The season only gets darker for Sky Blue FC as they have announced on Twitter the firing of head coach Denise Reddy. The team will begin an external search for a replacement.
Reddy joined Sky Blue in 2017 and has been at the helm for two of the worst professional seasons in recent American soccer history. Last year Sky Blue grabbed just one win, coming on the last day of the season, and finished with a record of 1-17-6. This year they have started equally bad with no wins through the first nine games.
All of this has happened despite bringing in US Women’s National team legend Carli Lloyd. While her contributions have certainly diminished when compared to her earlier work, she was meant to be a mentor to younger players such as Julie James and Raquel Rodriguez. Instead frustration has boiled over with ownership and off-the-field issues such as poor training conditions taking over most of the discussion.
Reddy herself had quite a resume before joining the team. She coached in the W-League with Jersey Sky Blue and the Chicago Red Stars before jumping to Europe with Vittsjo GIK and Linkopings FC in Sweden. She returned to the newer NWSL in 2016 as an assistant coach with the Washington Spirit and then as the head coach with Sky Blue in 2017.
What may have appeared to be a chance to get in on the ground floor with a young team quickly turned sour with little hope of getting better. Reddy coached through the diminishing fan base, awful press and lack of resources. In the end, the results weren’t just bad but some of the worst possible. Now she steps aside with little news on who will be the replacement.
Interest in the job is more than likely at an all-time low. The team will more than likely look within the league for an option but there is a possibility that more news is imminent that could involve far more than just changes to the coaching staff.
Category: Analysis
The USWNT vs Spain: Is This Your King?
You know that scene in Black Panther when Killmonger and T’Challa fight for the first time and at the end, Killmonger points down at a bloody and beaten T’Challa and shouts “IS THIS YOUR KING?”
That’s what Spain did to the United States of America in front of 19,663 fans. They pulled the USWNT apart at the seams and exposed them for the whole world to see.
Defense?
Where.
Offense?
The only two USA goals that happened in this game came off PKs.
According to the official stats, the USA registered 12 shots, with only 3 on goal. 3 shots on goal. Spain came into this match the immediate underdogs and were expected to be handled by the Americans, only to turn the tables on them very early in the game, making a play in the box in the first two minutes.
Already we were seeing the cracks of the defensive foundation that escaped scrutiny in the group stage. In the knock-out round the USA found themselves in a bad position that took almost the entire game to get out of. Spain had a game plan going into this match and they stuck to it. They were physical, yes, but they were also smart. Almost all of their fouls were getting the ball so they wouldn’t get carded along with the foul. Alex Morgan is going to be a walking bruise for the quarter final, something France will be keeping in the back of their minds.
First off, let’s talk about the FIFA Player of the Match, Megan Rapinoe. She was awarded this for her pair of PKs and not anything she did on the pitch. If I can say this, I feel comfortable saying that Rapinoe was one of the worst players on the pitch. She constantly lost the ball, she got herself in bad positions and when she did take a shot, the ball was sent to the parking lot. She hasn’t been the Megan Rapinoe everyone knows since the slaughter against Thailand and that has been evident for some time now. She will no doubt continue to get the start, but I think a real discussion needs to be had about her role as a starter.
Now to look on the bright side! Rose Lavelle and Sam Mewis were an absolute joy to watch. Lavelle has really come into her own since this tournament began and has continued to surprise me with how much better she gets with each game played. I was worried about her when she picked up all those injuries in 2018, but they seem to be a thing of the past. Mewis was equally incredible to watch, showing everyone (including her coach) why she should have been starting this whole time. She and Lavelle together in the midfield has been one of the best pairings since Lauren Holiday and Carli Lloyd and Heather O’Reilly.
With that being said, we need to talk about the defense. I’m not sure where all the disconnect and miscommunication was coming from, but that defense looked like they had never played a game together in their lives. Crystal Dunn, who is normally such a bright spot, was getting beaten again and again on the flank. I think I heard Kelley O’Hara’s name called three times. Abby Dahlkemper was doing her best and Becky Sauerbrunn found herself playing every role to keep the peace. I don’t know what kind of pep talk Alyssa Naeher was given, but it needs to never happen again. Spain’s only goal of the game came off a horrendous back-pass to Sauerbrunn who was caught off guard and couldn’t clear it out quickly enough. Jenni Hermoso took that ball off her feet, whipped around and shot the ball past Naeher, who could do nothing but watch it happen. Spain showed everyone what La Roja are made of and almost knocked the USA out of the World Cup in the Round of 16.
