Current v Racing -1

Photo by Elizabeth Shaw

Being a short turnaround to the KC match and having no media availability to document gives me the opportunity to use the -1 post for anything that pops into my head. There are a couple of things to note first:

Maja Lardner won player of the week. Well done!

No update yet on Hodge’s availability but expect one today. Kansas City will be a tall order, so there isn’t much to say about that match without having a chance to talk to Bev or the players.

As of writing this, there hasn’t been an announcement for the NWSL Save of the Week. For me, Atkinson’s penalty save on Marta should win. That prompted me to write about something that has been bugging me for some time.

I don’t think the Racing fanbase ever appreciated Katie (Lund) Atkinson enough. I was probably one of her loudest critics, but it was always coming from a place of deep respect and the highest of high expectations. I thought she had the opportunity to be world class given the right scenario. She just never could overcome some of the mental errors that I think held her back. That being said, she is a demonstrably better keeper than Jordyn Bloomer.

When I make an assertion, I come prepared to back it up. Atkinson has been great this season. Alyssa Naeher exited a May 16th match for the Stars against the Courage. Since then, it looks like Katie has secured the starting keeper role. She kept two clean sheets for the Stars in April prior to that. I think she has likely proven herself enough to be the Stars #1 going forward. The numbers show that despite Naeher’s legendary career, Lund is the best choice. In 733 minutes played this season, Naeher has let in about 5 more goals than expected based on numbers from American Soccer Analysis. By comparison, Atkinson has played 845 and prevented about 6 more goals than expected. Katie was always an excellent shot stopper for Racing.

What Katie wasn’t for Racing was a vocal leader. It is a valid argument to say that Bloomer was exactly what Racing needed last season. I am sure I said it. The cold hard facts are that this season, Bloomer is letting Racing down between the sticks. While I appreciated what Bloomer did last season, I never felt that she needed to be handed Racing’s starting role over a healthy Atkinson. It can be debated that Katie was never healthy at any point last season, but this season she is. Based on the numbers, I would much rather have 2026 Atkinson than 2026 Bloomer.

Inside the numbers, Katie and Jordyn are about league average in claiming aerial crosses, fielding (the things that outfield players do other than passing), and sweeping. Neither is great at handling (the ability to cleanly catch and secure the ball). Bloomer is slightly better at passing. Where Katie is vastly superior is in shot stopping, or at least she has been this season. Only Jane Campell has better shot stopping stats than Atkinson this season. Jordyn is near the bottom of the league. It’s an inherently flawed stat for keepers, but the Goals Added stat from American Soccer Analysis is the best that I could find. According to that stat, Katie has “added” 5.38 goals to her team (mostly through stopping shots) and Jordyn has ”added” -1.13 goals to Racing, mostly by not as effectively stopping shots. Here’s the bottom line. Ten clubs have keepers performing better this season than Bloomer and only five teams have keepers performing worse.

None of this to say that Bloomer needs to be benched, but she also can’t be ignored as part of the issue this season. She needs to play better. I thought her late save against Angel City was a routine one, but the best part was that she punched it out of the way preventing a rebound. On the goal, she needed to do better.

I hope Katie receives a warm welcome on Saturday in Louisville. The only thing she did wrong for Racing was get injured. She had to hear the excitement from fans that Jordyn finally got her shot. The volume of enthusiasm and way it was expressed in some forums never sat right with me. I always thought Katie was the superior keeper. I think she might be extra motivated on Saturday to prove it.

“I’d love to do it and you know you’ve always had it coming”

Courtesy of the NWSL

Match Haiku

Angel’s nemesis

For a fourth time in a row:

Brace for a new star.

“I’d love to do it and you know you’ve always had it coming.”

“Shoot You Down” - The Stone Roses, 1989

Racing just seems to have Angel City’s number at the moment. It is a match where Angel City will look at the stats and will feel that they should have gotten a point and possibly all three. The most confounding stat for Racing’s opponent in this match will be Racing’s 60% passing accuracy. How do you lose a match like that? As Bev always says, goals change matches and the key to matches are in the moments. Racing came up bigger in more moments than Angel City did in this match and that was the main story.

One of the side stories was obviously a brace for Lardner, who I feel like just needs minutes to show off how good she can be. Given 60 minutes (pre-planned) she scored twice and in a different week might have been left out there to get a chance for a third. Bev and the coaching staff managed this match masterfully, especially considering that Weber had to come on for Hodge in the 7th minute. I thought that Weber would immediately go up front and that Fischer would drop into the midfield, but thankfully that didn’t happen. Weber got about the same number of touches as O’Kane in the midfield and filled in nicely.

Racing deployed a tactical back 5 again based on how they expected Angel City to set up. Prior to the match, as “My Close Personal Friend” Lianne Sanderson noted as well, Racing specifically targeted Sams as the matchup they wanted to exploit. Bev liked the speed matchup of what she thought was going to be Sears versus Sams, but an illness kept Emma to a 30-minute appearance. Lardner found a different way to exploit the Angel City back line by being in the right place at the right time. Don’t expect Maja to win many headers as a routine, because she shared after the match that she almost never scores that way.

The collective defensive performance was really good for about 80 minutes, but Racing just isn’t capable of keeping a clean sheet, so Angel City made the last 10 minutes nervy. Bloomer made a good save during the period that ended the match but also got beaten twice and was lucky that one just hit the crossbar. The good news is that the “chunks” of good play that Bev likes to talk about were larger in this match and netted Racing 2 goals. This wasn’t a “turning the corner” performance, but it was a continued step in the right direction.

Post Match Moment of the Match

Like I mentioned above, don’t get used to Larder scoring headers. She said that she doesn’t think she ever scored that way in college. I do think Racing will look to continue to exploit her pace versus using her as a target for crosses. Ellie Jean returned to the lineup and took up the role of the right center back in the back 3. She was pleased to get back into the lineup and thought the team’s defensive performance was good enough, despite not keeping a clean sheet.

I was mostly curious to ask Bev about the things I mentioned above:

1. Were the 60th minute subs preplanned and was she tempted to leave Lardner out there for a potential hat trick? “Yes” and “No” on those.

2. Why did she choose Weber as the early replacement for Hodge? The team has been working with her at the 10 role. She did add that she was disappointed that Hodge didn’t get to play more against her old team.

3. Was she pleased with the big moments in this match? Of course she was, pointing again to importance of taking your chances when they come.

The Taylor Flint Honorary Yellow Card of the Match

Racing picked up two yellow cards in the match:

• 45th Minute + 3: Maja Lardner - Time Wasting

• 90th Minute + 3: Rachel Hill - Foul - Reckless Offence

Maja’s card is why people hate officials and there is a special circle of hell for them. Time wasting cards are given so arbitrarily and with zero consistency match to match. I have seen several of Racing’s opponents kick the ball away in the exact manner that Maja did and it has never been consistently called. This type of offense was a point of emphasis in multiple leagues a couple of years ago then completely abandoned again. Shame on Laura Rodriguez for giving it. It was an awful judgement call. There will be ZERO accountability for it.

Hill, who always looks willing to mix it up, got her money’s worth at least, so hers is the pick of the match.

Madchester Song for Celebration

“This sensation, a celebration. I won.”

“When the day is done and it all works out”

It’s great to see Racing start to put things together again and show themselves capable of planning specifically for an opponent. This does however beg the question of “why not sooner"? The focus in the earlier part of the season seemed to be pushing on from last season and working on the finer details. When Racing’s technical staff has at least been more open about planning for specific things that an opponent presents, the performances have looked better. I am sure that the planning hasn’t changed all that much, but from the outside it looks like night and day. A new formation is always going to be a glaringly obvious way to signal change. I think it is understandable that it took the staff about a dozen matches to figure out how to pull the strings for this team due to the number of changes to the players and their availability (forced or unforced). I just think most of us wish that the team could have held on to more key pieces.

Everyone is auditioning at this point. Bev isn’t signed past this year. She has been more ruthless in her lineup selections recently, which I believe is a signal to everyone that you are going to have to fight for minutes. Bev is also showing tactical flexibility and good roster management in a tough situation, which I am sure many clubs (including Angel City) are noticing. I still believe this season is a write off at this point, but maybe a winning streak can convince ownership to wake up from their coma and pretend like they care about the long-term viability of this team.

FREE EMMA SEARS

Emma was listed as questionable for the match in Los Angeles, and I will say that I wondered if she came down with a case of the “transfer flu”. However, she came on for the final 30 minutes and played decently, if not great. In the short term, this team has shown that it can win matches without her (and amazingly Flint too), so I don’t really get keeping her around. She is eating minutes (probably not in this 3-match week, but in the long hual) that could be used for McKeen and Larnder. She has handled herself well.

I can guarantee you that there are individuals in the Soccer Holdings ownership group that are tired of owning a couple of soccer teams. The group collective definitely acts like it. These owners lumber around like dinosaurs begging for an asteroid to put them out of their misery. Their inaction has made them irrelevant and doomed for extinction. They entered one environment and made no real effort to adapt to the ever-evolving one. They are likely to be confronted with an even harsher reality when Lou City inevitably joins the USL Premier in 2028. It’s time to put up or shut up.

Angel City 1 - Racing 2 Player Ratings

Racing still can't keep a clean sheet, but the defensive performance is good enough in the end. Lardner is the hero, but there were good performances all around.

Bloomer-6: Needs to do better on the goal, but had an important late save.

McMahon-7: Fine effort from Q including some key clearances.

Gacioch-8: Looking better each match. Had a goal-preventing block in the first half.

