Shadow Scholar Syndicate: FWM 2019--Day Six Recap

Your “Syndicate Hangover” is proudly presented by “Perrier”

Your friendly bookie remains more of a San Pellegrino man, but we’ll accord the hosts some respect for their second-rate club soda. Along with La Croix, it’s an acceptable option when the only other alternative happens to be Seltzer Water.

Day 6: Recap

Bookie’s Stats—

Spread: 8-7

Straight up: 10-4-1

Whew. Thank you, Falcons. Danke sehr, Mädels. All is well in the Fatherland, even without Dzsenifer Maroszan. As an added bonus, it looks like we’ll definitely get an African team in the knockouts. Bookie is happy.

Soar, Falcons, soar!

S.S.S. Tactical Breakdown

Very proud of my Mädels. They made it happen even if in the absence of our Magical Magyar. In case you missed it, Dzsenifer Marozsan may be out for the tournament. No matter. Germans always have strong youth players in the pipeline. Bookie thinks they’re awesome.

As a rule, we usually only discuss ze Germans on these matchdays. The bookie just couldn’t resist giving the Nigerians a write-up. I’ve got the jerseys on pre-order, gentlemen. Chill out.

Lineup—Deutschland—Match One (4-5-1) (6/8/2019)

Alexandra Popp

Svenja Huth Melanie Leupholz Giulia Gwinn

Dzsenifer Marozsan Sara Däbritz

Carolin Simon Kathrin Hendrich

Marina Hegering Sara Doorsoun

Almuth Schult

Lineup—Deutschland—Match Two (4-3-3) (6/12/2019)

Alexandra Popp

Verena Schweers Svenja Huth

Lena Oberdorf Sara Däbritz Lena Gößling

Kathrin Hendrich Giulia Gwinn

Marina Hegering Sara Doorsoun

Almuth Schult

A plethora of tactical shifts throughout the match. Voss-Teckelenburg tests out quite a few different configurations as she hastily prepares for the possibility that Maroszan may be out indefinitely. Hendrich, Oberdorf, and Gößling tracked back anytime Gwinn shifted forward. Hendrich more so than the other two. Interestingly enough, only one of the trio fell back at the same time. The German manager thus demonstrated throughout the first half that she was perfectly content to play a spread-out 3-2-4-1, ceding possession almost entirely to the Spaniards.

The German formation for much of the initial 45 looked specifically designed to seek out counter chances on the right. Gwinn, Gößling, and Huth spent a great deal of time out wide waiting to be served. Schweers also patrolled the touch line on the opposite flank, though no one was really fooled. Jorge Vilda knew that they wouldn’t be looking to link up with the 30-year-old centerback. Hermoso joined Torrecilla and Corredera in ensuring that the nimble youngsters were covered.

Only Oberdorf and Däbritz were left to mark in central midfield. Hermoso eventually couldn’t resist the temptation to spend more of her time centrally. This made life more difficult for Corredera as the wide-right trio of Huth, Gößling and Gwinn began to break down the defense. This directly led to a flurry of lateral chances late in the half. Finally, Huth linked up with Popp, who supplied a vicious headed effort Panos did very well to parry. Däbritz raced to slot in the rebound and we were at 1-0.

Klara Bühl’s introduction at the restart briefly saw the Nationalef play in a 4-4-2 with Däbritz and Gößling as the holding midfielders. This didn’t last very long as Voss-Tecklenburg reverted to a protective 5-4-1 that left the 18-year-old Bühl as the lone striker. Schweers and Popp dropped all the way back to the third and fifth axes respectively. Lina Magull for Oberdorf and Melanie Leupholz for Gößling were mere like-for-like substitutions. Clearly, the strategy was to hold the lead. Bühl was afforded the opportunity to pad the lead if she could, but she wasn’t placed under any pressure to do so.

All fourteen players received enough observation to assign grades.

