I imagine we will be seeing a similar lineup to our last outing, which I honestly would be completely fine with. The only change I might make is have Gilliland start over Quon, cuz when she came on against Seattle it really felt like the flow of the game on the left side of the pitch. I could also see her being used as a second half sub though to attack tired defenders. The only other change I could see to the starting lineup is maybe Mautz starting over Huerta. But only cuz Huerta had a quiet first time out. But starting Huerta could help get her acclimated quicker, which I’m good with. (Update – Quon is questionable for the game and Mautz is out of the game, so, y’know, moot point.) These are both slight change possibilities. Ultimately I’m cool with what we went with last time.
As always, I hope to see more passing, more breaking down the defense and midfield using technique and chess action. But, also as always, that’s a pipe dream. I’m expecting us to pass sometimes but mostly dribble at and through the defense and lay off the pass or get a cross in. We are direct. We are defenders and counter attackers. Acceptance. Something else I’m hoping for is a second game with no yellows (or reds) given to us! That would melt my brain. And make me so happy too.
My only true concern is our ability to defend set pieces – especially corners. The two goals we gave up last week were off of corners, which last year seemed unthinkable. Impossible! We were so aces in defense that I never really worried about it. I never felt pangs of oh shit in those situations. We just dealt with them calmly, efficiently and got out of trouble quickly. I’m hoping that issue was just working out first game kinks and jitters and that we will tighten up going forward.
So, now the drag. We are playing loathsome Portland. Ugh. The worst. Gnashing of teeth. Rage. A few things to note about them. They’ve won their first two games. They are at the top of the league. Allie Long has scored three goals in the last two games for Portland. So, clearly, stop her. Also McCall Zerboni has been influential. Stop her. Portland has been kicking it with the three in the back lately this season which allows them five players in the midfield which they look to dominate. I grudgingly admit that Portland is talented. But I don’t fear them. Look for us to play to the wings and counter. But look for Portland to totally expect that.
As a side note, I sure hope Tobin Heath doesn’t hurt any of our players and end their season. All shade meant.
Injuries
Out for Portland: Alex Morgan. Possibly out: Kat Williamson, Rachel Van Hollebeke.
Out for Chicago: nah. Alyssa Mautz (ankle sprain). Questionable – Rachel Quon (left ankle sprain).
Here’s my official prediction. We win 2-1. Cuz we’re at home and we got the floooooow!
Yes! It’s been so long since I heard that song in this context. Let’s listen to it again.
Okay. Okay. Now it’s out of my system. Just kidding. That one’s never out of my system.
Here’s my predicted starting line up. I think we’re doing a 4-4-2 and I think we’re going to go flat. Cuz it’s safe and we are safe and solid and always have been. I think we’ve always done 4-4-2 flat stylee and I don’t think we’ll change any time soon. Maybe we will.
Huerta / Hoy
Colaprico / Chalupny / Dibernardo / Mautz
Gilliland / Johnson / Hemmings / Quon
Dalton
*I don’t actually know if Quon is currently in Chicago or with Canada. If she’s not available, swap Hemmings for her.
I think Chalupny will be the only world cup attendee that will start the game cuz she’s Chalupny. I think we will see some of the others come in as subs, but I am predicting limited minutes for the world cuppers to reduce their chances of getting injured. I also think it will help build cohesion within the team that will be playing for the majority of the season. But, what the fuck do I know? Not much.
As far as our opposition goes? It’s Seattle. They are one of the few teams that I fear and respect. They play supremely well. Very intelligent. Very superlative. They also thrashed Western New York last week. 5-1. Dig that. 5-1. And most of their team isn’t going away to the world cup. They are going to be beastly in the best possible way. It goes without saying, so I’m going to say it anyways, that shutting down their ridiculous midfield is crucial. I’m also predicting a massive reliance on our aces back line to contain Seattle’s pressure and get the ball moving quickly for the counter. Absorb and counter. Absorb and counter. That’s what I’m predicting.
Given that we are Chicago and we like to knock people down, I expect a lot of cards for this one. I expect a lot of disruptive, grindy and direct play that will keep the score line close. I expect this. I don’t want this. I expect this. I love the Red Stars, they are my favorite team in the world. For real. But, this is the third season of NWSL so I come to expect things in our style. I’d like to think and I am hoping that since we acquired some more finesse players over the off-season that we will play to their strengths. And I am fairly optimistic right now that we will do that over the course of the season. I’m fairly stoked on the idea of Gilliland combining with Colaprico and Dibernardo who then link up with our forwards. But since this will be our first game and it will be against the Reign, I think we will rely on our rumble stylee for this one.
