Women’s Soccer is Too Conservative

Posted on December 23, 2019December 31, 2019 by Backline Soccer

Women’s soccer is politically progressive, but conservative in almost every other respect. It’s time to embrace the future.

The biggest cultural moment for women’s soccer in American history happened this summer, surpassing even the famous 1999 World Cup victory on home soil. And the defining player of the moment, Megan Rapinoe, is also famously outspoken and forthright about politics. She is an out lesbian who has kneeled in solidarity about racial injustice, and been the subject of personal attacks from Donald Trump. She has seized her fame and used it as a vehicle to speak about important political causes.

And it’s not just Rapinoe.

Her USWNT teammates Ashlyn Harris and Ali Krieger married this year to much fanfare. Both have been unafraid to voice their opinions on contentious topics. The entire US team unabashedly celebrated their record goal-scoring output during the World Cup and then celebrated with some friendly drunken debauchery once they came home, inspiring an important conversation about expectations placed on women compared to men.

The women’s soccer fandom too is diverse, and organized around political causes. They support labor, queer rights, racial justice, and gender equality. They put their money and time into these causes, and challenge their own teams when they fail to live up to those expectations.

But in spite of all that, women’s soccer in this country remains fundamentally conservative in many respects. That’s not always a bad thing, but it’s worth interrogating why a community that’s so open to progressive values in other areas is so parochial in others.

Teams are conservative in their marketing

For three decades, women’s soccer has been sold as ‘family-friendly’ and targeted primarily at young girls. The tide is starting to turn on this, with teams slowly starting to realize that people in their 20s and 30s—with time, disposable income, and the desire to drink alcohol—are a prime sports market. But why did it take so long, and why are many teams still focused on families first?

Answer: because it’s safe.

It’s safe, in the first place, because it’s a time-tested strategy. You won’t become the next Portland Thorns by running the same ‘little girls’ marketing campaigns as everyone else, but you also probably won’t have anything blow up in your face. It’s also safe in the sense that it avoids ruffling any feathers. No one gets upset when young girls come to games. But some people will get upset if you cultivate a rowdy environment. And god forbid there’s heckling or any kind of harsh words.

Or consider the consistent under-investment in merchandise. Stories were rampant during the World Cup of fans who were desperate to buy shirts but simply couldn’t find a dealer able to sell them. Or all the fans at the World Cup hoping for something to commemorate the experience but unable to get anything because of winding lines at the few available locations.

In all these cases, conservatism about the potential value of the market resulted in significant lost sales, and a worse experience for fans. It’s safe to market to young girls, but it produces a less energetic experience for fans who want to experience the agony and ecstasy of sporting endeavor. It also does a disservice to the athletes themselves to treat them primarily as role models, rather than peak competitors in the world’s most popular sport. And at the margins, it’s actually alienating. For progressive fans, for people who don’t fit the family model, it can be dispiriting to attend events that feel like they weren’t designed for you.

There’s nothing wrong with families, and I’m all for young girls (and boys!!) coming to games. But the sport is much more than that, and should be treated as such.

Ownership is conservative in their investments

That basic conservatism in operations goes up to the top. After two failed leagues, the current ownership group (and US Soccer as a controlling partner) have been understandably worried about over-leveraging their stakes. They’ve imposed a strict salary cap and severe limitations on what amenities can be provided to players. They’ve held back on imposing demands for higher standards, for fear that it will drive teams out of business.

None of this has been an obvious mistake. The NWSL, after all, has survived longer than the two previous leagues combined, and appears to be on an upward trajectory. The recent changes to compensation structures announced this offseason are the clearest sign that the league is ready to transition to its next, more free-wheeling stage. There’s also strong indications that the league will soon sever its direct connections with US Soccer, which should provide more opportunity for the owners to put their feet on the accelerator.

In this case, slow-and-steady may indeed have won the race.

But there’s also a risk of overlearning the right lessons, or of overcommitting to a good premise. There were good reasons to be cautious about overspending. But it’s also true that investment is the only way to kickstart exponential growth. The NWSL was almost certainly the best league in the world for overall quality of competition over the past decade. But big European teams are (finally) starting to truly invest in their women’s teams. And there has been significant bottom-up action as well. We’ve seen the English league fully professionalize in recent years. The Italian league is in that process right now. The Spanish players recently engaged in collective action to force better conditions in their league.

There are still plenty of reasons to regard the NWSL as the best league in the world. Its average attendances dwarf the other top leagues. It has far higher parity, with genuine quality from top to bottom. It boasts a solid array of international talent, combined with (by far) the deepest national pool of players. The US college soccer infrastructure continues to draw international talent, and funnels players into US clubs.

But there are also growing reasons to doubt each of those premises. Few of the true top internationals play US college soccer, and those who do generally prefer to take their talents to Europe after graduation. Parity is growing in other leagues as they improve their compensation models.

The recent compensation changes in the NWSL—especially the allocation spending—is an important step. It gives NWSL clubs the chance to genuinely compete for big name internationals. But we have yet to see any of this money actually used. Maybe it’s just a matter of waiting for the international window to open, for expansion questions to get settled, for the draft to conclude. But it’s at least still an open question whether the teams will utilize the new opportunity to fight for global market share.

Caution is important. But there’s also a time and place for bold moves. There’s a risk that the league is missing out on its potential first-mover advantage by dithering.

The league has a deeply conservative communication strategy

Long-time fans of the NWSL are familiar with its many PR disasters. Games played on tiny baseball fields, teams folding immediately after the draft, horrible conditions for players, failed media endeavors, low-quality streams, preposterous Best XI lists, players collapsing from heatstroke, the FURT situation, and so forth. Some of this is inevitable. A small, developing league with a tiny front office infrastructure is simply not going to be able to anticipate and resolve issues before they arise.

So the question isn’t whether the league will make mistakes; it’s whether they respond to those mistakes productively. On that front, it’s mostly been a dismal failure. In case after case, they have opted for secrecy and obfuscation. Rather than acknowledging the issue, explaining what went wrong, and outlining plans for improvement, we generally get radio silence.

It’s a deeply conservative model of damage response, focused entirely on limiting exposure to risk, rather than seeking to build positive change. It follows the old hierarchical model of sports consumption, where teams supply material to passive fans. Which puts it very much at odds with the sort of collaborative/collective model of participation that many fans desire.

Fans are conservative in their approach to the game

It’s not just the clubs that are conservative, though. It’s also the fans. For as much as women’s soccer fandom embraces progress at the social level, they’re resistant when it comes to the game of soccer itself.

Consider the uproar when teams experiment even mildly with tactics. Women’s soccer fandom is deeply skeptical of a back three, and heaven help us if teams try anything more innovative—even if these are extremely common and successful models for men’s teams around the world. Fans are often skeptical of innovations in league structure or team organization. There’s not much apparent appetite for advanced statistics. And so on.

None of this is particularly surprising. Sports fandom is notably conservative in almost every field. It took decades to drag baseball fans—kicking and screaming the whole way—to some limited acceptance of sabermetrics. Men’s soccer fans in Europe spent similar decades insisting that ‘the way we’ve always done it’ was the only viable way to ever do it. But something doesn’t have to be surprising to be lamentable.

