Charles and RJ discuss the recent USWNT’s friendlies against Mexico–what worked, what didn’t, and why there’s no need to worry too much about the team–and then cover some of the recent NWSL news. There’s also a bonus chat between RJ and Cindy Lara from RSL Soapbox about all things Utah.
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Intro music: Those Better Days by Mimi Page
The two friendlies this week against Mexico weren’t the highest quality games the US has ever played. The shape wasn’t always compact and both defense and goalkeeping left something to be desired. But these games did show us that when players are “on” they can still be a delight to watch. Here are three thoughts on the US vs Mexico matches.
The History of Goalkeeper Management Is Catching Up to the USWNT
The US is bad at creating the conditions for world class goalkeepers to be born. At the same time, they’ve also had some of the best goalkeepers in the history of the women’s game. With Briana Scurry and Hope Solo, it’s more that they overcome the underlying conditions than it is any real indication of success in the way goalkeepers are handled in this country. The mismanagement of the current crop—from who is being called in, to who is being capped, to the scarcity of substitutions—is making that very clear.
Scurry and Solo were able to overcome those difficulties because they were generational-quality keepers. Simple stuff, really. But Alyssa Naeher, Ashlyn Harris and Jane Campbell aren’t that lucky. They have each had minutes for the USWNT since Solo’s messy departure. While Ellis has put the most faith (and pressure) on Naeher’s shoulders, it hasn’t quite worked out the way that many expected. She certainly hasn’t locked up the position. In the rare minutes she gets, Harris has been competent if not stellar. And this week, Campbell used her first start to concede twice on corners while standing inside of goal.
Not stellar no matter how you cut it.
Abby Smith and AD Franch are both options that Ellis should look at before she runs out of pre-France minutes. After the last few matches, there is no reason to bank heavily on a return in Naeher’s form, nor would it be safe to treat either backup as ready for primetime. Why not bring in some healthy competition?
The Triple-Edged Sword Reborn
The Triple-Edged Sword was the name given to the attacking trio of Michelle Akers, Carin Jennings-Gabarra and April Heinrichs during the 1991 Women’s World Cup. Alex Morgan, Mallory Pugh and Megan Rapinoe look like they might be aiming to take that nickname for themselves.
Morgan finished the international break with four goals and one assist. Pugh notched two goals. And Rapinoe got an impressive one goal and five assists. The only goal the trio didn’t have a hand in was Carli Lloyd’s Lindsey Horan-assisted goal in the first game.
The three have looked sharp for the national team and with their NWSL clubs. If they can keep this energy up when the likes of Julie Ertz and Sam Mewis rejoin the midfield it could be a windfall for the team. It also puts less pressure on Tobin Heath when she returns. She won’t be the only source of creativity on the field.
This Defense Is Just Fine.
Ellis wants the ability to go high and low with her outside backs. And after some thinkpieces and a minor freak out on the internet over Crystal Dunn being on the backline for these games, we saw some evidence that suggests it just might work.
Dunn was able to get into the attack nearly as much as if she were a winger. In the second game the mix of Davidson, Sauerbrunn and Sonnett was a fairly balanced and dynamic three-back when Dunn pushed up.
This won’t be the only setup that the USWNT plays, and it shouldn’t be. Very few teams are truly settled, with just one settled backline, one defensive unit, or one unitary style. Having players like Dunn and Kelley O’Hara who can line up on the left or right and on the backline or in the midfield gives Ellis the chance to play a back four, a modified back three or even pull back the wingbacks for a five-woman defense. What’s more, she can do it without making a bunch of substitutions thanks to a lot of flexibility in the individual players.
Having Sauerbrunn on the field is a huge advantage here, which we saw again this week. Her ability to teach in real time—giving Sonnett, Dahlkemper and Davidson room to learn without just stepping in for them—is exceptional. And remember, they’re missing some key players. When O’Hara comes back into the mix, she’ll provide a bit more experience about precisely when to push and when to hold back. Over time, we should see trust building and players working together as a more integrated unit.