Wright-7: Steady, but you can see that she can't quite match the pace of the league's best strikers anymore.

Jean-7: Solid return to the lineup from her.

Morris-7: Good to see her put in 60 minutes after walking around in a boot this weekend.

O'Kane-8: Ran things effectively in a deeper role.

Milliet-8: Never stopped running and almost scored, but for an excellent save from Anderson.

Weber-7: Acquitted herself well in the midfield as an early replacement for Hodge.

Lardner-9: It was a good brace for the rookie and hopefully it will lead to more goals now that she has scored her first.

Fischer-8: Racing’s best player at the moment.

Angel City v Racing -1

Hey! I actually remembered to take a picture for once!

Now, of course, I didn’t get a picture of them looking directly at me. That would be weird, right? I don’t know how many of you interview people on a consistent basis, but instead of concentrating on what they are saying, many times I am sitting there making sure to keep good eye contract and coming up with my next question as I am almost always woefully ill-prepared. Two weeks in a row, I have referred to Lou City’s opponent Pittsburgh as Houston while talking to Coach Simon Bird. When I used to have time to go to practice, I was better at getting pictures, but the arrangement for this year’s media availability has made that logistically challenging. Anyway, enjoy a slightly out of focus picture of Quincy McMahon and Mirann Gacioch not looking at me.

They were looking at me when I asked questions. Since I have slept twice since then I had to go back and watch the video to remember what we talked about. Oh yeah: taking positives from the Houston game. Mirann said that while they did take some positives, the team felt like they left two points on the table. Quincy added that the team felt like they were playing within their identity fairly well in the match, but just need to close things out better.

Quincy attributed the team’s lack of a clean sheet all season to some of the availability challenges that the team has suffered in defense. She did say that the flexibility shown by players was a positive and Mirann added that playing with different players has probably prepared them to build trust with more players than they would have with a consistent back line. Since Taylor Flint is suspended for the match against Angel City, it will once again be a different back line than the last match, regardless of whether or not they keep the same formation. The travel challenges of the week are definitely on everyone’s mind. Quincy said that playing in two good markets is exciting because the team can feed off the energy of the crowd and hopefully spin the energy into a positive. That is one of the main differences in this year compared to last year. Racing was a good road team in 2025. This season, they have yet to win a road point.

Bev talked about preparing for this specific trip since the schedule came out. She did mention that the team would be able to charter from LA to KC and then home. To some degree, this three-game stretch is just about surviving to the end of it and to not be out of gas at home against Chicago, which is certainly the best opportunity for 3 points. I asked Bev about the 3-5-2 system’s effectiveness now that she had time to study it. She said that she was pleased with how it worked against a specific opponent, but it wasn’t to be taken as a shift in philosophy as the principles remain the same regardless of the system. She added that she has been asking the team to give bigger “chunks” of good performance instead of 10 minutes here and 15 minutes there, and I think we saw that against Houston. Angel City is a team that Louisville has had some success against in the past, especially when you consider how Racing dominated portions of matches, even if the results didn’t always come.

FREE EMMA SEARS

The “Secondary Transfer Window” is open until September 7th. There are only 7 matches for Racing after the window closes. To hold on to Sears when those 7 matches are almost certain to be meaningless from a Racing perspective seem like idiocy at best and malice at worst. For a club with documented malice in its history, I guess idiocy is the lesser of two bad labels. I have to think that the closer that the September 7th date gets, the more Racing will be open to a transfer. However, Sears was overworked last season, and she hasn’t been available for every match this season. Therefore, injury is always a risk. Imagine having to shut her down after playing 3 matches in 7 days, not getting her back for the rest of the season (while paying her salary), and then getting less for her in the offseason. I know I wouldn’t run a club that way.

Look, I am throwing everything as the wall here to see what sticks, but because the decision to hold onto her seem so monumentally misguided that I can’t imagine running out of ammo. I will keep pointing this out every chance I get.

"But she gives it all that she's got"

Photo by Elizabeth Shaw

Match Haiku

Falling short again

Is not the entire story.

Savor the moment.

Bonus Quote from The Wire

“I think you need a lot of context to seriously examine anything.” - Gus Haynes

“But she gives it all that she's got?”

“(Song for My) Sugar Spun Sister” - The Stone Roses 1989

This match contained multitudes. Years down the line, a 1-1 draw on a gloomy summer night will lose all of its requisite meaning. In the singular point in time, the performance was everything.

Let’s start with the basics. Racing changed its formation. Playing in a back 3 from the start of a match for the first time that I can remember, Racing confused the Dash (and me) on the evening. It is one thing to enjoy a match knowing that you don’t have to write about it and another thing to make sure you are actually seeing what you’re seeing. Here is what I saw.

Racing deployed 3 center backs with Gacioch taking up the left role, Flint the center role, and Wright the right role. When Houston possessed the ball for longer periods, that back 3 turned into a back 5 with Morris and McMahon sitting deeper, which is the standard tactic for setting up in a 3-back system. Houston definitely wasn’t ready for this, and Morris was often the confounding factor by disguising her position quite well at times by never settling too much in one spot on the pitch. Her heat map showed her all over the left side of the pitch, but also defending directly in front of goal and attacking the Dash goal directly.

Racing also lined up with a front 2, but that look was also fluid when Racing was pressing because Milliet would often be the highest one pressing. Racing played in a 5-3-2 formation nominally, but never so rigidly that Houston was ever able to adjust. In many ways, and I will stand by this, the scoreline of this match was the least relevant part.

It may be Milliet’s performance that will stick with me the longest. She played no differently than she always plays, giving it her all. However, she was deployed more effectively than she has been all season. Her defensive duties ended up being located mostly to central areas, but her attacking threat seemed to pop up in the usual spots. Regardless of how Bev sets up in future matches, Lo needs to stay in the midfield. In this setup, it is her most effective spot.

In context, the point earned here doesn’t really mean anything. Sure 10 points is better than 8, but from now until the end of the season Racing is like Whose line is it Anyway? in that the points don’t matter. The performances matter and this one was one of my favorites. The players knew they had something up their sleeves for Houston and the Dash never got their bearings. It was a job well done by the coaches, and the players definitely bought in. Last season, this result would have stung. Right now, it seems like a revelation.

Post Match Moment of the Match

In her usual style, Kayla Fischer was pretty even keeled about the goal. She was plenty pleased about how the team set up and executed but disappointed in the result. She thought the formation suited them well. Wright, who finally got to talk about something other than a loss, was proud of the performance but frustrated with giving up a late goal again. Both Fischer and Wright lamented that Racing couldn’t convert more of the quality chances that the team created with the formation.

Bev was obviously disappointed that Racing didn’t get all three points, but also proud of the group. She talked about the new setup serving the purpose to “relieve the pressure” on the players to some degree and prevent them from overthinking about things. She also mentioned that she saw a spark in the players which I am sure we all did.

I also spoke to Bev off the record for a few minutes and she graciously confirmed for me some of the things I saw during the match. For those of you not as fortunate to get as much one-on-one time with Bev as I do, let me reiterate that she is always genuine and just radiates goodness. The 2–3-minute conversation I had with her after the cameras were off reiterated just how much of a special coach she is.

FREE EMMA SEARS!

Emma acquitted herself excellently once again and looked like the consummate professional. She made the Fischer goal and was heavily involved in the attack all night. I think she looks rejuvenated knowing that all eyes are on her. In my book this only increases her value and attractiveness for teams that are looking to make Racing an offer, this season or next. I have no doubt that if this was purely a footballing decision, a deal would get done quickly.

Soccer Holdings is having a rough season across the board. The new team in town, while a financial boon, outdraws their teams and won a championship in its first season. The stadium looks better on Fox for football than it ever does on any soccer broadcast. What we have heard from ownership this season that I recall is to beg for money and hold Emma hostage. Other than that, it has been silent on doing anything to improve either team. Do these owners even give a crap anymore? They definitely don’t seem interested in spending any money to solve any problems.

Thing I bought at ear X-tacy back in the day

Artist:  The Boo Radleys

Album:  Giant Steps

Year:  1993

Format:  CD

Store Location:  1140 Bardstown Road

You know you’ve got a healthy amount of bravado when you name your album “Giant Steps”. Yes, it is an homage to John Coltrane’s jazz masterpiece. The Boo Radleys were part of the “shoegaze” movement in Great Brittain, but the definitive masterpiece of that genre (My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless) was never going to be eclipsed, so they shifted. Giant Steps almost has to be heard to be believed. Nothing else has ever sounded quite like it. I don’t know if it will sound as revelatory to modern ears, but the things they tried on it simply weren’t done in 1993. It’s a jarring, even confusing album, but one that begged for repeat listens from start to finish. Its release was squeezed between the grunge explosion and the Britpop response in England. It belongs to both and neither at the same time. It was a triumph of boldness and a conscious decision to change.

The Taylor Flint Honorary Yellow Card of the Match

A shift in Racing’s style also brought with it more yellow cards. Three old faithfuls perpetrators and a confused-looking Emma made up the bunch.

• 28th Minute-Reckless Offence - Kayla Fischer

• 72nd Minute-Reckless Offence - Emma Sears

• 81st Minute-Tactical Foul - Macey Hodge

• 97th Minute-Tactical Foul - Taylor Flint

Emma’s card seemed harsh, but the rest were right on the money. Flint has a knack for picking up stoppage time cards. She now has 5 yellow cards which I think means she misses the next match. I think she was literally less than a minute from having one removed from her total due to good behavior. That’s a very “Taylor Flint” thing to do.

