Category: Analysis

NWSL Week 13: A Tweetstorm Review

Posted on by RJ Allen

Hey guys welcome to our second Tweetstorm Review. We’ve had a lot of games, a lot of goals, and a few milestone so lets get started.

Houston 1, Portland 3

It was a hot game in Houston as Sinclair made her 100th NWSL appearance and fans were eager to get the chance to see ‘new’ players return to the rosters.

It took only nine minutes for Tobin Heath to break through Houston’s backline and score the games first goal.

Three minutes later, one of the newest Dash members, Sofia Huerta leveled the game at one.

However that was about the last Dash highlight of the night as Portland ran away with it 3-1.

Seattle 1, North Carolina 4

Many wondered how North Carolina would play after losing their first game of the season the week before, the answer: very well.  In the first battle of Williams v Williams, Lydia Williams came out victorious.

https://twitter.com/TheSoccerCritic/status/1010617896266076160

https://twitter.com/TheSoccerCritic/status/1010617896266076160

Megan Rapinoe, who had a strong performance for the Reign, helped give Seattle their first and only lead of the game with an assist off a free kick.

During the game, McCall Zerboni became the first NWSL player to play 10,000 minutes.

https://twitter.com/TheSoccerCritic/status/1010621446115217408

The tide turned for the Reign as Lynn Williams had redemption from her earlier saved PK.

The Courage would go on to score 3 more.

https://twitter.com/jacobcristobal/status/1010699143080226816

Washington 0, Orlando 1

In the 11th minute Alanna Kennedy scored what could end up being the most impressive goal of the year in the NWSL.

Washington continued to struggle throughout the game.

With talented players on the roster, it’ll be interesting to see how things may change for the Spirit moving forward.

Chicago 2, Utah 0

With Christen Press returning to the NWSL this game was highly anticipated. Press ultimately didn’t end up lacing them up for Utah, but the points up for grabs were important for both teams.

https://twitter.com/TheSoccerCritic/status/1010674316848062464

Morgan Brian, who was originally listed in the starting XI, ended up being switched out last minute – and ultimately was pulled from the available subs leaving the commentators and fans wondering why.

Abby Smith was shaken up on the first goal of the game, but was ultimately able to stay and finish the game out.

Vanessa DiBernardo scored the second goal for the Red Stars.

https://twitter.com/TheSoccerCritic/status/1010698142776483841

Overall, it was not the game Utah was hoping to have. With this win Chicago bumps into the 5th spot with Utah in the 6th.

https://twitter.com/TheSoccerCritic/status/1010701540502405120

The results next week could really shake up the table. Make sure to watch and tweet along with the games!

Are the North Carolina Courage Bad for Women’s Soccer?

Posted on by RJ Allen

No, they aren’t.

The North Carolina Courage are not “killing the NWSL” nor are they “turning the NWSL into the French women’s league”. For some reason people ask because when they see a women’s team doing better than anyone else in their league or conference or sport, it’s the first question that apparently springs to their minds.

But I ask you, how could a team made up of solid players who work well together under a coach who believes in his team with the fervent veracity of a game show host mixed with a motivational speaker be bad for a league or the sport overall?

In a league where the last place team has two points in eleven matches, the second to last place team has ten points in fourteen matches, somehow it is the top (junkyard) dog that is being asked “why can’t you just suck a little bit more so the other teams aren’t blown away quite so much”.

Right now the North Carolina Courage are dominating the league. 33 points in 14 matches is a record that will grab people’s attention even if they know nothing about the league or even soccer. Dropping just nine points over 14 games is something the Courage should be lauded for, not chided as someone breaking the league or the sport.

And while the Courage are dominating the league, teams two through six are all within five points of each other. Orlando with 22 points; Seattle, Portland and Chicago with 19 points; and Utah with 17 points are all still very much alive as the season hits the other side of halfway. This is the best time of the season. The teams have made the majority of their trades, players are in peak form and matches are starting to really become important when tiebreakers are so critical. But with 33 points the Courage draw the eye of the casual fan – or those looking for a reason to deride the league – as a problem for the rest of the league.

And if the North Carolina Courage had 33 points while the rest of the league drew each other to keep everyone else’s points low, or the Courage blew every team out 7-0 while playing like the Harlem Globetrotters of the NWSL, then yes, the league would have a problem. But the league playoff race is still very much competitive and the Courage are more likely to beat you 1-0 than 7-0. They are a team that wears you down and can beat you in any way that you give them the opening to do. They are not a super team bought and paid for the way some European teams are. They aren’t even the team with the most international players on the roster.

The NWSL has a lot of great stories in it. Using your mental energy to breakdown why Sky Blue or Washington have been outliers toward the negative this year is a better use of your time. Looking at the way players like Morgan or Press can change the league in mega-trades that effect half the league all at once is a better use of your time. Pondering the players Jill Ellis would never call up but should is even a better use of your time.

But thinking to yourself that a team who have drafted well, invested in players that other teams benched, while relying on experienced vets who are able to preform for a coach who believes every single player on his roster could be a superstar for their national team if they just got a shot is a really bad use of your time. 

Backline Chat: USWNT Friendlies, the Men’s World Cup, and Back to the NWSL

Posted on by RJ Allen

Charles Olney (@olneyce): Alright, welcome to our slack chat for this week. Today we’re going to start with the US national team, who just finished up a pair of friendlies against China. How do people think it went?

For what it’s worth, my general takeaway is: the US still isn’t playing great, but two more wins against solid competition sure sounds a lot better than two draws or two losses.

RJ Allen (@TheSoccerCritic): I think it’s harder to say than people might want it to be because of who was out for the US. Not having maybe 5 starters/starters coming back from being hurt really makes it muddy as to what are really issues. I will say it does show how poor Ellis can be at game planning though.

Allison Cary (@findingallison): Yeah, I thought they were lucky to get the win yesterday. But they did get the win, so I guess that counts for something.

Charles Olney: Why do you say lucky to get the win, Allison? Because of the save from Harris, or a more general comment?

Allison Cary: It wasn’t far off from being a draw. I guess that was more my point. Both with China equalizing in the second half and nearly equalizing again had Harris not made that save.

Charles Olney: To my eyes, they were totally dominant in the first half, and should have had a two-goal margin (I think Ertz’s goal was onside). They struggled more in the second half, for sure. I’d say it was a pretty classic USWNT performance–good enough for the win, but not a whole lot more.

Allison Cary: Yeah, I think they generally looked like the better side in the first half. But then not finishing those chances… I mean, it doesn’t mean much to say I thought they played better if they can’t score.

(This coming from a bitter France fan).

RJ Allen: How much is “totally dominant” worth when they weren’t on the scoreboard though? I agree the US was the better side – though maybe by not as much as you do – but for most of the time it was a 1 goal or draw game.

