Wow, what a game. The best I've seen at any level in a few years, I'm watching the tape right now to see if we got on camera. Tough without question a tie would have been a fairer result. Many thanks to those of you I got to meet today, and sorry to those of you I couldn't find. Good luck the rest of the season and I'll see you all again next spring-- or perhaps sooner, depending on how things come down in the next few months.
So was the stadium announcer every bit as annoying as he came across on the boob tube? Arrington has got some jets!!! The Welsh handball replays were inconclusive IMNSHO. However the Moore handball was clearly seen on the replays. Pichon's and Kelly's goals were nice.
Good lord, yes. He was talking during at least two goals. And they play music nonstop. I realize we're talking about suburbia here-- and it really is suburbia despite the fact that the train ride out from my dorm was pretty fast-- but it was so annoying!
I thought at the game that Moore was appealing for goalkeepre interference, and nothing I saw changed that. There was no handball IMHO, it was just a botched clearance. Didn't something like that happen to Kasey Keller once?
The following is what I said to my mom and dad after I came home tonight, and I'll repeat it here (they saw the game on TV): Forget the 4th Power goal, a result, ultimately, of a Greg Louganis-esque dive. We had the lead FOUR TIMES and we coughed it up four times. It's not about talent, it's about heart. The Charge have reached a fork in the road (after just 3 games), and can go one of two ways. They can either decide that today they hit rock bottom and there's nowhere to go but up, or they can just pack it in for the season. There's no middle ground. The next month will determine how much heart this team has. And all that I add is this: this is the kind of game that gets players benched, and coaches fired. Paul
And now, more on the carnage today.... from the principals: Coach K: "You give up five goals you can't expect to win. On the other side, you score four and probably should win. We have to go back to the drawing board and work on the defending." Moore: "I think it's just difficult for everyone. It's definitely difficult ... when you score so many goals and create so many opportunities...the downside is they actually scored more than you. It's very difficult to face that fact. We need to get better and we need to get harder and we have to play more precise and get possession of the ball more." Coach K again: "It will be easier for me to say after I see the tape, certainly we can't continue to give up fouls around our penalty boxes as often as we did. The penalty kicks, that fourth goal was off a foul in the box, those are things we have to address and have to correct. When I rewind the game in my mind, there were an awful lot of moments in the game where we moved the ball nicely and had good organization in the defense. Just a small breakdown here and there, against any team in this league, you make those mistakes and they're going to punish you." Moore on all the new faces: "I think we've made a fairly smooth transition. They're all great players and smart players and technical players. I think we just maybe are a little bit unlucky now. We have to get out of a little bit of a rut. We're a great team and we have the tools and the players. I don't think we're having difficulty in transition...we've just been a little unlucky." http://www.philadelphiacharge.com/357874.html Paul
The NY/Philly Rivalry is one of if not the best in the league. These two teams always play an exciting, whether it's a beautiful or ugly game. 2 weeks and we get to do it all again on PAX!
There is such a thing as too much change. In retrospect, the team dynamic was messed with more than it should have. Why was Smith the only substitution by us - a necessary one, but the only one? You have Borisjuk, you have Monroe (unless she had a relapse in her ankle reconstruction and that's why she's not playing), why not play them? And that's coaching, I'm afraid... Paul
Well, folks, what can I say? All of the Charge goals were nice. Marinette's was a thing of beauty. Despite later verging on fouls with her holding off of Pearce, this was a great shaking off of Shannon Boxx and a nice shot. Sweet pass from Stacey who had a pretty good game. Baumgardt's goal was a well-struck shot and was created by some pinball action in the box. Good header by Tullock. Smolak made a mistake there by just patting the ball away instead of a strong punch. But still, a nice header. Sweet shot by Tiff who did not have the best of games. What was Mitts thinking? Maybe the height advantage worried her. Anyway, obvious call. Kelly's goal was excellent. Similar to some shots by Marinette last season but the dribbling was all Kelly. Hard to say what should be the decision on Welsh's first goal. It may have hit her midsection. It may have hit her hand. Too hard to say. I faulted Moore a little for kicking it straight to Welsh(or to that sideline) when there was plenty of space to the other side. Deliah's goal wasn't brilliant but it was another indication of the great speed and hustling ability that she shows every game. Welsh was lucky to get the ball to tap it in. Especially lucky considering her Oscar-worthy performance to set up the free kick. Anyway, a small grudge on that goal. When Moore punches the ball out and Boxx gets ready to shoot after a clever move by Shannon, look at where Melissa is positioned. She is behind a player. Sure she may have wanted to be able to move to her right to stop the ball from going there but Shannon was clearly shooting the ball to her left and Melissa may not have been able to get to the ball if it even if it was deflected. Small point. That last goal was a nice goal. Bad luck for us that two defenders slip and allowed Krista space after her clever move. It did remind me of some goals last year against the Power late in a certain match when we gave them too much space in midfield. Anyway, it was exciting and frustrating. Pichon had a decent game. Smolak and Moore made some good saves. A good crowd. Agree on the PA. Bring back the Huge Screen. Woo did a decent job today but some of her calls and non-calls were not good. Remember that for at least 20 minutes in the second half, the Power did not have a shot. Too many of the goals in this game came from punches and deflections. "And all that I add is this: this is the kind of game that gets players benched, and coaches fired." I don't think the defense did that bad in this match. We really shut them down for large parts of this match. We had more breakaways. Also how could they call "Goalkeeper Interference" on the Welsh goal? Neither player was jumping for the ball and I forget but did Welsh actually come into concact with Melissa? And when was the alledged handball by Moore? I must have missed it.
