Author: RJ Allen

Backline Chat: We’ll See You in Court

Posted on by RJ Allen

Charles Olney (@olneyce): Welcome to this week’s Backline Soccer Chat. We’ve got some national team news to discuss, some NWSL games to cover, and even a few new NWSL signings to discuss. To kick things off, let’s start with the US Women’s National Team. The roster dropped a week ago, and we’ve all had some time to digest and reflect, so there’s no need to dwell too long here. But does anyone have any lingering thoughts?

Allison Cary (@findingallison): I’m upgrading McCall Zerboni not getting called up to a crime against humanity. That is all.

Charles Olney: I wrote a whole piece on that for SSFC, so I won’t say anything more except that I still don’t really get it. Particularly given the reporting which suggests that Ellis saw those final roster choices as all about managing ‘what if’ scenarios.

Luis Hernandez (@radioactivclown): I’m not going to go as far as Allison about Zerboni but I can see her getting pulled into the squad for an injured player or someone who can’t be 90 minutes fit by the World Cup starting.

Charles Olney: That would not surprise me at all. We’re still weeks ago from the actual deadline, so there’s a lot that could change.

Allison Cary: Yeah, absolutely.

Charles Olney: Two other omissions which were by no means surprises, but which I still want to note: Lynn Williams has been one of the most prolific goal-scorers in the league for three seasons now, and provides a physical presence that seems like it could be useful. And Vanessa DiBernardo continues to improve, and is genuinely one of the great passers of her generation. I’m not saying they absolutely should have made it, but it bums me out that they weren’t even in the picture.

Allison Cary: Yeah, I wasn’t surprised that they weren’t included, but like you said, the fact that they weren’t even in the discussion is disappointing. Especially Williams.

Charles Olney: I hope they both still get a real chance at some point. It would make me sad if they continue to play this well and just never make it back on the radar.

Luis Hernandez: I don’t think most fans would say those are really omissions. I think you kind of have to watch the league as a whole unbiasedly. They weren’t even given much of a chance to get snubbed.

I think after this World Cup cycle you see the return of more younger players or maybe just not as veteran a team.

For example, I’m a big fan of Ohai but she won’t get a look until the end of the chapter for this current team.

Charles Olney: We might talk more about Casey Short when we get to the games this week, but it also shouldn’t go unmentioned that her absence might well end up being felt this summer.

Allison Cary: I feel bad for Short. I think the injury and youth took her out of the picture, but I’m not sure it should have.

Luis Hernandez: At least Short has time to make another World Cup. I do think she’s solid for the US on the left side.

Charles Olney: Alright, to wrap things up, hopefully we can agree that even if the 23 isn’t precisely what we might each have preferred, it’s still extremely loaded and the US are most likely the favorites to retain their title? Or, at a minimum co-favorites.

Allison Cary: It is a fantastic side. I think there are other really good sides too, but I wouldn’t bet against this US side.

Luis Hernandez: I don’t have the US as the top favorite but yes they will be favored. I would be less nervous if the defense were more solid.

Charles Olney: Alright, the other piece of news that arrived this week is that US Soccer has responded to the USWNT player’s gender discrimination complaint, basically by denying the validity of the accusations in most key respects. The players responded with a pretty terse ‘we’ll see you in court.’ Do you have any thoughts about where this is going?

Allison Cary: Personally, I’ve tried to sort out my feelings, but I keep coming back to the fact that I don’t know anywhere near enough about equal employment law.

Charles Olney: As I said on Twitter, I’m not a lawyer but I am law adjacent, and my sense is that US Soccer has a decent legal argument but even if they might expect to win the case if it went to trial, they’ll take a beating in public opinion. So I still expect this to get settled out of court.

But I’m less sure about that now than I was yesterday.

Luis Hernandez: I’m not a lawyer, but I think US Soccer is going to have a bit of an uphill climb.

Allison Cary: If the team is playing for the court of public opinion, I think they’re doing well. What I keep coming back to legally is, do they have a burden of proof to show this is solely based on gender? Because that seems like a high bar to meet for anyone.

Luis Hernandez: I do think the players have more of an argument on some of the basics, but USSF has corrected most of what they can. Should be interesting to see how it plays out

Charles Olney: It is a pretty high bar. Certainly, organizations are allowed to treat groups differently based on a wide variety of things. That the USMNT and USWNT are (obviously) gender-segregated doesn’t necessarily mean every decision to treat them different is therefore gender-based. On the other hand, some of the public statement that US Soccer has made on these issues are pretty damning.

One final thought: obviously it shouldn’t matter legally, but I also wonder whether the results in France might shade things one way or the other.

Allison Cary: I think it will, unfortunately. I don’t think it should.

Charles Olney: Okay, enough of the national team. Let’s talk some NWSL. We had four games and two goals this weekend. So my first question is just: should we expect more of the same until the national teamers get back? Or was this just a fluke?

Luis Hernandez: I kind of think this question can be a bit unfair to the players from other nations still here. Certainly, the goal scorers this season so far have mostly been USWNT players, but I think there’s still some offense around the league

Allison Cary: We lost some of the top goal scorers but there is plenty of good offense left. We might see a drop in number of goals, but I don’t think it will be this sparse every week.

Charles Olney: Obviously there are a ton of good attackers still around. But there’s also no denying that virtually all of the top attacking performances this season have come from US national team players. I’m certain that others will step up at some point, but I wonder if that might still be a difference between now and four years ago: that defenses are more solid and less vulnerable to losing top players.

