This Moment Requires Humanity

What’s up everyone. Skye and Sylvs were present at last Friday’s match in Los Angeles. There are many words to say, but we at SBFC wanted to open the newsletter with this statement, because that is what matters most. We are overjoyed that Savy is still with us, well, and healing. We continue to send her and her family prayers, good vibes, and well wishes as she traverses her road to recovery. We love you Savy and we’re so glad you’re here.

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Match Recaps and Notable Goal Scorers

*_{note, all names listed in italics are players that scored, the number beside their name indicates the minute they scored their goal. (P) = goal scored was a penalty kick}

It’s an odd week to talk about the football, but there was plenty of football this past weekend, with goals worth discussing. We had our final week in the WSL, which saw Chelsea women complete their invincible season with a 1-0 over Liverpool at home. They received their trophy and had quite the celebration afterwards. They will face Manchester United on May 17th at Wembley in the FA Cup Final. United, along with Arsenal, secured a place in next year’s UEFA Women’s Champion’s League play-in stages by finishing in the Top 3. Elsewhere, Lyon and PSG will play in the final of the D1 Arkema League as part of their playoff format. That match will likely have concluded by the time this newsletter hits, but you can rewatch it on the YouTube DAZN channel. Lastly, the NWSL saw the table tighten as Racing Louisville, Angel City, Washington Spirit, Kansas City Current, and Houston Dash all took home 3 points. 3 points currently separate the teams in 4th through 9th place in the table. Parity is back like it never left in the NWSL, baby!

Barclays Women’s Super League

Aston Villa 3, Brighton 1 - Ebony Salmon 5, Nikita Parris 90+4

Leicester City 4, West Ham United 2 - Viviane Asseyi 57,63

Everton 1, Tottenham 1 - Drew Spence 30

Manchester City 5, Crystal Palace 2 - Kerolin 17,86

National Women’s Soccer League

Angel City FC 2, Utah Royals 0 - Christen Press 66, Alyssa Thompson 90+7

Washington Spirit 3, Chicago Stars 2 - Rosemonde Kouassi 41, Gift Monday 83

North Carolina Courage 1, Orlando Pride 1 - Prisca Chilufya 90+3

Kansas City Current 4, Bay FC 1 - Temwa Chawinga 62

There were some incredible Shea Butter Bombs scored this week. Christen Press scored her first goal in Los Angeles, and it shook the stadium a bit. Rosemonde Kouassi had herself a match with a cheeky volley of a finish and a wonderful assist on the game winning goal. Prisca Chilufya got her first NWSL in the oddest of ways, and Temwa Chawinga ended her goal scoring “drought” with her first goal in four matches.

Black In Action: Rosemonde Kouassi

As I mentioned above, Rose Kouassi had herself a match on the road against Chicago. The Spirit winger has been out injured for much of the season, and this match was her first start and first full match of the season. She spent the majority of this match showing why she was missed by her club, as she made run after run into the final third, creating chances for herself and her teammates. Her combination of speed, intelligence to occupy the space and take on defenders, her strength on the ball, and her desire to shoot make her a pain to defend. And, while she had a lovely volley finish for goal, on a perfect ball in from Tara McKeown, it is her work to get the ball to the mouth of the goal in the above clip that should be celebrated. When we talk about goal creation, that is literally what Kouassi’s work here does. Her ability to keep the ball and turn to make a run at the defense, off a set piece, is that type of relentless work that gets a team 3 points instead of 1. Kouassi scored her first NWSL goal of this match, but can still improve on her finishing. If and when she does that, she will become one of the most important players in the league. She already is to the Washington Spirit.

Anatomy of a Goal: Alyssa Thompson

So, a few things here. One, my memory of this goal doesn’t exist despite being at this match. That’s understandable considering it happened after play resumed post the Savy King medical incident. So, it’s the last match I rewatched this week. Two, the other goal from this match won Goal of the Week, and, fair. But, I’ve done an Anatomy on a Christen Press goal before, and two, I think this is a fantastic goal that showcases the added layers to a still 20 year old’s game. First off, this goal is created by the same play that created the first goal, is just gets recycled because Press chose to pass instead of shoot. That was the correct decision, but KK Ream reads it well enough and disposes Riley Tiernan. Ream is then disposed herself by Hammond, who screens Ream while doing, allowing Thompson to get on the ball. The next step is, as Becky Sauerbrunn mentioned in detail, a very good indicator that playing alongside Christen Press is paying off for Thompson. She opens her hips to the right, leading the four defenders surrounding her cheating to cut off the inside. Instead, she cuts the ball to the left with her stronger right foot, with just enough touch to take her to the exact angle for the shot. Her first step is quick and she’s very fast on the ball, allowing her the space on her left foot to shoot towards the far post. She executes it perfectly for her fourth goal of the season. 2024 Alyssa Thompson simply at the player and takes that inside route. Growth in real time is always cool to see, and we see it almost every week from the elder Thompson. I figured I’d finally cover a goal.