The SheBelieves Cup comes at the perfect time of year, in my opinion. It is right before the start of the NWSL season, prepping the WoSo fan base for the next eight months. It also happens to kick off Women’s History Month. What better way to celebrate the history of women than by putting the best female athletes in the world out on a pitch to battle through the wind, rain, and cold during a seven-day span? Because women can handle shit like that, plain and simple. They worked hard out there, and in turn, we got to see some great (and not-so-great) moments of football. And we also got to learn some things in the process. Here are just five:
Jill Ellis knows who she wants in goal. That much is certain. While other countries, like England, gave their backup goalkeepers some playing time during the tournament, the USA refrained. The only keeper needed (or wanted by Ellis) was Alyssa Naeher. Although she played well and had a couple of great saves, it does beg the question of what would happen if she were to get injured. Who would replace her? Would they be ready? And how does that change the dynamic of the team? The USA has some great options in goal, but Ellis’s motto is simple: if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.
The Lionesses are a good team, and they are only getting better. From their amazing first match against France, to their new dominating outlook on the game, England is definitely a team to watch out for. They are playing with purpose and intent—even after flying basic economy with a non-direct flight. Nothing seems to shake this team, which is a surprise considering what their past year has entailed. But it seems as though Phil Neville is fitting into his role just fine despite the initial criticism of his hiring and the team hasn’t seemed to let the noise around it faze them whatsoever. I’m sure they didn’t mind having Neville’s mate, David Beckham, stop by the locker room to wish them luck, either.
I’ve been saying this for a while now, but for a lot of women’s soccer fans in America, this was a first time seeing the creativity and precision that is Fran Kirby. The English forward is a playmaker and is amazingly fun to watch. Her passing is pristine, her shooting is lethal, and her work ethic leaves the normal player in the dust. If you didn’t get a chance to catch any of her work during the tournament, do yourself a favor and watch it on replay—you can thank me later. Yes, Fran Kirby may just be the future of football, and a potential Best FIFA Women’s Player candidate.
The France team that we saw at the beginning of the SheBelieves Cup was considerably different than the one we saw at the end of it. They got pummeled by England, pulled it together to manage a draw against the US, and then finally became the France the crowd is used to seeing when they defeated Germany 3-0 in their final match. Needless to say, they are having some consistency issues. And match that with a coach that said some rather harsh things about the team after their first match and, well… they have a few things that need to be worked on. But, as can be seen by their match against Germany, they are still a threat going into a World Cup on their home turf.
America is in a transitional phase. Certain fan favorites from the last World Cup are getting older and playing fewer minutes. Other staple players have been out with injuries. And while the depth chart for the USA team seems to go on for miles, there have been points where youthfulness wasn’t its strength. But at the SheBelieves Cup, the young blood was on display. The likes of Mallory Pugh, Tierna Davidson, Andi Sullivan, and surprise sensation Savannah McCaskill, showed what the future of the USWNT could very well look like moving forward. And I must say—it’s not a bad look at all. Sure, the US side still definitely needs polishing, but with the young potential that was shown throughout the tournament, that polishing could produce something completely unseen down the line.
German forward Alexandra Popp is a qualified zookeeper. Does that make her the coolest soccer player in the world? It just might…
Regardless of who we cheered for during the SheBelieves Cup, we all got some takeaways from it—some good, some bad. But we also got some great entertainment from some amazingly talented women out on the pitch. And I think we can all agree that we will be tuning in next year to see what the SheBelieves Cup holds for us.
NWSL rosters are cut down as the NWSL season grows near. The USWNT is playing for the SBC title. This and more on this weeks Quick Kicks.
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That magical time is finally here. It’s NWSL pre season!
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Where to find the hosts on Twitter:
RJ Allen: @TheSoccerCritic
Luis G. Hernandez: @RadioactivClown
The Show: @QuickKicksNews
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Take a look below at the photos snapped by Leanne Keator at the SheBelieves match between the USWNT and the French WNT.
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The USWNT needs to win the SheBelieves Cup.
If they don’t win it, they at least need to come out of it answering more questions and putting more doubt to rest than they did during the 2017 version, or last summer’s Tournament of Nations.