Luis Hernandez: Yuki and Sinclair have three goals, and Sam Kerr only has two.I think it’s just been fluky.

Allison Cary: I don’t think NC not scoring is going to be the norm.

Luis Hernandez: Most teams are deeper now and the league hopefully won’t see a major drop in talent and ability overall.

Charles Olney: So digging in a little bit more specifically, any thoughts from the individual games? My feeling is that we saw a lot of teams in holding patterns, without all that much clear evidence of whether to expect changes. Utah got three points (again), without necessarily dominating (again). North Carolina dominated (as usual) but couldn’t get their shots on target (except even more so). The Reign played okay but couldn’t score.

Orlando continue to struggle, without necessarily ever looking terrible. Sky Blue still don’t look great, but have managed points against the two finalists from last season.

Allison Cary: I want so badly to believe Utah is as good as their record reflects. And they did good without Sauerbrunn and Press, but they’re gonna lose many more players. Not sure if they’ll be able to sustain it. And like you said, as it is, they’re not dominating.

Charles Olney: I feel like we’ve mostly seen results that could either be indicators of big changes, or just indicators that things will mostly stay the same. And it’s really hard to tell which is which.

Allison Cary: Pretty much summed it up there, Charles.

Charles Olney: I would certainly be surprised if Utah keep winning every game. The real question is whether they drop off to a normal playoff contender pace, or whether they fall back to where they were last year. I’m more convinced by them now than I was a month ago, certainly, and those points are already in the bank, so…

Allison Cary: Yeah, it’s a good thing they’re racking in points now.

Charles Olney: I saw someone point out that Orlando right now is basically where Houston was last year after five games – manager who is new to the league, really struggling to put things together, major risk of being cut adrift. And then Houston righted the ship and started reeling off results. I’m not PREDICTING that will happen with Orlando, but it’s at least a potentially positive analogy.

Allison Cary: Orlando needs anything even potentially positive right now.

Luis Hernandez: I think this weekend was mostly what the teams this season will be. Maybe most teams outside of Orlando get another couple of games under their belt before we can say, “yeah, that’s who that team is for the season.”

I think we’re about to enter a phase in the league where teams are going to add some reinforcements from overseas like we saw with Sky Blue or expect from Orlando.

Charles Olney: Speaking of reinforcements, thoughts on the two additions that were just announced: Gina Lewandowski to Sky Blue and Casey Murphy to the Reign? I’m a big fan of both moves.

Allison Cary: Yeah, me too. Solid additions ahead of the WC.

Luis Hernandez: I don’t think that’s the best spot for Murphy long-term but I don’t hate the move. I wasn’t surprised by the Lewandowski move at all. I knew she was going to play in the US from what I had seen. Plus the only NWSL team she follows on her social media is Sky Blue. Yeah, I went there.

Charles Olney: Lewandowski was, I think, somewhat unfairly cut out of the national team picture due to being overseas. At this point, she’s almost certainly dropped off to the point where that’s no longer true. But even a below-peak Lewandowski could be huge for a team like Sky Blue that just needs some defensive continuity to build off.

Luis Hernandez: I agree with you Charles. She deserved more time in the national team picture, but I think you can also say that for Ella Masar, who is retiring to go into coaching.

Charles Olney: I agree that Reign is maybe not the ideal landing spot for Murphy. From all I’ve seen (admittedly not enough to really be sure), she’s good enough to be a regular starter in the league, whether during the World Cup or not. So I’d rather see her go to a team where she could expect to start right from the beginning. But as Claire Watkins was pointing out, this may really be about protecting themselves from expansion next year. Certainly no harm in building depth.

Alright, looking forward, we’ve got another four NWSL matchups this weekend. Sky Blue and Washington will meet up for the second time in a month, Utah will take on Houston, Orlando will face Portland (another repeat), and Chicago will play NC (see above). So, any thoughts of any of those matchups?

And also, what’s up with the lack of new opponents?!

Allison Cary: Yeah, lots of repeats.

Luis Hernandez: Frankly I think it sucks that we have so many rematches when teams like Orlando haven’t played Sky Blue or Washington.

I would like to wait a bit more to see replays between teams.

Allison Cary: Since Sky Blue managed to get two draws against two of the stronger clubs in the league, I’m curious to see how they’ll do against Washington this time around.

Charles Olney: Sky Blue-Washington is definitely one to watch. Both teams will be desperate to genuinely turn a new leaf on their awful 2018s, and getting a win here would go a long way for each of them. Which means it’ll probably be a draw.

Allison Cary: Probably.

Charles Olney: Utah-Houston is another good test for two teams who want to show that they’ve taken a step forward from 2018. If either gets a win, that will go a long way to proving that they are serious challengers. If Utah can get 12 points in 4 games to start the season, they would certainly become favorites to make the playoffs. And if Houston can knock them off, they would actually pass them in the table (albeit with an extra game played).

Allison Cary: Yeah, that’s true on both points. Houston knocking off Utah could be a big boost for them in confidence and points, and Utah being undefeated in four can’t be shrugged off.

Luis Hernandez: Obviously travel for Portland might also be a factor than at the opening of the season.

Charles Olney: Yeah, Luis, that’s a good point. Portland’s neverending travel adventure has got to be a drag.

Allison Cary: I’m exhausted just looking at Portland’s schedule.

Charles Olney: We’ve also managed to avoid mentioning the game between North Carolina and Chicago. That one certainly isn’t a ‘must win’ for either team, but I think they’ll both REALLY want to get the three points after extremely disappointing results last weekend.