At the end of the day, the USA is advancing to play France thanks to two PK goals and Spain is going home, heads held high and asking just one question: is this your king? Is this your 2019 World Cup Champion?
Only time will tell.
Nigeria threaten sit-in protest over unpaid bonuses
Nigeria’s tournament came to an end on Saturday, but they weren’t eager to leave France. Instead, the players threatened to stage a sit-in protest at the hotel, claiming they were owed unpaid bonuses dating as far back as 2016.
The players told ESPN that they were owed two bonuses from games against Gambia and Senegal. They were owed two million naira, about $5,600 USD, and had only been paid about half that amount.
“They paid us 1 million [naira] and said that is all,” one player said. “We want them to pay the balance.”
“Before the World Cup, we asked them for a meeting so that we could discuss our World Cup bonuses, like they did with the men’s team last year. They ignored the letter and nobody said anything about it until now.”
At first, the Nigerian federation claimed that they had paid the players everything they were owed. But according to the BBC, the players succeeded in getting a meeting at their Grenoble hotel with Aisha Falode, the president of the Nigeria Women Football League.
After hours of deliberation, the federation agreed to pay the money owed. Five players have been given their bonuses, and more money will be released in bits. They will also receive their money from FIFA for this tournament later this year.
Nigeria has appeared at every edition of the Women’s World Cup. This year, they qualified for the Round of 16 despite being put in a difficult Group A. Cameroon also qualified for the Round of 16, marking the first time two African teams were in the Round of 16. Nigeria exited the tournament after suffering a 3-0 loss to Germany.
This is not the first time Nigeria has had to protest for their wages. After winning the 2016 Africa Cup of Nations, they staged a public protest in the city of Abuja over unpaid allowances. In 2004, following another Africa Cup of Nations win, they staged a sit-in at their hotel for three days in South Africa to settle their allowances.
Cameroon’s legacy is already cemented
Emotions ran high during Sunday’s meeting between England and Cameroon. Cameroon qualified for the Round of 16 thanks to a stoppage time goal from Ajara Nchout that lifted them to a 2-1 win over New Zealand in their final match of the Group Stage. It was their second time qualifying for their Round of 16 in their second-ever Women’s World Cup.
Cameroon was frustrated early. In the 4th minute, Leuko was booked for a yellow card after elbowing Nikita Parris in the face. About ten minutes later, Annette Ngo Ndom, the goalkeeper for Cameroon, picked up an intentional back pass and England was given an indirect free kick inside the box. Toni Duggan rolled the ball for captain Steph Houghton, who sent the ball into the back of the net.
During stoppage time in the first half, Ellen White put away another goal for England. The goal was initially ruled offside, but after consulting VAR, the referee allowed the goal. The Cameroon players were furious and they didn’t hide their emotions. After a few moments, the players set up for the last few kicks of the first half.
At the start of the second half, Cameroon scored a goal very similar to the one England had scored at the end of the first half. But this time, the referee consulted VAR and decided the goal was offside. Cameroon was outraged and again, it took a bit of time for them to regain their composure and return to the pitch.
Cameroon ultimately lost the match 3-0. After the loss, England Head Coach Phil Neville spoke to the media and he was livid about the emotion the Cameroon players showed. “There are young girls that are playing all over the world seeing that behavior. For me, it’s not right.”
There is a lot to dissect in Phil Neville’s comments. But what I want to emphasize is that Cameroon’s legacy in the world of women’s football has already been solidified.
During the match, Al Jazeera published an article titled “FIFA World Cup: The Cameroonian girls who dream of football.” The article talks about Rails Football Academy, the first football academy for girls in Cameroon. It is the project of Gaelle Enganamouit, the star of the Cameroon side.
The academy trains around 70 girls, who have all had to fight sexism and poverty to get here.
“Here they have everything: coaches, jerseys, training equipment, a physiotherapist, and the guidance we give them all the time,” said coach Emmanuel Biolo. “Gaelle Enganamouit really wants these kids to be the next generation.”
Al Jazeera talked to two teens who dream of playing professional football. For them, Enganamouit is a hero.