Women’s soccer fans are far more comfortable with difference than most sports fans. They are familiar with the value of innovation in other areas. It would be nice to see that comfort reflected more often within the structures of soccer.

Conservatism in investments is often wise, but it can go too far

You can make a case for all of the conservative impulses I’ve outlined here. Women’s soccer has historically been a rocky investment, and the NWSL has succeeded in part because of its caution. It’s also relatively young. After decades, even centuries, of terminal neglect, the women’s game has none of the institutional learning that sustains things on the men’s side. If tactics are immature, if fandom is unaccustomed to demanding higher levels of innovation, there are good reasons for it.

But we shouldn’t take all of these things as given. One of the core strengths of the women’s game is its freedom from the stultifying traditions that enframe men’s sports. It’s time to start leaning more into that strength.

That doesn’t mean throwing caution to the wind and inviting new Dan Borislows to the league. It doesn’t mean spending millions to get Ada Hegerberg or Pernille Harder. But teams should be more willing to take reasonable risks. They should be thinking more about how to grow their brands tenfold, rather than worrying about how to maintain the status quo. And fans should be demanding innovation and improvement.

This is a great thing, and it would be a huge shame to lose it to a bad gamble. But it would also be a shame to see it stagnate when it could soar. It’s time to start tipping the balance a bit more in the direction of exploration.

The North Carolina Courage have built a dynasty. How did they do it?

Posted on October 31, 2019December 31, 2019 by Backline Soccer

In 2018 the North Carolina Courage were the most dominant team in the history of American women’s soccer. For obvious reasons, they were clear favorites to retain the title coming into 2019. But after a 2-1 loss to Reign FC at the end of May, they were stuck on a mere nine points from their opening seven games. And things weren’t exactly looking up, since they would be forced to spend the next six weeks without most of their best players, who would all be busy at the World Cup in France.

How quickly things change.

In fact, the Courage reeled 15 wins in their final 19 matches in the season, including a 4-1 win in the semifinals over the Reign and a 4-0 demolishment of the Chicago Red Stars in the final on Sunday. That victory secured a second straight NWSL title, and third in four years. In their four playoff games in the last two years, they’ve scored a combined 13 goals while conceding just one.

It’s now time to call this team the first true dynasty in the history of American professional women’s soccer. That’s no slight against some of the other great teams from the past—the 2014-2015 Seattle Reign and FCKC teams, the WPS-era FC Gold Pride, and a number of WUSA teams able to draw from the very best players in the world. Those teams were all great, but none accomplished anything close to what the Courage have achieved.

So how did it happen?

The first part of the story isn’t about the Courage per se. It’s simply the fact that the NWSL has survived long enough to make a dynasty possible. WUSA and WPS each folded after three years. Three years into the NWSL, the Courage didn’t exist yet. But their prior incarnation (the Western New York Flash) had managed an appearance in the debut final before slinking to successive 7th place finishes in 2014 and 2015. Hardly the sign of an incipient dynasty.

But the tide was already ready to turn, thanks to some truly inspired draft picks, and an even more inspired coaching change. We’ve heard plenty about the ridiculous 2015 draft class, which netted the Flash:

Abby Dahlkemper—now one of the best center backs in the world
Sam Mewis—now one of the best midfielders in the world
Lynn Williams—now one of the best forwards in the world
Jaelene Hinkle—now one of the best fullbacks in the world

It was a truly outrageous haul. Those four players have been the centerpiece of this club’s incredible run. But it’s not enough to simply draft talented players. You have to develop them, shape them, and get them to play together. And that’s exactly what Paul Riley has done.

Riley is infamous for his obsession with narrative—particularly his insistence on calling his team ‘underdogs’ even as they bulldoze over all opposition, and his #NoFinishLine branding—but there is a powerful truth that underlines those clichés. Riley is a good coach in every respect, but his genius is in cultivating a team dynamic that earns total buy-in from everyone. That’s incredibly difficult to do, and even harder to maintain. And it’s probably the key thing that has allowed his team to sustain their excellence.

Everyone knows that you can build team cohesion by using an ‘us v. them’ dynamic. That’s the easy part. But those sort of teams are unsustainable, because you can’t sustain an antagonistic approach indefinitely. People get tired, the buy-in fades, and the team falls apart. Riley’s genius has been to modulate the intensity—never letting up, but also never pushing his team over the brink.

His team has remained dogged and hard-working, even as they took over the league. They’ve preserved their physical dominance, even as they have improved technically by leaps and bounds. Most importantly, they’ve remained happy warriors even in the face of relentless pressure.

Riley said repeatedly over the championship weekend that his team was in the best physical shape he’d ever seen them. At the pre-game press conference he said “this is the freshest I’ve seen our team in the last four years.” On its face, this seems unbelievable. It’s been a long season, and plenty of his players are clearly ready for a break. But if you watch them play…it suddenly feels believable. Everyone else may struggle with the minutes, but North Carolina on Sunday looked eager and ready.

Facing a truly excellent Chicago team, the Courage didn’t blink once. They simply overran them, imposing their style and making life absolutely impossible for the Red Stars. Chicago features one of the most technical midfields the league has ever seen, with world class ball-handlers like Morgan Brian, Danielle Colaprico, and Vanessa DiBernardo. They were absolutely nowhere in the final. Every time Chicago touched the ball, multiple Courage players swarmed around them. Every pass that was anything less than perfect was intercepted. Every loose ball was chased down by North Carolina. Every 50-50 challenge went in their favor.

How does Riley keep his players amped to this level? According to Jess McDonald on the Friday before the match, the key is that “he makes you comfortable with being uncomfortable.” He creates an environment in which players can feel consistently challenged without ever feeling overwhelmed. And it creates a serious buy-in. In his post-game press conference Riley referenced the idea of “keeping our foot on the accelerator.” But this is language you hear repeatedly from the players.

And you can see the results across the board. North Carolina is a team filled with superstars, but they don’t think of themselves that way. And that’s at least partly because they have almost all become superstars primarily through their collective growth and development. They view themselves as world class players not as individuals but as members of a team. The quartet drafted in 2015 were all great at the time. But the league is full of first round picks who never built on their potential. The unique thing about North Carolina under Riley is how everyone consistently improves, and in doing so helps the rest of their team improve as well.

Consider the MVP of the final—Debinha. When she joined the team in 2017, her attacking potential was obvious for all to see. But she was anything but a complete player. She was casual with possession and offered nothing defensively. As Riley put it after the final: “The first couple months she didn’t fancy playing both sides of the ball, and that didn’t work for me…but she took ownership and accountability for herself. You can see today…she’s a complete player.” That journey from mercurial talent to one of the best in the world is a perfect encapsulation of this team.

Then there’s McCall Zerboni. For years, she seemed like the quintessential average player. Useful, certainly. You can always use a player willing to get stuck in where necessary, and with just enough skill on the ball to not hurt you in possession. But to Riley she was one of the best players in the league. And through their work together, she proved to the world that he was right.

