FC Barcelona, known for their dominance in Spanish football, are pushing for rivals Real Madrid to field a women’s team in an effort to use El Clasico to boost the women’s game overall. The move is quite savy and could be just the push it needs for the Spanish giants to engulf yet another area of football.
FC Barcelona Femini finished in second place in last seasons Primera Division, one point under Atletico Madrid. Still, the Catalan side is in the final of the Women’s UEFA Champions League, hoping to bring home the top prize for the first time in their history.
“I think it would be really good for women’s football,” said team vice-president Jordi Mestre to ESPN. “It would add the competitiveness of the Clasico. There are already a lot of Primera Division sides with a women’s team. A Clasico would surely generate a lot more interest as well”
This past season the Primera Division Femenina de Futbol celebrated their 30th campaign with Athletic Bilbao being the most successful club with five titles. Barcelona have four with their last title coming in 2015.
Much like the men’s first division, regional rivalries prove to be the most impactful. No fixture produces more tension in Spanish football than Real Madrid vs. Barcelona and to extend it to the women’s game seems like a natural progression necessary to push the league to a higher standard.
“I think for women’s football it would be a huge attraction. But each club has their own projects and their own strategy. If Real Madrid don’t have a women’s team at the moment, I suppose it’s because they don’t consider it an interesting project.” Jordi Mestre added.
The league has produced several standouts heading to the World Cup in Spain including forwards Esther Gonzalez and Olga Garcia.
Category: Analysis
Route Two Soccer: Chicago Teach a Course on How to Beat North Carolina
The Chicago Red Stars showed this weekend how North Carolina can be defeated. Other teams may try to emulate them…at their own risk.
The North Carolina Courage lost this weekend, for the first time in almost a year. And that’s not even the strange thing. The strange thing is: it didn’t even end up being all that close. The Chicago Red Stars certainly didn’t dominate the game, but neither did they look especially threatened. And their final margin of 3-1 could just as easily have been bigger—with Chicago having been denied a fairly clear penalty when Sam Kerr was pulled down in the box in the first half.
So what happened? Did Chicago reveal a secret flaw that may now be exploited by others? Is North Carolina taking a bigger hit than expected from the loss of their national team players? Or was this just a one-off game, and everything will return to normal soon?
The answer isn’t completely clear at this point, but likely is a combination of all three. Certainly, the Courage backline has looked far more rickety with the absence of Abby Dahlkemper, and those issues will only magnify now that Abby Erceg is off to join New Zealand. Last week’s replacement center back, Kayleigh Kurtz, struggled badly trying to contain Imani Dorsey of Sky Blue. This week’s fill-in, Cari Roccaro, faced similar issues with the multi-pronged Chicago attack.
With both Roccaro and Kurtz having issues with speed, and neither distinguishing themselves in one-on-one defending either, Carolina was always going to look more exposed. However, it would be unfair to level all (or even most) of the blame on those two players. The hallmark of the Courage’s resilient defense has always rested higher up the pitch, where aggressive pressing disrupts the opponent and kills attacks before they can even begin. And that’s where the team really struggled against Chicago. Time and again, the Red Stars midfield pierced the Carolina press, with smooth passing, clever dribbling, and intelligent runs. Particularly at fault here was Denise O’Sullivan, who was exposed repeatedly in the holding midfield role, and looked much more like the version of O’Sullivan we saw back with the Houston Dash in early 2017, and much less like the more dynamic player we’ve grown accustomed to with North Carolina. McCall Zerboni also had an uncharacteristically quiet game, finding it difficult to disrupt play, and also struggling a bit in possession.
Even further up the pitch, Kristen Hamilton one of her weaker games in recent memory, while Julia Spetsmark looked lively on occasion, but wasn’t able to exploit the wide channels nearly as much as the departed Jess McDonald.
Put it all together, and you’ve got a recipe for trouble. When multiple players have games on the lower side of their ability, and you’re playing a strong team, results will sometimes tip away from you. And Chicago was uniquely well-suited to seize the opportunity that was provided. They possess one of the strongest midfields in the league under any circumstance—and that advantage has only magnified with the removal of the World Cup-bound. Vanessa DiBernardo and Dani Colaprico are two of the best passers in the American player pool. Support those two with Nikki Stanton in behind to clean up any messes, and give them the chance to play off Yuki Nagasato and Sam Kerr dropping in from forward positions, as well as Michele Vasconcelos’s speculative runs down the wing, and you have a recipe for unlocking the oppressive North Carolina press.
