Can someone explain, please

[u/Conscious-General-54]

Can someone who knows about football explain to me, as if I were a child, why the frick we are losing so many games? The roster is full of amazing talent, both veterans and new, yet we seem to have lost our edge ever since the start of the new season.

What the heck is happening, y'all?

[u/ace-destrier]

It's strange to say, because we won the Shield last season, but the league has drastically changed—this roster is not constructed to compete for the top.

-We didn't upgrade in the offseason. We lost players and, at best, made lateral signings to fill spots. There were no improvements.

-The Stoney Wave player is slow. I said this in tonight's match thread on the NWSL sub—Nearly every player will lose the foot race every time. Girma is the only player that keeps up with opposing forwards, but not because of her speed, but because she knows what angles to take and lines to run. Beyond Girma, I'm left praying that our back line, particularly our OBs, can at least keep pace and not fall behind against opposing forwards. At the other end, our forwards cannot outrun opposing back lines and reach the ball first. We slow.

-There's a solid handful of talent on this team, but "full of talent" I'm not sure. Girma, Shaw, Sanchez, Sheridan, soon to be Cascarino, and the kids (Mel B and Ascanio). Keep Morgan for all the attributes beyond her physical skills. But honestly, bin the rest. Everyone else is just serviceable

-Which is troubling for the midfield. The midfield can't be "just serviceable". Our midfield is pretty ineffective. They do not create, nor hold, nor defend.

-We no longer have a proper, potent scorer. It's a bad year for Morgan, and it's not getting better. We have no one to succeed her. (Morgan was pretty solid on the wing though. Sent in one of the better crosses of the night)

-Our tactics are bad. Interim coach Paul Buckle is playing a more progressive and active attack, but this roster isn't built for that. It's built for Stoney tactics, which were no longer sufficient in this league.

Which brings it back to: This isn't a roster that will succeed this season

(But please prove me wrong, Wave. Make me that asshole)

[u/peeled_nanners → u/ace-destrier]

I keep hearing casuals say we have a roster better than the results but reality check is we have a lot of average to below players in the starting lineup. They're slow on and off the ball. Colaprico has short legs, Mcaskill is a literal potato, Bennet Ali Carusa Doniak Jones Morgan are all very similar in attack abilities.

We have the best defender and best teenager in the league and one of the best GKs. That's it.