NWSL Week 2 Recap- Thorns improve, but midfield struggles continue

Many thanks to Andre Carlisle and his weekly NWSL data vis newsletter (https://btvc.beehiiv.com/p/xg-race-chart-pass-networks-nwsl-week2-2024) for the xG charts and pass maps!

Let's open our Week 2 four-pack:

Game 1: Portland Thorns 0-1 Gotham

The Thorns entered Sunday's 4PM kickoff in relative disarray after conceding five goals for a second straight NWSL regular season match. Coach Mike Norris may already be on the hot seat- After making the bizarre choice to start 145 year old Christine Sinclair on the right wing against in front of three (3!) NWSL newbies along the backline in the opener in Kansas City and then acting surprised when his obviously poor decisions were punished, the home opener against the newly-formed superhero squad --albeit missing some of it's foremost avengers-- seemed like a recipe for disaster for Norris.

Instead, the Thorns came out noticeably better than they were the week prior, comprehensively outplaying favorites Gotham over the course of 90 minutes. The return of captain Becky Sauerbrunn and 2nd year RB Reyna Reyes brought (and boy, it's been a while) stability to a Thorns backline that was anything but the week prior, mostly limiting Gotham's front three of Crystal Dunn, Esther Gonzales, and Midge Purce. LB Marie Müller was arguably the best player on the field in her second NWSL match, consistently getting on the ball high up the field in dangerous positions and frequently stepping in front of Gotham's attacking three to start counter attacks going the other direction. Sophia Smith tormented Gotham's backline all night despite being battered, drawing four yellow cards in the process....a number that arguably should have been higher with NWSL referees continuing to call her differently in a very early 2000s-Shaq (I got my NBA reference in somehow!) manner.

Unfortunately for the nearly 20K Thorns fans in attendance, the walk down SW 18th Avenue after the game felt eerily reminiscent of the last time Juan Carlos Amoros' squad visited the friendly confines of Providence Park. A surprisingly uninventive and defensive-minded Gotham eleven missing key contributors in Lynn Williams, Maitane Lopez, and Rose Lavelle (can we really count Lavelle as a miss before she plays a minute?), played their usual keep ball game at a much slower pace than usual, looking to limit the Thorns' counter-attacking opportunities. Portland had the better of the opportunities on the night, outshooting Gotham 15-9 and winning the xG battle 1.25-0.7......an xG battle that excluded the two controversial-if-probably-correctly-disallowed Sophia Smith wondergoals chocked off for offside.

But in the end, despite Portland's pressure, it was a typically precise Esther Gonzalez finish from a Yazmeen Ryan cutback after Esther was left unmarked by a befuddled-as-usual Kelli Hubly that was enough to make Gotham's trip out of PDX a happy one.

Portland's tactical setup, while encouraging defensively, had the same frustrating issues in the central midfield as it has throughout Norris' tenure. Looking to hunt Morgan Weaver and Smith's 1v1 matchups against Gotham's backline, Norris had his team playing what was frequently an in-possession 4-2-4 in the first half, sending attacking midfielder Olivia Moultrie high to play as a second striker. Instead of looking to play through the midfield duo of Sam Coffey and Jessie Fleming, the Thorns FBs almost exclusively played balls in behind Gotham's typically high line, looking to release their pacy front three. The pass map matches what my eyes told me watching in-stadium. I mean, what are Coffey (who managed to get on the ball much more in the second half as Gotham's high line retreated, hence the higher on-ball value rating) and Fleming supposed to do with this? Why is Olivia Moultrie, an exceptionally talented playmaker, playing on the shoulder of Weaver?

If you were to isolate this tactic as a response to Gotham's four-woman ball-side press and high line, it would make sense: The Thorns were literal inches away from being 2-0 up via a Smith brace playing those exact balls in behind, and Gotham's insistence on playing a high line against a Sophia Smith-led attack could easily have been the main talking point after the match. But this isn't an isolated adjustment from Norris: It's a regular, consistently unsophisticated approach reliant on Smith's immense talent that wastes the substantial technical talents of Coffey, Moultrie, and the Thorns' $300K offseason signing Jessie Fleming....who has struggled to impact the game through two matches.

