My limited impression of Johnson is that she reminds me of Alex Morgan (not in terms of ability mind you) but in terms of someone who had a less than stellar university career compare to what the pro career turn out to be (or has the potential to be in case of Johnson). I think certain players just mature later and thus it's difficult to get a read on how good they can be in the college game. Either that or their particular skill set is not one that is suitable for the college game.
Don't be afraid to gush about Johnson, Blaze20. I guess everyone, at least on this thread, was impressed by this rookie and she obviously has something more than just potential. I like Bev Yanez a lot and I of course hope that her injury is nothing serious, but I wouldn't mind a good excuse to start Johnson, if just for a game. Mind, she sometimes shows that she's still a little rough (who wouldn't be at her age?), but, along with what you said about her, she's smart and technical, and these are qualities that in general are sorely missed in a lot of teams in NWSL. Remember the back-heel pass for Rapinoe in the action of 4th goal vs WAS two weeks ago? It was not just for style-points: it was a quick and accurate drive that cut opponent's defense in half. Also, the way she turned around and shot for the goal yesterday was another example of technical savvy used at the right moment. In short: the more I see Johnson play, the more I want to see her play again.
I was at the Thorns match. Although i grit my teeth every time she takes the field, i thought MM had a very good game up to the point of the hair pull. Yes, it was right in front of us, we all groaned. She very clearly grabbed Sonnet's hair and just hung on. It wasn't quite as bad as what she did to Chapman (who deserved it!!) the previous week, but clearly a repeat offense.
The good news (from NWSL injury report page): "Forward Beverly Yanez of Seattle Reign FC is off the injury list for Week 9". The bad news: "The Reign announced on Friday afternoon that midfielder Rumi Utsugi will miss three to four weeks (strained left calf)". What do you think, guys? Can we make it to win in Kansas City today? We do need this away win not to be left behind in the run for play-offs... Also: Bev is back, Rumi is out. How things look? Should Harvey make any tactical change? How?
I don't think this game is in the must win category as of yet given that there are lot of teams still in the hunt for that 2-4 spot. Big blow with Rumi being out. My head says that McNabb replaces her or Corsie pushes up in the midfield and McNabb plays CB. What are do NOT want to see is someone like Elston starting or the formation being tweaked to accomodate Mathias. If she had played a minute this season I wouldn't have mind Hahn starting but I thought her first official minutes for this team will be against our long time rival on the road.
Also I forgot that Corsie is away on international duty. I saw the formation and it's terrible. Having Yanez in the middle as well as the defensively challenged Elston (who I frankly struggle to see what she brings on the pitch) is no good.
Depressing how we can't seem to win an away game, except vs Dash. We always let the oter team score an equalizer... Anyway, intersting tidbit: although harmless Kawasumi's wide-pass for Rapinoe was nowhere near to a cross, Megan managed to score from that position with no-one else touching the ball; this means that, technically, Naho can add another assist to her tally! She now sits at 6 assists and 2 goals (1 assist more already than her personal seasonal record in NWSL of 5 assists in 2014; she had scored 9 back then, though).
It's just the pedantic notion of assist: if you give the ball to a team-mate and she scores, you get an assist, no matter if you weren't even dreaming of making one.
I have been told Reign will allow one English girl who is coming to the Seattle University Redhawks to train with them. You never know, she might take over from Jess Fishlock in four years time, alhtough she is more of a Lampard like player type.
Being a fan of Manchester United this soccer season has been terrible for me when it comes to draws. At this point I prefer my team loses than draws And yes, the constant conceeding of late goals is very maddening. I was very proud of the team for coming back after going down 1-0 as we haven't had a comeback in a while now and then they went and blew it. Shades of the Portland match.
I just realized I haven't provided a game analysis in a while. I was on vacation for two weeks and than immediately travel for work so really haven't watched the last 3-4 games with a keen eye. Well except for the fact that Mathias replaced Yanez as starting CF in the last game. WTF was that about? Granted Yanez has not been lighting it up this year but at the very least if you are going to bench her than start Johnson. Though I can also understand keep Johnson on the bench as a 2nd half game changer. Which raises the question, why did we knowingly sign a CF (Crummer) who was hurt and not going to contribute? That position could have gone to someone else.