Charles Olney: Well, like I said I think they should have been up 2-0. But this does sort of get at the larger question I wanted to ask.

I spent some time on twitter this week hyping up the US. Now admittedly that’s partly just me making the argument for the sake of making the argument, but I do think that expectations are sometimes set a little too high. So let me ask it this way: who do you think are favorites to win the World Cup?

Allison Cary: I think England is in a good position to go far.

RJ Allen: Right now my top 4 are US, England, Aussies and France.

Allison Cary: I’m a bit surprised by France, but otherwise I agree.

RJ Allen: They are at home. That gives them a boost for me.

Allison Cary: Yeah, I think they’ve hurt me too many times for me to have faith. But I hope you’re right.

Charles Olney: I think that’s a fair top 4. And I’d have a hard time drawing a clear line between those, or to exclude Germany, the Netherlands, etc. Which I think really just shows that things are pretty close at the top of the game right now. But all things being equal, it’s hard for me to say that anyone is in a MORE favorable position than the US.

Which isn’t to say that there isn’t plenty of reasons for concern about the US. But I think people need to calibrate their expectations. This is a good team, quite possibly the favorite, even accounting for their limitations.

Luis Hernandez (@radioactivclown): I’m okay with the WNT performance. Championship caliber teams find ways to win. Was it ideal? Not even close but I think there’s a lot to take away and hopefully Jill improves the squad. I was also happy to see the team get tested in a friendly. I think the team is in good position heading into the World Cup. Favored but not a favorite.

RJ Allen: The US has a lot of champagne problems and one or two big ones. The problem is people confusing the two.

Charles Olney: So let’s dial in a little before we move on. What do you see as the big problems?

RJ Allen: Morgan vs Press vs (Insert forward of your choice here) is not a real problem.

Charles Olney: I agree that the forwards just aren’t a ‘problem’ in any meaningful sense of the term. Whoever is in form this time next year is going to be one of the best strikers in the world. If it’s Morgan, great. If it’s Press, awesome. If it’s Pugh and Rapinoe, wonderful. If it’s Amy Rodriguez, amazing.

Alanna Fairbairn (@jfhobbit): I see the lack of defensive depth as being the biggest problem.

RJ Allen: I think the outside back area and maybe center midfield are the biggest problems right now. The outside backs are all hurt so Ellis is using players there that she shouldn’t and not calling up those she should. And center midfield just feels like a lack of something. An ill-fitting connection might be the best way to put it.

Charles Olney: I’d say the US’s biggest problem over the past few years has been sorting out the midfield, but would say that the issues are starting to shift backward a bit. Mostly because I’ve decided to just accept that the US isn’t going to get the sort of midfield play that I really want from them. And in that case, the group of Mewis, Ertz, Brian, Zerboni, etc. is going to ensure that we make it difficult for the other team, even if we don’t necessarily generate a ton through the center either. But that puts a lot on the fullbacks, so that really feels like the crisis point

RJ Allen: I think it was Kim McCauley who said on Twitter – maybe joking – the US should lean in the being assholes on the pitch and I’m not sure she is wrong. The US has players who can dominate and sometimes I really think they shy away from that for some reason that doesn’t benefit the team. Horan, Zerboni, O’Hara and even Morgan – among others – have the talent and the style about them that can bend teams to their will a lot more than they sometimes do.

Charles Olney: It’s a strange place for the team, which was supposedly spending the past few years developing and improving technically. We haven’t really seen much in the way of results there. But I sometimes wonder if that was just a big waste of time to even discuss.

RJ Allen: You really want to throw a team off? Like Horan, Zerboni, O’Hara and Morgan make them pay – within the laws of the game – and a lot of teams would get rattled. They half do it anyway.

Charles Olney: One final comment I’ll throw out is that I thought the second game showed a (relatively rare) example of Ellis tweaking things slightly to get good results. The setup in the first half wasn’t all that different from the previous game, but the midfield pinching in aggressively forced China to stay compact, and then Dunn on the left and Press on the right had tons of space to work. And it was pretty successful!

I think that’s a big thing to watch going forward. Now that we’re actually getting close to real games, will Ellis the tinkerer be able to plug a few holes here and there, even if she’s never going to fundamentally outwit anyone tactically.

RJ Allen: Ellis is a fine coach. She is fine. Like dry toast. She isn’t your favorite and she isn’t horrible.

Charles Olney: I’d say that’s fair.

Allison Cary: “Like dry toast” is honestly just the best comparison.

Luis Hernandex: I’m not fond of the tactics the WNT employs at times and I put that on the coach. To me that’s the biggest problem. I’m just convinced Jill is gone after the World Cup. I’d also like the US to better develop fullbacks. I’d also like to see us develop a true number 10. So yeah youth development? Even though we just had the U-17 win the CONCACAF tournament.

Charles Olney: Alright, so we can set the national team aside for a bit. They won’t be back until the Tournament of Nations, and we can devote our attention elsewhere. Mostly to the NWSL, but there’s also another big event going on this summer that I think we should touch on at least for a moment here: the men’s World Cup.

It’s the biggest event in world sports, and while we focus on women’s soccer, obviously, I’m guessing that some of us will have at least an eye on it.

So: who will be watching?

Alanna Fairbairn: I will be, when I’m not out of town and easy streaming range. I’m nominally rooting for Iceland because I love a good underdog story

RJ Allen: I would like Iceland to win because their men’s and women’s coaches help each out during majors and I think that’s the coolest thing.

Allison Cary: I’m excited about it. Especially being in England, and London specifically. It’ll be really cool to see how the people here get into it.

Charles Olney: For myself, it’s going to be a strange experience. I think I watched 90% or more of the games in the last four cups, but I’m pretty much checking out of this one. I’m just beyond sick of FIFA’s corruption, and while the Qatar cup is the true moral travesty, Russia is hardly a great place to plant your flag, either. So I’m going to grudgingly watch a few matches here and there, but mostly trying to just let it slide past.

I’ll certainly watch the Mexico games, and root for them.

And I’ll be hoping for Messi to get the title he deserves, so we can finally put to rest all the ‘you can’t be the GOAT without a title’ talk.

RJ Allen: Is Messi the short one or the tall one?

Charles Olney: The short one.

RJ Allen: I am putting a moral pox on him until that federation gives anything approximating a damn about their women’s team. You shouldn’t be able to enter the men’s world cup if you don’t have or fund well your women’s team.

Alanna Fairbairn: That would be a interesting political squabble to watch, if FIFA started requiring that.

Charles Olney: I’d support it. It’s a drop in the bucket. They could all pay it.

Luis Hernandez: I’m going to watch every men’s World Cup match. I have my bracket filled out. Just looking forward to seeing good soccer. Not having a horse in the race, I have Germany winning it again going back to back. I can’t root for Mexico.