“I’ve seen Gaelle [Enganamouit] play on TV. I’ve never missed one of her matches,” one girl said. “She plays so well, I want to be like her.”
That’s the example this Cameroon team sets for girls. And that will be their legacy.
A Round of 16 Clash: The Grasshoppers vs the Matildas
Australia entered the World Cup and were seen as a team that should go far.
With Sam Kerr having two record seasons in the NWSL, she is without a doubt the best player on the team. She was called into action early on in the opening match against Italy, scoring her PK goal of this tournament in the 22nd minute and giving the Matildas a 1-0 lead in the first half.
This would turn out to be for naught as Barbara Bonansea would stun an entire nation and score twice in the 50th minute and in the dying seconds of stoppage time to give Italy their first victory and Australia their first defeat of the group stage. It’s fair to say not a lot of people were expecting Italy to win and questions were asked about the defense.
These questions would continue well into the second match against Brazil as Australia saw themselves go down 2-0 in the first half. Caitlin Foord would score in stoppage, breathing new life in the team as they completed what can only be described as an epic come back, becoming one of the few teams to ever come back from behind and win a world cup game. Brazil’s collapse notwithstanding, the Australians still didn’t look as confident as everyone had expected them to.
They were able to easily dispatch Jamaica in their final group stage match, with Kerr taking front and center in the spotlight, scoring four goals against the Reggae Girlz, a personal best for the youngster.
With this resounding victory, have the Aussies solved their defense problems to take on a red-hot Norway? The answer to that question might have been “yes” before it was reported yesterday evening that defender Steph Catley suffered an injury in the game against Jamaica.
Now?
Australia might be back to square one, with Gema Simon, Clare Polkinghorne, Karly Roestbakken and Teigan Allen on the bench. The best bet seems to be Polkinghorne and Roestbakken, who both played the first and third game, to get the start. However, we could see Simon with her first start of the tournament as she is the regular stand-in for Catley. The Aussies will have had forty-eight hours to figure out how to anchor their backline without Catley.
Norway came into this tournament accompanied by a ghost. The glaring absence of superstar Ada Hegerberg was all anyone could and would talk about, instead of the team itself that rose from the ashes of a disastrous 2017 Euro to claim a comfortable spot in Group A.
A lot of people appeared to wonder how Norway would fare without Hegerberg, a question The Grasshoppers had no problem answering. An explosive team performance saw them emphatically beat Nigeria 3-0 and sending a message: they have everyone they need to win. This mentality would face an early test against a white-hot French team. After keeping Les Bleues at bay all first half, the Norwegians would give up two goals in the second half, with a gift of a howler from Wendie Renard to put them on board. Despite their best efforts, they would fall 2-1 to France. Not allowing themselves to dwell on the defeat, Norway would face South Korea in their final group stage match and get back to their winning ways with a 2-1 victory.
Finishing second in Group A has pitted this fierce Norway squad against Australia, both with something to prove. Norway didn’t give up a lot of goals and the ones they did came off of set pieces and PKs. As a defensive team, they’re very good at frustrating their opponents and disrupting the passing lines. Their offense is capable of scoring, both in the run of play and on the counter. If they can keep Sam Kerr contained, stay patient, stick to their game plan and strike on the counter, they have a good chance of eliminating Australia from the World Cup.
Top Three Matchups in the Round of 16
The Group Stage of the Women’s World Cup is over and the Round of 16 is set. The Group Stage featured some difficult goodbyes and some surprise teams going onto the Round of 16. Italy won Group D, topping both Brazil and Australia in the standings. They will go on to face China in the Round of 16. Nigeria and Cameroon both qualified for the Round of 16, marking the first time two African teams will compete in the Round of 16 in a Women’s World Cup. There are lots of great matchups coming up, but here are the top three games I think you should watch.
France vs. Brazil: Sunday, June 23rd at 3:00pm ET
All Americans should be keeping their eye on France, since the two teams are currently on course to meet in the Quarterfinals. I think France will beat Brazil, but this is definitely going to be an interesting game. Coming into this tournament, Brazil had lost their past nine games. But they seem to have found some of their lost rhythm in the Group Stage, defeating Jamaica and Italy. They only lost to Australia because of a Monica own-goal.