P.S: I saw the tackle that led to the Barnes red card which was deserved in my opinion. Did not see the play though that led to her being in that position. Good thing Maddie Bauer is on the active roster as it's increasingly likely our 2 starting CB in the coming matches will be rookies. Come to think about it, 3 (McNabb, Bauer, Stott) of the back 4 will be 1st year rookies and the 4th (Pickett) is a 2nd year player, awesome (said half sarcastically)
By the way, it's very unfortunate that Utsugi (who could have covered both the CB or the LB position, as she did many times in the past in Japan) is also injured. Any news about her recovery? I want to take as a good sign that we managed to equalize a game that saw us 10 vs 11 and behind in score for most of the time. I also want to take as a good sign that both Sky Blue FC and Portland Thorns has lost their respective matches, so, despite having wasted an home-match opportunity, we have gained a point over both these teams, that could be precious to grab a play-off position at the end of the season. Finally, I take as a good sign that Naho scored on two consecutive weeks: she uses to be a good scorer, if the snowball starts. Ok, end of good signs: for the rest, I am quite disappointed.
Lol yeah you had lot of good signs in there . And yes Portland, SBFC and Orlando dropping points a good sign. If we can grab 3 points next we should be in the hunt for that 3rd/4th playoff spot.
Well, we did need that home win as much as an underwater-swimmer could need oxygen! Phew! -_-" I didn't see the whole game and probably it wasn't a "neat" and "beautiful" win, with these two Rapinoe's PK-rockets (seriously, she wants to give me heartache by taking PKs this way? ) as our only goals, but it was exactly what we had to do. What we always missed so far in the season is bringing home the full three points through some "ugly" wins. Also, I guess it's the first time this year that we come back from 0-1 for the win? In general, we don't like being behind and we used to barely squeeze in some draws in those cases. Despite Barnes' absence, defense looked decent, didn't it? I underline a fact: with this win we get back at 4th place, thus in play-offs position, with a point over Sky Blue FC and a game in hand over them! Maybe not many remember that Sky Blue FC played a stray mid-week game, some weeks ago, so they're currently the only team sitting at 12 games played (the other should have probably been North Carolina Courage, who didn't play yesterday, though), while we and most of the league are at 11. I guess it's a significant advantage, if we make it count. We basically have to win that single game in hand that we have over them.
I think Harvs was struggling last year with finding the right balance and is not there yet this season.
Well I did watch this game though it was very late on the east coast and I was distracted so instead of a full analysis here are some stray thoughts on the game. - I missed the hand ball that led to the first PK and they really didn't replay it so I can't say for certain if the PK was deserved. However the pitch at memorial is known for these weird bounces which can lead to these calls. Majority of the time they are called for PK and majority of those times I disagrees with the call. So I won't be shocked if that was the case here as well. As for the second PK, I also thought the call against Short was weak but then again I thought Chicago defenders got away with a ton of harsher calls against Yanez and Kawasumi that was not called. - I'm glad that Rapinoe has been healthy so far because she is bringing ton of energy and experience to these matches that are crucial when games are this tight. - I thought the defense was good in the absence of Barnes. Mathias had some close calls but her speed was an asset yesterday. I'm not gonna say much about her less I jinx it. - Stott for me is the best player to join the team this year. I know that's not saying much but the ease with which she plays RB, CB and even venturing forward is impressive. - Johnson again was a spark off the bench. Harvs may not have figure out what works yet in terms of the starting lineup but I think Johnson coming of the bench for the last 20-30 minutes in games have been the one predictable move that actually works. - For once I think the 3 subs actually worked. I know it wil never happen but for 1 game or even a half, I'll like to see a front 3 of Dallstream, Jonhson, Mathias. For me these 3 have the perfect combination of speed, doggedness and defensive tenacity to be a menace to any backline in the league. Yeah they may not be the best technically but sometime route 1 soccer is good also. - Finally, it was good to see Bauer given some minutes and for a few minutes at the end there all three Reign 2017 draft picks were on the pitch together which is a record for this club
I agree with you. What do you think about Fishlock's contribution, instead? It seems to me that, although she's always the warrior, this year she alternates good days and bad days. Or is it me?
