As I noticed in another thread, at the end of this week Chicago Red Stars will have 8 matchs played, while Sky Blue FC will have 4 and Seattle Reign FC will have 5. Crazy schedule for a crazy season! At some point, CRS will have to sit down, take a coffee and see if others team manage to catch up with them.
Presumably the league will expand next year. I hope they either do 1 team or (ideally) 3 teams, to make an even number and avoid awkward bye weeks. Say for example LAFC/Barca, Vancouver, and Atlanta join. Or possibly revive Boston with a new ownership group. Twelve clubs would allow each to play the others twice, home and away, for a total of 22 regular season games. With more teams, you could do a longer postseason. Say half the table qualifies for playoffs. The best two teams, #1 and #2, get a bye to the second round. Meanwhile, teams #3 and #6, and #4 and #5 face off. Winners advance to play #1 and #2 in the semifinals. Winners advance to the final, either continuing with a pre-determined neutral site (this has yielded fairly poor results attendance-wise) or the highest seed hosts. Of course, this plan assumes all 9 current teams return. I have worries about Houston (poor management, big stars don't want to play there, low attendance), Seattle (stadium situation), and maybe Sky Blue (because they are so small).
[CHI-ORL] <any minute now> The XI playing for Orlando tonight. Kickoff is at 7:30! #CHIvORL | #VamosOrlando pic.twitter.com/zqQzo8nr9q— Orlando Pride (@ORLPride) May 2, 2018 Chicago: QUESTIONABLE none OUT DiBernardo, Ertz (back), McCaffrey, Short, White Orlando: QUESTIONABLE Harris (L elbow), Morgan (L knee) both hyperextended OUT Camila
Just in time Another One#CHIvORL pic.twitter.com/qinLy9ankh— Chicago Red Stars (@chicagoredstars) May 2, 2018
28' 0-1 Colaprico turns at circle center and tries a quick release up the right -- but ball hits Ubogagu's shins, bounces ahead to Leroux. Leroux taps square to circle (her) top left for Ubogagu, both sprint-counter 3-v-3. Ubogagu dribbles unmarked to 27m 6-left, rolls a forward pass to Leroux at box top mid-left, continues her own run. Ball clangs off Leroux's right outstep, to arc left. Ubogagu steps to it, one-touch left foot shot micro-deflects upward off Naughton's outstretched foot -- bounces past Naeher's dive, into right side netting. Sydney's legendary first touch assist .@ChiAlreadyKnow strikes again! The @ORLPride take the lead in Toyota Park.#CHIvORL | #NWSL | @go90Sports pic.twitter.com/65UBJmT56O— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) May 3, 2018
Never been a big Leroux fan nor did I really think her moving to Orlando was more than adding a name but I have to admit she has really added something a team that was very technical but lacked something against more physical teams like the Thorns. Leroux has brought grit and fire and may just be the missing ingredient
I thought Orlando was definitely better during the first half -- even though Marta wasn't involved much. Chicago started fast and then seemed to lose a bit of energy. Kerr has tried a couple of long distance shots when I thought she should have passed to Mautz or Huerta. Naughton on one play caught up with Leroux. Maybe Naughton is faster than I thought -- or Leroux has lost a step. Still, whatever, Leroux has been very active. Naughton maybe deserves a tryout for the national team.
50' 0-1 Play stopped for weather delay: lightning in vicinity. Players leave field. [18:08] 50' 0-1 End of the second HT We resume!
