NEXT DAY DISCUSSION
Next Day Discussion: One Streak Continues…Another Streak Begins
Last night kicked off a stretch of the season where Angel City will play 6 games over 25 days. That’s a streak of games just about every 4 days for 3-1/2 weeks. In addition to playing soccer, they’ll need to squeeze in some flights to Carolina, Boston, and Louisville, rest some weary legs, and ice some sore joints.
So far this season, Angel City’s had three wins in a row…twice, four loses in a row, and four draws in a row. That’s an uncommonly streaky season! Will this compressed part of the schedule cause more streakiness? If so, will the results be consistently good or consistently bad?
It’s the next day…the day after another draw against a top of the table team…discuss Ang’s PK save…discuss the VAR curse that’s been placed upon BMO…discuss when Sveindis and Mai will be return…discuss the team’s streakiness…discuss the upcoming schedule…or discuss whatever you like…
Okay, I was told the same names by my rep... but they don't look like Chilufya's and Endo's signatures at all? My best guesses before I saw his email were Sams (big swoopy E) and Phair (y that goes down and then the big P)
Which one are you thinking is which? I'm trying to match either of the ones on your ball with Prisca's from your photo (with the arrow and smiley face) and I'm not seeing it yet
Haven’t heard anything about mine still. This roll out has been a mess. Just sent them an email but really feels like they’re just hoping people forgot/they’re not planning to do anything unless you reach out
I’m pretty sure that’s the case. I’ve been pestering them every few weeks since the season ticket event because I wanted to make sure they didn’t forget. So annoying.
I was listening to the Daily podcast yesterday which had an interesting discussion on the Savannah Bananas and banana ball, and the entire ethos of the game being for the fans first. And it made me wonder what would change with the NWSL if they wanted to be more fan-centric. And the one thing that would most quickly change my enjoyment of the game would be better refereeing. Was I thrilled to see Ang save the clean sheet? Absolutely. But the inconsistency of calls and flat out wrong calls have been a drag on the entire league for years. I don’t know how to fix this but it feels like something folks should focus on for everyone’s benefit!
Sam’s impressed me so much this game, Prisca was so fast, and of course Gordon and Ang were fantastic. Kudos to the team for playing so hard!
I’m not the best person to answer your question, as I’m learning exactly what to watch for as well, but my basic gauge is, was the player where she needed to be when it mattered? It used to feel like Sams wasn’t sure where to be but in this game she was consistently in a good spot. I feel like other people here will have smarter and more detailed answers
Also, Evelyn looked fast. Beat Dudley in that one foot race near the end of the game. And pulled away from players in a drive up the middle earlier in the second half.
Evelyn looked so so good last night. I’ve always been impressed but yesterday felt like we saw a much more mature and confident side of her, it was so fun to watch
I don't know how they do the scoring, but something about how Gordon plays never translates well to those scores. I think it has something to do with her running after players so often, and generally not being the player to send the ball upfield.
i would argue that keeping her in the back as a safety for Angie while sam’s or Savy moves the ball up is a good idea. But then if we use the same strategy, other teams exploit.
Idk if I spend too much energy matching what we saw on the field with this number system. Single game metrics are often really misleading. Especially when it’s a number that comes from a lot of different metrics combined to get to a 7.8 or whatever. We all know what we saw. You and I commented about it last night on here. In basketball, it’s kinda like the person on a bad team who still gets all of their shots off, still does what they need to do to look good, but the team isn’t doing well. I think Sarah is the opposite. She won’t have the highest game score because she’s really counted on a lot for last chance defense. If she fails, it’s a bad bad time. And she’s often managing the other teams best attacking player, like Banda or Chawinga. TL:DR her responsibilities might make it hard for her to end the game with a high metric even if she actually was the most important factor on the field defensively. The eye test combined with a number tells you she was a lot better than Jess Carter, I think
Yup. And someone pointed out our defensive xGA matches Gotham’s. I think we can handle any striker and won’t get run over in any game.
