and her new do is just fab. like gomis' but twice as long. you can see a flash of it at 4:44 of this pretty cool vid about our fenottes : btw, when they say there were only 350 people at the arras match (13-1) you have to know that they were playing on field #10 where the stands are not sheltered, it was about 2-3 degrees and raining. the last year and a half i don't think i've seen a crowd under a round thousand whether at gerland or the plaine des jeux.
a few notes : it's not precisely true that aulas never misses a match, but the only times i've remarked his absence is when he obviously can't be there because the men are playing away the same evening. at one point you see them all arriving in their little white smarts... that's their company car since last year. the man used to always have the same audis, then last year mercedes... and smart is in the mercedes group, the girls started driving them. this year, since that's their major sponsor, the men drive hyundais to practice, but the ladies have their own sponsors, so they have kept the smarts. the park you see them running in at the end is the parc de parilly, right in my neighborhood! it's OL's favorite place for décrassage, men and women both.
i was getting ready to say that the derby between PSG and Juvisy had ended as a draw, but the live was obviously a bit slow, bresonik chipped in the winner on 84'... when in real time the match had been over for several minutes. the first two goals came from catala (8') and horan (58'), both apparently on GK mistakes; vero pons almost made it a brace of blunders a couple of minutes before bresonik scored. a close run thing but PSG stays technically alive for the championship (still 7 pts behind OL who won at issy 0-8) and above all, since MHSC drew against guingamp 1-1 they cement their hold on next year's champions league. the podium : OL - 44 pts PSG - 37 MHSC - 34 juvisy still has leurs yeux pour pleurer and a CL tie against göteborg to get some satisfaction out of the season.
The battle for the second place is so entertaining that I am more curious to know what Juvsiy, PSG and Montpellier have done than Lyon . Anyway ,here is my point of view , Montpellier loss against Lyon and Juvisy and draw against Guingamp and PSG.....basicly they are unable to beat a team equally strong or slightly better. Is true they missed Phillipe who played only one game so far but the team should have done better than that ,they are the most complete team in the league after Lyon . Sarah M'barek is the one to blame in my opinion . Juvisy loss against PSG and Lyon but more or less they are where it was expected , with the departure of Tonazzi they should have bought another striker ,Thiney has been fantastic providing goals but now that she is injured the team clearly miss someone who can score against big teams. PSG has done a wonderful job so far ,the only problem is they have only two reliable forward ,Horan and Asllani , Kosovare is not a goalscorer so basicly only Horan is the one delegated to score.....and frankly is too much pressure for a 18 years old foreigner......Bresonik scored 4 goals in the last 2 games but they clearly miss another centre forward . In conclusion I will say that even though PSG took a slightly advantage the chase of the number 2 place is still open for the joy of the french football fans
was at OL-Yzeure last night; the auvergnates put up the most convincing struggle to leave lyon with more than a point*; they weren't much danger going forward (though only the wind deprived of a goal on a long lob when bouhaddi wandered a looooong way from her goal. I would say they even looked as likely to get a draw as PSG did at charlety until tonazzi scored on a nice cross from bompastor (17') as as deserving of one after. they had the advantage of playing with no pressure, but no team, even PSG, has been as poised and able to get the ball out of their half cleanly against OL this year... their problem being that with ten girls behind the ball, it's hard to go on from there. the final score after a penalty due to a hand ball in the area (henry 64') and a short lob from schelin (72') was still a very respectable scoreline. libby stout was a big part of it, corraling in all the long shots, getting 2 or 3 reflex saves, and coming off her line really well, whether at the feet of lyon strikers or to get balls in the air. i got an interview of her that i intend to put in the US women's section as soon as i get it transcripted. best fenotte, as often this year imo was elodie thomis. it's her best season ever, and despite the great year abily is having she may be lyon's most important player right now. she's not just fast anymore! for a loss in D1 you get 1 point*
I told you that there was time for her become a more complete and better player! Anyway, that is good to hear. Great write up, as well.
it's been a long time since I've actually seen the OL ladies up close, and usually when you ask for autographs they were always pretty friendly, but last night as i was waiting outside the changing room (I had them all sign my bike helmet) they were... dour and, well... just not very nice (except for camille and lara who just don't have the DNA for unpleasantness). but i read the answer in the paper when i got home : apparently PL didn't appreciate them winning 3-0 (and very well could have been 2-1) so they had just received the tongue lashing of their young lives.
