Dell, Yanez look to launch from Racing Louisville FC's foundation ahead of NWSL Draft

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- New Racing Louisville FC head coach Bev Yanez is used to not sleeping much.

She did not get a lot of rest as an assistant coach while also giving birth to a second child. Her attitude then of doing whatever she could to be her best for the club has only intensified since taking over as Racing's third head coach.

"You're always thinking about how you can be better," Yanez told reporters in a news conference Tuesday ahead of Friday's NWSL Draft. "Everything that I'm going to ask from the group, I need to ask from myself. And if I'm constantly asking for them to grow in specific areas of their game — to challenge themselves in specific areas to own the fact that maybe they got it wrong in this case, and how do we adjust that, support that and challenge that — I have to be asking myself the same things."

"My phone goes off all the time, which is great," Racing Louisville General Manager Ryan Dell said with a smile when discussing Yanez's involvement since taking over. "We had a broadcast call for the draft just earlier this morning. People want to run through walls for Bev Yanez. And why wouldn't you? After going through the interview process, she's unbelievable."

As the Louisville leadership duo continues to prepare for Friday's draft, some of that excitement can be seen in various aspects, starting with the early return of some players. Dell said all are due to officially report back to Louisville on Jan. 22, but three are already back and working on the field, with one more expected to be back tomorrow.

"Getting back early is something we haven't historically seen, according to everyone that's been here before me," Dell said. "So, we think we're just going to be able to hit the ground running."

That will be enhanced with announcements of various acquisitions expected to come by the end of next week. Dell also continues to be active in considering what to do with the No. 6 overall pick in Friday's draft, saying Racing has called or received a call from every team in the league to discuss interest in the pick. He mentioned the club held a Pro Day for prospects to get a better in-person evaluation of them, working three sessions with Yanez and Louisville's technical staff.

Additionally, the general manager said a second assistant coach is currently in the process of a league background check and two more staff positions have been created: one focuses on player experience off of the field and the other was undisclosed. Former academy director Mario Sanchez, who served as Racing's interim head coach after the club fired its first head coach in Christy Holly, is also now Louisville's technical director and an assistant coach.

All of these developments show a stronger investment in the club and a desire to ensure a rookie head coach just four years removed from her days a player has whatever she needs to launch Louisville to its first-ever playoff berth in its fourth year of existence. Both Dell and Yanez believe Racing is not far from doing just that.

"We feel like we've now got kind of our feet underneath us," Dell said. "Our foundation was built in 2023. And now, you start to build the house. How do you build up from here? And I think we're going to take those steps to really skyrocket.

"I said this to a lot of players on calls: I think this club is on the cusp of something special."

Racing Louisville FC general manager Ryan Dell.
ERIC CRAWFORD

Achieving that starts on the field with how Yanez would like to play. While not getting too specific, Dell said her style will be "a little different" than former head coach Kim Björkegren's pressing approach and should "be really beneficial in this league." Yanez reiterated an emphasis on overall framework from some of her opening comments after getting the job back at the end of November and is intently focusing on the buy-in for it.

"There's something to be said about the simplicity of it," Yanez said of what she is implementing. "Because we all need to understand and be able to comprehend not a ton of information, but there needs to be some sort of framework to understand that this is what we're trying to execute.

"What does this look like in the moment? How do we create overloads? When we're pressing, what does our shape behind the ball look like, so we understand how quickly we can win it back. We want to be a very good counter-pressing team, right? We want to have the ball a majority of the time, don't all teams? But my point is that we want to play a style that we're proud of, that we're working on Monday through Friday.

And I say it all the time: You win games Monday through Friday. So that environment has to be highly competitive, but it has to be highly clear in the sense of what their roles and expectations are. So for me, again, I'm not going to give away too much. But my point is that the framework will be created early enough and digestible enough so that these players can execute their roles to the best of their ability within it."

The 35-year-old shared the first thing she is looking for on the field in terms of a player profile to fit is their passing ability. Racing does have a star midfield trio with Ary Borges, Savannah DeMelo and Jaelin Howell. The club bolstered its depth there by adding NWSL veteran Marisa Viggiano as well as Japanese midfielder Yuuka Kurosaki.

"I want to understand what the player's body shape looks like when they're building in whatever capacity that is," Yanez explained. "I want to ensure that they understand what the hips should look like in that moment, what the firmness of the pass is versus obviously they're lending the ball, it has a little less texture on it. Those little pieces are huge indicators for me to understand the way that I want to play and the players that I'm looking to bring into this environment. And it's very interesting to be a former player, and now a coach, to click and see how quickly you can see, 'Okay, this is a player that I'm interested in. This is a player I feel can play in this system.'"

Louisville also traded for a defender familiar with the former Gotham FC assistant in Yanez in 26-year-old Ellie Jean, who appeared in 32 games and made 15 starts for the reigning NWSL champion. Racing re-signed forward Parker Goins on Tuesday after the 25-year-old flashed ability by scoring three goals in 15 appearances across all 2023 competitions. The attacking ranks will be one to watch as roster moves are announced and draft picks are made.

Utah Royals FC took former Racing forward Paige Monaghan during the expansion draft despite Louisville previously stating it made "significant efforts to come to an agreement for Expansion Draft protection" in hopes of keeping a popular teammate in Monaghan. Racing also sold electric winger Thembi Kgatlana to Mexican club Tigres on Dec. 20 for a six-figure transfer fee that set a new Racing record and is the second-highest in NWSL history for a player departing the league for a foreign club. Decorated veteran forwards in Jess McDonald, Nadia Nadim and Wang Shuang are also no longer with the club.

Thembi Kgatlana — USA Today Sports Images

In addressing any concern focusing on replacing that collective production and scoring more goals, Dell maintains confidence in the 20-player roster Louisville currently has and the additions it will soon announce.

"Goals are an important piece of it," Dell said. "We're returning 80% of our minutes from 2023 and then we're returning 70% of our goals, give or take a little bit less. We think adding the players that we're going to is going to help score goals. And that's going to help us be propelled into the playoffs. So, we feel really good about where we're at."

As it stands now, Racing has five draft picks to use on Friday: Nos. 6, 15, 28, 42 and 48 overall. Yanez did not get deep into specifics, but said there are two areas the club is focusing on using the draft to improve. Whomever the club selects or acquires via elsewhere, a restless Yanez is focused on fitting them into the environment she wants to create.

"I have to be adaptable, be composed, which is definitely something I feel like influenced who I was as a player into this role and the experience that I have as an assistant coach in this league," Yanez said. "I'm combining all of these experiences and going, 'How can I provide the best environment for these players?'

And I'll tell you right now, I will work my butt off every single day and maybe not sleep a ton, but it's fine, to ensure that occurs. It's fact. I have to put in everything that I'm asking from them to ensure that this environment is created very early on."

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