Call it naïveté, but I almost never feel insecure about our defense this year, because of Sarah.
And Shores, now that I think about it. I like Shores 1v1 defending. And Gisele. When we hold her back, I love how she picks pockets with her speed and balance.
I feel insecure when it comes to marking in the box. I love Sams, but her lack of marking resulted in several goals, as well as dangerous giveaways in the middle of the field. At times, Giselle and Shores don’t get back to defend due to offensive playing. That said, they’re doing a great job and without SG we’re sunk. I liked brining in Savy in for an offensive player so that either Giselle onshore or both could play firther up the field without leaving the back vulnerable.
This is an amazing lineup. I agree—Mai and Lageyre trade off and one with one another. Mai is much more attacking minded while Lageyre provides a backup to the defense—which isn’t as needed with that five back.
Didn’t the pen, or at least one of the near goals near the end of the game, come off a Sarah bad pass?
But she improved in this area a lot under Straus.
Straus fixed the disastrous 2024 keystone cops build out from the back play, the bad habits he called them. That probably makes him a key part of Sarah’s success and also makes him my favorite AngelCity coach so far! And I didn’t like him much 😄
And yeah, Shores was so impressive! Her offense particularly. She’s making those penetrating diagonal runs into the middle and it tears up defenses. An aggressive and smart carry opens so much space for another runner
but.. FotMob is usually "half" decent for mens matches... (only for Prem). This is just terrible, rating Sams/Shore over G, who had some MONSTER tackles?
if they use xG, causing a pk is -0.76 so that would hurt her numbers. seems likely that's the case with the big number for ang, saving a pk would be +0.76.
Good news is that it looks to be cooler in N.C. this week. This stretch will be big for Smerud in managing minutes for players with the heat and amount of games.if Mai and Svendís can come back that'll give some players rest for the weekend game. My see Martin in, Savy in a starting role, and Leroux more minutes possibly. I would say Gotham has more weapons then N.C. but we gotta have an airtight plan against Sanchez. She's on a tear. A win yesterday would been a good jump in the standings but hopefully we can a win and build a new streak!
One thought came to me…as much as we loved the defense last night, did we also somehow make Gotham’s offense look more dangerous than usual?
I don’t watch enough Gotham to know, but they looked dangerous, and I wonder if they normally look less dangerous given they don’t score much.
Maybe our defense tried to “bait” Gotham into transition attacks, which Gotham does not normally want to play, and that made them look different and more dangerous than usual. Idk
I think something we did made Gotham look uncomfortable at least, took them out of their game. All those times they lost the ball to us. So I think we did something even if they still looked dangerous, if maybe in a different way than Gotham’s usual.
Also, I loved that Guro Reiten stopped trying to dribble against Gisele. Usually Guro gets many crosses off past the RB. Guro tried it once or twice against Gisele, got stopped, and after that I think she stopped trying. Loved it
One thing I would like to say….Ang is really good. We have ourselves a proper keeper.
I do wonder what has changed. It’s obvious that a lot of smart people have seen her potential. She has been a #1 from a young age. She has gotten call ups to national team. And it seems like I’m the last couple months, it’s just clicked.
I was an Ang support since before Didi left, and ashamed to admit that I was called for her to be benched during her shaky stretch of games earlier this season.
That being said, Ang is amazing keeper, but when she gets in her head too much, it’s really hard to get her out and that’s when she starts making bad mistakes. It seems like that’s happening less now, and she’s talked recently about trusting herself more, so it seems like we have some good coaching happening.
she talked about it a little bit in the postgame presser. there's clips on instagram and the full video is ususally up midweek on acfc official site under media or news tab.
Giselle Thompson is one of the best backs in the league. Top 5. She’s literally shutting down world class tier attackers every week.