Luis Hernandez: The big takeaway from all the rematches is if the results from the first go-around continue or there’s a shift between these opponents.

Allison Cary: Very true. It seems like both teams keep bouncing back and forth between having a really good match and then a really frustrating one.

Charles Olney: I’ll be curious to see how Riley changes things up – or if he sticks with the same XI. I thought they were fine against Sky Blue, but nothing like the sort of dominance we’ve otherwise seen. Is that just the absence of Dunn and Mewis? I expected they would handle the loss of Dahlkemper fine, but Kurtz had a rough game.

Luis Hernandez: Across all the games this weekend, I get a “must watch” vibe, but it’s also partly because they are replays.

Charles Olney: Any general thoughts before we wrap things up?

Allison Cary: Utah and NC doing Star Wars merch was cool and teams should be doing more stuff like that.

Also I hope Utah’s attendance stays high.

Charles Olney: Yeah! It didn’t really look like they had that many in the stadium, but even if some of those were ticket-sales-not-butts-in-seats, that’s still a HUGE number. They definitely don’t seem to be suffering a sophomore slump attendance-wise, which is really nice.

Allison Cary: Yeah, I really think women’s soccer could be massive in Salt Lake. I really want them to prove me right.

Charles Olney: It sure would be great if they could announce a big year-end event there to get everyone excited. Maybe the weekend of October 26. Just a thought.

Luis Hernandez: lol

One final thing: I just want to point out here that we’re this far into the schedule and the league still has the 2018 rules and regulations posted and nothing in the roster rules reflect the changes that we see on the pitch

Charles Olney: Given the hiring situation at NWSL headquarters, it may be that way for a while, unfortunately.

Well, that’s a suitably depressing note to end on. Thanks for reading everyone. We’ll be back next week, and in the meantime, we hope you enjoy some thrilling soccer.

All Play and No Goals Makes Sky Blue an Exciting Team

Posted on by RJ Allen

Sky Blue FC may not have unlocked the key to scoring goals and winning games yet in 2019 but they have proven to be one of the more exciting teams after this weekends goalless draw to the North Carolina Courage.

Imani Dorsey provided the nail-biting moments for the team as she made incisive runs that broke the vaunted Courage defense. Good goalkeeping and luck kept her off the score sheet and Sky Blue of the win column after a well-played road game.

“I’m really proud of our effort,” said Dorsey after the game. “I think we are building each week and we are learning that we can weather the storms and also take it to teams.”

The team weather more than just an actual storm as North Carolina unleashed a barrage that nearly saw them take the lead. Had it not been for the lucky goal post, it could have been a very different game for Sky Blue.

“We bombarded Sky Blue for 25 minutes after the rain out,” said Courage couch Paul Riley. “I thought during that time we would get a goal, but the ball never really bounced our way at the end of the field.”

In the end it is a share of the points for both teams but feels like a major step forward for Sky Blue. The team traveled to the defending champions and were able to stitch together a performance that led to a result that may be far more impactful come the end of the campaign.

Now they will return home to play a Washington Spirit team that has not shown much since both sides met to start the season. It is a chance for Sky Blue to not just grab their first win, but maybe affirm that this year will not be a waste like 2018.

“I think we can diversify our attack a little bit more,” said Dorsey. “The chances we are getting on goal are quality and we are really creating opportunities for ourselves. I’m happy for us.”

The Game Changers: Week Four

Posted on by RJ Allen

The Game Changers is a weekly series looking at the most important results of each week. Each section will look at one team and how its win, loss, or draw impacts the season.

It’s officially been four weeks since the NWSL season kicked off. This week was low scoring, with just two goals scored across four games. The Utah Royals now sit at the top of the NWSL table, with nine points across three games. Meanwhile, the Orlando Pride earned another loss this week as they struggle at the bottom of the table with just one point. This is the first week without the U.S national team players, but there weren’t too many surprise results. Here are the score lines from this weekend:

Utah Royals vs. Chicago Red Stars (1-0)

Washington Spirit vs. Seattle Reign (0-0)

North Carolina Courage vs. Sky Blue (0-0)

Houston Dash vs. Orlando Pride (1-0)

Utah Royals undefeated in their first three games

The Utah Royals are off to a hot start, and this weekend, they proved they could succeed without Christen Press, Becky Sauerbrunn, or Kelley O’Hara. The Royals hosted their second home match of the season on Friday night against the Chicago Red Stars. The Red Stars were coming off a hot streak of their own, with seven goals in two games and a dominant win over the Seattle Reign in Week Three. They lost Alyssa Naeher, Morgan Brian, and Tierna Davidson to U.S. national team call-ups. The game was tight, with the 84th minute winner being scored by Amy Rodriguez.

The Utah Royals will lose more internationals in the coming weeks. While not all the names are cemented, the possible absences include Diana Matheson, Desiree Scott, Katie Bowen, Vero Boquete, and Rachel Corsie. Four of those players started for the Royals on Friday night, and it’s not clear how deep their team is. I would never underestimate a Laura Harvey side, but their team will be one of many that will be rocked by the 2019 Women’s World Cup. Good thing they’re racking up points early on.

Sky Blue plays scoreless draw against North Carolina

At the beginning of the season, it looked like Sky Blue was going to be more of the same. They dropped points to Washington in their first match and Houston in their home opener, losing both matches with zero goals scored. Their third match was against the Portland Thorns, and most people thought they would be destroyed. Instead, Carli Lloyd scored two goals in the first 25 minutes and Sky Blue finished the game with a 2-2 draw.