Charles Olney: Alright, one final question about the boys side of things: any thoughts about the announcement that the joint bid will be hosting the 2026 cup? Will that have any effect on the women’s side of things?

Alanna Fairbairn: I would hope the main effect is an uptick in good soccer stadiums to play in. As well as general sport visibility

Allison Cary: If it really grows support for the game in the U.S the way people think it will, it’s possible we could also carry some of those fans over into the women’s game. But that may be wishful thinking.

RJ Allen: I do think one thing that might change is a few teams that play in football/soccer places might end up getting new places to play.

Charles Olney: In general, I’m a proponent of ‘the rising tide lifts all boats’ theory, so more interest in the game overall will be good. But I’m also a believer in ‘people won’t put resources toward the women’s game unless you hold their feet to the fire, and maybe not even then’ so the effect might not be nearly as big as we’d hope.

Alanna Fairbairn: I would hope that USSF does some PR around the women’s team. Like when the did they One Nation, One Team bit around the 2015 Women’s World Cup to bring people in. Actively go for more fan crossover.

Charles Olney: I hope so, too, but wouldn’t hold my breath for it.

Luis Hernandez: I’m hoping to live to see the World Cup in 2026. Kidding. Kinda. I hope it grows the game even more for the nation and allow our host partners to give us a pass politically. Plus can we also host the Women’s World Cup now? Please.

RJ Allen: We’ve hosted it twice. I don’t think the US should until at least after 2027. I’d love England to get a WWC.

Alanna Fairbairn: That would be brilliant. Way better summer climate too

Allison Cary: That would be fun.

Charles Olney: Okay, final topic: the NWSL will be starting back up again this weekend. Any games that have people particularly excited? Any storylines you’re watching for?

Alanna Fairbairn: So for this weekend, I will be interested to see who of the internationals come back from their break hyped and ready to go, and who comes back exhausted and needing a rest

I noticed that even Megan Rapinoe on her Instagram story was mentioning how stinking long the US camp was this go around.

Charles Olney: I’d say the most important game of the weekend is Chicago-Portland. Both teams will REALLY want a win there, given their struggles so far.

Allison Cary: Yeah, that could be a really defining match if either team can walk away with three points (Portland and Chicago).

RJ Allen: I think Portland is the better team but that doesn’t mean they win.

Charles Olney: I’m certainly curious about when and if Chicago starts to get some of their players back. DiBernardo and Short are supposedly close. Morgan Brian is back in the States and they still have her rights. If they could add those three players in the next week or two, that could make a HUGE difference.

Or it could disrupt the things that were just starting to gel.

Either way, it should be very interesting to follow.

Alanna Fairbairn: I think if DiBernardo is still out, Brian could be an interesting addition to the midfield. She’s at least healthy and well rested now. But it depends on if she decides to stay or requests somewhere else.

Charles Olney: My read on her performance for the NT is that whatever ‘injuries’ she had in France were more a matter of minor setbacks than anything serious. She didn’t look more ready than she did back in April, but didn’t look worse, either. I wouldn’t want to count on her yet, but it could be a big addition if they work it carefully.

RJ Allen: Morgan Brian holds very little possibility for me until she proves she can be healthy long term. See also Lavelle, Rose.

Allison Cary: Yeah, I don’t know that I’d expect to see Brian right away. And I agree with RJ: the injuries thing is critical.

Alanna Fairbairn: And possibly Pugh on that list too, with the injury she picked up in camp

Charles Olney: On a similar note, Julie Ertz still doesn’t look 100% to me, and I’m curious how long it will taker her to get completely right. That could be another huge question for them. Basically: Chicago could be one of the best teams in the league or a continuing disaster over the next month. We have no idea!

Allison Cary: Yep.

Charles Olney: Thoughts about Orlando-Sky Blue? Obviously Orlando are favorites, but Sky Blue has looked a LITTLE bit better. And they have to win at some point. Is it this weekend? And what are they going to do with Carli Lloyd?

Alanna Fairbairn: Rest her and put her in as a super sub. It is time for Lloyd to go the way of Wambach; if she refuses to leave, cut her minutes and give her a chance at the end of the game to add a tally or two to her record.

RJ Allen: They will lose and Reddy will say it is bad luck.

Charles Olney: I have a sneaking suspicion that they pull this one out, but RJ’s clear-eyed cynicism is probably more accurate than my sneaking suspicion.

RJ Allen: You also thought North Carolina were going to get the L in Houston. And while it was a draw it was not a win for H-Town.

Charles Olney: They were so close though!

RJ Allen: Close only counts in hand grenades and horseshoes.

Allison Cary: To be fair, I thought there was a chance Houston might win that match. But I don’t think Sky Blue get the win here. Maybe a draw, if the Pride are having an off day (which is entirely possible).

Alanna Fairbairn: Thus why I’m excited that Houston got Polkinghorne, so she can hopefully help to plug up the defensive holes. And they can maybe defend for longer than 75 minutes a match

RJ Allen: With Polkinghorne in, Brooks to the midfield?

Alanna Fairbairn: Maybe? Or possibly Polkinghorne could be a partner for Chapman on the outside

Charles Olney: I’m certainly curious to see how that affects their backline. I’m a known Van Wyk critic (though I think she’s improved a lot of late), so I’d start to phase her out a bit. But I’ve learned to not try to anticipate what Vera Pauw will do.

Alanna Fairbairn: I do think Brooks to a holding midfield spot is also a possibility. Simply because they just lost Mewis, and they need someone to hold it down in the midfield so Daly and Ohai can do what they do

Charles Olney: I think whatever happens will be an interesting indicator of how Pauw ultimately sees the team. They could play all three of their center backs and get a more solid backline, but sacrifice some attacking potential. Is that a trade Pauw wants to make? Or move Brooks up? I have a hard time seeing them keep the juggling act alive without a stronger support structure in the central midfield, but I’ve been wrong so far.

Luis Hernandez: With the two year anniversary of the Pulse nightclub shooting on the 12th and the club having Pride night with a fundraiser to LGBT charities, I’ll be looking forward to the Orlando/SB match. It should boost everything for the Pride and hopefully the attendance number will not disappoint. I’m also looking forward to the first NWSL match on ESPN News.

Route Two Soccer: There’s No Such Thing as an ‘International Level’ Player

Posted on by RJ Allen

Today I want to challenge one of the most durable, and least well-founded, myths in women’s soccer: the idea that there is an “international level,” where play is more difficult than the domestic leagues.

This belief is so widespread that, according to a piece this week from Jeff Kassouf which detailed the US Women’s National Team selection process, it’s apparently taken seriously by key principals within US Soccer itself.