Jess McDonald was a great goal-scorer and a valuable player on plenty of teams before joining the Flash. But she had never really settled anywhere despite her ability. On joining the team, she started adding new pieces to her game. Her partnership with Lynn Williams has been consistent and consistently impressive over the past four years. Not just for the goals, but for the intelligent movement, the unlocking of space, the clever passing.

Crystal Dunn was one of the best players in the world long before joining the squad, earning the league’s MVP award in 2015. But he game has taken another step forward with the Courage. She’s been, by far, the most dangerous player in the league over the past two years, largely because the rest of the team gives her an incredible palette to work with. Her movement off the ball is now among the best in the world, and her positional awareness has gone off the charts.

Abby Erceg went from a middling player in Chicago to one of the best defenders in the world under Riley. Kristen Hamilton went from the last player selected in the draft to an MVP candidate. Heather O’Reilly spent much of the summer reporting on the World Cup from France, only to slide back into the job of starting right back for the final month.

And finally there’s Denise O’Sullivan was waived by the unhappy Houston Dash. Not traded, just waived for nothing. But Riley saw her potential and brought her into the team. She’s now turned into one of the best 6s in the league, seemingly out of sheer determination and will. And that’s been especially important because 2019 saw a significant step down from McCall Zerboni. For another team that would be a disaster. But the Courage didn’t even blink an eye. Zerboni’s minutes declined, allowing her to settle into a more restrained role, while O’Sullivan stepped seamlessly into the job. It’s all been a bit of a surprise, even to O’Sullivan herself. In her own words, on Friday: “A few years ago I wouldn’t have seen myself as a #6 at all. But now I really enjoy it. Helps that I’m playing next to Sam Mewis.”

And that’s one last key theme with this team. Every player is made better by being surrounded by other players also being pushed to exceed their limits. Because ultimately, there is never a single author when it comes to this sort of success. Riley surely deserves a lot of credit, as do the players, and the management. As Dan Lauletta noted in his recent column on this subject, this is about the culture of an entire organization.

The breadth and depth of this team was made crystal clear in the way they created chances in the final. Three of the four goals came from putting their opponent under pressure and just refusing to give up. The fourth came from a genius long ball and a beautiful finish. They can score messy goals and beautiful ones. They can create chances from nothing, and can build play through long stretches. And every single player on the team is dangerous. In the final, all 10 starters were credited with at least one chance created, but none created more than two. That’s full spectrum dominance.

The 2018 Courage season was the greatest collective performance in the history of professional women’s soccer in this country. But in some ways their 2019 season was even more impressive. To come back and defend their title, especially after struggling a bit, demonstrates their resilience and development. And shows that the Courage dynasty is probably here to stay for quite a while.

Good luck to everyone else!

What the heck happened with the NWSL Best XI?

Posted on October 26, 2019December 31, 2019 by Backline Soccer

The NWSL released its ‘Best XI’ and ‘Second XI’ yesterday evening and the lists were immediately dragged by everyone: fans, media, and players alike. Even moms got involved. Any voting process can produce a few odd choices; indeed, the controversy is part of the fun. But this went far beyond a few odd choices.

If there was any doubt, one only has to list the MVP finalists next to the Best XI and realize that Sam Kerr is the only player to make both lists. Yes, the other four finalists for best player in the league didn’t even make the Best XI.

In their place: a bunch of players who missed significant time. In fact, only three of the eleven selected appeared in more than 14 of their team’s 24 games. It’s certainly possible to produce enough value in 1000 minutes to justify inclusion (I listed several such players myself on my own ballot), but when eight of the eleven missed significant time, you start to wonder. And then consider that Rose Lavelle made the best XI despite playing in only six games.

Bless the heart of whoever was tasked with writing this entry pic.twitter.com/8xDHqBR0H0
— Charles Olney (@olneyce) October 24, 2019

Other US World Cup stars made the list despite limited NWSL playing time, and despite performing well below their usual standard. Tobin Heath had a few vintage Heath performances early in the season, but was a shadow of her normal self this year. She made the cut. The same is true for Lindsey Horan. Last year’s MVP was clearly never fully healthy this year, and struggled to make her usual impression. Ali Krieger played 12 games for the league’s worst defense. She’s on the list. Megan Rapinoe (5 matches and 333 minutes!) made the Second XI. So did Kelley O’Hara (242 minutes!!!).

These are all great players, no doubt. But it strains credibility to argue that any of them were even close to being among the best in the league based on their actual performances this year.

Does it matter?

In the grand scheme of things, awards are pretty insignificant. But they do matter. People care about them—fans, media, and players. Crystal Dunn offered some illuminating comments on this issue at media day before the NWSL final: “There’s so many people deserving of accolades and it breaks my heart because I see them day in and day out working extremely hard, busting their ass, doing what they especially want to do for this team every day, and they don’t get recognition.”

So while there are no objective standards for who ultimately ‘deserves’ a given award, they also aren’t purely subjective. Controversy is fine, even good for the league. But a list like the one they released yesterday goes well beyond controversy. It’s a bad look to produce something so clearly untethered to reality. At a time when it’s especially important to be raising standards, this makes the league look amateurish.

This should be an opportunity for the league to show off, not something we feel like we have to hide.

Who is responsible?

So what actually happened here?

It’s actually unclear. The standard problem when you get results like this is skewed votes from fans (remember when Deyna Castellanos inexplicably came in third for world player of the year?). And certainly some fans must have simply voted for their national team favorites. But fan voting was only 20% of the total. Staff also received 20%, as did the media, while the players got 40%.

And we know how the players voted, because they told us. And it’s a pretty reasonable list. Maybe a little too stacked with North Carolina players, but they did win the league. And there certainly aren’t any obvious mistakes here.

@NWSL_players present our inaugural Player of the Year awards. These awards are voted for by ONLY the players of the NWSL.

Congratulations to our Team of the Year!#ProsKnow #ForThePlayersByThePlayers pic.twitter.com/MCpWqtWaYB
— NWSLPA (@nwsl_players) October 18, 2019

Could the media vote have been responsible? Anything is possible, but it doesn’t seem likely. There were some serious issues with distribution of ballots—with many of the most knowledgeable people in the business failing to get the chance to vote—but plenty of folks did get to vote. And you can see a likely distribution of those votes by checking out the SBNation staff selections. Another extremely reasonable list. Reducing the number of media votes shouldn’t matter so long as even a few voters do get through the door.

One alternative possibility does present itself: an error in tabulation. As anyone who does a lot of data entry knows, it’s all too easy to screw everything up with one accidental deletion, one careless copy-and-paste, one mistyped equation. Given the staffing issues, and given all the other things going on with the league—the playoffs, expansion, significant changes in league structure—it’s certainly plausible that a mistake was made somewhere in the process.

Perhaps instead of the fan vote being weighted at 20%, each individual vote from a fan was weighted at 20%, while each individual vote from a media member was 20%, and so forth. Given that fan votes presumably massively outnumbered all the other votes, this would potentially explain the result.

