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Chicago 0 Louisville 2 Post Match Thoughts
Courtesy USA Today Sports Images
It's hard to properly evaluate Louisville's performance on Wednesday night as the Red Stars were so poor on the evening that Louisville was never in any real serious danger of losing the match. However, there is no need to apologize for easily picking up 3 points and heading to the top of their group.
As well as Louisville played on the evening, it's hard to see what the plan was for Chicago. The Red Stars seemed intent on playing out from the back which is exactly what Louisville wanted them to try to attempt. For long sections of the first half, Chicago looked happy just to make it to midfield at times. They were slightly better in the second half, but only just. Unless some miracle happens, they will finish bottom of the table by a wide margin. I would say their fans deserve better, but what fans? Very few actually showed up to the match and it was so quiet that you could frequently hear the players talking. It remanded ne of one of those closed-door COVID matches. The Red Stars are bad but if a team sucks in an empty stadium…well it's kind of like that tree falling in the forest type thing.
Enough on the terrible Red Stars because Louisville had two pretty interesting goals, and many more missed chances. I will leave the complaining about the missed chances for tomorrow when I preview the Washington match where it will matter. The first goal was one that you felt coming the moment Howell stepped in to intercept the pass that started the break. Louisville had been susceptible to over passing and under finishing up until that point, but a counter that left the Red Star players frantically tracking back was just what the doctor ordered. I always feel like you don’t have to be as clinical when counterattacking because they are almost always fewer players in the box which leaves more of the goal open. Louisville had some earlier transitional attacks but this one was different in that the impetus came from the middle of the pitch. Too often the balls out wide to Monaghan on the earlier breaks either lacked precision, or were slightly mishandled giving Chicago the chance to recover. However, on this break the ball from Howell to Monaghan was simple and direct and Monaghan's ball to Kanu was simple and perfectly weighted with precision as Kanu hit a nice first time ball to beat Naeher. Each piece of the buildup was simple and predictable and Chicago could do nothing about it. Conversely, on Goins’ goal she didn't even see it go in initially as she thought she had hit it over the bar. Suffice it to say there was a little bit of luck in the trajectory, but Parker fought to get open to make contact and couldn't have walked up and placed it any better. It's her second goal against Chicago this year.
The rest of the match was basically Louisville dominating possession and opportunities. Kgatlana came on with Louisville in the lead once again and had some good chances. As good as it was for Kanu to score, I think Kgatlana is likely going to scored and create more goals so it would have been nice to see her get one to start her Louisville account.
Chicago 0 Louisville 2 Player Ratings
Louisville easily managed a poor performance from Chicago and now have six points in their Challenge Cup group.
Lund-7: Solid when she needed to be and was much better with her feet than the previous couple of matches.
Milliet-8: Was fantastic in defense and industrious in attack.
Erceg-7: Not really required to do much of anything until Cheyna Matthews entered the match.
Pikkujämsä-7: Pulled a nice double duty in multiple positions.
Holloway-7: Ditto for Rebecca
Baggett-8: Really helped keep the pressure on the Chicago defense early on.
Howell-7: Nothing much was required of her defensively and was subbed at halftime.
Borges-7: Helped Louisville absolutely control the midfield all night.
Monaghan-7: Got in dangerous positions, but couldn't finish off any of her chances.
Kanu-8: Scored on a great team move and hopefully this will be the first of many.
Chidiac-7: Seemed to be in the middle of the attacks all night.
Goins-8: Scored on a beautiful looped header and had another great chance.
Kgatlana-7: Was close to scoring a couple of times. Still hasn't played for Louisville with the score even.
DeMelo-7: On late to grab an assist and draw a yellow card.
Pickett-7: On for a half to help lock down the lead.
Chicago v Louisville Challenge Cup Pre Match Thoughts
Courtesy USA Today Sports Images
Louisville will try to start another winning streak on Wednesday in Chicago, but will probably treat the upcoming match in Washington DC with a higher priority. Chicago has been poor this year but somehow won 1-0 vs. Orlando on Saturday while managing only 2 shots (with Yuki getting the goal). Chicago rotated some in their other Challenge Cup match, so that can be expected again.
Louisville on the other hand absolutely has to rotate their squad very deliberately on Wednesday. If Pickett starts on Wednesday there has to be a serious inquiry. She has played every minute of every match this season and for a left back that likes to go forward that's a lot of minutes. Erceg needs a rest too, but as a central defender might not need a break as much as Pickett. I think we could see some combination of Pikkujämsä, Murray, Holloway, Lester, and Wyne get a start on the back line. There are some interesting combinations in that group, so personally I would be fine with some experimentation. Louisville basically doesn't ever set up to win 1-0, so why not?
Up front, Kgatlana has still only played for Louisville while they were either leading or trailing so I would like to see what she can do with the scoreline all square. I like the idea of giving Goins another shot, but she hasn't made the match day squad for the last couple of matches. Chidiac and Baggett need a start as well.
I would like to see Louisville press hard for points in Chicago. A win would put them 3 points clear through 2 matches. With the highest-placing group runner-up advancing to the knockout stage, point accumulation, especially early in the competition, is important. Personally I think a real run at the shield or championship is probably a long shot, so the Challenge Cup is probably Louisville's only real shot at silverware this season.
Louisville 1 North Carolina 2 Post Match Thoughts
Courtesy USA Today Sports Images
Louisville's (brief) winning streak ended in a rather underwhelming performance that highlighted the team's shortcomings. This team still has a chance to turn things around, but the gap between Louisville and the playoffs is still significant.
North Carolina decided that Savannah DeMelo was not going to beat them and did a good job of making sure she was marked by multiple players at times. She still had an opportunity on a nice run from Lester from defense, but the finish proved too tough. She also picked up a yellow card on a challenge that showed her frustration by going in late and high. She was able to manage her game after that showing that she probably learned her lesson on her red card. Louisville needs at least one more reliable goal-scoring attacker. This a a match where you could imagine Nadia Nadim finishing off Monaghan's chance and possibly DeMelo's. The transfer window opens back up on June 28th and it's hard to imagine that center forward isn't on the top of the list. You don't win many matches when your best attacker on the night is your right back.
