Game 1 - Breakers at Torero [R]

Boston was clearly the better side in the first half. The first fifteen minutes was very inspired and the looked impressive. The spirit showed better in the second half, but boston went with the 352 which pretty much took foudy and wagner out of the game and put the ball on the flanks where bostons superior speed and skill clearly showed. Boston's off the ball work was much superior to the Spirits. San Diego just seemed off and flat footed for much of the game although they did put in the effort, it just wasn't clicking for them. They really missed Joy at the back. I was very impressed by the work of Sombrero and the other center back number 7. Sorry can't remember her name. I got a real kick out of the somersault throw in, although it could be more effective if a spririt player actually went for the ball. All in all an enjoyable game and a gorgous pitch. Absolute beautiful field to play on.

 

From Spirit PR

From Breakers PR

 

I don't think you can really blame the offense. Tough to get an offense on track when there is no defense to support them. Without Joy, the starting outside defenders may possibly be the worst starters is the WUSA. Did anyone count how many times that Boston was able to literally run right by our defenders. Its tough to go through life unskilled and slow. Here is hoping that we have a secret defensive weapon hiding somewhere on the bench.

 

Boston dominated this game. It should have been AT LEAST 4-0 as those were two clear penalty kicks that the ref somehow missed. (Replays were definitely conclusive on this.) Our defense was a sieve, which given Joy's absence and all our pre-season worries, was to be expected. For 80 minutes we were basically horrible. Aly completely disappeared this match; she was a nada until the 90th minute when she had a nice shot on goal which was sell saved.

The key is that they completely shut down our midfield and their front line totally manhandled out back line - quicker, taller, more athletic, better technically. The final score was extremely fortunate in our favor.

Having said that, losing Joy two days before the game was a killer. Going out there in a 4-5-1 or a 4-4-2 when we really hadn't practiced in that style was a cruel blow, and our weak performance wast o be expected. Hopefully with some practice, and more importantly once Joy returns, we'll look more like a real soccer team, which we didn't look like last night.

 

I will say that Latham was impressive and once Zhang came in late she helped spark the offense.

i.e., so there's hope!!

 

Completely dissappeared until the 90th minute..? Who exactly do you think single handedly brought the ball down the field through all the traffic to get the ball to Latham? The midfield lack of offensive productivity was primarily because our defense could not keep it out of the defensive end, and our goalie cannot clear to the midfield line.

 

Any pictures from the game of SD?

 

what's your theory about canadians again, J23?? lol

elaine

 

Why didn't Daniela play?

 

Some thoughts on game:

What kind of starting line-up was that? One forward to start at home. Were we playing for tie or hoping that Latham could beat their entire back four by herself? Where was Daniela? The kids had no chance in the back without some veteran leadership.

Latham was awesome! She and Fleeting will be an impressive duo up top for us. I could also see her playing wide on the right.

Jen Nielsen was underutilized. Having Foudy, Wagner and Nielsen in the midfield there wasn't enough ball to go around. Conversely, Foudy tried to do too much and Wagner wasn't very good until late and it wasn't all because of their defenders. There were streches that she just played poorly, and hey, its her first pro game! She's gonna struggle at times, let's deal with it.

Did Mac play? (She actually looked better on the left late in the game)

Allie Sullivan is not a forward in this league! Let me repeat, NOT A FORWARD! Give her a chance to succeed out on the wing where she can use her speed to break down defenses. Bringing her in late in games will be great, just don't expect 15 goals this year.

Their back was so much better than our back four. In Klugel, Sobrero, Gonzales and Aldama, they had three internationals and youngster in Aldama who looks better than anybody wev;e got.
Pickup are servicable Krzykowski in the center, yet there was no rythym or synchronicity between them and the other two. Fair and Alfiler got beat all night, and they probably shouldn't have been in that position to begin with. Conners tried to stop the bleeding, but too little too late.

Pags made some big saves and committed a horrible penalty that went unpunished. Her kicking game hurts us and Branam is not quite ready, so look out.

Its a long season, but it doesn't look good even when Joy returns. We've got a lot to get right.

Bright spots: Latham, Fleeting, Zhang, Sullivan, Conners,Tim Sullivan & Billy Ray Smith.

Lowlights: the referee, the awful music and P.A. announcer, the less-than-sell-out crowd and the "unique" rendition of the national anthem.

 

Foreign Discovery Players

Daniela, Julie Fleeting, and Zhang Ouying all didn't play presumably because they haven't been with the team. Perhaps Omid was making a point, practice=play, but I hope not because I just want to see our best 11.