Or maybe it’s something even simpler. An equation mis-typed, a locked account that couldn’t be opened. Something like that.

Transparency isn’t a perfect solution, but it’s better than nothing

The real hope here is that this disaster will inspire reforms. We’ve already seen suggestions bandied about, and those conversations will continue as we move forward. But one thing should be part of any proposal: more transparency. If the results strain credibility, at least show us the numbers. Don’t let the result be a black box; let us see who voted, and how that added up to the final result.

Sunshine can’t disinfect everything, but unless there is some special need for secrecy, it’s generally best to let everyone see how it happened. That’s a lesson the league has rarely learned, but we shouldn’t give up hope.

Route Two Soccer: Two key tactical questions for the NWSL Final

Posted on October 24, 2019December 31, 2019 by Backline Soccer

The North Carolina Courage are in the midst of a dynasty. Despite some early season struggles, they won the Shield again this year, finishing with a goal difference of +31, miles better than anyone else. Last year they obliterated all opposition and took home the title in resounding fashion. They also made the final in 2017, losing narrowly to Portland, and won back in 2016 (as the Western New York Flash). That makes this their fourth straight finals appearance. Their coach may continue to insist to the contrary, but they are the clear favorites to win on Sunday.

The Chicago Red Stars have made the playoffs five straight years, but only won their first playoff match last weekend. They are playing the best soccer they ever produced, with a rock solid backline, one of the best midfields in the world, and two absolutely world-class forwards working in tandem. They also dominated North Carolina in the regular season results, taking seven of nine available points from the champions.

However, there are several asterisks on that record. North Carolina dominated the first game, while in the second Chicago took advantage of a World Cup-ravaged NC lineup, and were lucky to face a goalkeeper, Katelyn Rowland, in impossibly bad form, scoring on their only three shots on goal. The mid-July showdown, however, really was an impressive performance and a genuine indicator of Chicago’s potential to not merely scrounge a result against Carolina but to actually outplay them.

Whether they will repeat that performance on Sunday is unknown, of course, but I see two key questions that help to define their chances.

Can Chicago use width to open up space for an attack?

North Carolina has not varied their basic tactical setup much in the past several years. They almost always set up in a 4222 ‘box’ system, with two strikers, two attacking midfielders, and two deeper-lying midfielders who share attacking and defensive duties. It’s certainly not a perfect system, but it’s been remarkably resilient. The biggest weakness of this approach is the lack of midfield width. All four players in the midfield line are free to roam a bit, but generally take up central roles. And if they do drift wide, they risk exposing holes in the vacated middle.

However, very few teams have found a way to exploit this area, for three reasons.

First, the combination of athleticism and intelligence of North Carolina’s midfield quarter is unmatched in the league. They move so quickly to collapse on weak points that it’s the rare opponent who finds the time to take advantage.

Second, the Courage’s incredible attacking array also goes a long way to securing their defensive unit. Most teams are too worried about buttressing their defense against the all-out Carolina assault to even think about how to spring a counter.

Third, North Carolina has the best attacking fullbacks in the league, severely reducing the need for wide attackers in the midfield. The key here is left back Jaelene Hinkle who regularly is among the league leaders in assists and chances created, and has been no different this year, finishing third in the league this year with six assists. But her teammate Merritt Mathias contributed quite a lot too, with five assists of her own from the right. It looked like the Courage might struggle a bit once Mathias went down with an ACL tear last month, but they’ve barely missed a beat thanks to makeshift right back Heather O’Reilly (which isn’t really that surprising, given her lengthy and stellar career in more advanced roles).

All that said, if North Carolina has a weakness to be attacked, it’s here. The key is to target the space behind the fullbacks with precision strikes, dragging central players out wide and opening up space in the middle for the forwards to create a bit. This has the added benefit of putting the Courage’s excellent center back pairing of Abby Dahlkemper and Abby Erceg under pressure. Both are superb defenders, but both are also at their weakest when asked to range outside their box. Dahlkemper in particular is susceptible to getting turned out wide.

That left side, with Dahlkemper and O’Reilly, is probably the best zone to attack. And Chicago is uniquely well set up to take advantage, with an in-form Yuki Nagasato able to link up with excellent passers like Vanessa DiBernardo and Morgan Brian in the midfield. And obviously there is no player in the league who is more capable of converting half-chances into goals than Sam Kerr.

The other reason to think favorably about Chicago’s potential to attack in this fashion is the speed with which they can move from deep possession to a shot. This is important because any dawdling gives North Carolina’s attackers time to recover and begin aggressively pressuring those in possession, usually breaking up the threat or even retaking possession through the counter-press.

There are no certainties against North Carolina. They are versatile, flexible, and incredibly fit. Beating them requires good ideas and good execution. But if they are going to be defeated, it makes sense to target their weaknesses, and Chicago is well designed to do so.

How will Chicago use Julie Ertz?

Chicago made a big shift in early September, dropping Julie Ertz from the midfield to the backline. This was a big move for two reasons. First, it allowed them to replace the struggling Katie Naughton with one of the world’s best defenders, patching up the one weak hole in what is otherwise the league’s most solid backline. Second, it gave them the freedom to establish a more progressive and possession-driven style of play.

Ertz is a great all-around player but her weakest skills are in possession and passing. But those are only relative weaknesses. Compared to the average central midfielder, she’s not a great passer. But compared to the average center back, she is. By moving her back, therefore, Chicago improved their passing quality in two critical positions. With Ertz and Davidson in the center of their defense, they have two high-skill players for the position, who can then combine with Danielle Colaprico and Morgan Brian—arguably the most technical central midfield pairing in the league.

This isn’t a pure win-win situation. By removing Ertz from the midfield, Chicago has exposed themselves more in the center of the park. Ertz is among the best ball-winners in the world, but at center back she is far more constrained and can’t leap into nearly as many tackles. Brian and Colaprico are both good defensive players, but their skills are more in shepherding play by controlling space and less in directly challenging the opposition.

The result of playing Ertz in the backline, therefore, is a more stable final line, but less potential for creating turnovers higher up the field. The choice is whether to encourage a more measured game in which possession is traded back and forth relatively slowly, or a more frenetic game characterized by wild twists and turns. Neither approach is intrinsically superior, but given Chicago’s personnel, they should probably prefer the former, especially against North Carolina.

The Courage’s greatest strength is in transition. They are unparalleled in their collective movement and resulting capacity to ruthlessly exploit space. North Carolina on the move is a terrifying sight to behold. But they are (relatively) weaker against a stable, organized defense, which often forces them into low-percentage shots from distance. They also depend relatively little on creative possession from their attacking midfielders. Both Dunn and Debinha are generally just dangerous, if not more so, without the ball.

Ertz’s disruptive abilities as a midfielder probably offer less value under these conditions. North Carolina doesn’t rely much on complicated passing maneuvers that are susceptible to being broken up. And they absolutely relish a fast-paced game with a lot of aggressive movement. Their whole approach is to capitalize on bulk. Opponents who up the tempo and try to force play absolutely risk playing into their hands.