I have tried to illustrate why the Thorns find playing into the midfield --especially against against a press-- so challenging via the graphic below. When a Thorns FB received the ball from the CB or GK, Gotham would trigger the aforementioned four-woman press. On the Thorns left, Esther would cut off the return ball to the CB, Purce or Ryan would provide ball pressure, and Gotham would send two of their three central midfielders to tightly mark Coffey and Fleming, with six Nealy Martin cutting off passing angles. With Moultrie pushed high by design, Gotham always had at least a 3-2 advantage in midfield, making it near impossible for Coffey or Fleming to get on the ball with any way to play out. "Give the ball to Sophia Smith in space" is a generally smart strategy and one that has borne quite a lot of fruit for the Thorns over the past few years. Smith is such an elite player in space that she drags three defenders to her whenever the ball finds her feet. It does, however, limit the efficacy of Fleming, who is at her best when she has the ball at her feet and can create.

Quick Hits:

• Reyna Reyes stepped into the RB spot occupied by rookie Nicole Payne in Week 1 and was excellent, frequently muscling Crystal Dunn off the ball and winning the majority of her duels.

• Gotham winger Midge Purce went down with a knee injury (later confirmed to be an ACL tear) before initially coming back on only to require a first half sub after going down once more. Amoros blamed Purce's injury on the Gold Cup postgame. Hmmmm. Maybe just give her a rest then, Juan?

• It needs to be #Obazetime in Portland. Hubly, who has been an excellent servant for the club over her seven seasons in Portland, has simply not been good enough over the past year and a half. She frequently dallied on the ball when the Thorns looked to switch field by swinging the ball across the backline, resulting in either a loss of possession or an opportunity for the opposition to set their defense. Losing Esther --who's run on the Gotham goal was hardly an elaborate one-- was the final straw in a rough few weeks for Hubly.

• Crystal Dunn started on the wing for the first time in years and was promptly locked up by Thorns RB Reyna Reyes. It may be her lack of fitness coming off a minor injury, but Dunn was just.....really slow. She struggled to accelerate away from defenders on the wing on a number of occasions, and failed to maintain possession against a Thorns press that did well to stay tight on her back.

• Thorns striker Sophia Smith --somewhat surprisingly given her pending free-agency-- re-upped with the club for an additional year with a player option for a second. That sound you hear? The collective deep sigh of relief from the entire City of Portland.

Game 2: Utah Royals 2-1 North Carolina Courage

Well well well, North Carolina Courage, if it isn't the consequences of your own actions! One week after the Courage's 5-1 beatdown of the Houston Dash in Cary, the Courage traveled to Sandy and laid a king-sized egg, missing two penalties en route to a semi-shocking defeat to the team I have frequently called "the least talented NWSL roster of all time," "horrific," and "looks like a roster of the only players happy to live in Utah." The Courage huffed and puffed and tried to blow "America First Stadium" to the ground, but nearly 600 passes and 18 shots wasn't enough.....and brought the Courage's lack of a true striker into the light of the cold Utah sun.

I'd love to say that Royals coach Amy Rodriguez came out with a genius tactical plan to nullify the Courage's relentless midfield overloads, but in reality, this was a relatively fortunate result aided by some tireless work by the entire Royals 11, poor Courage marking on an early Royals corner leading to an open Kate Del Fava header, and an absolute belter of a winner by the immensely impressive rookie winger Ally Sentnor. I mean.....look at the statistical breakdown.

Rodriguez started the same starting eleven in the same hyper-defensive 4-1-4-1 she deployed against Chicago the week before. Striker Hannah Betfort ran herself into the ground all night, chasing North Carolina's intricate passing patterns until she picked up a yellow card out of frustration. Utah's combative single pivot Agnes Nyberg was overwhelmed in the early going until Rodriguez gave up any delusions of possession she may have had early in the game and dropped her two 8s deeper and deeper to protect Nyberg from the Courage's swarming midfield quartet.