North Carolina is without many U.S. national team members, including Sam Mewis, Abby Dalhkemper, Crystal Dunn, and Jessica McDonald. Sky Blue lost just one player– Carli Lloyd. The game was not even. North Carolina had 28 shots to Sky Blue’s seven. They had fifteen corners to Sky Blue’s five, and they dominated possession at 58%. But this draw still feels important for Sky Blue. They were supposed to be slaughtered in these last two games. Instead, they managed to get two points against two of the best teams in the league. And while it is too early to be worried over the NWSL Standings, Sky Blue sits one point above the Orlando Pride. They’re still looking for their first win, which took them the entire season in 2018. But things feel slightly more hopeful in New Jersey, especially as teams prepare to lose their internationals.

Orlando Drops More Points at Home

Things are starting to look dire for the Orlando Pride. They have played five games so far this season, yet they sit at the bottom of the table with only one point. They have allowed nine goals in those five games, while scoring just one. They’re without Alex Morgan, Ashlyn Harris, and Ali Krieger, and they will likely lose players like Shelina Zadorsky, Alanna Kennedy, Emily van Egmond, Marta, and Camila in the coming weeks. It’s hard to see how things can get better for them, but it’s also hard to see how they can get much worse.

Houston didn’t dominate Orlando, but the match certainly wasn’t even either. Houston had 18 shots to Orlando’s nine, and nine shots on goal while Orlando had none. Haley Kopmeyer stepped with eight saves, while Jane Campbell didn’t have to make any. The lone goal from Kealia Ohai was a beauty, but Orlando’s inability to generate any energy really cemented their problems. If you’re an Orlando fan, it’s probably time to panic.

Women’s Soccer Has A Seriousness Problem

Posted on by RJ Allen

Soccer is a beautiful game.

Eleven people suit up on either side of the ball with about half trying to get the ball into the net and another half trying to keep it out. There are heroes and villains that make themselves known over the course of a few minutes or a match or a career. There is glory and heartbreak that can happen with a single strike of the ball.

A well-played soccer match is like watching Michelangelo working on carving David out of stone as the minutes tick by. It’s masterful.

Sometimes the things that the women’s soccer media world is tasked to cover are not beautiful. That doesn’t mean it’s not worthwhile. It’s important to write about a club doing horrible things to their players. Breaking down top tier rosters and trying to figure out who stays and who goes when it comes to major events is the kind of analytic backbone that helps fans learn and grow. Serious pieces to help try and create flesh on a skeleton. But that doesn’t leave a lot of time to write about the joy or the mastery of skill or the fun of it all.

One of the issues for women’s soccer is that there just aren’t that many pieces written about it, aren’t that many media covering it, isn’t that much brain power thinking about it. Which means that oftentimes the people who would be writing pieces about that joy, that mastery, have to break news and write about the big tough problems. They can’t write about the fun stuff because those stories feel a little trivial when there are bigger fish to fry. Sometimes the fish don’t even have to be bigger. They just need some fish, any fish, to be there. Much of the media that is unpaid or under paid does the work that the major media would usually do.

There isn’t wall to wall coverage of the NWSL draft on par with the NFL or NBA draft, not even on par with the MLS draft. Games are not broken down on ESPN week in and week out. Scores aren’t even recapped on most daily sports shows. It’s the job of the small collection of media to handle the basic logistics of covering the league because no one else does it.

Think about how many pieces a typical person who covers the NWSL or USWNT puts out in a year. How much time do they have to devote to just simply covering the basics of the sport? After all, they know if they don’t do it, probably no one else will. So instead writing more fun or experimental or cerebral pieces, this is what they’re stuck with.

With that in mind, I want to give a shoutout to Stephanie Yang, who wrote a wrote a really nice piece, “NWSL teams as Avengers.” It was refreshing not because it was about the Avengers and sports, right before a huge Avengers movie comes out, and because it was just fun. Yang is one of the more prolific people when it comes to covering American women’s soccer. She writes plenty of the basic stuff that just has to get done. But she also writes things with humor, wit and story crafting, and those are the ones that really sing.

Another example: Andrew Sharp at The Maneland had a great piece called Twitter Reacts to NWSL’s Newest Style Icon Marc Skinner that went in to some of the great media content that Orlando Prde has been putting out about their new coach.

Even I’ve gotten in to the act writing a preview of the Utah Royal’s roster by turning them in to a Quidditch team and talking about each player when I wrote Utah Royals QC Roster is Magical for RSL Soapbox.

I really do believe one of the impediments to non-fans becoming casual fans and casual fans becoming devoted fans is that women’s soccer sometimes feels like homework. It isn’t always easy to just engage for the fun of it, when you have to work hard to find sources. If your local site covers the team at all, it’s probably mostly negative stuff, or serious stories. And where’s the fun in that?

It’s a common problem around women’s sports. With less coverage, every word matters more. Things need to be covered and we cover them well. But it also means we’re so worried about putting the shots on frame we’ve lost sight of the beauty of it all.

Men’s soccer, men’s sports, can be fun. They can just be sports and no one raises an eyebrow. Women’s sports are important and serious and necessary and groundbreaking. But they should be fun too.

Jill Ellis Names The USWNT 23: Which Players Made 
the Cut?

Posted on by RJ Allen

Defending World Cup Champion US Women’s National team has announced their 23-woman roster ahead of the World Cup in June. Many of the picks were expected but the rumored selection of Ali Krieger, which drew a bit of criticism, did in fact come to be.

