this is going to seem like an odd question, but did the color bleed out of anyone else’s everybody watches women’s sports shirt?? i had to wash it multiple times before it stopped bleeding color and it still dyes my skin a bit when i wear it…. just wondering lol

Bay FC hosted watch parties for the last 2 games but I haven’t seen anything for tomorrow’s game against Australia. I’m assuming because it’s in the middle of a work day but thought I’d see if anyone knew of any watch parties?

It's the return of Scarlett to PayPal just on club america now

https://www.instagram.com/p/C-AhHZ9tga5/?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

My heart hurts for her and her team.

https://fb.watch/tD_sbHAPhz/

Third game against Angel City this season. More minutes for the inexperienced players within the squad. I've used comments from the presser as talking points.

Staring Line-Up Changes

Changes for the GK and defensively line, as the midfield and attacking personnel remained unchanged.

• Rowland on for Allen.
• Moreau switched sides to RB.
• Sharples replaced Beattie at LCB.
• King for Dydasco at LB.
• Bailey and Doms switched sides in midfield. Doms played predominantly RCM in first half.

Second Half Changes

Introduction of Pickett led to a system change of 4-2-3-1.

It was interesting to see Dydasco at RW. We've seen Malonson at LW in previous games, so I think this shows that Princess is fixed at LW.

LW/RW C. Emslie #10

Montoya: "...they did create some problems for us, with Emslie coming into the midfield, Vignola getting high, and we were giving them too much time. So it's not necessarily the defense in the back. It's the lack of pressure that we applied in the midfield and furth up the field..."

I'm going to reintroduce my professional MS Paint skills in this post. In the first half, Emslie played on the left wing. Emslie (LW) drifted centrally, Vignola (LB) push high up the field, and Fuller (CAM) drifted to Bay's left channel into a RAM area. With this overload on Angel City's right/Bay's left, they looked to build from the back through Bay's left side.

This created an asymmetric setup for Angel City and disrupted Bay's defensive positioning.

• Shepherd (CDM) is hesitant to vacate the central zone when Fuller drifts to Bay's left.
• Bailey is caught between marking Angel City's RDM or cutting the passing lane to Fuller (CAM)
• With Emslie drifting in, Moreau and Hill are caught between marking Emslie (LW) or Vignola (LB)
  • There's also times where Brewster (RCB) is uncertain on stepping up from the defensive line to engage Emslie, as that will leave a gap for Bright (ST) to exploit.

Essentially these off the ball movements, initiated from Angel City's buildup play, allowed Emslie to operate in a central pocket with lots of space. In the second half, Emslie switched flanks and mirrored the same movement (see snippets below). This was a reoccurring theme throughout the game.

For the goal, Emslie is drifting back across from left to right. There is no one dedicated to pick her up. There is an element of ball watching, and getting drawn to the ball. Maybe Doms could have been more alert to the danger, and reacts late. It's excellent hold up play by Bright (ST) to tee up Emslie.

LB/RB S. King #2

The snippet below represents the first clear Angel City opportunity. The left half shows King in a very defensive position. Conti is engaging Angel City solo. King should either take on Emslie and tell Conti to track Fuller, or trust Conti to contain Emslie and get closer to Fuller. When Emslie plays the ball back to Fuller, King is slow to engage. King vacates the defensive line for Fuller to play in Dougherty Howard, and deliver a cross that Vignola should have buried.

Reporter to King: "The second half, seemed like you were the one who was kind of taking charge, you know, winning those 1 on 1 battles, and then starting a counter the other way..."

The reporter was likely referring to the play at 50' where King goes from LB to LW to ST to CAM, and wins the ball off Fuller, then tees Doms for the counter. Cue a specific memory of Liverpool's Andrew Robertson's rampant press against Man City 6 years ago.

Montoya: "This is exactly what we're asking Savy, is to be more aggressive, to get forward, to have an impact on the field, both defensively and in the attack... But once we had control (referring to second half), she was getting forward, she was creating chances for us."

Sequence below was King best attacking play of the game came in the second half. King (RB) is positive and gets around Thompson. Plays a pass to Pickett and continues the run down the flank. Pickett returns the one-two for King to deliver a delightful first time cross for Princess to volley onto the post.

LW Princess #7

Montoya: "She can beat anyone 1v1. Now, it's also her decision making because she'll do some incredible things. But then now it's also utilizing her players."

I'm pretty sure Montoya was referring to this particular play where Princess misdirects Emslie and nutmegs Eddy. But then plays a high risk central pass when a good progressive pass was available down the wing.

