You learn more from losing than winning. You learn how to keep going.- Morgan Wooten
Gotham made uncharacteristic mistakes in their second road match in their second game of the regular season. Traveling to Orlando and then across country to San Diego is a tall task for any team. Gotham put on a poor performance that was marred by giveaways and unforced errors. A polar opposite of what we know this team to be.
That being said, here are three takeaways.
What was to be expected:
Gotham gave away 4 big chances and San Diego, more like Alex Morgan was the beneficiary. She was lethal and even though those chances were put on a platter, she finished them with precision. Other than those 2 penalties and two really poor give aways from close range, Gotham's defense stood up. San Diego had 29 shots (31 total) inside the 18 and the defense blocked 11 of them. Harris made 4 big saves and Dydasco made a great stop off the line on a sure goal. 4 big chances. 4 goals. 4 expected goals. 2 of them being penalties. Again, this means essentially on 28 other shots, only about 1 expected goal outside of Morgan. It still highlights how hard it is to score on this team without them shooting themselves in the foot.
Missed connections:
A left sided performance. Whether by design or not, everything Gotham had going forward went through Imani Dorsey and Estelle Johnson. Glaring missed connection between Mewis and the forwards Purce and Onumonu. Gotham has to find ways to get Mewis forward and in sync with those two attackers. Lastly, there was no player sitting in the space where a traditional attacking midfielder would be. Without that relief valve, Onumonu has to track back to find the game.
Missing players:
Not sure what to make of the absence of Cudjoe and Torres in these games. Cudjoe is a proven player who could have added bite to the midfield and provided cover for Mewis getting forward. Torres is an up and coming player who could have subbed in when McCall was clearly struggling. While both do not have the captains nose for destroying plays, both are a bit better in spreading the ball forward and relieving pressure. Here's hoping that we see more of those two going forward. More rotation is needed in this squad.
Lastly, I want to point out some of our friends on Twitter that really do some great work in putting statistical data together.
@Field0fVision
@arielle_dror
Gary Gibson
soccerovergotham@gmail.com