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Racing v Dash Preview
Racing played two home matches vs. the Houston Dash in 2021, and each of those matches had a wildly different outcome. Since I have a very spotty memory, I went back and reviewed my analysis of those matches starting with the rather infamous 0-4 loss. Bekki Morgan remembers this match as Racing’s worst ever performance. I tend to agree and called it “their worst performances in recent memory”. Before reviewing my analysis, 2 things stuck in my mind about the match. First, Nichelle Prince was virtually unstoppable. From my player ratings “Fox-6: Nichelle Prince bullied her the entire match.” I think I was being generous with that rating as well. To date, it has really been Fox’s only sub-par performance in a Racing kit. Secondly several of the players were in tears at the end of the match. I don’t think the match technically eliminated Racing from the playoffs, but it virtually did. There is one other excerpt from my analysis that I want to highlight:
“This next sentence is going to sound self-contradictory, but it's what I think it sums up Racing's major problem. Racing plays too slowly from the back which causes poor decisions by rushing their passes. Playing out from the back can be a really effective way to control a match if you can do it effectively. Racing plays too slowly from restarts and allows the defense to push up on them before they make their next pass. When you play slowly from the back you invite pressure. When you play quickly but intentionally from the back you can slice through a defense effectively.”
Since Coach Björkegren’s preferred style is to play out from the back, it will be interesting to watch if this is improved from the match vs. KC. Arguably, KC’s goal in the last match was a direct result of playing from the back but it didn’t happen from a restart and Bonner had only just won possession. I have heard/read several people say that Bonner’s mistake was an errant pass or intended pass, but I think you can chalk it up to Lynn Williams’ excellent pressure and the point of the statement above, which boils down to “don’t rush, but be quick AND vigilant.” Sometimes I think people forget that there isn’t this long history of playing out from the back, at least under the current set of FIFA rules (2019 being the first year of the 18-yard box goal kick change). With players being able to receive a pass from the keeper inside of the 18-yard box on a goal kick, many teams have embraced playing out of the back. In a nutshell, no current professional player has a more than a few years of experience in playing out from the back starting with a short pass inside of the box. All of this is to point out that Racing is still learning how to play out from the back.
From the earlier match in the year which served as Ebony Salmon’s audacious debut, here is what I said:
Without a doubt, Sunday afternoon was Freja Olofsson's best performance. From the first few minutes, I kept a close watch on her, because she looked like she had something to prove from the beginning of the match. The stats have her with a 78% passing accuracy, which I am sure is correct. However, her off the ball performance was a delight. Whenever the ball was near her and not in her possession, she put forward every effort to win it. She took possession away from Houston in the middle of the field more than a couple of times. If she lost possession, she always fought to win it back. I think she slowed down several Dash attacks and after a while, I think the Dash midfield was looking over their shoulders in fear of another tough challenge, which she often provided. The general public will usually favor a goal scoring performance, but I thought she was the player of the match hands down. It was a really encouraging performance.
I am a huge Olofsson fan. Not everyone is. More than any other player position, midfielders tend to divide opinion. In the previous match vs. KC, Olofsson had a similar match to one I described vs. Houston. Some people hold the opinion that your box-to-box midfielder should be driving the attack. I am of the opinion that balance is key. It’s almost impossible to balance that attacking/defending split evenly in every match, so people who have a more offensive mindset tend to look at the lack of forward-moving passes as a clear detriment. The ball doesn’t always have to move forward for the pass to be effective, but never passing the ball forward is almost always ineffective. I believe you need steel in the middle of the pitch, especially in Racing’s forward heavy roster.
Everyone remembers the 1-0 victory vs. Houston for Salmon’s goal. I finally bit the bullet and went back and watched all of Racing’s goals from last year. Of the 27 from last year and the one from the KC match, here is the breakdown of goals.
