Tag: Tom Sermanni

Orlando Pride: Sticking to the Plan Will Earn a Result

Posted on by RJ Allen

The Orlando Pride will head to the Pacific Northwest once again this week to take on the highest scoring team in the league, the Seattle Reign.

The Pride, coming off the team’s first win of the season, take a ten-match road winless streak to Memorial Stadium. Orlando’s last road win, which is also the only road win in team history, came against the Houston Dash – ironically in Week 6. The talk from the Pride going in to face the Reign is to focus on their game more so than worrying on what Seattle plans to do in the match.

The Pride have been able to find some consistency on the backline with the budding partnership of Alanna Kennedy and Toni Pressley. The number of goals Orlando has given up has been significantly reduced since Pressley fought her way into the starting XI.

When asked if she can further improve this season Pressley shared, “I think I have a few more levels.”

They will need to concentrate on communication to close down passing lanes from Nahomi Kawasumi, Week 4 Player of the Week, to United States Women’s National Team player – and current leader in the golden boot race – Megan Rapinoe and the rest of the high-powered Seattle offense. Last week Orlando’s lone defensive lapse gave Debinha the opportunity to keep the Courage in the match longer than the Pride would have liked, and a team like Seattle will make Orlando pay if they make any mistakes defensively.

The Pride will attempt to dictate the pace of the match against the Reign and utilize the pace of their strikers to challenge goalkeeper Haley Kopmeyer and her backline.

As Coach Tom Sermanni stated in his post-match comments on Mother’s Day, “We just need to make sure we get a defensive structure set up and sorted properly. If you look at our backline, four out of our five are all internationals so we’ve got a decent backline. And if we can get our tactics right, I think we’ve got the players who can exploit the lack of mobility that Seattle has.”

All eyes will once again be on the Orlando midfielders, as Monica is still working her way back from a bone bruise. Dani Weatherholt’s defensive performance and ability to distribute the ball forward has provided space to Camila to go forward as Kristen Edmonds has provide cover for her in the midfield.

As defensive leader, Ali Krieger added in the post-match presser, “If we are good and compact and organized defensively I don’t think that they’re going to have good opportunities but you have to have the ball to do that so hopefully we’re going to have more possession and we’re going to take care of that.”

Playing with the ball more will limit the chances Seattle has in pushing the ball into their attacking third. Additionally, the Pride will need to congest the midfield and passing lanes for the Reign.

If the Pride end up playing the long ball on top, the team will not be playing their game as they have claimed they need to do to get a result in Seattle. Sermanni will have several options at attack. One of his focuses this week, as he stated, is exploiting the lack of mobility on the Reign backline. This is where the tactics will have to be right, and the Pride may look to surprise Seattle with a new look on top, as scoring on the road will be vital to keep pace. Marta will look to create opportunities to Chioma Ubogagu, who can also keep possession of the ball, and Danica Evans, the rookie standout for the Pride.

Orlando has struggled to get results away from home, and this week’s opportunity will be a challenge for them. But the team is brimming with confidence, and if Sermanni’s game plan can give fits to Laura Harvey’s side like they think it can, the Pride will leave Memorial Stadium with a positive result.

Don’t Be Surprised When the Orlando Pride Beat The Courage

Posted on by RJ Allen

As many have noted, the Orlando Pride winless run of 12 matches stretching to last season is in danger of tying the Washington Spirit’s streak of 13 if Tom Sermanni’s side fails to hold home field advantage on Mother’s Day against the North Carolina Courage. However, Coach Sermanni has been quick to point out that the 2017 version of the Pride is different, and vastly improved from last year. Taking him at his word, let’s examine why this team hasn’t been able to get a win so far this year and the adjustments needed to beat North Carolina.

With the level of talent on the Orlando roster, the midfield for the team was a question mark leading into the season.  And going into the fifth match, returning players have not performed to where the team was last year. Monica was one of the starting centerbacks and so far, has appeared more uncomfortable in the holding mid role. Laura Alleway, the other starting centerback, was dropped from the Matildas in the offseason and has not been the first choice to make the starting XI for half the matches. Plus, she gave up the penalty in the first meeting with the Courage which led to Sam Mewis’s game-winning goal from the spot.

