And in Recap ( WPS Week 5)

Now its time for me to give my recap and opinions on the week in review. These posts will probably always be named "And in Recap". Let's get started!

FC Gold Pride- I knew this team was too good to be down for long. They have been first place for 2-3 weeks now. With players like Sinclair (currently one of the top strikers in the league with 3 goals), Marta (4 time World FIFA Player of the year, and top scorer last year...need I say more? She will come to life at some point this season, she's too good to be silenced forever.), Abily (French middie who scored quite a few goals last season, about 8 or more. Another player that is too good to stay dormant for too long.), Milbrett (an oldie, but a goodie. Already has 2 goals in the league. A good striker to have up front.), Barnie (Good GK.), Dew (defensive anchor, and a good one) and rookie O'Hara (quite a prolific rookie. 2 assists, and 1 goal, that's a record that no one can complain about. More is definitely on the way.), I would sure hope so. Continue winning, and you might see yourself go far this season

St.Louis- seem impressive at first sight, but are better looking on paper than they are on the field. Have a decent record as of right now, but they are beatable. They have almost too many players to mention, So here's a few standouts- Solo (greatest 'keeper in women's soccer in my opinion. Getting past her is a challenge for sure.) and Aluko (not her biggest fan...but she can score, no doubt about it). To be honest, St.Louis is my least favorite team in the WPS right now. They're a shadow of past league superstar team La Sol, as they have many of the the former La players (Boxx, Chalupny, Miyama). Good? Yes. Beatable? Absolutely.

Chicago Red Stars- A team to watch, for sure. Possibly a dark horse this season. Chicago consistently dominates possession against most of the other teams they've played against. Only problem? Find the back of that net. With the addition of Rapinoe (excellent middie with superb 1 v 1 abilities, along with world class dribbling, outstanding vision and play-making skills, combined with some flair? You've got yourself quite a player on your hands.), the attack efforts should increase for the better, as should the speed of the midfield. Rapinoe will bring that offensive spark which is just what the doctor ordered. Other key players, like Cristiane (a great Brazilian player. Broke out of her slump by scoring her first 2 weeks ago, but needs to start scoring more. The team is relying on her to do what she does best. She's having problems finding her rhythm, but I'm sure she'll find it again.), Nogueira (rookie who has been doing pretty well this season. Yes she might have made a horrible miss one time that would have been the game winner, but what do you want? The girl is 21 years old, lacks experience, and is doing more than anyone else on the team! Cut her some slack. She's got 2 goals, and I expect more.), Masar (She needs to find her rhythm. She's a decent player and could only benefit CRS if she just got it together), will be instrumental in CRS's success. Dominate possession, find your rhythm, get in sync, and find the back of the net!

Washington Freedom- Home of the league's best offense, and for a good reason. With Strikers like Wambach (tall, fast player who is great on and off the ball. Great in the air, and when playing against physical opponents. Wambach will find opportunities to score anytime, anywhere, which makes her such a versatile player. Not only that, but she's also selfless. 6 assists in 5 games? That's incredible. A true force in the offensive effort.), and DeVanna (DeVanna's accolades and goals speak for themselves. Her lightning-fast pace can beat even the best of defenders, and her World Class Dribbling makes her a threat to any defense. Its hard to contain DeVanna, and when you have to, you will have your hands full. With 6 goals and 5 assists last year, she showed not only can she score, but she can provide and drive the offense on the other side of the coin as well. Its only a matter of time before this offensive player busts out and begins to score.), along with attacking midfielders like Sawa (2 goals on the campaign. For a midfielder? no complaints at all.) the proof is in the pudding. Keep dominating and scoring those goals, and the wins will of course follow, as will the points. The only thing that needs work is the defense, as Washington also houses the league's most scored on defense. Patch up those holes, and you'll be near unstoppable.