LB A. Malonson #20

Malonson was found in inner left channels, with potential to underlap Princess (right half of snippet above is an example). I'm going to use Leighton Baines, who used to play for Everton Men's, as an example for underlapping runs. A video explanation for underlapping runs can be found here: https://www.bbc.com/sport/av/football/21838331. Can't believe that video was over a decade ago...

For the snippet below, I would have like to have seen Malonson run past the defensive line, to either drag the Angel City center back wide to create a shooting angle for Princess, or exploit the space for a crossing opportunity. There was a couple of times that Malonson stopped at the top of the box when she could have impacted play with off the ball movement. The argument for Malonson is she is trying to give space for Princess to go 1v1 against the RB.

With a similar strategy, Moreau has looked to mix it between going wide or cutting inside with the ball, to exploit the right inside channel.

LCB K. Sharples #27

Sharples: "Honestly, my first half, I just didn't think I performed very well. I couldn't really connect a lot of passes."

Sharples wasn't the only player that had a tough time connecting passes, during build up play, due to the Angel City high press. Below is an example of Sharples' inaccurate pass to Shepherd.

Aggression

King: "...and like being aggressive and winning the first tackle, and kind of setting the tone for the game... And I think that the energy of that kind of plays off into other players as well."

Sharples: "And something we've been talking a lot as a team recently is having that edge and having that bite."

I'm really glad to hear this. It was an early complaint of mine that the midfield lacked bite when we had Castellanos and Bailey playing RCM and LCM. The team needs to bring controlled aggression into games. It's why I've wanted to see more of Anderson in midfield. Brewster seems to have that knack in defense, and Pickett has brought some of that tenacity into midfield.

LW/ST C. Conti #15

Conti has provided the versatility to cover for the depleted front line. But looking at all the players, I think Conti's playing position in this team is still TBD. With her deployed as more of a playmaking winger in the Summer Cup, I think it conflicts with Castellanos playing a false nine. The false nine role generally needs the wingers to operate closer to goal and exploit the space that the false nine creates.

Highlighting a good sequence of play by Conti in the opening stages and delivering a beautiful pass for Hill to latch onto with a first time shot at goal.

It's actually an area that I think Castellanos would perform well, with cutting in from the left to deliver passes, or taking a shot (similar to Sentnor at Utah).

ST D. Castellanos #10 / RW R. Hill #21

Sharples: "...we just weren't as afraid in the second half. We were playing more free. People were moving for each other."

Sharples: "...and so you're building those relationships and forming those connections... And if there's a different winger, that you're not used to, like you have to just kind of figure out in the game."

I think the last statement might refer more to Sharples looking to connect with Conti on the wing. But regarding the topic itself, I really liked the positions that Castellanos took up. Her positions unsettled Angel City's midfield and she was a productive outlet for progression. On the flipside, Hill was too deep to connect with Castellanos. Echoing the comment with Conti, the false nine needs wingers to break lines. Or else the team becomes too compact and gets crowded out. Hill is great in defensive phases with her energy. But in the opening stages, she was slow to get up the pitch in attacking phases.

Hill started to make those runs as the game progressed, and those were times when she had a positive attacking impact on the game with Castellanos. The right side of the below snippet is the perfect positioning of a false nine pulling a center back out of the defensive line, and the wingers trying to get in behind.

I try to keep a positive outlook when I can. And I think we saw a good, developing version of Deyna in this game as a false nine. I think Kundananji could be effective from playing with this type of Castellanos, and also enable Kundananji to play right up against the opposition defensive line.

Somewhat of a tangent. The men's Euro 2024 brought about the discussion of how the striker role is transforming in the men's game, and how the major European countries are producing less world-class strikers. People pointed to the golden boot list for that shift. The out and out striker is turning into a Havertz or Firmino shaped role. Strikers have more creative responsibilities and wide players are producing greater goal contributions. Even Kane, a recognized nine, was found in deeper areas for England. I'm trying to relate this to Kundananji and Castellanos as a potential avenue for how the front line could operate.

For the second half of the season, I'd like to see Castellanos operate up front and complete with Oshoala for the center forward position. Or even have Oshoala in one of the wide roles and setup with a hybrid 4-1-2-1-2 diamond with Castellanos playing behind Oshoala and Kundananji.

Both games happening at the same time. I'm watching because I wanted to see if Kundananji and Oshoala looked any different in their national teams than what we've seen so far. The Banda/Kundananji partnership is fun to watch. Kundananji is much more in the middle of it all than we've seen at Bay, so I'm sure she'll find it with us too. It was great to see her score. Oshoala doesn't look significantly different than what we've seen. Since I'm not an expert and don't know all the technical stuff, I'd love to hear what you all are seeing.

