Washington has been playing not to lose and they had a defensive stupid moment. Even with the stupid handling of the injury sub there were still plenty of players on the field to handle the play but they played conservatively and therefore gave up a goal. It appears that Washington also has a stupid coach. Of course I "could" blame the "Spanish" style but that was NOT even a small part of the stupidity on the goal.
Sonnett....she will milk every second and make every clearance. Will put her body on the line. Unfortunately, the quality of passing and movement is just not there for the Spirit. They are relying on a moment and I just don't see it. It really is a team game, which is why I dislike the whole star thing so much. Happy for Yael. WCFC Legend.
Most of the time Washington has played stupidly. And they make it VERY easy to defend them. Most of the time they have no width and, when they do, the wide players are simply ignored. That is a symptom of poor coaching.
To me, the decision to take of Cantore and not Kouassi or Monday was the mistake. Both Kouassi and Monday have had poor touches all match.
The match ends with a whimper rather than a roar. One of the worst finals I have ever watched. Gotham wins 1-0 but it was more that Washington lost by being less than smart. Now they have gotten Rodman hurt. Maybe she does need to change teams to get away from the stupidity.
Not much a coach can do when the players have poor touches. Monday, Kouassi, Bethune, and even Rodman when she came on all had poor touches more than good touches. Santos and Cantore were the only ones who had good touches, and they were let down by their teammates. But that is also not giving enough credit to Gotham. All match long they were had their defensive players in the channels that cut out Washington's passing. Yeah, I would say that Washington was not inventive enough, but Gothem had passes intercepted time and again. To me, they earned the win more than Washington earned the loss.
Just goes to show that teams need to do enough in the regular season to get in. Keep your players fit, rotate a lot and ride your luck in the playoffs. For me, a very hard watch as far as quality goes. Happy for the women I know on Gotham and disappointed for those on the Spirit. Coach really cost them a fair chance at that game. Rodman looked unfit and he made waful decisons around subs.
I think its symptomatic of expecting individual moments. I dont think they did enough to move the Spirit defenders around.
I see positive when there is positive but for this match I feel that there was little positive. I, as a neutral, wanted a good match but what happened was just foolishness all over the field. Even Gotham, in their win, did VERY little to make the match fun to watch.
I would give more credit to Bruniha, the Brazilian, than did the announcers. It was her brilliant footwork and pass that gave Lavelle a clear shot at the goal -- and about two minutes later she stopped Rodman who was about six yards away driving toward the the goal. Rodman wasn't much good after that. The whole Washington team seemed to fall apart after Gotham's goal. You could blame the Gotham goal on the Washington coach. Hershfeldt was hurt and it was obvious she wasn't going to be able to continue playing up to her high standard -- but he resisted subbing her out for too long. Hersheldt tried to get in the way of Lavell's shot, but didn't. A sub might have reacted quicker and blocked Lavelle's shot at the goal. I was impressed by Sonnett and Schupansky of Gotham. They shut down the Washington attack. I don't think any of the Washington players were outstanding (except Hershfeldt who was good before she was hurt) Unimaginative, downright boring performance by Washington.
I thought she should have gotten a second yellow, thus out, especially after seeing the replay. I understand why the ref did not give it, but still ....
I agree. I though for sure that was a yellow and she already had one so the second would morph into red. However, if the ref did not give the yellow because it would have been a red the the ref blew it and, as it ended up, gifted the match to Gotham. The stupidity of not giving a yellow because the ultimate result would be a red is simple cowardice. Referees are supposed to be neutral but gifting the match in this manner means that they lean toward favoring the roughest team. Referees that allow existing card situations to impact their choices should face a six month ban at the minimum. Each call should be, at the minimum, unrelated to anything other than the question: the play on the field. If it is a foul at the half line then it is also a foul in the box. If a foul deserves a yellow then it also deserves a yellow if the player already has one. Also the time it is in the match should make no difference for referees. But, other than that, the ref did fairly well. At least I saw no major or even minor errors that had an impact on the match. I know the ref was just following the instructions but the excuse "I was just following orders" does not hold up in this case.