Let me explain the categories:
In possession from transition with opponent shape integrity: This is probably the most difficult to explain. I wouldn’t call these necessarily counter-attacking goals or purely transition goals. The key difference for me here is how much time the opposition defense is given to get their back line into shape. Let’s use the Salmon goal as the example. McCaskill receives the ball from Bonner around midfield and moves the ball effectively forward until Salmon receives the pass. As Salmon takes her first couple of touches, the back four for Houston are all in their correct defensive “shape”, but not necessarily “settled”. The move itself isn’t a long piece of sustained possession, so it doesn’t really qualify as a sustained possession goal. I coded this in a shade of yellow with its two similar categories. The yellow really signifies scoring moves with possession won in Racing’s defensive half.
With sustained possession: This is fairly straightforward. Racing is experiencing an extended stretch of possession in their own half and the goal comes from that sustained possession.
From Pressing: The ball is won directly from pressure applied to an opposing player, usually resulting in an error and ultimately leading to a Racing goal.
In transition: Almost purely a counter attacking goal. The difference here is that the opposition defense hasn’t regained it’s defensive shape due to the quickness of the move.
The last 3 are pretty self-explanatory. For a visual explanation of the move “started with the goalkeeper from the back” click here. It is a distinct category in my mind, because it is a dream goal if you like the playing out from the back mentality.
Their has been a lot of backward looking stuff in this preview, so for the forward looking piece I employed the help of Laura Gómez.
Me: Houston lost their opening match in the Challenge Cup to Chicago. On your Just a Dash podcast, you said that Houston should try to win the cup. Does that mean that the match against Racing on Friday is pivotal to how the Dash will treat the rest of the cup based on Friday's outcome?
Laura: In the first half, there were for sure at least three close plays that could have ended in a goal for the Dash and I was feeling pretty confident that another goal might be coming and that a win could be very reachable if not a tie as a second option. I was wrong. Unfortunately, in the second half when closing we have seen the Dash struggle in the past and was their undoing. In the Just a Dash podcast by The Striker Texas, I did say the team should try to win the Challenge Cup maybe even a little more than other teams. It would also get the team good traction for the upcoming season, so yes the game against Racing is of extreme importance, we know in cups games are all important because there isn't enough of them to recuperate points, you need to add points make it to the final.
Me: What were some of the positive things you saw from the match against Chicago?
Laura: The Dash has so many quality players with a lot of potential. Some are new to the team so it's going to take some games to get them to really understand each other. Just to name a few players that will be key to the team in certain situations: Nichelle Prince, Maria Sanchez, Sophie Smidt, Shea Groom. I mean there is talent in this team. I feel like the club has established a culture and ambiance where players can really flourish. With that said, things need to start to fall into place soon inside the pitch, this upcoming season is a do-or-die one because the Dash has never made it to the post-season.
ME: President of the club Jess O'Neill hasn't been with the team very long, but what do you think she brings to the Dash?
Laura: Having a team president it's huge, important. I would stay a historic step adding that position to the team. Even more so when it someone so qualified as Jess O'Neill. She comes with a lot of experience, with actual on the ground experiences in the U.S. soccer scene. O'Neill, will be key in the leadership of the team in several areas, from fan experiences and engagement to helping the team grow and reach new historic accomplishments.
Me: The Dash had only 1 selection in the 2022 college draft and selected Ryan Gareis. Is she a pick for the future, or do you expect to see her at some point in the Challenge Cup?
Laura: Ryan Gareis, is a hard-working player, I've had the opportunity to talk to others and she really wants to make Houston her home, and that is something that is key to the adaptation of a player. Not wanting to stay in the city will eventually have inadvertent effects in other areas like inside the pitch, as we saw in the earlier days of the Dash with some players that came to the team but didn't want to be in Houston. Gareis, has skills the team can use for sure. She adds depth, she's a lefty, all in all, a well-rounded player. I do expect to see her in the Challenge Cup, it's the perfect opportunity to see how adapted she is and for the coach James Clarkson to see what she's good at now and what needs work before the season start.