Grades—Deutschland (Match Two)

Giulia Gwinn	A+
Svenja Huth	A+
Sara Däbritz	A+
Lina Magull	A+
Lena Gößling	A
Klara Bühl	A
Lena Oberdorf	A
Melanie Leupholz	A-
Alexandra Popp	B+
Kathrin Hendrich	B
Almuth Schult	B
Sara Doorsoun	B-
Verena Schweers	C+
Marina Hegering	C

Another gem of a performance turned in by the young Giulia Gwinn, whom FC Bayern will reportedly be welcoming in the Fall. Bühl lacked a veteran’s touch in a her scoring chances, but was nevertheless very impressive. At first glance it would appear that Oberdorf wasn’t much of a factor, but I personally credit her for doing an excellent job adjusting to the matches many tactical shifts. All three youngsters performed well. Popp comes close to earning an A, but comes up just short following her tamer and more predictable late efforts on goal.

Once again, we must emphasize the issues at centerback. Today’s match did virtually nothing to assuage the concerns I had after the first round encounter. Doorsoun and Hegering again looked shaky in their defensive duties and far too hesitant when charged with getting the attack moving. The latter was especially poor on services and almost amateurish in set-piece situations. Schweers wasn’t much better when she finally fell back into the defensive corps. To be absolutely fair to her, she had many different responsibilities today and was justifiably gassed toward the end.

Overall, this second round performance provided much more grounds for optimism. The current incarnation of the Frauennationalmannschaft actually reminds me of the very young “Baby-faced-assassin” team that struggled early, yet eventually clicked in time to win the 2013 European Championship. All appeared lost six years ago when injuries to Kim Kulig and Alexandra Popp threatened to completely deplete an already thin striking corps. Luckily, then 21-year-old Dzsenifer Marozsan, 19-year-old Melanie Leupholz, 19-year-old Lena Lotzen, and 18-year-old Sara Däbritz rose to the occasion to save the day.

Perhaps we’ll behold some new breakout stars here. Bookie is talking himself into this squad, just like he always does.

Lineup—Nigeria—PROJECTED (4-3-3) (5/23/2019)

Asisat Oshoala Desire Oparanozie Ngozi Okobi

Halimatu Ayinde Francisca Ordega

Evelyn Nwabuoku

Ngozi Ebere Osinachi Ohale

Onome Ebi Josephine Chukwunonye

Alaba Jonathan

Lineup—Nigeria—Match One (4-3-3) (6/8/2019)

Francisca Ordega Desire Oparanozie Asisat Oshoala

Ngozi Okobi

Rita Chekwelu Halimatu Ayinde

Ngozi Ebere Faith Michael

Onome Ebi Osinachi Ohale

Tochukwu Oluehi

This didn’t work for a variety of reasons. First, Faith Michael and Ngozi Ebere were stuck back on the fifth axis much of the time in a ludicrous zonal marking scheme designed to provide as much of a padding against the rushes of Guro Reiten and Caroline Graham Hansen. I label it “ludicrous” despite the fact that I might have tried it myself early. While not the worst idea in theory, there wasn’t any reason to stick with it after Reiten’s early goal. At the very least, the fullbacks should have rotated with the central midfielders a bit.

Next, Ayinde kept drifting left, leaving Ordega the only one capable of breaking forward. Oshoala was, for all intents and purposes, stranded. We witnessed the two strikers try to switch fields to compensate for the lack of impetus in the second half, but by that time Uchenu was on for Ayinde and everything was a disorganized mess. No one really knew who was supposed to try forward runs and the whole team couldn’t focus. The insertion of Chidinma Okeke at right back in the 54^thgot a few things going, but again no one could locate the FC Barcelona star forward.

So much athleticism was wasted on Saturday, yet the issues were in my estimation only about 30 percent tactical. The real problem stemmed from lack of defensive discipline, a failure to adhere to the planned lanes of attack, and some truly half-baked ideas in possession.

