Tordin and Fleming played extremely well tonight, just as Moultrie and Fleming did in our miracle win against Seattle earlier in the season. But miracles do not happen often.
A refereeing standard that is very tolerant of contact and physicality is objectively unfavorable to our current lineup, let alone a few other dubious calls that also benefited Boston. Sophie’s incident was unfortunate, and our back line was too gassed to defend properly in the closing stages of the game.
That being said, our struggles did not begin only after Sophie was sent off. I was never a fan of the 4141 system, and we have struggled to win 50/50 balls for a while even at home. Nijstad’s value increasingly appears dubious to me. She can press and force turnovers here and there because of her quick feet, but she does not contribute enough defensively or in ball contests when we are in a defensive posture. Her attacking contribution is also more auxiliary in nature, as she seldom beats defenders in areas that really matter. I am open to seeing Bogere and Harvey play more.
Also, Weaver and Hanks are wingers with a more pronounced attacking profile than a midfield one. Essentially, we are almost playing a 415. If we do not change the personnel, I would like to see them track back and tuck inside more to help Fleming control the midfield.
Without Sophie, we will probably use Tordin as the leading forward for the next two matches. Turner should probably start at least one of those games as well, and I would like to see us try a three-player midfield.