After three games, we have a better idea of who is performing and who is not. I don't know for a couple of positions but the best XI looks like this to me: Murphy; Jimenez, Cook, Barnes, Cox; Long, Cruz, Balcer; Momiki, Taylor, ?
I think I heard that there is an obligation to manage minutes for NT/allocated players. I believe in one of the interviews, the assistant coach was asked why she was substituted in the last match and he replied that it was preplanned because of needing to limit minutes. But maybe I dreamed this or misunderstood... too much late night internet. In any case, it was probably best in the long term to see how a midfield could work without her.
If it’s the graphic I saw it was actually 0 completed in 3 attempts inside the 16m box and including the immediate surroundings a ridiculous 4 of 10. The damning stats continue: 58% possession but only 27 balls for Cruz who had the keys to the car, and 77% passing on 420 attempts. short of 85-90% and 500-550 there’s no use talking about possession football, you just look foolish. It was the same sad sketch yesterday until the second half water break. Besides the unforced errors, every time they’d string together more than two passes or create an interesting triangle someone would just lose composure and hoof the ball forward. Mixing the long with the short is great, but this was just uselessly chucking the ball away with no target. Infuriating. The worst part of the Reign’s first 250 minutes in this tournament wasn’t just that they hadn’t scored but that you could have no idea how on earth they would ever score. Too static, too unskillful, too impatient, too, too, too everything you just can’t be if you intend to put the foot an the ball and control the game. Then Balcer came on and directly put Barnhart to work with two wicked shots but still just outlying incidents, nothing in the flow of play had really changed. Then Yuki-chan arrived and it was like turning on the lights. A Momiki to Balcer goal looked inevitable, the only worry was that 10 minutes might not be enough. It was.
Yes, it is obvious that Farid should build the whole attacking system around those two players. And find the best players who complement those two.
i'm not so sure. if he could, say, get Maro, Bouhaddi and Tobin Heath on board he could give that a go. but he's much too far from having a group who can play like that. C'mon, it's the NWSL, another world. for his first season (actually only the crumbs of a season) he should put some water in his wine.
Thanks for the contribution to my learning French idiomatic expressions. Seriously, it is a great one!
Is this a hint for next season? Maro and Bouhaddi had already clearly expressed the wish to play in USA, before the Covid-crisis put a stop to that plan, and Heath is so close, just on the other side of the Cascadia derby in Portland...
they're just examples among many, and probably not the most likely. I doubt Thorns would let go of Heath, and there may be additional twists due to the fact she's an allocated player. For Maro and Sarah the difficulty would be the limitation on foreign players spots - they dealt for an extra one to sign Cruz but there isn't an inexhaustible supply of them on the market. I namedt Heath and Maro because they're players who are most dangerous when they have the ball at their feet, whereas for most NWSL players, even big stars, you can almost say the danger ends at that point if it isn't already at critical mass. Bouhaddi is a special and almost unique case. there are legions of Sarah haters who love to come back over and over to blunders she's made (which really aren't more common with her than with most keepers) but don't understand the game well enough to see the huge contribution she makes to her team when they have the ball; OL's backline makes many back passes to her not because they're under pressure but because of her eye for the game, her intelligent, rapid and precise distribution of the ball... she's a kind of very deep lying playmaker. she has had a few assists, and in leagues which count antepenultimate passes as such she would have rakes of them. plus, between the footspeed of renard and Mbock and the amount of ground Bouhaddi covers Lyon can leave insane amounts of space at their back and pack everyone forward. you see the difference whenever Weiss, Gérard or others get a spell in goal - the OL steamroller never rolls on all cylinders. Sure, Hegerberg, Maroszan, Henry, Bronze are all great players. But before them there were Nécib, Schelin, Abily, Bompastor, and Lyon always played the same way. But when Bouhaddi leaves OL will have to reinvent itself because there's only one.
I concede that they aren't "more common" than other keepers' ones, but some of them are more "blatant", to the point that they tend to stick in your memory like... forever. I admit, though that, with the ball at her feet she can be some sort of a play-maker, as you correctly describe her (unless she gifts the ball away, as she did vs PSG last season when Wang Shuang scored ). Anyway, where do you find a GK that, in a Champions' League final, saves a PK and then goes scoring her own in fashion? For the good and for the bad Sarah Bouhaddi is a GK that will remain in the history of women's football. But I don't want to derail this thread more off-topic than it already is: later today (in about two hours, actually), we'll get the Cascadia derby and I am curious to see if this time Benstiti will start Momiki & Balcer upfront. Apart from the group stage placement, the rivalry with Portland makes this match a relevant one anyway.
draw against Thorns lifts Reign to 3rd place but i really, really regret those 75' of my life (took a half-hour break at HT for dinner) that i'll never get back. they needn't bother with a highlight reel, match completely devoid of interest.