The Courage are intricate and creative in possession, but they mostly do things the same way tactically week to week. Building out from a 3-back comprised of the two CBs and the farside FB, the nearside FB tucked inside (look at Rauch's average location in particular) and played as a pseudo-midfielder next to Denise O'Sullivan, Narumi Miura, and Ashley Sanchez. Nahas, who has known his newly-acquired attacking midfielder for over a decade, has unshackled Sanchez, allowing her to drift into any open space she sees. The former Spirit midfielder was once again excellent on the night, pinging balls around the field at will and moving higher than usual on the right to combine with Tyler Lussi and Bianca St. Georges. Manaka Matsakubo got the start at the fake-nine ("false" feels too generous with how the Courage attackers play the position), dropping even deeper into midfield than Briana Pinto did the week prior.

After a bizarre sequence of back-to-back missed penalties by CB Malia Berkley, the Courage sent a series of crosses into the box that were easily dealt with unchallenged by Utah's CBs. This is always going to be the fatal flaw with the Courage with no Kerolin: There will be games in which they underproduce their xG, and the lack of a real finisher top is going to hurt them. Nahas, nothing if not consistent, tweeted this defense of his style post-game:

Quick Hits:

• Utah didn't have a lot going forward, but it does appear that they have found something in first overall pick Ally Sentnor. Sentnor has looked like one of the best players on the field in her first two career NWSL matches and scored the game winner on the night (which may or may not appear at the end of this column).

• Bianca St. Georges still has a few more courses to pass in Nahas-ball before getting her degree. Her more direct, power-based style is an asset to a Courage side that often leans a little too heavily on the finesse, but she was frequently slow in her decision making late, costing the Courage a number of good attacking opportunities as they chased an equalizer.

• Pour one out for Utah CB Imani Dorsey, who suffered a torn achilles in the first half.

• Fantastic match from Utah LB Madison Pogarch, who seems to have finally found the proper balance between her natural breakneck pace and a more disciplined LB role.

• The Courage really need to add another attacker in the summer. They have managed to get a lot more out of starters Haley Hopkins and Tyler Lussi than I would have thought possible, but their attacking subs -- Victoria Pickett, teenager Riley Jackson, and Pinto-- just aren't going to cut it.
  

Game 3: Orlando Pride 1-1 Angel City FC

A lot was riding on Angel City's Week 2 visit to central Florida. Well, by "a lot" really only my preseason hot take of Orlando finishing in the top four, but still! Angel City came into Orlando feeling pretty good about themselves despite losing 1-0 to newcomers Bay FC in Week 1. An impressive debut by teenager Kennedy Fuller coupled with a continuation of the cohesive pressing style now-permanent coach Becki Tweed had brought to LA in their late season 2023 run en route to the playoffs likely took a little bit of the sting out of exiting Week 1 pointless.

Orlando managed to snag a point against Racing Louisville in Week 1 after going 2-0 down early on and playing with 10 women for the game's last 30 minutes after a red card to LB Kylie Strom. As a result of Strom's subsequent suspension and the rash of injuries --namely, Rafaelle and a sick Emily Sams-- across the Pride backline, coach Seb Hines was forced into a makeshift back four, starting midfielders Brianna Martinez and Kerry Abello in the middle of his defense. Angel City pressed high in their 4-2-4 as usual to start, using wingers Claire Emslie and Alyssa Thompson to force errors out of the Pride's inexperienced back line. Thompson in particular was very effective running the press, forcing Pride CMs Morgan Gautrat and Angelina to shift right in order to help poor Haley McCutcheon playing out from the back. Gautrat wasn't particularly effective going forward in the first half because she had to help her defense out so much, but played a crucial role in maintaining some stability going into halftime. Orlando had their chances on the counter in the first half (aided by four absolutely awful giveaways by young ACFC GK Angelina Anderson), but the wingers were almost entirely isolated- Watt and Doyle failed to impact the game in any meaningful way, forcing Adriana and Marta to drop deeper and deeper in attempts to get on the ball.