Last year’s team golden boot winner Kristen Edmonds seems to be slightly out-of-sorts at times, which pales in comparison to her strong form that ended the 2016 season and led to national team camp invites. Jasmyne Spencer also looks unsettled in the starting XI to begin this year’s campaign. Her strength so far seems to be as a late game sub. Spencer was able to assist in Marta’s goal entering the match in the 64 minute after generating the opportunity with her movement. The pass to Spencer which created the chance came from Edmonds. Could this spark the run of good form which could lead to the first victory?

Sermanni’s side has also been undisciplined at inopportune times in 2017. Both of the game winners against the Pride have been converted penalty kicks, and last week’s draw came from a free kick right outside the penalty area. Eliminating those mental errors could have potentially given Orlando more than the two points it currently has. Has Sermanni focused on the offensive finishing in the final third at the expense of working on correcting the disciplinary miscues?

The North Carolina Courage is rolling into the City Beautiful off a road win in Boston, full of confidence. They will be favored on Sunday, but does Orlando have a chance to win at home? Yes, of course. Parity is still a favor in the NWSL, and the Pride can get wins if they can stop underachieving.

Sunday will be the second of three meetings against the Courage. Here’s what Sermanni’s squad needs to do to give themselves the chance to take the three points at home: To begin, the Pride will need to give North Carolina a different look than when the two teams met in Cary. This is already a certainty since reports have indicated Monica will miss the match with a bone bruise stemming from her injury last week. This should give Dani Weatherholt another chance as the starting holding mid. Last week, Toni Pressley earned her first start, and the back line played noticeably better than it had all season. The Courage will continue to high press teams; will Pressley allow the Pride to play quicker from the back compared to Alleway? So far, it seems it might.

Starting Danica Evans created more opportunities in the box from her flip throws in Kansas City. The team should be able to improve by practicing tactics that act like an extra corner kick. The flip throw puts more pressure on the opposing teams, and Orlando really didn’t make the Courage uncomfortable inside their eighteen. The Pride need more numbers in the box to get under the skin of North Carolina. Evans’s energy alongside Marta should make the defenders work much harder than in the first meeting where the Courage were giving Orlando a ton of space to operate.

So there you have it, the Pride can beat the Courage by coming out with a different look, having expected stars perform to expectations while not shooting themselves in the foot by giving up great dead ball chances, and applying pressure inside their attacking third. Easier said than done, right? We’ll see. 

Week 4 Woes: Orlando Pride Face Must-Win Game

Posted on by RJ Allen

July 10th of last year may not seem like forever ago, but for Orlando Pride fans it probably feels like that right now.

That’s the date of the last Pride victory, a Week 12 home victory against the then-not-so-great Boston Breakers of 2016. Orlando’s current 11-match winless streak is tied for second all-time now with Seattle, and is only two matches away from meeting the 2013 Washington Spirit’s 13-match run of futility. However, based on a recent Orlando Sentinel story, Tom Sermanni is still pretty upbeat and not overly concerned whether he’ll be in the hot seat anytime soon.

But I believe the Pride’s inability to win is a problem that goes deeper than the tired excuse of new players getting comfortable in a different system or anything to do with Marta. Coach Sermanni has made some poor early decisions in his starting XI, a few of his in-game adjustments have been head scratching, and miscues and lack of execution have resulted what I would call a must-win situation in their Week Four match on the road at Children’s Mercy Victory Field against FC Kansas City, a team also looking for answers to their current woes.

