Week 10 Standings
By: Sam | June 2nd, 2009
After Week10 action in the WPS, the table tells a tale. Most prominent is the evenness of results. If you adjust the point totals for games in-hand — Red Stars & Athletica have two each; Sky Blue, Breakers & Freedom each have one — all the teams would be within a victory of 12 points, give or take.
Only the Sol have pulled away, and their outlying +9 Goals-For/Against statistic tells that tale pretty clearly. Conversely, FC Gold Pride’s poor Goals-For/Against number (-4) indicates an omenous trend which could see the San Francisco side adrift, come late Summer.
Regarding the Sol, it’s tempting to say, “It’s the Marta-factor!” But when you watch them it’s clear they have a strong defensive midfield (see Boxx, Wagner et al.). And they have a strong attacking midfield (see Miyama, Abily et al.). And Han Duan, Marta’s imposing Chinese International strike partner, has settled in and begun to score.
One potential weakness is a tendency to go Route 1 to Marta all the time. Closing down Route 1 can become a handy strategic imperative for opposing defenses. And playing with Marta requires patience and adjustment. She goes on searing, improvisational runs with the ball which, on a good day, can panic defenses. This is good when it affects the score, as it has done on four occasions. Marta is 2nd in the scoring table; she lags the WPS scoring leader, Kelly Smith (Boston Breakers), who has 5 goals.
You might expect a player of Marta’s obvious flair to have more assists, too; but she ranks 8th in the League with only 2. This is because Marta runs away from her Sol-mates. With the ball, she is reactive rather than prescriptive. Quite often you see her attracting two or three defenders, but at the end of a labyrinthine course she’ll have no teammate nearby to help. Lacking Camille Abily’s presence in the middle (she is 5th on the scoring table with 3 goals), Aya Miyama’s creativity & possession on the left (ranking 6th in Shots-on-Goal; 4th in Shots) and the well-organized back-four, the Sol would suffer.
This image against Boston Breakers May 2nd at Harvard Stadium makes the point. (Photo: Samuel Hiser | hiserfotograf) Here, Marta attracts the attention of Boston Breakers defenders Amy LePeilbet and Alex Scott with Angela Hucles tracking back to smother the danger. Alex, calmly in her own box, dispossessed Marta here.
You have to credit the balance of the Sol — and Abner Rogers’ talent selection and attention to detail — for their success. They defend as a team; they do not waste possession; this is not a one-woman side. Don’t get me wrong, Marta is critical to the LA Sol. She is unequivocally a star, and she helps attendance both home & away. But her impact on a match — apart from the thrills — is less direct than we might have expected. She is, above all as it turns out, a space-maker for others. This, too, is a credit to the structure & execution of the League as much as to the Rogers touch and the talent of these women.
Balance, while we’re on the subject, is another quality of the Boston Breakers; but we’ll get to that soon on the Breakers’ page. The Breakers need to work on their Away results. The arduous travel of playing a seven-team roster in the USA is a feature of the show, and one which demands acclimatization — particularly for the International players from Asia, Europe & South America.
[I'd like to ask Kelly Smith, for one, how she's holding up after the recent International break, which comes perhaps as a welcome interlude between the extreme physicality of WPS action.]
Well done, ladies!
Category: WPS News
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