Prove me wrong Chicago! Please! Prove me wrong!
I’m publicly predicting a 2-2 draw to Seattle (I’ll keep my cynical mouth shut). Did I say they are supremely good.
So there you go. What do you think? Agree? Disagree? Think I’m full of shit? Reply below, I like to talk about the Red Stars and you should too!
Hello, hello. It’s fucking on! This week our team is finally playing again. Yes! Are you new to the Red Stars? Want a quick refresher? Well, here’s a little summary of how our roster went down this off season, just to get us all up to speed. Word up! Excelsior and all that!
We begin with the fact that three players retired – Jackie Santacaterina, Kecia Morway and Taylor Vancil. All were important parts of this team for various reasons – Santacaterina was a massive presence in our midfield, fabulous for defending and shutting down the opposing offense; Morway was crucial wingback depth and coming into this world cup year, Vancil was going to be our starting goal keeper for a significant chunk of the season. While we don’t know all the personal reasons that went into making their decisions, we can safely assume that the harsh realities of professional women’s sports played a huge factor. To put it bluntly, professional women’s sports pay shit. Unsustainable and insulting shit. And it’s hard for anyone to pay the rent, bills, cost of living on those wages alone. I could go on and on about this. Armchair labor activism is something I hold dear.
Going into the offseason, minus the retirees, our roster looked like this:
That second group consists of the players that have been in their national team camps over the past few weeks. Most will for sure be at the world cup. I would say Boxx and Chalupny are on the bubble and we’ll see if they make the final US roster.
So let’s get to know the players in a few overly general sentences.
Shannon Boxx is a midfielder. You’ve probably heard of her cuz she’s been on the national team forever. She hasn’t played much for the Red Stars so I don’t factor her in as a crucial piece of the team, but she is all about community relations and being an ambassador for the club and all that, so she’s definitely part of the team. She’s good people.
Zakyia Bywaters was the overall number one draft pick in the inaugural season of the NWSL which has kind of been an albatross for her and the team since day one. She generally plays as a winger on the left, has footwork skills, is creative and capable of scoring. However, she is still waiting for her breakout year and she will have to keep waiting as she had an injury to her hip that required surgery and a recovery time that’s longer than the 2015 season. Aggravation. She is on our roster, but won’t count against our 20 player limit.
Lori Chalupny is our captain. She is amazing. That is all. Not really. She’s way creative, the engine of the midfield, good on both sides of the ball, a leader, sometimes a leading goal scorer, very dangerous and intelligent. She’s from St. Louis. Her nickname is Chups (pronunciation?). And she recently found her way back into the national team picture after years of not being talked to because of concussion issues. You can read about the drama and controversy of it all with a quick google. For her sake I hope she makes the final national roster, but for our sake, I hope she doesn’t.
We are all hoping Vanessa Dibernardo will blossom into a full on playmaking midfielder. She’s not quite there yet, but she is very good. Last year was her first year at the professional level. Before that however, she was hot shit at University of Illinois and has been on the U-17, U-20 and U23 USWNT’s. She was on the team that won the U-20 world cup. Also, she’s from Naperville.
Abby Erceg is one of our starting center backs. She is from New Zealand (ask her about Lord of the Rings, Flight of the Conchords and the Dead C) and captains their national team, so she also won’t be here for a chunk of the season. But she was the first player to officially re-sign with the Red Stars shortly after the 2014 season ended. She is the one to stay at home and lock down the backline while Julie Johnston makes her way forward.
Once upon a time Taryn Hemmings was a center back. True story. She also used to make those offensive forays deep into opposition territory. She loved it. Then she tore her acl and was out for a long, long time. But, then she came back last season and seamlessly slotted in at right back, like nothing happened. Fabulous. If you must know one thing, know this, Hemmings is crucial.
Jen Hoy is incredibly fast and killed it at the beginning of last year, putting away goals left and right. But then she got tired out in the middle of the grueling, condensed season and never really got back in form. She and Press need to figure out how to play together and they have struggled to do so. I’m not sure it will happen this year since Press will be gone for a huge chunk of the season and they won’t have much time to figure each other out. Maybe they will. Prove me wrong, please.
Samantha Johnson walked in to the open tryouts last year and walked out a starting center back. Pretty cool. She was supremely solid last year, very cool and composed. Then Vicky Losada of the Western New York Flash busted her face open with a cleat and pretty much ended her season. I will be very happy to see her back this year.