Boston Breakers- An all around team with a strong defense, and quite a strong offense. The only problem is that the defense will sometimes give up clean sheets easily, and the offense hasn't been as productive as of late. In back, LePeilbet (WPS Defender of the Year last year, and rightfully so. Able to mark players tightly, read the game extremely well, stop passes, long balls, through balls, and dodge attempts dead. Her speed make her one of the toughest defenders to beat, and one of the toughest to win a footrace against.) anchors defense. On offense, there are quite a few mentionable names. Smith (English player with 3 goals in the league. Great total right now. She has the ability to score from quite a few places, and reads the game well.), Cheney (young rookie who is sure to evolve into a great, at the rate she's been going. First goal of the season to start off the 2010 WPS year, but then silenced. Cheney needs to get it back together, and she'll be back on track in no time, scoring left and right, which she has the potential to do.), Laura Del Rio (player from Spain with impressive accolades gained and set in La Liga/Spanish WNT. Seemed impressive on attacking efforts in past Boston games. Now she needs to find the back of the net, off the bench.), along with some middie prescence, like Lilly (experienced veteran who is great on the wings). Boston Breakers has pretty much all of the pieces of the puzzle. Time to put them together and make them work. You have the offense, start scoring more goals. And defense? Tidy up just a little and stop giving away clean sheets, you're taking points off my fantasy team. Just kidding, but seriously, make it tight as can be back there.

Sky Blue FC- Where do I begin? You guys are WPS Champions. Start playing like you're champions. Score more goals, win against big teams, don't let other teams dominate, you should be 1st right now, technically. I'll give you more time, but you really have to shape up. You've got the players. Bardsley (excellent GK really making a name for herself.), Kai (an excellent, speedy striker with a great eye for goal, and an incredible scoring ability. Excellent dribbling skills, deadly vertical jump, smart plays on and off the ball, what else do you need? Tasha Kai is on form this year. Expect more than just 2 from her.), HaO (doing decent, but is a much better player than has been shown as of late). Point is, Sky Blue, you have to step up. You have not been playing, or winning convincingly at all.

Philadelphia Independence- a definite surprise team this season. Thought to be one of the noob teams that were going to be easier to beat, but they have shown almost every team in the league that they can play with the big boys. Philly has come up with incredible wins, and was the last undefeated team standing until Week 5. Don't let these first-timers fool you, they have a more talented squad than it seems. Players like Lori Lindsey (Lindsey is to Philly Independence as Xavi is to FC Barcelona. Instrumental in the midfield, high work rate, great passes, good play-making and vision, the reason why she has 4 assists and a goal.), Magnusdottir (Icelandic international who is a good defender. Good work rate in back, not afraid to get in there and mark up), and Falk (a great defender who knows how to score....even if she does put it into the back of her own net...), things are looking up. I would expect that Philly will continue to succeed in this league. Underdogs? Maybe for Week 1, but now, they're a team to beat

Atlanta Beat- You've lost every game, and I can only think of 2, maybe 3 players who have been worth anything for you. Bachmann (a 19 year old that has scored 2 of your goals. She's great, no doubt, but come on people, you're relying on a 19 year old alone? Sad. Guess its 'cause you got no one else.) Ocampo (Mexican player who's scored one goal, that's more than most of the rest of you.), and McCall Zerboni (did well in midfield for ATL against Sky Blue, seems like a driving force of the midfield). All in all, ATL, if you do not find your "Beat", and find it fast, you're done, because you're falling way too far behind.


And that's it for the WPS Week 5 in Review. Enjoy! Feel free to comment, agree, or even disagree.

Denise

WPS Weekly Rant (Week 5)

Welcome to my first actual soccer post in the history of "Just another Soccer fan". I wrote this the other day for fun, and now I'm putting it here for anyone who would like to read. Here we go!

Another week down for WPS, and the scores, although not necessarily yielding tons of goals, still got the job done for some of the teams. Here's a review of what happened in Week 5- FC Gold Pride is staying in 1st place, with 3 points, thanks to a goal by Milbrett, and another by O'Hara, one of the few prospect rookies in the league. On a side note, I have to say the rookies for the most part have been doing well this year. While Cheney has silenced a bit since her first few games, I know deep down she is a great player, nothing will change that. As for Nogueira, despite the lack of judgment used in the dying minutes against St. Louis (week 2), which is kind of expected from a young 21 year who lacks experience, she's been carrying Chicago. 2 goals for her in the campaign, and no one can complain, because that has been the only thing keeping the Red stars alive. She might not be a superstar...yet...but she's doing what the proclaimed superstars haven't been so far.