This isn’t a pure open-and-shut case. A lot depends on which Katie Naughton is available on Sunday. At this time last year she looked like a fringe national team quality defender, with good instincts and good physicality. But for most of this year, she looked well off the pace, making lots of mistakes both small and large. If the Red Stars can get the good version of Naughton, there’s a case for loading up the central midfield with Ertz, Colaprico, Brian, and DiBernardo and doing everything possible to muck up the game. Fight to a standstill there, count on your strong defensive fullbacks to lock down their counterparts from Carolina, kick long balls at Kerr when you have the chance, and hope she can magic up a goal. It wouldn’t be a pretty game, but you only have to look back to the 2017 final to see Portland forcing a physical disruptive game on the Courage and scraping a victory in the process. Chicago certainly has the ability to do the same if they want to attempt it.

But on balance, Chicago look like a much better team with Ertz in the backline. And not only does this setup allow them to play better in general, it also gives them the chance to dictate play better, something that is absolutely critical if they hope to ride the waves of the North Carolina attack.

Backline Chat: NWSL 2019 Reflections

Posted on October 16, 2019December 31, 2019 by Backline Soccer

Charles Olney (@olneyce): Welcome everyone to our NWSL wrap-up chat. It’s been awhile since we’ve all talked. It’s good to be back. This week we want to discuss the conclusion to the NWSL regular season. Where we are now, and where things will go from here.

To kick things off, what have been everyone’s favorite moments of the 2019 season?

Allison Cary (@findingallison): Toni Pressley coming back this past weekend and getting the captain’s armband

RJ Allen (@TheSoccerCritic): It would be mean to say Jill Ellis’ last game in charge of the team so I am going to say Balcer having the year she has and being really a wonderful pro level player out the gate.

Allison Cary: Also the Spirit’s games at Audi Field. I was at the first one against the Pride and it was a really special experience.

Luis Hernandez (@radioactivclown): For sure Toni coming back from cancer, but I think an honorable mention to Syd also coming back this year.

Charles Olney: The Pressley moment was a great one. And as Luis notes, there are some similar notes with Sydney Leroux coming back after her pregnancy.

I have also loved seeing some of the big crowds, especially for teams that have often struggled for an audience, like Washington and Sky Blue.

Luis Hernandez: It’s a credit to the fitness coach and support staff for the Pride.

Charles Olney: Less inspirational than some of these moments, but I also enjoyed some of the blitzkrieg performances we’ve seen this year. The full North Carolina thrashing of Portland. Those rapid-fire three goals from Reign against Orlando. Chicago at times. It’s fun to see teams truly clicking.

RJ Allen: Honestly seeing Sam Kerr find another gear and managing 18 goals in a World Cup year was pretty great.

Charles Olney: Okay, getting a little bit more into the weeds, what were some big surprises this year? Teams who over or underperformed? Players?

Allison Cary: Even in a World Cup year, I was surprised at just how bad some of the performances from the Pride were. Particularly their top players. Like I didn’t expect the team as a whole to be great but I expected more out of some of the bigger named players.

Charles Olney: I was pretty down on the Pride coming into the season, but I was still surprised. They were much worse than even the low-range expectation

RJ Allen: I think the Sky Blue FC saga was surprising. Starting the year like they did, going through a few sets of coaching and coming out as a team that wasn’t just dropping 3 points every week.

Luis Hernandez: My biggest surprise was the overachieving Sky Blue once the team fired Denise Reddy. I wasn’t expecting them to perform how they did.

Charles Olney: Sky Blue was definitely the reverse image of Orlando. I expected them to be better than 2018 but still pretty awful. But after they fired Reddy, they were genuinely competitive. Combine that with changes at the top of the system and Sky Blue no longer feels like the unwanted stepchild of the league. Which is great news.

RJ Allen: Coaching in the NWSL seems to be a very different job than coaching in a lot of other contexts.

Charles Olney: For individual surprises, did anyone see Kristen Hamilton having this season? RJ already mentioned Balcer. Midge Purce would be another one along those lines.

RJ Allen: I don’t think even Hamilton thought she would have this season.

Luis Hernandez: Nope. She certainly made the most of her opportunities.

Charles Olney: I was delighted to see Tori Huster transition seamlessly into being a fullback. That’s certainly not one I expected.

RJ Allen: I thought Andi Sullivan also had a pretty solid season for a player who 2 years ago looked like a lock for France 2019 for the USWNT and then very much didn’t look like that player.

Luis Hernandez: I also want to say that I didn’t expect this season to be Heather O’Reilly’s last year. I get it, but in my mind she was going to play forever.

RJ Allen: I didn’t expect O’Reilly to be the starting right back for the favorite to win the title. But here we are.

Luis Hernandez: What a way to go out. She’s the reason I’ll be rooting for the Courage. Besides, who doesn’t love an underdog story…

Charles Olney: On the negative side, I wouldn’t quite call it a ‘surprise’ but I was disappointed that Houston wasn’t able to take a step forward. Especially during the World Cup break. That felt like a team with some potential to consolidate on some gains from 2018, but it never happened.

RJ Allen: Houston feels like the boy called “It” of the NWSL.

Allison Cary: They seem stuck in that limbo of not quite in the bottom tier but not quite good enough. And they’ve been stuck in that for at least the last two seasons.

Charles Olney: Really, every season except their first. Points per game for the last five years: 1.2, 1.1, 1, 1.3, 1.1. They’re nothing if not consistent!

Luis Hernandez: Houston gives Orlando hope.

RJ Allen: Can we talk for a moment about Vlatko and the magic he has been able to pull this year in Washington state? The Reign had a starting XI level of players on the IR this year and he managed to get them to the playoffs.

Luis Hernandez: It seems like every move Reign pulled off worked out. I’m ready for the coach of the year to go put a roster together for the USWNT.

RJ Allen: The problem with that is he doesn’t get free reign to do that. He can’t just drop an unfit Alex Morgan for example.

Charles Olney: If nothing else, Vlatko in the job will test a lot of the hypotheses we’ve developed over the past five years about who precisely is responsible for various policies and choices.

RJ Allen: Vlatko seems to be willing to admit when he is wrong too. Which is a huge thing in his favor.

Charles Olney: Alright, let’s talk playoffs. In the first match, it’s the North Carolina Courage taking on Reign FC. The Courage should finally get their home semifinal. Does anyone think the Reign can pull this one out? What do you think will be the key matchups?

Allison Cary: Anything can happen in the playoffs.

Luis Hernandez: I credit his leadership when he had a big absence from the locker room. I think the only thing that didn’t happen as much as I wanted to see was a better year from Shea Groom

RJ Allen: I am going to give the Reign a solid 33.3% chance of coming away with a win. Murphy has been great. Yanez will be back from her one game sit down. I think if anyone can figure out how to get to Riley, it’s Vlatko.

Allison Cary: Agreed. Like I still think the Courage will win, but I’m certainly not counting the Reign out.

RJ Allen: But Lynn Williams and Crystal Dunn and Jess McDonald and Sam Mewis and I could go on. The Courage are stacked.

Luis Hernandez: I really want to see a different group of teams in the final. I just don’t see how NC drops this match at home.

