My favorite player by far was number 26, Homfridur Magnusdottir. She was a beast up and down the left flank all night long. She megged this one defender repeatedly. She was strong on the ball, had fancy moves, and connected on most of her passes. It looked to me like she was playing left back but was given freedom to attack at will while one or both center mids fell back.
Magnusdottir was definitely the most exciting player on the field for both teams. I think that she will be this year's Camille Abily or Sonya Bompastor - a relatively unknown international player who has a breakout year. The Independence website lists her as a forward, so it is interesting that she was playing left back. I wonder if it is due to the injuries to Faulk and Mitts or Riley is planning on using her as a defender. Regardless of the position she plays, she definitely earned her position in the starting 11. The game was relatively dull. After last night's Union game, it was a bit of a letdown. That said, it was a solid performance from the keeper and midfield and a great performance from a patchwork defense. I was disappointed by the offense. A-Rod and Patterson seemed to have problems with the physicality of the Atlanta defense.
This game reminded me a lot of the first few games I saw last season--both teams defended well, but had trouble linking up on offense. No big surprise there, they only have a month of pre-season to prepare, and much of that time their international players are absent for national team duty. And a fair amount of the preseason time is used to look at players who may or may not make the team's roster. I think having the expansion sides face each other in the opener was one of the fairest things the league could do, schedule-wise. But you could see glimpses of what is to come--some great runs that went unrewarded, some great passes into space where the run was never made. The thought process is there, the familiarity will come. For both teams. You might be right about Frida (that's what they call Magnusdottir) being the sleeper pick of the internationals. She's strong, fast, and has a howitzer of a shot. I can see her getting a goal or two from left back this season. These same two teams meet again in three weeks. It will be interesting to see how that game looks.
Pretty much agree with everything here. It was a fun game and great atmosphere yesterday and would have been awesome if Arod would have score that last chance at the end, but o well.
I agree. I liked what I saw from Magnusdottir in the preseason games and she was the best out there on Sunday. Its a shame the shot she rung off the crossbar wasn't an inch lower.
I just watched the highlight of the game, It looked like a good game with a lot of action. I wish they need to at least erase those lines and number on the field, It's difficult to watch and enjoy a 'soccer' game on the football field. I guess only Boston and Philly are playing on the 'American football' field?
IMO Magnusdottir is the cream of the crop. As soon as she came on, the complexion of the game changed. All of a sudden, the left side of the field became our attacking point. Her "assigned" position is really weird; against UNC, Penn State and Atlanta she lined up as the Left Back but plays much more as an attacking midfielder. Against those 3 teams she was quick enough to get back on coverage. I hope she can do that against stronger teams as well. A question (unless I missed it); why doesn't she start and play the full game? She came in after the half against UNC, Penn State and Atlanta. Maybe it's a stamina issue, but she needs to be on the field for the full 90 minutes if she's capable. She's the "sparkplug" on the Independence. One criticism of both teams: neither team spread the field wide enough for my liking (except for Magnusdottir's play). There was very little wide play shown from either team. That's why everything was constantly clogged up in the center of the field, and there were way too many turnovers from both teams in the midfield. Maybe it was just hard to see on an American football field, but it sure looked like both teams played within 40 yards of width and did not exploit the touch lines nearly enough. I kept waiting for one side or the other to stretch the opposing midfielders and defenders with wide balls, but it rarely happened. Sunday's game should show more of our potential strengths and weaknesses and hopefully, will have more Wide play as well.
Thanks for the correction. I must be watching too much soccer lately - the names, numbers (and apparently genders!) are all starting to blur.