While Barbara is a fantastic keeper, I don’t think Brazil’s backline will be able to stand up to the likes of Diani, Le Sommer, and Thiney. If France can win the battles in the midfield and maintain possession, they should be able to comfortably control this match. But I also think Brazil will be able to test France’s backline. Don’t be surprised if Cristiane, Marta, or Debinha puts one past Sarah Bouhaddi. If they can disrupt France’s possession, they could make this an interesting match.
There weren’t very high expectations for Brazil coming into this tournament. But if there is one thing they have shown in the Group Stage, it’s that they won’t be packing their bags without a fight. This might be the last World Cup match for Marta, Cristiane, Formiga, and other Brazilian stars. They will definitely make it count.
Sweden vs. Canada: June 24th at 3:00pm ET
Sweden and Canada both finished in second place in their groups, meaning they will go head-to-head in the Round of 16. Sweden finished their group with six points, earning wins over Thailand and Chile, but losing 2-0 to the United States. Canada also finished with six points, earning wins over Cameroon and New Zealand, but ultimately losing 2-1 in their final match against the Netherlands.
These are two of the most equally matched teams in the Round of 16. Sweden had an easier group than Canada, but also earned more commanding wins and scored more goals. Canada struggled in their first match against Cameroon, but certainly went toe-to-toe with the Netherlands and earned a convincing 2-0 win over New Zealand. Canada might have a slight edge over Sweden in the attack, especially considering the motivation of Christine Sinclair, but Sweden’s attack will surely test the Canadian backline as well.
Losing both Christine Sinclair and Marta in the Round of 16 would be sad. I think Canada has a slight edge over Sweden, but this game could genuinely go either way. Don’t be surprised if this one goes to extra time or even penalties.
Netherlands vs. Japan: June 25th at 3:00pm ET
The Netherlands vs. Japan feels like the old guard versus the new. The Netherlands won all three matches in their group: 1-0 over New Zealand, 3-1 over Cameroon, and 2-1 over Canada. Japan, on the other hand, struggled a bit more in Group D: they played to a scoreless draw against Argentina, beat Scotland 2-1, and lost 2-0 to England. They have featured in the last two Women’s World Cup finals, winning it all in 2011. Could they really be packing their bags in the Round of 16?
I think the Netherlands will likely win this match. Their first match against New Zealand was a bit shaky, but they seem to have settled into this tournament. They’ve scored 6 goals in three games compared to just two from Japan. Scoring on the Japanese defense won’t be easy, but if the last fifteen minutes of their match against England is any indication, I think the Japanese will really struggle to get that final touch against the Dutch.
In these three matches, I think France and the Netherlands have a clear advantage. But all six of these teams will have to be 100% locked in. Any slip up will be capitalized on by their opponents, and even one bad move could send any of these teams home.
The Game Changers: Week 9
The Game Changers is a weekly series looking at the most important results each week. Each section will look at one team and how its win, loss, or draw impacts the season.
This weekend, NWSL action resumed after a two-week break. All of the teams were still playing without their Women’s World Cup players, but that only provided more opportunities for the non-national team players to step up to the plate. While every team except for Sky Blue scored, every game also resulted in a draw, except for the Utah Royals 1-0 victory over Sky Blue. Here is a full breakdown of the results:
North Carolina Courage vs. Portland Thorns (1-1)
Houston Dash vs. Orlando Pride (2-2)
Utah Royals vs. Sky Blue (1-0)
Seattle Reign vs. Washington Spirit (1-1)
Orlando Pride get another point (and score!).
The Orlando Pride traveled to Houston on Saturday to face the Houston Dash and earned just their second point of the 2019 campaign. Joanna Boyles opened scoring for the visitors in the 13th minute with her first NWSL goal. The Pride went to the half with a 1-0 lead, after scoring just their second goal of the season. But two minutes into the second half, Sofia Huerta equalized for the Dash, and in the 67th minute, Kristie Mewis gave the home team a 2-1 lead. It was Danica Evans, a Pride player who has gotten limited minutes since she was drafted in 2017, who was able to score the equalizer and earn Orlando their second point of the year.
The result was important for many reasons. It is Orlando’s first multi-goal game of 2019. The two goals scored marked only their second and third goals of the season. They also had to come from behind, something they have not been able to do so far this season. Orlando is missing a lot of their normal starters at the World Cup, but Boyles and Evans were able to do something that Alex Morgan and Marta have not been able to do so far this year: find the back of the net. The game marked a rare moment of hope for a team that has struggled in every possible way this season.