Charles Olney: The big question for me is whether Rapinoe is actually back. She seemed to be giving it maybe 60% effort in their final game this weekend. But she has shown flashes of her top level. If she can put in a full 90, she has every chance to give O’Reilly a nightmare of a game.

Luis Hernandez: Reign have back to back weeks where they are traveling across the country.

Charles Olney: Absent that, it’s hard to see where Reign’s goals would come from. But you could still see a very tight 0-0 or 1-0 win if North Carolina can’t convert on their chances.

RJ Allen: The Courage love to play almost a two back with how high the outside backs get up. That can burn them. It’s rare but it happens.

Luis Hernandez: There are so many factors. The Courage will shoot like three times as much as the Reign; so as long as they convert they’ll win.

Charles Olney: Yanez and Long are probably the key players here. If they can support the backline, they may be able to force Carolina into taking a lot of mediocre shots from distance. I trust Murphy to handle those.

Luis Hernandez: Really all I want is a good game from both matches and not have to worry the ref is going to screw something up where there’s a meltdown on Twitter.

Charles Olney: Moving onto the second semifinal: Chicago-Portland. Chicago will be trying to prevent a fifth consecutive exit in the semifinal. How do you like their chances? And what are the key matchups?

RJ Allen: I do not want another North Carolina vs Portland final. And North Carolina is pretty likely to win. So sorry Portland.

Allison Cary: This is gonna be a good game.

RJ Allen: Sam Kerr vs AD Franch and the Emilys is going to be huge. Kerr has a habit of not always showing up in games that matter.

Luis Hernandez: Which team has less momentum: the one that hasn’t played in what, three weeks, or the team that hasn’t looked great and not scored in a couple of matches?

Charles Olney: If it’s about momentum, it’s all for Chicago. They finished the season on a high and then got a nice break. Portland finished the season stumbling over the line.

RJ Allen: And Portland has been flat out bad lately. Utah broke them.

Luis Hernandez: I want the Red Stars to win. I’ve seen all the buzz on social media to get a packed house.

Charles Olney: You’re right about Kerr often not managing to produce to her normal levels in the big games. I tend to think that’s coincidental more than a real flaw in her game. But it would certainly be nice to get some definitive evidence on that point. A hat trick in a big game would be thrilling to see.

Luis Hernandez: Rory Dames needs to win this game or GTFO of Chicago.

Luis Hernandez: Like the team should fire him.

RJ Allen: I don’t see why Chicago should fire him at all.

Luis Hernandez: because he can’t get the team over the hump

RJ Allen: He is getting his team to the playoffs more times in a row than any other coach. He can’t help things like in 2017 Christen Press couldn’t score a goal to save her life.

Luis Hernandez: I want him to win.

Charles Olney: This is the best Chicago has ever played, and a fulfillment of the plan they have been talking about for two years. I’ve been somewhat critical of him in the past, but I’m a big fan of what he’s done this year. One result this weekend, either direction, shouldn’t wipe that away.

RJ Allen: He is also the best drafter in the NWSL.

Luis Hernandez: All I’m saying is that if we are going to credit Vlatko for all his success in the post season that we need to shine a light on Dames constantly crashing out in the big game

RJ Allen: It’s not like he gets blown out of these games. I feel like getting your team to the post season almost every year is his job. Anything more is gravy.

Charles Olney: The big question for me in this game is the battle of the midfields. Chicago didn’t drop a single point after moving Ertz to the backline but, as I commented when they made the switch, it’s an approach that improves the midfield in terms of its ability to keep possession but potentially weakens it defensively. This will be their first test against a playoff team to see whether it can withstand the sort of pressure that Portland can apply.

RJ Allen: I think a lot of this game is going to come down to the health of some of the Red Stars.

Charles Olney: Portland closed out the season playing effectively a 4-6-0. It didn’t really work that well, but you could imagine something like that causing a lot of trouble for Chicago by constantly putting players into tough decisions about who and where to mark.

RJ Allen: The Chicago midfield has taken a beating in terms of not having their best players always able to go 90. I worry if this is a long 0-0 or 1-1 game Chicago just won’t have the ability to go 90 or 120 minutes.

Charles Olney: Brian and Colaprico are probably the most positionally astute central midfield combo in the league, but this setup puts a lot of pressure on them to both defend and attack. Could be a real inflection point.

RJ Allen: Portland has Heath and Sinclair; they haven’t been great, but a set piece or a PK is not something you want to mess around with either on.

Charles Olney: Another place where that multi-week break could be important. If Chicago comes out fully healthy, that’s a huge advantage. But if they come out rusty, very different story.

RJ Allen: Both sides have very solid goalkeepers. I doubt a dinky goal is going to win it. Both sides are going to have to really put it out there to get a score.

Luis Hernandez: Just because Portland has kind of limped into the post season, there’s no way to discount them. I do like Chicago here. I think the Red Stars backline is stronger. The midfield is more even than I expected and the front line for Chicago has the edge. I think I’d be surprised if they were too rusty.

RJ Allen: The problem with Portland isn’t just they limped in. It’s how truly bad they look doing it. They look like a team in 7th or something.

Charles Olney: It does feel like the weakest Portland has been in quite a while. But it’s also hard to bet against that team. A vintage performance from Horan and Heath could easily tip the balance.

RJ Allen: If Horan is healthy.

Luis Hernandez: If Chicago does look poor, people will be critical on the league scheduling at the end of the year.

Charles Olney: Okay, we’ve already sort of discussed this, but what matchup for the final would people most like to see?

RJ Allen: Red Stars vs North Carolina.

Charles Olney: I’ll stick with the obvious one and also say North Carolina v. Chicago. The two best teams over the season, who match up really well against each other. And a chance for Sam Kerr to finally show what she’s got in the final.

Luis Hernandez: I would like to see Chicago vs Reign, but I’m expecting the Courage hosting the Red Stars at the final

RJ Allen: North Carolina playing at home vs the Red Stars I think is the best case for the league. Sam Kerr vs Lynn Williams. Two great defenses. A ton of marketable stars. And just different enough that people won’t be annoyed like another North Carolina vs Portland game.

Luis Hernandez: It may be the last game for Kerr in NWSL. That bums me out.

RJ Allen: Until Kerr posts it, I don’t buy her going away from the NWSL and W-League.

Charles Olney: Before we close out, let’s talk about the big end-of-year awards. RJ and I already wrote up our picks (in which we actually agreed right down the line):

MVP: Sam Kerr
Defender: Casey Short
Goalkeeper: Kailen Sheridan
Rookie: Bethany Balcer
Coach: Vlatko the Wizard

Luis, do you want to weigh in?

Luis Hernandez: Well, sure.

Charles Olney: And you are contractually obligated to disagree with us. Make your case!

Luis Hernandez: MVP: Sam Kerr – Yet another Golden Boot for her even when she left for the World Cup. Came back and continued to push the Red Stars to wins.

Defender: Casey Short – Personally, I’m favoring a player that’s been here the full year. Yeah, maybe she didn’t start on the right foot, but she got better as the season went on. Plus two goals, one a game winner in Orlando. I think she deserves it.