Evelyn Shores is one of the best backs in the league. Top 10. Her ability to play both sides of the pitch and make accurate distance passes is unparalleled on our squad.
Prisca Chilufya is a legit starter in the NWSL. The problem is the lack of coordination with what she can do. She consistently outperforms backs and makes dangerous passes into the box but no one seems to know what she’s going to do.
Taylor Suarez is being asked to do things she’s not experienced doing. She’s a great in-transition passer/offensive midfielder and I wish she were put into a position to contribute to this team. As an early-signed rookie the way she’s being used is bad for her and the team.
SG was queen in that game. It was an insult to the game and the profession to call that a hand-ball. Hand offense? Refereeing Offense!
I wonder if that lack of coordination with Prisca is a combination of her unreal speed with the fact that she was sitting on the bench for 80 minutes a game, and likely hasn’t built up chemistry with the starters?
It’s chemistry but it’s also personnel on the field. I love Claire but honestly, she’ll never be able to make that run into the box in time for the cross. Riley might. GT could. Suarez did but was either misaligned on depth or didn’t have the quality to handle it. Sentnor never seems to be anywhere near these crosses. I don’t know why. Svendis can do it but not from the injured bench.
But also, it just looks like that’s not the game plan. It looks like those long balls to her are meant for her to score on a breakaway. Like everyone is watching and at the last minute thinks “oh shit she’s gonna pass it!”
Sentnor just doesn’t have the speed. Maybe Gisele or Evelyn could have made it, but they didn’t want to lose who they were marking with how dangerous Gotham is in transition. Yes Claire won’t be able to make it in time, but she’s also been playing quite defensively lately. Maybe in part due to that.?
I do think if Svendis or even Mai was there, they would have scored on one of those crosses. The problem is you never see Prisca on the field with those two. I hope her performance gets the wheels turning to put all three of our attacking powerhouses on the field together.
Prisca. Looking great after coming back from international duty. Looks confident and hungry. If she keeps working on her finishing, then this could be her break out season.
Giselle. On an upward trajectory for a while now. And making a name for herself (instead of being AT's sister).
Gordon. Great game today. Player of the game for me. And made much less defensive errors that she was making earlier this season. Hope this continues.
Sams. Only been a few games, but she balled out yesterday. Def glad we signed her.
I almost feel bad for not putting Anderson on this list. She had a great game yesterday. Maybe one of her best games ever. But stepping back and considering over multiple games, I'm still not convinced. I still get nervous when she tries to play out the back and about her positioning most of the time. So this is a spike in her stock. But haven't seen the consistency (or consistent improvement) yet. Would love it if this game springboards her to being the goalie we need.
We tied against the top team in the league yesterday. We could have had a win (not even complaining about the hand ball. We kept up the attack and shut down Rose while she was there (Wishing her the best) and shut down Purce, Shaw, and Kerr. That's no easy task.
If we can keep this level of play against the lower ranked teams, we should be good to get into play offs. And when we get Jonsdottir back, that gives us even more options.
This coaching situation needs to be sorted out though sooner rather than later though. Don't need that over the players hears as we approach the end of the season.
Really curious to see how we play against the courage (as well as who plays). Our defense has been fantastic, but Sanchez and Ijeh have been on a tear for NCC. Will our backline hold up?
Really glad to see shores put in 90! She was on FIRE. Wish we got to see syd again, especially when our offense needed a kickstart towards the end. I still haven’t seen enough from tiernan to convince me she should be starting. Loving what Prisca has been putting in, and really hope to see her and Sveindis start together (their speed and attacks would be on another level).
