Bixby didn’t have a great match - thanks for the goal, tho! - but…
On the Thompson goal Hubly got absolutely torched, leaving Thompson to bore in unhindered and she’s deadly in the situation. Bixby shouldn’t concede her near post, tho, so call that 50% in Bixby.
On Johnson’s Ertz cleaned her out; that should have been a foul and no-goal. N…
Bixby didn’t have a great match - thanks for the goal, tho! - but…
On the Thompson goal Hubly got absolutely torched, leaving Thompson to bore in unhindered and she’s deadly in the situation. Bixby shouldn’t concede her near post, tho, so call that 50% in Bixby.
On Johnson’s Ertz cleaned her out; that should have been a foul and no-goal. Nothing on Bixby there.
On the Ertz goal that’s a tough save; short range hard flick, maybe a quarter of the time the keeper can throw a hand out to block it…but that’s a goal that the defenders have to stop getting to Ertz’s head; call that one 50% on Bixby, too.
I don’t like how hesitant Bixby is claiming crosses, either. But I wonder if part of that is her build. She’s not very muscular, and I wonder if she has trouble fighting her way through the scrum, so she tends not to try?
Bella gave up two at the near post, but as you say, the Ertz goal was close range and difficult to stop. However, not being at the near post in the first place is a bit of a problem. The free kick was coming from that side, and her initial position was wonky. Nadine's got some work to do. Still, grabbing that late equalizer makes up for a lot.
Other notes:
AC's second goal not being overturned by VAR is a joke. The foul on Bixby could hardly have been more obvious.
Thompson's opener was well-times: they countered as Kuikka was upfield with the attack, and no way Hubly was ever going to stay with Thompson. Kelli's not slow, but not at that level of pace. But then as said above, Bella got beat near post. Very save-able goal...
Hina's PK was everything you'd expect from her: calm and perfectly placed, just enough pace to make it impossible to stop, even guessing the right way.
Moultrie's assist on Weaver's goal (which was finished perfectly) was superb. Olivia de Bruyne...
Frankly, if I'm Bixby I want Hubly to put her shoulder into Thompson and try to run her off the ball. You're right - she's never going to stay with her - so she's got to at least try to slow Thompson down or push her wide to let the rest of the backline recover.
But on the replay Bixby looks worse than she did live; badly positioned, weak dive. So more like 75% on her for that one. GOT to be better - she gets near-posted too often.
On the Ertz goal - I couldn't see this in real time - Bixby's there! She's positioned right, and even throws an arm up, but the shot's too pacey and just a seeing-eye bullet.
Oh, and to make matters worse on AC's second? I just looked at the NWSL site and the scorer overturned the Thompson award; it's being called an OG on Kuikka. Not Natu's night...
I didn't notice if Hubly was the last field player back on that one...perhaps worried about a DOGSO red? Otherwise, yeah, she should have accepted a yellow and stopped that attack.
I looked at the Ertz goal on replay, too...I think her positioning was a but (to her) left of ideal, but it was indeed close enough to make the block. Just not enough time. I don't really mind that goal: it was a well-executed play by AC. Sometimes you can defend pretty well and just get beat by good offense.
Norris' substitution decisions seem a bit wonky...but not bizarrely so. I think we just have to get used to Sincy being left out there for a good 15 minutes or more _after_ she's obviously gassed. It is what it is.
Another thing I noticed was a pretty off game by Kling. Lots of bad passes and out of sync with teammates. And those two into-the-stands shots in rapid succession were frustrating: on both of them her head was coming up literally before her foot hit the ball. If it had been a tee shot in golf, she'd have whiffed completely. Shockingly bad technique for a veteran you'd expect _not_ to get over-excited in the heat of the moment.
Bixby didn’t have a great match - thanks for the goal, tho! - but…
On the Thompson goal Hubly got absolutely torched, leaving Thompson to bore in unhindered and she’s deadly in the situation. Bixby shouldn’t concede her near post, tho, so call that 50% in Bixby.
On Johnson’s Ertz cleaned her out; that should have been a foul and no-goal. Nothing on Bixby there.
On the Ertz goal that’s a tough save; short range hard flick, maybe a quarter of the time the keeper can throw a hand out to block it…but that’s a goal that the defenders have to stop getting to Ertz’s head; call that one 50% on Bixby, too.
I don’t like how hesitant Bixby is claiming crosses, either. But I wonder if part of that is her build. She’s not very muscular, and I wonder if she has trouble fighting her way through the scrum, so she tends not to try?
Bella gave up two at the near post, but as you say, the Ertz goal was close range and difficult to stop. However, not being at the near post in the first place is a bit of a problem. The free kick was coming from that side, and her initial position was wonky. Nadine's got some work to do. Still, grabbing that late equalizer makes up for a lot.
Other notes:
AC's second goal not being overturned by VAR is a joke. The foul on Bixby could hardly have been more obvious.
Thompson's opener was well-times: they countered as Kuikka was upfield with the attack, and no way Hubly was ever going to stay with Thompson. Kelli's not slow, but not at that level of pace. But then as said above, Bella got beat near post. Very save-able goal...
Hina's PK was everything you'd expect from her: calm and perfectly placed, just enough pace to make it impossible to stop, even guessing the right way.
Moultrie's assist on Weaver's goal (which was finished perfectly) was superb. Olivia de Bruyne...
Frankly, if I'm Bixby I want Hubly to put her shoulder into Thompson and try to run her off the ball. You're right - she's never going to stay with her - so she's got to at least try to slow Thompson down or push her wide to let the rest of the backline recover.
But on the replay Bixby looks worse than she did live; badly positioned, weak dive. So more like 75% on her for that one. GOT to be better - she gets near-posted too often.
On the Ertz goal - I couldn't see this in real time - Bixby's there! She's positioned right, and even throws an arm up, but the shot's too pacey and just a seeing-eye bullet.
Oh, and to make matters worse on AC's second? I just looked at the NWSL site and the scorer overturned the Thompson award; it's being called an OG on Kuikka. Not Natu's night...
I didn't notice if Hubly was the last field player back on that one...perhaps worried about a DOGSO red? Otherwise, yeah, she should have accepted a yellow and stopped that attack.
I looked at the Ertz goal on replay, too...I think her positioning was a but (to her) left of ideal, but it was indeed close enough to make the block. Just not enough time. I don't really mind that goal: it was a well-executed play by AC. Sometimes you can defend pretty well and just get beat by good offense.
Norris' substitution decisions seem a bit wonky...but not bizarrely so. I think we just have to get used to Sincy being left out there for a good 15 minutes or more _after_ she's obviously gassed. It is what it is.
Another thing I noticed was a pretty off game by Kling. Lots of bad passes and out of sync with teammates. And those two into-the-stands shots in rapid succession were frustrating: on both of them her head was coming up literally before her foot hit the ball. If it had been a tee shot in golf, she'd have whiffed completely. Shockingly bad technique for a veteran you'd expect _not_ to get over-excited in the heat of the moment.