Heading into the first match against Portland, I was fairly confident I had a grasp on how the Pride wanted to play and who would be where on the pitch. I’d seen them off and on in the preseason, both in practices and in scrimmages. Perhaps spending so much of the preseason in a three-back line can now be attributed to not having all of the starting defenders in camp at one time for most of the run up to Opening Weekend. Steph Catley arrived later in the preseason after wrapping up her duties in Australia, and Ali Krieger and Ashlyn Harris departed for national team commitments mid-way through. So, going four in the back on the road in Providence Park seemed like a wise move since most of the players are more familiar in that formation, and at that point, a lot of fans and critics in the league were saying that the Pride had one of the stronger back lines. On paper, at least.

And yet, Jamia Fields got the start at right back against Portland? And got a nod again when Orlando hosted Washington just a week later? Perhaps when the Pride were practicing behind closed doors, Fields, a forward who never played defender professionally before, was given time there; but then why not give her minutes at right back in a preseason match to learn the position better under game conditions. In the games we saw her on the backline, her play didn’t pass the eye test and her game stats left a lot to be desired. Yet, Sermanni only made the back line adjustment when Fields was forced off the pitch late in the first half of the home opener versus the Spirit. Having Catley, Kennedy, Alleway and Krieger in the back four is simply placing the team’s best players in those positions where they belong. Which also begs the question, why aren’t the Pride fielding their best XI in the starting XI?

Going into the season, I felt Jasmyne Spencer was best suited to come off the bench to inject energy in the second half and use her speed to go 1v1 at a tiring defense. However, she’s been in the starting XI all three matches with lackluster results. The Pride attack has looked better once Spencer is subbed out for Danica Evans. I don’t fault Spencer, but I think Tom is being a bit too loyal to his players with too little to show for it. The season is early enough to make a change as players adjust to their roles.

Another aspect of the Pride’s puzzling starting formations is the use of the 4-3-3. It’s easy to second guess after the fact, but Orlando’s biggest issue isn’t creating goals. The right answer is the midfield play for Orlando. The “right” midfield should be able to cover the back line while being able to distribute the ball forward and creating positive goal scoring opportunities. Evan’s goal to draw the Spirit was the result of a sequence of six passes. In the Week 3 match against the Courage, Orlando’s attack was isolated for the majority of the game with only a couple of players consistently moving into the attacking third.

With a strong midfield in mind, Dani Weatherholt has to be a starting player every week. Once she was subbed out in the first game in the 63′, the Thorns were able to take advantage of Weatherholt’s absence–namely her ability to spin away from trouble and distribute the ball forward–and score quickly in the 67′. She’s looked more comfortable as the holding mid than Monica, the other player Sermanni has gone to play in that position. 

On the pitch, the Pride have had too many miscues and poor execution. Last season Orlando yielded just two scores from the spot. But we’re only heading into Week 4 this weekend, and so far the Pride have been penalized in two out of the first three matches with first-half penalty kicks due to errors made by both Australian centerbacks, Kennedy against Portland and Alleway in North Carolina, who should know better than to defend with their arm stretched out inside the box. Ashlyn Harris, who was critical of her teammates after the loss to North Carolina last week, has given opponents second chance opportunities with her weak clearances that the other teams have been able to capitalize upon.

Even though the season is just in its fourth week, the Pride have to realize that the match against the Blues is must-win. The NWSL season isn’t long enough (even with 24 games this season) to fall this far back from the playoff pack. Orlando has already dropped points at home, and have just one road win ever, in Week 6 against the Houston Dash last year. Sermanni needs to throw everything into this match to get the win, start Orlando’s best starting XI, make the right adjustments, and somehow get his players to perform at the level of which they are capable instead of the underachieving we’ve seen so far. The club ownership has given Tom all the resources to succeed, bringing in top talent like Marta and Krieger, but haven’t demonstrated much patience to wait for results, and Sermanni may not think so now, but his seat is hot. Orlando hosts the NWSL championship and are expected to contend for a playoff spot. Four points in four games will go a long way toward building the team’s confidence as they return home to face the Courage in Orlando on Mother’s Day.