Julie Johnston is ridiculous. We drafted her last year, and although she historically played d-mid, we slotted her into the backline and she took over. Both she and Abby Erceg (and Samantha Johnson) bossed it, although Johnston seems to be the de facto leader of defense. She also loves to make runs forward and score. Very comfortable with the ball at her feet. She will also be kicking it at the world cup. Sadness.
Karina LeBlanc. She is huge in goal. Excellent even. Everyone loves her. If you don’t, I pity you. Since the departure of our dearly beloved Ella Masar (who is now in Houston), LeBlanc has become our media ambassador cuz she is hammy and loves to be on camera and has her own web show during the season. You will see a lot of her.
Adriana Leon is a Canadian national who has insane footwork. Insane. Ridiculous. She generally plays as a winger on the right and loves to take on defenders, break down the defense and find a through pass to an eventual goal scorer. She can also score on her own, but she seems to prefer to make the pass. She’s been a starter for the Canadian national team and will be gone during the world cup. Sadness. Also, her nickname is Dri.
Michele Lomnicki is a Red Stars institution at this point. She plays all over the backline as needed and is decent in all the spots although she generally plays at right back. She was married this offseason and this is the name she is now going by. Before this she went by Michele Wenino, so don’t be confused when you see or hear that.
Alyssa Mautz is a quintessential Red Star. Attacking, hustling, hardworking, not afraid of a challenge, and, um, gritty. She is used generally as a sub on the right midfield or as a forward. She also starts in case of injury.
Christen Press is a massively talented, pacey, creative striker who is capable of making amazingness out of nothing. If you haven’t been paying attention, she is also currently a starter for the USWNT, which is good for her, but bad for us. She used to play with Tyreso in Sweden and made a good run in the UEFA Champions League with them. Cynically, I’m not sure how much she wants to be in Chicago which gives me pause. The USSF told all players based outside of the NWSL that they would only be given consideration for making the USWNT if they played in the NWSL. And shortly thereafter Press returned to the NWSL and went through the allocation process and ended up with us. So, you know, I can’t imagine it was her first choice coming back. But that’s me reading too much into not much of anything. And whatever. She’s a professional. She’ll work for the team and score goals. So, aces.
Rachel Quon is our starting leftback. She’s solid, puts in a good shift, not spectacular, but good to have. She’s been on the bubble of the Canadian national team, but hasn’t been in their camp for the past few months. She will most likely be here for the whole season.
Melissa Tancredi is our starting athletic, aggressive, center, target forward type. She’s good. She plays for the Canadian national team and will also be gone for a lot of the season. People hate her for stomping on Carli Lloyd’s head in a match 100 years ago. But I don’t like Carli Lloyd for punching Vanessa Dibernardo, so it works out.
Draft
We picked up a few more players in the college draft. Unlike MLS, the college draft is a massively important part of roster building in the NWSL. Outside of any ridiculous trades and fancy international players getting picked up, it’s the highlight of the offseason for nerds like me.
The players we drafted are Arin Gilliland, Danielle Colaprico, Sofia Huerta, Cara Walls and Rachel Tejada. We also drafted Nicole Setterlund, but she retired before even coming into camp citing ongoing concussion issues.
It was recently announced that we officially signed Gilliland, Colaprico and Huerta. Which isn’t surprising. Arin Gilliland is a highly rated true leftback who provides a lot going forward; Danielle Colaprico is a creative midfielder who Rory Dames is looking to play on the left; Sofia Huerta seems to be a solid forward who likes to play out wide and should complement our current strikers. Cara Walls is a forward and Rachel Tejada is an attacking midfielder, both would most likely be depth. One of them might still be signed and the other will probably feature on our reserves.
For a slightly, and I mean slightly, more in depth overview of the draftees you can look here.
Open Tryouts
To help cover the huge gaps that will be created in our roster by the world cup we invited ten players from an open tryout: Jayden Barrett, Michele Dalton, Jackie Esterkamp, Monica Gonyo, Valerie Gonyo, Natalie Horner, Leigh Jakes, Kelley McCloskey, Giuleana Lopez and Lillie Toaspern.
The only thing I’m fairly certain of is that Michele Dalton will most likely be our number two goalkeeper. Look for her to be officially signed soon. I have no real idea if any of the other players will make it. I would think maybe one of the others makes it and now that Bywaters will be missing. And my guess is that we will probably see Lillie Toaspern get picked up since she is another offensive minded midfielder. For a quick rundown of the tryoutees you can look here.
