And unfortunately, my lack of optimism was spot on. Saturday’s loss in Boston was the team’s 10th straight match without a win, pushing things from serious to critical. Washington now sits in a tie for last and the playoff window is being slammed shut.

Just about every roster combination has been tried lately and nothing is working which leads to the question of what is truly wrong with the Freedom? Have the players stopped listening to the coaches? Was the early season success a fluke? Is this group of players strong enough to compete at this level?

Something is clearly broken and there aren’t many other things to try in order to fix them. The growing fan sentiment of Jim Gabarra needing to be replaced continues to get louder and that may be the only thing left to do at this point. I hate to make that suggestion given all that Gabarra did to keep the franchise alive between pro leagues but at even that sacrifice can only help him for so long.

It would be nice to see this slide end Wednesday when the Independence come to town but at this point I will have to see the Freedom win before I believe they can do it again. And that may be a pretty pessimistic attitude to have at this point but 10 straight winless matches will do that to you.

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The losses of Abby Wambach, Sarah Huffman and Allie Long to WNT duty certainly hurt but the real issue is the Freedom have not found a suitable replacement for the loss of Lisa De Vanna. What we have seen since the injury is that Lene Mykjaland is a great sub for De Vanna and Christie Welsh is a nice fourth forward – someone who can provide fresh legs at the end of the match but can’t be counted on for more than 20+ minutes at a time.

And when Wambach is away, that only leaves Mykjaland and Welsh up top. Nikki Marshall seems to be a nice option to move up when desperate but who knows what impact moving her to forward full time will have on the defense. There may not be another forward that can step in at this point in the season but this is an issue that won’t be going away before the end of the season either.

At this point I think it would be beneficial to see Jim Gabarra shake up the roster a little more in an effort to not let this season get away. Alex Singer continues to sit on the bench and maybe she needs to start playing so Marshall and/or Rebecca Moros can move to forward (Moros played both forward and midfield last season).

Will that solve the Freedom’s consistency issues? Not likely, but it could be enough to keep this team from falling out of contention by August. Hey, when you’ve gone five straight matches without a win what do you have to lose?

LINKS

Here are some stories to take your mind off the Freedom’s woes…

• ‘Taz’ chasing WPS dream with Force (Reporter-Herald) – 2010 Freedom draft pick Lauren Robertson hasn’t given up on her quest to play in WPS.
• Freedom Newbies: Rookie Nikki Marshall (BleacherReport.com) – Speaking of Marshall, here’s an in-depth profile on the rookie.
• Show Your Support: The Washington Freedom’s Bravehearts (All White Kit) -Jenna Pel talks with one of the Freedom’s two supporters groups in this Q&A.
• Soccer: All or nothing for Wambach (Omaha.com) – The WNT is in Omaha tomorrow so the local paper talked with the Freedom’s star to preview the match. The best thing about this article is it talks both about Abby’s time with the WNT and the Freedom – that doesn’t seem to happen too often.

That will do it for today. As always, feel free to leave your opinions in the comments below.

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If you wanted to see fireworks on Sunday night at the SoccerPlex, you had to stick around for the pyrotechnic kind because there weren’t any during the game, as neither the Washington Freedom nor the Chicago Red Stars could put the ball in the net.

The Freedom’s problem was that they seldom seemed to be able to get their attack organized enough to make a serious threat. I can only remember a handful of exciting moments that weren’t from set pieces. In the seventh minute, Lene Mykjåland got the ball and headed for the back line. She passed the ball over to Abby Wambach then got it back right as she passed through the line, but she wasn’t able to get a shot off before Chicago goalkeeper Jillian Loyden nabbed it. As the first half was winding down, Wambach got behind the defense but from a challenging angle on the left side, and her shot went just barely wide of the right post. In the 60th minute, Lene did a beautiful job of weaving through the defense in order to get off a centering pass, but Abby didn’t run onto it in time. Two minutes later, Abby and Sarah Huffman came charging downfield against a retreating defense. Abby’s centering pass was right to Sarah’s feet in front of goal, but Huffy was called offsides on the play. In the 77th minute, Nikki Marshall, now playing forward, had a two-on-one break with Abby, but Nikki’s cross from the left flank was off-target and cleared for a corner kick.

Chicago had far more chances, but either the Freedom back line or Erin McLeod came up with a big play, the shot was from such a distance that McLeod just gobbled it up, or the shot was taken by Ella Masar, who despite her two-goal game last week seemed unable to hit the broad side of a barn from three yards away.

