Freedom Insider

Sorry about the lack of posts towards the end of last week, sometimes life gets in the way of things. To start off this week I wanted to share a few articles I came across last week. Enjoy, and if you have something you want looked at in further detail, let me know either by posting a comment or e-mailing me at admin (at) freedominsider (dot) com.

• Washington Freedom on a Roll – in lieu of a Farm Report, the Freedom has done the work for me. This was written before Saturday’s games so I think another update on this blog will follow in the next day or two.
• Remembering ’99: Steffi Jones – Former WUSA Washington Freedom player and current head of the 2011 Women’s World Cup Organizing Committee Steffi Jones shares her memories from the ’99 World Cup. I liked this idea in theory but I have a feeling that by mid-July, this is going to be a little redundant.
• Video: The Penalty Kick Heard Round the world, 99 – Speaking of ’99, WPS put together a video featuring the players that were a part of the ’99 World Cup team. Obviously Washington’s Briana Scurry is one of those players, so make sure you check out the video.
• WPS Draft Revisited-Washington Freedom – KC Albertina of Women’s Soccer Weekly has done a great job recapping January’s draft on a team-by-team basis and he recently gave his thoughts on the Freedom’s draft.
• St. Louis Selected as Host of 2009 WPS All-Star Game – More details on the WPS All-Star game continue to come out including that WPS will host an international opponent and that the game will be played in St. Louis.
• Antonucci: The overall league is healthy – A Q&A with the commish, which includes some interesting info like the MVP trophy being named after Michelle Akers.

Ok, that should be enough ready to keep you busy for a couple of hours. Enjoy.

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So, it appears the Freedom are in the right spot – the only two teams to beat us twice this season are LA and Boston, the two teams ahead of us in the standings after last night’s 1-0 loss to the Breakers.

Watching the match last night, it became apparent that the Freedom struggle against physical teams. Now, we do have one of the most physical players in the world in Abby Wambach, but after her the Freedom really is more of a team built for speed. I know that seems hard given that the defense had been really slow until the addition of Ali Krieger (who showed off that speed multiple times last night) but Lisa De Vanna, Sonia Bompastor and the offense have capitalized on being able to outrun opposing defenses to the long ball.

Last night though, Boston neutralized our attack by keeping De Vanna and Bompastor in front of them, effectively using Christine Latham as a physical, holding midfielder as a counter. The broadcast crew showed Latham describing herself as “The Beast” in a pre-recorded interview and that is exactly what she was.

Washington never seemed to find that rhythm in this match and it seems that the teams we struggle with the most have been the most effective in knocking the Freedom out of sync. This is what Chicago has done so effectively against the Freedom, especially when the Red Stars have played with only 10 players.

Jim Gabarra knows his team struggles against physical teams and his answer has been to play Kristin DeDycker in the midfield in an effort to fight muscle with muscle. While that tactic worked against FC Gold Pride back in May, it is not enough. Gabarra needs to find some way to spring De Vanna when she faces an opponent trying to push her off the ball.

Defending WPS Player of the Week Erin McLeod had another spectacular game, making high-flying save after high-flying save, Latham just got lucky on her header by putting it where McLeod had just come from. She kept this game a lot closer than it probably should have been and if she had shutout Boston she probably would have been the front runner for Player of the Week again.

Despite the loss, Washington still is playing a lot better than it was at the beginning of the season. Now Gabarra and company need to find a way to fix the last major flaw they have. No team in this league is perfect, or unbeatable, but the top ones (like LA) have found a way to play past their limitations. Washington now needs to do the same, which won’t be easy considering Chicago and LA are the next teams standing in the way.

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Washington (4-3-4, 16 points) at Boston (4-4-3, 15 points)
Time: 7 p.m. ET
TV: Comcast SportsNet

Before I get to my thoughts on tonight, here are a couple of links you should check out. First, Erin McLeod was the 3rd Freedom player to earn Player of the Week honors. She is only the second non-goal scorer to earn the award.

Second, Rebecca Moros is the second person to contribute to the WPS Remembering ’99 deal they have running online for the next few weeks. Make sure you read it.

