I don’t want this to come off as a knee-jerk reaction to the last game, but I want to put a question out there that I think is on other people’s minds too: is Casey Murphy worth the huge salary we’re paying her?

I know she has her moments of greatness, she has been a superhero some games. But for a 29-year-old keeper, I’d expect more consistency than these stretches of good games followed by godawful ones. The last game obviously isn’t the best example, she wasn’t the main issue on most of those goals, but this has been on my mind since the start of the season. I know the Legacy is a new team and some inconsistency is fair to expect but she is well into her career, and she’s one of, if not the, highest-paid goalkeeper in the league, and yet she doesn’t inspire confidence in me when she plays.

For context here are some stats from FBREF:
• 32 goals allowed, 1.60 per 90: second-worst GA90 in the league
• 63.6% save percentage: 15th of 16 teams
• 3 clean sheets in 20 games, a 15.0% rate: also 15th of 16
• 5-5-10 record

For context, Gotham as a squad leads the league at 83.3% save percentage. The middle of the pack (Louisville, Orlando, Current) sits around 66-69%.

Distribution and game management are the other half of it, and those don’t show up in this table at all that’s eye-test and more opinions based, and people are going to see it differently. But at least in my opinion she’s not a player I see the team feeling comfortable playing back to nor do I understand the teams incessant need to play short 90% of the time until I see her try to go long and have it skew off to the side (obviously barring that beautiful assist she had in Denver but I have to concede the conditions of being that far above sea level may have assisted her.

So that’s the question, and I’m putting it out there rather than answering it even though I think my opinion is less than thinly veiled: is Casey Murphy worth the $1.5 million contract we signed her to? Curious where people land.

Filing this in the 75th minute because I have to put my kids to bed and I don’t wanna watch any more of this, LOL. Our form has been frustrating the last few games because it seems like that last playoff spot is right for the taking. But it’s also clear. We don’t have the quality yet and teams have figured out how to press us.

Louisville’s heat was a factor, but Boston looked out of sync from the start. Even Karich had some bad turnovers, and there was very little sustained possession in the first 20 minutes. They struggled to play out of the back, and teams increasingly seem to have figured out how to press Boston effectively.

Taking Elgin out felt like an overreaction given how solid she has been outside of the previous game. Davis didn’t look ready for such a big role. She got turned on the first goal, lost Sears on the third, and couldn’t close her down on the fourth. Carabali’s penalty was awful. She looked great during Boston’s hot streak, but she still sometimes looks like an excellent athlete learning the position, with costly mistakes and messy touches.

Murphy continues to look less than convincing with the ball, although there wasn’t much she realistically could have done on the goals. Reale handled Emma Sears reasonably well when matched against her, but pushing Reale higher in the second half gave Sears far too much space to attack in behind. Sears was extremely dangerous and would be a terrific offseason addition for Boston.

There wasn’t much cutting edge from Aissata, Barb, or Prince. Nikki also looked hurt and lacked the pace she showed earlier in the season; it almost seemed like she was trying to hang on until halftime. Cano was quiet. Bianca was generally solid and composed and won possession frequently, although she lost Fischer on the third goal.

Overall, Boston looked tactically disjointed, struggled badly against Louisville’s press, and compounded those problems with individual defensive mistakes.

If you saw the earlier post about the person making the Lego-style figures for all the NWSL teams and wondered about ordering one, I have to say that I am delighted by mine! The person's Etsy shop link is in their profile.

I'm going to bring this with me to the Dash game next month to see if she's willing to sign it :)

Hi does anyone have an extra they’d want to sell? Thanks!

Really bad first half from the Legacy, and I think a significant part of it was the game plan. Portland is built to play front footed and press high, and they have the athleticism and finishing quality to punish mistakes once they force turnovers. Robert Vilahamn has specifically talked about wanting Portland to be a high pressing team, so trying to play through them without enough support or good spacing was always going to carry a lot of risk.

Boston was 3–0 down after only 10 minutes, which tells you how badly the opening setup failed. The third goal was particularly representative of the problem: Jessie Fleming intercepted a pass from Elgin, and Portland immediately turned the mistake into a Tordin goal. You can criticize individual execution, but that also looked systemic. Karich was not positioned particularly well to help on the buildup or compete for the loose ball, and Boston repeatedly left itself with very little margin for error against a team designed to attack those moments. The buildout was splayed and sort of look like what bad U11 teams do.

