"Derby" has become one of the most over used and over abused words in soccer. This is simply a match between two teams that have their home fields close to each other. It is not even being played at home for either team. However it may be a good practice game for both teams.
Oh my, the fact that Amber Brooks had been signed by OL this season hadn't registered in my mind yet! She almost showed up one of her specialties from when she was at Houston Dash: blind backpass feeding the opponent player! Seriously: Brooks always looked like a disaster on legs to me, a constant danger for her own defense; why on heart OL-Reign signed her?
At this point it looks like Sinclair is only playing because of reputation. She was never "fast" and now she is "slow" and she does not seem to be able to overcome her sluggishness with high quality passes and touches.
Thorns are mostly pressing Reign in their half, but it's not like they're being particularly dangerous because of that...
That's like the third useless cross that Celia have sent in. Is she told to do that or is she scared to move forward. She have killed every attck.
@ 20 minutes in, the match has deteriorated to the point where that announcers inane banter is more interest than what is/is not happening on the field.
I'm not even sure we midfield players at this point given the ease with which Portland is advancing the ball.
Simone Charlie (that I didn't know at all before this game) looks particularly poor for Portland (or particularly good at stifling her own team attacks, if you prefer ). I want Momiki for OL in 2nd half to see if she can pepper up this game a little as she did in her 10 minutes vs Utah (I dare to say that she couldn't make it worse anyway ).
In the first match, on real CBS, they put commercials in the water breaks. However I seen none since. I guess no one is willing to pay for the exposure.
Balcer is subbed. She has been pretty worthless and she looks out of shape and tired. She may be dehydrated. Smith replaces her.
Probably cause she's not a player that can play on the wing. Why he insist on forcing her there is anyone's guess. I would rather Spencer started in that position than her. Also Quinn has been invisible this match which is probably why Long has dropped back in the DM position.
It's the first half and the players look like this is the 115th of a world cup final. They can't be this tired.
A deserved 0-0 tie at the half. I know that people will disagree but Sinclair needs to be subbed. That alone will. probably, increase the Regin's speed by 30-40 %. But I doubt even that can move this match out of the cesspool it has become.
It is clear that many players neglected conditioning during the layoff and the mild heat is having an exaggerated effect on them. And before anyone blames altitude the players have been at altitude plenty long enough for their bodies to adapt if they started in anything close to top shape.
Another issue which I don't know if it has been mentioned is that this playing surface is very bad. The ball bounces quite a lot and I'm convince is a contributing factor to why we see a lot of terrible shots.
45+5' (of +4') 0-0 Huerta receives at 15m mid-left, quick pass to Smith at 17m center, in a close 1-v-1. Smith instantly touches one step left, shoots left foot toward right post low -- very similar to Feist's vs. Houston shot from yesterday. J.Taylor just misses a toe-poke redirection, ball actually nutmegs Hubly at 9m, looks rolling just wide of right post, Bixby dives and pushes it wider anyways. 45+6' (of +4') 0-0 Reign right ck, short backpass, Celia(?) one-touch high soft cross to 4m 4-right, Hubly heads away. HT 0-0. Reign are still searching for an identity. Benstiti must be scratching his head, and so are we all. Reign 4(1)-(2)6 shots(sog), 0-1 corners, 6-12 crosses vs. 12-5 clearances, 4-5 fouls, 45% possession.
Right I'm surprised at how bad their conditioning are. You would actually expect that at this stage players would be getting more fit but it seems the opposite is happening.
That is true. I do wonder how much real impact the crappy fake grass has on soccer in general but, by now, the players really should be used to it. But it does cause extra leg problems.
Unfortunately, this Reign-Portland match is yet another in a string of dull, low scoring affairs. The Challenge Cup started off strong, with a couple 2-1 games and the 3-3 thriller, but since then I've been bored more often than not. It's nice catching up with "old friends" so to speak-- it's been so long since we've seen these players-- but the quality is poor. Maybe its rustiness, the lack of a true pre-season, poor fitness, the turf field, the absence of some top creative players, the shifting lineups/experimentation, and/or apathy due to all teams advancing to knockout phase. Some combination of these?
I don't think it's something you can get used to in the span of 2 weeks. Players shooting motion is probably second nature to them at this point so if the ball is bouncing funny it can disrupt your rhythm.