The deal with the roster is that we can have 20 contracted professional players, but we can have ten unpaid amateurs on the reserve team that we field in the WPSL.
Stop for a minute. Read that last sentence again. Unpaid. UNPAID. Let that sink in. Okay, now finish reading.
These select ten volunteers will be able to be called up to replace injured or missing (in World Cup) players. So look for a bunch of these draftees and open tryout types to be on the roster for the reserve team. We will be calling them up. Unpaid internship? That’s resume building.
Note – I wrote this before Taylor Vancil and Nicole Setterlund retired. But I spent a few minutes on it, so here it is.
Normally the offseason is a time for ridiculous speculation and comings and goings and news upon news. But this offseason has been a time of silence. A time for isolation and endless winter. Introspection? Maybe. But there hasn’t been much to introspect. We’ve had news of our draftees when that went down, but nothing since then. All we really know is that half our team is out playing with their national teams. Karina LeBlanc, Adriana Leon and Melissa Tancredi are off with Canada. Abby Erceg is off with New Zealand. Shannon Boxx, Lori Chalupny, Julie Johnston, Christen Press are with the US team. And Vanessa Dibernardo and Danielle Colaprico are with the US U23 team. Did I miss anyone?
There were the open tryouts a little while back, but we haven’t heard anything about that. No signings – not from our draftees, tryouts, splashy internationals or anything. There just isn’t that much to talk about. Which is why I’m writing about nothing. At least the preseason starts on Monday. Maybe we’ll know something then. In the meantime here are some meaningless formations. Cuz I love meaningless formations. Who should play where.
4-2-3-1 Stylee:
Hoy
Bywaters / Dibernardo / Colaprico
Hemmings / (I wish we had Santacaterina)
Gilliland / Setterlund / Johnson / Wenino
Vancil
It could be all the Swansea soccer I’ve been watching for the past few years, but I really like the 4-2-3-1 system. I think because it allows for a lot of pressing and attacking. However given that we are kind of depleted for world cup reasons, I don’t know if we have the right midfield for it. I think Hemmings could move up into a holding midfield role, someone to disrupt the plays. She started as center back for us before moving out to right back last year. She’s good with the ball at her feet, has speed and likes to get forward. I think she would be comfortable in the midfield. Who to play next to her though. That I’m less sure about. One thing I know is that I wish we had Jackie Santacaterina these days. She would’ve been an aces destroyer. As it is, maybe it would be best in this scenario if we did
This would allow Hemmings to stay as holding mid and Dibernardo could be a deep lying playmaker and Colaprico could be an advanced playmaker. I kinda like the potential of this one.
I think we will probably kick it 4-4-2, cuz that seems to be how we roll. Always. Flat 4-4-2. Maybe this year will be different. But if not, I think we’ll see something like this. Colaprico has mentioned that Rory Dames wants her out wide, but given our lack of center mids during world cup I think she and Dibernardo would pair up best in the middle.
I kinda dig this one. It could provide a lot of fluidity and pressing action. That’s a lot of offense though and puts a lot of pressure on Dibernardo to hold the midfield defense together. Don’t know if she can or not.
What about you? How do you think we should line up? Y’know, without really knowing anything?
psych up action, current weirdo chicago rock edition.
hey, did you know we’re currently in fifth place? we are! let’s keep it going and move on up! boston are dead last. dead. last. (well, tied with houston for it) let’s crush them at home. please. it won’t be easy, cuz winning away is always tough and boston will be desperate for points so we’ll have to maintain discipline and organization in the back. but i know we can do it. i’m calling a 2-1 chicago victory.
new red the house down contributor hannah drops some knowledge on what to look for! give her a follow @doublenutmegs!
The Chicago Red Stars meet Sky Blue on May 7th at Yurcak Field, New Jersey. Sky Blue will be wrapping up the last of 4 matches in 11 days. Sky Blue currently sit in 5th, with 5 points, 2 ahead of Chicago; a win tonight would take Chitown above the New Jersey team. Last season Sky Blue finished 4th and qualified for the play offs, but lost in the semi-final; a faltering end to an impressive start, after they lead the league at the halfway mark.