The last year or so has not been kind to this team—this team who suffered losses to England and France. On home soil. This team who was beaten by Australia. Also on home soil. It’s as if a spider that had been soaked in some glowing green goop crawled to their hand and sung its fangs in deep. The DNA of this team has been transformed.
And yet, they still win, much as they always have. Sometimes convincingly, over teams like Denmark, who, don’t forget, were in the Euro final just last summer. Sometimes against Canada at home. They have both big-name standbys and players still a little wet behind the ears—players who can make magic happen in the space of a heartbeat.
But time isn’t on the USWNT’s side. France 2019 is next year. The minutes are ticking down, the pressure is ratcheting up, and it’s time the World Cup roster gets put together in theory.
Thankfully for those of us who engage in punditry, Jill Ellis isn’t hard to read. Like it or not, she makes nearly all her intentions loud and clear, if you know how to decode the writing on the wall. Taking a look at the 26 players heading to the pre-SheBelieves camp shows she is as consistent as she sometimes is maddening.
Becky Sauerbrunn, Sam Mewis, and Tobin Heath would be there if they were healthy, but rest will do each of them good.
Ellis called up Jane Campbell, Ashlyn Harris and Alyssa Naeher as her goalkeeping trio—the same group she has called up, more or less, since Hope Solo walked herself in to a suspension after the 2016 Olympics. Adrianna Franch is reportedly out of camp due to injury, but what would it matter if she were there? Ellis has settled on her number one in Naeher. The other goalkeepers are there for training, and in case the worst happens to Naeher. At this point they are more ornamental than functional.
As the focus turns to the defense, there is a pretty major difference in experience between Kelley O’Hara and everyone else. O’Hara has 105 caps. Every other defender called in has a combined 58 caps. Abby Dahlkemper, Tierna Davidson, Sofia Huerta, Casey Short, Taylor Smith, and Emily Sonnett join O’Hara as Ellis’s options in the back.
While it is a good time to see how the likes of Dahlkemper, Short, Smith, and Sonnett do against some of the top talent in the world, I can’t help but worry that Huerta has not adapted well enough to her new position to be a sound option as a starter or sub. Davidson was green in her 90 minutes against Denmark, but for a first attempt, we’ve seen much worse. Hailie Mace, who was in the 26-player camp, didn’t make the final roster, but just being in camp was likely good experience for her.
I expect Short to be used as a left back who can go to the center if needed—but then, she could also be deployed centrally alongside Dahlkemper. Without Sauerbrunn, a question arises about who to start at centerback. If Davidson plays—and I expect her to at least get some minutes after Ellis had her play 90 against Denmark—these matches will be the deepest of deep ends for the young defender to be thrown into. Sonnett is always an option, but Ellis has a history of calling the talented centerback in only to leave her on the bench or off the roster altogether. While Dahlkemper seems a likely lock, based on Ellis’ history, to start all three games, her partner in this tournament remains one of the few real questions when it comes to the defense.
Ellis has options in the midfield. Morgan Brian, Julie Ertz, Lindsey Horan, Carli Lloyd, Allie Long, and Andi Sullivan are all solid names for her to pull from. Rose Lavelle wasn’t included on the final roster, as she’s still rehabbing her hamstring injury.
With Brian not in camp, everyone else—all central midfielders, as the wide players are all listed as forwards—will have gotten a chance to work on their chemistry going into the games. Ertz has been nothing short of a revelation since she has been given the freedom the midfield offers. Horan has been coming in to her own more and more lately between Portland and the USWNT. Lloyd and Long are known entities who will give what they always do.
Say what you want about the rest of the USWNT, but when it comes to world-class forwards, the USWNT’s cup is running over. Having a group of forwards that includes Crystal Dunn, Savannah McCaskill, Alex Morgan, Christen Press, Mallory Pugh, Megan Rapinoe, and Lynn Williams is like playing FIFA on easy mode. There are few, if any, wrong choices when it comes to who should be played and who should come in as a sub among this group. If anything, this is the place where the USWNT should feel the most comfortable going in. It might be possible to shut down Morgan or Press or Pugh or any one of them for a game—but shutting down two or more becomes a much harder task.