[media-credit name=”Jonathan Tannenwald” align=”aligncenter” width=”628″][/media-credit]

But if one applies even some casual scrutiny, the whole idea falls apart like cotton candy in a pool.

The argument here is pretty straightforward. The world contains four top-level international leagues—the NWSL in the US, the Frauen Bundesliga in Germany, the D1F in France, the WSL in England—along with five or six other weaker but still relatively high quality leagues (in Sweden, Spain, Denmark, etc.). But the reality is that the vast majority of the world’s top players are concentrated in those four big leagues.

For a league without much competitive balance, that produces a top tier which is absolutely stacked. In France, for example, Lyon effectively has a version of the French national team, supplemented with a few more of the best players from other countries. In leagues that are more balanced—like the NWSL—there is no single team that can compare with the top international sides, but the distribution of talent means that there are no gimmes. The worst team in the league would probably be a top 20 international side.

Don’t believe me? Take a look at the roster.

Sky Blue has been anchored to the bottom of the NWSL table all season. This is a team with Carli Lloyd, Janine Beckie, Savannah McCaskill, Kailen Sheridan, and Thaisa Moreno—all of whom have received recent call-ups for teams in the world top 10. Then you have Raquel Rodriguez, one of the best players on the world’s #32 team. And Rebekah Stott, a regular for the world’s #20 team. Then there are players like Shea Groom, Christina Gibbons, Erica Skroski, and Sarah Killion—who would be regular internationals if they were playing for virtually any country in the world besides the United States.

Put Sky Blue into the next Women’s World Cup, and I think they’d be even money to make it out of the group stage. And this is the roster of the team with one point through eight games in the NWSL.

Then look at some of the teams higher up the table. North Carolina’s first XI is packed with key players for the #1 team in the world, and supplemented with a few key contributors from other top international sides. Put North Carolina into the next World Cup and they’d be among the favorites to win the whole thing.

No one would deny that there are differences between club and international competitions. Some players flourish in a stable club environment, but find it difficult to turn in the same performance when playing for their country. Conversely, some players are at their best in international duty, while only being average for club. There’s a variety of potential factors in play here: the individual psychology of the player, their adaptability and flexibility, the support system around them in different environments. And some of it may simply be random. Normal distribution of chance means some players will always be outliers, but this doesn’t necessarily carry any predictive meaning.

All of which is to say: even if there are some players whose performance levels vary between club and country, there’s certainly no reason to think the imbalance goes only in one direction.

In some cases, the talent pool for a given country will be clogged enough to close out a top-quality player. One could make this argument for the forward position in the US national team, where players like Christen Press and Lynn Williams—arguably among the top dozen strikers in the world—have struggled to find minutes. But that’s very different from saying that a player outperforming their competition at the club level lacks some undefined ‘international quality’ and therefore can’t be expected to transfer her performance between levels.

Long story short: a top player in the NWSL is a top player in world soccer, and there’s absolutely no reason to think that they wouldn’t be able to hang at the international level. A player who can dominate in a league that contains North Carolina, Portland, Orlando, Seattle, Chicago, etc. is one of the world’s best players, full stop.

One can only hope that the decision-makers in US Soccer understand this, and aren’t really taking their ‘5 point’ system seriously.

Backline Chat: USWNT Roster, Lyon, and Where Will Press Go?

Posted on by RJ Allen

Welcome to a new feature here at Backline: our weekly soccer chat. This week, we discussed the new USWNT roster, Lyon’s victory in the Champions League, and the continuing saga of Christen Press’s club situation. 

The transcript below has been lightly edited.

Charles Olney (@olneyce) : Welcome everyone, to our first edition of the Backline Soccer chat. To kick things off, let’s start with the most recent piece of news: the roster for the US Women’s National Team, which just dropped an hour or two ago. What from this roster strikes people as worth discussing? McCall Zerboni getting a callup? Christen Press coming back in after missing the last set of friendlies? The lack of a single natural fullback in the squad?

Alanna Fairbairn (@jfhobbit): I was a little surprised to see Campbell left off the GK list, honestly. The Dash has been the Dash for most of the season, but she’s kept them in striking distance in a lot of games.

Charles Olney: Campbell does feel like a big omission. It’s hard to look at her and Harris, for example, and explain the difference. I’m certainly excited to see Casey Murphy on the list, though, given the issues that all the other big names have been having.

RJ Allen (@TheSoccerCritic): I think the lack of experienced outside backs worries me most. The center backs are all real center backs. The outside backs are not.

Alanna Fairbairn: Yeah, the defense list was a head-scratcher

Tyler Nguyen (@tdn_): Do we think that Ellis just sees no fullbacks in the NWSL for her to choose from? Is anyone an obvious miss?

Alanna Fairbairn: I think all the fullbacks in the NWSL that have seen looks for the National Team have been exiled from the lists for one reason or another; Hinkle, Krieger, etc

RJ Allen: With Short and O’Hara out I think Ellis is less picking real replacements and more just shrugging her shoulders.

Charles Olney: I do think that the fullback pool is pretty weak right now. Looking at other options, Hinkle and Krieger are the two names that certainly leap out for me. Obviously, there are reasons why both might not get the call, but if you’re not going to take them, I’m not sure who else is really making a case for themselves.

Tyler Nguyen: Last season I would have said Gilliland is the obvious miss, but something’s up with her form this year. Good to see Purce get called up but she’s not really the finished product yet.

RJ Allen: I see no reason to call Krieger in at this point. Ellis has made it clear that Krieger’s time moving forward with the national team is done. Calling her up now to be a stopgap just takes the slot away from a player she might more likely take to the WWC in 2019.

Alanna Fairbairn: I see some reason to call Klingenberg, even with the fitness issues that she has. At least she’s experienced and would work well with Heath on the left side.

Charles Olney: Gilliland would be an interesting pick. Ellis has never seemed too enthusiastic about her, and her performances this year have been a little hit or miss. But when on, she’s been very good.

RJ Allen: Do we think Kristie Mewis would have gotten a look at outside back later in the year?

Tyler Nguyen: Oof. Too soon.

Alanna Fairbairn: I don’t think her play at outside back was anything to write home about. She didn’t really blossom until she was put up in the attacking formation

RJ Allen: Mewis was better than Huerta at outside back. (edited)

Charles Olney: Mewis (and Gilliland, et al) does raise the larger question of where this team stands in terms of depth. Ellis very clearly has strong opinions about a lot of players, and while we’ve seen a lot more movement in and out of the marginal slots recently, there do seem to be a batch of players that she simply thinks of as B/B+ players, and no matter how good their form, she just doesn’t buy them as national teamers. Do people think that’s a fair characterization? If so, is that a problem? Or just a quirk?

Tyler Nguyen: It does seem like Ellis hasn’t really ever accepted that players on the national team could just be role players.