Almost half of the selected players will be making their first World Cup appearance including Mallory Pugh, Lindsey Horan, Allie Long and Emily Sonnett. Those names will join veteran players like Carli Lloyd, Kelley O’Hara, Becky SauerBrunn, Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan as those making three or more appearances in the highest women’s tournament in the world.

The inclusion of Krieger did initially raise some eyebrows. However it is in line with head coach Jill Ellis’ past decisions. In 2015 she selected 27-year-old Shannon Boxx who had only just rejoined the team months earlier before the World Cup. The veteran presence might have been something Ellis sought considering the experience of her selections for the competition in France.

The tournament begins on June 7th with the USA’s first game being in Reims against Thailand on June 11th.

2019 FIFA World Cup US Women’s National Team Selection:

Goalkeepers (3): Adrianna Franch, Ashlyn Harris, Alyssa Naeher

Defenders (7): Abby Dahlkemper, Tierna Davidson, Crystal Dunn, Ali Krieger, Kelley O’Hara, Becky Sauerbrunn, Emily Sonnett

Midfielders (6): Morgan Brian, Julie Ertz, Lindsey Horan, Rose Lavelle, Allie Long, Samantha Mewis

Forwards (7): Tobin Heath, Carli Lloyd, Jessica McDonald, Alex Morgan, Christen Press, Mallory Pugh, Megan Rapinoe

The Game Changers: Week Three

Posted on by RJ Allen

The Game Changers is a weekly series looking at the three most important results of each week. Each section will look at one team and how its win, loss, or draw impacts the season.

Week Three in the NWSL saw the strongest teams begin to separate themselves from the rest of the pack. The North Carolina Courage earned another dominating win, and the Utah Royals earned another 1-0 victory to give them two wins in their first two matches. Meanwhile, Sky Blue came to life against Portland and Orlando suffered their third loss in four matches. Here is a full breakdown of the scores:

Orlando Pride vs. Utah Royals (0-1)

Chicago Red Stars vs. Reign FC (3-0)

Sky Blue FC vs. Portland Thorns (2-2)

Houston Dash vs. North Carolina Courage (1-4)

Chicago Red Stars dominate Reign FC

The Chicago Red Stars started the year with draws against the top-two teams from last season. They accomplished things few teams could last year: they scored four goals against the Portland Thorns and earned a point on the road in Cary, North Carolina. While these were good games for the Red Stars, it wasn’t clear if they could turn these games into long-term success.

Week Three might be too early to decide who is and is not a playoff contender. But this three goal victory against last year’s No. 3 team lifted the Chicago Red Stars into the top tier of the NWSL. Their attack benefited from poor defense by the Reign, but even so, they have scored eight goals in their first three matches. It’s not clear how much the World Cup will impact their squad, but they seem poised to take less of a hit than other top teams.

With this win, the Chicago Red Stars have grabbed our attention. We’ll see if they can keep themselves in that top tier.

Sky Blue Draws Against Portland

Sky Blue had two losses in their first two games and failed to score a goal in either match. Many people went into Sunday’s game assuming they would get blown out by the Portland Thorns, who were averaging three goals a game. Instead, Carli Lloyd opened up scoring in the sixth minute. Sky Blue had their first goal of the season and an early lead over the Portland Thorns.

In the end, Lloyd found the back of the net one more time before Emily Sonnett and Tobin Heath scored within two minutes of each other. Even though Sky Blue only managed a draw in this match, getting their first points of the season against one of the strongest teams in the league is meaningful to this Sky Blue side. We’ve been searching for signs of life in 2019 after Sky Blue had a disastrous 2018. While they’re still waiting for their first win, this game showed that Sky Blue can compete. And the gap between them and other clubs will get even tighter as other teams lose massive chunks of their roster to the World Cup.

Houston takes a tough loss to North Carolina

Houston was– and still is– a big question mark for the 2019 season. It felt like a good step forward when they didn’t lose to Reign FC, even though they gave up a late PK. They scored a late winner against Sky Blue, despite not having their best game. But their less-than-stellar performances caught up with them against North Carolina, who made them pay for their mistakes with four goals against them.

Houston is teetering between a playoff team and a middle-of-the-pack team. There is no shame in losing to North Carolina, but Houston was completely dominated for most of the second half. With a new head coach, they’re likely still finding their footing. This match has the opportunity to be a wake-up call for Houston, but it may also be a sign that they’re still short of that top-level.

Sheridan Playing Too Well for Sky Blue

Posted on by RJ Allen

You may not have noticed, because Sky Blue FC is in their unfortunately usual form, but Kailen Sheridan is playing incredibly well. The superhuman goalkeeper for Sky Blue did everything humanly possible last week against the Houston Dash to keep her team in the game, only to have her own defense produce the play that led to their second consecutive loss in 2019.

Sheridan, a Canadian international, joined Sky Blue in 2017 and has made 20-plus appearances in each season she has played. Despite the team not being incredibly competitive over that stretch, she has proven herself to be an asset and finally made her way into the international first team in 2018 following an injury to Erin McLeod.

For an example of the difficulty Sheridan faced this past weekend, the Dash had 19 total shots with 11 of them on goal. She parried all but one, which was a result of a defensive error in the final 10 minutes. Sheridan was able to stop the one-on-one attempt but her own defense deflected a Sofia Huerta shot into the net. Despite showing an ability to stop just about everything else before this, was unprepared to have to stop her own team’s chances as well.

The frustration showed on Sheridan’s face. Sky Blue has mustered little offensively and the team’s best player, Carli Lloyd, missed a penalty earlier in the game that would have at least seen Sky Blue share the points.

