I think is is some of all of these but I believe the main factor is that these games do not really matter at all. The announcers keep talking about teams wanting to avoid playing NC but the only two ways that happens for any team is to lose to someone else or for someone else to beat NC. All teams play in the knockout rounds and you must win four games there to win the tournament. When you play who does not matter at all.
I don't think we should underestimate the effects of everything going on (covid, BLM, etc.). The reality is everything is not normal right now. Mental and physical exhaustion. I can barely get anything done and I'm just dealing with a bunch of emails. Yes, the play is not sparkling, but I also think most people are doing the best they can. The toll of 4 matches with shuffling line-ups and political pressures and players going down with injuries and turf and so much uncertainty is A LOT.
I wonder if NWSL goalkeepers are actually trained in the use of their feet. I do not think I ever remember seeing so many bad goalkeeper touches and bad goal kicks in so few game in at any level above U12.
46' 0-0 Charley crosses from 7m box right to 6-top right post, Weaver trips diving for it, Celia sprawls over Weaver's legs -- and then takes a heel to her jaw? Celia stays down in 6-box, all play on, ball continues across to Boureille at mid-left. Boureille crosses to 5m 6-right, Charley runs on, hops over Celia still prone , drives a header wide right. Weird play, normally a player down injured isn't right in the middle of the action. 51' 0-0 Smith dribbles vertically to 25m 1/4 right, shoots right foot hard to 1/3 right low, Bixby catches.
Totally agree on the shuffling lineups, the accrual of games, and I think we're seeing that it honestly was really difficult for players to maintain fitness and touch during lockdowns/quarantines....probably harder than we realize. MLS's tournament has kind of shown the same thing although weather has been even more of a factor there in Orlando. She also seemed to be limping a bit. I think she may have been injured? And in any case, heat exhaustion is a real thing, which is what the announcers made it sound like.
This looks like one of the main factors to me. NWSL teams used to have a quite clear identity and a base-line-up: the particular format of this tournament (with a "group stage" and games all stuffed up in one short month) encouraged many changes of formation through games, but this stripped teams the self-assurance coming from playing together as a unit with continuity. Add up the fact that the market did its part to shuffle things around and that teams have a lot of new players in their roster who didn't actually blend in yet with the rest of the team, and you have the perfect recipe for passes into nothing while team-mate goes in the other direction.
53' 0-0 Charley(?) floats a cross from wide right to spot, Celia outjumps Sinclair and heads over endline right. Behind the play, Long is seated, massaging her ... right calf? Stoppage, trainer examines her right ankle, Long walks into touch. 55' 0-0 Klingenberg right ck, to 6-top center. Sinclair jumps into Quinn holding her ground, jostled header goes wide right. 56' 0-0 Westphal crosses to 7m center for Sinclair, Brooks heads away. I sense a theme. 57' 0-0 Weatherholt(?) roams up centerline in a 15m bubble of isolation , to 25m. Diagonal pass to Smith unmarked at box top mid-right, but quickly closed down. Smith sees the 2-v-7 in Portland's box and isn't convinced that's an option , shoots right foot hard, blocked away by legs. 58' 0-0 OL Reign subs in { 2nd of 3 }: - (2 of 5) #21 Yuki Momiki for #6 Allie Long - (3 of 5) #11 Darian Jenkins for #20 Sofia Huerta.
In many/most cases "heat exhaustion" is just another, fancier, word for dehydration. BTW: Drinking a lot of water just before and during matches is not a 100% way to avoid hydration problems. Many hydration issues are set up the day before.
59' 0-0 Barnes chips from 30m center to 4m 3-right, J.Taylor gets 1 step past Hubly, hop-volleys softly toward goalline center, Bixby saves. 61' 0-0 Momiki, facing away at 27m arc right, backheads a short bloop to 24m center. J.Taylor gets a good right-outstep crescent kick flick-on to box top right post, Westphal and Klingenberg collide, ball bounces off both their shins to arc center. Smith collects and drives to 16m, shoots left foot low across mouth, juuuuust wide right low. It was so close that NWSL pbp momentarily showed the red bar for an OL Reign goal -- that was fun for about 30 seconds before the page reverted to the current timeline 64' 0-0 Portland subs in { 1st of 3 }: - (1 of 5) #34 Tyler Lussi for #38 Simone Charley.
Dangerous shot, although I guess Betos could have done better than deflecting in front of her. Barnes was anyway vigilant and swept.
Wow, Fishlock is back! And she correctly replaced Taylor, that had become irritating with her slow jogging in 2nd Half.
The reign now have placed one of the best players they have on the field in Fishlock. I hope the field does not hurt her again.
69' 0-0 A small cloud passes overhead, plunging the stadium into deep shadow! 70' 0-0 Portland longball down wide left lets Weaver sprint alone, with Brooks running alongside in the mid-left lane -- can't match that speed anyways Weaver creeps through 4m box left, works her way to 7m 6-left -- she has done that before, but Brooks cedes no window. Backpass to R.Rodríguez at box top center, closely marked. Rodríguez fakes right, spins left, defender slips and falls, Rodríguez shoots left instep bend past a screen of defenders, to 1/3 left low. Betos sees it late, sprawls and blocks it out to 6-top left post, Barnes blasts it clear before Weaver arrives. 72' 0-0 OL Reign subs in { 3rd of 3 }: - (4 of 5) #29 Adrienne Jordan for #13 Celia Jiménez Delgado - (5 of 5) #10 Jessica Fishlock for #9 Jodie Taylor. Fishlock's 1st match since tearing her ACL last year!! 76' 0-0 2H hydration break.
After the water break both teams seemed to really want to score but then, after just a few minutes, they slowed down again. Now it will just take a tired mistake by a defender, as we have seen more than once in these practice games, for a goal to be scored.
78' 0-0 Portland subs in { 2nd of 3 }: - (2 of 5) #35 Gabrielle Seiler for #36 Angela Salem - (3 of 5) #43 Autumn Smithers for #2 Katherine Reynolds. 89' 0-0 R.Rodríguez dribbles to 25m arc left, cuts centerward across Brooks, shoots right foot hard to 1/3 left waist-high, Betos catches. Behind the play, Westphal is down in own half at wide right, with left calf cramp? +5'. 90+1' (of +5') 0-0 Boureille fouls Weatherholt at (Reign's) circle back left. Stoppage for Westphal, Bixby(?) comes across to stretch out her left calf. 90+2' (of +5') 0-0 Portland subs in { 3rd of 3 }: - (4 of 5) #15 Madison Pogarch for #18 Christen Westphal - (5 of 5) #40 Marissa Everett for #22 Morgan Weaver.
This 0-0 draw was what I expected. It actually a bit more entertaining than all but one other 0-0 and quite a bit better than a couple of the 1-0 matches. I think, after watching closely, that the field is a huge factor in how poor these games have been. Most of these women are much better at close control than we have seen but the field seems "sticky" which messes up dribbling and passing.
Bixby and Horan (absent today) are the only two positives for Portland so far. Overall team play was dire, and it has earned them an 8th seed and QF date with North Carolina. Time for the Courage to put them out of their misery.
Agreed. Actually playing against other people in scrimmages/practice is so much more challenging fitness and touch wise than training on your own.