The 2026 UFL Champion Louisville (Draft?) Kings Sports Betting Corner

With Racing at the other end of the table, and just about half the season over let’s turn our attention to the top of the table. There are six teams that I say have a real shot at the NWSL Shield. Here is how I would set the moneylines as of today:

• Spirit: -110

• Gotham -105

• San Diego +150

• Portland +175

• Utah + 225

• Kansas City +125

I think the top four are going to be Washington, Gotham, Kansas City and Portland. I think the Spirit and Gotham are the best bets for the Shield even if they wouldn’t pay as much.

“And she knows, she knows what this must mean”

Knowing that you have the ability to overcome adversity is just as important as actually overcoming it. Racing didn’t look like a team that believed in the previous few matches. Now they do. To be frank, the hole to dig out of to make the playoffs is too big. That doesn’t mean the season is lost. There isn’t going to be some big roster overall with the ownership group bringing in proven talent next season, so this group is going to have to figure out how to win with the players who are signed for 2027. The key pieces that will likely be here are:

• Milliet

• Morris

• Jean

• Petersen

• Fischer

• Hodge

• McMahon

• DiGrande

• Gacioch (contingent on a mutual agreement)

• Lardner

• O’Kane

• Bloomer

• Flint

• Weber

• McKeen

That’s a decent list. Hase to me is a tossup on whether she wants to stay.

---

One glaring thing that occurred in the match that I haven’t commented on is the exclusion of Jean and Petersen from the lineup. Both were on the squad but neither played. I wouldn’t read too much into that yet but the fact that neither was subbed on could mean that Bev just thought there were better matchups for Racing if she left them on the bench. It remains to be seen if this formation carries forward, but when Racing starts a stretch of 3 matches in 7 days, I am sure we will see them. With Flint suspended (I think) I am sure we will see one, if not both, in Los Angeles. It did send a message to the team. Everyone is part of the plan, but you need to perform to earn your place.

I think the remainder of the season will be fascinating. There are all kinds of things that Racing can try, and I am encouraged that tactical flexibility is one of them. Let’s not forget that all of these players and Bev have tremendous reasons to give it their all for the remainder of the season. At some point, but we aren’t there yet, I will ask Bev about her feelings about staying around. Her contract expires at the end of the season. I can’t imagine Racing doing better than her. I can easily imagine her doing much better than Racing. I think the players and organization need to convince her to stay around to have a shot at any kind of relevance in the near-term future.

Racing 1 Dash 1 Player Ratings

Photo by Elizabeth Shaw

Racing’s new formation/setup seemed to confuse Houston and Racing almost pulled off the upset. There were more positives than negatives.

Bloomer-6: Stopped everything in front of her until she didn’t.

McMahon-7: Was the deeper lying of the wing backs but defended well.

Gacioch-7: Best match so far.

Wright-7: Looked good in her partnership with Flint.

Milliet-8: Looked energized in her new role.

Flint-7: Did well in the middle of a back 3.

Hodge-7: Seemed to work better in this setup.

O'Kane-7: Put in some dangerous deliveries from corners.

Morris-7: Her flexibility was a plus tonight.

Sears-8: She made the first goal.

Fischer-8: Scored a very typical goal for her.

Racing v Houston -1

Nobody needs a silent disco more than Bev Yanez. When I asked her if she ever instituted a “silent disco” with her children to get a moment’s peace she admitted that it was a good idea, but that she hadn’t thought to do so. Therefore, she was often subjected to something called the “Chicken Banana Song”. I did some investigating and identified Swedish duo Maads and Bruno as the creators. For your listening torture:

Now the US is not part of the ICC but I think another member country would be up for having these two Swedes tried for torture against parents of young children.

Moving on to Bev personally and with the full Fleur-de-lis-FC seal of approval, she mentioned that her ideal kick-off song for a silent disco would be…

That’s right in my wheelhouse by being a) British b) New Jack Swing and c) smack dab in the middle of the nineties. She also hinted that none of her friends would have wanted to dance with her to this song back in the day. My assessment…her friends sucked.

Macey Hodge and Lo also admitted that they had never done a silent disco. Macey went with “Spark Fly” by Taylor Swift (who I personally don’t find interesting in the least) and Lo picked “Welcome to the Jungle” by Guns N' Roses which I can’t imagine being a good song to dance to. Long story short…the fans are going to have to bring the energy to the post match Silent Disco. If said SD doesn’t include Stateside + Zara Larsson by PinkPantheress…

…I am not against reporting the DJ to The Hague as well.

Putting off actual soccer talk as long as possible…both Macey and Lo said that it was a really good week of practice and Bev agreed. Macey gave a really honest and well-thought-out answer when I ask her about maintaining a positive attitude when you aren’t getting results. She reminded us that the players really are “living our dream, so that is the coolest thing about it.” I tend to agree. I know everyone wants results, but I think I have mentioned this here before and apologize if this comes as a great shock to anyone, but I don’t “live or die” with this team. I am Arsenal ‘til I die, Racing/Lou City when convenient and fun. Therefore, I admit that it may be different for others. I want Racing to be good, but it doesn’t destroy me when they aren’t. I like seeing these women live their dream and being there to support them doing so is priority one.

FREE EMMA SEARS

So…when I think the club is getting in the way of “living the dream” I will speak up. I don’t know Brendan well enough to call him a friend, so “trusted colleague” will do for now, but his piece on the Pros and Cons of moving Sears hit all of the right notes for me on the logical side of things so I don’t need to repeat his assessment. Here is what I will add.

I think the owners are being buttheads and falling into the Sunk Cost Fallacy. To some degree, I think Emma forced their hand by reminding them (although they shouldn’t need it) that while they may get to act as “the big cheese” in their smaller social and business circles, they can’t swim with the sharks. The only reason to hold on to Emma from a financial and operational perspective is to try to save face, or worse, to be petty. The problem with Emma’s request in my opinion is not that it surprised them or couldn’t make business sense, but that it hurt their feelings. My advice as always is to “put on your big boy pants” if you want to be in the top-tier pro sports business. Some teams have to be selling clubs.

Some unsolicited advice for Emma:

I am under the assumption (with some very mild evidence) that she wants to move to another NWSL club. Her family is often in Louisville, so I think she would want to play somewhere in the States so that her family could continue to support her in person. That’s fair, but for a couple of reasons I would advise against it. First, I think Soccer Holdings might actually be more willing to listen to an offer where they didn’t have to face Emma twice a season in the future. I may be wrong on that, but I know I don’t want Racing’s back line to play a motivated Sears twice a season. The second reason and probably the more important one is that I think Emma could really benefit by moving to a European team that is playing Champions League football in the 26-27 season. That would mean moving to team, where in order to get playing time, she would have to work more on the technical aspects of her game. That is where she has the most room to improve. She could do it in the NWSL, but I think it would be quicker overseas.

This also requires a good look in the mirror from Sears. She has to decide how much work she wants to put in to ensure her place on the USWNT. If that is the primary career goal for her, then maybe a move to Europe is too risky. If she wants to be a better footballer, I can’t see a move like that being a bad one in the long run.

"Does your heart sag?"

Photo by Elizabeth Shaw

Match Haiku

Keep the wolves at bay?

Nay, Bay are the predators.

Racing: easy prey.

“Does your heart sag?”

“Long Sleeves for the Summer” - Drawn to the Deep End 1997

This is an awful team. Look at this:

That’s pretty pathetic and I am not going to try to excuse it. It was a very poor performance. Maybe an early goal changes things, but while Racing got the ball into dangerous spots in the first 15 minutes, none of that turned into a decent scoring chance. As I have said, any turnaround has to start with the defense. Racing cannot continue to make silly turnovers that lead to goals. I may be naive, but I have to think that teams are just staying in matches until Racing makes a mistake. On Ali Night, Racing was the team getting the rope-a-dope and as soon as Racing expended too much energy in the first 15-20 minutes, Bay started to effectively counterattack. It only took a rather pedestrian sequence to break down Racing’s feeble defenses.

After half, Racing wasn’t exactly dangerous, but Bloomer’s ghastly mistake put the game to bed. Few players had much fight in them. One particular sequence stuck with me and epitomizes the team at the moment. Racing was down 2-0 and Lo Milliet was pressing single-handedly to try to win the ball back. It was a) fruitless and b) put her out of position. This team just doesn’t have any kind of sense of how to play together at the moment and are definitely not talented enough to overcome a lack of cohesion.

Post Match Moment of the Match

Well, at least everyone was in agreement that the first 15 to 20 minutes were pretty good. Taylor Flint seemed a little shellshocked. She focused on talking about doing the basics right. Sarah Weber, who I think is the best player to get a decent quote from at the moment, took the bait from me and agreed that Racing has to start having some possession for possession's sake, if just to prevent the dangerous counters to which Racing is prone. Bev didn’t have any useful answers, so I didn’t press her too hard on anything.

FREE EMMA SEARS!

You have to appreciate Emma’s effort on the night. I do think her performances have improved since everyone knows that she is openly auditioning for her next team. I think she is handling things well. The truth is that she is wasted on Racing as currently constructed. From the club’s perspective, you understand their point which basically boils down to the fact that they renegotiated a contract with her last season to keep her with the club until 2028. She wasn’t out of contract, but the new one likely gave her a raise. It was similar to the one that they negotiated with Savannah Demelo to keep her here long term. The club made all kinds of good deals with important players last season. Unfortunately, the deals that didn’t get done are the ones that make Emma want to leave. The team committed to keeping certain players here but failed to build a decent enough team around them.

