Gary Gibson
There is always something we can learn about this team from wins or losses. Here are three items of note from our loss to the Courage.
- The partnership between Ali Krieger and Mandy Freeman shows signs of being a great pairing. Both players possess high soccer IQs and are positionally sound. In Mandy Freeman you get a great 1v1 defender who rarely gives up silly fouls or loses her mark. In Krieger you get one of the most technically sound players the US has ever produced who has great instincts and passing range. Ali can put out fires before they start. Because of their ability to close down and pressure in the box, the courage were forced to shoot from the outside and only got 4 of 17 shots on target. Despite the result and some noticeable rust. This could one of the best center back pairings in the league.
- The impact of Kristie Mewis was felt without even stepping foot on the pitch for her new team. Gotham looked unable to connect from defense to offense and lost a good deal of the midfield battle. Kristie Mewis is a player who will be able to float around and find spaces to not only hold the ball up but link with forwards. Kristie is the engine for this offense minus Carli Lloyd.
- Rust happens to even the most veteran of rosters. Gotham seemed ill prepared to handle a non pressing courage team. They got their spacing all wrong. Got stretched far too often and pressed not as a unit. Understanding that the team was missing three key starters up the spine and that was the recipe for what we saw on Saturday.
Expect Gotham FC to turn things around quickly and get healthy. Gotham returns to the field against the reigning champs the spirit.
Bonus item: Gotham never dies. Despite things on the pitch not going the way they wanted, Gotham continued to push. Monaghan and Purce tried taking on 4 or five players just to make something happen late. This team fights. Regardless of how games turn out. This team is going to give everything for each other. That is what champions are made of. Proud of this team.
What the fans thought:
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