This discussion of the Breakers' professional team was part of a Guardian article about the effect of the WWC on the NWSL in general. Boston is in dead last place (which will at least get them a top draft pick) Any thoughts? Who is to blame? The coach, the GM or both? What can be done?
Needing Intervention
How bad does a team need to get before looking for a major overhaul? That is the question the Boston Breakers will need to answer before next season. The Breakers have won just four games in 19 this season. Perhaps worse, they more often than not haven’t even looked competitive in games.
The glaring culprit is their defense. They’ve allowed a whopping 42 goals in 19 games. That is the most in the league by a margin of 12 and cause for some lopsided, demoralizing score lines like their 3-1 loss to the Reign on Wednesday.
Boston’s scoring record is average – three teams have been worse at finding the back of the net than the Breakers and most the teams that are better at scoring are only marginally so. That makes the defense’s stats all the more concerning.
If not the defense, the spotlight may fall on Tom Durkin’s record since taking over in 2014. The Breakers fired their previous coach, Lisa Cole, in the middle of the inaugural NWSL season, at the time saying it was necessary as the team pushed to reach the playoffs. But the team’s performance has been worse under Durkin, who has a winning percentage is .270 to date compared to Cole’s .425 during her shortened season.
The Breakers have at times appeared to be on the losing ends of transfer deals, particularly an usual one this month where Boston sent English forward Lianne Sanderson to Portland, but Seattle served as the middleman and gave less to Boston than they got from Portland. Boston will need to be a bit more shrewd if they hope to pull off the sort of transformation Harvey did.
Needing Intervention
How bad does a team need to get before looking for a major overhaul? That is the question the Boston Breakers will need to answer before next season. The Breakers have won just four games in 19 this season. Perhaps worse, they more often than not haven’t even looked competitive in games.
The glaring culprit is their defense. They’ve allowed a whopping 42 goals in 19 games. That is the most in the league by a margin of 12 and cause for some lopsided, demoralizing score lines like their 3-1 loss to the Reign on Wednesday.
Boston’s scoring record is average – three teams have been worse at finding the back of the net than the Breakers and most the teams that are better at scoring are only marginally so. That makes the defense’s stats all the more concerning.
If not the defense, the spotlight may fall on Tom Durkin’s record since taking over in 2014. The Breakers fired their previous coach, Lisa Cole, in the middle of the inaugural NWSL season, at the time saying it was necessary as the team pushed to reach the playoffs. But the team’s performance has been worse under Durkin, who has a winning percentage is .270 to date compared to Cole’s .425 during her shortened season.
The Breakers have at times appeared to be on the losing ends of transfer deals, particularly an usual one this month where Boston sent English forward Lianne Sanderson to Portland, but Seattle served as the middleman and gave less to Boston than they got from Portland. Boston will need to be a bit more shrewd if they hope to pull off the sort of transformation Harvey did.
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