I was walking out of the stadium with Alan Spade last evening and chatting about what the problem with Racing is. I truly believe Racing has a talent problem. The players that Racing brought in are not contributing nearly to the level of what the team lost with Sonis and Borges leaving, and Demelo still being unavailable. The team might have been able to survive those loses is they didn’t have to depend so much on having Fischer and Hodge log the minutes in the midfield that they are currently getting.

Back to Emma. Too many times this season, she has been sprinting down the field alone without support. The truth of the matter is that Racing has too few players that can truly run with her. I have nothing against Sarah Weber, but she is the wrong number nine to be playing with Emma. The way that Racing set up to counter can work with players like Hase and Sears, but personally I think Weber would be better suited in a possession style attack. Lardner or Fischer need to be the nine when Emma is playing. Lardner can match her pace, and Fischer presses the best of all of the nines. Almost all players look better when their teammates are better. That is the simple truth. Generational talents can stand out on their own, but most players need the players around them to be of nearly equal talent when they play at the highest level. And their skills need to complement each other. Racing is a team full of square pegs at the moment, and the club has shown itself incapable of anything approaching competent roster-building. That’s 100% ownership’s fault.

The best move for everyone is to let Sears find a team that can showcase her skills best. It seems to be Soccer Holdings stance to make Emma stay until the end of the season. I don’t see how that benefits anyone. Her value will never be higher than it is right now. If Racing continues to play poorly and all signs point to that being the case, Emma’s play is likely to suffer as well. Then, the club won’t get as much for her. The midseason transfer window is almost always a seller’s market. Why not take advantage of that? There have to be NWSL teams in playoff contention that would love to have her. I get that you don’t want to be seen as making a panic sell, but Emma is still going to want to leave after the season, where there will be more buying options for teams.

Until she is transferred, expect me to inject “FREE EMMA SEARS” every time I post.

Thing I bought at ear X-tacy back in the day

Artist:  Gene

Album:  To See The Lights

Year:  1996

Format:  CD (Import)

Store Location:  1534 Bardstown Road

Gene so badly wanted to be The Smiths. They sounded like them to some degree, if you ignored the fact that their guitarist Steve Mason sounded more like David Bowie’s guitarist Mick Ronson than Johnny Marr. For a fleeting moment in 1995 you could almost squint and see the resemblance. In 1996, Gene released its very own “Hatful of Hollow” when they put out a stop-gap collection of singles/B-sides/live tracks/BBC radio sessions that was named To See The Lights, after a rare track that was released on a Volume compilation.

I loved this album and I remember listening to it quite frequently in 1996. I still held out hope that they might actually turn into The Smiths. Their next album Drawn to the Deep End (which likely will supply epigraphs for the rest of the season) went in a different direction. I still love that album too, but for different reasons outlined here.

Suffice it to say, since you definitely haven’t heard of them, they didn’t end up being The Smiths. They didn’t have the talent or the staying power. That isn’t a tragedy, just a reminder that every band doesn’t get to be great. Not every soccer club gets to be great either (or sometimes even competent).

The Taylor Flint Honorary Yellow Card of the Match

Hey! Quincy McMahon came in and did two things of note. The first:

• 70th Minute-Tactical Foul - Quincy McMahon

The second was getting dispossessed while waiting for the ball to reach her, which I also called out in my player ratings. That moment is what you might call a microcosm.

The 2026 UFL Champion Louisville (Draft?) Kings Sports Betting Corner

Another champion calls Lynn Family Stadium home! Mind you it is a lower tier one. Look, can we just be honest with ourselves here and say that Louisville as a city deserves second-tier things and not be ashamed of that? Not enough obscenely wealthy people live here to be a serious sports city anymore. Bar letting some emir in Abu Dhabi purchase the city wholesale (Kim Basinger style) this is the best we can do. Louisville and the USL Super League seem destined to be together at some point in the not-to-distant future. To which city will Racing be relocated?

• Cincinnati +125: Who wouldn’t be down for the “Hell is Real Derby” (Women Scorned Edition)? I would make the annual trip to Cincy for that for sure.

• Cleveland +130: Boring!

• Minneapolis +150: I would be okay with this. I would love an excuse to go back there a few times a year.

• St. Louis +180: Almost as boring as Cleveland with the added bonus of a 25% likelihood of failure.

• Nashville +200: I could get down with that and maybe go to a few matches except that I am allergic to whatever passes for country music now and I am sure the pre- and post-game music would be mostly Morgan Wallen.

“Fed up with the tag which you’ve been given”

Bev seems resistant to change anything that she can control. I don’t know that I blame her either. She has to look out for her future too. Every coach and player has to be thinking about their job for next season. I think we are to that phase whether anyone wants to admit it or not. It isn’t a good headspace to be in. The ownership has sent the message: they aren’t going to invest. It is coming through loud and clear. Worrying about your job makes it difficult to do your job with any sense of purpose. Soccer Holdings is fully to blame for this environment. Their lack of a viable solution may be an excuse, but this ownership signed up for a league that has now vastly surpassed their financial capabilities. Blame both the league and the owners. The only way this ownership group was ever going to succeed was to catch lightning in a bottle (they didn’t) or for the players to not gain any power (they did, thank goodness).

We are going to see some bad soccer for a while. You might as well get used to it.

Racing 0 - Bay 2 Player Ratings

Photo by Elizabeth Shaw

Bad. Just bad.

Bloomer-3: Needed to do better on Fuller's goal. A disaster on the second.

Petersen-6: Had a couple of decent deliveries on set pieces.

Wright-5: Not terrible but defensive organization has to be on her to some degree.

Jean-6: Best defender on the night once again.

Milliet-5: Was trailing the play on the Bay opening goal.

Flint-5: Lost the player she was meant to be marking on the goal.

Hodge-5: Doesn't get involved enough for my taste.

O'Kane-6: Probably Racing’s best player in the first 20 or so minutes.

Sears-7: Tried as long as her legs let her. FREE EMMA!

Hase-6: Good to have her back as an option.

Weber-5: Needs to be stronger when receiving service.

McMahon-5: Had a ball taken away from her while ball watching.

Fischer-6: Injected some threat.

Racing v Bay -1

Photo by Elzabeth Shaw

The photo above is from a happier time, when Racing clinched a playoff spot against Bay. This time against Bay, it is tough to say what Racing is playing for exactly. What are the stakes? First things first, Racing have to put in a performance that a) the team can be legitimately proud of (regardless of what coach-speak Bev throws at us about that atrocity in Portland) and b) the fans can take solace in to give us some hope. This team isn’t making the playoffs. That much is clear. It will be quite some time before they are mathematically eliminated, but they simply are not a good team at the moment. Therefore, they have to put in a respectable performance in front of whatever fans show up on Friday.

Much of their ability to do that lies with the availability of Flint and Wright. Wright is needed for her leadership at a minimum. When Flint doesn’t start, Racing win probability plummets so low its undetectable. I will reiterate my comments from the recap of the last match: any turn around has to start with the defense. Unlike others, I am not sure that Racing has an effort problem. I am certain they have a talent problem at the moment, but that gap is hopefully less obvious against Bay. I would still like to see the formation change at some point, but that isn’t likely to happen.

When I spoke to Bev today about team selection, she shared that so many things go into selecting the Starting XI, that sometimes it is even hard for players to understand why they are in the squad, starting lineup, or left out completely. It’s hard to pinpoint any single Racing player that should be dropped at the moment, but it is equally as hard to look up and down the lineup and consider anyone undroppable

It is likely to be a long rest of the season, so one may struggle to find much to look forward to. I say the best thing to do is to take things one match at a time, just as the players and technical staff will, and enjoy the moments if not the results.

“I’m lost in the fog”

Courtesy of the NWSL

Match Haiku

Portland’s sweet revenge

Carries a thornier sting.

Racing at crossroads.

IN CASE OF EMERGENCY, BREAK GLASS

Here, I made sure to hedge.

I decided to pull the trigger on my back-up plan for match recap epigraphs and switch to the melancholier choice. I hope The Stone Roses reappears, but that album is mostly bravado, and Racing is out of stock on that at the moment.

“I’m lost in the fog.”

“Where Are They Now?” - Drawn to the Deep End, 1997

That was the beating that Racing has long deserved.

This team has played poorly enough in stretches to have suffered a multiple goal defeat this season prior to this one. The gap in class was on full display. Racing isn’t good enough to survive Portland when the Thorns are on there A-game and that looked to be the case last night at Providence Park.

The first 10 minutes were good for Racing. Unfortunately, that means that the narrative can be shaped around the “what-ifs” if one is inclined to do so. I am not inclined that way. Racing clearly created chances, but that has never been the biggest problem this season. The defense stinks and there is no way around it. Minus Flint and Wright it went from a D+ to a clear F.

The funny thing is that Racing played exactly how they wanted to play and Bev was pleased with the performance (more on that in the section below). I think if you asked a middle school drama teacher if they were “pleased with the performance” of their 8th graders doing Shakespeare, most would probably say something positive based on their expectations. If any of Racing’s future opponents tuned in to the match last night, they probably watched Racing’s back line like a 5-year-old child watches cookies baking in the oven.

Not every team will be able to exploit Racing’s defense like Portland, but the opportunity will be there, especially if Flint is absent. I think Racing needs to rethink its defensive structures. I would abandon any pretense of turning this season around and focus on converting to a 3 center back system. Flint serves as an ersatz third center back at times anyway. Why not just formalize the system but keep two central midfielders and sacrifice the number 10 role, at least until you have a player who can truly play there.