In the very early going, a Red Stars player whose identity I didn’t catch made an acrobatic over-the-back kick off a throw-in that sprung Masar into the box just outside the left post, but her shot went wide left. Ella had the ball in front of goal in the 14th minute but was stripped from behind. Cristiane wasted an extended Chicago possession two minutes later by taking a shot from 25 yards out that went high. Two minutes after that, Chicago had a two-on-one break, but Masar’s shot went over the goal from about 10 yards out. In the 35th minute, Chicago took a free kick from 35 yards out that Erin tipped over the bar. The resulting corner kick provided a nice heading opportunity, but the ball went straight to Erin. Cristiane sprung Masar in the 37th minute, but Erin managed to save the shot. Four minutes later, Cristiane got through with only Marshall to beat, but Nikki managed to knock the ball out for a corner kick. The corner kick resulted in one of those heart-in-mouth sequences when the ball is being knocked around among a scrum of players right in front of goal. A Chicago player who couldn’t have been much more than a yard out knocked the ball toward goal, but somehow Sonia Bompastor managed to get in the way of it and clear it out of danger.

Three minutes into the second half, Cat Whitehill made a bad clearance to Cristiane, who took a quick shot trying to catch McLeod off her guard, but Erin was ready and managed to grab it. Megan Rapinoe wasted another Red Stars possession in the 54th minute by taking a low shot from about 20 yards out that went wide left. A free kick from 30 yards in the next minute went right to Erin, as did a long shot that concluded another passing sequence a minute later. I was beginning to wonder if Chicago had any other strategies in mind.

Shortly thereafter, Masar got in a footrace with Whitehill, but despite the speed differential, Ella was prevented from getting a shot off. In the 65th minute, Rapinoe sprung Cristiane behind the defense, but Marshall’s catch-up speed was just enough for her to slide-tackle the ball out-of-bounds cleanly before Cristiane could get a shot off. That corner kick resulted in an off-target header, as did another one a minute later, with Masar managing to head the ball wide from three yards out. She was almost immediately replaced by Casey Nogueira, a development I found worrying as Nogueira is a deadly finisher.

In the 73rd minute, Cristiane and Kosovare Asllani tried to do some clever passing in the box to get McLeod out-of-position, but they tried one pass too many, and Erin was able to get to the ball. Chicago took another long shot that went wide shortly thereafter. There was a scary moment for the Freedom in the 81st minute as Whitehill fell when trying to clear the ball, instead sending it rolling slowly towards Nogueira. But the Freedom defenders in the area quickly converged, and forced Nogueira to give up the ball to Karen Carney, who got off a good shot but one that McLeod managed to grab. In the 84th minute, Nogueira got her own breakaway. Erin came out to challenge her near the perimeter of the box, but missed. Fortunately for the Freedom, Casey’s shot trickled just wide of the right post. Chicago had one last chance on a good-looking cross in stoppage time, but the player in front of the goal couldn’t get her head to it before it went by.

All in all, the Freedom were fortunate to keep a clean sheet. Some of it was luck, some of it was poor finishing by Chicago, and a lot of it was hard work by the back line and McLeod. At the other end, it’s a bit of a mystery as to why the Freedom attack was so anemic. I wonder a bit if our young Norwegian is having problems adjusting to the scorching weather, as she seemed to disappear for long periods of time during the game.

Interesting developments include Marshall’s first minutes at forward and Brittany Klein’s first few minutes (starting at 87) for the Freedom, period. It will be interesting to see if there’s much more of either.

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I like to think I don’t have high demands as a fan. Having followed the Freedom since 2001, I’ve been with them through two championships (2003 and 2007), a magical season that fell just short of a championship (2002), and many other less momentous but still enjoyable periods. I’d like to see them add a WPS championship to their trophy case someday, but it doesn’t have to be this season, or even next season. All I ask is that they play hard and have some measure of success. Or, to put it more succinctly, don’t suck.

The Freedom sucked Saturday night in West Chester. I could go into the gory details of how they seemed completely overmatched for the last half-hour, how they looked like the team that was playing their third match in eight days, not the Independence, as they lost race after race to the ball, and how the third, losing goal seemed almost inevitable the way they were playing, but I don’t want to write it, and unless you’re a Philly fan, you don’t want to read it.

However, I am going to gird my loins and talk about the implications. Any team can have a bad night, but the Freedom are having them on a regular basis. This marks the third match in a row and the fourth this season that Washington has scored first but has been unable to hold on for the win. The Freedom have done well in that in their nine matches that have had goals, they’ve scored first in all but one of them. But their record in those matches is a lackluster 4-2-2. By comparison, FC Gold Pride is 7-0-0 when they score first. If the Freedom had done likewise, they’d be the team at the top of the standings.