Sheridan has played too well to be left in obscurity like this. Continuing to play on a team that has been ravaged both on and off the field may hurt her future chances as a starting keeper for the Canadian National team.

For now she will need to continue as a force for futility and hope that Sky Blue match her intensity in the games to come to dig themselves out of a situation that started some time ago

Backline Chat: Did You Know Hulu Has Live Games?

Posted on by RJ Allen

Charles Olney (@olneyce): Welcome to our Backline for week 3 of the NWSL season. The US National Team players will be leaving the league now for a few months So before saying goodbye to them for awhile, let’s discuss whose stock has risen or fallen the most based on the first three weeks.

Given that the coach is Jill Ellis, the most likely answer is probably ‘these games literally didn’t matter’ but let’s assume that they are paying attention and do care.

RJ Allen (@TheSoccerCritic): I think Christen Press has been playing really solid in the two matches for Utah and in her time on the pitch I’ve been impressed by Casey Short too.

Those two really stand out to me right now.

Luis Hernandez (@radioactivclown): Jill Ellis treats NWSL as her own personal version of Whose Line Is It Anyways where the results don’t matter for her.

Charles Olney: I think we all assume that what happened in these few games will have little to no importance in who actually starts in June. But while Alex Morgan is the almost-guaranteed center forward, she’s probably had the worst start of any US striker.

Luis Hernandez: Can we just say that any USWNT player who wears purple at the club level is glad to be in red, white, and blue now?

Charles Olney: I think that’s fair, Luis.

RJ Allen: There are a few in red and blue that might be glad to hear out to the US camp too.

Charles Olney: Emily Sonnett has looked pretty shaky.

Luis Hernandez: Minor knock to Harris, Morgan is a pass first, shoot second striker, and well I don’t know what to say for Ali Krieger

Charles Olney: If we all agree that fullback and central midfield are two of the key possible locations where decisions were still getting made, I think I’d say Casey Short made a strong case for herself. And that Andi Sullivan and McCall Zerboni didn’t do anything to hurt her case, while Allie Long didn’t do anything to help.

Luis Hernandez: Accurate.

Charles Olney: Morgan Brian has played really well, in limited minutes. Given what was reported last month, I definitely don’t think that will matter. But if there’s a surprise later this week, that’s probably why.

Luis Hernandez: I would consider Jane Campbell based on her performance with PKs.

Allison Cary (@findingallison): I think all of the US keepers have looked a little shaky to start the NWSL season.

RJ Allen: I don’t think it matters how good or bad the backup goalkeepers are at PKs. They will not play.

RJ Allen: Ellis is never going to sub Naeher for PKs.

Luis Hernandez: Ellis isn’t going to make a late match sub with PKs looming?

RJ Allen: There is no chance of that.

Charles Olney: I would be shocked if she made that move. Doesn’t feel like an Ellis thing.

Allison Cary: Yeah, I agree.

Charles Olney: And it’s not like Campbell had demonstrated exceptional skills. These were mostly just terrible penalties. Still takes work to save them, but I’d hesitate to read anything predictive into it.

RJ Allen: In a fair world Barnhart goes as the third goalkeeper but that ship is so far out to sea you can’t see it anymore.

Charles Olney: I guess I’d also say that players like Heath and Dunn and Sauerbrunn continue to be very very good. There’s not really any room to raise their stock, but they’ve been excellent.

RJ Allen: Dunn is the hardest of those three. Because her role for the US and her role for North Carolina are so disconnected. Ellis just doesn’t want Dunn in the attack and that’s where she’s most useful.

Charles Olney: It’s bizarre that the best (or second-best, given Sam Kerr) attacking player in the league will be playing fullback, but…here we are.

Luis Hernandez: I wish Horan and Pinoe hadn’t miss so much league time.

RJ Allen: That seems to have been not totally in their control. Seems to be Ellis wanting them to once they had knocks.

Luis Hernandez: I get it. Protect them in bubble wrap but still. There’s something to be said about playing to stay in form.

Charles Olney: Sure, but it’s a month and a half before the tournament starts. Any form from April will be long gone by then either way.

RJ Allen: They are going into a camp that is 2 weeks longer than it should be. I doubt one game for club is going to change much.

Charles Olney: *Jinx

RJ Allen: I’ll buy you a Coke.

Charles Olney: Alright, turning the question around slightly. We’ve talked about the players who will be leaving. But what about the teams that will have to operate without them? Who is going to be hurt the most by the departure of the national teamers? Who will be helped the most, relatively?

Luis Hernandez: I think it helps Sky Blue and Houston.

Allison Cary: I think it hurts Chicago and Portland.

RJ Allen: Orlando, Chicago, Portland and North Carolina feel the most impacted based on the first few weeks when you take the National Teamers out.

Luis Hernandez: Hurts everyone else but the Courage keep winning

Charles Olney: Chicago seems like the biggest question mark. I actually think they may come out of this far stronger than you’d expect, simply because they have 3-4 bubble players, all of whom are likely to stay.

It’s certainly a question is whether they can restructure the attack to deal with the absence of Sam Kerr (that’s a big absence!), but with DiBernardo, Colaprico, Brian, Nagasato, Johnson, etc. they’ve got a lot of quality.

RJ Allen: Dames is a coach who can tinker pretty well. And shovel. He is a good with a shovel.

Charles Olney: I saw some speculation this weekend that the Reign might actually benefit from losing Taylor. I don’t subscribe to the point of view that Taylor is a liability, by any means, but it will at least force them to think about different ways to set up, which could be helpful.

