Awesome game & a decisive win for the Beat! That's three in a row, y'all! Everyone played well. Having Kerr in attacking mid and Blank as holding mid really worked well. And Ocampo is my hero--two goals in one game--woohoo!!! Really good to see Chalupny back in the game (she was subbed at half, along with Ellertson). Also of note...Bachman was back from Europe but on the bench.
Fantastic win! And a very good game on the whole, I thought -- five goals! I only wish more people were there -- it looked like a really small turnout. Still a decent atmosphere, though, probably spurred on by some injustice from the ref. Positives: 1. Ocampo: She was really on tonight. She scored two great goals -- the second was a real rocket. Both came from her showing good awareness and running onto through-balls past the defenders when they were playing a high line. She didn't have many opportunities but made the most of the two good chances she had. Excellent finishing. 2. Our defense: I thought we were strong here. We had a few scares, and the first goal was due to a few defensive errors -- starting with McNeill allowing herself to be turned. But McNeill had a strong game on the whole, as did the other defenders. Key to our defense was our pressing game. We forced them into a lot of errors -- some terrible errors that they made, such as giving the ball away in their own half, should have translated into goals for us, if we'd had better finishing. 3. Scoring: we scored 3 goals! Recent performances have made it seem that we don't really know how to attack, since we've scored few goals and they've often come from clear defensive mistakes. This game showed that we can score, even without Aluko (and Bachman)! 4. I always felt we were the stronger team in this game. We dominated the first half and their goal came against the run of play. Although we came into the 2nd half much less strongly, we picked up the tempo, and put real pressure on them for a good spell towards the end of regulation time, pushing for that 3rd goal that eventually came. That's the spirit! On the whole, the team worked really hard and seemed to want it more than the Independence. Slight Negatives (These are just in my opinion -- feel free to disagree): 1. The ref -- egads! I'd need to see the replay, but the penalty she awarded to the Independence looked like a clean tackle to me. She made a number of bad calls that more often than not were against the Beat. 2. Low attendance. Hopefully they'll be more there on Sunday, when we play FC Gold Pride. I was disappointed, particularly given our recent run of form. 3. Our formation: As far as I can tell, we're playing 3-4-3 with a holding midfielder, so that it sometimes looks like 3-1-3-3. I'm happy with the idea of the holding midfielder, and I know we've been doing well playing this formation, but it still has some problems. 3a. First of all, playing Mami up front in a center forward role made no sense to me. She never looked like scoring, despite the many opportunities that came her way. I'm a huge fan of Mami, but she either needs to play _off of_ a center forward, or she needs to be in the midfield. This is the second time I've seen her play up front in the middle on her own, and I don't think she does well there. I know she's good at holding the ball up, but I can't see what else she does there. And her finishing was poor. Again -- I love her -- but is that where she belongs? Okay, I know we're missing anyone else who could have played there. 3b. Secondly, if we play with 3 central defenders, that leaves our flanks wide open. That's no problem if the midfielders on the wings double back to defend. But take Miyama on the left. Again, I'm a huge fan of her, but she does not come back to defend and isn't very strong defensively anyway. She was easily turned, and thus there were several points where she left a _huge_ amount of space open on the left (our left). When that happened, she'd just watch -- she wouldn't come back. If I were the Independence coach, I'd be telling them to just bomb down the flanks, rather than try to go through the middle. When they did do that, they scored the second goal (Abby Wombach's cross). We haven't been caught out yet on this, but how long until coaches from other teams see this and exploit it?
Excellent summary, Snail, except that we played the Washington "Freedom" (not the Philly Independence). It's easy to get those revolutionary terms confused. Also, I didn't think the reffing was as bad as it's been in the past. Overall, this ref was heads & tails above the other refs we've had for our home games. That said, the reffing in the WPS needs some improvement. I didn't leave this game as pissed about the reffing as I usually am (maybe because we won???). We definitely missed Ellertson & Chalupny in the 2nd half, though the rest of the team pulled together in the end for a win.
That is great to get 3 in a row. Now they are only 1 point away from the 2 teams ahead of them and have 1 or 2 games in hand also. On the attendance thing, it probably wasn't the best idea to schedule a home game the same night as the Man City vs. Club America match at the dome. I know they might not have that many fans of both, but I am sure that hurt attendance some since that is only a once a year type deal.
Oops -- Freedom, Independence -- yes, very confusing. These names don't stick in my mind just yet. Ah, the Man City game -- yes, that explains it, I think. I was actually going to go to that and completely forgot (plus my computer died, which has my calendar on it). Hmm, well, it's a good thing I went to this Beat game and we won -- or I would have been really bummed about missing Man City. But not that bummed... I'm a Spurs fan, after all. So, we're in a great position to push ahead now, and what's more, we have some real momentum. I wonder what our chances will be on Sunday against Marta and her team? Not too good, I expect, considering the 4-0 drubbing we got from them a couple weeks ago. But we are looking like a different team now, so who knows? I'd be happy with a draw.
What a grand match to watch, really loving Ocampo and Chalupny, last night was a grand team effort that displayed a load of resilience in my opinion. Grand to see em working as a team. The officials............... B O L L O C K S See ya all Sunday Slainte Micheál
I don't know what the attendance was at the Beat game, but i was one of those that missed the Beat game in favour of the Man City v Club America game. I would imagine if your going to go out and watch football midweek your probably going to pick the once a year world class one, so it had to have hurt the Beat gate. Still as you say, Sunday should be a great game.
Yes, but in the grand scheme of the craptastic suckfest that has comprised the Atlanta Beat's home game officiating this season, the crew last night wasn't so bad.
I second that. Great TEAM effort. Big props to Rasmussen, she is consistently Great. Officials????????........................ P R A T S and also bog-eyed. Anyhow what a game and the crowd ROARED. Not the Same time but 5pm,same place and hopefully the same result for us Cheers ,Pam
Yes, despite the lower turnout, I thought the support was great. Partially, I think, due to the awful refereeing. I don't know about the penalty, but it looked like a clean tackle to me. I was cheering the tackle when I heard the ref blow the whistle...! Anyway, would be nice to see it again. Looking forward to Sunday!
I'm as big a homer as the next Beat fan, but I gotta say that I thought the ref did a fair job. Her calls were pretty consistent. After watching the replay, it looks like Ellertson went in two footed from behind when she was carded. She may have gotten the ball, but the call was fair, IMHO. All in all I'd rather have her call the game than the nimrod who officiated our last game against Gold Pride. And speaking of Gold Pride.... you goin' down, b****es. I hope Marta gets so frustrated her head pops like an engorged mosquito.