Game on

Discussion in 'Western New York Flash' started by QUICK AS A FLASH, Apr 17, 2011.

  1. QUICK AS A FLASH

    Dec 8, 2010
    Masterful Start

    What a thrill to be at Harvard Stadium to see the very first WPS game of the Flash. I think everyone was wondering what the non-Brazilian edition of the Flash could achieve against a strong Boston opponent with a win under its belt.

    All in all it was a magnificent effort with strong performances all the way from Harris to Sinclair. The defense parried almost every threat with skill and confidence, the forwards were intimidating (if a bit profligate) and the game was won with a dominating pressure in the middle along with some great passing.

    There is only one question left. How much playing time will Marta and Maurine get?

    GO FLASH!
     
  2. ForeverLOST108

    ForeverLOST108 Member+

    Jan 23, 2010
    Orlando
    Club:
    Tottenham Hotspur FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Whitney Engen was fantastic back there on defense. I thought Riley was having trouble a few times against O'Hara but she made some nice plays defensively also.

    Great result without really having played much as a team.
     
  3. newsouth

    newsouth Member

    Nov 20, 2010
    Club:
    Santos FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Brazil

    Davis and Fountain are just fill-ins for Marta. I think you meant how much time they will get which will be a lot because Marta, Morgan and Sinclair will be gone alot.

    MF is deep. Maurine is good but will have to work for her time, is no where near Marta's level.

    Great team but I need to see Magic. They left starters off of their road team.

    Boston needs to find someone they can put at forward, they cant beat the top 2 teams without kelly smith in the MF. it won't work with her a forward.
     
  4. BlitzSpiele

    BlitzSpiele Member

    Sep 7, 2007
    Woohoo! The Flash had a stellar debut in my book, Smith's 88th minute elegant garbage goal notwithstanding. The scary part is that the Flash's B-team (well, A-minus, actually) ran rough shod over the central defense pairing for the USWNT on the road. The Breakers were damn lucky that the Flash didn't hang five goals on them. I am trying hard to get ahead of myself, but the Flash had a great start. Oh yeah, and it's tough to remember that Alex Morgan is a rookie--she has just one professional game under her belt.
     
  5. QUICK AS A FLASH

    Dec 8, 2010
    GOLDEN FLASH

    Looking back to the beginning of the 2010 season there is no doubt that the level of play yesterday was significantly higher than the level achieved by FC Gold Pride in their first 5 games. Seger was Philadelphia's best player last year and what a stunningly good game she had. Davison's 3 shots were all wicked dipping balls. She may be #4 up front on the depth chart but she will demand playing time. With 4 forwards sharing time they will have the energy to provide defensive pressure for the full 90 and support a 3 player mid-field. This was a key to yesterday's win.

    Boston is a very good team that played well and gave the defensive 5 a tough work-out. To a woman they rose to the challenge.

    This was a remarkable start.:cool:
     
  6. snipoppers16

    snipoppers16 New Member

    Jun 7, 2008
    Chicago
    I couldn't agree more. I was at FCGP's first match last year against St Louis and they had no presence in the middle of the field and their attack was consistently thwarted by Boxx. Abily also missed the first part of the season with a broken leg, if I remember correctly. They won a few matches but didn't really start to pull ahead of everyone else until around the time where Abily came back and Boxx had been acquired, strengthening the midfield.

    From the get-go the Flash has the stronger midfield by pairing Seger and Edwards, who played fantastically. Edwards had a fantastic showing on Sunday and will be asset to the team when Seger is gone at the WWC.
     
  7. Druid Squirrel

    Dec 15, 2000
    A hollow tree
    The scary thing is that the two Flash players (Fountain and Bock) who were only mediocre against Boston figure to be replaced by Marta and Maurine in the first choice XI. Wow.

    As for the FCGP - WNYF comparison, I had kind of been thinking of Seger as the (more physical) analog of Abily, but now I think it makes more sense to think of her as a (more cultured) version of Boxx. If it were up to me I'd pair Seger and Edwards at d-mid, and use Maurine as the attacking mid. (If Maurine doesn't work out, for whatever reason, Seger could still play attacking mid and there are several candidates to pair with Edwards at d-mid.)

    Another thing that bodes well for WNYF is how much defensive work Morgan was willing to put in. I guess I had this (incorrect) impression that she'd be more of a cherry-picker, always playing as far forward as possible (like she has been doing for USWNT). But that's not the case at all: she worked really hard. To make the 4-3-3 work and get away with playing three central mids, you need the forwards to help out by marking the opposing outside mids, and it looks like the Flash are going to get that from Morgan. Obviously Marta and Sinclair know what it takes after playing the same system last season.