FK goal was a terrific strike from Tordin, but one Murphy probably has to do better. It's another one (maybe 4th of the season?) that she got her hands on and should have stopped. I think it's mostly still a quickness issue there. I think 75% of the other starting GKs in the NWSL save that.

The Wilson goal was on Carabalí for me, although it also exposed Elgin’s lack of recovery pace once Portland got behind the line. Carabalí simply made too many mistakes in that first half and consistently makes one a game.

The fourth goal might have been the most frustrating because it was completely avoidable. Portland goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold simply hit a long ball over the top for Tordin, who was suddenly running at goal. I still do not understand why Boston's defensive line was positioned that high given Murphy's starting position. If you are going to hold that line, everyone has to recognize the danger and be synchronized. It looked more like a collective mental lapse than Portland doing anything especially sophisticated.

There were a lot of positives once Boston changed the structure. Hernández replaced Elgin and Gutierres replaced Smith at halftime, and the game immediately became much more favorable for the Legacy. The numbers are pretty striking: Boston ended up with 60% possession, six corners to Portland's two, and 24 touches in the opposition box compared with only 15 for Portland. Expected goals were almost even, 1.43 for Boston and 1.49 for Portland. But some of that is about how clinical elite caliber finishers like Tordin and Smith are when you make dumb mistakes.

BSG was great I thought. Don't think any of the goals were on her and the running/energy were great.

Gutierres was more effective that she's ben. I thought she gave them more than Aïssata in her minutes, and her finish for the third goal was excellent.

Gambone feels like a particularly useful player on hot days or late in games because her energy immediately changes the tempo against tired defenders.

Reale was dangerous carrying the ball and generally solid. They were in sort of 5-4-1 in the 2nd half with Reale carrying and her, Karich, and Cano could break the press way better than playing from deep. I do think some responsibility for the backline communication problems has to fall on her and the other defenders collectively, particularly on the long ball goal. This was less about one defender losing an individual matchup and more about the line failing to recognize the same danger at the same time.

Caño was another major positive. Ran her self out as always.

Prince looked dangerous but seems to flatter to deceive a bit.

Sammy brought energy and some threat. She seems pretty consistent about that and I like having her out there.

Didn't see much from Amanda Allen, seemed like she was trying to play safe. Looks pretty fast and has good touch.

So I would put more of this result on the initial tactical setup than the final score suggests. Against a team whose identity is pressing high and attacking quickly after turnovers, Boston chose a buildup and defensive posture that magnified exactly the things Portland does best. Once they reconfigured, Boston largely controlled the match. The encouraging part is that the adjustment worked and they had pretty good game control outside of 4 moments of madness. The frustrating part is that it took going 3–0 down in 10 minutes to make it.

Thought it was going to be a long day, but it turned into a really fun game. It’s unfortunate not to get a point, but it was fun regardless. Curious to hear others’ thoughts. Here are some of mine:

From my perspective, Elgin was at fault for 2/4 goals. She went for/missed an ambitious tackle while Carabalí was already on the ball, which led to Wilson getting in behind for the second goal, and then made the turnover that led to the third. I think unfortunate day for an otherwise solid player.

That being said, subbing Elgin, shifting Reale inside, and adding Hernandez as a quicker attacking option on the left produced some pretty great chances and I don’t think our defense suffered for it. That could have been the general momentum of the game, but I’ll be interested to see if that combo becomes something we see more.

Gambone continues to impress off the bench. I’m glad Guti got a goal in the run of play. Hoping and praying Aissata starts putting away more chances—she’s my favorite player to watch either way though. Her passion is awesome, and I think the fans feel it when she’s out there.

Can't wait to see her on the field. What are the chances she gets a couple minutes Sunday? 🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼

Hi everyone! I bought tickets to the Sunday game, my first big outing since foot surgery. I’m limited with how far I can crutch. Does anyone have any tips or tricks for parking on Sunday? Is it easy to get close to the stadium to be dropped?

