing scored a nearly league worst .9 goals/match last season. That’s half the problem sorted then. Racing conceded a league high 1.7 goals per match last season too. Very few managers come into a new job and talk about locking down the defense or “parking the bus”, but I hope that the goals conceded number improves as well. As an aside, I can’t be the only one who appreciates a lock-down defensive performance on the pitch, right? I know that the so-called “neutrals” prefer a 4-3 match over a 1-0 match, but my resolution for this year is to ignore all other fans but Racing supporters. I frankly don’t care about their teams and if Racing win all of their matches 1-0, I won’t complain. As always, scoring guarantees you nothing, but a clean sheet guarantees you a point.
The goal will be to attack with more players and press higher up the pitch. Where has we heard this before? It’s interesting that Racing’s alleged philosophy last season didn’t translate onto the game film to Kim’s eyes (he said he watched all of last season’s matches already). He did offer a preliminary solution to this, and that was to increase the team’s fitness to be able to press for 90 minutes. In attack the plan is to have more players in the box. It’s not groundbreaking stuff, but we’ll see if this season’s group of players get the message.
He tentatively set the top 6 as a goal. I think that is the bare minimum for any team in the league, so I expected nothing less.
He told me that he had been somewhat involved in the roster building so far this season. More on this later.
In summary, I think that if anyone had questions about playing style that those have been answered. I still have a few more questions that it’s not fair for a new coach to answer, so I will list them out here and hope we have our answers sooner vs. later.
What is Racing doing about international players during this current transfer window?
Racing has international spots open for players. I believe there are 3 spots open (Yuki’s spot, a spot from Chicago from Yuki’s trade in 2022, and an extra spot allocated to all teams in 2022.) Racing is not only competing against other NWSL teams for these players but is competing with the top teams in Europe. The European winter transfer window is open until January 28th and the top European teams have been busy. At the time of writing this, there have been 76 transfers in Europe’s top 5 leagues. Are Racing in the mix for players like Rafaelle Souza, who attended college at Mississippi and played for the Houston Dash or Sofia Jakobsson who just went to the San Diego Wave? Last year Salmon, Bonner, and Nadim all came in after the season started. Is that the plan for this year as well? LouCity has been pretty busy, so one might wonder if that that been a detriment to Racing’s recruitment simply through divided focus.
Will Racing’s top draftees sign?
Kirsten Davis is the only college draftee to recently sign, and she was a 2021 draftee. I don’t have any reason to think that the top draftees won’t be at camp in a few weeks, but as we saw with Mia Fishel, a draft pick is not a guarantee. I would like to see Parker Goins, Jaelin Howell, Savanah DeMelo and Charmé Morgan signed sooner vs. later.
Will anyone make the team from the open tryouts?
My guess is that the answer is yes, but I hope to have a little more clarity on this next week.
Will Soccer Holdings replace Brad Estes before the seasons start?
I honestly have no read on this. As with most positions of this caliber, the general public is left in the dark on the recruitment process until someone is named. If you’re a gambler, you might put your money on Soccer Holdings hiring “John Somebody”. If anyone get tired of my harping on this issue, I will be happy to apologize when proven wrong.
Will Racing have a local TV contract for 2022?
I feel like this is an area where Brad Estes will truly be missed. I don’t know if he would have gotten this done in 2022, but his absence doesn’t make me feel good about the prospects of this since “interim president” James O’Connor now has more off the field duties to go with his on the field ones. A local TV contract is vital for growth as long as streaming is the main source of viewing for fans not in attendance.
Will there be a new away kit?
I feel like the answer here will be “yes”, but the true test is whether it will be primarily white. I am hoping for a light lavender or mint green base. Leeds 3rd kit this year is a good template.
I hope that most of these questions will be answered in the coming weeks.
Racing’s Youth Academy Joins USL W League
Courtesy Racing Louisville
Racing Louisville FC announced today that its youth academy will join the fledging USL W League which starts its inaugural season in May 2022. For the uninitiated, the USL W League is a “a pre-professional women’s soccer league” according to the league website. This is not to be confused with the USL Super League which is intended to be the second level in the US Women’s soccer pyramid and is scheduled to begin in 2023. In a nutshell, Racing has formed its own “Racing Louisville 2” and placed it the 3rd level of the soccer pyramid. By placing the academy team in the 3rd division, Racing will hopefully avoid the negativity seen in the USL Championship world where MLS teams routinely place their developmental “2” teams in the second division and where those teams consistently perform as doormats (Red Bulls 2 excluded).
This is a strong step for the Racing Louisville FC organization. They are the first team to “to complete its developmental pyramid topped by a franchise from the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL)”. From the article, here is said pyramid:
This is a great move for the organization and the city’s soccer culture as a whole. It is also a very clever hedge. The NWSL has lasted longer than any other recent women’s soccer league in America. That doesn’t mean it’s invincible or frankly even that stable. The salary numbers thrown around for the USL Super League are very close to the current league minimums for the NWSL. Orlando Pride draftee (No. 5 overall) and UCLA Star Mia Fishel recently rejected the NWSL for Tigres in Liga MX Femenil. The winter transfer window in the FAWSL has been pretty busy and theoretically Racing should be using their international spots to complete for the same players. If the NWSL is the best league in the world, it’s only by a nose and may be hanging on by a thread if the 2022 season has similar off-the-field issues as the 2021 season did. This a great move for professional women’s soccer in Louisville, but it’s also evidence that Louisville may be NWSL-proof (pun intended).