The problem for everyone else in the league is: without players who can dictate play in such a cool and measured fashion, the potential to exploit a weakness in the Carolina armor may be more fanciful than realistic. For all that the Red Stars found an opportunity, it’s also important not to overstate the case. Chicago scored three goals from just three shots on goal. And two of those were fairly tame shots, too, which the keeper probably should have saved. Meanwhile, North Carolina amassed seven more shots than Chicago, two more shots on goal, more corners, more crosses, and more passes at a higher accuracy.
On another day, if this game was played out in the same way, you’d expect better performances from a few Courage players, a bit less luck for Chicago, and things could easily turn in the opposite direction. What’s more, a big part of the Chicago performance depended on Sam Kerr, who is sui generis, and has now left for her own World Cup preparations. You certainly can’t count on getting that kind of performance going forward.
So Chicago’s approach certainly could be replicated, but even for them it would hardly be a sure thing. And for everyone else, it would be even more of a risk. Because for all that there’s a potential weakness here, the past two years have shown just how devastating this Courage team can be when given the chance to attack an open opponent. If the lesson teams take from this game is that North Carolina is ripe for the picking, they run the risk of being carved to bits by a revitalized Courage press. It’s a gamble that some might take, but it’s a dangerous one.
As the saying goes, if you come at the devil you better not miss.
The Game Changers: Week Five
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.
Week Five marked the second week in the NWSL with no U.S. national team players, and the first week without the Canadians. The Utah Royals were dealt their first loss from the Houston Dash on Saturday, as were the North Carolina Courage. After last week, where a total of only two goals were scored, every team scored at least once this week. Here is a full breakdown of the scores:
Sky Blue vs. Washington Spirit (2-3)
Utah Royals vs. Houston Dash (1-2)
Orlando Pride vs. Portland Thorns (1-3)
Chicago Red Stars vs. North Carolina Courage (3-1)
Utah Royals drop points for the first time in 2019
The Utah Royals won their first three games in 2019, but dropped points at home against the Houston Dash. The Utah Royals haven’t dominated any of the games they have won, and this match against the Houston Dash opens the door for similar struggles to 2018. However, you could argue that the two goals from the Houston Dash– both from Rachel Daly– were spectacular. And they were the first two goals Utah conceded this season.
Does this game say more about the Houston Dash or the Utah Royals? It’s hard to say at this point. The Utah Royals may not be dominating their matches, but they have shown that they will be a good team in 2019. But will they be good enough to claim one of the four playoff spots? That’s the question.
Houston Dash defeats Utah Royals on the road
The Houston Dash earned another win this season, becoming the first team in 2019 to defeat the Utah Royals. They now sit in the No. 1 spot in the standings, with 10 points in 5 games. They have three wins this season, with just one loss and one draw. They haven’t always looked dominate and they will be losing a lot more players in the coming weeks, including their top goal-scorer Rachel Daly. But this game they managed to find success without their Canadian players, and against a team that has been unstoppable.
Like Utah, this game was significant for the Houston Dash when it comes to thinking about their chances at the playoffs. Houston is a strong team, possibly stronger than they were last season when they finished in the No. 6 slot, just five points the last playoff team. And while they are losing their national team players, they are also likely to become more settled as they become more familiar with the playing style of their first year head coach. This win for Houston was a good opportunity to show they have what it takes to go far in 2019. They did not disappoint.
North Carolina loses for the first time since mid-2018.
On Sunday, the North Carolina Courage earned their first loss since their 1-0 defeat against the Utah Royals on June 16th, 2018. In that game, Brittany Ratcliffe scored a screamer of a goal in stoppage time to earn the win for the Royals. But on Sunday, North Carolina was handed a 3-1 loss by the Chicago Red Stars at SeatGeek Stadium, their first multi-goal loss since May 2017. They were on the road, and without some key players. But this feels significant in breaking North Carolina’s armor.
Right now, the Courage sit in the No. 4 spot in the standings. They have a 2-1-2 record. The Courage will be one of the best teams in the league, if not the best, and will almost definitely make the playoffs. But this loss, plus their two draws so far this season, sends a message to other teams in the league that North Carolina might be more vulnerable than we thought.
Hot or Not: NWSL Power Rankings Week 5
This power ranking is not reactionary.
This power ranking takes outside factors like weather and injuries into account.
It has bias—yours when you read it and mine when I wrote it.
Enjoy it.
It will soon change.
Backline Chat: We’ll See You in Court
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.
The Game Changers: Week Four
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.
Hot or Not: NWSL Power Rankings Week 4
This power ranking is not reactionary.
This power ranking takes outside factors like weather and injuries into account.
It has bias—yours when you read it and mine when I wrote it.
Enjoy it.
It will soon change.
Women’s Soccer Has A Seriousness Problem
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?
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
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.
Backline Soccer Archive 