Utah Royals 2, The Adventure Continues

I’m not connected to this team much at all (see above) so the reactions I’ve been hearing through some podcasts has been very interesting.

from my perspective I don’t know how you justify keeping anyone around in the club with 8 points after 15 games. That’s the metric that matters and that ratio is god awful. The context of how poor the roster is is very relevant. So is the lack of experience on the staff.

the part that I just wasn’t at all aware of is the new assistant that is now the interim head coach. Purely from an outsider perspective, this sounds like a consultant that was hired to do an evaluation of staff while helping. I’ve seen it multiple times in my industry (finance) and more often than not it ends in this exact scenario: the suspicion that started the consultant hiring (poor performance and questioning of competency) is confirmed.

That it was done this quickly indicates the constant had a scathing report that not only questioned competency but potentially systemic issues (again in my line of work that can indicate potentially non compliance with law). So….

Look, I get the reactions from fans. I’m not saying some of the accusations aren’t potentially true, but from my seat too many parts of this show the ownership group did the right thing and took action instead of waiting

 

Also
I’m gonna get flak for this but I’d rather say it and get thoughts/reactions than just not:

why do all royals related podcasts/media/etc have such a weird vibe to them? I don’t know how to explain it but there is a tone difference that is somewhere between arrogance and cult like admiration / following

 

I have not ventured to far into the Royals media sphere. I think the no-negativity thing is NWSL-wide, which is a factor in how the predators thrives.

 

The only thing that seems crazy to me is that the move came swiftly following what was arguably their best performance of the season. It makes me wonder if the assistant was given the reigns for this game to prove he knew what he was doing and that Amy didn't.

 

Every single thing I’ve listened to mention how much the guy was essentially acting as head coach that week
So yeah

 

And no disrespect, but the club Pres is a pretty great lawyer and was a decent soccer player herself, played for Harvard. Clearly brilliant and motivated, but unluckily not a great sports org mind like Garth or Checketts.

 

Did they get rid of the English lady that is GM or something? She sounded like a right hire.

 

Nope. Cousins stayed.

 

Stuff is moving. We just added:

1. Japanese national team star Mina Tanaka as the Royals' first proven goalscoring threat after struggling to find the back of the net all season. Tanaka has 30 goals with Japan's women's national team and is currently with Japan as it prepares for the Paris Olympics beginning on July 25.
   
2. Spanish attacking midfielder Claudia Zornoza through the 2025 season. The 33-year-old spent the last three years at Real Madrid and won a World Cup with Spain last year but is not on the Olympic squad this year, allowing her to arrive in Utah as soon as her visa clears.

To go along with the other early season add-ons:

 

I should point out, it is pronounced
Thor-NO-tha.

 

I thought it was pronounced Bar-thaaaaaa-lona?

 

I thought I saw that the Royals won their tournament group but didn't finish top 4 overall to advance.

 

Just subbed out in the 70’.
Still 0-0.

 

Wenger is probably right about changing the offside rule.

 

Why?
It’s a rare black and white law. If you start to open it to more it goes the path of handling.

 

Correct. They earned 6 points. The other group winners earned 7,8,8,9 and advanced.

 

I may be misunderstanding his proposed change, but it sure seems like a simplification of the rule.

 

I like the Wenger change myself. It's basically the opposite of the rule we have now. To be offsides all playable body parts would have to be past the last defender. It'd mean for a lot more goals and a lot less looking at whether a toe or not is off

 

I am on the fence with the suggested changes with the offside rule. I would like to see the results from where it has been tried before moving it into MLS.

I absolutely love the offside rule. It's the greatest rule in sport. Don't ruin it.

 

So…. How long until the folks that were so mad about ARod getting canned admit it was the right decision?

 

I really wanted ARod to work out, because it would have been a great story. I don't think I was one of those that was upset about her getting canned, just ambivalent.

But yeah. Obviously now, she was not ready for prime time.

New coach also looks pretty good after getting in significant reinforcements. I don't think ARod would have had much improved results with these new players though.

 

ARod was obviously in over her head, and in that sense it was probably the right decision. No point in delaying the inevitable. But it’s a little upsetting that they hired someone like her in the first place, and then gave her almost nothing to work with. Like, who approved this whole idea in the first place? Did the owners just not care about the women’s team?

Anyway, the new guy has conjured up some good momentum, and the tactics seem to have improved. But I haven’t seen enough to say he’s going to improve results long term. He hasn’t won a league match yet, and these summer cup games were against B squads and a mid-level Mexican team. I fear we’ll get turned over more often than not in the games after the break - we just don’t have a strong squad.