Back to the game: It’s time for round 3 in the battle of former WUSA clubs. Aside from LA, Boston is the only other club to beat the Freedom. Good news for Freedom fans is that Abby Wambach made the trip to Boston and while she won’t start, hopefully she will play. On the downside though, Allie Long did not travel with the team and will be unavailable.

Wambach will not be the only injured star on the pitch as Boston’s Kelly Smith is also battling an injury. As Smith has gone, so have the Breakers. When Smith was scoring a goal in each of her first four WPS matches, Boston seemed to be the only team that had a shot at challenging LA. As Smith has battled injury, the Breakers have fallen behind the Freedom in the standings.

Just like Saturday against Saint Louis, there could be some residual side effects from the previous encounter between these two squads. Both Christine Latham and Joanna Lohman received suspensions for throwing elbows in the May 17 1-1 tie. If the refs don’t set the tone early, look for this match to be a physical one.

Given that Washington has posted two consecutive shutouts and has only 1 loss since Boston beat Washington 3-1 on April 18, I think this game is the Freedom’s to lose. Look for Washington to win this game 2-0.

And for those who think two hours of Freedom soccer won’t be enough, make sure you stay tuned to Comcast after the match as their special “Freedom Reigns” will re-air.

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For in depth recaps of Saturday’s 1-0 win over Saint Louis check here, here and here. What I want to do today is run down a couple of thoughts I have after this match.

• The addition of Ali Krieger can’t be under estimated. In two games since joining the club, the defense has allowed 0 goals. In the 9 games before adding Krieger, the team had given up 18. Erin McLeod should get a lot of credit for the goal differential turn around as well but it appears Krieger was the final piece of the defensive puzzle.
• Scary thought: Washington is tied for the league lead with 17 goals scored but has played two less games than the other leader Los Angeles. This is in spite of the fact that Abby Wambach has only scored two goals, both in the same game. If Wambach finds her goal scoring ways soon, Washington could have an offense as dangerous as LA.
• 8 players have scored goals this season for the Freedom, 6 of which have scored 2 or more goals this season. Among those yet to score for the Freedom is Homare Sawa, who has taken 12 shots – fourth most of any player in WPS without a goal. Ironically, country mate Aya Miyama leads WPS has taken a staggering 31 shots without scoring a goal.
• Heading into the season most people would have given Saint Louis a goalkeeping advantage given they had Hope Solo, arguably the best keeper in the world, to handle the position. In two games against Saint Louis, Washington has scored 4 goals on Solo. In contrast, Karina LeBlanc, the backup keeper for the Canadian national team has shut out the Freedom twice in 2 games.

Washington has a short week this week, taking on Boston at Harvard Stadium on Wednesday. The game will be on Comcast SportsNet and will be followed by the CSN special on the team, Freedom Reigns. Catch them both.

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Washington (3-3-4, 13 points) vs. Saint Louis (4-3-2, 14 points)
Time/Location: 4:30 p.m. ET at Anheuser-Busch Soccer Park, St. Louis

What this matchup will be known for is the fact that it is the first time these two teams have met since the Abby Wambach-Daniela incident.

What this matchup should be known for is that 6 weeks after these two teams were fighting to stay out of last place in the standings, both are now locked in a battle for second place.

Washington finally seemed to fix the defense in last week’s 0-0 tie with Chicago but that fix came at the expense of the offense. With Alex Singer hopefully ready to go after the concussion she suffered on June 6, the question is does Sonia Bompastor start once again on defense, forcing Singer to come in off the bench or does Sonia move back to the midfield in an effort to get more of an offensive punch.

It’s more than likely that Ali Krieger – who was able to join the Freedom mainly to get in shape for the next German season after a foot injury cost her most of last year – will need to be subbed out at some point and I think I would rather have Singer come in for her than Jill Gilbeau in an effort to keep Saint Louis from scoring.

Washington was able to score 3 goals on Hope Solo last time but I guarantee that won’t happen again. This game has low-scoring written all over it.

I figured Caroline Jonsson wouldn’t have another superhuman performance last week and she proved me wrong, once again keeping her team in the match in spite of being a player down for most of the second half so I will not make the same mistake and underestimate Solo. I see this going down as a 1-1 tie.

One interesting side note to today’s match is that recently-acquired Saint Louis forward Christie Welsh will face many familiar faces as Welsh formerly played for the Freedom in the W-League.

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