Utah Royals get another win at home.
The Utah Royals were the only team to get a positive result this week, thanks to a screamer goal from Amy Rodriguez. In the 16th minute, Rodriguez launched a rocket from about 30 yards out that slammed into the back of the net. Sky Blue out-possessed and out-shot Utah, but the Royals were still able to walk away with a result.
With three points, the Royals bounce back up to second place, just one point behind No. 1 Washington Spirit. With games coming up against Portland and Seattle, it was important for the Royals to get a result against Sky Blue at home. They will also be getting at least some of their World Cup stars back soon, with group stage exits for Rachel Corsie’s Scotland and Katie Bowen’s New Zealand. Utah showed they were able to get a critical three points without their superstars, which could be very important as the playoff race heats up.
Washington Spirit get a point on the road to stay on top of the standings.
The Washington Spirit traveled to Tacoma this week to face Reign FC. The Reign had 24 shots compared to the Spirit’s ten, nine shots on goal compared to the Spirit’s four, and barely out-possessed the Spirit at 50.9%. Still, after taking the lead in the 62nd minute with a goal from Andi Sullivan, the Spirit’s defense was able to hold onto a point, thanks in part to eight saves from goalkeeper Aubrey Bledsoe.
If anyone is waiting for this Spirit team to collapse… well, they don’t seem to be doing that. The Spirit are proving to be one of the best teams in the NWSL, a fact complicated by their controversial head coach Richie Burke. They remain in the No. 1 spot after Week 9, four points ahead of last year’s champions, North Carolina Courage. The Spirit have proved that they can get results on the road and at home, against strong teams and weaker sides. They have just one loss this season, to the Utah Royals nearly two months ago. I think it’s time we all agreed: the Washington Spirit are here to stay.
Sky Blue Remain Dismal with Loss to Royals on the Road
All of the attention may be in France with the World Cup but NWSL’s regular season rolls on and Sky Blue FC continued their dismal play with a 1-0 loss to the Utah Royals on Saturday.
A long range shot from Amy Rodriguez in the 16th minute decided the contest for Utah. Rodriguez sprinted into a wide open midfield and blasted the ball past goalkeeper Didi Haracic who appeared to be surprised by the long-range power.
“I felt like the Jersey defense kinda set off me a little but,” said Rodriguez post-match. “I just took my space, head up, and thought I could go for it. I honestly didn’t think I could score from there.”
Haracic had a busy day in net, stopping an early free kick attempt by Vero Boquete and giving Sky Blue a chance to grab the momentum. They did put up a bit of a fight before the second half when Nicole Barnhart of the Royals was forced to make a tough save on Raquel Rodriguez’s free kick.
“For the most part our backline was very organized,” said Barnhart. “The chances they got were mostly from outside the 18, nothing too close to the goal. Our backline was willing to put their bodies on the line a couple of times and block a few dangerous chances that they did get.”
The loss drops Sky Blue to a woeful 0-6-2, 11 points off of the playoff pictures and no signs of improving this campaign. Despite signing Carli Lloyd last season, the team was only able to grab one win but it doesn’t seem like they’ll be able to do much better in 2019.
Meanwhile, Utah is looking strong with their second win in three games and just one point back of the Washington Spirit for the top spot in the standings. They’ll have that form put to the test next week as they travel to Portland to play the Thorns.
A Referees Perspective on the Women’s World Cup (so far)
Hi, my name is Ian and this is my first post here. I like to start every post with a disclaimer, so please bear with me.
Disclaimer:
I am not a PRO or FIFA referee. In fact, I’m not even a “professional” referee. I primarily referee adult recreational and youth leagues and write software as my primary line of work. On average, I am involved in around 150 games a season, most of the U16 and over and as many major tournaments as I can find my way into. It is solely my intention to look at incidents and explain how I feel the IFAB Laws of the Game apply, were applied, or should have been applied.
If you’re interested in becoming a referee, please check this link for information on how to locate your state officiating group.
Now that we’ve taken that out of the way, let’s jump on into it…
The Laws of the Game are Pretty Okay
This post is mostly spurred on in response to Charles’ post about the Laws of the Game needing an Overhaul, but I’m not going to directly argue anything. I think Charles did a great job discussing some of the pitfalls of how application of the Laws of the Game have caused a degree of chaos throughout this years World Cup, but I’m willing to argue that they’re actually pretty dang good…it’s just different look than we’re used to seeing, especially in women’s soccer.