RJ Allen: I really think Ellis is holding out hope that O’Hara and Short recover and are fine by next year. She doesn’t seem to really be testing out reasonable people for any new position, much less outside back.

Alanna Fairbairn: I think it’s a problem if they get zero looks at all on the international level. If they get called up and can’t hang, that’s one thing. If they’re prejudged without a call-up that’s an issue. But I also agree with RJ. She seems set on her lineup and these call-ups are just stopgaps until her Chosen Ones recover.

RJ Allen: Talent scouting is part of the job though. As much as I don’t always agree with the ones who are called up you can’t call up everyone in the set up the USWNT has.

Charles Olney: Let’s put this another way. Imagine that Ellis had to step away and you were put in charge of the team. What would you be doing differently in terms of personnel right now?

RJ Allen: Does cutting Carli Lloyd count?

Charles Olney: Sure does

RJ Allen: I really think Ellis is holding on to players that she shouldn’t. Lloyd being one of them. They don’t have the hold on her that someone like a Wambach, Boxx or Pearce had. But I think some of her thoughts are stuck in 2015.

Charles Olney: My approach would be to pretty radically shift things. My feeling is: China at this point isn’t dangerous enough to pose a serious threat to the best US squad, and we’re nowhere close to the World Cup yet. I’d take the chance to blood a bunch of new folks, try out young players that could fill in depth positions, or who might still grow into realistic first choice players a year from now. The Tournament of Nations is coming up and will give us plenty of time to see the first XI play together. Right now, let’s see the kids play, and give the vets a little bit of rest.

RJ Allen: I think this far in to the cycle is not the idea time to try out a bunch of people. I wouldn’t do that until after 2020 but I get why you would want to now. I agree some vets need the rest though.

Becky Schoenecker (@Beckster20): I would start with goalkeeping and shake that up a bit. I would have also called in different players, but I would use this time to like Charles said radically switch things up, but specifically with the keepers.

Alanna Fairbairn: I would kick Allie Long to the curb. I feel like she’s proved that while she’s spectacular in the league, she doesn’t provide much in any position for the NT except *maybe* forward, and we already have tons of those.

RJ Allen: I think Zerboni can do all Long can and a bunch of things she can’t. Long I think has the benefit of being willing to do whatever she is asked. She seems to have no problem playing wherever Ellis wants her.

Charles Olney: I’ve been a Long-skeptic for quite a while, and I generally agree with Alanna. But it would be pretty strange to cut her right now, when she’s playing about as well as I think she’s ever played. I’m not convinced it will last, but at least for the moment, Long is pretty clearly one of the best US midfielders.

RJ Allen: At a club level. Not at a USWNT level.

Charles Olney: I’m not convinced there’s a difference

RJ Allen: Not against China, no. Against England it is.

Becky Schoenecker: Long won’t lose a game for the US, I think she’s a safe roster position until some others step up.

Tyler Nguyen: Midfield for me is not a huge concern area at the moment. I think that US Soccer needs to better decide what they want from their fullbacks. It seems like the main objective is for them to be able to run the line all game, but they’re also expected to contribute to attack and there just isn’t talent out there to do both of those things on both sides of the field. The turnover at fullback in the past year or so has been pretty absurd

Charles Olney: Agree, Tyler.

RJ Allen: The only spots where I am pretty worry-free is centerback and forward. I think the three centerbacks are perfect and we have enough forward talent to make up for a lot of the midfield issues.

Charles Olney: Alright, I think there’s still plenty of national team conversation for us to have, but we’ll certainly have time to cover some of those issues over the next few weeks. For now, why don’t we turn to a different topic: the Champions League.

Lyon defeated Wolfsburg last week in a pretty peculiar game that saw very little action for 90 minutes and then all hell breaking loose as soon as extra time hit. Let’s talk for a bit about the game. How do people feel about the result?

Tyler Nguyen: Lyon are so stacked. Van De Sanden was the best player on the field and OL only brought her on after extra time started.

RJ Allen: I think the Champions League shows why most of the clubs don’t care about their regular club season.

Charles Olney: I get what you’re saying RJ, but I think that’s an exaggeration. Lyon is the exception who doesn’t have to worry about their domestic league. Most of the other big teams have serious competition.

RJ Allen: I am going to be called out for this – I’ll owe it – but I think the CL really contributes to the European leagues being so weak.

Charles Olney: We’ll need to bring on Chloe for a conversation soon, but I think there’s more depth in most of the European leagues than is often credited. Certainly, the attitude and structure of the leagues (and focus on Champions League as the height of competition) creates a system with less parity, but the mid-tier teams in England are still pretty good. The French league strikes me as the huge exception, and I wonder how much of that is driven by peculiarities of the French developmental system.

RJ Allen: I don’t see the English league as very strong. Though they just did a reshuffle on it.

Tyler Nguyen: Lots of players in the NWSL also go to the English leagues and vice versa so it should be pretty easy to compare the two. Look at Crystal Dunn and Nadia Nadim, two players who both swapped the two leagues recently. Both look like they’re more or less the same player.

Charles Olney: If anything, Dunn has been better on both sides of her time in England.

RJ Allen: I think a lot of the top teams might get a win against an NWSL side but over a 24 game season I don’t think any would beat the likes of Orlando, NCC, Portland, Seattle, Utah, Houston week in and week out the way they win games over there.

Charles Olney: Okay, so let’s take that back to Lyon for a second. I think it’s generally accepted that they’re the best in the world. But let’s have fun speculating a bit. How would they do if they were in the NWSL? I think it’s safe to say that they’d win the Shield, but by how much? Would it be close? What percentage chance would you give them to win the title?

RJ Allen: At best they would be maybe 3rd. At worst 6th. I don’t think they win the shield or get close.

Tyler Nguyen: I think the hardest part for Lyon would be cutting their roster down to 20. But I’d back them to get a home playoff spot and then crush the playoffs.

Alanna Fairbairn: I would say the same as Tyler. They just have so much pure talent and I don’t think most of the NWSL has the defensive lines needed to contain them

RJ Allen: Look, maybe I am crazy and maybe I’m not. But super teams don’t often do well in this league. It is really hard to play week in and week out against the other teams in the league and 1) keep everyone healthy 2) keep everyone happy and 3) not get complacent.

Charles Olney: I think those are all fair points. But I also think that Lyon’s second XI would be a playoff team in the NWSL. They’re just ridiculously stacked

RJ Allen: I am unimpressed with them as a team. They have a lot of great parts but I think the sum is weaker than the parts. But would I take Ada Hegerberg to play on any team in the league? Yes.

Charles Olney: I think we’ll have to agree to disagree on that point. But maybe another way to think about things would be to reverse the question. What if some of the top NWSL teams were in Europe? How would North Carolina and Portland do if they were in the Champions League this year? Would North Carolina win the WSL in England?