81' 0-2 Chicago outlet toward Kaskie in circle back -- but just behind her, forces her to pull up and reach back, facing wrong way. Poliana wins ball off Kaskie's foot, passes ahead to Hill posting up 1-v-2 at 38m center. Hill lays off square right to Mônica, starts her own cut. Mônica bends a one-touch square pass left to Van Egmond at 35m mid-left -- Hill swivels head and keeps going. Van Egmond pauses, taps a no-look through-ball to arc left, Hill times it perfectly, held onside by Naughton's trailing right foot, in alone with 5m+ of cushion behind her. Naeher charges and slides down through 12m 3-right, Hill's 1st touch taps left around Naeher to 8m mid-left, she runs around forehand and passes accurately, a slow roller to back right low. Edmonds was onside behind the ball, all alone up the centerline, but veers off and lets it roll in. Rachel Hill puts this one away for @ORLPride!#CHIvORL | #NWSL pic.twitter.com/3D7reY8W1Q— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) May 3, 2018 FT 0-2. Orlando's 1st-ever win against Chicago? Hmph. And Orlando's 1st goal this year not by Ubogagu or Marta
An impressive performance by Orlando. Marta wasn't very good, Morgan didn't play, so offense was Ubogagu and Rachel Hill. Hill, if I recall correctly, won the scoring title in the Aussie league last winter. She's one to keep an eye on. I take back what I said about Leroux losing a step. She took off like a rocket once in the second half....and did some good defensive work. Orlando seemed to have 4 players covering Sam Kerr every time she touched the ball -- and a crowd between any Chicago player and the goal. Chicago has to figure out a way to get Kerr loose. Not enough wide play by Chicago. Best Chicago player (of a bad lot) was Naughton who made one bad mistake, but was pretty spectacular at center back most of the night
Yes, sometimes it looked like Kerr wanted to do it all alone, stubbornly looking for a personal goal, while not being the same Kerr as 2017 so far. Even when in 2nd half she tried to pass the ball instead, her touch looked quite poor. She probably needs some time to get back at her top-level and to gel with her new team.
I was at the game yesterday and Red Stars played poorly. It was not that Orlando did anything spectacular, IMO. The first goal started with a bad pass in the middle of the field from Colaprico, the second was just bad marking. So IMO, Orlando was not "impressive", the Red Stars were just bad last night. Why in the world is Gilliland playing forward instead of Yuki? Gilliland often tries to go toward the box on a run dribbling wildly and when she gets there she has no idea how to take a shot. Great defender but IMO not a forward. The NWSL is not the Australian summer league. Not enough skill on the ball last night for the Red Stars. Colaprico had one of her worst games I've seen. They need Ertz back badly. And please stop with this Arin Gilliland at forward experiment. It's not working. yes, Kerr did try to do it by herself, because no one else was in position to help her. Just like press last few years.
Interesting - and scary for the rest of the league - to think that Orlando has earned 4pts in the two games Marta has been back even when Marta herself has been mostly ineffective. What happens when she actually gets in to gear?
Is it? No denying the player that Marta is but I don't think her performances in the league have risen to the levels of Little (2014, 2015), Dunn (2015), Kerr (2017), such that teams will be wary of her. I actually think that whatever level she is at right now is not too far off from her peak in this league.
Marta was #2 in goals scored and tied for #2 in assists last year. If you don't consider that at the levels of the other MVP award recipients, I don't know what to say. A lot of people thought she was a better candidate for MVP than Kerr was last year, especially since she helped her team climb from the bottom of the ladder to near the top. Granted, part of that was probably from the two-pronged threat she and Morgan provided when working together, but it's no question that they were the best offensive tandem in the league. Her form in the last two games was not what she brought to the team last year. (And Morgan hasn't contributed much yet either.) That's why I think teams should be worried.
Marta did not look like Marta of past last night. She looks overweight and is much slower. It wasn't the play of Marta that gave the win to Orlando last night, it was nonexistent Red Stars midfield that lost the game for Chicago and the constant giveaways.
It took both Marta and Morgan to get Orlando on their run. Before Morgan was healthy, the Pride were an average team. That was why I had no problem with Kerr winning the MVP over Marta. And if I'm going to be honest, she didn't look all that great during the Copa America, either. Luckily for her, Brazil didn't need her to be great to win.
Kerr & Hill were both on Perth Glory. I believe Kerr got the boot with Hill adding 9 goals for runner up and leading the league in assists. Hill is much more dangerous in a central role than when they push her out wide. She is very good finding space and moving without the ball.
[POR-SEA] Derby day. Our lineup for #PORvSEA. Kickoff on @lifetimetv is 12:30PM PT. #BAONPDX pic.twitter.com/UkKGxKe1T1— Portland Thorns FC (@ThornsFC) May 5, 2018 pic.twitter.com/OK7Tnp9Jcn— Seattle Reign FC (@reignfc) May 5, 2018 Portland: Q Klingenberg (left hip pain; starting), Menges (right tibia) OUT Franch, Geist, Morris, Raso Seattle: Q none OUT: Averbuch, Dallstream, Johnson, Rapinoe, Spencer
Watching the game. Portland just hit the crossbar at about 17'. Both defense-lines look quite atrocious to me: no one in them seems to be able to cleanly play the ball, there is constant sense of anxiety in them, by both sides.