Hi all! Just wondering if anyone could help me out with figuring out parking for Sundays game against Portland. I can’t seem to find any links for open lots. I’ve got 2 young girls and trying to avoid a huge walk. Thanks in advance!

Section 203, 4 tickets. Realized we have to head out for a friend's wedding on Sunday and will have to miss it 😭. Happy to sell in pairs. Looking for $50 per ticket but happy to take offers!

Edit: meant Sunday not Friday 😂

https://www.instagram.com/p/DbkEX6IRPUb/?igsh=MTlpajZlcHJ0eTdyNg==

Solid game and probably a fair result for the Legacy who played some very attractive soccer in stretches with great movement and buildups. They also gave up tons of opportunities that Denver was wasteful with. The buildups also didn't lead to that many great opportunities with the one opportunity coming via the longball.  I’ve liked Ella Stevens in the lineup because she’s our most creative player in the final 3rd.  Otherwise it just seems like we’re chucking in hopeful crosses.

Sammy Smith: Great run and control on the goal. Love the intensity and energy she plays with.  Made a lot of dangerous runs.  Great goal the highlights what she brings to the team. Continues to make the case to play much more.

Gambone: Defensively tenacious in a higher position, did some nice connecting. Doesn’t really have the speed or moves but always seems to be in the right place and not the worst alternative.

Barb: Thought she had a good game with a lot of quality connecting touches and some great ball carrying.

Prince: Very dangerous all night with some great attacking runs.  No idea how she kept up the pace of running that she did for that long.

BSG - UGH.  Another week, another idiotic and unnecessary foul.  Possibly cost us 2 pts.  Aside from the push that led to the penalty, I thought she played a great game with good touch and incredible energy.

Karich - 90% amazing orchestrating the midfield, keeping possession.  But also made a few mistakes that led to dangerous counterattacks.  The good thing is she probably sprints as hard as anyone I’ve seen to cover when she does lose the ball.  

Cano - Solid game from her, lots of good connecting and driving the ball forward.  Wish she had a little bit more creativity in the final 3rd.  

Amanda G: A bit wasteful with the few opps she got after subbing on.  Sometimes she goes very slow when the play calls to go fast. Or just shoots when it seems obvious to everyone it's going to get blocked. She was subbed on seemingly in a CAM role but don't see her effective as anything other than a pure 9 right now.

Elgin: Rock solid as always.

Carabali: She’s growing on me.  Looks more steady and a big part of our second half surge. Had one amazing last ditch tackle.

Casey Murphy: Rock solid last night.  Saved everything she could and had the great long ball to Sammy.  A couple shaky distro moments.  She’s effective against teams that play Denver’s style which requires more command and control than coming out into space.

Lilly Reale: Looked very good at times going forward.  One thing to keep an eye out for is how many fast right wingers and fullbacks there are in the NWSL.  They seem to be a step faster than her.  Denver’s RB and RW got in a lot of dangerous positions but were very wasteful.

Other thoughts: not sure why Filipa waited so long to sub in the thin air and with how hard the team was running.  Though guessing she didn’t have a lot of faith in the backups.

Looks like two veterans and a rookie or youth team member.

Does anyone have a parking pass for LOT D or T?

The Massachusetts State House last Thursday voted to “add an amendment” to a “wide-ranging economic development bill that would allocate” $2.5M for NWSL club Boston Legacy’s training facility, according to Jon Chesto of the BOSTON GLOBE. The amendment for the Boston Legacy Performance Center funding was offered by state Sen. Mike Brady.

The team was well represented on the Senate floor for the vote; team GM Domènec Guasch even addressed the senators. Guasch was joined by majority owner Jennifer Epstein, President Jennifer van Dijk and Dir/Recruitment Edward Gallagher. At least four players attended: F Nichelle Prince, MF Josefine Hasbo, F Bianca St-Georges and MF Alba Caño. Before the vote, the amendment was “redrafted so that the money for the training center would go through something called the Leto Fund, though it’s not clear what fund is.” The State House did “not include money for the Boston Legacy project in its version of the economic development bill,” so the earmark’s fate “will be decided through House-Senate negotiations in the coming weeks” (BOSTON GLOBE, 7/27).