The team won’t do that because, honestly, the biggest problem is that the club simply lacks ambition. When Jill Loyden was trying to find something to talk about when the match was 3-0, she brought up that Racing didn’t replace Borges or Sonis with comparable talent and brought in rookies. She questioned the wisdom of it. I agree, but as I have said plenty of times, Racing can’t compete to get the best players. Some clubs, like Gotham specifically, damn the torpedoes and press forward in the talent market regardless of whether it makes financial sense or not. Racing does not have that luxury but could be ambitious in different ways. However, Soccer Holdings wants to be both cost-effective (or as much as you can be running a money pit like an NWSL team) AND safe. That’s a recipe for exactly what you are getting as a Racing fan at the moment, and it isn’t fun or entertaining in the least.

Post Match Moment of the Match

Some technical difficulties meant that our time with Bev was limited. She opened the media availability by basically doing an impression of Dwight Schrute from The Office in the episode where he accidentally shoots a gun off in the office. I wanted to play the role of Jo…

but decided that I like Bev too much to do so. Listen here if you want to. My big takeaway was that, of course, Bev wasn’t pleased with the scoreline but thought the team played well and executed the game plan, mostly. Some may see that as her trying to dodge the issues, but I think she was spot on, and that is EVEN WORSE. Whether she intended to or not, what she is saying that this is the best she can get out of this set of players. I don’t disagree. One day, some smart owner or national team is going to hand her an arsenal and tell her to go to work, and she will and succeed. She is trying to manage with a slingshot and a bunch of rocks at the moment. The issue is that Racing is starting to face one Goliath after another and they won’t back down.

Lo and Gilly once again drew the short straws. I had one eye on the England vs. Mexico match, so I only asked about how to keep the younger players on board through trying times. I am sure they gave a decent answer, but with my attention divided, I can’t remember what it was. You can go investigate here.

The Taylor Flint Honorary Yellow Card of the Match

Macey Hodge had a two-handed jersey pull. Nice! Get your money’s worth, I say. Jean got a similar one, but without the satisfaction of really yanking on the opponent’s jersey.

• 17th Minute: E. Jean - Foul - Tactical Foul

• 61st Minute: M. Hodge - Foul - Tactical Foul

Immethun for the Thorns got one that stopped an attack right in the middle of the pitch that seemed unnecessary since Portland was up 3-0, but she doesn’t play enough for yellow card accumulation to be a concern, so well done to her as well, I guess.

Madchester Song to Make You Feel Better

For some odd reason, lots of bands cover this song made famous by the Monkees. I think R.E.M. played this at their first gig before they were even named R.E.M. If you ever wonder what 1990 sounded like or want to reminisce, here is a good place to start.

“Do I ask too much?”

Racing is flirting dangerously with respectability at this point and could turn into a punchline if they aren’t careful. Or, hear me out…just become a punchline.

There is no guaranteed benefit to gain by tanking since there isn’t a draft anymore, but I do think you can plan for next season by listening to offers for players during this summer transfer window and getting financial return, if not talent. The roster needs an overhaul. I know why Racing wants to keep Sears (to pretend like they are competitive) but I don’t think it benefits anyone at this point. There are other players thay have value surely (Fischer being the most obvious).

You might have to strip things down to build them back up. Soccer Holdings didn’t want to plug holes with comparable talent this offseason, so why not just start playing the players who you think will be valuable next season, if not this season. Lardner and McKeen need to start getting minutes and getting something of value for Sears and Fischer might be the catalyst to get them the minutes they are going to need to be ready for next season.

I meant what I said earlier. There is absolutely no reason to play anyone in the central attacking midfield role right now. That is nobody’s best position on the roster (unless Sav returns). The rest of this season should be about talent development.

I also would bury the concept of flexibility 20 feet underground. Racing needs to start signing players to play in specific lines and keep them there in order to rebuild some cohesiveness and connectivity. The only way to right the ship in my opinion is to become a better defensive unit. That starts with consistency, and I would sacrifice ego and talent for it. Arin Wright may have to see her role turn into training her replacement. That’s why I like the idea of playing with 3 center backs. That way she can keep playing but also prepare the next generation. I also think that every defender that is listed as such on the roster should feel comfortable playing as a center back or get reclassified as a midfielder or forward. There needs to be no more converting wingers to defenders.

This franchise is in limbo because it is delusional and didn’t recognize that you have to go all in when you catch lightning in a bottle like last season. It may not be able to afford to do so, but like I always say: maybe you don’t get to own a top-tier sports franchise if you aren’t willing to throw away obscene amounts of money. If there is a limit on how much money you are willing to lose, then you obviously don’t have enough of it.

‍ ‍

Thorns 4 Racing 0 Player Ratings

Same old Racing, but with a scoreline that more accurately reflects the gap in quality that Racing has with the league's top teams. Bev needs to rethink the defensive structure.

Bloomer-4: No real chance on the goals, but 4 went in.

Petersen-4: Caught sleeping on Turner’s goal.

Jean-4: Needs help against a team like Portland

Gacioch-4: Racing thinks highly of her. I don’t see it yet.

Milliet-4: Too close to Tordin on her goal.

Hodge-5: Not terrible.

O'Kane-6: Rattled the post before the match got away from Racing.

Fischer-6: Hit the crossbar.

Sears-6: Played well for a player under extra scrutiny.

Morris-5: Subbed off at half.

Weber-5: Not involved enough.

Hill-7: I thought she looked dangerous.

Thorns v Racing -1

Racing is back in action against the Thorns in Portland on Sunday looking to kick start its season. Unfortunately, news of Emma Sears request for a transfer is likely to overshadow anything that happens on the pitch until it is sorted out. This request comes as somewhat of a surprise to most fans, and I didn’t necessarily see it coming either. However, I think I knew that it was coming eventually. The bigger surprise to me was her extending her contract with Racing through 2028 last season. That was probably a symptom of how well things were going (relatively) in 2025. Transfer sagas that play out in-season and become protracted are no fun for anybody and usually don’t greatly help the player’s or team’s form. Every performance from Sears going forward will have to be evaluated through the lens of knowing that she likely doesn’t want to be with Racing.

To my eyes, her form was already dipping. Now, when I say something like that, I like to have the evidence to back it up. In 2025, Sears had the 6th highest cumulative xG in the league (8.15) and 13th best ratio of goals to xG (1.85 more goals than expected). This season she sits at 38th and a shocking 237th in those two categories respectively. To be fair she has moved from 29th to 18th this season in goals added, as statistic that takes into account her increased rate of assists. It would be unfair to say she isn’t contributing to Racing when everyone can see that she is. Other the other hand, Racing needs her to score goals. My takeaway is that almost any team would benefit from a focused and determined Emma Sears. I just don’t think we have seen as much of that from her this year. In my opinion, I think she sees the USWNT as her primary concern and focus. For her, I think that is smart and fair. Assuming she plays regularly until she gets her transfer, I will try to evaluate her performances fairly. I will remind you that I have already been critical of her performances this season up until now.

It is difficult and probably unwise to start the rest of the season with any form of expectations from Racing. I don’t think any tremendous help is coming unless something is worked out in a deal for Sears. If that does happen, it is hard to see Racing replacing value through players. I believe there will be women’s soccer in Louisville going forward, but it is difficult for me to think that it will be the NWSL if things keep going like they are. There are way more spots on teams with way more money now and teams like Louisville and Chicago are being left behind. Sears is yet another canary in a coalmine.

On to the actual game…

The media spoke to Weber, Bloomer, and Coach Bev on Thursday. They are all ready to get going for the second half of the season and to try to salvage something from it. All three stated that the focus cannot be fully on the results but has to start with the performances. Racing put in its best performance of the season (starting Sears on the beach if you recall) at home against Portland. There is a definite rivalry between the two teams and Portland will not want to get beaten at home like they did at Lynn.

Due to their attendance at media on Thursday and through asking the players themselves, I think we can be fairly confident of Bloomer’s and Weber’s availability on Sunday. Jordyn reminded us that she hasn’t actually ever started a match in Portland, so she is really looking forward to the atmosphere and the challenge. I suspect that there will be some interesting exchanges between the keeper and the Thorns fans. The players and Bev mentioned that they did revisit the film against Portland from earlier this season. I am sure the Thorns’ staff did as well. I think there are a few lingering injury concerns, but most of the team should be healthy for this match.

"Tear me apart and boil my bones"

Photo by Elizabeth Shaw

Match Haiku

Summer draws nearer,

But performances stay cold.

Time for a rethink.

“Tear me apart and boil my bones”

“Elizabeth My Dear” - The Stone Roses, 1989

The song chosen for this match is a song about regicide, based on the Scarborough Fair, a traditional English ballad. Most people know the Simon and Garfunkel version. “Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme” is the familiar refrain. It’s the recipe meant to mend something broken beyond repair. In contrast, the lyrics list a set of impossible tasks that need to be undertaken in order to fix a broken relationship. Infer from that what you will.

We’re all watching a last-place team, and this last-place team does last-place things. It’s frankly astonishing that Racing only lost by a goal when you look at the stats. By not taking a proper beating, Racing as an enterprise is allowed to continually point to one-goal defeats and pretend like things are under control and that they are losing by fine margins. Every single piece of evidence taken by itself can be explained away, but the overwhelming preponderance of evidence says that this is simply just a bad team. Honestly, I am a little sad that there is no relegation in this league because there is literally nothing else to play for at the moment.