RJ Allen: I think Orlando, Seattle or NCC would do very well over in Europe. And without the same salary cap I think a lot of the coaches would have a blast pulling in a few more key players.

Alanna Fairbairn: I think Portland would strive to match Lyon for a stacked roster if they didn’t have the salary cap, which would definitely help them compete

Charles Olney: I think the point about roster limits and salary caps is important. But, of course, this is the whole reason why the NWSL is as balanced as it is. A Portland that didn’t have to deal with roster restrictions would really just be Lyon 2.0, wouldn’t it?

RJ Allen: Which would make the league weaker as a whole because it would create an imbalance that a lot of teams, money or not, wouldn’t be able to overcome. This is why I am a strong advocate for the leagues being more balanced and having tighter rules in place to keep it that way.

Charles Olney: Alright. One final topic for this week: Where in the world is Christen Press going to end up? Some news came out today suggesting that Göteborg might not be willing, or able, to cover the cost of her contract when it’s up in a few weeks. She has been good in Sweden—unsurprisingly—but the team is doing poorly, and it seems like they might be wondering whether the investment is worth it. That said, it doesn’t seem like any of the issues that led to her going to Sweden in the first place have really been resolved. Houston still owns her rights and doesn’t appear particularly inclined to negotiate.

So, the question: where do people think Press is in September? Back in the NWSL? Still in Sweden? Signed with a big European team in one of the top leagues?

RJ Allen: I think Mewis being hurt is going to force Houston’s hand. They need help and she is their biggest chip right now.

Alanna Fairbairn: I think it’s a matter of how stupid Houston’s front office is going to be about it. Or how stubborn, maybe is a better way to put it. I do not think she’s going to end up in Houston, no matter how much they may want her. They need to understand that, and get some serious value for her

Becky Schoenecker: I doubt she’ll end up in Houston, but I would like her to. I think they have a chance to get to the playoffs, which was a bit unthinkable at the beginning of the year. With Mewis out they need a Press to have any chance now I think.

Alanna Fairbairn: Houston already dealt with Carli Lloyd not really wanting to play there, I don’t really want them to have another unhappy star. It’s not a good look, and it doesn’t do anyone really any good.

Tyler Nguyen: Houston definitely feels like they need some value right now but I still don’t really see a trade out there that they’d be willing to accept. I don’t actually think Houston should play Press since their forward line looks so good at the moment. You want to bench Prince or Daly right now?

Charles Olney: If Press wanted to play for Houston, I think she’d actually slot in fairly well. She and Daly would play off each other well, and Press would alleviate some of the problems they have holding possession through the middle. But I agree: she’s almost certainly never kicking a ball for the Dash, so there’s not much point in speculating.

Becky Schoenecker: Which team could use her the most/would be willing to trade for her?

RJ Allen: I’d really like Press to go to Utah. I think she and ARod could make some magic happen and it would even things out. But I don’t know what Utah could give up for her. Seattle has pieces the Dash could use but they want a NT player, or they did, so unless they want to give up Long I don’t see it.

Charles Olney: I agree with RJ that Press would fit extremely well into the Utah system, but it’s hard to see what deal Houston would be willing to accept. One consideration: Heather O’Reilly is finished in England and Utah has her rights. It’s hard to see her being willing to go to Houston, either, but I have wondered whether a three-way deal could be possible that would send O’Reilly somewhere else.

RJ Allen: To be fair HAO doesn’t have to be willing. Houston just has to think she is.

Alanna Fairbairn: If O’Reilly were hypothetically willing to play in Houston, I would cry with happiness. I don’t know that they would be able to woo her, but she would help so much.

RJ Allen: Draft picks I would think. Or an extra international slot.

Charles Olney: If you were Houston, would you do a straight swap of Press for HAO (assuming you got some confirmation that she’d actually be willing to play for you)? I would.

Alanna Fairbairn: In a heartbeat.

Becky Schoenecker: Absolutely. I think HAO would fit in to their team much better as well.

RJ Allen: Assuming she was willing I think they would want HAO and a draft pick or something.

Alanna Fairbairn: I think it’s not just a talent thing either. HAO strikes me as the type of person who would fit in well with the ethos Pauw is trying to implement

Charles Olney: So it’s settled. HAO for Press. Both teams get better, and the we all get to watch some great players come back to the league. It’s a win for everyone.

RJ Allen: The other thing is that if Houston doesn’t trade her I’m not sure they get anything. The NWSL might have offered them something if LA gets a team and she’s moved there but there is no guarantee they will.

Charles Olney: That’s the other big question mark. If they expect to get decent value there, then it really might make sense to just hold her rights and wait for the payout. If all they’ll get is a draft pick or something, then it’s a pretty bad idea to give up a good trade chit when you could extract real value from Seattle/Utah/etc.

Tyler Nguyen: Last from me: I really want Houston to lean into their role of scrappy underdog team where players who just haven’t worked out on other teams prove their value. But it doesn’t seem like their front office really knows what their identity as a team is.

Charles Olney: Absolutely. Given how well the team has managed to do in terms of results, there’s a real chance to wipe away a lot of the bad taste from previous bungling. It’s just a matter of actually getting it done.

Route Two Soccer: What’s Wrong With Chicago?

Posted on by RJ Allen

Going into the 2017 NWSL season, the Chicago Red Stars were widely regarded as a leading contender for the title. Through the first ten games, they seemed to be living up to the promise, earning 18 points and playing an aggressive, exciting brand of soccer.

The back half of 2017, however, saw a serious downswing. The strong start gave them a cushion which was enough to hold off challengers for the final playoff spot, but they did very little with their semifinal berth, going down in a rough-and-tumble game against the North Carolina Courage.

There have been some signs of life this year, but the results have remained difficult to come by. Combining their ten games this year with their final fourteen of 2017–a full season’s worth of matches–they’ve picked up a meager 31 points.

NWSL results – based on most recent 24 games for each team

Now, 31 points isn’t nothing. It’s much better, for example, than the 17 points the beleaguered Washington Spirit have managed in that same period. But 31 points is well below a normal playoff pace and is well below what a reasonable observer would anticipate given the quality of players on this roster.

Any team will suffer ebbs and flows in performance, so one shouldn’t overreact to a few bad results. But a full season’s worth of results is more than just a blip or a bad run. It’s clear, at this point, that Chicago is stagnating. That certainly doesn’t mean they can’t right the ship. But it does invite some serious questions about why this is happening and what can be done to fix it.