Me: Since the club only had one pick in the college draft, the Dash signed Maria Sanchez and Paulina Gramaglia. Do you think the Dash's season will depend on how they adapt?
Laura: As far as Maria Sanchez, she will have an influence on how the team advances this upcoming season. As we are all aware she has had a big impact already and the season hasn't even started. Of course, this has mostly been done as an amazing marketing campaign from the club, but also because she has the potential to be huge. She is charismatic, has embraced Houston, is relatable to a lot of the youth in the city, and has a different type of soccer than many NWSL players. She gives the team that extra "magic". As for Paulina Gramaglia, she is very young and has a lot of raw potential. It's good she came to the NWSL now and is still in her "learning years" and can adapt easily to the playing style. She has good basic ones already coming from Argentina, where soccer is like a religion and she has already debuted in the national team at 19 years old, and that's not easy to accomplish. Gramaglia, accomplished a lot in her previous team UAI Urquiza, from Argentina where she scored nine goals in one season and became essential to that team. Something similar can happen here as well. For me, it's matter of adaptation time.
Me: Who is the player who needs to have a breakout year in order for the Dash to make the playoffs?
Laura: I have always said that a team needs to play as a team. One player can go in and score 10 goals but if the rest of the team isn't playing well the rival can find ways to get the same amount of goals in. So it's vital that the team plays as just that a team. I do believe that if Maria Sanchez stays healthy and keeps adapting to the team as she has shown she can be a vital key for the Dash to finally make the so elusive play-offs.
I want to thank Laura for her help. You can follow her on Twitter @LauraGomezNews. Check out her work on the “Just a Dash” podcast for The Striker Texas.
As for my final thoughts on the match and what to watch for, I will say to look for Racing to emphasize more width in the midfield and attack. Casey Whitfield pointed this out in the most recent episode of Butchertown Rundown. This is a winnable match for both teams. Maybe the biggest difference between the 0-4 loss and the 1-0 win was the central defense. In the 0-4, Racing started Hendrix and Martin at center back. The expected pairing of Merrick and Bonner should be a better option for Racing this time around.
Racing Prepare for Houston
Courtesy Racing Louisville
After Racing’s open practice on Thursday, new signees Sh’Nia Gordon and Julia Lester were made available for the media along with Coach Björkegren and CeCe Kizer. Here are the items of interest from those interviews:
Sh’Nia Gordon: Sh’Nia was in preseason training with CSKA Moscow in Turkey when the FIFA decision came to allow foreign nationals to void their contracts with Russian clubs. Not being in Russia allowed her to get news about the events in the Ukraine, which if she had been in Russia may not have been readily available. Based on the recent events, she had pretty much decided that she was not going to play in Russia this year regardless of which teams reached out to her. However, Racing was the first team to reach out to her and she obviously signed for them. Coach Kim told her that her main role would be to go 1 v 1 in attack.
Julia Lester: When I asked her what she learned by working with Coach Björkegren for a season and a half, she stated that he loved to play from the back. Since she started off as an outside back prior to college and moved to center back at Florida and at Apollon under Björkegren, she had to learn to get comfortable receiving the ball from her goalkeeper and having the other team apply pressure. When asked about her preferred position, she said that she missed the attacking side of the game that you get as an outside back but had learned a lot in her time at center back. In the end she said that she was fine with either and that “defense is really fun for me.”
CeCe Kizer: When asked about Houston, she said to expect a competitive match between teams with similar styles and that their talented front line has a lot of pace (my number one concern as well). On what the team learned from the game vs KC, Kizer said that team would be looking to press and play up the field a bit higher (which was evident in practice on Thursday) and to get more numbers forward and not be strictly a counter attacking team.
Kim Björkegren: He noted that there was some expected fatigue from the first full match, but that all players were back in training except for Nadia. Kim also mentioned being prepared for the pace of the Dash’s front 3 or 4 players. On bringing Julia over from Cyprus, he said that she was a “perfect match” for his team and the style that he wants to play. She moved over as soon as the title was secured (Apollon have one match remaining in the season). On CeCe, Kim called her “one of the best players in the league.” On Sh’Nia, he mentioned her pace and effectiveness in transition as being major assets.
