Chicago Red Stars vs OL Reign: Week 7 Preview
It’s a quick trip right back into it for the Chicago Red Stars. After a disappointing draw on Saturday, the Red Stars will travel to the west coast to see OL Reign in Tacoma. Both teams are coming into the game with similar issues, so let’s first look at who’s available and then get into what they’re both about.
The Chicago Red Stars do not appear to have anything to report, although Rachel Hill did seem a bit shaken up in the last game. Their only players out are still Julie Ertz and Emily Boyd. OL Reign is a bit more confusing, with a lot of key players missing their Saturday game against NC Courage despite not being listed as injured. Goalkeeper Karen Bardsley has been listed as out for the season and while Rose Lavelle was listed out with an ankle injury for Saturday, maybe they were just letting her rest? Because Megan Rapinoe wasn’t even in the 18 and Jess Fishlock only came on as a second half substitute. So it’s entirely possible that it’s all just minute management.
Anyway, let’s get to three things to look out for going into this game.
What Can Pugh Do?
In the last game there were some very concerning moments for the Chicago Red Stars attack. While a lack of scoring in open play is normally concerning, seeing a player starting to form as a specific reason for a lack of scoring is much more concerning. And after a couple of plays in the second half, Mallory Pugh started to move over towards the “concerning” list.
If it were a one-off situation, there would be nothing to worry about; but Pugh has gone two games in a row now where she holds onto the ball during clear passing situations. You can even count it as three if you take into account her goal in the Houston game, which was the only successful moment we’ve seen her employ this strategy.
Pugh seems to be trying to play her way back into the US National Team picture and she was already doing that. It’s these situations where she’s making poor choices that’s going to hurt her in her attempt.
Stop Copying Me!
OL Reign has built and absolute powerhouse of a super-team. And since finally getting a chance to deploy almost all of that team, they haven’t even gotten a draw. In fact, in the past three games, they’ve actually only scored a single goal. Or maybe two if you count Megan Rapinoe’s own goal against Washington. It is an offense that the moment they put out the lineup for that game, writers were already speculating how many goals they were going to score (and how many they’d give up).
But for some reason, this attack just hasn’t worked. With certain players still rotating in and out and even more reinforcements on the way from their parent club in France, the Reign can still get even better. It’s just weird that they’re not yet. They are simply a dam waiting to burst. But we’ve seen this sort of description before with the Chicago Red Stars, only to find that the team wasn’t as good as we all thought.
Both teams come into this game with high expectations and it very well might end in those expectations being left completely unfulfilled.
Minimize the Threat
Previously, the Chicago Red Stars have suffered whenever the defense has had to face attackers one-on-one. They have also let by an unfortunate amount of goals from counter-attacks after their high line has been beaten. So something needs to be done about that.
What actually can be done? Just don’t play with a high line. It is something that is antithetical to my own personal preferences in the game and the shape of the game around the world; but if a high line is hurting the Red Stars, then they need to just simply stop playing with one. The attack doesn’t seem to have seen a substantial gain from the presence of a high line and there seems to be more harm than good from the space Chicago leaves behind them.
Leave Tierna Davidson and Sarah Gorden back when attacking so they won’t have to scramble back for every breakaway.
Projected XI
Chicago Red Stars (4-3-3): Alyssa Naeher; Casey Krueger, Sarah Gorden, Tierna Davidson, Bianca St Georges; Morgan Gautrat, Vanessa DiBernardo, Danielle Colaprico; Rachel Hill, Kealia Watt, Mallory Pugh
OL Reign (4-3-3): Sarah Bouhaddi; Jimena Lopez, Lauren Barnes, Alana Cook, Celia Jimenez; Rose Lavelle, Jess Fishlock, Dzsenifer Marozsan; Megan Rapinoe, Bethany Balcer, Tziarra King
How To Watch
Tuesday, June 22nd, 9:00 PM CDT; At Cheney Stadium in Tacoma, WA, online on Twitch