Game 20: Red Stars vs Independence 8/11/10

Yup just Vero from what I hear. I just hope they realize this is a MUST WIN game.

Hopefully Carney will be full 90 fit. I think Namazi only let her go 45 on Saturday since she seems to be nursing an injury and I think he realized that Weds game is a huge one and will need her for the entire game.


I think, personally, that the Philly defense is most vulnerable in the middle (the place Boston scored both goals on them yesterday) and I know that we dont have the players that will be able to out-pace Magnusdottir and even Mitts. Also, last game against Philly we apparently played a very high defensive line and got caught. Hopefully this is fixed since we did manage to neutralize Marta and Sinclair on Saturday who like to do the same thing.

This game is going to be huge and although it's not do-or-die yet.. I think we've got the toughest schedule of the season ahead of us and this needs to be a win.

 

There maybe be too many similar type forwards, but the woeful shooting percentage has little to do w/ their style--they're getting shots off. League leading in getting shots off. And yet next to last in scoring goals.

I, too, hope he's done w/ screwing w/ a high defensive line and/or 3 back formation. A home game means I get to watch a webcast.

 

I don't know. I think Philly is very strong in the middle with Lori Lindsay. She shut down the middle in the last game at TP (was that in May?). I don't know about Magnusdottir, but I really think that Mitts has lost a step, even though she does still have great recovery speed. I think a well timed run could get by her. She looked really shaky a couple of times in the webcast of the DC game. Bompastor gave her fits and Caz is certainly quicker than Sonia. I don't know anything about Boquete except all the press releases I've read have emphasized her speed.

If we don't give up an early goal and then have to take chances this game is certainly win-able. You are right...do or die. No time for leaving your fate in the hands of someone else.

 

Well Mitts would be the biggest target but Carney likes to stay on the right side for the most part so we'll see what Namazi decides to do. All I know is that Falk and Krzysik aren't the most technical defenders, especially under pressure. Seger is excellent at tracking back though.. so we'll see.


I'm expecting our normal lineup with Nogueira and Boquete as the subs.

 

Turns out Philly won't have Falk tomorrow. Hopefully we can exploit this

And it seems McDonald and Washington are cleared to play too which is good.

 

Double ditto the rain and good crowd. Also that Falk will be out. She's a big body that Formiga won't have concentrate on.

Should be a good crowd with the "Play it Forward" tickets available...(at least 200 I'm sure of)...

 

I think Namazi deserves time to bring his own players he but he loves to make excuses even before the season is over. he would have had 15 games to get it done and with a big head like his I really hope He does. This team has out created everyone, so it's not creation that's the problem, it's the finishing. is Ella not a forward that runs long? aslant liked to run long.....Carney runs behind

What is this guy talking about?

Rapinoe, Noguiera and Cristiane are similar.....

But come on Omid, you claimed that all this team needed was direction, that the talent was there and making the playoffs is something you have done with every team. Well deliver that then...because we fans are fed up with excuses...

A loss to Philly will confirm my fears that this guy is tinker man, changing formation and system too much, and will confirm Chicago as the revolving door club. In.out.in out.....

 

I'm sorry Gary, but once again I have to partly disagree with you. I think you are right in saying that many of our attacking players have similar styles, but I think it's wrong to put lump all of them into one category. Rapinoe and Carney are similar to each other, as are Noguiera and Christiane, but these pairings have very different styles from each other. Rapinoe/Carney are more wing type/slashing players who, are quite capable of running with the ball, can still make the cross or the spectacular pass, although I think Carney is probably the better crosser and Rapinoe the better pure passer. On the other hand Noguiera and Christiane are "post-up" type player who likes to receive the ball about 5 yards outside the box so they can turn, take a couple of touches and then shoot. They can run with the ball if they must, but their passing is very suspect. Ella is neither of these types of player. She's a classic forward who has both the speed and the ability to read the flow of the game. Her timing is probably one of her best qualities.

I think when it is said that they are "similar" type of players that's really code for "not a Wambach/Sinclair type" forward. That's what's really missing from this team. A focus for set plays.

They also don't have a big bruising cental defender--the one who does a lot of the crap work that doesn't get very much attention. Formiga and Chapman sort of share that role and both have been doing a great job. I've been very pleasantly surprised by Formiga--but she's not very big. (That reminds me--is there anywhere that the league lists how tall the players are? I haven't been able to find that information.) In many ways I think Chapman has been one of the most consistant players we've had. However, there hasn't been much link up between those two defensive minded midfielders and the more offensive minded Carney/Rapinoe.

Does anybody remember the old "Iowa/Oklahoma rules" girls high school basketball? Where the 3 forwards stayed in the front court and were not allowed to go into the back court? Same thing for the 3 defenders on the team. It seems at times that the CRS are kind of like this. The defense take possession then they pass the ball to the offense. Granted that this analogy breaks down easily because the Red Stars defenders (Dalmy mostly) run their asses off to join in the attack, but there is often very little fluidity between offense and defense. I think that part has gotten a lot better though.

 

The player bios do list height under their pic but you have to click on their name for the full page. Formiga is listed as 5'3" I do agree that the player/roster lists could be a bit better designed so as to require fewer clicks to get such info.

 

The only thing our attacking players styles are similiar in, is that they aren't consistent enough in their scoring.

 

Agreed MRAD.