Angel City started the game in a single pivot, with teenager Fuller the highest up the field of the midfield three. Emslie and Thompson once again switched sides, resulting in the narrow average position shown in the graphic below. Fuller's average position on the Orlando right side mirrors Orlando's emphasis on sending midfield help to mitigate the press. Fuller's performance didn't reach the level of her standout Week 1 --she was guilty of a number of lazy giveaways in central midfield that started Orlando counters-- but she looks to be Tweed's preferred option in the position that Savannah McKaskill occupied previously. It will be interesting to see how Tweed balances the midfield when offseason acquisition Rocky Rodriguez returns from concussion. I'd imagine Rodriguez will be a mainstay at the eight next to Amandine Henry, with Meggie Dougherty-Howard and Fuller rotating game by game to protect the 17 year old's legs.

Orlando's minutes-limit driven substitution of Ally Watt for Luana at the start of the 2nd half shifted Marta up top and further handed the momentum to ACFC. The 37 year old Marta, though excellent on the night, lacked the threat in behind that Watt had offered in the first half and ACFC felt more comfortable bringing their backline higher and higher up the field. After a few bad missed chances early in the second half (including one awful miss from Messiah Bright, who got the start in place of the ill Sydney Leroux), ACFC took the lead on a Claire Emslie penalty in the 53rd minute. ACFC continued to have the better of the play for most of the second half, but a slew of attacking Orlando substitutions matched by defensive substitutions by Tweed changed the balance of play as Orlando sought a leveler; with Marta becoming increasingly involved (and frustrated with the referee).

For the second straight match, it was second year pro Summer Yates who made the difference for Orlando. After scoring the equalizer late on against Louisville, Yates moved into the 10 and was active getting the ball to her Brazilian colleagues, resulting in Orlando thoroughly controlling the last 10 or so minutes of play. Despite the Orlando pressure, ACFC would have --and should have-- survived, but inconceivably left arguably the greatest women's soccer player of all time unmarked on a corner and Marta took full advantage, side-footing home a gorgeous volley in the 88th minute.

Quick Hits:

• Hines brought on versatile Canadian teen Amanda Allen at left wing midway through the second half, only to shift her to left back to match the pace of Thompson ten minutes later. It was a typically smart move by Hines, nullifying Thompson's threat in behind and allowing Orlando to play more aggressively in the ACFC half.

• ACFC GK Angelina Anderson had the yips in the first half, giving the ball to Orlando time after time with little pressure.

• I was impressed with Angel City rookie FB Madison Curry in her limited minutes. Curry came on as Tweed looked to shut up shop late in the match and promptly won three straight isolated 1v1s in her own penalty area against Adriana and the pacy Allen.

• Marta was a clear WOTM, even before her late leveler. She no longer is able to bring the same fiery intensity to every match, but she still has that trademark silky technical ability. And BOY, was she fired up for this one, consistently tormenting ACFC's midfield three over the course of the 90 minutes.

• ACFC LB MA Vignola came off with a bad-looking injury in the first half. Fortunately, it appears to be no more than a bad bruise that will keep Vignola out for no more than a few weeks.

Game 4: Chicago Red Stars 2-1 Seattle Reign

Someone surprisingly, the Red Stars-Reign Week 2 match in Bridgeview was the only match of the week between two teams who had won the prior week. The Red Stars had bunkered their way to a 2-0 win in Utah, while Seattle took a controversial three points at home against the new look 10-woman Spirit. The match promised to be a slog between two teams with limited attacking options who don't traditionally want the ball.

The feeling that this match may be more akin to a brawl than an exhibition of the beautiful game only intensified when Harvey trotted out the Reign in a diamond 4-1-2-1-2 for the second straight match to match Donaldson's 4-4-2/4-2-3-1 hybrid. I'll give myself a sligghttt pat on the back here (only slight, because I still thought Harvey would stick with the 4-2-3-1) for wondering if Harvey might make a change from her usual double pivot after losing a few of the players crucial to the system she utilized in 2023. From Part III of my season preview:

"One thing to watch is the potential for a shift to a diamond to accommodate Seattle's wealth of central midfielders and dearth of wingers. Woodham's profile is one of a player who likes to overlap down the wing, which would offer the width needed to execute a diamond tactically."