Chicago has struggled with a serious injury crisis

When searching for theories, it’s hard not to start with injuries. After a consistently great bill of health for most of last year, Chicago’s roster began to run down toward the end of the year, and those problems have more than carried over into 2018. They’ve had to do without some critical players, starting with Julie Ertz, who has only recently returned and still doesn’t seem to be close to 100%. They’ve also desperately missed Vanessa DiBernardo, whose incisive passing is critical to unlocking the Chicago attack. Casey Short was one of the league’s best defenders in 2017, but has missed all of this season. Then consider that Chicago was missing some key players on international duty for most of April. Not least of which: Sam Kerr.

Given these conditions, Chicago has relied heavily on supporting players so far. These include Taylor Comeau and Sarah Gorden in defense, Nikki Stanton in the central midfield, and Alyssa Mautz, Summer Green, and Michele Vasconcelos in the attack. On the whole, these players have done reasonably well, but there is a reason that they are generally not first-choice when the full roster is available.

Of course, every team suffers injuries, so it’s not like the Red Stars are the only ones being forced to turn to second and third choice options. But Chicago’s list is arguably the worst of any team in the league. That has to be part of the equation.

Chicago has played a packed schedule

It’s also worth noting that Chicago has been forced to fit a lot of games into a compact schedule. In a nine-team league, every squad is going to have busier and lighter sections of the schedule, but Chicago hit theirs at a particularly rough moment. It’s certainly notable that the team is winless in their last six games, even as they’ve gotten back their internationals and some of their injured players. It’s unlikely that this is all due to tired legs, but it’s probably a factor. 

Unfortunately for Chicago, these effects aren’t quickly resolved, either. Players who are run into the ground early will need extended recovery breaks to get things back in order—breaks that the schedule simply doesn’t contain.

Chicago is still struggling with their tactical evolution

Last October, I wrote an autopsy on the Red Stars season, in which I argued for some necessary evolution of their playing style. Their rigid adherence to a midfield diamond was blocking many of the teams’ strengths in possession and passing, and doing little to take advantage of their greatest asset: Christen Press. This year, finally, Chicago seems to be making real changes. They have generally set up in a 4-3-3, relying heavily on their fullbacks to both push high and to drift inward—bolstering the wide attack as well as the central midfield. The goal has been to build a smoother attacking style, one organized more around controlled possession and less fixated on direct assaults.

Ironically, they made this change even as they swapped out Press for Kerr. I say ‘ironic’ because Kerr would have been far more suited to the direct style they played last year, while Press fits more naturally into a possession game.

That being said, Kerr is a world-class striker in any system. While things haven’t quite clicked yet, it’s only a matter of time before she reels off a string of goals. And the possession game is a better utilization of Chicago’s overall roster, particularly once they get DiBernarndo back. Her ability to thread the perfect through-ball has been sorely missed so far this year. In the long term, they’ll be a better team if they focus on cultivating more diversity in their range of play. Assuming that they still see themselves as playoff contenders (as they should), their goal should be to get ready to play their best in September.

If this style continues to falter, they may eventually be forced to revert to type. But for now, at least, it’s an experiment still worth pursuing.

We’re approaching make-or-break time for Rory Dames

Broadly speaking, women’s leagues see much less turnover in coaching positions than their male equivalents. Still, try to imagine a coach in the English Premier League or Serie A being allowed to spend this long with this talented a roster and this poor a run of results. It’s pretty difficult. Even in the comparatively lower temperature environment of the NWSL, Dames’ seat has to be getting just a little bit hot.

This by no means is meant to impugn Dames’ obvious qualities as a coach. His tenure at Chicago has been extremely impressive. He built this team up from the ground, assembling a squad of superb players who have grown and developed together. It’s been an incredible achievement, and one well-worth celebrating. Given all that success, it would hardly be unreasonable to give him more time to put things back on track.

At the same time, one can’t help but wonder if there may be diminishing returns to Dames’ contributions in this position. It’s the rare case for a coach to serve more than a few years in a position. Ideas start to go stale, personalities start to clash, motivations falter. This implies no personal failing of the coach; it’s just a natural part of the process. There are, of course, a few notable exceptions—coaches who survive for decades by reinventing themselves and their teams—but for every Sir Alex Ferguson, there are a dozen big names who hop quickly from team to team. 

This year, the NWSL has already seen two big moves, with Vlatko Andonovski and Laura Harvey swapping jobs. Each had seemed inseparable from the team they had built, but not only have Utah and Seattle survived the transition just fine, both teams actually seem revitalized.

A team like Chicago—stacked with talent and anxious to break their semifinal curse—may eventually be forced to consider whether it’s time to part ways. That decision certainly shouldn’t be taken lightly. Still, considering the malaise hanging over the Red Stars over the past twelve months, it’s worth at least entertaining the idea.

The darkest hour is just before dawn?

The Red Stars are an enigma, probably the hardest team in the league to assess. The underlying quality is obviously there, and it’s very easy to put a positive shine on things. Injuries, missing internationals, an evolving style of play—all these point toward a team primed for improvement. What’s more, while Chicago has struggled to find points this year, that has been primarily been driven by a surprising number of draws. A few more lucky breaks here and there could easily have turned a couple draws into wins, which would give them a lot more breathing room. And even without those extra points, they’re hardly in serious danger.  12 points from 10 games isn’t great, but it would only take a couple wins on the bounce to rocket them back up the table. That’s eminently possible, and should give Chicago supporters plenty of reason for hope. 

At their best, Chicago are one of the league’s most exciting teams to watch. For the sake of neutrals everywhere, here’s hoping that the optimists are right and that Chicago turns a corner sooner rather than later.

NWSL QuickCap: 9 1/2 Weeks (of Soccer)

Posted on by RJ Allen

Three games in one night is a beautiful thing. In theory. In reality it’s the same “Inside Barca” ad every time you flip a channel between games. With my poor home internet, it also takes me back to the pre-cable days of fuzzy antenna television at times, too, which is something you Millennial Falcons hopefully never experience.

Orlando Pride 3-4 North Carolina Courage
3-3-3/8-0-2
This one was 1-0 NCC when I turned to Survivor and quite a surprise when I looked back. Jessica McDonald scored from in front of Orlando’s net at 32′, with the assist to Denise O’Sullivan. Then Wendell dominated the Immunity Challenges but couldn’t sell himself to the bitter jury and I started to get worried. Orlando should also be worried, because including McDonald, much of NCC play was crashing in on net without much obstruction. Chioma Ubogagu tied at 52’ on a Marta cross, with a quick response from Debhina at 57’ then Samantha Mewis (from Crystal Alyssia Dunn) at 62’. NWSL Instagram reports the Mewis goal as an Ashlyn Harris own goal and gives different times than the NWSL website box score, but hey, alternate facts. Alanna Kennedy at 65’ (from Christine Nairn’s wonderful crossing powers) and Rachel Hill at 83’ (assist, and accolades, to Marta). The 3-3 tie lasted a whole 7+’, which was a huge scoring drought for this second half, until Jessica McDonald put in one at 90’ (assist to Jaelene Hinkle, NWSL Most Improved.)

