Blair Newman
@secondball
Women's football. Write for The Equalizer. Guardian Top 100 panelist. Worked as next opponent scout for SPFL teams. PFSA Level 2 qualification in Talent ID & Technical scouting.
My best line-up out of the World Cup semi-finalists... www.bbc.co.uk/sport/footba...
The most obvious "they can play" moment you could ask for. Looking up, seeing the keeper off line and lobbing them from nowheresville. Ngock for Fleury v Paris FC.
A disgraceful refereeing display from Michael Oliver. Canada have been allowed to do almost whatever they want. Morocco booked for their second foul! If Laryea, Johnston are booked, they can't go in late the next time and an actual game of football might, just might, accidentally break out.
One of my fave plays by Ivory Coast; inconspicuous but telling. In their own box with Norway pressing. Agbadou takes his time, cuts back & deftly lofts a chip pass over the top of Haaland, to his centre-back teammate Kossounou, who controls perfectly first time & finds Kessie free in midfield.
Georgia Timms was the stand-out player. Hearts' striker had a real battle with Partick's hugely experienced centre-back, Cheryl McCulloch. Lots of aerial and physical duels between this pair. McCulloch did well overall, but Timms was a constant threat with running in the channels. Relentless.
Heart of Midlothian 3-0 Partick Thistle Jam Tarts versus Jags. Hearts win to extend their lead at the top of the SWPL, and bolster their bid for a first-ever title.
Utah pressing in a 4-1-3-2 with the '3' of Cronin-Miura-Lacasse intense shifting to the ball-side to mark Seattle's deepest midfielders while also getting pressure on their full-backs and centre-backs. Seattle absolutely hated it.
One example of the USWNT's pressing that leads to a goal vs. Germany in the 1991 World Cup semi-final
Lauren Davidson with the superb, pinpoint cross for Scotland's goal tonight. Couldn't have placed it any better.
Watched Italy U23s beat Portugal today. Here is an overview of their shape, movements, star players. High press worked well generally; one time it didn't their back line was turned easily for Portugal's goal. Corelli with a nice redirect header for 1-0; Bellucci tucked the penalty away well for 2-1
I like the idea of a 4-3-3 à la Juventus men's mid-90s with Del Piero Vialli Ravanelli up top. Portland can keep their zonal defence, compact the centre, and have three strikers ready to counter with. It's basically their performance vs Seattle but with Wilson alongside Tordin and Turner
Boston marked up all over the field. Boom or bust defensive style that can really highlight any one-on-one weaknesses. Dali was so often the key to the game for San Diego, running off the shoulder of Olivieri, who was caught ball-watching a few times.
What a game so far. No scoreboard analysis from me, I'm still taken by Houston's performance. From my Dash season preview, relevant tonight I think:
Houston kicked off with long ball out of play. Whole half has been about playing the game in opponent's half, setting a high tempo with high pressure. Very brave approach. Wingers leading the press with strikers front-marking Angel City midfielders, full-backs stepping up to press their counterparts
Houston largely bypassing Angel City pressure, going over the top of almost every set play from deep or ball from Campbell. Not always expecting to win 1st ball but setting up for 2nd ball with both wingers moving inside to try and outnumber. Quick pressing too.
I played around with how resilient teams were to going 1-0 down last year. Probably doesn't mean anything but it has different colours:
Nothing random about that. Portland respond to red card by going to 4-3-2 defensive shape. Midfield three have to shift a lot side to side, front two need to do their jobs. Seattle help them out by not making their midfield work at all. Seattle's full-backs too narrow (Curry inside here).
Clipped this because I couldn't not. Raphinha's movement for Barcelona's opening goal. In, out, in, out. The commentators thought Hall was just unlucky? He got put upside down by top movement from a top player...
Great read! Caught this game, couldn't believe a team with three experienced, international centre-backs found it so hard to defend their own box...although maybe the blame is on the ones in front of them? Either way, I think Dortmund looped back from Mixed State to pure Mania by the final whistle
Also something on what Kaleigh Kurtz and Ally Watt will bring to Denver, based on a 2025 Orlando vs North Carolina game where they faced off. Kurtz a centre-back, Watt a striker - both can play key defensive roles. Link: summit-review.ghost.io/what-will-ka...
Going to be trying something different this year. Analysing football through the lens of Denver Summit, ahead of their inaugural season. Two articles up already, one on Jasmine Aikey. Among other things, her hold-up play stands out. Let me know what you think summit-review.ghost.io/first-impres...
Caroline Weir is one of the most complete No.10s you will see in the game.
Keira Barry was the only England player that stood out to me in their U23s recent loss to the U.S. Played on the right wing. If Bay signed her I'd be interested to know what it meant for Lema and whether they see her as a striker.
Liked her at Glasgow City, haven't found a way to watch Toppserien regularly but saw a bit and planned to write about her early 2025, just didn't have time to. She once worked as a delivery driver, I was going to play on that as well as her final ball which was the stand-out aspect for me