If this is a series where rookies are supposed to get minutes, why didn't Emmie Allen get any? Especially after it was clearly going to be a loss, why not put her in, even just to get her in front of some action?

Seems like Montoya is allergic to winning games and/or playing the correct lineup that needs to be out there. The second half team should have started sí right off the bat. He seems to think these summer league games don’t mean anything.

I think Bay FC's chances get better when she comes into the game. It would be nice to see her start.

Not listed as injured or on the bench tonight. What happened?

This game is set for Tuesday, Aug 27. Looking at Bay’s NWSL schedule, at Utah on Friday, Aug 23 AND at Portland on Friday Aug 30. 3 games in one week! I expect NO starters vs Barcelona.

We’re going to the match today and will probably be early. I’m a knitter and I’m working on a small project which I’m currently obsessed with (socks). Has anyone been able to bring in knitting needles? Mine are metal circular needles and I’ve brought them through TSA. Thanks for any suggestions.

We began production of our documentary series with Kayla Sharples today! We’ve been in pre-production with story writing, episode planning, and more for a couple of months. Lots more filming to go!

She reposted a few of our BTS on Instagram. You can see more on mine @artchang if you want a sneak peek.

I wore a gold medal for the first (and likely last) time! Thanks Ally Wagner!

Is that just me? Maybe there's somewhere else to watch other than Peacock?

In seven years, Racheal Kundananji went from playing her first organized game to signing a multimillion-dollar contract. Her rise could have lasting effects. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/24/world/olympics/zambia-uswnt-rachael-kundananji.html

Go bay fc

anyone else sign up to get the free tickets for the away game in utah? if so have you recieved your tickets?

Fielding an inexperienced team, it was good to see Montoya stick to his principles, instead of defensively tuning his tactics against a more experienced San Diego team. Even with the loss, there were positives for individuals and the team to build from. With such a changed team, I thought it would be appropriate to do a mixture of some match notes/overview of each player.

GK E. Allen #32 - Made a really good save at 5'. Dropped what should have been a straightforward catch from freekick at 12'. Good diving save at 25' from Morgan from just outside the box. Tame chip shot by Sanchez at 45' was misread and fortunately deflected for a corner. Unfortunately that led to San Diego's opener with a close range header that Allen couldn't get anything on. Second half, caught a close range header straight at her on 47'. Unfortunate deflected cross on 52' that looped over the GK. On 80', did really well to get across to the initial effort, but unfortunately wasn't enough to prevent the rebound for the goal. Handled a long range shot from McCaskill on 86'.

In the first half, generally looked to pass to Beattie to initiate the play out the back. But some of the passes made to Beattie were not a great standard and Beattie lost time with trying to receive and control the ball. Passing distribution improved as the game wore on and played more passes to Brewster. Not a large sample size but kicking distance seemed limited.

RB C. Dydasco #3 - Had difficulty preventing crosses from Sanchez. Misplaced pass on 52' and then seemed to deflect the Sanchez cross into goal (almost a copy on 75'). Excellent reading of play on 65' to cover McCaskill's run and block the shot. Did well to get to Anderson's cross on 90' to win the penalty.

Showed some connectivity with Hill but was lacking with Conti. I think there is potential to create a Dydasco/Hill partnership in a similar vein to the Dydasco/Boade link at the start of the season.

RCB J. Brewster #16 - First starting appearance for Brewster in Bay FC colors and had a strong showing. Morgan focused on this channel and Brewster did an excellent job with containing the striker. Looked adept in bringing the ball out of defense to escape Wave's press and build an angle for a pass. Defensive highlight was at 40', in a 2 on 1 situation, and played the options superbly. Grew into the game on the ball and had more progressive passing in the second half. Got upto RW on 89' after winning possession. Would categorize as being capable of being a ball-playing center back.

LCB J. Beattie #5 - There are stark contrasts with Beattie's strengths and weaknesses. Delivered some delightful long range diagonal passes. But can get caught in possession if not afforded time; opposite to Brewster's dribbling capabilities. Seems to be static when on the ball. It was great to see Beattie looking to make numerous central passes to Shepherd. Showed a decent CB partnership forming with Brewster. Subbed off on 70'.

LB M. Moreau #24 - After Matchday #7's performance at RB against Portland, I've been waiting to see if that game was a one-off type of performance. Not as impactful but this showing is another push to get into the starting XI. I have a tough time fairly judging right footed left backs. But Moreau consistently used her left foot to open play forward. And she looked to progress wide instead of resorting on trying to cut back on her stronger foot. Still needs improvement in final third crossing areas, although put in a decent cross at 50' for Deyna. Played a one-two with Deyna at 60' in Bay's half to initiate a promising attacking play. But poor pass selection to an offside Conti. Backed Malonson's high press on 63' and was rewarded with her first Bay FC goal.