Washington Spirit 1-0 Sky Blue FC
2-5-2/0-6-1
Ashley Hatch with her second of the season at 64’ on an Andi Sullivan free kick and assist. Savannah McCaskill, probably after seeing what Rookie of the Year can do to your scoring touch, did not start but came in at 61’. She later almost served up a Lloyd goal on a free kick, but Aubrey Bledsoe catches things for a living. In the biggest news of the game, Rose Lavelle logged 16 minutes of game time, coming on for Estafania Banini at 74’. I continue to be befuddled by this NJ roster not being able to score, but since they can’t really defend either, I guess I’m also puzzled how Washington can only get 1.

Houston Dash 80s Night 2-1 Seattle Reign
2-4-4/4-2-2
I know some on-field purists hate the shenanigans of promotions and spectacle, but as someone that started high school while it was still the 80s, I’m all in favor of being reminded that people who weren’t even born when I was in school
well, that’s going to take a dark turn, so never mind. Bev Yanez (which seems overly familiar, NWSL box score, when you’re using full names and seven initials for other players) put Seattle up at 13’ on an assist from Jodie Taylor. Earlier in the season, no one would have been surprised if that result held. But wait. On a Rachel Daly free kick after Seattle’s Kristen McNabb was booked at 67’, Kristie Mewis managed to get the deflection in for a 68’ goal. But wait
there’s even more if you call now. At 90+2’, Veronica Latsko took a pass from Thembi Kgatlana, took a shot that bounced off defender Steph Catley then knuckled past Michelle Betos into goal for Houston’s second win of the season.

NWSL QuickCap Week 8: The Ocho

Posted on by RJ Allen

Utah Royals FC 1-0 Houston Dash
2-1-5/1-4-4
The most dangerous collection of 4’11” athletes outside US Gymnastics could benefit from signing a lamp post to prop up around the 6 yard line for all the crosses they are putting in. Meanwhile, the disembodied rage floating off Houston’s Rachel Daly as this one progressed almost took physical form. Utah’s Erika Tymrak got the start and the goal, from Gunny Jonsdottir, at 51’ and Utah’s solid defensive form held off Houston for the last forty minutes. This was a very helpful win for Utah in the draw-heavy 2018 season, helping them look toward the playoffs.

Washington Spirit 0-1 Portland Thorns
1-5-2/3-3-3
Washington. Washington. I
 am at a loss. Even without Rose Lavelle, this lineup should produce something. Looking at their lineup, in my questionably educated opinion, they should be scoring but giving up goals. Instead
 I’m left using a lot of ellipses and staring at the screen trying to figure this one out. Portland looked reliably solid, relying on a monster roster of top-level talent to have a mediocre record. Ellie Carpenter scored at 68’, from Ana-Maria Crnogevic (can we get ‘the Crn Supercollider’ going as a thing? No? Okay). Ashley Hatch took 5 shots in 58 minutes of play, so I feel like they are trying, but
. ellipses.

Sky Blue Football Club of Rutgers University of New Jersey 1-2 North Carolina Courage
0-5-1/7-0-2
Sky Blue and Washington have the same number of losses, which is only one more than Houston, yet we seem to think about these teams differently. Other than when they play NCC, Crystal Alyssia Dunn from Jessica McDonald at 16’, Samantha Mewis at 27’, and the only goal anyone talks about, an absolutely beautiful and entirely meaningless Carli Lloyd strike at 90+4’. Which is sort of a summary of Lloyd’s work for NJ this season and the idea of building a team around a fading veteran with known limitations, but hey, Jill Ellis won a World Cup with that strategy.

Seattle Reign FC 0-0 Chicago Red Stars
4-1-2/2-2-6
Seattle is quietly stalking NCC, sheltered in their Pacific time zone but consistently getting points. Chicago will underperform their way into a top 4 spot before a messy coaching change in the off season. (I have no inside info, just a feeling.) USWNT recent starter Alyssa Naeher once again saved Chicago’s bacon and Matildas’ top keeper Lydia Williams said “hold my vegemite” and went toe-to-toe with her. Chi’s Julie Ertz played 75’, so hopefully her injury days are done.

NWSL Playoff Picture Is Starting to Form

Posted on by RJ Allen

Even though we aren’t too far in the season, there are signs of which teams will be a force to be reckoned with. Today, we will take a look at who those teams are.

Seattle Reign FC

Seattle has the most depth of any NWSL team; they have amazing players for every position. Seattle has been and always will be one of the most feared teams in the NWSL. Every game they seem to have numerous opportunities no matter the opponent. As all these players continue to gel, they will get even better than they already are. After missing the playoffs last year Seattle has an opportunity to finally hoist that NWSL trophy this season!

North Carolina Courage

A team that’s nearly impossible to not have at the top of any list. North Carolina came out this season with flying colors, continuing their dominance and going undefeated. North Carolina’s pressure seems to be unbeatable, and with the personnel they have up front, scoring hasn’t been an issue this season. Even with some chances missed, they’ve made up for it. Look for them to continue their astonishing form.

Portland Thorns

Portland got a slow start with most of their internationals missing and some still out due to injury, but as they are coming back we see what Portland is capable of. Their only problem so far has been finishing; they create wonderful chances but aren’t able to put them in the back of the net. Lindsey Horan and Christine Sinclair specifically have played a pivotal role in how well Portland plays week to week. When they get Haley Raso and Caitlin Foord back out on the pitch Portland will be the hardest team to beat, especially in home matches due to the great atmosphere.

Orlando Pride

Orlando has one of the most star-filled teams this year, with the likes of Marta, Morgan, and Krieger. Orlando made it to the playoffs last year only to be destroyed by a superior Portland team in the first round. They’ll be hungry to win this year. If Orlando can click well enough I can see them having a very successful season, but so far it’s been a process. Even so, they’re sitting in third place with a game in hand on Portland.

Chicago Red Stars                                                  

Chicago has phenomenal potential, but the results just aren’t quite coming. Despite this, they are in a spot they could grab a playoff spot. They are waiting on Nagasato and Kerr to click up top, but even with that, they are sitting in fifth place. As people get back from injury it should get better, but for now, I think they can hang right around mid-table.

Utah Royals

Utah has the strongest defense in the NWSL, the problem is the scoring. Utah creates wonderful opportunities and aren’t able to put them away, but the defense is what’s keeping them at mid-table. Katrina Gorry was a brilliant addition to this team, she finds the ball well and sprays the ball around the field which is much needed. Hopefully, Utah can turn things around on the attacking side of things and keep the standings interesting.