We are down to the last few games of the season and at this point every game is huge and every point is valuable for the Red Stars in their pursuit of a play-off birth. Tonight they will be on the south side of Seattle to face the empowered Seattle Reign with their twin bobble-head in Rapinoe and Fishlock, and the great Hope Solo. On Sunday they will go 3 hours south to Portland and play the Thorns where listening to one of Ella Masar's interviews they are expecting over 18,000 fans for a Sunday afternoon Fox Soccer Channel game. The Red Stars will be underdogs in both games and will be facing a potent midfield in Seattle and forward power in Portland. It is not an unattainable task to have 6 points in hand coming back to Chicago Monday morning but it is a big mountain to climb. Mount Rainier big. Although I love our players and we have some of the top and best in Lori Chalupny and Erin Mcleod, but I can't help but put on my fan's hat and after watching FCKC last night say that this is when I wish we had signed a player like Chicago hometown girl Jen Buczkowski. Seattle has a dynamic midfield that when let lose look like a bunch of squirrels in a nut factory, especially with the blond duo. Jen Buczkowski would put a cork on that non-sense and plug up the midfield to where Fishlock would be ineffective and Rapinoe would be lucky to get a pass. Anyway, we can only play who we have and I'm hoping for 6 points by Monday morning. Go Red Stars!
Will Chicago pick up all 6 points? I doubt it. They were pretty much dominated the last game against Seattle, and with the big loss of Hemmings on defense, I could see Seattle easily winning again. But there is one reason for optimism against Portland. In each of the previous 3 games, the away side has won 2-0. Home field advantage has meant nothing, so maybe that trend will continue. If Chicago doesn't take away at least 3 points this week, then I don't see them making the playoffs. Lose both these games, and kiss the postseason goodbye. They would then need WNY to lose out, and WNY is at home for 4 of their final 5 games. Not good odds. Bottom line, this week is the make-or-break week for the Red Stars.
This game vs the Reign was a painful game to watch as a Red Stars fan. This just shows the lack of technically skilled players on this team. Chalupny is our only hope and she can't do it by herself every game. I like Sonya Fuss, very good defender. But Grings is a waste of money and time. This is the second penalty I've seen her screw up. All she does is throw her hands up when she can't get to the ball. And she was a star in Germany? Put Dominguez and Masar together and see if a better result can be had. We can win some games and make some noise in the NWSL but I'm sorry, the Red Stars just do not have the talent needed to be a top team in this league this year. Plain and simple.
As I wake up this morning trying to forget last night's game, the missed chances just make me wonder. Inka Grings has not capitalized on a single one on one with a goalkeeper yet this year, she's missed every penalty kick, and she just gets in the way of Dominguez and Leon. Grings is not fit to play the American style of soccer. It's too fast and too physical for her. In my opinion. It is what it is. The players do give it all and play their hearts out, but CRS are just short on technical players, are kinda thin on defense right now and the forwards aren't putting the ball in the net. But I don't give the players all blame for all that. Well, on to Portland now. This could be Portland's biggest crowd yet this year with a national audience on FSC on Sunday. Facing Morgan, Heath, Sinclair, Shim, Dougherty, Weimer, another good goalkeeper in Leblanc (and we can go on) will be very tough. Let's see if the Red Stars can put it together and salvage something out of this trip. Mt Rainier and Mt. St. Helens will be on your left side as you drive south on I-5 ladies. Might as well enjoy the scenery.
"We can win some games and make some noise in the NWSL but I'm sorry, the Red Stars just do not have the talent needed to be a top team in this league this year. Plain and simple." The talent is there...they have been out "coached" many times....If anyone deserves to be held accountable it is Dames. Seems this is a recurring problem in Chicago.
They might have been outcoached but when you start the season by getting the shaft by the league in allocations it's a tough uphill climb.
I know they aren't playing all that well, but the poor start is what really killed them. If you look at the June-July record, they're 6 wins, 3 losses, and 2 ties. That holds up pretty well with the rest of the league. Kansas City, who are pretty much the darlings of these forums, are only slightly better over that same time period at 6-2-4. The Red Stars have probably the 2nd or 3rd best record since the end of May. The problem is consistency, especially in the finishing department. If they could have found a forward, or two, that could have put a few of those chances in the back of the net, this team would be one of the top four right now. Plus, as noted above, they weren't very fortunate on the allocation, nor with injuries for that matter. I think the Red Stars seem far worse than their record, because when they're bad, they're really bad. Six of their seven losses were by two or more goals, in other words, they've not really been in the game for many of those losses.
