Photo Courtesy of Connor Cunningham/Racing Louisville
It was a case of not enough and too late for Racing Louisville to make the playoffs for the first time in its history.
In my Third Quarter review, I wasn’t exactly bullish on Racing’s playoff chances, but on my site, Fleur-de-lis FC I was slightly more positive in stating that Racing had likely “done enough” to make the playoffs. This was mostly based on the roster changes that had been made in the summer window. I predicted that 10 points would get the job done, and as it turned out 10 points was exactly what Racing needed. Ultimately, Racing missed out by 4 points and finished in their all-too-familiar 9th place spot for the fourth season in a row. In retrospect, the team was further away from being a playoff ok team than most of the fanbase realized. The last six results while not disastrous on their own, doomed Racing because they let too many points slip away early in the season.
The Matches
Racing 2 – North Carolina Courage 1
Best Bit: It was the Courage for once who made the mistakes and Racing finally got the North Carolina monkey off its back.
Worst Bit: I called Racing a “well-coached team” in my post-match write-up and was immediately proven to be an idiot as Racing lost its next three matches.
Takeaway: Don’t go out on a limb for this team. They 100% cannot be trusted. This win was fool’s gold.
Utah Royals 1 – Racing 0
Best Bit: I was otherwise occupied by a dinner with friends, so I “missed” watching this match.
Worst Bit: Beats me, but I assume all of it.
Takeaway: The restaurant didn’t get its steak temperatures correct.
Racing 0 – Kansas City Current 2
Best Bit: Nothing. A dreadful performance.
Worst Bit: Temwa Chawinga scored so early and easily that she powered down to save energy, thus depriving the Louisville crowd of one of her more electrifying performances.
Takeaway: Taylor Flint was suspended for the match. Racing’s level of competitiveness is so tenuous that a single absence dooms them.
Washington Spirit 4 – Racing 1
Best Bit: Racing proved that they are at least capable of generating a goal as Sears scores a beauty.
Worst Bit: I am once again reminded of what an idiot I was as the Spirit demonstrates what a real “well-coached team” looks like on the pitch.
Takeaway: Spirit good, Racing bad…hardly earth-shattering insight.
Racing 1 – Portland Thorns 0
Best Bit: The team does have a clean sheet in them.
Worst Bit: This performance might have provided some false hope for some, but I wasn’t fooled. “Well-coached team”…never again.
Takeaway: Portland is a shadow of itself and are likely embarrassed by their 6th place finish. Racing would kill for 6th.
Racing 1 – San Diego Wave 3
Best Bit: Racing get a bonus, but meaningless home game which is rendered moot the day before with a Bay FC win.
Worst Bit: Racing go down 2 goals in the first quarter of the match, and McCaskill scores the third to haunt Racing once again.
Takeaway: Good riddance 2024 season.
What went down
“I BURIED MY HEART IN A HOLE IN THE GROUND!!! DUN DUN DUN!!!”
Love those guys.
Anyway, if Foals isn’t your thing I guess we can get back to what went down for Racing. Ultimately, I believe that Racing’s issues are multiple and deep-seated. In simple terms Racing
- Plays in a small market
- For an ownership conglomeration without truly deep pockets
- Who are hesitant to take on a financially disastrous loss that includes
- Improving the team’s staff
- In order to find and pay the right players
- To play in a system that is unique enough to cause their opponents problems
I don’t want to go into those things here, but I plan to on my website (probably before this piece get published). My point is that it isn’t just one thing holding this club back. Some of the factors are environmental, which to me means that you have to find creative solutions. Large market teams with big pocket owners can afford to be predictable and successful (although being big isn’t a guarantee for success). Small market teams have to be clever and creative. I don’t see creative solutions here in Louisville.
For short-term analysis I am going to stick to 5 and 6 in my list. After watching Racing play this season, I believe that the talent gap between them and the top NWSL teams has gotten worse. That gap is more of a result of what the top four teams did right versus what Racing did wrong, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a problem that Racing needs to solve. At the end of the season, the table played out to neatly group teams into 3 buckets: Top 4 (55-60 points), Next 4 (32 -39 points) and Bottom 6 (20 -28 points). Racing can’t play its way into the Top 4 quite yet, but the right moves could see them play their way into the Next 4. The problem is that they will likely make that the 2025 season goal and put in just enough effort to make that goal plausible. That mentality doesn’t work. They should set a long-term goal of getting into Top 4 territory in 2 years (and maybe they will). The plan might have been to be the top team in the league this season (although I seriously doubt it). All that we can say as fans is that the evidence and results point to a plan that isn’t working unless it’s “9th place or bust”.
After watching this season, I believe that Racing has a below average attack, a confusing midfield, and an aging defense. There is room for improvement in all areas. Personally, I think that nobody’s (and I really mean nobody) spot on the squad should be guaranteed next season. The issue is that Racing and the majority of the players are committed to each other for next season. As with all sports, that commitment is tenuous, but I don’t think Racing wants to be paying players to not play here.