A break could do some good, but things don’t seem fixable to me. I previously thought Bev pulled off a miracle last year and then convinced myself that I had misjudged the team. Now, I really do think she pulled off said miracle and that this season is the norm. My favorite stat of the moment is accurate passes. Racing completed 208 (68% accuracy) and Denver completed 382 (81% accuracy). Racing’s accuracy is embarrassing for a team happy to concede 60% of the possession. I don’t think it’s asking too much to expect that a team consistently complete 75% of its passes (league average is around 76%). Racing’s team percentage is around 70%. Based a couple of passing accuracy statistics, I don’t think it is overstating things to call Kayla Fischer one of the least accurate passers in the league. Using the ASA xPass model Kayla completes about 22% less passes that one would expect. Plus, the ones she attempts are riskier than 90% of the league. That’s our number 10 folks!

It’s unfair to heap blame on one player because there is plenty of underperformance to go around. Other than the odd bright spot, almost every returning Racing player is having a worse year (Weber is probably the only clear exclusion). If I am being honest, I am tired of watching this team and will be glad for the break.

Post Match Moment of the Match

I am going to spare you anything from the interviews after the match and get this section pointed back to its original intent, which is to highlight something that happened after the match that was fun or interesting (to me at least). There are a few to choose from this week.

• Maddie Prohaska’s parents got to see her start. After chatting after the match and heading back to the pitch Maddie told her parents to “drive safe and text me when you get home”. It was a sweet moment that we all can relate to.

• I talked to Janine Sonis for about 30 seconds and got an unexpected half hug from her. I wished her luck the rest of the season.

• I caught up with my close, personal friend Lianne Sanderson (her description of our relationship may vary) after the match and got to chat about Manchester United with her for a few minutes. She is definitely Team Carrick.

Thing I bought at ear X-tacy back in the day

Artist:  New Order

Album:  The Best of New Order

Year:  1994

Format:  CD (Import)

Store Location:  1534 Bardstown Road

Today, New Order are definitely guilty of having way too many “best of” compilations.  In 1994 this still seemed like a money grab, but to be fair New Order were probably hilariously broke.  It’s too long to go into why that was the case in this space, but if you really are interested plenty has been written about New Order and is readily available.  That begs the question, “why did I buy this album?”  This answer is a very Gen X one.

By this point, I owned just about everything New Order and Joy Division had released.  I actually bought New Order’s first (and still best) compilation album “Substance” at the mall in Elizabethtown.  This was so long ago that I bought it in a CD long box (I bet that even if you know what that is, you forgot that they existed).  Anyway, one song that I was missing was “World in Motion”.  It had never been released on an album until the "Best of" release, but it's video had been released on a VHS compilation.  I had heard the song but there was no good way to listen to it in my car...a very late 20th century type problem.  

If you are unfamiliar with “World in Motion”, it was the 1990 FIFA World Cup song for the England national football team.  If this seems like an odd concept for you, maybe think “Super Bowl Shuffle” and if THAT doesn’t register either WHY are you even reading this?  England had semi-official World Cup songs in the past and all of them were embarrassing.  The song was actually released with “ENGLANDneworder” as the stylized artist on the CD single cover.  It went to number one in the UK and is New Order’s only number one.  New Order being New Order, had originally tried to sneak in a (barely) veiled ecstasy reference into the song and wanted to call it “E for England” with lyrics to match.  New Order has always been prone to bouts of self-sabotage, but in this case, they were rightly convinced to go with “World in Motion” as the title. 

As a song, it is a bit of a hilariously catchy mess.  Comedian Keith Allen wrote most (all?) of the lyrics.  The verses stick to football (“It’s one on one”, “Create the space”) but the chorus could fit into any love song and isn’t about football at all as far as I can tell (“Love’s got the world in motion, and I know what we can do.”)  Then, there is the infamous rap.  As part of the “charm” of the song, the footballers that showed up to record “vocals” all got a shot at recording the rap section.  Ultimately, legendary Liverpool player John Barnes was dubbed to be the least terrible of the bunch.  35 years later this is the thing that people remember most. John Barnes still gets asked to perform it from time to time and he will likely get asked to do once again this June with England’s hopes high. 

Also, I beg you to go on a brief tangent and hear what might have been!

Ultimately, the outro is my favorite part.  Berand Sumner sings “We’re playing for England” and the players respond with the 3-syllable “Eng-er-land” several times as the song fades and the commentary from England’s 1966 World Cup win plays, just as it did to introduce the song.  All of this may sound like a disaster, but when you listen to it, it really isn’t.  This is almost certainly due to the quality of the actual music from New Order, who despite their frequent mismanagement of their career, almost always got the music right.   

The Taylor Flint Honorary Yellow Card of the Match

Milliet got the only yellow card in the match:

• 47th Minute: L. Milliet - Foul, Reckless Offence

I am handing out a bonus yellow to the Racing home fans for dissent. There were a couple of delayed offside calls that the assistant referees got 100% correct in their decision making and adjudication. Officials in leagues with VAR are always instructed to let a phase of play run out before lifting their flag to signal an offside offense. I know that some fans hate this delayed call, but there isn’t a real alternative if you want to use VAR correctly. Fans can boo whatever they choose to, but I can also chide them for it.

The Louisville (Draft?) Kings Sports Betting Corner

It’s going to be some time before you can see Racing in action again, but if you’re looking for the other type of “action” here are some things you can wager on until the NWSL returns in early July.

I think the bottom spot in the league is turning into a 4-team race. Here is how I would set the moneylines for teams finishing in 16th Place:

• Racing +110

• Boston +110

• Chicago +150

• Bay +175

I still think the safe money is on the expansion team. Chicago has Mal Swanson so they always have a fighting chance at points. Don’t sleep on Bay though. They definitely could end up in 16th.

When it comes to Racing’s end of the season leader in G+A, I think these are the right lines:

• Emma Sears +125

• Sarah Weber +150

• Katie O’Kane +200

• Kayla Fischer +250

I think this bet all hinges on what number you think Sears will end on. Right now, she is on 5. If that ends up being greater than 12, I am not sure that anyone catches her. If you think it will be less than that, I think wagers on Weber and O’Kane might be worth a shot.

One final one…Total points for Racing on the Season.

• Under 22 +150

• 22-25.5 +125

• 26-29.5 +125

• 30-34.5 +200

• 35 or over +250

On current form, Under 22 looks tempting, but I think Bev’s baseline form gets them to 28.

“I'll not rest”

Just kidding, I will do exactly that. I need a break from soccer. Elizabeth informed me that she may watch some of the World Cup, and I won’t change the channel or leave the room if it is on, but I am taking most of June off to try to recharge my soccer fan battery. Lou City has one home match in June, so that should be fairly easy to accomplish.

Winning never gets old, but losing gets old quickly. If I thought change was on the horizon, I might be more excited. I also don’t want you to think I am advocating for change either. I am advocating for improvement. I do know from experience that improvement rarely comes out of the blue. There have to be signs. Right now, I am not seeing any on this Racing team. I am seeing a team stuck in a system that isn’t working well. I don’t think you have to abandon the system, but I do think switching out a few parts and tweaking a few things is worth the effort. I rarely present myself to “die on a hill” with my opinions, but I will come close with this one:

Racing will not succeed with the midfield in its current configuration.

I have enough evidence that it is broken. Racing needs to stop pretending that Kayla Fischer is the answer as a creative force. She does many things well but playing her in the coordinator role hasn’t worked. I can all but guarantee you that it won’t. Much like moving Flint to the back line, it is a move born of seemingly having no other options, but it also does her a great disservice. Positionally maybe she can remain there, but the attack cannot run through her. It just doesn’t work.

I have kept most of my criticism of Sears confined to my player ratings posts. Personally, I think she could be doing more, and I will just leave it at that.

A counter attacking team like Racing can’t be this trigger shy. Racing has to shoot quickly when they get into the final third. I wish it wasn’t this way, but as far as I can see, it is the only way for them to be successful. Too many times, players are passing up shots to try to get a better one. Racing isn’t a good enough passing team to work the ball for better shots. Either get better in possession or shoot earlier. What they are doing now isn’t going to work.

See you in July.

Racing 0 - Summit 1 Player Ratings

Once again the stats paint a pretty clear picture. Denver possessed the ball more, completed more passes and had the better chances

Prohaska-6: Acquitted herself decently, but Racing will be glad to have Bloomer back.

McMahon-6: Decent, but not outstanding.

Petersen-6: With Jean back she may see her time start to be limited, but she did well at center back in my opinion.

Wirght-5: Needed to cut off the pass that led to the goal.

Milliet-6: Picked up a rare yellow and made some vital challenges.

Flint-6: Fotmob gave her an 8. I just don’t see it.

O’Kane-7: Racing’s best player on the night.

Fischer-6: Isn’t a 10. Isn’t a 10. Isn’t a 10. Write it 97 more times.

Morris-6: Needs to shoot when gets an opening.

Sears-6: Getting tired of repeating myself on her.

Lardner-6: Brought energy.

Racing v Summit -1

Racing’s final match for a while will be in the rear-view mirror before Friday ends. The Summit is a fun team that scores lots of goals but also concedes their fair share, like Racing. The possession battle will be an interesting one to watch. Neither team is above 50% average possession for the season. Denver does complete about 100 more passes per match than Racing, so they find themselves in matches that are more fluid than Racing typically does. The Summit’s two most recent wins against Orlando and Houston had them beating their opponents handily and winning the possession battle. Orlando and Houston are low possession teams, so I expect Denver to come into this match to try to out possess Racing and dare them to show that they can string together some possession.

