PREFACE: I hope everyone had a safe Memorial Day weekend. Both the Fire and Red Stars played teams from Orlando. It would be easy to say the difference between the results was that the Fire did not have to face anyone from the Dwyer family on Saturday, but that was not the whole story.
THOUGHTS ON THE FIRE: Their record may be subpar, but you cannot say that the Fire aren’t rolling over and playing dead given their rash of injuries and lack of depth. Veljko Paunovic is getting the most he can from his players right now. They did get some breaks, but there was a stellar performance from Patrick McLain and some timely goals from Aleksandar Katai and Alan Gordon.
A look at the lineup and Nikolic’s substitution all but hinted that there was one eye towards Wednesday’s match against Philadelphia. Paunovic needs as many healthy bodies as he can between now and July. He’ll likely get Dax McCarty and Luis Solignac back during that time. Now, do we have competition for the #1 on the Fire after Saturday night? Whatever way you look at it, this was a massive win for the Fire.
THOUGHTS ON THE RED STARS: Red Stars head coach Rory Dames needs to find a way for Sam Kerr to gel with the rest of her teammates. He also needs to find a way for his defense not to disintegrate like it did on Saturday against the Pride. It was the first time that the Red Stars have conceded five at home.
Yes, Sam Kerr scored twice in the match, but they let the Pride’s attacking talent (Alex Morgan, Marta, Rachel Hill, and Sydney LeRoux) ran roughshod all over them. That is the sixth home loss in the last ten home matches for the Red Stars. The previous 39 home matches before that saw just five home losses.
The Red Stars need to find some rhythm and gel a little more if they are going to make it four straight years in the playoffs.
