Chicago Red Stars Vs OL Reign: 3 things we learned – Penalties the difference
1. The impact of fatigue
In all of the first round of knockout matches, there was only one goal scored, Morgan Weaver’s game-winner for the Portland Thorns against the North Carolina Courage. In 360 minutes of action, there was just one goal scored. It is odd, to say the least.
This isn’t to say that the goalkeeping wasn’t top-notch. We saw Britt Eckerstrom’s amazing debut performance for Portland and the sort of masterclass we’ve come to expect from Chicago’s Alyssa Naeher and Sky Blue FC’s Kailen Sheridan. But you’d expect more goals than just the one from four games.
The biggest theory is the simplest: everyone is tired. This tournament has depleted so many of these players. More players are going down with injuries, more players have seen their performances go downhill since the start of the tournament, and the quality of play has deteriorated in the knockout stages.
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The rest of this tournament will absolutely be decided not just on the quality of each team, but how fit their best players are. In that respect, the Red Stars’ early rotation may serve them well.