Cue Keanu Reeves.... Whoa. You give up five goals to a team that gave up 62 of them last year and you say with a straight face the defense did't play bad? It ultimately comes down to keeping the g-damned lead. And we couldn't do it. Four fscking times we had them where we wanted, and we let 'em off the hook. If you trot out the same starting lineup next weekend, you are begging for 0-4. The Freedumb are far more lethal than the Power are. Paul
Re: Cue Keanu Reeves.... Don't know if I would go as far to say that. I think the Freedom have played somewhat inconsistently in April whereas the Power seem to have improved the past couple of weeks. If I was to pick who would be the hotter team of the two I would go with the Power.
Re: Re: Cue Keanu Reeves.... Right now, the Freedom are in the playoffs, the Power are out, and the Charge and Carolina are in the Christine Sinclair sweepstakes. Paul
Yes, keeping the lead but how many shots on goal did they have? 20 minutes without a shot. Two lucky goals. Another one which could have been called back. Freedom are shaky. One week really good and then the next week less so.
That very fact is why this loss is all the more infuriating. Dennis, what would be your lineup for next weekend? Paul
Just to let you know, monroes ankle is just fine. She dominates in practice. Many of the players have asked mark to put mf in the game. He gives no answers to them. Still she sits. Your guess is as good as mine.
I just had to check if I had said shots on goal. They had 19 shots overall but only 8 on goal. That's not a good percentage. However, 5 goals from 8 on goal is pretty good. Okay for the lineup. First of all, get rid of the 4-5-1. I always say that. But this week you had Pichon get a good amount of heading chances from long passes from the defenders. She would flick it onwards and it would go to the keeper or to a defender. So next week, let's try a 4-4-2.(Can't believe I said it. Too many good midfielders.) Benson, Tietjen, McVeigh, Mitts Fair, Smith, Tullock, Hoffmann, Scasna(if she's ready,) Arrington Okay. if Scasna is not ready then start Trina or(another sign of trouble if I'm suggesting this) start Trina with a 4-5-1. Or we could start out with a 4-5-1 with Scasna.(Arrington is better off the bench. That speed kills!) Or we could start with the 4-4-2 then if we are winning by a goal or two move to the 4-5-1 with Monroe in for Makinen and Arrington as a lone striker. Scasna would probably need the rest and Monroe's great hustling ability will frustrate a team that is losing. Monroe and Misaki(if she's ready and she did seem to jog fine at the game. Hardly the best indicator) would be my subs for the 4-4-2. Wait. I think I will go back to one of my older plans. Benson, Tietjen, McVeigh, Mitts Fair, Hoffmann, Tullock, Smith, Arrington, Scasna Or Trina instead of Arrington because Deliah would be great off the bench. Makinen, Misaki(if ready), and Monroe off the bench if Deliah is starting. If Scasna is not starting then I would put in Trina. If Scasna is not ready and Arrington gets injured and Pichon is not available like next week then we'd be in trouble. Not! Trina would start upfront and then you could either Makinen or Monroe alongside Smith.