Over the next 18 months, the team is going to have to take several steps forward if they want to defend their 2015 World Cup win. Doing well at the She Believes Cup would go a long way toward getting their heads right before the NWSL season takes their attentions in other directions.
March 1: vs. Germany, 7 pm ET/4 pm PT (ESPN2)
March 4: vs. France, 12 pm ET/9 am PT (ESPN2)
March 7: vs. England, 7 pm ET/4 pm PT (ESPNews)
When it was announced that John Herdman would be leaving his position as the head coach of the Canadian Women’s National Team to head the Canadian Men’s Team the soccer media world erupted. ‘How could he do that?, Was the team aware?, Does that man have any loyalty?’ were just a few of the shouts that could be heard throughout social media. But this article has nothing to do with any of those things. In fact, I could care less about the kind of man John Herdman is and the effects that his leaving will have on the CanWNT. Mainly, because I believe that the Canadian Women will continue to be an insanely talented and strong team without Herdman. But also because Herdman going from the women’s game to the men’s says something much bigger about the beautiful game:
Men’s soccer and women’s soccer have a lot more in common than the fans and media are willing to acknowledge.
I never realized how segregated the WoSo and BroSo fan bases were until I started writing for Backline Soccer. I am definitely in the minority at Backline as someone who watches both women’s and men’s soccer. Compile that with the fact that I watch the leagues both here and abroad, and that dwindles the group down even more.
And that is okay. There is nothing wrong with only watching women’s soccer or only watching men’s soccer. And there is nothing wrong with only watching a single league or watching soccer within the bounds of a single country. There is no right way to be a fan.
But the Herdman move lends to the idea that things can be learned between the two sides of the sport – that coaching and playing tactics can translate between the men’s and women’s game. It also begins to change the narrative from always saying that the women could learn a lot from the way the men play, to the narrative that the men could use some of the amazing resources and skills that the women have developed. They can discover and teach and share with each other – the monopoly on the evolution of the game is no longer a one-way street. It is a thriving metropolis with streets and highways, a metro system, and a railroad. Things can be learned and understood from both sides and globally.
I know that this is an unfavorable opinion. In fact, many of you reading this will vehemently disagree with me, and I accept that. But the thing that no one can deny is that although soccer is a game that is always evolving, the basic techniques and philosophies will remain, no matter what gender or nationality of the player is.
So what is the harm in reaching across the aisle and seeing what the other side has going on? What is wrong with experimenting with a tactic that worked for a men’s club in another league in another country? What is wrong with saying the same thing with regards to the women’s game?
There isn’t.
Soccer shouldn’t be consumed in a vacuum. There is so much that can be learned from not only other leagues, and other countries, but also from the other side of the game – the men’s or the women’s, depending on where your allegiances lie.
And I will take the argument a little bit further and say it would be a detriment to not be aware of what is happening on the other side of the sport, or in other leagues, and in other countries. Look at what is happening in Columbus, Ohio currently. Do we honestly believe that the NWSL is in a secure enough place to not have that happen to one of their clubs? What about the debacle of the USMNT not advancing to the World Cup. Could the men’s side have maybe taken a note from the women’s?
And if we only watch soccer that is played here in America we could lose on so much as well. Like, what makes Olympique Lyonnais so insanely well put together on the pitch, why is Fran Kirby so dominant in the WSL, or how was Norway able to make it possible to pay both the men and the women’s players the same salary? All of those things should be relevant to the women’s game in America. They are all things to take note of and evaluate. Because if they aren’t, then we fall behind in the evolution of the game. So if we are questioning why Morgan Brian went to France, or why Jessie Fleming is looking at playing in Europe over the NWSL, then we also have to ask the question of what it is that we could possibly be lacking.
And the only way to know what we are lacking is to look around us at what is happening in the game from a global perspective. From the perspective that we can learn something from all aspects of the game and from all leagues, clubs, and sides of it. The Canadian Men’s National Team did this when they tapped John Herdman to come and coach for them. They could have chosen a men’s coach from anywhere in the world. But instead they looked to the man who took the No. 12 ranked Canadian Women’s National Team to No. 5, and who lead that team to two Olympic Bronze Medals and a World Cup Quarterfinal.
