Chicago Red Stars Get Incomplete Grade vs. Reinforced Atlanta Club

Bridgeview IL (June 6, 2010)-- The suspense was palpable in Toyota Park as the 4,227 fans waited to see how their Chicago Red Stars would respond to their new head coach Omid Namazi, and personnel changes that saw two former starters, Ifeoma Dieke and Brittany Klein, along with developmental player Michelle Weisenhoffer released abruptly to accommodate three free agents on the roster.

The opponent was a revitalized Atlanta Beat club. Atlanta, one of two expansion teams in Women's Professional Soccer this year, has been in last place, with only one tie and no wins. Thanks to the dissolution of St. Louis Athletica, however, Atlanta came into Chicago with five new starters, including the world's best female goalie, Hope Solo.

The fact that this was not the same Atlanta club WPS fans have been seeing thus far this season added to the suspense, and perhaps, the angst of Chicago fans, who were desperate to see more improvement.

After opening the season with one win and one tie in the first six starts, the Red Stars front office relieved head coach Emma Hayes of her responsibilities. Last week, in game seven, under acting head coach, club President and General Manager Marcia McDermott, the Red Stars showed dramatic improvement in key aspects, defeating league leading FC Gold Pride of the Bay Area, 1-0.

Fans were holding their breath, hoping that this progress would continue now that a new head coach had been installed, albeit only two days before game day,

After 90 minutes of play, with a 0-0 draw, the jury, as they say, is still out.

On the positive side, Chicago's defense was nearly flawless. Those menacing little lapses that have haunted Chicago's otherwise solid defense were nowhere to be found. Instead of lapses, the Red Stars back line kept collapsing around what little offense visiting Atlanta could muster.

Chicago's defenders moved in synch like a wall on wheels, always being where they needed to be, when they needed to be there, frustrating, deflecting, and intercepting every attempt Atlanta made to break through.

In the words of Atlanta head coach Gareth O'Sullivan, "I think it was one of those games where we didn't get an opportunity to play that much football. I thought that Chicago closed us down very well. And we had a game plan for the second half, but we never really got it going. We tried to make a few adjustments defensively. But our keeper came up big on several occasions and hence the shutout."

On the offensive side there was also something to celebrate. The Red Stars showed more patience, more organization and cohesion moving their attack forward, creating chances and holding the possession edge, but as has been a pattern for much of the season, they were still unable to finish.

One of the best opportunities came when Solo made a clutch diving save to her left to stop a Karen Carney shot from about 20 to 25 yards out.

The Red Stars also could have changed the tone of the match in the early stages of the second half. In the 49th minute, Cristiane forced Solo into making a diving save. Formiga provided the setup in the sequence. Then in the 51st minute, Cristiane played a strong cross from the right side to Megan Rapinoe, who had plenty of space away from the Beat defense. But Solo made a save on the Red Stars' 1-vs.-1 opportunity.

In the 72nd minute, Red Stars defender Marian Dalmy played a strong pass across the goal box and nearly found Katie Chapman darting into the middle. But the timing and placement were just slightly off.

"I could look at it in a disappointing way and say we dropped some points," Coach Namazi commented, "but it's my first game here so we're trying to change certain things. We did some of it, but we were missing that final pass. Our play in the final third wasn't that great, but I was encouraged by the way we controlled the game."

"It's pleasing to me that we can create chances," Namazi went on to say. "We have the players who can do things in the final third. Would I have liked to seen one in the back of the net? Sure, but hopefully we can train and get on the same page and make things happen even more."

The sense in which the glass is half-empty is that some of what Namazi was saying was a pretty close paraphrase of his predecessor's comments. Dominating the game without getting on the scoreboard is the key offensive demon Chicago needs to exorcise. 

However, Namazi seems to have a better idea of what to do about the problem than Emma Hayes was able to express. He says he will be focusing on making the team spread the field more, pass the ball longer, more frequently, before setting up their shots, making the opponents have to adjust and readjust, working patiently to exploit a weakness or open a hole.

Up until now, Chicago has not been doing this consistently. The Red Stars have made very predictable runs at the goal, doing more or less the same things every time they get in the final third.

Namazi's other area of focus will be fitness. It seemed that the Red Stars began to suffer heavy legs on the offensive end in the final ten minutes of the match. Namazi said it was his opinion they were not running up to their potential throughout the game, but that, yes, heavy legs did become more of a problem near the end. He intends to institute more rigorous fitness training immediately.

The Red Stars (2-4-2) wrapped up their three-game homestand with a 1-1-1 showing and now head on a four-game road trip, starting with a 6 p.m. match on Saturday, June 12, against the Washington Freedom in Boyds, Md.

Stringing together a win and a tie is the first time this season the Red Stars have gone undefeated in two consecutive matches.

One of the newest Red Stars, former Athletica defender Elise Weber, was unexpectedly called into action in the 11th minute, replacing Natalie Spilger who had to leave the game to receive seven stitches after a head to head collision with Atlanta's Mami Yamiguchi, who also went off.

Weber was moved up from the developmental squad while her St. Louis counterpart, midfielder Nikki Washington, continues to recover from injury. Weber played a solid game, making a significant impact, getting numerous touches, always seeming to be in position at the right times.

Though she was called on to make only one save, Red Stars keeper Jillian Loyden remains second in the league in goals allowed, and is also a league leader with three clean sheets.

Her counterpart, Solo, had to work much harder to keep her sheet clean, as Atlanta was out-shot by Chicago 16-5, with an advantage of 8-1 in shots on goal.

The Red Stars are also the best defense in the league, having allowed the fewest goals thus far in the campaign.

With the draw, Atlanta moves to 0-5-2 on the season, picking up its second point this year.

Atlanta Beat at Chicago Red Stars
June 6, 2010 -- Toyota Park, Bridgeview, Ill.
Red Stars 0, Beat 0
Beat            0    0    -    0
Red Stars    0    0    -    0
SCORING SUMMARY
None
Red Stars: Loyden (GK), Dalmy, Engen, Markgraf, Spilger (Weber, 11), Rapinoe (Asllani, 62), Chapman, Carney, Formiga, Cristiane, Nogueira (Masar, 86).
Beat: Solo (GK), Zerboni (Rasmussen, 55), Larkin (Bishop, 70), McNeil, Robinson, Yamaguchi (Bachmann, 11), Kerr, Chalupny, Blank, Aluko, Ellertson.
STATISTICS:
Shots: Red Stars 16, Beat 5
Shots on goal: Red Stars 8, Beat 1
Saves: Red Stars 1, Beat 8
Corner kicks: Red Stars 5, Beat 5
Offsides: Red Stars 3, Beat 2
Fouls: Red Stars 7, Beat 7
Referee: Daniel Fitzgerald
Referee's assistants: Shelley Finger, Ann Mayberry
Fourth official: Stephanie Toth
Attendance: 4,227