Even though Louisville had the better attacking chances in the first half, they didn't really impose themselves as much as they did in the previous 3 matches. This is probably down to their opponent on the night, but the press still worked well at times. Unfortunately they were not able to capitalize. The most disappointing was Monaghan's shot wide when she had done most of the hard work. Monaghan also left Ryan Williams too much space on her cross leading to the opening goal. It was not her best night for Louisville.
North Carolina's first goal was just one of those goals. Even though Monaghan was out of position, the looping header from Madsen was nearly impossible to defend especially given Lester's lack of height. The counterattacking goal down 0-1 is the cost of doing business when you fall behind in the second half. It's pretty easy to see that the Courage were the better team on the night and 3 points for them was a fair result.
Milliet was Louisville’s best player on the night with Howell a close second. She was credited with a goal in the stadium, but Baggett actually got her head on it. Regardless, the cross was great and she was good in attack all night. It was good to see her play well, but disappointing that the club didn't run a player of the match poll for her to get recognized. I also don't remember her ever having her own poster, at least not one recently. She remains the club’s most underrated player in my opinion.
Overall the team didn't look at sharp or as hungry for 3 points as they had in the past week. That little drop in intensity was all that it took for the Courage to make them pay. Ultimately, if they are to make a playoff push they will have to handle future winning streaks a bit better in order to extend them past 3 matches.
Louisville 1 North Carolina 2 Player Ratings
Louisville's wasted opportunities in the first half meant that Baggett's consolation goal wasn't enough to get any points. They fought valiantly but still have work to do to be considered a true playoff contender.
Lund-5: Not really at fault for either goal, but her distribution wasn't great.
Pickett-6: Her family was in town with some pretty sweet CP16 shirts.
Erceg-6: Picked up the armband when Howell left. Surely wanted a better result vs. her old team.
Lester-6: Good attacking run that DeMelo couldn't finish.
Milliet-8: Really good in attack and probably Louisville's best player in the first half. Assisted on Baggett’s goal to make the end interesting.
Howell-7: Put in another solid defensive performance.
Borges-6: Had a golden opportunity stopped at point blank range.
DeMelo-6: The Courage did a good job neutralizing her for the most part.
Monaghan-5: Had a golden opportunity in the first half that she couldn't convert.
Davis-5: Pretty much invisible with only18 touches.
Wang-5: Put in a rather pedestrian performance as well.
Louisville v North Carolina Pre Match Thoughts
Courtesy Connor Cunningham
The North Carolina Courage return to Louisville on May 27th scheduled to wear even more boing kits than last season. And that is all that needs to be said about the Courage.
I know that I keep promising to not bring up that 2-0 loss in Portland over and over again, but I just can’t help myself. The reason that I am bringing it up again is because at least from a fan’s perspective, they showed that team too much reverence. I believe in giving your opponent their due respect, but never reverence. I don’t want to project something on the players that isn’t there, but the majority of Louisville fans still seem a bit in awe of Portland. That needs to stop. I fear that you might repeatedly hear about Louisville’s record against their upcoming opponent, but I am here to tell you that it is now irrelevant. The only thing that Louisville needs to see on Saturday is an opponent that sits one spot above them in the table and nothing else. Erceg and Pickett could be forgiven for having a little bit of extra motivation going up against their old team, but every other player needs to forget about the crest of upcoming foe.
In my opinion, we have now entered the phase of Louisville’s growth trajectory where at least for the forseeable future, each successive league match could be labeled “the most important match in their history”. This Saturday surely is, and if they win it, the following one in Washington might not be as important, but if they lose it, it surely will be. On Saturday, Louisville’s opponent currently holds what they want: a top six spot in the standings. All other prior history is irrelevant. I think that’s what bothered me most about the Portland match and why I can’t let it go. I really didn’t care if it was their best ever performance in Portland because it obviously wasn’t good enough. If Louisville comes into the match on Saturday worrying about their prior results against North Carolina then they’ve already lost. Their previous performances are irrelevant and can be finally put deep into the ground with a victory. What I don’t want to see, is a draw treated as a victory no matter how it comes. That being said I also want to share the reality of what is happening in the league from a form perspective. There has been only one run of form that yielded 9 points from 3 matches in the league this season and that was the week 2 to week 4 run of the OL Reign. There have been many more runs of 7 points from 3 matches, so while I don’t want to see a draw celebrated, neither should it be mourned.
If Louisville is on the way to true success, this match will be the measure. We have seen how they handle defeat, but handling victories can be just as tricky. The key is how you handle a victory on the road to success. Do you treat is as a destination, a rest stop, or a mile marker. In the past, each Louisville victory seemed like a destination, in that most of the time it was ending a long winless streak. It relieved the tension, but they tended to stay at that level of performance deeming it good enough. The danger now is to not treat a winning streak as a rest stop: a place to relax for a bit, but also a place that ultimately delays your arrival at your destination. Nobody could fault the players and fans for relishing in their victories, but you have to be careful not to dwell because they will have to be even better to keep winning. I believe that great teams treat every match as a mile marker regardless of outcome, and keep on the road to success. You are going to hit some bumps along the way, so the key is to always strive for continuous improvement win, lose, or draw. None of this is revolutionary thinking, but it is really quite difficult to put into practice.
The next thing that I want to see from Louisville is how they do when Savannah DeMelo doesn’t put in a player of the match level performance. It is a joy to watch, but not sustainable across the entire season. They can’t rely on her putting in an 8 or 9 out of 10 performances every match. They also need one more reliable goal scorer or goal creator. Thembi Kgatlana looks like she could be that player, but she has played exactly zero minutes for Louisville with the score level, so we’ve really only seen her prepped to counter or in the case of her first match pressing for an equalizer. Kanu needs to score soon too for her confidence.