Racing sorely misses Janine Sonis, and she has been exceptional for Denver. Their left sided attack has produced 8 goals (4 from Kössler and her delightful umlaut and 4 from Sonis) so if Milliet finds herself behind the ball in transition against Denver like she has against Utah and North Carolina, expect bad things. This might be a match to have the more defensive minded Morris start on the right like she did against Portland. I am not advocating for benching Sears but potentially swapping her to the left because Morris had no joy on the left side against North Carolina and her heat map looked like she was playing a really defensive left back role. Racing’s coaching staff needs to figure out her best position soon or she risks being relegated to a utility player.

There is no official word on Bloomer, so well will have to wait for the Availability Report. At this point I am more concerned with Racing’s defensive structures than the defensive personnel because only one of those issues can really be addressed in the short term. It might be good for Racing to set up different defensively if Prohaska is called on again, to give her some extra protection. She performed well but wasn’t tested all that much because she really could do nothing on the goal that occurred while she was playing.

Mitch subbed for Bev today at media availability and did share that Racing is looking at the film to see where the breakdowns are occurring for the type of counterattacking goals that Racing is currently susceptible to. My very rudimentary analysis is that they are finding themselves unbalanced due to their lack of precision in the final third. Racing needs to focus on making sure that any attacking foray ends in a shot or the ball going out of play. They currently aren’t defensively sound enough to risk any loss of possession when 8 or more of their players are in their attacking third. I think this team needs to set a goal in this match of having a clean sheet at halftime at all costs.

“Now so much waste”

Photo by Elizabeth Shaw

Match Haiku

Wright’s goal is too late.

Another flat performance.

Another match lost.

“Now so much waste”

“Don’t Stop” - The Stone Roses, 1989

Where’s the fire?

My patience is running thin for hearing about the fine margins. Guess what: the fine margins matter. At the top level, they matter more than anything because every team is talented to some league-minimum level. Every coach is capable. I get that some teams are naturally better than others, but right now Racing looks like a team that is okay with the current level of effort going into these matches. Therefore, they are going to have to figure out how to get the finer details better. I don’t know if this is changing the focus in practice (nobody seems to think this because I asked both Wright and Milliet point blank about it) or having the players working more on their own, but Racing is doomed to their current status in the table unless someone, somewhere does something different.

The truth of the matter is that this team is sloppy. They are sloppy in their passing, and sloppy in their effort at the moment. Maybe that is unfair, but does this team look to you like a team that believes they are giving their best? This is starting to look like the team that I assumed we were going to get last season. Janine Sonis was one of their better players last year, but doesn’t she look even better this year on a team that is full of hope and expectations? Racing is currently carrying the air of a team with low expectations. We are definitely getting those types of results.

Personally, I think any kind of turnaround has to start with this team being more precise all across the pitch. Their passing accuracy was better in this match statistically, but the NSWL ought to track a new stat call a “groaner”. I would define a “groaner” as any pass that makes a fan groan out loud at the degree of inaccuracy. Several times Racing makes passes so inaccurate that they should count in the passing accuracy denominator twice. Frequently these woefully inaccurate passes kill counterattacks or lead directly to opponent’s goals as they have in the last two matches. The Courage’s first goal was a first cousin to the first goal Racing allowed in Utah. The second goal was similar in that lost possession led to Feli Rauch being so hilariously open that no Racing player got to within 10 yards of her until she made an easy pass to Sanchez, who ultimately scored. Both of these goals greatly penalized Racing’s attacking formation where their wing backs press forward. A defense as statistically bad as Racing cannot afford to lose possession with their wing backs consistently 20 yards behind the counter.

I think the biggest concern is that Racing’s opponents no longer look at Racing as a difficult match anymore. In the middle to latter part of last season Racing was a real annoyance to teams. This season, I think most teams wait for Racing’s inevitable self-inflicted wound, which has consistently come. The biggest shock for me is that Portland didn’t have this figured out and let Racing back into the match that Racing won against them.

Thing I bought at ear X-tacy back in the day

(I would have loved to have been a music journalist in the 90s in England, but unfortunately, I lived here. Therefore, I will do a little retrospective music journalism to amuse myself. I will even try to tie it to Racing or soccer in general.)

Artist:  XTC

Album:  Fossil Fuel: The XTC Singles 1977-1992

Year:  1996

Format:  CD

Store Location:  1534 Bardstown Road

This one’s a bit on the nose and that is exactly the point.

I had this stubborn resistance to buying an XTC album at a store named in their honor. The German language often has words for things that cannot be expressed in English, so I looked for a word that explained this feeling of resistance I had. I will describe it the best I can. I guess I would label it as shyness/nervousness at the possibility of having John Timmons at the counter when I bought it and having to make small talk, combined with having to admit that I knew nothing about XTC. By this point, he had to recognize me as the guy who always came in on Thursdays, bought import music magazines or newspapers or an import CD. I was predictable, like clockwork. I hated the idea of being so predictable as a 21-year-old.

Now, I wish I would have just done what I would do today: walk up and just ask him the best place to start if I was interested in XTC. I am sure he would have gladly told me. However, I was stubborn for no good reason. When this CD came out it seemed like a good place to start. Even then, I am sure that I was too embarrassed to buy an XTC CD in front of him and probably waited until he was busy with something else, so someone else would check me out at the register.

All this resistance did was just delay the joy that XTC ultimately brought me. “Generals and Majors” is still one of the only things I can play on guitar.

Sometimes we end up being stubborn for no reason or a worse reason: admitting that we don’t know where to start.

Post Match Moment of the Match

I don’t mind asking tough questions. This match was one of those times when I think I asked a few. As I alluded to earlier, I asked both Milliet and Wright if they thought the team was spending its limited practice time on the right things. They both answered in the affirmative which I obviously expected, but that question was really meant to gauge their reactions as much as the words themselves. I believed both of their answers, and I think they did too. It was just a quick pulse check to make sure the captain and vice-captain still seemed bought in, which they did.

Unfortunately, the field microphone didn’t really pick up the second question I asked Bev, to which she responded, “did you think we had the ball today?” I think I answered her “some of the time”. I phrased my question around possession, but my real question was about the level of precision when they do have it. She didn’t really answer that question other than to give some vague response that they needed to be better. My last question was if having two goalkeepers on the bench was because Bloomer was carrying some sort of known issue. The reason I asked that is that when Bloomer exited, her foot was pretty heavily taped, but that is not unusual. The answer was that they had two keepers on the bench to fill out the squad. We won’t adjudicate that again because you already know my feelings on that issue.

The Taylor Flint Honorary Yellow Card of the Match

Quincy McMahon got the only yellow card for Racing:

• 8th Minute: Q. McMahon, Foul - Tactical Foul

It was pretty cut and dry and she did a decent job of managing the rest of the match especially because she was nowhere near the ball on the two counters from which North Carolina scored. On the first goal was she was guilty of the bad pass that led to the break, so there was no chance of her being involved in the defending effort on that one.

The Louisville (Draft?) Kings Sports Betting Corner

We’ll keep it straightforward on this one.

Racing accumulated points going in the June break: Over/Under 9.5

I say take the under.

“How we’ll be teased”

Racing is another bad result away from me starting to openly advocate to see the younger talent start to get some real minutes. I don’t think we yet know how good players like McKeen, Lardner, White, et al. actually are. I would like to find out. I know the strength and limitations of the current starters. It’s too early to throw the towel in, but it’s also not too early to see if some infusion of youth here and there might inject some much-needed energy. The club likes Gacioch as an on-ball defender, so she needs minutes. The concern for me is that the new players aren’t forcing themself into the squad. Some of that could be Bev trusting her starters. Some of that could be that they simply aren’t ready. Either way, it doesn’t seem like there is much competition for spots and there have been enough injuries for a player like Morris to impose herself into the Starting XI, but she has not done it.

Racing seemed tantalizingly close to something last season. This season? Not so much. They like to pretend that they are the victim of fine margins. I think they are just getting outplayed and possibly outmaneuvered. I am also sure that no real help is coming in terms of a mid-season talent infusion, so Racing is going to have to figure it out with this group.

Racing 1 - Courage 2 Player Ratings

It was another lackluster performance from Racing. Until Racing figures out how to increase it precision in possession, they will continue to give up exactly the type of goals they did today.

Prohaska-6: Not bad on her debut.

McMahon-5: Early yellow meant she had to watch herself carefully.

Petersen-6: The other defenders didn't give her much help.

Wright-7: Got a late consolation goal.

Milliet-5: Can't be caught as high up on the pitch on a team that can't defend the counter.

Flint-5: Her lack of precision passing has got to be addressed.

Hodge-5: Subbed off after 60.

O'Kane-6: May be the only player at the moment that can be counted on to be effective.

Sears-5: Seemed disinterested at times.

Morris-6: Probably needs to be pushing Milliet for time at right back instead of playing forward.

Fischer-6: Tries hard…isn't the answer.

Racing v Courage -1

Photo by Elizabeth Shaw

Remember last year’s terrible weather in the home opener versus North Carolina? Maybe not, because it felt like Elizabeth and I were the only ones there. The above picture captures the downpour pretty accurately.

I would also be remiss if I didn’t say that frankly nothing is going to make me come down for cloud nine for a quite a while.

I plan on being a terrible winner to anyone who engages me on the subject, so be forewarned. All Arsenal fans have digital storage full of receipts.