Around the World of WoSo: HAO to Arsenal; Pride Trade Hat-Trick

Posted on by RJ Allen

HAO Commits to Being a Gunner:

Long-time United States Women’s National Team midfielder Heather O’Reilly has announced she will be playing in the Women’s Super League (FA WSL 1), England’s top league for women’s soccer. Simply known as HAO, she recently retired from international play, but at just 32 she still has plenty left to give to the sport. O’Reilly played college ball at UNC, won three Olympic gold medals, was crowned World Cup champion in 2015, and accumulated 231 appearances over 15 years for the National Team.

The one thing left to try would be a move overseas, to experience something new and to have a different kind of challenge. The club she chose is Arsenal Ladies, a club that has a stellar reputation and a few connections to the NWSL here in the states. For one, they are the most decorated club in the WSL, earning 43 titles since the debut in 1987. Secondly, they’ve had legendary coaches and players throughout their history; including Kelly Smith, Katie Chapman, Faye White and current Seattle Reign coach Laura Harvey.

With the addition of HAO, Arsenal once again has an impressive roster to compete for the championship. They have plenty of star power to chose from; Fara Williams, Jodie Taylor, Danielle van De Donk, Asisat Oshoala, and Kim Little. HAO brings an explosive element on the wing, relentless energy, and unmatched passion. I’m sure fans cannot wait to get the season started.

Sky Blue Lands Corboz:

Daphne Corboz has played in the WSL for Manchester City since graduating Georgetown in 2014. She earned 15 starts and tallied two goals for the club. The young midfielder recently won the league with City in 2016, the first major trophy for the club since joining the WSL in 2014.

Corboz is the latest addition to a talented Sky Blue squad that boasts Kelley O’Hara, Christine Rampone, Natasha Kai, Leah Galton, Raquel Rodriguez and Sam Kerr. In the College Draft, Sky Blue got some more serious young talent, including USC duo Kayla Mills and Miranda Freeman. They later chose Kailen Sheridan out of Clemson, and Madison Tiernan from Rutgers.

Corboz adds another technical component to the midfield along with a creative fire that is always burning. I think Sky Blue could finally return to the top of the table in 2017 after a three-year absence.

W-League Doesn’t Disappoint:

In last week’s fixtures, plenty was at stake as it nears the end of the regular season; premiership still undecided, home advantage, a spot in the top four, and momentum going forward.

The top four are as follows; Sydney FC, Canberra United, Perth Glory and Melbourne City FC. The weekend saw Sydney lose to Newcastle, Canberra dropped by the Western Sydney Wanderers, Glory lose to Adelaide, and City win a crucial game against Brisbane.

As far as points go, the top three are secured, but Melbourne City needs to draw or win to officially grab the fourth spot. Sitting in fifth are Newcastle with 15 points, so they need a win to give themselves a chance.

One player who has stood out this season is Sofia Huerta, who plays for the Chicago Red Stars in the NWSL March-November. Last week she scored a hat trick to lead Adelaide United to a wild 10-2 win over Sydney Wanderers. In just 11 games in the W-League Huerta has tallied seven goals and four assists, leading Adelaide United to second in the league in total goals scored with 26. Chicago fans will look forward to her return stateside in the next few months.

Americans Head Overseas:

Two recent graduates and collegiate stars here in the states have announced they will play overseas. If you follow NCAA DI soccer you should be familiar with Savannah Jordan and Lindsey Harris. Both were crucial to their respective team’s success, especially this year.

First up is Jordan, who attended Florida all four years, playing in 94 games, recording 81 goals (23 game-winning) and grabbing 27 assists as well. The exciting forward has blazing speed and is a joy to watch on the ball — combine that with excellent finishing ability and she is a quality player. Jordan has signed with Glasgow City FC, the top club team in Scotland. City is the defending champions, a 10-year reign that is impressive and has earned them plenty of UEFA Champions League experience.

