Considering the fact that DiCiccio wants to have an attacking presence from both the defensive wings and Mitts inability to switch mentalities into being an attacking player and Kasey Moore struggling in her transition into a midfielder I am thinking a shakeup might be in order. Kasey Moore is a player who played both defense and forward for Texas. She could be the outside threat that DiCiccio has been looking for to compliment Scott. Although she may not be that fast for the outside wing but judging by how many times Mitts has gotten beat she can't do much worse. You definitely need a player there who has both an offensive and defensive mind frame. As for Mitts I think putting her in the holding midfield position might be better for her at this point. Whether she has lost a step on the outside or she just doesn't have confidence in her new role, I don't know. But her excuse on her blog of suffering from jetlag on the flight down to Washington to excuse poor play in the 1st half of the Freedom game just doesn't hold up. I think she is uncomfortable in the position that Tony wants her to play. I have only seen a couple of games but in those games I have watched her with the ball at her feet in the attacking 1/3rd, unable to make up her mind and watched her get disposessed when she had ample time to make a pass or strike the ball toward the net. I think putting her in at holding midfield might be better for her. She would be serving the ball up the field not having to be involved in the offense, a role she is much more comfortable doing. And if she has lost a step this would put her in a role of having to run less and do more marking. Another reason I think Mitts might be better in the midfield is I think she can distribute the ball better than Moore can.
I like Mitts & i think she is a good right-back , but Alex Scott is better & thats why Scott has that position. Mitts is not a natural left-back & i think she is struggling to make an impact in that position. She didn't shut down Rapinoe & Carney when they had the ball she stood of them trying to show them to the outside. That doesn't work with 2 -footed players.When they came down to the right Scott didn't even give them room she went to shut them down immediately or went into tackle. Mitts usually does that to opponents ..look at the USWNT games to see this... i just think she is unsure on the left. Kasey Moore is not the answer. She is to slow. And the way Boston play with 3 up front there would be nobody behind Lilly. Both Full-backs play up to the half way line but when the ball breaks to the opposition they always have the speed to get back. Which Moore doesn't have.
The adjustment from right to left can be more difficult than you might think. Another factor that I think has contributed to Mitts adjustment to the left problem is that she is also adjusting to the 433 system. She has gotten caught way up field at times w/ little cover from a left mid. Scott has gotten caught w/o cover a time or two, as well. I haven't seen enough to know who is really supposed to be covering for Mitts when she does fly forward but I think the midfield (or the positional coaching) does take the blame a bit. Now, she did get beat twice in very similar fashion so don't think I'm making excuses. She must do better. But the midfield is getting over run, at times, too. As for switching Mitts to a dmid. Her ball distribution isn't (imo) at the needed level for that position.
Don't get me wrong, I do like Mitts she is a good marker and I am certainly not saying she doesn't have skill, but she is struggling in the role that DiCiccio wants her in and this saturday is the end of the 1st quarter of the season. She needs to start picking it up and seeing her stand there being indecisive at times on the attack is frustrating. I know that Moore is a reach at outside back but I don't think holding midfield is necessarily her strong suit. You do make a good point about the midfielders not dropping back soon enough to cover for Mitts when she is attacking deep into the corner and posession turns and it has happened to Scott as well.
Oh, I get that Mitts has played subpar for several games. Of course, Boston as a team hasn't looked all that great in several games, either. I just don't see better alternatives at left back on the team. And if you put too many square pegs into round holes, the result might be worse than players having subpar performance. The other thing for Mitts, is that her physical tackling was one of the best parts of her game (if at times early on very dangerous). I watched the Chicago & FCPride games (both losses) and didn't see the tough tackling, really from many people. I wonder if she got some hits in on a couple of attackers if the rest of her game would improve (nothing w/ intent to injure. just good, clean, hard hits). But I think teams need an enforcer and I like a good, hard tackle (again, a clean tackle not a late/ugly one). I think that physical enforcer mentality has been missing at the WNT level for a couple of years, too.
People are scared of injury. Especially in the women's game. They are partial to knee injuries for example more than men. The only woman player i know that likes to tackle & does tackle with vengeance but fair is Rachel Buehler . She is renowned for her hard tackles.
I was not impressed at all with Moore in any postion until she made the goal-line clears against Chicago. Honestly, when Augustiniak-Goffi is back, I'd like to see Moore on the bench in favor of Weber. Overall, I am just not seeing or liking the actual field positioning of the team. I have seen the 4-3-3 formation mentioned but am seeing it. It looks like the only consistent flank play they have is from Scott and Mitts, everyone else is jammed in the middle. Usually looks like a 4-1-2-1-1-1 or something, with one up top being A-Rod trapped in the right corner. They are utilizing the width of the field on attack nor defending it. Tons of space on the outside, while I find myself yelling at them to get out of each other's way in the middle. I would like to see a true 4-3-3 executed and see what we get out of that.
Then you're not watching enough women's soccer. Or perhaps, not enough old school USA women's soccer. Granted, the east coast vs west coast style of play stereotypes might come into play here. I don't think I'm taking anything away from Beuhler by saying her hard play might be more noticeable now b/c there has been an absence of it recently. If a player is scared of getting hurt (and therefore don't go in hard) then they do not belong on the field. You are much more likely to end up injured and/or a liability if you play scared and therefore shy away from contact.
Actually I am a little surprised that Moore didn't drop back to take Goffi's spot and Weber plugged into the d-mid. Moore's natural position is centerback and I think the d-mid experiment with her has not generated results thus far. You are right that formation does look like 4 across the back and you can draw a single line 15 yards wide up the middle of the field for the rest of the team. I think part of the reason that the play has gotten jammed in the middle is that the CBs and D-Mid have not fed the ball out wide enough times in the course of a game. Hucles is a good runner and playmaker who can pressure the defense on the outside and they have not taken advantage of that enough. As already was stated having all these players in the middle is part of the reason why Mitts and Scott have been burned when they step up to join the attack. There is no one to cover on the outside to support them when the play starts going in the other direction. I wonder if practicing with the football lines at Harvard is messing with their heads a little, because they don't seem to realize how much space they can play with offensively and need to cover defensively.
I don't see how that could be an issue. They have played on several different surfaces with and without confusing markings and of differing widths against different formations. And that is just the 4 WPS games so far, never mind the collective National team, World Cup and Olympic experience on the team as well as WUSA, WPSL, W-League and college experience. Of the 7 teams in WPS, the Breakers are the one with arguably the most experience and the most accomplished coach, I would expect them to be the least effected by field conditions and variations. They aren't getting service to the flanks because there is rarely anyone available to serve to. As talented as they are on paper, do we have the right combination of players being used in the right places? Hucles has excelled at every level in some kind of role in the center of the field, whether at forward, mid or dmid. Her most effective games and plays thus far in WPS have been when she has drifted in from the flank to the middle. Lilly seems to be spending a lot of time in the middle, often in Smith's space as I see it. A-Rod seems to be tracking back on the right flank, probably because thats the only way she gets the ball when there is no one there to get her service when she is supposed to be playing up top. I could go on, but realizing that I have never coached anything higher than a U19 youth team and that am questioning a legend, so I am only making myself look dumb, I should just be quiet. I am sure that this is much more complex than I can grasp but I can't figure it out.