I was really hard on this team after the loss in Orlando because I believed they were better than what they were showing, but I also unapologetically believe that you are what your record says you are. The record now shows that Louisville is a mid-table team. By the end of the season that might be the truth or it might not. I don’t think this team has peaked, but I do believe that we might have seen the bottom, so I will set this bar: it’s playoffs or bust from now on.
Kansas City 0 Louisville 2 Post Match Thoughts
Courtesy USA Today Sports Images
Louisville put in its most complete performance of the year so far and in the end won somewhat comfortably by 2 goals. It will be important to keep this momentum going, so there is no time to take their foot off of the gas.
First let's start with Kansas City's performance. It was the type of performance that Louisville was putting in last season and to a degree early in this season. The Current were not “bad” per se, but had an atrocious individual error and gave up a lethal counter attack. I bring this up to point out that the result does and should be the main factor in evaluating a performance. Making excuses for the result of the type of performance KC put in is hopefully now something that Louisville can put in its rear view window. It's the type of match that losing coaches like to complain about and say “we deserved something out of that match.” I say no you didn't and as always…”Deserve got nuthin’ to do with it.”
On the other hand, Louisville were not lucky in the least. DeMelo forced that error and collectively they made that opportunity for the second goal. Louisville forced the Current into its performance. It's even more impressive taking into account that Louisville won in the midweek match as well. Kansas City made the decision to prioritize this match over the cup match and ended up winning neither. Alternatively Louisville had its cake and ate it too.
If Louisville makes the playoffs, Savannah DeMelo will surely be in the MVP discussion. It's way too early to worry about such things, but I can't think of many more superlatives to place on her. Since her red card, she has been unstoppable.
Much has been made of how the players on this team get along and are genuinely good people. However, they are starting to become…let's call it “unpleasant” to play against. Things seemed cordial enough between the teams after the match, but during the match Louisville made no friends. In previous seasons I would see Louisville players pull out of contact against their opponents. That has completely changed and I love it. In my opinion, it's what had been missing from their pressing. Now they have enough of the type of player that isn’t afraid to foul, get carded smartly or time waste when necessary. It's the edge that winners need. I hope Howell unapologetically leads the league in fouls committed all season. In fact, if I were her I would ask my opponents before the match if they would prefer it on the shin, calf, or ankle. DeMelo should enroll in the Megan Rapinoe school of complaining to the officials. However, their midfield partner Ary Borges already has her gamesmanship down pat. In fact, my favorite stretch of the match was in the 85th minute or so, when Louisville let the air completely out of the ball with Kanu a big part of that. The Current had a few chances after that, but by then the match was won.
On the defensive side, for all of the decent to good chances that Kansas City mustered, Louisville had the right number of players back and in good positions. Lester was particularly good in recovery, but it really isn't fair to single any one player out. This particular line is starting to gel. Elli Pikkujämsä may have to really fight to find her way back into this current back 4. Lester could feasibly slide over to right back, but Milliet has done nothing to make anyone think she is in danger of losing her starting job.
The players will now surely get a day or so off, but have to be dying to get back on the pitch Saturday against North Carolina. Pickett and Erceg will have chips on their shoulders which might be good enough for Louisville to finally get something against the Courage.
Kansas City 0 Louisville 2 Player Ratings
It was hands down the best result of the season so far. For the third match in a row Louisville's front-footed performance dictated the tempo and brought home all 3 points.
Lund-8: Not called in to do anything spectacular until the very end, but was fantastic during the dying moments.
Pickett-8: Her first few corners were below her usual standard, but was in the right spots on defense all night.
Erceg-8: Led the back to its best performance all season.
Lester-8: Used her recovery speed to make several key plays on the night.
Milliet-8: Full of energy in attack and defense.
Howell-8: Wrecking ball. Love every time she puts in this type of effort.
Borges-8: Played a clever, clever match. Slowed things down when needed and sped things up too.
DeMelo-9: Had a goal and an assist. She is currently putting in NWSL “Player of the Year” tyoe performances.
Monaghan-6: Not a sharp as usual, but put in a good shift.
Davis-8: Calmly finished her opportunity for gaol. Was excellent all night.
Wang-7: Greatly contributed to keeping the team on the front foot in possession.
Kansas City v Louisville Pre Match Thoughts
Courtesy USA Today Sports Images
Louisville now travels to Kansas for the second part of KC week having won 3-2 vs. a rotated starting lineup in Louisville. LaBonta, Debinha and Kizer put in substitute appearances and DiBernardo didn’t play at all. Combined those four players comprise the top four spots in Fotmob’s player ratings for the season for the Current. It’s a safe bet that all four will start against Louisville on Saturday. Even with all of that talent on the bench, Kansas City still put two goals past Louisville. I don’t think giving up two goals in Kansas City will be the recipe for success on Saturday, so Louisville needs to figure out how to continue its recent offensive outburst while also figuring out how to keep their opponents from exposing them on the counter. The Current showed a high press at times in the Challege Cup match in Louisville, and Louisville didn’t always handle it well. If you recall last season’s league match in Kansas City, you will remember a second half where the Current basically pinned Louisville back into their own half for the last 45 minutes while protecting a 1-0 lead. Louisville would like to turn the tables on the Current from that perspective and it nearly worked for Louisville on Wednesday, but you only need to look back to the 88th minute goal on Wednesday to see the danger in putting most of your effort into front-footed defense, although that was really a mental lapse of taking a normal corner instead of a time-wasting one. It’s still unclear if Louisville is capable of putting in a solid defensive performance with a narrow lead when they aren’t able to keep their opponents in their own half.