it turns out there is no "yanks abroad" thread in service so here goes... they say the toughest matches for goalkeepers are the ones where they have nothing to do for 85 minutes and then have the game resting on there shoulders from out of the blue. obviously that problem is rare when you're facing OL. you can even let in three and say you had a good match, and i can tell you that was the case for libby stout saturday night. it's normal i was influenced by the fact i was going to meet her afterward, but people in the stands around me voiced their admiration repeatedly, so i think my opinion is valid. another indicator of how well she's doing at yzeure is that mine was only one of three interview* she gave after the match. How does a girl from Western Kentucky end up playing in France? And why Yzeure? Basically it was meeting the right people at the right time and it all worked out fantastically for me. I was going to try out for some teams in the states when we still had the league, but when I graduated last May they had cancelled the WPS season so that kind of went on the back burner. In the meantime I met a man named Mike Dickey, who coaches in Louisville but has also been with the national team, and knows a lot of people. He gave my name to Henry Moyo who was coaching in Florida in the WPSL and I ended up playing there this summer. Mike Dickey was able to see me play, made some calls, and I ended up getting an agent who started looking for a place for me to play in Europe, which was really about the only place to go. Yzeure popped up as needing a goalkeeper, but they needed me there in just five days so things went really quick, and very scary at first... I decided I was just going. I had a nine-day tryout, made the team and here I am. Did you have any other tryouts lined up in Europe? There was just a small Division 2 team in Germany that was interested; it's difficult because even if Louisville is a pretty big city, coming from Western Kentucky puts you in the underdog role. People don't know whole lot about me; I did really well at WKU but not playing for a big Division 1 school or being in the National Team thing, it's difficult. It's kind of political; they don't really look at my state and that's why my being here is so fantastic because I represent a state and a place and a school that aren't really ever represented on this scale. How do you judge the level here compared to college ball in the states? If you look at Lyon, they're awesome, they play like, really even better than, the top Division 1 teams like the North Carolinas ; you can tell it's a professional team. I played at a smaller Division 1 school and the level was comparable to what we have at Yzeure, and what you see in the middle of the table here. Then there are the clubs at the bottom, and from what I've seen the level there isn't very high. It's really a broad range. And the atmosphere? We get about 300 fans per game in Yzeure, which is about what we got back at WKU: we didn't have a men's team so they'd come to support us. In the states it's all about American football so it's hard to get that fan base and have people care about soccer. But here in Europe soccer is the game and I know Lyon gets some big crowds for their big matches. What's the goal for the future? Stay in Europe? The new North American league? The USWNT? Wooh, that's what I'm asking myself right now, I'm trying to figure it out. This is our halfway point, I plan on playing my contract out which is to the end of this season, but the league in the states is coming back in March or April, I'm not even sure how that's going to work, if I can go and play there right away or what. That would be great; it seems like they have a good plan this time and hopefully the league will stick around. And if the U-23 National Team becomes a possibility, that would be enormous. Any wish to play somewhere else in Europe? I really enjoy France, and I really enjoy Yzeure, honestly. It really depends on what comes my way, and I'll assess from there. How is life in Auvergne? Is it kind of like Kentucky? It is almost! The rolling hills, the cattle the wilderness... I love the fact that we drive everywhere; I get to see France, see the country, it's amazing. Are you going home for Christmas? I am in fact, I leave Monday. We play next on Jan 6th and I'll be back here on the 3rd so I'll have two weeks at home. What do you miss most about the states? I've been asked that a lot, and honestly I really feel content here, I don't miss a whole lot. I do miss my family obviously and my friends... and my dog! and being able to speak English on a regular basis would be nice. I kind of miss having a car a little bit, I don't have a car here. But I'm fine here; i'm a pretty independent person and I've been very comfortable with the situation. I will say that at first I was scared going into a new situation, kind of just going with it and seeing what was going to happen but it all really worked out great. Anything you'll miss about France when you go back? I really have learned to like this country a lot, I've been here four and a half months, and it's been really cool. I enjoy the fact that it's kind of laid back, kind of take things as you go, day by day. the French people have been great; you hear horror stories but my teammates and everyone on my team has been fantastic, have helped me out a lot. One aspect i'll miss is that pretty much what I do is eat, sleep and play soccer, and when I have to go back to the real world I'm going to miss that atmosphere. I have it very good and I'm very blessed to have it good, being able to just do what I love to do, living my dream, and France is kind of where that started for me, and hopefully that will go on for as long as it can. What advice would you give someone thinking of making the same step you did? When you have a dream, and you've had it for as long as you can remember, because that's how it was for me, then do not give up on it. Going back to the first question: how does a girl from Western Kentucky get here?, it's because I dreamed, and never stopped trying to get to where I wanted to be. There was a point in time when I was like, “I don't think I want to go to Florida”, but my parents were big there, reminded me that I'd always wanted to play professionally, and that I'd really regret it if I didn't take that next step to get there. It's taking that next step, and embracing the fear of it all, because when you get past that fear, you just play, and succeed. You'll have your ups and downs, but just keep continuing on as long as you love playing, just keep doing it. *even though i got to go first, the other two were with cameras, so i felt a little puny after all that. one of them might have been for une-deux or footofem, one i think was OLTV.
i think he's a really nice guy at heart and has a real affection for his players... one more sincere and healthy than bini's for example. but he's a proponent of tough love. you know the old cartoon, "just a little talk with the boss"?
Patrice Lair is very demanding and expresses stuff with the strongest word. His philosophy on managing a woman's team is different from Bini or Benstiti.
What kind of horror stories they tell about gloomy, scary, mischievious French people to poor Kentucky's little girls, before they go to sleep?
and here's something worthy of note: OL started charging admission for CL matches two seasons ago, and now they are going to start for D1 matches as well. Gratuit pour les Abonnés, 9 € le pack 3 matchs pour le Grand Public! OL Féminin / JUVISY du 3 février à 15h* OL Féminin / ASSE du 17 mars à 15h* OL Féminin / PSG du 7 avril à 15h*
even if it turns out to be smoke and mirrors (though i have faith in your postings) just reading an article about it makes me giddy with joy. what a xmas present! she's the one player i've always felt OL could use to take it up a notch. especially if she plays at RB. i'm a fan of corine franco but this is the one post and the one woman where a sea change can happen. i know pinoe's not a "defender" but she is, in her heart and soul, her legs and her head, the epitome of the modern fullback... as the game is played by men that is, and nowhere does the women's game get closer to the men's than at lyon. does that sound like i'm crazy?
I can't say anything about Rapinoe (who's the most important one in your eyes, though, I seem to get... ), but about Ohno news are well-confirmed by Japanese official sources. You can even check by yourself, as long as you're able to read Japanese :
yes. ohno is certain, the WSU article is very well sourced. and she's a great player, i just don't see her filling a big need, we already have strike talent coming out our yinyang. i would have a similar reaction if it was wambach or morgan. whereas there's only one megan rapinoe.