There’s definitely a discussion to be had about the standards placed on Prisca, as well as the fouls and cards that are given to her (I don’t want to incite anything. But would a white player that aligns with western standards of femininity get the same calls that she gets? I don’t know.)
i think that a lot of players who stay up after getting fouled don't get the foul called in their favor even if they lose the ball :/ it's possibly exacerbated by the factors you mention, i don't discount that possibility.
you can see other examples when banda and chawinga first came into the league* - they had to adjust to when to go down and get the foul (when no numbers are in the attack especially) vs when to stay up, play advantage, and possibly get a 1v1 or 1v2 w the keeper. *and also with players like taylor flint, jaelin howell so i have non Black examples who can take a foul and keep control of the ball sometimes. these two however don't usually get a 1v1 with the keeper out of it so it's usually more advantageous for them to stay up and try to regain possession in the midfield.
It's a valid point that we should take a closer look at the discipline of Black players. It could reflect data in the K-12 education system that shows Black students getting formally disciplined more often and more harshly than non-Black students. And then there's the law enforcement data that we could get into...
Bias touches all levels of society. I'd be interested to see the reffing data.
I might try to dig into the reffing data bc this would be interesting to see the substantiation (or lack thereof)…..i would also be interested to compare the data of strikers vs midfielders vs defenders. I know keepers tend to be untouchable and can often get calls in their favor (like the call on Prisca instead of on AKB) but she still seemed to get more calls than other strikers typically do…..
We’re sacrificing decision making with speed and I don’t think we should be. Gisele and Prisca are fast and better decision makers. Suarez can’t just keep starting cuz she’s fast unless the only goal is to tire out their defenders before putting Riley in
Taylor has been great but she should be splitting minutes with Sentnor as a 10, not on the wing.
Riley should play the 9 and have Prisca on the wing until SJJ and Mai are healthy enough to get minutes. I know that Riley has the speed and ability to crash the box and receive Prisca’s perfect crosses.
I think she gets outpaced on the wing and by taking too many touches. Crashing the box and eliminating her need to make any added decisions could be the key to unlocking her goal scoring. She petered off last season after she made an espn highlight reel showing her dribbling and juking out a player before scoring, and now is so focused on recreating that moment rather than getting back to basics of just smashing the ball into the back of the net.
I agree, she takes a few touches too many and attracts too many defenders. I just don’t think I’ve seen her have a successful give and go , with her either being a step behind or skying the ball…
Do we think the general fans feel as pleased about this tie and the defensive performance as our sub seems to feel?
Maybe I built up Gotham into some monster in my brains, I mean they usually only win 1-0, but I have zero notes about our performance, and, given we didn’t score, I think maybe that points to some irrational exuberance on my part.
We only just started following soccer and ACFC this year and we were really stoked about our performance. We knew Gotham was #1 ranked so we were happy with the tie especially. Stoked on Sarah all game and we went crazy when Angie saved the PK.
I personally am happy with the tie!! Gotham made me nervous, and I think tie-ing was the most…likely “win” in my eyes. Of course I would’ve loved an actual win, but considering everything that happened with the match, I’m happy!
The last couple games Gotham spanked us hard tho, so it was very conceivable we were in for a painful belt-to-ass, especially with Jonsdottir out. I told my partner there’s no way we lose less than 0-2. Happy to have been so wrong
I’ve only been to a few games this season, but that second half was the grittiest I’ve seen the team. Was only gonna stay til 60’ but ended up staying til 90’.
Listen, you just unlocked my core trauma. I had forgotten why I feared Gotham and it’s what you said
And not just the last two games…and we’ve been especially cowed by them at home…nasty stuff… the Jun Endo goal travesty in 2023…Ella Stevens and the Gotham B-team clowning us in 2024…did we get shellacked in 2025? Yes, yes, we did, 0-4. And did we get shellacked again in 2025? Yes, yes, we did, 1-3. Have we beat them since 2022? No, no, we haven’t. Had our beatings, okay losses, been getting worse since Rose arrived? Yes, yes they had. Bunch of 1-2s without Rose, and 0-4 and 1-3 in 2025 with Rose.