Another top player to find a home overseas is UNC grad Harris. She was UNC’s first choice goalkeeper her senior year after rotating the previous three years. Harris is known for making big saves, similar to another former UNC and now NWSL star with Orlando, Ashlyn Harris. Apart from a few keepers, UNC is primarily known for producing excellent talent in field players, but Lindsey Harris made a name for herself in those three years. Harris has signed with Iceland side FH for the upcoming season. FH have won the league once in 2011 and were runners-up the last two years.

DMath to Seattle (This is Not a Typo):

For much of this NWSL offseason, Washington Spirit has been the front-runner for headlines due to all the high-profile departures since November. Six key players for the Spirit will be elsewhere come April; Ali Krieger, Crystal Dunn, Christine Nairn, Megan Oyster, Estefania Banini, and now Diana Matheson. The Spirit have sent Matheson to the Seattle Reign. In return, they have acquired the rights to Arielle Shipp, who was Seattle’s third-round draft pick out of UC Berkeley.  

Commonly referred to as DMath, she spent four years in Washington, helping them to the playoffs the last three years; most recently to a Championship title match. Matheson is the Spirit’s all-time leading goal scorer with 23 goals and 12 assists in 67 appearances. The tiny and reliable Canadian midfielder will be re-united with another former Washington player in Christine Nairn.

This move will certainly help Seattle’s midfield, which saw Kim Little and Keelin Winters depart in the offseason. This addition along with Nairn, Jess Fishlock, Beverly Yanez, and Megan Rapinoe, makes me wonder, can the Reign return to the top four?

Orlando Wheeling and Dealing:

Tom Sermanni has made not one, not two, but three trades within the last week. In his latest attempt to avoid the 2018 draft, the Orlando Pride coach has sent a first and fourth-round pick to Portland in exchange for recent UConn grad and talented forward Rachel Hill. Sermanni’s second move was picking up Houston forward Chioma Ubogagu for a third round pick. His last and biggest trade was sending second-year player Sam Witteman to NC Courage for Australian defender Alanna Kennedy.

The Pride’s main agenda in their second year seems to be centered on the forwards and defenders. To be honest, it’s a bit confusing considering the midfield is the weakest position in my opinion. Nonetheless, they’ve certainly got my early vote for one of the best defenses in the league after adding Krieger and Kennedy this off-season to complement Steph Catley and Laura Alleway. Certainly, only time will tell how well these trades will work out, but Sermanni seems to know what he’s doing.

Join the Pride: The 2017 NWSL Draft

Posted on by RJ Allen

Going into the NWSL draft this year, the Orlando Pride no longer have the luxury of having a draft pick in the first or second round. The first-round pick was used in the trade to bring in now-retired player Becky Edwards and breakout player Kristen Edmonds to the squad. Additionally, the team parted with the second-round pick as part of the deal to acquire Sarah Hagen. The newest team in the league ended its inaugural season falling flat by finishing ninth on the table; the Pride’s last win came in July during Week 12 of the season. Orlando can only improve itself using the draft with the second pick in the third and fourth rounds.

After speaking with Pride Head Coach Tom Sermanni earlier last week, he indicated the club was hoping to add depth with quality players in the late rounds like the Pride’s fourth round selection, Dani Weatherholt; taken with the 31st pick last year.

“The big issue we have this year is we don’t have a draft pick until the third round. So most of the things we are looking at are probably going to be ineffective because the players that you’re hoping to get are probably going to be gone by the time our pick comes around.” Sermanni stated, “So ultimately, it’s still going to end up being just a little bit of a lottery for us because we don’t know exactly what the situation is going to by the time our pick comes around.”

One of the main issues facing the Pride based on last year’s performance was the thirty goals the team gave up. The positions which will be the targeted by Orlando are down the spine of the team. It is looking to upgrade center back, defending midfielder, and attacking center midfield. However, Tom has said he will want to take the best available player even if the player falls outside one of the team’s immediate needs.

Personally, I’d like to see the Pride focus on the midfield. An upgrade in holding mid would provide some protection to the backline; additionally, the team would also try to find an attacking mid to facilitate the offense. We’ll find out who joins the Pride on Thursday, January 12.