Looking back, I should have been more confident in the potential for a diamond: It has certain similarities to the 4-2-3-1 (defensive stability, a clear isolated number 10 role, overlapping FBs), and allows Harvey to fix the Balcer-on-the-wing issue I moaned about all of last season by playing her in her natural number 9 role in a front two alongside Jordyn Huitema. Against Chicago, the Reign diamond functioned as expected: Quinn sat back in the hole and distributed, with Jess Fishlock and and Angharad James shuttling the channel zones inside the wide areas. Prize signing Ji So-Yun is already crucial to how the Reign play, much like Lavelle was in the same role before her when healthy. When I say everything goes through Ji, I mean EVERYTHING goes through Ji. As told through the the circle sizes in the pass map graphic below, the Reign essentially bypassed their two eights and either played through Ji directly, or returned to old faithful: Sofia Huerta crosses.

Watching Woodham for the first time, it became clear almost instantly why the Reign brought her in on the left: She is, in essence, a left footed Huerta. A more natural winger than defender, Woodham bombs down the left wing and looks for a cross whenever she picks her head up. Despite the Reign's tactical switch, Seattle's style and chance creation (or lack thereof) didn't look markedly different from 2023. A majority of their chance creation is still going to come from crosses into their two strikers, in Ji, they still rely heavily on one creative hub to make things happen, and I retain my preseason skepticism about whether the Balcer-Huitema duo are dynamic enough to elevate this attack out of the bottom third of NWSL offenses.

On Chicago's side....well, Donaldson knows the limitations of his team and has designed a system --much like his Jamaica teams-- that plays to the strengths of his best player and mitigates the weaknesses. Most pre-game formations showed the Red Stars in a 4-3-3, but Donaldson's Red Stars are playing a majority of their minutes in a very standard 4-4-2. It's early yet, but the Red Stars have nabbed six points from six by knowing exactly what they are: A compact, defensive-minded team that leans on its experienced backline to prevent chances before hitting long balls to Mal Swanson over the top. With limited wing options, they clearly missed 2nd year pro Penelope Hocking's speed and line-breaking ability in this one, as Hocking missed out with a concussion.

I tend to think that the perfect start against two sub-par teams has made the Red Stars into a bit of a paper tiger, but a perfect start is a perfect start, especially for a team that badly needed a jump start after a disastrous few years while in ownership purgatory, and has NEVER won its opening two fixtures in its history. It wasn't hard to to see what form the Red Stars build was from the moment they brought in Kuikka, Rall, and Staab to revamp what was one of the leakiest backlines in NWSL history in 2023. Eventually, they'll need to bring in some midfield and attacking reinforcements, but for now......this will do just fine.

Quick Hits:

• Brazilian CM Julia Bianchi is one of the few 2023 Red Stars holdovers and impressed on the night- The Red Stars ask a lot of the midfield two defensively and very little offensively, but Bianchi found a way to contribute with her first career NWSL goal and rugged play in in central midfield.

• Fishlock was nearly invisible for the Reign on the night. Something to keep an eye on if Harvey keeps the diamond.

• Color commentator Lianne Sanderson (who did seemingly every NWSL game this weekend) consistently harped on the Reign's need for explosiveness up top. And she's right. Harvey has leaned on 17 year old Emeri Adames to provide that explosiveness off the bench through two matches and Adames has looked promising.....but I'm not sure if she's the answer if the Reign want to go anywhere real this season.

• Red Stars LB Taylor Malham -- initially a NRI for Louisville who Chicago picked up off waivers-- has seemingly taken the spot from Tatum Milazzo, one of the Red Stars lone bright spots over the past few seasons. If Milazzo is healthy (she's been on the bench in both 2024 matches), this a real weird one for me, though I can't argue with Malham's play thus far.

• The two teams combined for just 1.86 xG on the night, easily the lowest total of an NWSL weekend that included both a 0-0 and 1-0 game. These offenses aren't great folks!

Player of Week: Marta

Goal of the Week: Has to go to Ji for this half-volley screamer........

....but honorable mention to Royals rookie Ally Sentnor for her match-winning lefty blast against NCC.