I don't think she's necessarily having bad days. More like she's playing deeper this year because of the absence of Winters so for most games she goes unnoticed like most DMs tend to be. With Utsugi out and the more offensive Elston in, Fishlock have had to do more defensive work. Speaking of Elston, I had reservations about her inclusion in the starting lineup but she have proven me wrong.
I'm seeing what Harvey sees in Elston. She's a pocket of energy, good ball control, quick decisions. She can win a ball, keep it against some pressure, and quickly find a good pass. So she fits in Seattle's midfield, and she's another source of ball-flow, as opposed to being a ball-sink. That's a subtle ability, but maybe that's what Harvey looks for in practice, and so that's how Elston earned her minutes. To fully appreciate the value, sub her out for somebody who's faster but with less control (oh, say, Mathias ) and see what happens. Come to think of it, Nairn, and to a lesser extent, Katlyn Johnson, are like that, too. (Also, Kawasumi and Utsugi!) None of them are amazingly fast, or are the most obvious individual studs (hence some of us didn't want Johnson ) ... but fill the field with those players and maybe you get to play a completely different style. We're onto Harvey now!
Well, did we Jinx Fishlock by talking about her? I hope her knee injury is not as serious as it seemed in the first place, but the fact that a player like her goes straight out of the game at 29', without even trying to stand up is quite telling... The good news are that Rumi Utsugi was ready to replace her right away: probably Harvey had her sitting on the bench at the beginning as a precaution, but it looks like her hamstring is now ok. I guess having Rumi back could be key for the balance of our midfield. As Blaze20 rightfully said, we didn't have a proper DM without her. The very important thing is that Rapinoes has to remain fit and healthy through the whole season : this year, it looks like she's our main weapon, the way Little was in the past. If we need goals, we get goals from her. I guess winning the derby vs Portland could reveal a massive turning point of the season: we leapfrogged them and we're now at 3rd place, with a game in hand over 4th-placed Sky Blue FC. The only problem, so far, is that we're as inexorable at home as we're shaky when we travel: we sure have to make more points on the road, for this season going the way we want it to go.
First of all, this was an important stretch for this team as they play 3 games in the span of 7 days against their 3 biggest historical rivals and came away with 7 points. Obviously playing at home for these games was a big part of it but still. Now unto the actual game... I do not know much about the latest injury situation at Portland and why they don't have an actual RB but playing Brynarsdottir against a red hot Rapinoe was a recipe for disaster. Rapinoe to her credit has been nothing short of incredible. With Mathias playing as an above average forward the past few games, hopefully Harvey can find a way to rest Rapinoe. Huge congrats to the NWSL's first same club centurion Lauren Barnes as well as Nairn who has also reached the 100 game mark. It must have been special to hit that milestone against Portland. Barnes return to the back was a welcome sight though enough cannot be said about how good the rookie McNabb has been. The fact that you barely notice her in games is a good think. Rapinoe was obviously the clear WOTM but for me a close second would have to be Utsugi. When emotional leader Fishlock went down in a game such like this one, she stepped in immediately and the team didn't miss a beat. She was tackling or game long but more importantly her ability to possess the ball at the top of the 18 and relief pressure on the defense was a game changer. Speaking of Fishlock, I hope her injury is not serious because I don't think the team can afford to lose her. I think the midfield with have actually been clicking in these pass few games and it will be a shame if that was disrupted. Not sure what's going on with Yanez but she hasn't been having the best season so far. Rapinoe and Kawasumi have been picking up the goal scoring slack but we gonna need some production from that CF spot. Mathias does well to get herself in good position but the end product is not there.