To put things in perspective, comebacks have been very rare. Teams that score first are 25-3-7 in WPS this year and were 52-3-10 last year.* Making matters worse, twice in three games the Freedom have been unable to come away with a win despite a two-goal lead. I was thinking this was unprecedented, but then remembered the match last year where the Freedom were down 3-1 to Saint Louis Athletica but managed to eke out two goals for the tie. Still, it shouldn’t happen.

*Two of this year’s losses are the Freedom’s, of course, while the third is the Breakers yielding to Sky Blue FC two weeks ago. Last year, the Freedom and the Red Stars split comebacks, with the third being the L.A. comeback against Boston that knocked them out of the playoffs.

So why is this happening, and what should the team do about it? On paper, the Freedom look solid defensively. We have one of the best goalkeepers in the league, two all-stars and our top draft pick on the back line, and two solid holding midfielders in front of them in Sarah Huffman and Allie Long. Rebecca Moros’s resume is less impressive, but that’s no reason to make her the scapegoat.

Online discussions have suggested putting in true defenders like Kristi Eveland and Alex Singer rather than converted attacking players like Nikki Marshall and Moros. I can’t say that I have any solid solutions, but Jim Gabarra and the team urgently need to come up with a solution as they approach the midpoint of the season. You’d have thought that before now, though – in fact, what rankles the most about this match is that after the last visit to West Chester, everyone had to be thinking, “Never again!” How does “again” happen despite that attitude?

If this can be fixed, I think the team, with all its offensive weapons, has a shot at the regular season championship. As things stand, the Freedom seem to be mired in the second tier, ahead of struggling teams like the Breakers and Red Stars, but behind the league leaders FCGP and Independence, and yet to have to deal with the defending champions SBFC and the recently revamped “Atlantica” Beat.

P.S. You might wonder how a season can be magical if it doesn’t include a championship. I could write essays on the marvels of the 2002 season (and have), but I’ll just point out here that the Freedom had four comeback wins that year, including one to clinch a playoff spot.

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As many expected, the Freedom’s high-powered offense gave them an early 2-0 lead but for whatever reason, the defense (which had really come together in the last month to be one of the most dominating backlines in WPS) couldn’t hold allowed the Red Stars to get back in the game and salvage a tie.

The initial net effect of the result (along with FC Gold Pride’s win over Philadelphia on Sunday) means the Freedom still sit in second place in the standings but when you have a team that has been struggling like the Red Stars have, down two goals and you’re at home, you can’t let them get back in the game and salvage a tie.

And in keeping with tradition, another Red Star received a red card – this time it was Natalie Spilger – although it was in extra time so there was not much time for the Freedom to capitalize on the player advantage.

While the Freedom have now given up a lead in two straight games, I would hope they can avoid it for a third straight match when they face the Independence.

Before I get to some links, I do want to say two other things:

1. The WPS deal with Comcast is great, even if the games are only available online. CSN definitely put the production value into the webcast and it will be great to have the ability to watch many more games.

2. And this one deals more directly with the lineup but I am not sure about Cat Whitehill as an outside defender. I realize that her offensive potential is what makes her such a valuable part of the lineup (as we saw with her assist on Abby Wambach’s goal) but it seems like she just doesn’t have the speed to play outside. I may be way off on that but that was my initial impression on Saturday.

LINKS

• Q&A with Ashlyn Harris, Washington Freedom’s Newest Goalkeeper (Bleacher Report) – One of two stories on the newest addition to the Freedom.
• Satellite soccer star Harris enjoys new Freedom (Florida Today) – And here is the second.
• WPS Players and Their World Cup Doppelgangers, Pt. 1 (All White Kit) – And for those of you looking for a piece that’s a little less serious, check this story out on All White Kit.

Ok, that’s enough from me. As always feel free to use this space to discuss anything we have talked about.

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Hopefully you have seen the score (2-0 Washington), read multiple recaps (1 and 2) and the highlights.

With that in mind, here is my list of thoughts from the match.

• Anyone who doubted Abby’s toughness before the match needs to reassess their thinking. No mask, no tape and no fear. It is obvious (and should have been before the match) that Abby is the one that drives this team. After last week’s shutout it’s good to see Abby get back in the scoring column and that the result of that was a win.
• The defense is finally in sync and now that it is, the Freedom should be a favorite the rest of the way. There are a couple of teams that can still compete with the Freedom but this team truly can beat anyone at any time.
• Erin McLeod is in one of the most underrated keepers in the league. The accolades and recognition often go to Hope Solo and Karina LeBlanc but Erin should be in any conversation about the league’s best GKs.
• The Freedom should only get better from here. Once Homare Sawa and Lisa De Vanna get back, the Freedom will have even more weapons to unleash on opponents. This will be one dangerous team.