    Overall, it's hard to predict with certainty how the regular season will turn out, given the amount of missed games and lineup shuffling in store. But it's pretty hard to imagine that the Flash won't dominate the playoffs and win the championship once they have their team back together after the WWC.
     
  8. MRAD12

    MRAD12 Member+

    Jun 10, 2004
    Chicago
    Club:
    Chicago Fire
    Druid Squirrel, is it just your opinion that Bock was mediocre against Boston? How do you know that Maurine will be thrown in the starting line-up right away? Are you sure Bock will be replaced in the starting line-up?

    I'm not trying to be contentious, I am a fan of Brittany Bock since her high school days here in Chicago and am hoping that she will show well and eventually be brought back into camp for the USWNT.
     
  9. newsouth

    newsouth Member

    Nov 20, 2010
    Club:
    Santos FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Brazil
    i thought bock played well...just had a nice solid silent game. there are a lot of big names on wny.

    obviously, fountain and gamma are there to replace the call-ups.

    i like maurine but she is smaller than marta and isn't as fast and quick, am not sure she removes bock. the history of the wps shows brasilians really havent done that well outside of marta and formiga as far as playing at an all-star level.

    before i start calling wny champs, i need to see jack. they have non-traveling players who would start for other teams, and dan wants to win as bad as sahlen, just look how he buys u13 champion teams.

    btw, the game against boston will be hard to tell. they've been sitting on the curve for like 3 wks waiting for a game could be a bit flat their first game out.

    full rosters for wny and jack winner take all with hope vs harris in net.

    [​IMG]

    and reports in FL say the girl above is a dangerous scoring sidekick playing next to abby. some say she could lead the league in scoring since she isnt on the NT, is still U23 but that's not a problem.
     
  10. MRAD12

    MRAD12 Member+

    Jun 10, 2004
    Chicago
    Club:
    Chicago Fire
    Brittany Bock has always been the silent, hard working midfielder that makes the others look good. At Notre Dame, Kerri Hanks scored a lot of goals in her career because, in my opinion, much of it was the result of Brit Bock's hard work in the middle of the field that enabled Hanks to get the ball and scoring opportunities.
     
  11. QUICK AS A FLASH

    Dec 8, 2010
    Brittany

    I watched Brittany play a lot for the Sol. I did not like her at the back as she is too aggressive. However in the mid-field or up front she was a force. I thought she did well last Sunday. Sure she was the third best mid-fielder but all three deserve credit for overpowering Boston.

    Of course I am eager to see Maurine get her chance although there is talk of using her at wide-back.

    GO EASTERN PRIDE WHOOPS WESTERN FLASH.
     
  12. newsouth

    newsouth Member

    Nov 20, 2010
    Club:
    Santos FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Brazil
    [​IMG]

    300 kids at the WNY FREE clinic during the week.

    I think WPS may have dropped the ball again, not having the May 1st home opener on TV. I wouldn't be surprise if they have 6000.

    Should have had Magic vs Boston on last night instead of the ATL/WNY game.

    Anyway...
     
  13. snipoppers16

    snipoppers16 New Member

    Jun 7, 2008
    Chicago
    Boy was I glad to be hammered when that game went down or what? Disappointing result for sure.
     
  14. dablackdoctor23

    dablackdoctor23 New Member

    Jan 19, 2011
    Club:
    Chelsea FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Do y'all think that Harris potentially could be the weak link in the side. She hasn't looked good in the past 2 matches. Was fortunate not to be punished more be boston. But her positioning on both goals vs. atl was very poor, especially the 1st goal where she was diving after the ball had past her, clearly showing that she was not aware of where her post was. Given WNY offensive punch, if she doesn't start picking up clean sheets it will likely hurt WNY chances to really run the table (which i think they should given their talent). i've never thought that she was a top level keeper, and her positioning has always been a question mark. Thoughts?
     
  15. newsouth

    newsouth Member

    Nov 20, 2010
    Club:
    Santos FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Brazil
    i made this quote and got ragged for it by someone, said her reaction time to balls in flight was very slow or a second too late. you can also add wilson. those are the two weak links in a great team, and every great team has a soft spot.

    as i've said, in a one game playoff, jack who can get away with playing a 3-4-3 or philly with it's duo could give harris and wilson fits if they can pull riley away from an initial attack.

    i still think the championship game will be played in sahlen stadium but i wouldnt be surprise if it is a blue/sol instead of a pride/indep outcome.
     