P.S. This angle does not show it, but she megged Del Fava for the goal and that may be my favorite part.

Hidden Figures: Ebony Salmon

Ebony Salmon is obviously not a “hidden” figure to NWSL fans. The former Racing Louisville and Houston Dash striker is in her second season with Aston Villa. But a few fun facts about the end of Salmon’s season. One, she scored in 3 of her final 4 matches of the season. And, an even cooler fact, her last two goal in her last two matches have both been scored at the 5 minute mark. This goal above is a perfect counter attacking goal, and there are few players I’d want on the counter than Salmon. Her speed drives past her defender and the backline, and she’s learned to take what the keeper gives her on her finishes. Here she slots it low to the right, despite the keeper going the right way. I hope she gets to build off of this momentum for the upcoming season. I’m enjoying a more refined version of her game these days.

Cultural Cuts: Each One Reach One, Each One Teach One

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I have more at a later date about how Each One Reach One, Each One Teach One, speaks specifically to how Black people lead. But for now, I want to acknowledge a very unique thing that’s happening in LA. In a sport that’s been predominantly white for decades, two of the last players standing from our last Golden Generation are Black women, who now get to play alongside younger players that idolized them. Those young players are also Black, which means we are in uncharted cultural territory for the sport. We have young players that get to play with the players they looked up to, in large part because they looked like them. Yes, the talent of those players mattered, but representation did too. They saw what they could be and now they’re busy being it. I’ve been on both sides of this, and I cannot tell you how much it matters, in the moment and for the rest of your life. But if you don’t believe me, listen to Savy King and Alyssa Thompson. Hear them when they tell you they’re getting the leadership and the bonds that they need. They’re getting what many of their peers are not, and it’s an immeasurable advantage in my opinion. Lastly, if you want to move beyond LA, I could point out that this formula is a large part of what worked for Orlando as well, with Marta being this for not only her compatriots, but for Barbra Banda as well. There is a better way, but it’s up to every team to decide if they want to follow it. That also requires listening to, and following Black women. That’s a lesson for WOSO and America right now, I hope we heed it.

Final Thoughts: That’s Somebody’s Child

As stated in the beginning, I was at the ACFC match when Savy King went down. I was not alone, there was a stadium full of fans, media, players and staff that witnessed it as well alongside me. A full stadium of traumatized people who struggled to process watching a 20 year old being brought back to life, and their feelings around the game continuing. I have not asked every person was there, but there isn’t a person I encountered in that stadium who wanted to match to continue. None of those people got the power to make that decision. Much of what happened after Savy went down is a blur to me, but the one constant for me was thinking “her mamas are seeing this and they can’t do anything but hope.” Everyone is somebody’s child, and Savy King is no different.

I am angry and deeply disappointed in the league’s decision to continue the match. No one was in the frame of mind to do their jobs, even if they did them. As Meghann Burke has stated in the past few days, the decision to stop the match was a matter of humanity. Jessica Berman is a mother, just like Savy King’s mothers. I would ask her, if that were one of her sons in that moment, would she have wanted the match to continue? It should not take me pulling the “A Time To Kill” method to appeal to her humanity in that moment, but I hope it works. I hope that if we have an incident like this that the decision is automatically to stop and worry about the people as people, not athletes. And while I am hopeful, and can have grace for impossible situations, I do not know how I trust a league that, when tasked with choosing humanity, did not. I am overjoyed that Savy is well and home where she can heal with all the love she deserves. I am sad that I cannot trust the league I love to meet the moment. My trust is broken because, in a moment where they were asked to protect the many somebodies that are someone’s child, they didn’t and they couldn’t. I want the league to be a league that does care. Here’s hoping that, one day, we’ll get there.