It's a combination of several things. Unfair allocation, Nats stars and other key injuries throughout the season and not finding a combination up front to put the ball in the net consistently.
Well it's game time folks. Let's see if the Red Stars can do better then what they did last Thursday.
This season often I would have some critical points after a loss or tie but today I take my hat off (my white Red Stars hat that I have on my head ) to the girls today. After their Captain goes down and out on a cheap foul from behind, the Red Stars played with heart. They could have given up, but they didn't. They fought till the end and with some luck could have won this game. Koodos to Rory Dames for instilling the idea of fight till the end in them. This is twice this year where they were losing and everyone was heading for the exit and the Red Stars come back. You showed big heart today ladies. Big Heart!
I'll second that. Not too many teams are going to come back from a two goal deficit twice in the same season against teams well ahead of them in the standings. Really nice game for Mautz after coming in for Chalupny. In addition to the two goals, I thought she really fought hard for 50-50 balls and played a very gritty match. Same with Sitch. Quon was very good with her crosses from the wings. Even though Leon didn't score, I think she does add something up front for the Red Stars. Like I said in the game discussion thread, I think she was might have gotten one there at the end, except she looked exhausted. Really liked how Chicago pressured the Portland defense late in the match and forced turnovers. On the Chicago twitter, they tweeted that the trainer thought it was muscle issue and not a bone issue on Chalupny. I guess we'll know more in the next couple of days. Don't understand Heath on that play. She's generally not that kind of player, but she never had any chance at the ball and just took Chalupny down from behind. At the very least ill-advised and yes, I think it was very dangerous, unnecessary and uncalled for. Great atmosphere from Portland and a fun game to watch except for that one play.
I agree what courage and heart they showed today. Down 3-1 in front of that big crowd with Chalpuny out on that cheap tackle. Great job today ladies.
It's great that they were able to battle back and get a point, but losing Chalupny may be a blow that could cost them the postseason.
Good Monday morning Red Stars! Again, Big Heart yesterday. You were not going to let them, injure you, take down your Captain, trickery on goal embarrass you, push you around and expect you to just lay down and take it. You responded and actually with a bit of luck (which we don't often have) could have won this game. This coming Saturday Chicago fans should be there just to give you girls a big standing ovation for standing up and fighting till the end.
great, great job by your red stars, mrad. nothing but nothing could keep them down yesterday. congrats to dames and those determined dames - almost feels like a win. definitely much like a loss to portland.
I think their postseason is already lost. Although they haven't been officially eliminated, only getting one point from this PacNW trip was a huge blow to their playoff hopes. CHI now has a max possible of 35 points - where KC is now. I find it hard to believe POR/NJ can't scrap up at least two points in their last 5/4 games, so if CHI even gets one tie (i.e. drops at least two points) then that's three teams they can't pass. WNY is currently only at 27 but has a game in hand and typically finishes strong, so again, if CHI doesn't win out I don't see them making it.
I think they'll beat Washington, and could steal a win against a reeling SkyBlue. They already came back once against KC, so it's not unlikely that it could happen again. The big problem is the Seattle game. Seattle ran over Chicago in their last two meetings, and I don't see them losing to a potentially Chalupny-less Chicago. WNY does tend to peak late in the season, and I think they'll destroy Washington, but none of their August games are good matchups. They play Boston twice, and Boston gave them a ton of problems in their first two games. Seattle could beat them again. The Portland game is a tossup. I do think WNY will win that one, considering they managed to tie without the services of Lloyd and Adriana, but it's not a certainty at all.
WNY has a game in hand and four of their last five are at home, where they have a 5-1-1 record. And then you have the problem that if WNY is losing, Boston is winning, because they still play each other twice. You're probably not going to have Chalupny for at the least a couple of the remaining games, maybe not any of them. And then there's the problem that you don't have matches left against the two teams you have to worry about, Boston or WNY. I can't see the Red Stars catching any of the other three teams. KC is out of reach, Sky Blue still has two matches against Washington, and Portland also has a game in hand with an 8 point cushion. But, we'll see how the week goes. If WNY takes care of business against Washington on Wednesday, they'll have a 7 point cushion with just four games to go. Let's hope the Spirit can gain at least a tie.