Freedom vs. Breakers, April 18, 2009

It was either that or a diamond midfield, with Sawa at the back, Long at the front, and Bompastor and Lindsey on the flanks. But the formation was definitely very similar. The biggest change seemed to be that Bompastor moved around a bit more, she wasn't always on the left flank.

Yeah, Sawa or Bompastor should've taken it and that's on the coach because he should have realized that Abby was not in the best shape to take PKs yet.

Gabarra's problem is that he has two WPS quality forwards and three WPS quality midfielders. That creates a real problem in either a 4-4-2 or 4-3-3. The forwards, obviously, are Wambach and DeVanna. The problem is Zimmeck isn't a sub -- she's a warm body who is not a replacement or change of pace for either of those two. The WPS quality midfielders are Sawa, Bompastor and Lindsey. After that it gets grim. The bottom line --- holding onto a large part of the W-League roster for continuity sake, left the Freedom towards the bottom of the barrel talent wise in the league. As has been claimed by the Freedom, that kept continuity so the team is largely well integrated. That means the problems we see aren't going to be fixed by time. Gabarra is going to have grab his shorts and start waiving players and inviting others in if he hopes to salvage this season.

A lot of the fan comments bring back (bad) memories of the WUSA days... being overwhelmed by groups of kids and soccer parents who had little interest in the game itself. Thankfully, my experience in Boston last week was very different than what you describe. I wish you well in establishing some space for yourselves and supporting your team in a proper fashion and hope the Freedom find a way to all their potential fans, just as I hope that last week in Boston was the "new" rule, not an exception!

Except for Zimmeck, I think I mostly disagree with you (and even I'm inclined to withhold judgment on her until she's had a bit more of a chance to settle in).

First off, panicking after three games doesn't make a whole lot of sense, particularly games in which the Freedom played well on the whole. The issues I see with the Freedom are the following:

- Shorthandedness due to injuries and other issues. Our #1 draft pick, Sarah Huffman, is out for the season. Our third allocated player, Ali Krieger, chose to stay in Germany for another season. Parrissa Eyorokon, another option for midfielder or forward, has been injured and unable to play. We only have four international players signed (out of a possible five), and one of them (Erin McLeod) hasn't shown up yet due to visa issues.

- We lack depth at forward while having far more defenders than we need. (I think we agree here.) Boston can take out Amy Rodriguez and put in Christine Latham without missing a beat, while we've got nobody behind Abby and Lisa who seem to be capable of making anything happen. Meanwhile, for some reason, we have 11 defenders or def/mids.

- Right now Abby Wambach can't finish to save her life. She leads the league in shots but hasn't scored a goal yet. If she makes the PK on Saturday, the Freedom have come back from a 0-1 deficit to take the lead, and it's a whole different ball game the rest of the way.

I think scapegoating the W-League players is unreasonable. Alex Singer, Emily Janss, Becky Sauerbrunn, and Jill Gilbeau are doing just fine out there. One of my worries going in was about whether young players like Alex and Becky could perform at this level, but they're holding up well. My other major worry was whether we'd be able to provide service to Abby, but we're getting the ball to her just fine; it's just not going in the net.

That being said, I don't think this is going to be the Freedom's year. Cat and Abby are still recovering from injuries, and other topnotch players we thought we'd have we're not going to have this year. Meanwhile, the advantage a lot of us thought the Freedom would have with meshing as a team hasn't been there because all the teams are meshing far better than they did when the WUSA was getting going. Not that I mind that too much - even if it's not so good for us, it's great for the league.

Anyhow, I'd give the Freedom more time before I did any major retooling, though I do hope that Gabarra's looking to fill our one remaining international slot with a forward and that that will happen before it's too late to matter.

Not to take the discussion in a different direction but video highlights from this match are available on the team's web site. Just click on the video tab on the home page.

Direct route to the video:

http://www.womensprosoccer.com/dc/video/index?pid=7v_Vx7_f7zNWo5ccw1m24DJVA6tAenie

The Scurry-Hucles collision is on there, so you armchair (or not-so-armchair) referees can judge for yourself.

It looks worse on the video than I remember it, however I had a much better view than what's shown on the video.



I'm gonna have to stand by the referee's decision, he did a pretty good job overall.

Yeah, I don't remember thinking it was a big deal at the time, and I was right there in the far corner - my reaction wasn't, "Oh, rats, that's going to be a PK" or even "Scurry got away with one." It's hard to tell from the video, but I think the ball was elsewhere by the time Scurry collided with Hucles, so it might have seemed like incidental contact (to everyone except Angela, perhaps).

I think that had the ball been there, you could make the incidental contact defense, but since it wasn't, it supports the ref's decision, although I agree the advantage was handled rather awkwardly but ultimately correctly.

I was there, and had a very good angle, but it all did happen very fast. Here's how it looked to me: Hucles had an instant to shield the ball as Scurry ran out, Scurry hesitated a split second then dumped Hucles, by the time Scurry made contact Hucles had passed the ball to her teammate. I thought it was a clear foul on Scurry. I'm rooting for the Freedom, but a foul is a foul. Too bad, as her defenders did well to guard the goal behind her. I also agree as to the awkward but ultimately correct handling of the advantage. I think it should have been whistled immediately.

The roster imbalance falls on Gabarra and the front office. Huffman's injury was an unlucky turn, Krieger staying in Germany another. However, that still doesn't mean you stuff your roster with d-mids and defenders. Of your named W-League players, Sauerbrunn is doing well, Singer provides no offensive spark as an outside back in a 4-4-2 so the opposing team knows it won't have to worry about an overlapping run from her anytime during the game. Janss was being torched for pace all during the first half on Saturday and was subbed out. Gilbeau -- "meh." Of the 4 players, one is WPS quality, one -- Singer -- really is better as bench depth and the other two really aren't ready for prime time.