Back to Racing, where hope is a less frequent visitor. They do have two matches in a row at home before another break in the season (which seems woefully mistimed if it is actually meant to benefit the player’s safety, which we all know it isn’t). They probably need 4 points from these two matches to feel like they are still within striking distance for the playoff before an extended break. Ignoring the cynical timing of the break, it actually comes at a pretty good time for Racing. There is no official word on Hase, but unless you were born yesterday, you know that her injury likely requires a 4–6-week recovery period at a minimum. The key for Racing in these two home matches will be to find some consistency. They can’t keep taking one step forward and two steps back. Well… they can…let’s not kid ourselves. However, keeping the team in the right headspace is Bev’s self-declared most important job at the moment. Racing has shown up at home so far. North Carolina is kind of puttering along with the same level of mediocrity they have demonstrated over the last few seasons. They can be ripe for the picking if Racing shows up ready to play on Saturday.

Unfortunately, North Carolina is exactly the type of team that Racing can’t quite seem to figure out at the moment. They possess the ball and make accurate passes, two things to which Racing seems to have a congenital allergy. Until Racing figures out how to consistently hem in a team like the Courage, they are much more likely to come out on the wrong side of the result. They definitely will unless they can once again harness the same energy we saw against Portland. In that match, the Thorns bizarrely invited Racing to do it. The Courage will suck the life force out of you by lulling you to sleep, just like Gotham does and sometimes Washington does when they are in the mood. Racing can allow the Courage to have the ball, but they can’t let too much of this possession be in the final third because as Racing has proven time and again, they can’t find their way out even if they win possession there.

"Every member of Parliament trips on glue"

Courtesy Connor Cunningham

Match Haiku

Cold Sunday evening

Sees Racing lost on the ball.

Utah: Royal pains.

“Until the sky turns green, the grass is several shades of blue,
every Member of Parliament trips on glue…It'll take all these things and oh, much more.”

“(Song for My) Sugar Spun Sister” - The Stone Roses, 1989

Racing got a good glimpse at what they aspire to be on Sunday evening. They saw pressing and counterattacking done right and ruthlessly. The broadcast called what Utah did and does, chaos. That is a lazy description, and it is insulting. Utah plays with relentless ball pressure. It isn’t a high press, it’s an “all” press. There is clear intent in what they do and how they play. Jimmy Coenraets has to be the clubhouse leader to replace Bev Yanez as NWSL Coach of the Year.

Utah wasn’t perfect all match, and Racing gave it a go. Let’s highlight the two sequences that framed each team at their bests.

Sequence 1: Racing is pressing Utah to win the ball high in Utah’s half. Hase comes away with the ball and is immediately looking for space to shoot or pass. A couple of Utah players frustrate her into making a lazy negative pass to try to keep possession, that gets stolen and moved quickly up the pitch with several players, but especially Paige Cronin, running furiously to join the counter. Her cross creates a mess, and Milliet scores an own goal. McMahon had run hard to catch up, but Cronin turned on the jets to leave her in the dust eventually. Ultimately, Utah used Racing’s high defensive line against itself to create the opportunity. The other thing of note is how coordinated the counterattack was with 4 Royals players drawing defenders into spaces. It was organized, decisive and lethal.

Sequence 2: Racing is once again pressing Utah high, but with the keeper in possession this time. They lure the Utah keeper into committing the cardinal sin of trying to play out of a high press through the middle. Before anyone can think, Fischer has snapped a shot into the back of Utah’s net. Hodge’s pressure forces a terrible pass and a mistake that is quickly pounced on. Racing too, are organized and disruptive in this sequence doing exactly what the press is meant to do.

What are we to make of teams doing what they do best? In my opinion, not much. Matches are won and lost in moments where you have to dig deep. On Utah’s second goal, Racing had several chances to avoid the ultimate danger and didn’t take them. After going back and watching, it is I think, very clear to see how much McMahon is struggling when she gets the ball early in the sequence. The smart thing here is to play the ball out for a throw and drop to the pitch to get treatment. Instead, she plays it forward to Morris who likely has no idea that McMahon is struggling. She tries to turn out of trouble and then turns the ball over. Utah pounces and Morris doesn’t exactly go all out to try to win the ball back and lets a cramping McMahon try to stop my least favorite ex-Racing Player CeCe Delzer from getting into a good space to make a cross to Tanaka to score the winner. It highlighted the main difference between the two teams in my opinion. Utah fought to win back lost possession more frequently and with more desire and energy than Racing did.

It was another case of one step forward and two steps back for Racing. All of the good things from the Portland match seem to have vanished and it doesn’t look like sustained excellence is on the horizon until the sky turns green, the grass turns blue and every Member of Parliament trips on glue. Or maybe (definitely) I am just looking for an excuse to use that brilliant lyric…

Post Match Moment of the Match

I get why teams have post-match media availability and I obviously keep showing up, don’t I? Sometimes you just aren’t going to learn anything until you more closely examine the video of the match with some distance. That seemed to be Bev’s perspective on the performance. I think when she goes back, she will see little things to work on. Me? I think Racing is pretty easy to figure out. You can draw a line at 50% for the average possession stat for the league. Racing can likely get results against teams below 50% but will struggle against teams that have more of the ball (Boston excluded, but you never know). It’s not the amount of possession itself, but what it symbolizes which in most cases is organization and control in possession. Utah showed you can have high possession and have a relentless press. This is classic Pep Guardiola football, the philosophy being you ultimately have more energy to press hard for short periods if you aren’t having to work hard out of possession other than in short bursts. Racing cannot play this way right now, so you will get what you get unfortunately.

I was actually more interested in Wright’s opinion on the second goal. As a player she has seen it all. I don’t think she saw the full sequence of what was happening with McMahon and of course she said that you can’t depend on officials to stop play. Once Utah has possession, I agree with this sentiment 100%. However, I believe McMahon was struggling before she played that fateful pass into Morris. Only she knows for sure. If she was, she has to know that she is a liability if she stays on the pitch. Play it out, get treatment, and live to fight another day. Hase smartly went down when she felt her hamstring and the Royals politely played the ball out. Nobody (except Manchester City) wants to win unfairly. I believe if McMahon plays the ball out when she is first struggling, the second goal could have been avoided.

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME MCCALL ZERBONI?

I don’t know why poor McCall can’t help herself. If you listen to her calls, you can hear some really insightful stuff if you can ignore when she openly contradicts herself or throws out another lazy platitude. Color analysts love to make up words, but they really like to make up 8-syllable ones like “counterattackability”. If they just stuck to 7-syllable words, I could use that as the middle line of my match haiku at least.

Ninety minutes is a long time to always have something interesting to say. I am rooting for McCall, because I think she has interesting things to say at times. She just needs to be a little more in tune with what is going on with a team instead of making up what she thinks is going on. Many of her comments on Racing were true but only because she said the exact opposite thing earlier in the match. I know the NWSL probably thinks its broadcasts need to be mostly for a general audience, but that kind of thinking makes it hard for the announcers to know every team in depth. Since that is the case, McCall would serve herself better by not presenting herself as an expert on Racing, which she did a few times, when she clearly is not.

Hey! Look at me! I’m Elton Garcia!

(One of USL PRO’s “top” officials stops by to “discuss the match”)

That’s right! Look at me! Don’t look at the match unfolding in front of you! Everything I do is much more important than what is happening in the match! Watch me run to break up imaginary fights that aren’t going to happen! Watch me spend my time chiding players for simply trying to get a ball to a player on a throw in! Look! There is another coming together that I need to insert myself into for no reason! You came to watch me run all over the pitch to pretend to deescalate situations, but actually make them worse, didn’t you! Nobody watches my matches and says, “gee I forgot all about the referee because he didn’t insert himself prominently into the match!”

Thanks Elton…he did get just about every call right, and he’ll be sure to let you know it.

The Taylor Flint Honorary Yellow Card of the Match

One of the problems with Flint picking up so many yellow cards, other than the blatantly obvious reason, is that when she picks up an early one and gets a final warning, she loses much of her effectiveness. She had to play more tentatively at times during this match because of it.

• 45th Minute +4: Flint-Reckless Offence

Where have I heard that one before?

She now sits on 4 yellow cards, so expect her annual suspension to be coming soon.

Madchester Song to Make You Feel Better

Don’t wimp out and go for the 7-inch version. You deserve the very best, so stick with the 12 -inch, 10-minute version with its long meandering outro.

“It'll take all these things and oh, much more”

Most of the time this season it feels like the stars have to perfectly align for Racing to have a chance in a match. When “the breaks” never go your way, you have to question if they actually are “the breaks”. In the “you make your own luck” category you have several things to point to in this match. You definitely don’t make your own luck with a 65% passing accuracy. I can live with a lack of possession, but Racing just has to be better when they have it. Racing’s goal came with virtually no possession tied to it. It did come with clinical pressing and a deadly accurate finish. Racing pays a lot of lip service to being better in moments, but I haven’t seen much proof in the pudding. When they trailed late, they lacked the ability to possess the ball effectively enough to give themselves much of a chance, especially in stoppage time. Reality isn’t comprised of single big things being true. It is made up of a bunch of smaller things providing a preponderance of evidence. When Racing plays well it is by showcasing their identity AND a whole lot of other positive little things that go mostly unnoticed. Those unnoticed things tend to turn into glaring weaknesses when they don’t do them well. Racing got a little bit of Fool’s Gold through their solidified identity last season, which may have caught teams by surprise. It is going to take little things to get better this season, and it is going to take a lot of them.