Saturday’s match is more important in the grand scheme of things than the victory on Wednesday. The thought on every fan’s mind surely is: Can Louisville go on a long run of good results? I think the best, but certainly not the only way to predict that is to look at a club’s best run of form. For Louisville, its best run of form ever is 9 points from 5 matches (1.8 points/match rate), which was the last 5 matches in 2022 when all of the pressure to make the playoffs was off. The form extrapolated over the rest of the season would put them at 34 points and would likely get them into the playoffs. As great as the wins vs. Chicago and Kansas City were, I think we have to be honest and realize that it would basically take Louisville duplicating its best run of form ever and applying that to the rest of the season in order to say that the playoffs are likely. In order to change that rather bleak prognostication, Louisville must go on a run of results soon that yield point totals in the 2 points/match range. Currently, only the Washington Spirit and OL Reign are hitting that clip in their last 5 matches. As good as those victories were, there is still a rather large mathematical, but nowhere near impossible, hill to climb.
The Importance of Being Sav DeMelo
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I called her Louisville's Ms. Everything in my player ratings last night and I 100% meant it. This team goes how Savannah DeMelo goes. This made me ponder in the grand scheme of things if this was a good thing or a bad thing for the club and for her personally and professionally. Let me start with a rhetorical question. Is a team's best player always its most important one?
For Louisville there is no doubt. We've seen what this team looks like without her and it isn't pretty. That loss in Orlando had a glaring Savannah-sized hole right in the middle of it. I shudder to think how much worse last season would have been without her. It would have likely been borderline unwatchable. This season she definitely has more and better help which is a very good thing, but still hasn't changed the fact that Louisville's best and most important player are one and the same.
That isn't the case for all teams. I asked around (Bekki, Kaitlyn, Zach) for examples of NWSL teams where the best player might not be the most important. They collectively identified Portland and North Carolina as examples. While Smith and Kerolin are likely the best players for Portland and North Carolina, a player like Klingengberg or Sauerbrunn might be more important for Portland and for the Courage it might be O’Sullivan. It's easier to picture Portland winning without Smith than Klingengberg or Sauerbrunn and the same goes for Kerolin and O'Sullivan.
Obviously the fact, that you can’t choose Klingengberg over Sauerbrunn or vice versa is kind of the point. Their team strength is somewhat down to the fact that they aren't overly reliant on a single player. In soccer, you can't win by yourself, but your absence can be the thread that makes the sweater unravel. If you try to do the same exercise for the USWNT, it would be hard to identify a best or most important player, let alone her being the same individual which again is a good thing.
The good news for Louisville is that I believe that Kgatlana, Howell, and maybe Borges could prove to be up to the challenge of being either the best or most important player alongside DeMelo. I believe that this would be a huge relief to Savannah too. Having to be “on” for every minute or every match is a burden no player should have to carry by herself. It's better for her and the team when another player can help her move from being Ms. Everything to simply Sav DeMelo because we've seen that just being herself is good enough.
Louisville 3 Kansas City 2 Post Match Thoughts
Courtesy David Mucker
After a bit of a disjointed start where Louisville seemed to be simultaneously feeling out their opponents as well as feeling out how to play together with this specific set of players, they ultimately dictated the match and used effective pressure to get 3 points in their opening Challenge Cup match.
In my opinion, this match was won by the way Louisville imposed its style on the opponent. Even after, and maybe even due to going a goal down, they relentlessly pressed Kansas City until they could barely get a foothold in the match. We could possibly be seeing Louisville turning a corner (but I don't think they are auite there yet). The Howell/Baggett/DeMelo midfield was particularly effective, but Borges ended up having her say shortly after taking the pitch with a neatly executed chip of Franch (who was particularly poor on the night and honestly not great on the season). Louisville probably wins this match going away with a more lethal goalscorer up front. Kanu still is finding her place and hasn't quite clicked with her teammates yet. Alex Chidiac should be getting more minutes based on her display. She probably isn't as technically gifted as Wang, but gives the team something different from an energy perspective. I think she and Wang should be doing 30 and 60 minutes shifts in rotation to help keep Louisville's opponents off balance.
For as good as the result and the performance was, I still have some doubts about this team. They have showed that they can be successful, but still don't quite know how to handle success easily. Around the 80th minute mark, I thought to myself that if they can see out this 2-1 lead by playing on the front foot that maybe their chosen style could be classified as an unqualified success on the night. Instead it ended 3-2 and for me will fall into the qualified success category. Once Louisville went up 3-1, the match should have seen a relaxing finish. Instead, Louisville just couldn't take “yes” for an answer and made the frankly baffling decision to run a normal corner in the 88th minute up 2 goals. There is absolutely no excuse for that ball to go into the box. Of course on the next corner they learned their lesson, having givien up an unnecessary counterattacking goal. This apparent disdain for even the slightest bit of pragmatism prevents me from saying that Louisville has turned the corner fully.
However, it is starting to become clear to every corner of the NWSL landscape that when DeMelo is playing for Louisville she is the x factor and will always give the team a shot to win. She just finds herself in the right spots. Her finish on the first goal with the outside of her right foot is the type of finish most players can only dream of. Of course, being Sav she found herself in the right spot for the second goal too. Selfishly I want her to skip the World Cup and take advantage of the weakened squads rolled out by the other NWSL clubs during July and August, but she has likely earned a spot on the roster. It will just be a shame if all of her time is spent on the bench.
I want to say this very particularly…the number of goals that Louisville continues to give up is not sustainable in my opinion. They can't be relying on scoring 3 times every match in order to get 3 points. I don't want to lay this problem completely at the defense’s feet. Louisville is stuck in a state of “Live by the sword, die by the sword” at the moment. I feel like with just a bit more positional discipline and disciplined decision making they could make things much easier on themselves. But as always, you take a win any way it comes.
Louisville 3 Kansas City 2 Player Ratings
More on this tomorrow, but this might be Racing's first “style” victory, at least this season. They dominated and won which you always like to see.
Lund-6: Not really called on to do much and not at fault on either goal.
Pickett-7: Effective as usual.
Erceg-7: Picked up an early yellow, but managed it well until the end of the match.
Murray-7: Had the odd nervy moment, but had some really important touches in the first half.
Wyne-7: Not nearly as attack-minded at Milliet, but deputized for her well.
Howell-8: Followed up her impressive display against Chicago with another excellent performance.
Baggett-7: Looked like a good pickup for Louisville in her first start.