As always, let me know what you thought of Sunday’s game.

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It was nice to see that despite the terrible wind the attendance spiked this weekend, with an announced crowd of 4,198 on hand. It was the largest crowd of the season at the SoccerPlex this season, and it would be interesting to know how many of the fans responded to Beau Dure’s challenge for the doubleheader with D.C. United and now want to support the Freedom.

The other big news of note was that Abby Wambach left late in the game after colliding with Boston GK Ashley Phillips. No word yet on how serious the injury is, but hopefully it is something that won’t keep Abby out of action long.

Finally, it was nice to see Brittany Bock make her Freedom debut – even if it was only for a short stint at the end of the second half. Coming off a foot injury she probably is in no shape to very long but hopefully she will be back soon and be that missing piece in the midfield the team needs to shore up the defense.

That’s it from me. As always, feel free to add your own observations and comments below.

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• We all knew Abby Wambach was one of the best players in the world, but she has stepped her game up in 2010. Her two assists Saturday mean she has tallied at least one point in every match this season. With defenses looking to keying on her, Wambach has been a lethal passer in the early going, making defenses regret decisions to focus solely on her.
• That attendance number of 8,261 looks really given the team’s early woes but according to Beau Dure, that number was closer to 4,000 at halftime. That’s still more than what the team is drawing at the SoccerPlex, but it seems like Beau’s challenge and DCU’s rough game did little to persuade fans to stick around.
• It seemed like it was somewhat of an International scoring frenzy as all four goals in the match were scored by International players. Sonia Bompastor (France) scored one of the best goals of the young season while Homare Sawa (Japan) scored her second goal of the year and Lene Mykjaland (Norway) finally found the back of the net. Athletica’s goal was scored by Eniola Aluko (England), her third of the season. Aluko is tied with FC Gold Pride’s Christine Sinclair for most goals this year.
• For playing the better game and finishing with the better result of the two D.C. teams, it’s really a shame the Freedom only got three paragraphs in the Washington Post. A former journalist, I realize priority is given to what the most readers will read but I wonder how much longer Washington will put up with its collection of loser teams before it finally decides to pay attention to a winner. Hopefully the Freedom will improve on last year’s performance and give people in this town something to cheer about.
• I haven’t seen much mention of her but it seems Sarah Huffman really was the missing MF piece last season. Obviously she is still coming back from her ACL injury but if Saturday is any indication, hopefully she is getting close to the level she was previously at.

That’s it from me – if you noticed anything I didn’t cover, let me know in the comments.

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All it took was one week and one sloppy game for all of our opinions surrounding the Freedom to change but because it’s only Game 3, we must remember not to over analyze. So, to make sure we keep things in perspective I am going to post my recap in bullet points, to make sure I keep things simple.

• Bri Scurry is a great person but she just can’t play a full 90 anymore. I remember Jim Gabarra telling me right after he made the pick his reasoning for drafting Scurry in the 2009 draft, fully confident she still had something to give. Talking to Bri you know the desire and the competitive attitude are still there but she just isn’t the GK we saw dominating every stage she played on just a few years ago. McLeod has been stellar but with a D still learning and a GK that can’t dominate on her own anymore, the team will be in trouble every time McLeod is not in net.
• Abby Wambach is back! We knew she was more comfortable and confident towards the end of last season but her start to 2010 has been fantastic. Abby doesn’t need to score goals to be dangerous, especially when you have some of the top strikers in the world making runs with you.
• I hate to say it but congrats to former Freedom players Lori Lindsey, Jo Lohman and Sarah Senty on being in the Starting XI for the Independence’s first win. All were important parts on Sunday and Lohman and Lindsey really seemed to hurt us on the offensive end.

Those were the initial things that jumped out at me from the various stories and tweets I read. If any of you were at the game and have something to add please do.

Oh, and as a bonus, make sure you check out this column from the Deseret News in Salt Lake City. I actually worked for the Salt Lake Tribune right out of college (so it somewhat pains me to promote the competitor) but this is a piece any women’s soccer fan should enjoy reading.

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One week after scoring only a single goal at home, the Freedom turned on the firepower and downed the Beat 3-1 in front of a home crowd of only 2,665. While an attendance dip is always expected for Game 2, I’m sure a number less than 3,000 has to have Freedom brass worried (but more on that later this week).

It’s good to see Abby Wambach tally her first goal of the year and it’s even better to see that Sonia Bompastor will still be a key part of the offense in spite of the fact that she’s moved back to her more natural position of defender.

I really don’t have any more to add to what’s already been written but I am interested in hearing from readers on what they thought the real difference was between last night and last week. So, if you have something to mention about the game that you want to discuss, leave a comment below.

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