What will he do with the No. 94 Canadian Men? Only time will tell. But his performance with the Canadian Women made the men’s side take notice and recognize that they could use someone like Herdman. It doesn’t matter that he coached on the women’s side. What mattered was that he knew how to coach the game as a whole. It wasn’t about sides.
Like I said at the beginning of this article, there is nothing wrong with only following one team or one league or one side of the game. In fact, it is the norm. There is no right way to be a fan and no right way for the media to cover the sport. But there should be an acknowledgment that the game does not simply happen in one place, or one country, or only on the men’s or women’s side. Soccer is the world’s game. And to discredit any portion of it is to discredit the game as a whole. Because this game does not live in a vacuum – it grows, it spreads, it evolves. And if we only pay attention to one small piece of that game, then we lose sight of everything that it stands for. It is a sport for anyone, everyone, anyplace, and everyplace.
A three-team trade has shuffled several players around the National Women’s Soccer League.
Sky Blue FC acquired the rights to New Zealand Women’s National Team defender Rebekah Stott and Mexico Women’s National Team forward Katie Johnson from Seattle Reign FC in exchange for the rights to Australian international Caitlin Foord.
“We are incredibly excited to welcome Rebekah and Katie to Sky Blue FC,” said Tony Novo, Sky Blue FC President & General Manager. “Both have performed on the world stage and have been exceptionally productive at every level in which they have played. They are two young players with high-rising trajectories, and we cannot wait to have them on the field for our club.”
Seattle Reign FC traded the rights to Foord and a 2020 NWSL draft pick to Portland Thorns FC in exchange for U.S. Women’s National Team midfielder Allie Long.
“We are very appreciative of Allie’s contributions to the club over the past five seasons,” said Thorns FC general manager and president of soccer Gavin Wilkinson. “She accomplished a great deal during her time in Portland, winning two NWSL Championships and achieving her goal of making it to the national team, and we wish her all the best.”
There has been something on my mind lately that I can’t seem to shake.
I have a hard time calling myself a fan of women’s soccer in the way I call myself a fan of baseball.
Maybe it’s because I’ve been a baseball fan since my uncle, who lived just outside of Boston at the time, placed a Red Sox hat on my head in the second grade. The draw of Fenway has been an unwavering part of my identity since. Baseball gave me something to share with my grandmother, a staunch Yankee fan; a woman whose own father walked her down the aisle on her wedding day in 1952 only to leave the church shortly after to go to his car to listen to the Yankees’ playoff game on the radio. The then Brooklyn Dodgers won that game, by the way, 6 to 5 in 11 innings before the Yankees won the Series.
Women’s soccer is a much more recent addition to my sport loving heart, though often my devotion to the sport feels more academic than passionate. It’s the kind of non-casual pursuit that forces my attention to be directly on it versus simply having it hum along in the background of my life the way baseball does.
I put on a baseball game in the summer and go on with my life, looking up from my laptop to check the score or to see where the ball is going when I catch the start of action out of the top of my visual field.
When I put on a soccer game, on the other hand, my attention leaves the screen only so long as to compose a tweet or write a note to talk about later on a podcast or for a piece I’m writing. My attention is more focused, more exclusionary to the rest of life.
If I were to be honest though, I think one of the strongest subconscious processes that drives my aversion the title of “fan” is a part of me that struggles with the idea of claiming to be a fan while I also act as media.
Soccer, women’s soccer more than soccer in general, relies on a network of largely unpaid writers who write for small to slightly less small sites for much of the coverage. It’s not SportsCenter breaking down the USWNT January camp roster, it’s the (mostly) unpaid masses of women’s soccer sites who have built reputations and followings for covering a sport that is often on the outside looking in at more mainstream coverage.
While the debate about unpaid labor taking over a job that should be paid will have to wait for another day, it is the most common model of women’s soccer coverage we have.
And that presents some interesting side effects for the people in those media roles.