DeMelo-9: What can you say? She is kind of Ms. Everything for this team.
Monaghan-7: Worked really hard on both sides of the ball.
Kanu-6: Still needs that finishing touch, but I believe she will find it.
Chidiac-7: An absolute ball of energy. Should be getting more minutes.
Louisville v Kansas City Challenge Cup Pre-Match Thoughts
Courtesy Connor Cunningham
I love cup competitions. I know that isn’t a view shared by everyone, but almost none of my views are. The reason I like cup competitions is that if you aren’t doing great in the league, it’s a chance to still win some silverware. Alternatively, if you don’t make it out of the group stage you can act like you don’t care or say that you don’t take the competition seriously. It’s a win-win! The Challenge Cup also has an increased prize money pool this year as an incentive to help combat the “don’t care” excuse. That is strictly my perspective as a fan as Abby Erceg commented today that the players take every match seriously, but that it is up to the coaching staff to determine how the match is played from a tactics and player selection perspective. Since half of the matches will occur during the World Cup break, there is another factor the complicates a team's performance in the cup this season if you have too many of your starters away on international duty. I for one will be happy to still have club soccer going on during the World Cup.
For Louisville, it will be their first Challenge Cup match but Kansas City has already played a match against Houston in which they rolled out a pretty strong lineup. Every single player who started for the Current that day had started a match prior to that one and most of their regular starters were included in that match’s starting lineup. However, former head coach Matt Potter was desperate to find any kind of form as the Current were sitting on zero league points when that match occurred. Since Louisville and Kansas City turn right around and have a league match in Kansas this upcoming Saturday there is a possibility for both sides to be rather cagey when it comes to the midweek matchup. Caroline Sjöblom pretry much confirmed that the Current will rotate some, but we will see how much. She also commented that she doesn't plan to play in the exact same manner on Wednesday and Saturday. The Current do rotate between 3, 4, and 5 at the back from time to time. She also said that she does expect Louisville to set up the same way in both matches. ***LOUD THROAT CLEAR***
Coach Björkegren stated today that his intentions are to win every competition his team enters, which I like to hear. He all but officially confirmed that there would be some rotation for Wednesday and then some planned substitutes during the match. Björkegren did mix up his lineups during the Challenge Cup last year, but he really hadn’t settled on a Starting XI yet and those matches occurred in the preseason. I am sure he will be tempted to keep the momentum going after the first win, but he surely won’t want to play all of his starters 90 minutes 3 times in 9 days. I suspect the players most likely to get a midweek rest are Erceg, Milliet and Pickett as they have each played the full 90 minutes seven times already this season. No other player has played a full seven matches other than Lund, so relatively speaking the rest of the team should have semi-fresh legs. I do expect Chidiac to get a start either Wednesday or Saturday. Pikkujämsä seems like a prime candidate to start on Wednesday and put in 45 to 60 minutes before being subbed off. Baggett could easily see more time too. Personally, I would start Goins. If McDonald is back, she should start. There are plenty of options. Here is a list of players’ minutes so far this season.
Lund, Erceg, Milliet, Pickett-630
Borges,DeMelo-between 515 and 540
Howell, Wang-between 465 and 475
Monaghan, Davis, Holloway-between 330 and 350
Kanu, Pikkujämsä, McDonald, Lester-between 250 and 270
Fischer-175
Everone else has less than 90.
Saturday’s match is more important in the grand scheme of things, so win, lose, or draw, Louisville will have one eye on the upcoming league battle. Louisville played very well on Friday night against Chicago, but still needs to show that they can win consistently. Erceg and Björkegren both said the team naturally got a lift from getting 3 points on Friday, but also that spirits were high even prior to that.
Björkegren told reporters that Davis and Ekic fully participated in practice on Tuesday and that Davis could see action on Wednesday, but could also need a few more days. Ekic is still building up match stamina and therefore is probably still a week or so away from game action.
Louisville 3 Chicago 0 Post Match Thoughts
Courtesy Chris Humphrey
Louisville got its first win of the season and looked really good doing it. Chicago didn't put up much of a fight, but there should never be any apologies for getting a convincing win.
I will own the fact that I was very critical of this team prior to this match. One match won't convince me that everything will be bright and sunny going forward, but if they play this well, you can bet on more wins soon. The key will now be to continue the momentum.
Wang Shuang started the match with a bad giveaway and a pretty cynical foul and then proceeded to play the best match she has ever played for Louisville. I will reiterate what I said in my player ratings. She seemed to get better and better as every minute of the match ticked by. There are things she does and passes she sees that nobody else on the team can duplicate. Consistency will be the key for her. She doesn't have to be this brilliant every match, but she can't alternate between a performance like this and the one she had in Orlando.
You have to wonder if Sav DeMelo had kept her head against the OL Reign, that Louisville might be another 5 points to the good. On this team, there is nobody else that can consistently drive the team forward like she does. She won the penalty, and forced the own goal from Naeher. Personally, I will take Wang's cool poise from the spot, but her power was just enough. It does now mean she is 1 for 3 from the spot, so Louisville's next penalty could go back to Wang. Other than that, it would be hard to find any fault in her performance.
My player of the match however goes to Jae Howell. She put in a true captain's performance. One of these days she will actually score a header that ends up counting, but her real value was in how she threw herself around to stop danger and win the ball back at critical times. I thought Louisville was the tiniest bit flat in the first few minutes, but Howell's effort pulled the team out of this brief spell of mediocre play and jump-started the performance.
This was not a mistake free performance, but to my eyes at least, they seemed to collectively cover for each other more fiercely than they had done in previous matches. Mistakes will always be made, but this performance makes me hopeful because they demonstrated just that little bit more fight for each other and that can ultimately make a difference.
Louisville might not have an easier clean sheet all year. Lund's best save actually never counted because the buildup was offside. She did make a couple of solid saves at the end, but she didn't have to stand on her head at all this match. The defensive effort can probably be most likely be credited to how they controlled the match versus how they actually defended at the back. It was a front footed defensive effort. I’m sure this is how everyone in the organization envisions the defensive working. However, not every opponent will be as poor as Chicago. It's good to see, but I still need to see more to feel comfortable that this will work against better teams. Plan A was excellently executed on the night. However, it was the first time Plan A has produced 3 points in a while.