RJ Allen: I’m worried about the Reign just in general.

Allison Cary: Whatever they’re doing now, it’s not working.

Luis Hernandez: Taylor right now is absolutely not a liability for the Reign. I know teams like Orlando focused on her.

Charles Olney: We haven’t mentioned Utah. Obviously, they’re going to take a hit to the backline, and will lose the only player who has created a goal for them so far. But otherwise, they may be alright?

Allison Cary: I think Utah will be okay.

RJ Allen: I think they end up staying in that 2 or 3 spot. I’ve been thinking a lot lately because of my work with RSL Soapbox and they have some good depth in places. Having Laddish back may be huge.

Charles Olney: I think the last two years took a tiny bit of the shine off the Laura Harvey hype train, but this year will be the real test. As you say, they’ve got a lot of good pieces, and I feel pretty good about her ability to get it all clicking.

RJ Allen: Not having Kim Little on your team makes your team not as good.

Luis Hernandez: I think the time without national team players is going to allow the Dash to climb into the playoff race.

RJ Allen: I do not know if I believe that. I would like to, but Canadians and Daly are a huge part of that team.

Charles Olney: Alright, that’s a nice way to transition into the discussion of this weekend’s games. Because I’m curious what people thought about the Houston-North Carolina match. To me, it was evidence that Clarkson might still have a ways to go before he quite settles in. But I could make an alternative case that he wanted to give his team a shot to really go for it, and they’ll build off the lessons they learned. Thoughts?

RJ Allen: Playing North Carolina is hard.

Charles Olney: It is indeed. And that’s potentially an argument for the second option. If you figure that you’re probably going to lose no matter what, why not give it a shot.

But I also think it’s basically suicidal to leave yourself that open to North Carolina and not to really adjust during the game, as things started to break down.

They had a really good start. But after the opening 15 or 20 minutes, that games was only going one way.

Allison Cary: I admittedly didn’t get to watch it, but based on that and how they looked in their win of Sky Blue, I think they’re on shaky ground.

Luis Hernandez: I get that for sure, but going forward Ohai and Huerta can be a real difference. Nairn is a bit inconsistent for me. Losing to the Courage. There’s no shame in that. (edited)

RJ Allen: The first month of the season is basically preseason in terms of the play. I do think Houston can do well but it’s a long road.

Charles Olney: It felt a lot like many of the other new coaches, who struggle to get just quite how intense the league can be. But Clarkson also has a lot more familiarity with the team, so might be able to get over that hump quicker than some others.

Luis Hernandez: He should be able to get Houston properly adjusted to bounce back against Orlando.

Charles Olney: I don’t have much else to add about North Carolina. They’re ridiculously good. Crystal Dunn has been even better than her high standards. The fullbacks are excellent. The forwards are excellent. Zerboni and Mewis are absurd together. The center backs have been a little shakier than usual, but it doesn’t really matter.

So, moving onto some of the more contentious games, what about Orlando-Utah?

Luis Hernandez: Here we go.

RJ Allen: Orlando is a bad soccer team. They are not a well constructed roster and it shows. I think Skinner has interesting thoughts but that doesn’t always win games.

Allison Cary: I was amazed at the lack of urgency to score. It felt like Ubogagu was the only one who cared, and then they pulled her.

Charles Olney: They were better in this game than against North Carolina. Maybe on par with how they played the Reign. Which is to say: they’re nowhere close to a Breakers 2016 or Sky Blue 2018 situation. But they’re also nowhere close to the late-2017 Orlando Pride, which people expect them to be.

RJ Allen: Barnhart has the fountain of youth in her basement.

Charles Olney: She’s been so great. It’s been a real joy to watch her.

Luis Hernandez: She should let Marta have a drink. Because I haven’t seen much from Marta so far this year.

RJ Allen: Marta looks like she is starting to move past her prime. It is a sad fact Father Time is undefeated.

Charles Olney: There have been flashes, but it’s clear she’s declined. Which makes me very sad. It had to happen eventually, but I would have liked another couple years.

Allison Cary: Yeah, she’s hardly done anything this season.

Charles Olney: She’s still only 33, so it’s actually a little surprising that there’s no more in the tank. That said, she’s played a LOT of minutes over the years. And age hits people differently.

RJ Allen: I am interested to see how Kopmeyer plays this year.

Charles Olney: Yeah, she got the chance a week early with that late Harris scratch, and made a mess of the Press goal. But I think she’ll settle in well and have a good year.

Allison Cary: I think she got better throughout that game.

Luis Hernandez: Agreed. She should have handled the goal better though.

Charles Olney: That goal combined a bit of pure technical magic, with Press bringing the ball down as perfectly as a human could do it, with a pretty weak shot that only went in because of some of the worst goalkeeping you’re likely to see.

Allison Cary: That pretty much sums it up.

Luis Hernandez: Kop said postgame that it took a deflection

RJ Allen: It’s going to be a shame when Press plays like 200 minutes in the World Cup.

Charles Olney: Any other thoughts on that game, or can we talk about the snowpocalypse in Chicago?

RJ Allen: Why is their snow in the last weekend in April?

Allison Cary: I don’t understand how people live in cold places.

Luis Hernandez: Did they have an orange ball?

Charles Olney: They did!

Luis Hernandez: I’m actually shocked

Charles Olney: I’m glad they called it. Seems like they probably could have made the decision earlier. But it’s better than some previous late decision-making, so I’ll take it. As for the game, we’ve all already expressed our worries about the Reign. Any specific thoughts on the game?