It will be interesting to see how it unfolds, with different players like Boquete and McDonald now in the mix. I wonder if they can use Boquete to exploit Kryziks lack of pace? Boquete's kind of being thrown into the deep end, hopefully she's a player that thrives on pressure. Carney is recovering from a stomach bug that she had in the bay, so that may also become a factor. Philly has always been a really physical team that's had our number, but with two games in hand they've gotta know it's now or never.

Go CRS!

 

Yeah not having Carney is gonna hurt.. but I think that could be interesting.. I could see this as our lineup:


[LINEUP-4-3-3]Boquete, Cristiane, Masar, Rapinoe, Formiga, Chapman, Spilger, Markgraf, Engen, Dalmy, Loyden[/LINEUP-4-3-3]


Or we could see Washington get the start and be in a 4-4-2 with Cristiane and Masar up top. We'll see...

 

Horrible, horrible substitutions. Bringing on Sitch and Vandenbergh? Namazi, did you realize at the point you brought on Sitch we were tied? Why would you not bring on Boquete or McDonald? Why wouldnt you switch to a three back after they scored for the second time, like we did for about 70 minutes against Boston, and push for that goal? This makes absolutely no sense.


Once again we dominate possession and lost. But this time, all the blame should be put on the coach. We could have won this game had we used offensive substitutions. It was like he was too concerned with Amy Rodriguez! Oh and Loyden made yet another error to cost us that first goal.


Also, whoever those refs were did a horrible job. 4 yellows to Chicago with none to Philly?

 

I went to Toyota Park tonight and bought a book. It's called However Tall the Mountain: A Dream, Eight Girls, & A Journey Home by Awista Ayub. It's about a woman whose family left Afghanistan when the Taliban took over and then, after the US invasion, sponsored eight Afghan girls to come to the US and play soccer. I got through the prologue and two chapters and I must say, it's very good. It's usually difficult to tell much about a book after only two chapters but I have a feeling this one won't let me down and I'll learn a lot from it about a place I really don't know much about but should know more.

Oh yeah, there was a game tonight too, I guess. Mostly, it was four drunken idiots (I assume they were drunk because if they weren't I can't imagine how they remember to breathe) making hideously bad calls against the Red Stars, ignoring Philly's flagrant handballs and elbows and basically handing Philly the game on a platter. The league should be concerned because the level of officiating in WPS has seriously deteriorated since last year and I can't imagine people will continue to pay to watch morons with whistles ruin over half the games. Hopefully, this is just a local problem here in Chitown.

But I disgress...

However Tall... tells the stories of the Afghan girls in America and in Afghanistan and Ms. Ayub's return to that unfortunate land with the girls. The author, Ms. Ayub, was there selling the book. I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to talk to her much but I bought the book and she autographed it for me which was very nice of her. Anyway, I'm going to have to force myself to not stay up all night reading the book. If you'll pardon me for making a recommendation after only two chapters, I say buy it and read it, especially if you have a daughter because hopefully it will help her appreciate what we have in this country and show her the power girls/women have to do what some people think they can't/shouldn't do.

 

I wish the ref would explain what he saw in awarding that free kick to philly that led to their second goal. Poor defense by the red stars constantly letting breakaways or near breakaways.Where was the wall on that free kick. Were they lined up wrong or did someone move or just our GK not cover. It was a nice kick I must admit.

 

I think it was a handball..

 

I disagree w/ your suggestion of going to a 3 back -- particularly early in the half. But I'm one that doesn't think it works in this league. Dalmy gets forward enough that sending her forward even more (not making her part of a 3 back) would to me be the sort of move to make.

I completely agree with you that a forward should have come on as the first sub (for a Cristiane, who was invisible). Sitch has energy but (imo) is the sort of player one puts in midfield toward the end to protect a lead. I hope she isn't badly hurt -- for those that were there, was that another instance of contact/foul by Philly not being seen/called by the ref?

Now checking the boxscore, I see it lists CRS's subs not used as N/A -- as in they only had 3 subs on the bench. Weber was the only player listed as "not rostered" and no player was listed as injured. Is the boxscore woefully incomplete or have there been even more player moves?

Also, given Vandenbergh's performance, I have no idea why Weber wasn't rostered and hasn't seen more time. She showed very well in her time in STL as a very solid, young defender. I know many CRS fans like Spilger but she is the weak link in the back 4 & her passes are Not Good. I rate Weber as a much better left back. What does she have to do to get on the field?

I believe the wall jumped & the ball went under & Loyden couldn't get over/down fast enough to stop the shot. But I'd have to see a reply as I was watching the webcast in the "small window" at that point. And on the webcast I couldn't tell what the foul call was, either.

I agree completely that the ref had a sub-par outing. Again.

 

I think Vandenbergh is someone who should get much more playing time. She brought energy and movement to the left side. She did very well against Philly's strategy to attack down that side. Your gonna call out one errant pass when regular starters on this team out and out suck?

 

I’m looking forward to a time that we’re even with more teams as far as games played and then we can see where we are as far as standings.
— Chicago Red Stars Head Coach Omid Namazi

Well Omid after me and maybe 500 fans watched last nights game I am thinking it wont be looking to good. What are you doing out there??? There is no Chemistry at all on the field and it looks like the players are islands. If you look at the players they seem pissed and confused. They are pros!!!!!!! Coach them as pros!!Maybe your forwards do play the same but do you think you can play one high and play her as a target and hold the damn ball. Who is your goalie trainer? The goalie makes way to many game errors!! Defenders wow! How many times do you need to get beat before you learn to drop and defend.

You may want your own players but in sports you need to also coach and you aren't getting that done.