The Red Stars currently lie in 7th, having played just 3 games (2 less than 4 of the teams above them, and 1 less than Portland). Chicago have had a week to rest for this game, whilst all the other teams had matches over the weekend. Chi will be missing key players, as goalkeeper Karina Leblanc, defender Julie Johnston and forwards Adriana Leon and Melissa Tancredi away with their respective national teams for the Canada USA friendly on Thursday. Taryn Hemmings (recovering from her ACL injury) is still out as well. Christen Press is also in the USA squad, but is still in Sweden with Tyreso (she will return home after the Champions League Final in Lisbon on May 22nd). New signing, Kiwi defender, Abby Erceg, will be available for as early as the end of next week!
SUSPECTED LINEUP
Either a 4-4-2 with either Mautz or Bywaters, or a 4-5-1/4-2-3-1 with either Hoy or Brock up top.
Recently signed forward Nikki Read could also play her first game for the club.
KEY MATCH UPS
Chalupny vs Schmidt
Two tough midfielders will have to out-do each other tonight. Despite being the first line of defence in their teams, both Lori Chalupny and Sophie Schmidt can provide goals. Whoever is able to command the middle of the field to best effect could end up swinging the tie.
Johnson vs Ocampo
Rookie Samantha Johnson is likely to get her first start for the Red Stars, against Mexican forward Monico Ocampo. The young centre back will have to keep last season’s fourth highest scorer quiet.
Hoy vs Foord
With veteran captain Christie Rampone with the US national team, Sky Blue’s defence will most likely be left under command of young Australian Caitlin Foord. The 19 year old already has a year of NWSL experience, along with 12 caps with her national team. Both players have remarkable speed, and the battle will be sorely contested.
second off. there was a game last saturday. and we lost. and that sucked and was disappointing because washington were coming off a midweek game and were tired. and we should’ve been able to beat them. but, we didn’t. from what i could tell it was because we didn’t have anything going on in the final third. our defense looked solid again, our midfield was solid, but there seemed to be a breakdown somewhere between the midfield and the forwards.
we need this to improve.
for real.
i’m not worried yet. it’s still early in the season. but it is a short season and one or two more games like that, and i will start to worry. and that mantra of where will the goals come from? will start up again. but for now, let’s just hope things can get figured out up top. moving people around, different formations, partnerships, etc.
three quick observations:
1. i said it before and i’ll say it again, i am absolutely amped for zakiya bywaters! she is killing it when she’s out there.
2. i love what julie johnston is bringing to our team. she already seems like the type of player to play as a teammate, organize and take control of the game when it needs taking control of. like on saturday how after a while she started going forward more frequently from her centerback position to try to get things going.
3. i am into the fact that we can change our formation and players on the fly. when we were trying to go for a goal towards the end of the game, taking out sitch, moving johnston up (to offer more offense), bringing morway to the right and shifting wenino over to centerback. that was nice to see.
4. two of these observations involve julie johnston, so i’ll make it three. she is clearly killing it here in chicago. but she did start to get a bit physical/hacky in the second half.
hopefully, this won’t become a trademark sort of thing. be cool, julie johnston, be cool.
as for tonight’s game – we win. 2-1. because, yes!
it’s been a while and it felt weird not having a game to watch last week, but the rest after the three games in nine days was crucial and hopefully we’ll come out all the sharper for it.
the big news of course is that our german players, sonja fuss and inka grings, have arrived. they won’t be travelling to rochester however, i assume so they can get rested and acclimated to the team before starting. but look for them to travel with the red stars when we head out to portland to play the thorns, yet again. they will definitely help us out and give us a different look against a team we have seen a bunch already.
there will be one change for the red stars this week as leslie osborne is confirmed out with a sprained mcl and didn’t travel with the team. it’s also possible that taylor vancil will be playing instead of erin mcleod due to mcleod having a fractured metacarpal (which i just learned involves one of the small bones in the hand). mcleod is listed as questionable so i guess we won’t know until the lineup is announced on friday. with that in mind, here’s my ideal starting eleven:
mcdonald/masar
bywaters/garza/chalupny/sitch
vandenbergh/moscato/hemmings/quon
mcleod (or vancil)
i doubt garza will get the start considering she’s only been available as a substitute until now, but i’m still hoping to get to see her play sometime soon and maybe she can help add some creativity in the final third. i’d also like to see what mcdonald can do given more playing time – especially considering the tear she was on in australia before coming to chicago.
the flash have recently defeated kansas and sky blue and they have some quality players so it’ll certainly be a challenge for us. needless to say it’s been a rough start to the season, but we are going to win eventually. for real. seriously. why not now? so on that uplifting bout of positivity, let’s do it red stars!
red the house down 