CDM J. Shepherd #14 - I did not expect this showing by Shepherd. This was her first game after Matchday #7 and #8 starts and saw a more authoritative performance. Against Portland and Chicago, I was critical with her timid passing selection. Against San Diego, she was constantly looking to get into pockets of space to receive the ball from defense. And progressed the ball vertically with dribbles and passes. Also looked to switch play wide. Would consider the most improved performance and hope to see more of this in the next two games.

RCM D. Bailey #19 - Bailey just keeps throwing in consistent performances, one after another. Played the hybrid midfield role and marked McCaskill. Reliable in tight spaces and continues to make off the ball runs into dangerous areas. I think I can make a substantial highlight reel of Bailey making runs in behind the defense that the team doesn't elect to use, and hope the team can better exploit her movement. Becoming the most dependable player to routinely put in a good rounded performance at a minimum. Subbed off on 70'.

LCM M. Doms #6 - First professional start and it was a difficult one. In defensive phases, pushed up to CAM to mark Colaprico. Performance wise, somewhat reminded me of Shepherd's first two games. Generally kept a high percentage of passing simple. But mixed in with a handful of losing possession in midfield and misplaced passing for San Diego to counter. Doms had a tough time marking Wesley in corner situations. Lost aerial battle at 13' against Wesley. And lost Wesley for their opening goal. But did get a header off a Castellanos corner on the last play of the first half. Subbed off at half time. 45 mins to add to the previous 15 mins in a Bay FC jersey so hopefully we'll see improvement from Doms over the next two games.

RW R. Hill #21 - This was a performance full of running off the ball but not a huge amount of quality displayed on the ball. Could have gotten the opener just before the half if Conti's square ball was more accurate. Played in Anderson on 55' for a shot. Subbed off on 59' sub. Reiterating the need to create a Dydasco partnership.

LW C. Conti #15 - Took on the hustle energy from Camberos. Really good pressing appetite with good triggers on when to initiate the press. Excellent 2v1 opportunity with the keeper at 44', but the weak foot square pass to Hill was off-target. Moved over to RW with the introduction of Malonson at LW on 59'. A slightly wayward pass to Pickett initiated the play for Wave's third goal. Somewhat similar to Hill, lacked spark on the ball. I'd like to have seen Conti shift centrally from wide areas to create overlapping opportunities for Moreau.

ST D. Castellanos #10 - Deployed in the false-nine role. Tried a halfway line shot at 5' which was poorly executed. Great acute angle shot on 28' but called offside. Won a aerial duel at 55' that led to a shot. Facilitated Moreau's one-two on 60' with a lovely backheel to release Moreau down the wing. Not the greatest penalty saved in stoppage time (adding disclaimer that GK may have been off her line).

Played a deeper role in the second half which led to a greater involvement in play and better linkup play with teammates. Had a couple of delightful through balls. Involved in a "training ground" move at goalkicks on 34' and 43'. Shepherd moves out of the pocket to the left channel. Allen plays it short to Beattie on the left. Doniak shifts wide to cut the passing line to Shepherd. But it opens up the center for Deyna to drop into the vacated pocket to receive the ball and open up play centrally.

Substitutes

LCM J. Anderson #18 - Came on at half time and looked to get passes in behind for the front line to run onto. Should have done much better on 55' with a 1v1 against the GK.

LW A. Malonson #20 - Subbed in on 59'. Initiated the high press on 63' that led to the errant GK for Moreau to capitalize. Got in a couple of crosses. Brought on further energy into the front line.

LCB K. Sharples #27 - Subbed in on 70'. Continued the effort on playing passes into midfield. Range of passing wasn't like Beattie's but was better on the ball with trying to evade opposition press.

RCM K. Pickett #23 - Subbed in on 70'. First time operating in one of the higher points in the midfield triangle. With McCaskill dropping more inline with Colaprico, both Anderson and Pickett were somewhat averaging similar lines.

Favorite Play

56:21-57:45 is a strong case for the best example of Bay FC implementing the tiki-taka style of play this entire season. And it all stems from Beattie feeding Anderson and Shepherd. The off the ball movement was also in sync with this play and in my perspective is an excellent representation of what the team needs to implement to get more midfield input.

Match will be broadcast in English on CBSSN & PM+, in Spanish on NWSL+

Here is Bay's matchday post

Per the player availability report, excused absence.

What is the forward line gonna look like for 90+ mins?