RJ Allen: The Reign need Pinoe back and they will not have her for months.

Charles Olney: I suppose I should tilt against the windmills for a moment and point out that Nagasato actually had a pretty poor game, by her standards. She scored a goal on an open net, and provided an assist to Casey Short who was (I’ve done the calculations) more open than any other soccer player has ever been in human history. But otherwise, she was pretty off for a lot of the game. So obviously she was voted player of the week.

RJ Allen: To be fair, and I’ll take the blame, she was my number one this week.

Luis Hernandez: I didn’t think she should have won it

RJ Allen: She is a very fun player to watch and some of that masks when she has a bad game. So blame me.

Charles Olney: I prefer to blame the entire world.

Allison Cary: It’s more fun.

Luis Hernandez: As much of a fair system as goal and save of the week

Charles Olney: I guess the one other thing I’ll add about the game is that I actually thought it was a lot closer than the final scoreline, and I’m less worried about the Reign than many folks. The Short goal was a disaster, but Vlatko will fix the defensive positioning. And they need to get more creativity. But they weren’t really that bad.

Luis Hernandez: I’m not sure coaching is going to be enough for the Reign.

Charles Olney: Alright, the last game of the weekend was the 2-2 draw between Sky Blue and Portland. Good result for New Jersey? Bad result for Portland?

RJ Allen: My official professional break down of this game: lol

Allison Cary: Good result for Sky Blue, IMO. It was an important sign of life.

Charles Olney: I tweeted this yesterday, but the main thing I want to say is that we (and I definitely mean ‘we’ because I’m a big offender here) spend too much time complaining about the annoying aspects of the Carli Lloyd experience, and not nearly enough time marveling at what she can do.

Luis Hernandez: I think RJ nailed it by saying Carli Lloyd FC.

RJ Allen: Carli Lloyd in a vacuum is an amazing thing to behold.

Charles Olney: As RJ said, Father Time is undefeated, but Carli sure seems like she’s going to fight him to the very death. And probably give him a swift kick in the junk on the way out the door.

RJ Allen: She has looking in to hiring a hit man.

Charles Olney: From the Portland perspective, should they be worried about the defense leaking so many goals? Or will it get sorted out once Menges comes back?

RJ Allen: I think Menges helps but Sonnett is likely gone.

Luis Hernandez: As for Portland, I think it could be a preview of what’s to come this summer.

RJ Allen: I think the first game they play in the NNT (non national teamers) era is going to be very important mentally.

Allison Cary: Yeah, it’s… not good.

Charles Olney: I’m not too worried for them. But I think they’d be much happier to be going into that NNT era with a couple more points in the bag.

RJ Allen: All in all I think they make the playoffs but they aren’t as strong as the last two years.

Allison Cary: Yeah, I’m not worried about them falling off a cliff or anything.

Luis Hernandez: When is the first home game for the Thorns?

RJ Allen: September. (I’m kidding)

Charles Olney: Okay, taking a step back from the analysis of the action, can we talk about the product a little bit? We’ve seen a bunch of the national team players drop Hulu sponsorship videos, and we’ve seen a whole host of ridiculous gifs released by US soccer. Meanwhile, North Carolina is putting together a Star Wars event (in which they portray themselves as the dark side?). Houston had some puppies on the pitch. They now sell beer at Reign games. Any thoughts about any of those things?

RJ Allen: Did y’all know Hulu has live games? And some players are very bad at making ads they themselves have to write? And Becky is (naturally) very good?

Allison Cary: Selling beer and adding puppies are always good developments.

Charles Olney: Controversial!

Allison Cary: I’m willing to die on this hill.

RJ Allen: North Carolina knows who they are by making themselves the dark side. #Underdogs

Allison Cary: “Yeah, lets do a Star Wars event, only lets be the fascists”

Charles Olney: Yeah, the Courage leaning into being the Empire is pretty on point. But I endorse it. Know yourself.

Allison Cary: The Spirit are doing a Star Wars night too, although what exactly that entails I’m not sure.

RJ Allen: The Spirit are Squibs.

RJ Allen: I know, I know mixing fandoms.

Luis Hernandez: I appreciate how well Orlando is embracing the new supporter group. Huge improvement over last year.

Charles Olney: For the most part, I’m not the audience for this kind of stuff. I don’t care about special theme nights (other than pride nights – more pride nights please!) or goofy announcements. But even grumpy old me can see how much fun some of these things are.

Charles Olney: One other final thought before we finish up: I just wanted to throw out there how much I enjoyed getting Jen Cooper, Poppy Miller, and Dan Lauletta on the broadcasts.

RJ Allen: Yes. It was nice to have some different voices this week. And stats. So many good stats.

I’m excited for the end of the week when we can finally have the USWNT roster and the endless speculation can be done.

Luis Hernandez: I’m glad for a Friday night match and only one Sunday match. Now we need a staggered start on Saturday to be perfect.

RJ Allen: Yeah the league has done a lot of starting games at the same time this year.

Luis Hernandez: And that’s just annoying

Allison Cary: Agreed.

Charles Olney: I know they have to worry mostly about what’s the best time for maximizing attendance and when they can use the stadium, and honestly that should be the priority. But I certainly appreciate when games are staggered.

RJ Allen: Also good work on the league and Chicago to get that game on air and not make it closed door.

Charles Olney: True. In previous years that has often not been the case.

Alright, that’s a wrap for this week. Thanks to everyone for joining us. Now go and enjoy all those preposterous USWNT gifs!