The Laws of the Game have been evolving at a rapid pace over the last couple years as has the IFAB. This year, they even went as far as to have a mobile app created to help give more people access to the Laws of the Game without needing a third party PDF reader nor the Google-fu required to know how to get the current Laws and not previous versions.
This World Cup is the first time we’re seeing the 2019-2020 Laws of the Game applied in an actual competition. I believe most of the teams had friendlies throughout the spring that the new Laws were used, but most of those did not have VAR or any of the other intricacies of the full tournament since they were just friendlies.
Between the changes in the Laws of the Game and the introduction of VAR, I think we’re having a peak into the future of the sport at the highest levels.
Ultimately, I think it’s good, but it will take some getting used to.
I think to facilitate this conversation a bit, I’m going to try and generalize some of the comments and questions I’ve seen come across my Twitter feed and respond directly to them.
“Why is the Assistant Referee holding their flag down on offside? They should be calling it immediately!”
Offside is an extremely complicated section of the Laws of the Game. In fact, it’s complicated enough that it actually has its own section. It’s complicated to the point that I’m extremely hesitant to even approach the subject, but I’m going to and I’m going to do it with some broad generalizations.
For a while now, the Laws have been working on ironing out a definition between an “offside position” and an “offside offense“. In between those two definitions, there are a list of situations that reset of offside position. This creates a degree of subjectivity, but tries to make concrete that there is a difference. A player can be in an offside position all day and, as long as they don’t become involved in play, never be called for it. That same player who is hanging out offside forever, can be completely saved by a defender making a bad play on a long ball.
At every level of the game, referees and assistant referees are being told to wait and make sure that an offside offense has occurred before putting the flag up. In all games, you’ll sometimes see an assistant have to make a 50 yard run just to make sure that the attacking player commits that offside offense and then have to make the long slog back to the half line to raise the flag.
This is how it should be. If there’s a chance that someone other than the player in the offside position plays the ball, then you have to wait and see.
The introduction of VAR takes that one step further.
Now, instead of relying on a single persons line of sight, the referee crew has 4 extra people with an Orwellian amount of cameras that can back up those calls. It’s possible to give an even longer wait and make absolutely sure that there was, in fact, an offside offense before you call off a goal or a potential goal scoring opportunity.
It’s allowed the ability to go from potentially calling a good goal back because of potential offside offense to allowing play to continue until it can be verified that there was an offside offense that needed to be dealt with.
I don’t have any hard numbers, but I’d be willing to be there are more goals that have been allowed because of that wait than there are goals that have been taken back.
“What are defenders supposed to do now? Play with their hands behind their back? This is ruining the game”
Well, you see, this is a fun one, because the Laws haven’t changed too much regarding handling. This years changes mostly just took away some of the vagueness that previous iterations had exposed. Instead of using words like “deliberate” or “intentional” (I wrote about those here), the Laws now try to better define where the hands should and shouldn’t be.
All that said, the couple hand balls that I’ve seen called have always been handling offenses. The difference is that now we have someone watching from another angle that can confidently make that call.
Let’s have a little thought experiment:
You’re the assistant referee. There’s a quick counter attack starting at the half line and breaking down the nearside of the field. You have to watch three things:
- Offside
- In/Out of Bounds
- Potential Fouls
At the 18 yard box, a cross is fired in and takes a weird bounce. The attacking player is between you and the defender.
Can you make a judgement on why that ball took a weird bounce?
Probably not.
Okay, same scenario, but now you’re the center official. You’re trying to run on something like a diagonal line across the field to keep the bulk of play trapped between you and your assistant referee. Your run had to start from the other third of the field, so you’re going in top gear trying to get back into position ahead of or in line with the play. You see the cross and the ball go off at a weird angle, but you’re about 5 yards behind the defenders shoulder.
Can you make a judgement call on that weird bounce?
Also, probably not.
In either situation, would you feel confident giving a penalty kick?
I would think no.
This is where VAR solves the problem. The referee still has ultimate responsibility over the match and can make those decisions if need be. However, they also have a barrage of cameras looking at all of the angles to figure out that weird bounce and a voice in their ear telling them whether or not it’s worth going back and having a second look.