Goalkeeper: Aubrey Bledsoe – I think Bledsoe is so consistent that she gets overlooked. Nine clean sheets.

Rookie: Bethany Balcer – I think everyone had Balcer’s name penned in for this award and I wanted to pick someone else but I’m talking myself on Balcer. She had the better year. Goals get awards.

Coach: Vlatko. He managed to stitch a team together where others more than likely would have fallen short.

RJ Allen: One final thought before we go: can we all agree the NWSL needs more awards?

Charles Olney: I actually disagree. The NWSL already suffers from award inflation with all the player of the week/month, goals/saves of the week, etc.

RJ Allen: Newcomer of the Year, 12th Player of the Year, Comeback Player of the Year. Give me all the awards.

I want there to be an NWSL awards dinner like Orlando does.

Charles Olney: Okay, that does sound fun.

RJ Allen: See, I knew you’d come around. Sonnett and Kling can host.

Route Two Soccer: My 2019 NWSL Awards Ballot

Posted on October 15, 2019December 31, 2019 by Backline Soccer

It’s time for some end of the year votes. Here’s my take on who should win the big awards.

MVP

Sam Kerr
Casey Short
Christen Press
Crystal Dunn
Andi Sullivan

I am a longtime advocate of the ‘goals are overrated’ thesis, and have often been frustrated that the MVP award is really just a proxy for the Golden Boot award. But I don’t see how you could reasonably argue for anyone other than Sam Kerr as the 2019 NWSL MVP. She’s playing on an absolutely ridiculous level, and there’s no one else in the world who can match it right now. She participated directly in 23 goals (18 goals + 5 assists). That’s more than two entire teams scored (Sky Blue finished with 20 goals and Houston with 21). And she left for a month to go to the World Cup!

The gap between #1 and #2 is large, but the others are fairly close. In second place I have Casey Short, who deserves a huge amount of credit for the Red Stars’ best season yet (more on her below). After that I’ve got Christen Press and Crystal Dunn, both of whom missed about half the season but were so otherworldly-good during their limited time that they sneak onto the list. Dunn is the piece that transforms North Carolina from a very good team into an unbeatable one, while Press is the difference between Utah as a struggling bottom-feeder and a playoff contender. In fifth place I have Andi Sullivan, who took a massive step forward after a disappointing first season. Of all the players left off the World Cup roster, she’s probably the most likely to muscle her way into the Olympic 18 for 2020.

Rookie of the Year

Bethany Balcer
Sam Staab
Gabby Seiler

This is one of the deepest rookie classes we’ve seen in a long time. Just consider that players like Tierna Davidson and Jordan DiBiasi don’t even make the top three.

You could make a strong case for Staab as the winner here. Defending is hard, especially when you cycle out your entire defensive line and swap in a bunch of first and second year players. And Staab stepped into the role seamlessly, helping Washington produce one of the league’s stingiest defenses. But ultimately I sided with Balcer, who not only poured in goals but who also proved critical to building play and to an aggressive defensive press.

Still, as good as both Staab and Balcer were, they only top this list because of Seiler’s season-ending injury. It’s no coincidence that Portland stumbled badly once Seiler was unavailable. She was central to orchestrating their possession. There are few players in the world with her positional awareness and passing acumen. It’s a shame we didn’t get to see a full season from her.

Goalkeeper of the Year

Kailen Sheridan
Aubrey Bledsoe
Casey Murphy

Plenty of strong competitors here, including a few that were very good in limited minutes after spending a bunch of time away for the World Cup. I have Sheridan above the crowd for her consistency and range of abilities. She’s excellent at stopping shots, good at collecting crosses and controlling her box, and reasonably good with her feet. She struggled a bit in 2018, and understandably so given the horror show of the defense in front of her. But with a stabilized unit this year, she played with confidence and calmness, and was a big part of the reason Sky Blue conceded 18 fewer goals this season than they did last year. In fact, if you go by the advanced stats, she’s responsible for the majority of that improvement.

Defender of the Year

Casey Short
Megan Oyster
Jaelene Hinkle

We sometimes throw superlatives around a little too easily, but Casey Short had a genuinely unbelievable year. She was voted on the Team of the Month for every single month of the season, and deservedly so. She’s always been a great defender, but took it to another level this year. She can play on either side, giving her team the flexibility to shut down whichever wing might pose a greater threat on the day. Her footwork is rock solid, her positioning good. And she even contributes a decent amount going forward. Just the complete package.

Oyster has been a stealth candidate for one of the league’s best center backs for a few years now, and this year was no different. You could make a similar case for her partner Lou Barnes, but for my money Oyster is the more important player at this point, thanks to her range and her anticipation.

The list is rounded out with Hinkle, who is not without controversy, and who is rarely talked about as one of the key figures on this absurdly dominant North Carolina team. But she is the best attacking fullback in the league by a long way, and contributes quite a bit defensively as well.

Coach of the Year

Vlatko Andonovski
Paul Riley
Rory Dames

The easiest vote on the ballot – even easier than picking Kerr. What Andonovski managed this year, taking an injury-ravaged Reign team to the playoffs, is arguably the greatest coaching accomplishment the league has yet seen. As with all of Vlatko’s teams, they were defensively solid, calm in possession, and consistently hard to break down. To play that way under the best of conditions is impressive; to manage it through unprecedented roster turnover is genuinely astonishing.

We’ve grown used to the dominance of North Carolina but it’s still worth noting how Riley has been able to keep his team firing on all cylinders. It’s always hard to come back after a record-breaking season, and they could easily have fallen to pieces once they started to struggle a bit early in the season. But he kept them moving and once everyone returned from the World Cup, they sliced through the rest of the league like a hot knife through butter.

Rounding out the list is Rory Dames, whose Red Stars just put together their most complete season yet. I’ve written a lot about Chicago in the past few years, wondering why this collection of exceptional players couldn’t ever quite play up to their abilities. In 2019, they did it. This is now the smoothest-passing and most aesthetically-pleasing team in the league to watch, and the results have followed as well.

Team of the Season

Christen Press – Sam Kerr – Carli Lloyd

Crystal Dunn – Andi Sullivan – Kristie Mewis

Jaelene Hinkle – Megan Oyster – Becky Sauerbrunn – Casey Short

Kailen Sheridan

Most of these should be obvious from the comments above. But it’s worth noting Kristie Mewis, who is playing some of the best soccer of her life, and Carli Lloyd who continutes to shut up all her critics (myself included). Becky Sauerbrunn isn’t really Becky Sauerbrunn anymore, but she’s still great, and still somehow consistently underrated.

Second XI

Yuki Nagasato – Lynn Williams – Kristen Hamilton

Debinha – Sarah Killion – Denise O’Sullivan

Meghan Klingenberg – Abby Erceg – Julie Ertz – Tori Huster

Aubrey Bledsoe

Lots of great players here, including several that I’ve called overrated in the past. But not even I can deny how critical both Debinha and O’Sullivan have been to sustaining the North Carolina machine. I would never have guessed that Tori Huster would be in my second XI as a right back of all things, but she made a strong transition into the job.