Don't discount the importance of Parker Goins late goal. We don't yet know how Louisville will approach the Challenge Cup, but with Davis's late injury that ruled her out and another match on Wednesday, Goins might be selected to start up front or at least play a few more minutes. It's good that she has a goal fresh in her memory if she's called upon in the upcoming cup matches.
Thembi Kgatlana looked so dangerous on the counter that it makes you ponder if a little route one football might make sense once she's in the starting lineup. I don't think Louisville will play this way frequently, but a quick, direct ball to her when one of her teammates wins the ball in their opponent's half might be worth a shot now and then.
Coach Björkegren cooled off his hot seat a bit last night but will likely need an extended run of good results to get it cool enough for his comfort. He was visibly elated when Howell appeared to score, so we know how much this match meant to the usually stoic coach.
Maybe the most encouraging thing that I noticed after the match was that the team, while happy to win, looked more relieved than excited. Now it really only matters if they come out for their next league match and play with the same intensity, but it's good to see that the players expected to win.
Louisville 3 Chicago 0 Player Ratings
Louisville finally put in a full 90 minute performance and easily won. In my opinion, the best part was how hard they fought for each other.
Lund-7: Called into action early and late, but her defense protected her for the most part. Her distribution was good as well.
Pickett-8: Louisville's most consistent player this season played even better tonight.
Erceg-8: Played excellently in her stints higher up the pitch.
Lester-8: Helped keep all of the Chicago attackers at bay.
Milliet-8: Could have scored and was fantastic in attack as well as defense.
Howell-9: Ruthlessly commanding. Wanted this one so bad from the opening minute.
Borges-8: Won the penalty for Wang's goal. Good on both sides of the ball.
DeMelo-8: Won and then kind of scored the penalty. Clear how much the team missed her in the last match.
Monaghan-8: Relentlessly attacked down the left side. Really caused problems for Chicago's defense.
Kanu-7: Still settling in from her return from injury, but much better tonight.
Wang-8: Seemed to get better every minute the match went on. Took her penalty coolly and calmly.
Goins-7: Great to see her score.
Kgatlana-7: Can’t wait to see her get a full match.
Louisville v Chicago Prematch Thoughts
Courtesy Connor Cunningham
Small editorial note: I have decided to change the title of the posts prior to the macthes from “Preview” to “Prematch Thoughts” as it more accurately reflects the typical content of the posts.
It is time to face facts, folks. Louisville is not a good team. They aren't even really average by any meaningful metric. I know “good” is an ill-defined word, so let me present 3 numbers that for me define how not “good” they are. They are 11th out of 12th in the table, but that can be explained away by the schedule and “it's early”. The other two are demonstrated here:
Louisville is below average at getting points when they fall behind and well below average when getting a lead (the league average is indicated by the NWSL logo).
Don't get me wrong, I know some of you believe in this team, but for me there is too much data and evidence that they simply are not good enough as currently constructed and sent out to play. I have tired of cherry-picked examples of good or even excellent stretches of play presented as evidence. It's fools gold. The cold, harsh reality is that this team has 4 points from 6 matches. If you step back and take in the bigger picture, you will see that whatever “this” is from Louisville, it isn't close to working well enough to produce consistent results.
The eye test says that this team is better, but I am starting to wonder if we as a collective fan base have mistaken “improvement” for “being good”. Just as it's entirely possible to move from good to great, and great to excellent, it's also entirely possible to move from poor to fair, and fair to average. It is relative improvement and that doesn't quite tell you how you stack up against competition. In my opinion, only results do that. For every “ this team is so close” and “individual mistakes hurt us” excuse, there are other, better teams that are taking the chances presented to them (Gotham/Orlando recently) and/or are good enough to recover from individual errors to win matches (perennial winners Portland/OL Reign).
Whatever set of fragile, delicately-balanced conditions that have to be met in order for Louisville to win a match this season have not been demonstrated yet. I would argue that it really boils down to this: Louisville doesn't take full advantage of the periods in the matches where they play well, and are too susceptible to giving up goals when they aren't playing particularly well. My belief is that good teams win when they play well, but also get points even when they aren't at their best. The number of times that Louisville has “played well” and come away with one or no points makes me question if they simply aren't playing at a better level than the fans have ever experienced, but that level still isn't good enough to win.
I know there have been some perspectives from people outside Louisville (fans, media, and coaches) that have been positive. I’m starting to think those opnions suffer from the same lens. Yes, Louisville is better, but it would be almost impossible to not be with the talent infusion this season.
Now, I know I've lost some.of you and there is a section of the fanbase that will be apologists for anything this team does. Like most apologists, they will basically argue that I can’t say for sure that this team will not get better and even possibly win their next 4 matches and ultimately make the playoffs. They are 100% correct in saying that I can't say that for sure. However, this ignores all prior evidence. This club has never been able to consistently protect a lead since Coach Björkegren has been here. Their point tally is lower from the first six matches this season when compared to the two prior seasons. Also, I was reminded when I listened to Butchertown Rundown that I said that this team would need to score 3 goals to win a match, something that has proven eerily true in 4 out of the 6 matches.
In summary, my point is that this team isn't good or even really average and you're deluding yourself if you think that is suddenly going to change without some kind of meaningful intervention. I will grant you that the word ‘yet’ could go at the end of the previous sentence, but I’ve not seen enough (yet) to add that word.
The current blend of players/tactics/style/coaching isn't producing results, and you don't have to be a genius to figure out that 99% of the time when that happens, the scapegoat is the same. Typically I think mid-season changes reek of throwing in the towel on the season. In this case however, with 3 quarters of the league season and all of the Challenge Cup left, I think something has to change. I hope Louisville reels off 10 wins in row, but that is a dream based on hope and not an expectation based on the current reality.