We are a (largely) self-trained group who do the jobs we do out of a devotion to supporting a game while often times paying for the pleasure of doing so. We are fans who felt a calling to help cover a game we feel is being sidestepped by those media outlets that sports fans would usually look to for coverage. While sometimes it might look from the outside like we’re fans who have found ourselves “in the loop” there is more than that at play. We are, by and large, a bit like puppies who might slobber a little as we learn how to sit, stay and roll over on our way toward covering the game in the way we believe it deserves.
And for me, that is where a lot of the tension lives.
I am not a perfect soccer writer, nor am I a flawless as an editor in chief. I’ve made mistakes. I’ve put out pieces that were a little (or a lot) undercooked. I’ve signed off on letting pieces go out without first weighing their full impact. I sometimes open my mouth and insert my whole foot inside of it.
But I do try to be better with each piece I write and with each piece Backline Soccer puts out. Every podcast episode I record, I try to get a little better at stating my case for my varied opinions. I try to form those opinions based on facts, watching a whole lot of games and talking to other media types.
But one of the dilemmas I face, more internally (maybe) than not, is how much of a fan do I get to be?
There are some boundaries I have no choice but to abide by.
No cheering in the press box. No asking players to sign things or take personal photos. Don’t get personal with the players. Be respectful when speaking with coaches and players. (It has been, on occasion, very hard to not ask, “what the hell were you thinking?” to either a player or coach, I won’t lie.)
But there are other boundaries that aren’t so clear.
How do you articulate your biases as you create content? How do you figure out what those biases are in the first place? Do you still get to be a fan of one team before all others if you cover that league? How public should your support be if you are? How do you turn off your fan brain when you are trying to evaluate talent or a coach or a system a team is playing in? How do you get others to take you seriously when you have doubts about how seriously you are able to take yourself? How do you report things people might not want to hear? How do you get verification that would stand up if you were questioned about a fact?
Often the answers to these questions aren’t taught. Each of us has to figure them out for ourselves. And it’s often messy. And complicated. And hard.
It is hard to go from just some random fan of a team or a sport to someone who is trying to cover it at the very best of times. And throw in no money and little support (more if you’re lucky to find a good site with a strong copy editor), and it becomes a battle of your will to do this thing against a viewership that can feel like a school of sharks waiting to hit up your social media the moment they sense a bit of blood in the water. Or worse, a viewership that just doesn’t care.
But I have been lucky too. Luckier than a lot of people who decided one day this was what they wanted to do.
Lucky that I have been largely welcomed by the women’s soccer media. Lucky that Sky Blue, the club I cover most often, and I have a solid working relationship. Lucky I have gotten to do player interviews where I think (I hope) I come out of them looking like I know what I’m doing. (I am still amazed I got Nicole Barnhart to agree to an interview, a personal high point for me.) Lucky I have friends in the media world who help challenge me and guide me and teach me. Lucky I have Backline Soccer and one of the most supportive groups working with me there. Lucky I have the Ride of the Valkyries crew to talk goalkeeping and Laura Harvey with (Side note: Harvey will never stop being talked about by Seattle people. It is as sure as death and taxes.).
I am coming around to the idea that admitting I enjoy the way Marta floats with the ball or that I am a fan of Fishlock or Zerboni in their “take no prisoners” style. I’m learning this isn’t a problem with me as a media member but just a part of who I am as a soccer fan. Having nerves before a big interview, not always feeling I know what I’m doing, those things are part of the deal too.
I’m not sure I will ever feel like anything other than some nobody from upstate New York who has to try over and over to prove themselves. But I do know I am starting to slowly get more comfortable in my own skin when it comes to life and soccer. And that does have a positive effect on my work (I think. I hope). I invest a lot of time, a lot of money, a lot of mental energy into women’s soccer. I hope people who are not me and who are not my friends get something out of my work, both written and podcasting.
I haven’t made any New Years resolutions yet. But I think allowing myself to be a little more open about the things I love in soccer without worrying that my excitement is somehow antithetical to the role I have in women’s soccer media might be a good place to start.
So to start 2018 off? A confession.
I’m a Raquel Rodriguez fan.
There, I said it. Feels pretty good.
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