As for O'Hara, her record for the season isn't too shabby at all. 2 assists, and a goal. Keep it up, that's a good record, especially for a young'n. Anyways, FCGP gets past at the expense of Chicago Red Stars. Poor CRS, looked like they'd be making a comeback when Nogueira, Rapinoe, and Cristiane showed up against Boston, but apparently that was all for naught, as once again, no one on CRS could step up to the plate this time around. CRS had better get their act together, and fast. The addition of Rapinoe back onto the squad should help tremendously with the midfield speed and attacking efforts, but she can't be expected to do all the work herself. While CRS has possessed for the majority of their games, they can never find the back of the net. Maybe they need glasses? who knows.

As for one of the more looked forward to match-ups (for me anyway, as it was a rematch of this year's first match in which Washington lost 2-1 to Boston....revenge, anyone?), Washington Freedom vs. Boston Breakers, it was a bit of a disappointment. A 0-0 tie, in which nobody wins. If you're going to tie, at least score some goals! Then again, a 0-0 tie means both teams are pretty strong and were able to hold out against each other, making the next match-up that much more exciting. I'm guessing Boston's strong defense held off The league's best offense. In all fairness though, Washington were missing key midfielder Sawa, and also lightning fast striker DeVanna due to each players international duty. Could their contribution to the attack effort been the key to winning? We'll never know, not until next match-up of course. I like both teams, so I guess I am glad that they both tied, and nobody had to lose, but I would have liked to have seen Washington even out the record.

Now for St.Louis Athletica vs. Philadelphia Independence. This match seemed like a total disaster...for Philly that is. As the final undefeated team, this game proved to be pretty bad. The first goal, came from an own goal. Yes, that is right, first own goal in WPS I believe, and who was it scored by? None other than the biggest pioneer of firsts in this league. That's right, you guessed it, Falk. First player to score a goal in WPS, first player to score for the Philly Independence expansion team, first player to be shown a red card in a WPS Championship Final, and the first player to score an own goal. Way to go Falk, at this rate your trophy case will explode. Anyway, after the one goal, Philly made attempts, but I guess the "A-Rod wonder" couldn't produce any magic like she's cracked up to create. To put St.Louis even further ahead, Tarpley scored her first ever WPS goal for the campaign, and also for her time with St.Louis. Then Patterson came off the bench for Philly and scored. That did nothing, as St.Louis would end up winning the match. My one complaint for this game, is that St.Louis won. They aren't even that good. Sure they have good players but they aren't as uber as they seem. No matter who St.Louis beats, I will always be able to proudly say "Hey, Washington beat them...3-1. Taste that for breakfast." And Falk....own goal? You're kind of overachieving now with the firsts, don't you think?

And for the last match. Sky Blue FC vs. Atlanta Beat. Atlanta Beat, just don't have the "beat", or the rhythm. They haven't won a single game so far. Sky Blue undeservedly won 1-0 in the match. Sky Blue looked lost. Atlanta had possession most of the time, and created the best chances. Bachmann played excellently, and really impressed me. The young striker almost had a goal a few times. This is coming from someone who didn't believe the Bachmann hype before. All I have to say is, watch out for her, she's got talent. On the other side of the coin, Bardsley proved herself as a keeper to beat in this league. Hats off to Bardsley, she's been doing very well this season, definitely one of, if not the top keeper right now. Good job filling in for Branam, who is actually expected to return in early June. That should be interesting. But, here's where my complaints come in. Sky Blue won, sure, but off of an ATL own goal. What is this, WPS Own Goal Weekend? 2 own goals? In one week? Holy crap. That's not good at all. And here's my next big complaint. SBFC has not been playing like WPS Champions...not in the slightest bit. They've been winning games by very narrow margins, perfect example was their 1-0 win against ATL. I don't think they've scored more than 1 goal in a game. That's unacceptable. I understand that Kai is injured, and that really does hit the offense hard, but its not all about one player, as good as Kai is. We need other players to deliver when she's not there. To me, Sky Blue has been a CRS, only they're on the other side of the coin. They win every match, but by the skin of their teeth, often times letting other teams dominate. When faced with a true challenge though, like FCGP, they lose. Sky Blue had better wake up and start scoring and playing like they mean it. And ATL? I don't even know what to say. You haven't won a single game. I don't know if I should laugh or feel sorry. You have to start finding the back of that net. There's no reason to have not won a game by now.