Lineup—Nigeria—Match Two (4-3-3) (6/12/2019)

Francisca Ordega Desire Oparanozie Asisat Oshoala

Ngozi Okobi

Rita Chekwelu Chinaza Uchendu

Ngozi Ebere Chidinma Okeke

Onome Ebi Osinachi Ohale

Tochukwu Oluehi

Just as the bookie was prepared to berate Dennerby as an inept coach and openly petition Stephen Keshi to come out of retirement, we saw him make the right adjustments in this one. Okeke took over at right back and Ebere was clearly allowed more leeway in her positioning. Oshoala stuck to her side while Chinaza Uchendu demonstrated to the benched Ayinde how her positioning was supposed to work.

Early mistakes occurred once more, but the team showed greater resolve in dealing with the setbacks. They didn’t jettison the plan. Even the young keeper didn’t lose her nerve. Composed and calm, they began to generate some steady momentum on the left. Uchendu then started getting some good triangulation going on the other side. As controversial as the opening goal may have been, it was certainly deserved.

A classy move from Dennerby to give Ayinde another shot in the 65^th. She did well to play her part in absorbing the Korean pressure to allow for more effective transitional play. Perhaps the best thing she did was stay out of Okeke’s lane, enabling her to unleash Oshoala for the sparkling touch and finish we had all been waiting for.

Dennerby now has multiple high-form options in midfield and we have a strong African contender. A win against the hosts in Monday’s final group stage match appears unlikely, but the Super Falcons can now hope to advance to the knockouts as one of the stronger third place teams.

Weighing in on VAR

Does Ingrid Syrstad Engen have a right to look puzzled?

No. I’m disagreeing with a whole slew of commentators here. I don’t know what they’re looking at. I don’t know what they’re complaining about. Much like Brick Tamland in “Anchorman”, “I DON’T KNOW WHAT WE’RE YELLING ABOUT”. That was definitely a penalty!

Before getting to that, let me first say that I have no idea why the handball in the Nigeria vs. South Korea match didn’t overturn the goal. That was about as blatant as it gets. They reviewed it and didn’t overturn it. Makes no sense.

Back to the main topic. In the 70^thminute of the France vs. Norway match, young midfielder Ingrid Engen made a careless and reckless challenge for the ball inside the box. Her follow through ended up catching Marion Torrent on the shin. After review, Bibiana Steinhaus ruled it a penalty….and a bunch of studio commentators, including my beloved Arianna Hingst, ruled it a “harsh” decision. They then proceeded to bemoan the “new state” of the game.

What?!? It’s footballing 101. One doesn’t lunge for a ball a full stride away with senselessly full-throttle swoop kick. That’s not how one plays football. That’s how one kicks a fucking field goal! The kid made a foolish mistake. It was rash. It was stupid. Steinhaus happens to be one of the best refs in the game and she got it spot on here by simply observing something that has been true for eons.

Lest anyone think I’m sticking up for Steinhaus because Germans have an unnatural Pierluigi Collina-like obsession with one of their homegrown arbiters, I’ll remind you that I think she’s gotten plenty of calls wrong in the 2^ndBundeliga…and I don’t necessarily have the highest opinions of German cops.

They get it wrong often, but she got it right today.

“Riffs of the Day”—Day Six

Reader: What’s with all the horseshit about the USA goal celebrations?

Vicey: Couldn’t agree more, 35-M. Let the girls express their joy. They’ve worked their asses off. No need for restrained modesty that borders on self-loathing….unless you happen to be German.

Reader: Why do I want to choke Mapi Leon in her throat tattoo?

Vicey: I’d say it has nothing to do with Mapi Leon and everything to do with the throat tattoo. You know my feelings on how weird feminine tattoos are getting. I wrote an epic rant on them some time back. I’ve since become more tolerant as I really don’t seem to have much of a choice.

One must accept the reality that most girls come stamped with paragraphs these days. You’re consigned to reading the same lines every night. Then they go and put the paragraph on their throat. You read it. You read it again. You deal with it. A Porsche with bumper stickers is still a Porsche…I suppose.

DAY SEVEN--PREVIEW

Brazil vs. Australia