here's the highlights of the last game, considering how stacked the Thorns are, it's going to turn into a result like this, Wonder why the coach don't want to shake up the lineup anymore? It's been 2-3 since the arrival of Huerta & company I love Rachel Day, but sometimes she does her homework all to well, lol
I just saw Daly's header against Washington. She is so brave, that is the number one thing you need from your finisher. England is crazy not to play her as forward.
guess no highlight vids were taken(due to the game postponement). The English NT plays with only one fwd, it's either Jody Taylor or Ellen White(the leading scorer in the English League), they usually don't play at the same time together. Their other supposedly top notch fwd, Fran Kirby, plays now at midfield. It's produced very little offense; they've tied Wales & won 1-0 to Bosnia in their last few games. Daly missed an open shot at the SBC vs Germany, & hasn't played fwd since(as don't think they've forgiven her for it) btw................Ohai been cut from the UWSNT, but the Dash next game is only Aug 5th
T.O.N. tonight, U20 WC all weekend, Portland vs. North Carolina Sunday, and the game I am looking forward to most this week is: Houston Dash vs. Utah Royals FC | Sun., 8:30 p.m. ET | NWSL site/app #DASHTFON
While I think that both HOU and UTA have already had their effective "game of no return" losses this season, (both have a less-than-10% chance of the playoffs right now,) this match will likely be the true last gasp for either team. Whoever (if anyone) wins the game still has an outside shot at the playoffs, while the loser should start looking at next season.
Last time Brooks did something of the kind, someone said that it was Campbell's fault: I hope this time there is no doubt about the culprit.
Last time it was Campbell's fault, and it wasn't someone, it was most people. This time it was clearly Brooks fault. She had one of those moments where players wish they could just disappear.
The goal Press scored was 99% Campbell's fault. She never should have made the short pass toward Brooks. Brooks was not even ready. And obiously there was an opponent nearby. At that stage of the game Campbell should have blasted it out of there. During games in the Houston heat and humidity (I lived there 2 years, so I know how it is, even in the evening), I think Campbell loses focus sooner than most other players do, and they pretty much all do. The brain stops working, and it can't even get the body to act as wanted.
do the refs have something against Rachel Daly? she should f had an hat trick, but the ref didn't call it after the ball clearly went over the line
I find it really hard to believe Daly is a bubble player on England. Exactly what is it they'd like to see from her to carry her as an attacker?
what works over her, might not work in Europe, & vice versa. I think of Megan Rapinoe as one of the best players in the world, but she got highly criticized during her brief stint in Lyon where she barely started, and if she did, was like the first one to be substituted. Daly's success is helped a bit by Pauw, who likes to play from the back a little too much(hence, several flubs from the back line led to unfortunate goals for the other side), but with the quick outlets at least give a ton of space to work with up front(Daly seems to strive in the open field) where as the English NT, seems to be one of those slow building teams, first bent on possessing the midfield, which gives the opposition time to set up their defense, so I don't think Daly looks good in an crowded field, when attacking/ lets say Daly played for Ellis, she'll look good as long the team is allowed to quickly attack. But if the opponent parks the bus/or like China with it's two 5 player lines, Daly probably would flub as she's not that good of a dribbler anyways, here's highlights of the Dash last game where they bury the Spirit, Daly don't score but she does get a couple of brilliant assists. The Dash is only 2 points away from a playoff spot, but the Red Stars have the easier schedule ahead btw.........kernel_thai, can't understand why the Spirit are so down in the dumps?' they got 5 players so favored by Ellis plus some decent internationals
Ellis...talent guru...I think the U20 had 4 players favored by Ellis as well. As to Daly though, even tho England plays a different style ud think that would be a plus for Daly. Daly is more dynamic than anything England has to offer and ur going to be in situations like chasing a game where ur going to have to open the game up and a player like Daly coming off the bench could be a difference maker.
England could definitely use a shake up, they were ranked as high as #2 but have fallen to #4 in recent ratings due to recent outings like a 0-0 draw to Wales \on the other hand at least Daly make her NT, whereas thanks to Ellis, Ohai can't, even though she's got currently better NWSL stats than Pugh & Press & her excellent dribbling could be used against opponents that bunker
https://www.houstondynamo.com/post/...achel-daly-named-england-womens-national-team Well deserved and I'd like to see Daly get good minutes also.
I know it's too small a sample to count but if u just arrived from a trip to Mars and only saw the Dash/Spirit match r u thinking Pugh/Lavelle r the big NT stars or maybe Ohai/Huerta who seem to be on the outside looking in.
On the topic of what makes a Goal of the Week or should, u r never going to see a prettier goal than the second Huerta goal. Perfectly timed run, perfect pass, perfect shot just inside the post. That's the kind of soccer everyone should be trying to play.
WOW phenom win for the Dash(5 goals in the 2nd half), though not enough to get them into the playoffs, they've proven their the most funnest team to watch. Poor Carli Lloyd,; she thrashed her own team mates before this game,(guess they responded by making her look even worse, lol)
Unfortunately, out of a 9 possible points against each of the other 6 teams in the league, they only averaged 2.3 per opponent which is why they aren't going to the playoffs. Not sure whether that speaks to tactics or the quality of the team, but basically the really bad teams couldn't break the Dash down. The further you move up the standings, the easier time opponents had of beating Houston. It's pretty striking just how bad they were against the top 4 (1 win total) compared to how dominant they were against Washington and Sky Blue. Most of their remaining points came against Orlando and Utah.
I think they did pretty well against Chicago, all things considered. The Dash could've easily won that series. In the opener, they had the game before the stoppage-time equalizer, and then the last game in the series (which Kerr was back for), the Dash did well. Chicago only salvaged a point because it was given an absolute gift from Campbell/Brooks and then got a penalty. That was the game that I remember thinking, "hey, this team is putting it together." Houston also never got to play Chicago post the big trade, which would've been interesting (especially since Huerta/Comeau played so well against Houston). Winning 1 out of 3 against Seattle is a step forward imo, considering they entered the year having never earned a point against the Reign. And winning 2 of 3 against the talent of Orlando, even with the Pride's struggles, is a standout thing from the season. Utah (and NC, obviously, but NC has embarrassed everyone but the Royals in this league) is the one team that I think the Dash really struggled to break down, and that's because of the Royals' defense and style of play. I also don't think the Thorns are a good matchup for the Dash at all, but I think expecting Houston to compete with the likes of Portland, Seattle or NC this year was too big of an ask. This was a good season of progress, and if the core stays together I think next year is when they can make another leap. I also wonder sometimes what could've been if Mewis hadn't gotten injured. The midfield would've been stronger, though I guess it's fair to wonder if they still would've dealt for Huerta/Comeau—I think the urgency was upped when Mewis went down. But now they could have her back plus the rest of their key pieces, and several of them (Brooks, Campbell, Ohai, Huerta, Comeau, Mewis, plus rookies like Hanson and Latsko, who will hopefully continue to develop) will likely be here during the World Cup. That's a stronger group than I think many teams will have during that spell.
By the way, it looks to me that Sky Blue's goal this week was another gift from Brooks; no harm, because the match ended 6-1, but it's the third time this season, isn't it? At best, it's a communication problem with Campbell (and it's no good if a DF keeps misunderstanding her GK), at worse Brooks is a loose cannon walking through Houston's box.