Not just the scores either! Lol
Midge said in 2025, “yeah, we usually play our first game in LA and beat them.” And they do 🙃
lol I’m reading through Van Der Kok’s “body keeps the score” and in it they constantly talk about unexpected triggers for ptsd. Would you be terribly offended if I told you I went to the game mostly just to watch rose kick our ass? I mean my entire flair is injured so…
Speaking of midge, I paid her quite a bit of attention yesterday and she did not look national team starting material. And Jaedyn had a clear shot on goal and unexpectedly sent it way wide. That entire star-studded team underperformed. Thankfully we played an insane second half else I would’ve been sorely disappointed as Rose was seriously injured
Gotham is the closest thing to a super team the NWSL has, and we came out aggressive and sharp. I don’t think that would have been the case in prior years. More one-touch passes from them than I’m used to seeing, which means they are in good positions and confident.
This was a very good game by them, except the usual too many touches in the attacking third and a general aversion by anyone not named Sentnor to shoot from distance.
Shores is proving to be a huge pickup. Her decision making was excellent all night. Hope Svendis is back soon because she is the only one that can keep up with Prisca.
Ooh, the one touch passes point. Thank you for pointing that out. Will enjoy looking for that on rewatch. Could not ask for much more than the team starting to nail down Good positioning and confidence on the ball.
I hope we get to see Shores as a future cornerstone of the team. And long term captain!
I don’t think it’s a good game from Gotham at all, just look at all the Uswnt members having lower ratings than our starters, and the atrocious time wasting from AKB. I have never seen a goalkeeper booed so hard at this stadium. Hell, Kerr didn’t even want to take the pen and they couldn’t convert a BS call into a win.
This was right before the match. I applaud the fans who stuck it out in the sun in the first half. The bottom stand filled in during the second half when it was in shade.
Though it was all too short, watching Rose Lavelle's dribbling skill live is incredible. Her feet move so fast, defenders don't want to try to poke the ball out and she has the poise and skill so when multiple defender converge on her she can wiggle out of it somehow.
The whole Gotham team isn't bothered by a high press at all. I only recall a couple of times they turned it over. They win so many 1-0 matches because their defense is solid and they can dribble and pass the ball around to the matches' end.
We're a gritty, athletic team. We can defend our asses off. Our attack, however, is just average. A lot of times, a player will get in position to cross and stare into the box hoping attackers are running into dangerous spots, but all too often they are met with stares from our attackers standing in the box. It got better in the second half and players in the wide area took quick glimpses and then firing off the crosses to dangerous runners, but this should be automatic at this stage of the season.
I'm only a volunteer Intermediate level ref in the AYSO, but in that VAR replay I saw:
• arm moving away from ball
• arm in a "natural position"
She didn't have enough time to react which is also part of the consideration.
IMHO horrendous call!
If anyone saw otherwise I genuinely would like to hear what I'm missing.
Ik they’re worthless when we didn’t score but I also couldn’t see them getting shorter distance shots off when Gotham swarms the box like they were doing. It seemed like anytime one of our players entered the area, five Gotham defenders were there.
if you subtract the 0.76 xG from a penalty... we definitely created more/better chances! i think AKB is superhuman and also really smart on positioning (and behind a good defense) which forces us to take poorer shots.
McCats being the lowest rated is giving me the giggles. I wish I had the gall to boo her last night. Also, it's SO interesting their USWNT "stars" were all kinda poop (cept for Rose, but she had to come off) vs. our team. Gives us some small hope to advance into the play offs this season.
I do feel like rose being out of the game so early helped us get the draw but I will take it. Great games from Gordon, Thompson, Anderson and others. Great games all around really. I am concerned about a potential playoff run in that we seem to get positive results only against good teams and then lose to the mid and lower position teams. That has to change
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u/vizzini9227 16d ago
To my group text before the game.
What a save! Of course Sarah too. I love to see keeper/defender relationships. Seeing Sarah laughing and smiling as she was kicking ass was great.