As for this match, Chicago is below Louisville in the table, but only by goal difference, and this early in the season that is really no difference at all. On paper, they are the perfect team to start a winning run. However, since I’m sure that even if you are still with me, you are probably “hate reading” at this point, I will go ahead and bring up the 0-4 drubbing at the “Fill the Fam” match last season and also remind you that Louisville's first two players ever Savanah McCaskill and Yuki Nagasato love scoring against Louisville.
I believe that Louisville is entirely capable of winning this match. I am also sure that they are also entirely capable of losing it by multiple goals.
There is no more time left for improved play without improved results.
Orlando 1 Louisville 0 Post Match Thoughts
Courtesy USA Today Sports Images
Louisville went out on Saturday night and proved to the rest of the NWSL that they simply aren't ready to win. That isn't to say that they won’t win and win soon, but I think we have to face facts that while this team is full of talent, they are definitely less than the sum of their parts at this point.
I typically attend post match interviews but I just didn't have the stomach for it after this match. I am tired of hearing the same things. There is a built in excuse for losing this match (missing DeMelo) but I have no appetite for that. Every dropped point comes with an explanation/excuse and frankly I've had enough of them. This team doesn't play well together in stretches that are long enough to produce good results. Until they show me, I won't expect anything different than I have seen to date.
Orlando were unfortunate not to score more in my opinion. The scoreline could have been much worse. If they had the killer instinct of a seasoned winner, this match could have been 3-0 or 4-0.
Kanu doesn't look right since her injury.
Some people are going to point to the players who are now returning return to squad and let that give them reason for hope. The current players aren't connected enough on the pitch to make me think that new players are going to help unless it's by pure individual brilliance.
For as good as Lund was once Louisville fell behind, she could have done more on the goal. She may be the best instinctual keeper in the league, but her decision making let her down for the second match in a row.
Louisville is too predictable and Orlando's fast counters were a problem all match. I could write a one-sentence scouting report on Louisville for every team in the league. “Drop back to midfield and counterattack down their defensive right side.” This team's setup and passing patterns are too predictable.
It's time to manage expectations. The players on this team appeared talented enough to turn things around, but they lack cohesion. They might figure it out but I think it's equally likely that they might not figure it out it time to threaten for a top 6 spot.
Orlando 1 Louisville 0 Player Ratings
This was pretty clearly the worst performance of the year so far by Louisville. This organization needs to look in the mirror and figure out if they have what it takes to win.
Lund-5: Made several good saves because the defense in front of her was bad too many times
Pickett-7: Was the only player who seemed to consistently care in both halves.
Erceg-5: Not up to the usual standard.
Lester-5: Had a rather indifferent performance.
Milliet-5: Got beat consistently. It may be time for a change at right back.
Howell-5: Too much fire in the first half, so had to temper her effort in the 2nd.
Borges-5: Couldn't connect with her teammates effectively enough when she was on the ball.
Fischer-5: Had once decent effort blocked, but was invisible other than that.
Monaghan-5: Probably saw her push for more starts disappear after a pedestrian performance.
Kanu-4: Wasteful with the chances she got.
Wang-5: Killed a couple of promising attacks with poor long range efforts.
Chidiac-6: Provided energy if nothing else.
Davis-7: Had the best 2nd half chances.
Orlando v Louisville Preview
It’s winning time…or else.
“There is a time to play, and there’s a time to win.” - Ahmad Rashad
Courtesy USA Today Sports Images
Louisville enters the match against Orlando on Saturday as the only remaining winless team in the NWSL. Louisville is better than Orlando. Louisville should win this match. I hesitate to call the match a “must win” match although I truly believe it is, so instead I will call it a “Show Me” match. I need this team to show me that it is ready to win.
Louisville has put on good performances for sections of time, and I guess I will concede that even in the Portland match they played well in sections. However, they have yet to play well in “winning time”. If you recognize the quote from the top of the article, you understand what winning time is. If not here you go. I think a large portion of the fan base is still in “making progress mode” or “playing well mode”. I’ve moved on to winning time.
While playing well and winning are not mutually exclusive, they aren’t two overlapping circles in the Venn diagram either. By my recollection, Louisville has played worse football than their opponents and won exactly once in their entire history…this match. In that match Louisville still did one thing really well and that was defend in front of the goal. Therefore, you shouldn’t rely on playing poorly and getting a result. Then again, playing their best match this season against the OL Reign didn’t yield more than a point. They failed during winning time.
I am all for Louisville playing better football than their opponents for large stretches of their matches, but another switch needs to flip. Truly great teams win matches even when they aren’t playing well and this in my opinion is down to mentality and the habit of winning. If you really think about winning in this league, I think teams have to manage and understand the other components of a match in addition to how they are playing.
The scoreline: I am usually pretty open to new ideas, but nobody will ever convince me that scoreline doesn’t dictate play. I will use the Portland match as an example, and then promise not to ever bring it up again. If you’re down 1-0 after a few minutes and then “play well” for a large portion of the match before you fall behind 2-0, that performance DOES NOT MATTER, if you are serious about winning. It matters if you are looking for improvement, I will grant you that, but I believe in this team and don’t need to see any more improvement that doesn’t translate to results. I need to see winning. The only thing that matters is getting a goal back and not giving up more. Good opponents are going to gear down and go into game management mode which may look like you performing better but is also designed to minimize the risk of you scoring. By the way, Louisville gave a good example of this during the OL Reign match (until they didn’t) but missed the next part.
Mentality: Winning teams either don’t have huge lapses in concentration or know how not to compound them. If you are ahead in a match, you should NEVER concede a penalty. It’s borderline unforgivable, if you want to become a winner. It happens all the time in soccer, even with good teams and it drives me crazy. Make your opponent beat you, don’t beat yourself. It’s a lesson still not learned in Louisville. Playing well in stretches only takes concentration during those stretches. Winning takes 90 plus minutes of it.