It’s pretty much an open secret that Racing will be bringing in a couple more international players. After seeing that Lester was allowed to move over early from Apollon, I checked the current English WSL standings to see if anything was close to being settled (assuming that the English league is the most likely place to find talent willing to move to the NWSL). Unfortunately for Racing, every team still has something to play for whether it be the championship, a Champion’s League place or relegation. Teams have played either 16 or 17 out of the 22 scheduled fixtures. The battle for the top 3 will likely come down to 5 teams and it’s also likely to go down to the last matchday which is on May 8th. In short, don’t expect any more moves until then unless it is from a team in the bottom half of the table.
Racing 1 Current 1Post Match Analysis
Courtesy Connor Cunningham
The weather in Louisville held off long enough to ensure a dry and safe match at Lynn Family Stadium on Friday Evening, even if the few hours that followed were a bit more nervous with strong winds coming through the area. “Nervous” was a good word to describe Racing’s performance in the match, as the first 8-10 minutes looked like a team with a new system and a new coach. After that, Racing settled in and were able to get the 1st half possession number up to 48% and went into halftime leading by a goal. KC ended up converting one of their two really good chances, and a draw was a deserved result.
Since this match was the debut for both Jae Howell and Kirsten Davis, let’s start there. I fully expect Howell to be a great player for Racing, but last night’s match was probably her first non-international match in a very long time where she wasn’t the best player on the pitch. To be honest (and I know I am in the minority here), I think Jae would have been better served with an extra 2 weeks in Racing’s camp over the USWNT call up that took her away. Fox was called up too but is more experienced and her time away probably didn’t hurt her at all in her preparation for the season. In the first half, Howell looked a little tentative at times, and surprisingly to me at least…off the pace. More than once, an attacking player went by her fairly easily. Her passing was a bit off as well with a 66% pass completion rate. That looks especially poor when compared to an expected pass completion of 77% based on American Soccer Analysis xPass model. However, she turned things around in the second half and looked much more settled. I would classify her performance as a learning experience. I am 100% positive that the next match will better showcase her skills.
As for Kirsten Davis, she had an almost completely anonymous first half and an absolutely rollicking second half. I should insert a disclaimer here: I sit right next to the bench, and I am much more likely to notice things that happen on that side of the pitch. A really dedicated soccer analyst would go back and watch the match, but I’m not that dedicated. In this case I don’t think I missed anything in her first half performance, but who knows. In the second half she was much more involved and ended up leading the team in shots with 3 and had one on target. Her most common connection was with CeCe Kizer, even with CeCe going off in the 74th minute.
Courtesy Arielle Dror
The surprise stat of the night for me was that Nealy Martin led the team in completed passes with 60. She had effective connections with Kizer, Davis, and McDonald. Of course, in my pre-match analysis I predicted a heavy Fox-Ekic connection and true to my predictive capabilities, their connection was almost nonexistent. Fox connected with Howell and Olofsson effectively, but not Ekic. It seemed as if KC might have been specifically trying to prevent Fox from getting forward early on. Fox did have a good charging run in the second half. On the defensive side she rather easily handled Lynn Williams’ runs when Williams bizarrely chose the left side to attack. She shut down Edmonds effectively on the left side too when she moved into attack.
On the tactical side, I think that KC dictated much of the match, even if they trailed for over half of it. Take note of the Pass Network below and notice that both the left back, Mace and right back, Edmonds basically hung out in midfield.
Courtesy Arielle Dror
For comparison purposes, Fox and Martin spent most of the match firmly in defense. The other item to note is that Desiree Scott’s performance is a good model for what Racing would like to see from Howell. She had 54 completed passes for a percentage of 91%. Her average position of pretty much dead center of the pitch with 7 effective pass networks is something to aspire towards.