  16. snipoppers16

    snipoppers16 New Member

    Jun 7, 2008
    Chicago
    I agree about Harris to some extent. Her positioning and decision making can be downright horrifying to watch sometimes, but these are the kinds of things that can only improve with experience. Ashlyn is definitely a tremendous goalkeeper who can be a bit eccentric at times, but relatively speaking is still wildly inexperienced, (10 matches in 2010, 2 in 2011, still uncapped). Naeher is similarly inexperienced and has demonstrated a dramatic blunder here and there, but still has several more matches to her name than Harris does.

    Ashlyn's biggest flaws can only be minimized by playing actual matches. She does have the personality to focus and really step it up in highly significant matches, which is well documented throughout her career and includes the 2010 semis v Philly. Consistency between the pipes will likely be an issue for her this season and traveling back and forth between the WNT and WNY likely won't help that much.

    Luckily, according to the WNT blog, WNY players (and SBFC players) won't be w/ the WNT for their last week of what I call "lax camp" with the players flying to and fro. Since both teams play on Sunday and again on Friday, they'll remain with their club teams and train with them during the week. This can only mean good things for the Flash as it will give Morgan a chance to get on board with Sinclair and Marta and Harris an opportunity to become more cohesive with her back line.
     
  17. CoachJon

    CoachJon Member+

    Feb 1, 2006
    Rochester, NY
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Jeff DiVeronica and the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle have been doing their part to pump up the Flash. Front Page of the Sports section on the day after each of the first two games plus a great 'come see the Flash' article today. Jeff has been putting even more in his Blog.

    Today's article:

    http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20110430/SPORTS/104300324/Flash-feature-soccer-s-best?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Home|p

    Jeff's Blog:

    http://blogs.democratandchronicle.com/devo/

    Sunday will be 67F and almost no chance of rain. Perfect
     
  18. WiminzSoccerRocks

    Jun 15, 2009
    MA
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    So why the small crowd? We had them in Boston too (under 3K for the second time ever and the other was a rescheduled Wed game).
     
  19. BrooklynSoccer

    BrooklynSoccer Member+

    Jan 22, 2008
    i will cry if she doesn't make wc squad. i'm not shitting you.
     
  20. ForeverLOST108

    ForeverLOST108 Member+

    Jan 23, 2010
    Orlando
    Club:
    Tottenham Hotspur FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Well you better find some tissues. She seems to be on the outside looking in for some odd reason. I really wish that wasn't the case because so far this season she has looked very strong and aggressive.
     
  21. kool-aide

    kool-aide Member+

    Feb 1, 2002
    a van by the river
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I'm reading through the equalizer live blog of the game. It seems there was an audio broadcast of the game. Interesting and good on them -- if I'd known ahead of time I would have tried to tune in. Any WNY based folks know if there will be similar audio for their next home game? thx.
     
  22. snipoppers16

    snipoppers16 New Member

    Jun 7, 2008
    Chicago
    No idea. I'm hoping so, but the game appears to be on tv, not that this is any help to those of us outside of the area. I even checked to see if it would be available on a regional sports channel through my DirectTV sports package, as was typical when most WUSA teams had a regional tv deal, but no luck.

    Anyone in the area familiar with broadcasting via Justin.tv? :D
     
  23. kool-aide

    kool-aide Member+

    Feb 1, 2002
    a van by the river
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Unfortunately, I don't see her making the squad, either. I've resigned myself to the disappointment that will be the USWNT '11 WWC backline. I just hope I remain only "disappointed" -- their performance could be bad enough for worse reactions

    In the one game I've seen this season, I was surprised at how bad her distribution was. That could have been a "hasn't been practicing w/ the team" issue or just an Engen issue. I couldn't tell from one game. I think I'm pretty well on record as being an Engen fan, so I'm not hating. Distribution was something we all knew she was going to have to work on in her adjustment to the next level. But, given the short comings of other candidates, I feel like Engen should be closer to making then USWNT than she is. le sigh.
     
  24. ForeverLOST108

    ForeverLOST108 Member+

    Jan 23, 2010
    Orlando
    Club:
    Tottenham Hotspur FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Which game? I know in the Boston game she had some bad passes but nothing as bad as I've seen LePeilbet try to do over the past year. Also, Engen's long ball over the top to Morgan was what started the play on Sinclair's first goal of the season. I agree though, her distribution can improve. But what I've really noticed was her ability to win so many balls in the air lately.

    But I agree she should be much closer to a place on the squad.
     

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