The Officials: You play your opponent, but you also play the pitch, the crowd, the weather and the officials. You can sometimes plan for the three other things, but sometimes the officials are hard to adjust to. I don’t think the officials have cost Louisville points in any match this season and possibly ever. I do think that Louisville doesn’t do a great job of getting the officials to call the match fairly. I know some people absolutely detest “flopping”, but I am going to say this somewhat tongue-in-cheek: officials are basically cowards. They will give 100 fouls for a player who feigns contact or goes down too easy for every 1 yellow card they give for simulation. It takes no courage to give a touch foul to a player that flops. It takes courage to issue a card for simulation. That reality makes flopping a low risk, high reward venture. To not take advantage of it at the right times is giving away an advantage to your opponent who is willing to do so. I will reiterate again; I am proudly a terrible sport.
Winning time: It’s typically the last few minutes, but not always. If you take full advantage of the three components above, any time you’re in the lead is winning time. I believe in Louisville’s ability to fight back when they are down and pull out a draw that feels like a win. The numbers give me no confidence in their ability to protect a lead. Here is last year’s performance when scoring first:
Second worst in the league. Now this year so far…
Tied for worse with their upcoming opponent Orlando. Other teams get wins consistently when they score first. Louisville has to start doing so soon or it will be another disappointing season, perhaps the most disappointing one yet. Score first and win. It’s the recipe for easy success and it shows you understand winning time.
Now I realize this is a lot of negativity for a preview, but this next match has to be a win. I will prepare you ahead of time. If it is a draw, expect poor player ratings. There is no excuse not to win this match. If somehow Orlando comes out and plays well and forces Louisville into a subpar performance, I am not letting the players off the hook or use the excuse of missing DeMelo. It’s winning time, or else.
Louisville 2 Reign 2 Post Match Thoughts
Courtesy Jordan Prather (NWSL Live Content Creator)
I feel like everyone could use a hug after last night’s painful draw. The good outweighed the bad and the Reign have to feel like they escaped with a point rather than earned one. Let’s get the bad stuff out of the way and then move to the good as this really was the best performance of the year so far.
I don’t know what Katie Lund was doing on the foul that led to the penalty. Saskia Webber, the former USWNT goalie who was on color commentary last night for the Parmount Plus broadcast beat her up pretty bad in her commentary too. (Quick side note: I didn’t watch the entire replay, and I am glad because I don’t know if I could handle 90 minutes of a keeper’s commentary. It’s a bit like a punter or placekicker calling a NFL game.) It was a completely unnecessary foul as Huitema was moving away from the goal and Erceg was there to cover as well. Lund has very likely saved and thus earned Louisville many points in the table over the last year or so, but last night she was at least 50% responsible for costing them 2 points. The good news is it’s unlikely to be a mistake that she repeats frequently, but I have to wonder if Louisville’s total control of the match made her lose her concentration. I think most keepers will tell you that one of the hardest things to do in a match is to be immediately called into action after being involved in virtually none of it. It was almost like she felt like she had to get involved in order to feel part of the match.
I tweeted that Sav DeMelo told my wife after the match that she is going to appeal that second yellow card. After going back and watching it, I don’t think she will have much luck. It was a judgement call and after about 70 minutes of really fine officiating, lead official Eric Tattersall lost control of the match. For me it turned when he gave Huerta a yellow card. What he should have done was carded her immediately for pulling back Pickett. He didn’t and thus let her show him up by kicking the ball away. At that point, he had to card her. If he cards her for the first infringement, she never kicks that ball away and maybe he decides to let the yellow card on DeMelo go. Then again maybe not, as it really was a very poor look for DeMelo to launch that ball after Howell was whistled for a very soft foul. Things got really chippy after that.
Staying with DeMelo, I think Louisville will lose any appeal on that second card. I don’t think they will have any grounds to appeal on the first one either, so Louisville could be making a trip to Orlando without DeMelo available against the Pride. When she was on the pitch, DeMelo was fantastic again. Her goal was great, and she is clearly one of the best midfielders in the league, but she needs to learn to either control her reactions better or go the other direction and just scare the hell out of all of the officials like the persona Rapinoe has cultivated over the years. Honestly, Sav fouls too much to get away with berating the officials, so she is better off keeping her emotions in check while politely staying in the official’s ear to remind them how much she is getting fouled.
With all of that out of the way, Louisville really did dominate that match. Don’t bother to look at the stats. They won’t provide any illumination in this case. Trust what you saw with your eyes, which if you were like me was Louisville defanging a lion. The OL Reign have been an excellent team for a long time and Louisville made them look ordinary and that’s even being kind. At no point during the first half of the match did the Reign look like they were in the neighborhood of scoring. They stubbornly stuck with playing out from the back and Louisville kept the majority of the Reign’s possession in nonthreatening places. Even after half, while the Reign were a little more threatening, Louisville kept attacking and kept the match from being one way traffic. Even down to 10 players, Louisville had its chances. Louisville was clearly the better team on the night.
Kim Björkegren will have even more of a selection headache going forward as Paige Monaghan won a deserved player of the match award from the fans. She was excellent all over the pitch, and her goal was one of the coolest composed finishes you will ever see. It was a goal that literally every player is physically capable of scoring, but few are mentally capable of keeping their composure to score it. It was a calculated pass into the bottom corner. Later on, she would blast another opportunity where maybe her composure left her or maybe she didn’t have enough space of time for a more precise finish. Regardless, there wasn’t a player that looked like she was having more fun out there than Paige. She showed more in her start than McDonald has lately, so it will be interesting to see what Björkegren does when Jess gets back. Kanu looks ready to be given another start too. I can almost guarantee a different starting XI in Orlando even if DeMelo wins her unlikely appeal.
Orlando won in San Diego last night, but I don’t think they are suddenly a team to be reckoned with. Louisville needs to go to Orlando this year and play on a real pitch and show no mercy by taking three points home. After the match, you could see the pain on Jae Howell’s face knowing her team probably should have taken three points. If she can convince her teammates to shake this result off, I believe this team is capable of starting a really good run of results.