If it’s not, don’t sweat it. If it is, go back and make it right.
I heard a saying this morning that went something along the lines of “if it’s a foul in the middle of the field, it’s a foul in the box” and that’s 100% true. The difference being is that one rarely leads to a goal and the other rarely doesn’t. In the interest of maintaining a match, the referee may have hesitation about giving that foul in the box because of that certain outcome.
VAR addresses that hesitation.
In Closing
There are a lot of intricacies in soccer. There always have been and there always will be. With or with out VAR.
At the World Cup though, it’s absolutely imperative that even with all those potential situations, it’s important that everything is as consistent as possible. While I, as a fan, may not agree with all of the calls being made I can easily see a clear line that is being held by the officiating crews. You can see consistency across games and across days that I can really appreciate.
It will take some getting used to at the large stage, but I think in the long run we’ll be better off for it.
Alex Morgan, Ada Hegerberg, and the Conundrum of Awards Voting
Ada Hegerberg doesn’t play for Norway. But this isn’t a piece about if she should or shouldn’t play for them.
Alex Morgan plays for the Orlando Pride and US women’s national team. But this is no more a piece on Morgan’s club choice than it is about Hegerberg’s choice to not play for her country.
This is a piece about how we see players and how we vote for awards.
The awards voting is larger than Hegerberg vs Morgan. But they do stand on different sides of a large gulf. On one you have Hegerberg who is in maybe the best club form in the world. On the other you have Morgan who has been excellent for country while having lingering questions about her club form. So for now we stand in the middle and look right and then left.
Awards are complicated when they span time and leagues and bring in factors that can be as complicated as league strength and the roles players play on different teams.
It is made all the more complex because of the way the calendar in soccer works. It is the four year cycle that reigns here and not a calendar that any non-soccer person would understand. It doesn’t matter if you count it as World Cup, Olympics then two off years or if you count it two off years, the World Cup and finally the Olympics. Either way you count you have two on years and two off. And in those years where there is a major international event that crosses from CONCACAF to UEFA to Oceania to the rest of the world we are often heavy handed with support for who scores the most goals in a month or few weeks long event. Because the World Cup and the Olympics are big deals. And they should be big deals.
When I look at Hegerberg’s body of work and the only thing that I am given is her work for Lyon it presents a mental hurdle for me. And that isn’t on her. Club is all she has elected to play and she is under no obligation to change that to make voters more comfortable. While one may quibble if she should or should not play for Norway, frankly that has nothing to do with her performance for Lyon. In the context of voting when judging someone, you can only judge them on what they have given you. On a report card for Hegerberg it would simply be listed as N/A under country.
For Morgan it becomes a little more complicated. She has elected to play club. Partly because the US women’s national team players all play in the NWSL. And in the choice to both play club and country, Morgan has opened herself up to having a larger body of work to judge and all that comes with the league she plays for. The NWSL is, at least in my estimation, more competitive than just about any league in the world. And that changes how we see some players and it changes what those players are able to accomplish on the field. Morgan for club and Morgan for country are often about as related as first cousins. They share a passing resemblance, sometimes strikingly so, but often you can tell they are two different people.
So the judging of Alex Morgan for awards becomes harder because the math is more complex.
It is not Alex Morgan > or < Ada Hegerberg > or < Sam Kerr > or < whoever else you want.
It becomes the much more complex and much less elegant (Alex Morgan for country + Alex Morgan for club / what you think should matter more or if one should matter at all) > or < (Ada Hegerberg for club) > or < (Sam Kerr for country + Sam Kerr for club / what you think should matter more or if one should matter at all) > or < so on and so on.
What I keep coming back to is how are we supposed to judge when all the factors become this complex? And is it fair to judge them based on what they’ve chosen to give us versus what we think they should have given us?
At the end of the day I believe that it is fair to judge more heavily if a player plays for their country in a year when country does take center stage. And in those years where there is no major international tournament that spans the globe I do believe giving more preference to club play is fair.
But I will add this, if you don’t value the fight or the choice Hegerberg has made then it really doesn’t matter if it’s a World Cup year or not, you wouldn’t vote for her. And if you think Morgan should be better at club before winning awards based on her performance for her country then a Golden Ball and/or Boot won’t change your mind.
Voting for awards ultimately comes down to what you value in a player and what you don’t. It is a reflecting glass aimed back at those who cast a ballot.
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