My lineup for next Saturday (a 4-4-2): ???? T-P, Mitts, Borisjuk, Benson Smith, Tullock, Hoffmann, Fair Maso de Moya, Arrington Since Pichon is unavailable (and can't we convince the French she's needed more in RFK?), your hands are tied here. I don't have any problem with your subs, Dennis; at least you utilize all of them, unlike Coach K did. Makinen sent too many balls backward than forward for my comfort yesterday. The problem with Scasna is that plantar fascitis is a killer of an injury to recover from quickly and will linger (ask Tullock about that). Want something radical? Trade Scasna and bring back Lihong, now that the WWC isn't going to be in China and especially since a USSF high-up says we've got it again. We still own her rights, as I recall. We are simply not the same team without Zhao in the lineup. You've got to stop the bloodletting somehow. Paul
Another collective meltdown. Will things get worse before they get better? Conceding 5 goals is terrible, although a few of NY's goals were well-taken. NY's 1st goal was well-struck to the upper-90 & virtually unstoppable. NY's 2nd goal was a PK, so it was a gimme. NY's 3rd goal was a collective meltdown. Benson looked like the culprit when she didn't clear the ball. Although IMO, Melissa looked like the likely culprit because: (a) she didn't instruct Benson to clear, &/or (b) Melissa cleared it straight to the opponent, instead of clearing the ball to either the touch- or end-line. NY's 4th goal was a result of poor defensive organization. Just like last season, I observed that PHL are very vulnerable to set plays because of the way they organize their defense. Granted that the vertical game is lacking, but better organization is needed. Marks go unmarked. And PHL let in goals from set plays because the GK is not cognizant enough when to call her posters up, more so when the kicks are played short. Had the posters been called up, it would have caught everyone else in an offside position. That, plus that there's no one responsible for marking/rushing the kicker. NY's 5th & winning goal was weaved through three defenders, after Benson slipped. PHL defenders made Davey look like Maradona with that cut-back move. I have yet to watch the tape; I'll do so sometime this week. But the absolute worst thing that happened in that sequence was that Moore was beaten near-post. You NEVER, EVER, get beat near-post. It seems like Melissa's reflexes and decision-making were not quick enough to stop the last three goals. Yes, the field players put her in a bad position to begin with. But Melissa shares accountability for letting in the last three goals. Getting beat near-post. Not calling to clear or clearing the ball outside herself on a ball played back. Not calling posters up when the situation warrants. before, I thought a few field players lacked tactical understanding of the game. After watching this particular game, it seems Melissa falls into that category too. Milbrett & welsh were blowing by mcVeigh with relative ease. There was one particular instance with Milbrett rushing past McVeigh, only to take too much time to take her shot. McVeigh is not yet ready for the speed of play at this level. Am I the only one who's underwhelmed by "slow-motion" Makinen? The game's going on full-throttle while she casually jogs in the middle of the field. Mak's understanding of distribution is to pass the ball back to the defense. Unlike Tullock - when she plays that particular position - who will penetrate with the ball. There was little, if no, ball penetration at all from Mak. And because she moves in slo-mo, the opponents bypass her, leaving the defense vulnerable. Mak's understanding of the d-mid position is probably 'disappearing'-mid. Why on earth did Mark switch Mak & Tullock when Mak in the 1st game clearly has not demonstrated that she's capable of playing the position? Tullock looks lost playing wide left. She looks much better playing the holding position, and should really get a shot to play at attacking mid. Ever notice how not much action was going evil-twin's way? Little or no penetration from the right. Did Fair even serve one cross? So far this season, Fair has been a disappointment playing at right flank. Maybe a switch to left? But I'm not sure how much more she can contribute to the attack from that side. The best scenario is to see Pichon paired with Arrington on top, with Smith play-making behind them. But even if they score 4 goals among them, the lack of team defense, poor GK decision-making, and the lack of a defensive/destructive presence in the midfield will make this a very challenging season for this crew.
Never thought I'd see myself type this.... I think Solo should start next Saturday...and it tears me up to say that. No one, and I mean no one has been a more passionate defender of Melissa than I've been. But if I'm going to toot the horn for her when she came into the season with the best career goals against of any WUSA keeper, Beene and Scurry included, then the buck also has to stop with her when she has a second consecutive nightmare outing like yesterday. I want to win, and if Solo can provide that, then it's time to find out what our top draft pick can do. I'm sorry It's obvious the drafting of McVeigh was clearly a mistake. She should also sit along with Makinen. There has to be accountability here. Yes, Monroe was a bit late in getting here since she was finishing up at UCLA; I don't think that should be held against her. Why hasn't she played a nanosecond of this season? I agree with Orion on this... The question has thus become; can this season be saved? 'Cause right now, that bright thingy at the end of this tunnel isn't anywhere close to resembling a light. Paul
i think that if they fix their defensive problems then they can save the season. i mean, washington started out pretty badly last season but they ended up in the championship game.
Charge!, your understanding of game is juvenile. This is new team. They need time to gel. Most individual efforts in 5/3/03 game were fine. There was a bit of disorganisation, but that will work itself out as season continues. To change starters at this point would be bad as most of the goals yesterday were result of poor defensive organisation, starting in midfield. This will work itself out as most players are technically sound. McVeigh played fine. Also, do not discount very bad referee. No understanding of off-sides rule. Very good offensive effort. 4 goals is excellent. Team need to fine-tune organisation - who has which responsibility and then all problems be solved. Many times I read on here, but I find to be so silly I don't add comments. But to think that 3 games loss is end of season just is crazy. But I won't post again, probably, because is too silly for me.