Also, I read some articles saying the team might be in shock over Joy's injury. I think this was true, but I also think the coach was in shock. I mean, can you say overreaction playing with one forward! And compensating with an extra defender (Alfiler) doesn't help when she can't compete. One thing I think Omid will quickly learn is that you can't change your whole scheme because of the loss of one player. It upsets the balance and rhythm of the other 10. Saturday was a perfect illustration of that.

 

PB Guy... I don't really think Omid was 'punishing' those 3 for not being at practice. They have national team duties with their own teams. If he was doing that to them, he'd have to do it to Aly, Foudy, Mac, etc. I really don't think that was the thought behind it.

I'm not saying I know why he didn't have them in sooner, because I HAVE NO CLUE! The end of the game is the better line-up for us.

#13 (Andrea?) should never have been on the field. Like I said on the other board... they were beating her like a drum all night. She's way too slow. Not having Sauer or Fawcett hurt. No doubt. They do, though need to get Daniela in there. She's a midfielder/defender, right? I'm hoping she's got some speed, because right now, all of our speed is up top.

Another point I made over there was that if we hit those long balls to the offense, they need to be hit to the corners, because every time we did that, they would hit them to hte middle, right toi the Boston keeper. What's the point in that??

I'm hoping we aren't going to be beat all year on set plays. That's one of the things that hurt us last year. We can't seem to defend on set plays. What is that??

I'm definitely looking forward to the next game, because I think we're getting to the right track, but not having the majority of our player here to practice hurt us. I'm still very optimistic. We have to be ready for Aly to be double/triple teamed & when that happens, we need to get the ball to those players that are them opened up.

I have a lot of faith in Omid & Chugger!!! I'm staying positive & we'll see how it goes!

 

Zhang after a play down the right wing got the ball to the middle on a cross, which bounced around and Latham finished. I don't remember Aly being particularly involved in that play.

Read Tim Sullivan's article if you want further explanation about how Wagner was a zero for much of this match.

 

BZZZT..Wrong answer. I suggest you get a copy on the game and re-watch it.

 

sspeed has it right, the goal came after Aly carried the ball down the middle angling toward the right. After drawing another one of her crowds she pushed it out to #7 I believe, who played it in.
Obviously our defense was very weak but what do you expect when our starters were 2 players that were released from their prior teams, 1 player that is listed as developmental and Kim. Kim being the only one bringing something special to the play. We need outside backs now!!
I also think it was a mistake to play one forward. That allowed the boston defense to step up onto our inside midfield (Aly) and remove any space which was the basis for Tim Sullivan's article.

 

Not having seen this game, but having watched Aly play for Satan Clara the past several years, I'm not surprised Pia employed harrassment to fluster Aly. Aly's probably the best player in the world when you give her time and space. But when opponents gang up on her, she had the tendency to fight her way through the crowd instead of dumping the ball back, eventually conceding possession. I've seen coaches dump their system just to mark Aly exclusively, and at times triple-teaming her. But if there's anyone who can solve such pressure, it's Aly.

 

$.02

I agree that Aly has what it takes to beat that pressure, but if everyone isn't throwing something into the pot, Aly will come out with the ball.....alone. Boston not only marked her tight, but whomever received the ball..placing 1 second pressure which is deadly if everyone is moving together. Our first touches were off, possibly just first game jitters, but from almost everyone?? I don't know. Now is it possible that we get beat on set plays because we don't use set plays? It just looked to me like we were confused on who should be making what happen. Like taking advantage of the dead ball was something brand new. OK, and here is the big thing that bothered me (bias aside) Shannon was open non-stop. It was like she was invisible out there to the Breakers...AND THE SPIRIT. Her ability to create space is uncanny, so why the hell can't we get her the ball. You know she has stellar placement and power..why not use it. If I had Shannon MacMillan on my team, I know who my passes would be going to. I don't want to rag on anything too much yet because it was the first game of the season and it could have just been an off day. Also, I am not at practice, so the coaches know who to play where, when - better than I could...
[Inhales]

 

cachundo nails it right on the head: there were a number of times when Aly should have one touched to anyone out of trouble but attempted to take on 3 or 4 defenders...and got nowhere. Heck, even Aly admits it in Sullivan's article, saying she had no space, and "wouldn't sleep tonight" after such a game.

listen, i love aly wagner; i thank god she's on our team; i'm not blaming aly for this game...it was without a doubt a collective effort for a miserable performance. she did get off a few lofted through balls which latham was almost able to track down. but until the last 10 minutes the breakers were everywhere.

but whatever, it's water under the bridge at this point.

 

i thought foudy did her best to help out the back line and link up with the midfield and wingers. she had to play all over the place as the back line was such a mess and she needed to be everywhere by her lonesome but she did her best. it would have been a lot worse if she hadn't been around.