I do agree that Wambach and Whitehill are recovering and to expect them to play at the highest level this season was "magical thinking." Wambach in particular has lost a step and just isn't "on" at all. Whitehill never had a step to lose, but lost one anyway.

My point is that Gabarra has put out team in 3 games that has been owned in midfield and cannot get any support to the forwards. The results accurately reflect the mediocrity of the "team" he and the others have put together.

Unfortunately that is soccer. Teams will always have ups & downs. It is how you deal with them.I get the feeling the teams got who they went for in a way, with a few exceptions. The Freedom always wanted players who had played before with them. They said it would be an advantage in team chemistry and would give them a head start. As for their picks in the draft...why didn't they pick more strikers or better midfielders! For the internationals only Necib(France) turned them down. They could have picked a post discovery of someone else.

In all honestly on paper i had Washington up there. Look at FCGP squad on paper. Compare. At the moment the Pride players are playing above themselves & Washingtons players have yet to get going.

By the end of the season there's bound to be a few surprise player discoveries.

The constant competition will force the cream to rise to the top, and will make the WNT better.

It's inevitable that some of the older players will need to move aside to make room for the new discoveries.

From what I saw on the WPS site yesterday you can hardly even tell what is going on because it was shot from so far away. You can't really see much of the collision at all from the video.

I don't know what the problem with Janss was on the day - I've seen her do much better than that. You talk about Singer as if she'll never get any better when she improved noticeably even during the inaugural match. I think back to Skylar Little, our right flank defender, from the WUSA days, who was absolutely wretched in 2001 - if she got the ball, she'd either send it right to a player on the other team or back to the goalkeeper. But over time she became a solid defender. And Singer's already way ahead of where she was.

But despite the alleged lack of support, somehow we lead the league in both shots and shots on goal, while only scoring two goals. That suggests to me that the problem is with the finishing, not with the support.

We'll see what happens in the long run, but I think the Freedom are better than their record so far. I also think games will be very different once Abby regains her touch and Erin McLeod starts playing in goal.

Well if you're in Boston anymore lately come to a Breakers game. We have a supporter's group standing and chanting throughout the match, actively encouraged by the FO who certainly seem to want a more adult audience as well. In fact when told by a member of security that we couldn't throw streamers a member of the FO made a call and got them to back off. Quite a refreshing change from Gillette!

Riptide plans to be a permanent fixture at Breakers games, here's hoping the rest of the league's fans can create a better atmosphere at all matches.

as a Pride fan, not sure if I should take that as a compliment! Specially this week that we are playing Washington, as a Wambach fan, I hope Abby gets it going soon, just not THIS weekend.

Beulah's write up of the game.

http://www.soccerbroadcaster.com/wpsblog/bos-was-postgame.htm

Post-game audio from Saturday's game.

A really good article. I think Gabarra is overmatched this time and it shows. I don't know if Beulah saw the Freedom's 2008 W-League seminfinal in Virginia Beach, but the same problems highlighted in the Boston game were evident there as well. Gabarra is years behind tactically and is using the players he has out of position. Unless Wambach makes a miraculous recovery -- something I doubt and should not reasonably expect -- this will be a very long season and the Freedom will not make the playoffs. At that point a new coach can attempt to reload the roster.

Hi Freedom Fans-
I came across this and thought it was pretty cool. Mia Hamm and Siri Mullinix are going to be inducted into the Freedom Hall of Fame May 3rd during halftime at the Freedom vs. St. Louis game. It seems like it is going to be a great time. Here are more details I fell upon when looking on the Freedom website about this event (@ the Maryland Soccerplex):


Mia Hamm and Siri Mullinix return May 3rd as the Washington Freedom salutes local heroes and outstanding Freedom alums!

On May 3rd, the Freedom battles St. Louis Athletica led by U.S. Women’s National Team players and Olympic Gold Medalists Lori Chalupny and Hope Solo, as well as Daniela, a member of Brazil’s 2007 Fifa Women’s World Cup Team!

In a special halftime ceremony, Mia Hamm and Siri Mullinix will become the first freedom alums to be inducted into the ‘Hall of Freedom’! If you saw Mia or Siri play for the Freedom, email us today to share your memories of their skills at info@washingtonfreedom.com. Your comments may be included in the ceremony!

Special Offer: Dinner & A Game! Buy 4 reserved side tickets for the May 3rd game for $100.00 and get 4 Chipotle Mexican Grill Gift Cards (each good for a free burrito, taco, or salad).

Kickoff is at 6:00 PM. Fanfest opens at 4:30. Watch the game from the beer garden on Freedom Hill (must be 21+). For tickets, call 202.547.kick (5425)

So, can we do the "warm up the bus" chant?

I went to Dartmouth when Lucky was there - The Dough Girl was a three time All American who led an Ivy League team to a Final Eight finish the year Florida had the best soccer team in college history, was a three time All American in Soccer and was on the varsity ski team which is like playing football at USC. She was an All Star in the old league, was an ESPY nominee as best fem soccer player in the world, won a Founders Cup with Carolina, an Olympic Gold Medal for USA, has played professionally in Sweden (I think) and is a world class downshill ski racer. I saw the film today on the Washington Site and it looks like the dough girl kicked Abby's ass.....Also if memory serves me correctly, Tony D was a Keeper coach and why would he draft a dough girl who can't play?

That is impressive but other people complained about her after Boston's 2-1 loss to FC Gold Price. Also, if she is so great why isn't she on the UNWNT roster? Solo and Barnhart were picked and not her.