A little Finals trivia for y'all... Gotham FC are 2-0 and the Spirit are 1-3 in Championship Final matches. The Reign are 0-3 in Championship Final matches, yikes!
both coaches are from Spain. Spirit’s previous coach as well, he came directly from Barca & now coaches Lyon Spanish coaches are currently the big thing; Mexico’s big clubs & NT got them as well. You can pretty much check mark boxes everywhere; big Champions League clubs Barca Bayern Lyon/six NT coached world wide. Even the disgraced Vilda now in charge of the entire Morocco woso program ——————————————————— Ironically, despite our major successes, American coaching hasn’t flourished at all—and that includes our own NWSL with only Yanez(Louisville) getting praise
https://www.instagram.com/p/DRYv1aFkTTU/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ== I guess they got it! I know I am not the target audience, but this kind of "coverage" does not appeal to me. I find it detracts from the sport. I guess it does appeal to many :shrug:
I'm with you. I also do not like the NWSL "fashion show" posts, for the same reason, I find it detracts from the sport.
To see a player whose team lost, seeking solace outside the team within minutes of the final whistle sums up everything I dislike about the way the NWSL has chosen to promote the sport. It is individual over team. Me over us. To me, it corrodes everything you need to build a team. Watch. Bethune and Rodman cannot coexist without a huge salary cap bump. Call me dramatic, but I believe it. It feels like me big clout chase.
That's IG to you olderster. I'm mixed on that, and want to know if that is important. I'm not huge on that, but it is kind of the reverse of the Kelsey/Swift thing. Swift was as games to cheer on and support her partner. This is the same, Shelton there to cheer on and support Rodman. Good for her. Not a big fan of the TV side of that, but would like to know what the fans say. And, related, there is always a lot of support and celebration whenever one of the current or former USWNT players has a baby. I don't care that much because it is just a part of life. But others seem to like it, so who am I to say it is something not to be celebrated. That was exactly my thought. In other circumstances, she would have had a yellow, but not as a second yellow. And that, to me, was an example of how Simon did well the entire match. Have you ever been an official? I have, years ago, and one of the things that is understood is that you, as an official, are not the one to change the game when you are not forced. Thus, a second yellow card for a maybe yellow card foul is not done because the focus should be on the players. Let the players be the ones to win or lose the game, not the official. So a small foul that gets called in the first 10 minutes after a series of similar non-calls is the right thing, as long as a conversation is followed, so the players understand what is seen. And what I saw with Reale was just that. Simon seemed to be saying, "You already have a yellow, and that foul could have been a second yellow. You get yourself together, or I will not have a choice but to give you a second yellow." IOW, the conversation is just as important as the foul or the card, or neither. Saying that, had Reale gotten a second yellow, I also would not have had a problem. I thought she did quite well, and when the game got chippy later in the match, she showed she was in control. She reminds me a bit of Frappart with the way she can look at players. WNBA does the same thing. It seems to be part of women's sport. And if it were a problem, I think we'd hear about it.
But an official that does not call a foul and issue a card as they are supposed to changes the game even more than calling a marginal foul. And the "talking to" is useless. It does nothing but allow a player to get away with things. That is actually a part of another topic: The referee going to the mob and warning about fouls or offside on corners and free kicks does nothing. The players know the rules and, if they commit a fould just call but wasting the time to run, or often walk, up does nothing except see to it that fans are deprived of more actual game action. Also players should receive an yellow if they argue with the ref at all. The only player that should be given a little room on that is the captain and she, or he, should be on a very short leash. I have never seen a ref get argued with and change his or her call. Allowing any argument does nothing except slow the game down. But, in general, refs are too cowardly to do that. The only way to make that happen will be on a mandate from FIFA. I think they tested that in on of the tournaments in the last year and it looked like a huge success. If players do not have common sense then the rules/laws need to make them show it. I know there is already a law about that but it is never enforced in a way that matters.
@soccernutter "WNBA does the same thing. It seems to be part of women's sport. And if it were a problem, I think we'd hear about it." Don't understand what you mean by this. It is not a problem per se. It appeals to some and turns others off. I'm not against the fashion show part (the men do it as well), but it does not make me want to watch the games, male or female. I understand how it may help with product placement.
I've also been a referee, and there are multiple ways to manage the game. An ass-chewing isn't arguing. Sometimes an ass-chewing that puts a player on notice is just as important as the yellow card as far as managing the game goes. Also I'd say no one who has ever refereed is cowardly (especially to referee at the youth level), but at this level they do need to follow the directions from PRO on how to manage a game, especially in a championship or knockout game. No referee in this situation wants to make themselves the center of the show.
I was saying that because it gets mentioned in women's sports, but not men's (as far as I know). Side note, you don't need to tag people when you replay by quoting a post, particularly in a low volume forum. It's actually annoying to have that alert pop up for me.