One final thought on the match and the league in general about how much the NWSL game is a transition game. Richard Laverty wrote a very good piece on Gemma Bonner for Our Game Magazine here. Here is one particularly omniscient quote from Bonner: “But here, I’m put into positions where I can’t afford to switch off because the game is so transitional, you don’t have too many periods of sustained possession. You have to stay switched on because in a split second you can have Mal Pugh running at you or Lynn Williams or Trinity Rodman, who can hurt you on the fly. The tactical and technical level in England for me is so much higher but the concentration level you need here is so high, that’s the excitement of different leagues.” On Friday this is exactly what happened on KC’s goal. Bonner switched off for just the tiniest of moments and Williams made her pay by winning possession and thus starting the attack that lead to the goal. I don’t want to dwell on Bonner’s mistake, as she made up for it greatly with a goal line clearance late. I bring this up more so talk about 2 things that I have been thinking about for a while.
The first is the ever expanding improvement in soccer stats, and the need to not rest on those improvements. I have debated xG both with fans of the metric and internally with myself for quite a while. I won’t rehash that, but I will say that I believe the next step in analysis is what I would call “Transition xG” My hypothesis is that opportunities created off of a loss of possession are more likely to result in goals that the same opportunities created in possession. I have a tendency to believe that many of Racing’s goals are created within less than 10 seconds of the opponent losing possession. It would be interesting to examine I believe. This leads into the second thing that I have been pondering which is: can a coach that focuses intensely on the technical side of the game like Björkegren be successful in the NWSL? I think the answer is a resounding “Yes”, but we may have to think about how technical and tactical discipline reduce your opponent’s scoring opportunities vs. how they increase your own. I thought Racing’s shape in the match was really good. You could tell that KC were getting frustrated early by their significant amount of possession and lack of any really good opportunities. I think part of this was due to Racing’s technical and tactical discipline at the back. Now Racing needs to work on moving that tactical and technical discipline up the pitch into midfield and attack.
Racing 1 Current 1 Player Ratings
On the surface, this year’s version of Racing looked a little like the version from last year based on the loss of the possession battle and the numbers of shots taken vs. allowed. However, there were several notable differences which I will get into more tomorrow. The biggest one in my eyes, was that they kept their shape for the most part. That is always a good sign for a team starting in a new system with a new coach.
Lund-7: KC seemed intent on testing her with deep shots, which see very capably saved. She misjudged a cross at the end of the first half, but Pickett could make her pay. There wasn’t much she could do on the goal.
Fox-8: Handled Williams and Hamilton really well when they attacked down her side in the first half.
Bonner-6: Took an extra touch on the ball which led to the McCain goal. It was really good pressure from Williams. She redeemed herself by clearing the second McCain attempt of the line on a last-ditch clearance.
Merrick-7: Having not playing any real significant minutes in over a season, looked a little rusty and tentative at the start, but quickly righted herself and had a solid match.
Martin-7: Nealy looks so solid compared to this time last year that it’s frankly amazing.
Howell-7: Jae is burdened a bit with very high expectations. She looked a little nervous and off the pace in the first half, but righted herself to have an excellent second half. I think her second match will show much more of what she can do.
Olofsson-8 (Player of the Match): Freja kept all of the steel that she gained from playing in a deeper role last year, and also looked bright in her more attacking position.
Kizer-8: Scored another first goal of the year. She is probably the best natural finisher on the team.
Ekic-6: I expected Racing to attack more down the left, but Emina and Fox couldn’t really get their rhythm together in attack. She also switched off a time or two and left Fox isolated on the defensive end.
Davis-7: She had a rather anonymous first half, but was really lively in the second half. A difficult volley late in the match went wide of the net, but the effort to get into space and get the shot off was good.
McDonald-8: She “pled the 5th” on my question about whether we would continue to see long throws. I will have more on that tomorrow too. She was isolated a bit in the early parts of the match, but her ball to find Kizer on the goal was excellent. It was a consummate professional performance.
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.