That gets me to point 6 on the list. Too many times I imagined Racing’s opponents rubbing their hands together with their mouths watering at the chance to play Racing. The style is too predictable. It could be executed flawlessly, and still cause no real problems for the league’s best teams. Racing is way too easy to press. The back four seems incapable of finding a line-splitting pass. Their midfield exists to disrupt play, but never weave things together. The attack only seems to work to create moments of individual brilliance, rarely team goals. Coach Yanez never seemed extremely displeased with the effort, only the execution. Maybe another offseason and year in her system will change things, and I am willing to give her a shot, but only one more if things don’t improve quicky.
More concerning to me is the talent evaluation. This includes my ability to assess the moves. I thought that the moves that GM Ryan Dell made were good and the right ones. However, the results means that they weren’t good enough. I don’t think in the history of Racing there has been a single person in charge who has understood the right level of talent needed to be successful in this league. That needle has moved year to year, but frankly Racing seems further away now than after year one. The frustrating thing is that the players are clearly better, just not good enough. I misjudged the talent level, but I think everyone else around the club did too. However, it is not my job to get the talent evaluation right. For those whose job it is, there has to be consequences. Those consequences don’t have to be overly harsh or negative. In fact, I think the best solution is to get more help in the talent evaluation area which means that some people in the organization are going to have to have less absolute say in it.
“Peaking”
I hope I never hear that word in the Racing context ever again. In soccer, teams are best served by flattening out the peaks and valleys. I think Bev pictured a clear ascent to the level she desired for the club when she talked about peaking at the right time. I believe that it was a noble idea. What it led to in my opinion was a lack of urgency to improve. I don’t think Racing ever played well for a consistent period of time. They definitely had some valleys, but no real peaks. Coach Yanez seems to be a big believer in growth. I am a believer in achievement. The issue with solely focusing on getter better steadily is that the bar can move on you while you are busy bettering yourself. Racing needs a leap, not a peak. It is easier said than done, but that doesn’t mean it is the wrong diagnosis. In my opinion, the fastest way to get there is a top tier coach. Racing seemed unable or unwilling to attract one in previous seasons. Therefore, Bev will need to turn herself into one. I believe that she can do it. However, she is going to need some help. I wish I had a prescription for what help was needed. My best advice to her would be to try to find a system that is absolutely miserable to play against and implement it here. I will get into this more on my site, but I would also try to turn Lynn Family Stadium into Hell on Earth for opponents (it frequently stinks to high heaven anyway).
Next season: Who needs to step up?
I am going to start completely out of left field. The absolute best thing that could happen to this team for next season is for Ángela Barón to come out and win a starting CB job. I do mean win it and not have it handed to her as the only option. Racing needs a couple of center backs that can anchor the club for 4-5 years. Every team wants that to be honest, but if you are going to be a tough opponent, the grit has to be in the center back position. We didn’t get to see much of Barón, but I saw enough of Jean to know that she can’t be a reliable starter. Erceg might not resign. I am not sure Wright has much left in the tank. Elli Pikkujämsä might be coming back but that remains to be seen. If she does, she is more of a hybrid player anyway. Racing must be more intimidating at the back. This season, they were serviceable if unspectacular. If there is at least one spot where new blood is almost guaranteed, it is here.
Savannah DeMelo’s performances have been on a slight, but noticeable decline ever since she had her first National Team cap. She is at risk of having Emma Sears replace her as the face of the franchise. That might not be a bad thing, but she definitely needs to play better next season. I don’t think Bev did her any favors if I am honest. If I am going to fault Bev for anything specific this season, I do think she made a mistake by playing both Sears and DeMelo in not their best positions too many times to accommodate other players. Sears will need to show that year one is not an aberration. Personally, I think the team would be better served if she were tactically relieved of some of her defensive duties playing out on the right. She needs to save her speedy runs for attack and not recovery. She will also need to find a way to not make 80-yard runs that lead nowhere. This isn’t completely her fault as several times she had no target in the box once she completed her runs, but she made enough of them to know that cutting in more centrally has to be the path to success.
Poor Lo Milliet. She is probably the most beloved player on the team by fans and teammates, but she has already sacrificed 4 years in Louisville when she could be terrorizing opponents on a much better team. She either needs to find some modicum of success with Louisville next season or leave for greener pastures because I believe her post-playing career might eclipse her playing career. I would love it if in 10 years she was Racing’s head coach, but she needs to taste more success and get some on her resume in order to get the type of opportunities that winners do.
Taylor Flint was Racing’s player of the season by a long shot, but I would take a drop in her disrupting stats in order to get her passing accuracy up. Of all of the defensive midfielders who played at least 500 minutes, she was 35th out of 37 in passing accuracy (57th out of 67 for all midfielders). What good is breaking up play when you can’t convert it into possession? There is much value in what she did, in fact there was a great deal. However, you have to ask yourself was it more symptomatic of Racing’s flaws or her strengths. The truth obviously lies somewhere in the middle, but I hold out great hope that she can improve her possession capabilities because she showed herself to be an incredibly quick study at DM. I don’t want her getting too accurate if I am honest, because that likely means she has cut out the long ball and while her long ball accuracy is slightly below average (41% on a league average of 45%) she does provide a great number of them.
Racing’s midseason additions will now have an offseason to try to integrate even more. Balcer and Beckie did fine if not exceptionally, but Petersen was a significant drop in quality over Pickett. Left back should be an open competition next season. A healthy Borges at the start of the season might help things too. If Kirsten Wright can be ready for the start of the season, it will be like a new signing.