It is clear the team play is not super attractive for most of the games. They clearly have not gelled yet and it is easy to understand why with a new coaching staff and no pre-season friendlies.
So, thinking about what we learned: The backline did well. A lot of veteran experience showed. It's a relatively older bunch, however, so the team will need to think about integrating some younger (faster) legs. Thought Jimenez Delgado showed well in the last game, such that any rotation of Brooks, Barnes, Cox, Delgado, McNabb, Cook would work well. Add Taylor Smith to that, although I really liked what she added when she was further up the field. She, like McNabb, showed some very good attacking instincts. Most of the defenders are also technically proficient (esp. Cook, Cox, and Barnes) and can make an incisive pass. This defense looks capable right now. Further up the field is where lack of playing time and chemistry really showed. I think they are still working out best positions as well. Defensive central midfielders are a strength. Long is a stalwart (although I wonder if too much of the play goes through her when she is playing). Quinn and McNabb are capable of covering a lot of ground in support of the defense. In terms of attack, the combinations are still being worked out. Balcer, Momiki, Huerta, and Fishlock all showed tremendous quality. Jenkins got better as the games went on. I liked what I saw of Spencer (lots of energy). There is promise here, but feels a bit chaotic, and there is a notable gap between technical skills between players which makes link up play challenging. I am going to generously blame turf for a lot of the issues players were having, but you still have to adjust. And, bottom line, these are all good players, but they couldn't score. So, lots of work ahead. So happy to see Betos back and play so well. Two absolutely top-notch goalies. Who both will want and deserve to start. Never an easy situation.
bummer to read, the Reign had to cancel their planned tour of France next month due to travel restrictions
Well they did end up in 3rd place in group play! But the sort of deliberate-possession/total-futebol style can be exhausting to watch for Americans used to fast counterattacks
Jodie Taylor is on the move... to OL. Supposed to be a one year contract. Basically a stopgap while Hegerberg is not entirely fit.
Well, I guess Taylor won't take offense when I say that anyway she's definitely a downgrade to Hegerberg!
For those wondering if there could be any other kind of women's club soccer in 2020... Yuka Momiki signing for Linköpings FC in Sweden: Den japanska landslagsspelaren Yuka Momiki lånas in av @LinkopingsFC för resten av säsongen. Läs mer: https://t.co/f01KGkNFSd #OBOSDamallsvenskan pic.twitter.com/BTtNQtcrvz— OBOS Damallsvenskan (@_OBOSDamallsv) August 13, 2020
So what’s the scoop on the OL Reign signing Rose Lavelle? Does anybody know when it goes into effect?
We paid $100K & a first round pick for her RIGHTS. She's going to Europe to play -- rumors suggest Man City. She'll be there at least through December, but may re-sign. If and when she decides to return to the NWSL she comes to the Reign (and the Reign will owe the Spirit more money at that point).
Really? How does it work? I don't know basically anything about how the market work in the USA. A compensation to Washington is due even if they already paid for her rights? The fact that she's a USWNT player, thus receiving a salary directly from the federation, doesn't enter into the equation?
If you think back to some of the previous NWSL drafts, there were sometimes traded "conditional picks", meaning that depending on how a future season plays out, the trade could be worth more than it's worth right now. The same thing is happening here. Basically, DC and RGN agreed that Lavelle's rights were worth one thing, and her playing time is worth more. Part of this whole problem is actually because she's a federation player. Since USSF controls her contract, DC was going to get nothing in return when she went to Man City. As such, they decided to trade away her NWSL rights, which RGN have said are worth $100k and a draft pick. RGN are playing a gambit and hoping that Lavelle comes back to NWSL and plays for them - but then they'd be getting more out of the trade than it's worth right now (with Lavelle leaving NWSL).
They knew what they were getting because it was mentioned that she would go overseas soon and OL knowingly bought her rights with money and a draft pick. They are betting she will be back to NWSL.