The three toughest calls were leaving out Christine Sinclair, Gabby Seiler, and Morgan Brian, each of whom was exceptional in limited minutes. But spots are limited and ultimately I decided to err in favor of players like Killion, O’Sullivan, and Williams who contributed a lot more bulk.

Who Should Win the NWSL Awards?

Posted on October 14, 2019December 31, 2019 by Backline Soccer

We have reached award season as the NWSL regular season comes to an end. And, while I am firmly in the camp that awards don’t matter all that much, if we’re going to have them I do believe they should go to the correct people.

World Cup and Olympic years are always a bit odd in terms of giving out awards. Do we focus on who was there all year, grade internationals on a curve, what makes a player most valuable? It’s as much of an art as it is a science to try to give an answer to each award that feels not only correct but satisfying. Giving awards speaks as much about the giver of the award as it does the person getting the award.

So for the record, yes the World Cup happened and some players didn’t see all the minutes they might have in a less internationally heavy year. That will be taken into account but, like life, one factor is not the whole story. I’ve tried to find the right balance between who held the league down all year and who still shown brightest even when 50+ players were pulled out.

Most Valuable Player: Sam Kerr, Chicago Red Stars

Sam Kerr finished 2019 with a record setting – a record she held herself – 18 goals and 5 assists. Her 19 games played leaves 5 games on the table as she missed time in the league to go to France with the Australian national team.
When Sam Kerr is on the pitch, even when another teammate is scoring the goals, eyes linger on Kerr as greatness is just expected in the league at this point. She is perhaps the greatest player in the NWSL’s history. If this is her last year – reports say she may be heading overseas – she has put on quite a show while still here.

Defender of the Year: Casey Short

Chicago Red Stars

It is never easy being one of the last players cut from a USWNT World Cup roster. In 2015 Crystal Dunn lit up the NWSL after being the last player cut and in 2019 it was Casey Short’s year to show it may have been a mistake to leave her behind.

Short is a more defensive outside back than you’d find from Dunn or Kelley O’Hara. But no current NWSL outside back has her defensive chops. She might be the toughest one vs one defender we’ve seen in the league, able to take on any of the world class forwards she comes up against. The Defender of the Year has, so far, always gone to a centerback. But this year Short has shown that outside backs can provide stout defense, as well as leading their backlines, as well as any center back could.

Goalkeeper of the Year: Kailen Sheridan

Sky Blue FC

In a year where Sky Blue had more ups than in the last few years, goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan was their brightest spot. Since being drafted by the team in 2017 she has been a consistent bright spot for the team.

This season she had 86 saves off of 111 shots on goal faced, tied with Aubrey Bledsoe of the Washington Spirit. In her 19 appearances (she was in France with Canada for the World Cup) she showed why she belongs in the top goalkeeping spot for the year. Working behind a backline that was often a bit rough, she managed three clean sheets to go with her 86 saves.

Rookie of the Year: Bethany Balcer

Reign FC

There will be a lot written about Bethany Balcer in the coming weeks. And she deserves every word of it. No NWSL player has come out of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) before but Balcer didn’t just prove she could make a pro roster, she proved she should be a starter for a playoff team. Her six goals lead the team this season. She featured in all 24 games, starting 19 times and playing 1,700 minutes. These numbers are impressive for any player, but for a rookie they are outstanding.

Coach of the Year: Vlatko Andonovski

Reign FC

Do I really need to explain why he gets my vote?

His ability to spot talent like Balcer, to patch up a roster that featured nearly a full XI of players listed as “Out” for a large part of the season, and ability to win the games his team needed, all come together to give him the edge.
He took a team that slowly lost player after player to the IR and had brought them to the playoffs. I don’t know if he should be the next USWNT coach. But he has shown why he is so highly spoken about for the job.

The NWSL Best XI

Goalkeeper: Kailen Sheridan
Defender: Casey Short
Defender: Abby Erceg
Defender: Lauren Barnes
Defender: Merritt Mathias
Midfielder: Bev Yanez
Midfielder: Bethany Balcer
Midfielder: Yuki Nagasato
Forward: Lynn Williams
Forward: Sam Kerr
Forward: Christen Press

The NWSL Second Best

Goalkeeper: Casey Murphy
Defender: Sarah Gorden
Defender: Becky Sauerbrunn
Defender: Emily Menges
Defender: Sam Staab
Midfielder: Crystal Dunn
Midfielder: Midge Purce
Midfielder: Debhina
Forward: Kristen Hamilton
Forward: Jodie Taylor
Forward: Ashley Hatch

Did I get it right? Wrong? Who would you have selected? Let me know below.

Should Jaelene Hinkle Make the NWSL Best XI?

Posted on October 14, 2019December 31, 2019 by Backline Soccer

As the leaves in the northern United States change from green to reds, oranges, and yellows it is that magical time again.

NWSL awards season.

And with this most magical season comes questions that transcend what happened on the pitch. We can talk about who scored the most goals or prevented the most attacks, but we also have to talk about what it means to honor a player.

And while I do like writing about awards, I don’t like writing about Jaelene Hinkle. But as my colleagues and I prepare to vote on NWSL Defender of the Year and Best and Second Best XI, she has come to mind in a way I just can’t shake.

Hinkle is an engaging person to interview, one of the very best outside backs in the NWSL, and a two time NWSL champion with both the Western New York Flash and the North Carolina Courage. From all reports of those that cover the Courage on a regular basis, she’s also well-liked by her teammates. They did just vote her team Defender of the Year after all. She is also a homophobe. She is someone who has gone on the Christian Broadcasting Network show, The 700 Club. She has made social media posts decrying the Supreme Court’s legalization of gay marriage as evidence of the country “falling farther and farther away from God,” among other posts.

The NWSL specifically, and women’s soccer in general, has become a safe space for queerness. It’s a place where players can live their authentic lives and where fans can be themselves and find others to share their queerness. Pride nights, openly LGBT+ players hugging or kissing their partner after matches, social media posts. All of this contributes to a sense of safeness and acceptance.

But even if this is the common trend, it’s statistically certain that there are players in the NWSL who believe as Hinkle does, but who simply have chosen to stay private with their thoughts. In fact, this is part of why many fans see Hinkle as such a threat. She’s not just one person with an opinion; she’s a representation of many others who would like to deny the humanity of others. In this era, at this time, people justifiably take that stuff seriously.

My own feelings on Hinkle have changed since she first made her social media posts. At the time I thought they were relatively harmless, and that she had a right to them even if I disagreed. I regret that.

All of which brings us back to the big question that is rolling around my brain as I work to put together my Defender of the Year, Best and Second Best XI votes.

Should Hinkle be included?

I am pretty firmly on the Casey Short is the NWSL Defender of the Year train. Short has been a rock solid defensive outside back on a team that needed a leader on their backline. Short was likely the last or the second to last cut on the USWNT World Cup roster and played like someone who should have been starting on the team in France. I’ll write more about Short later but suffice it to say she has my vote. But if she has a challenger, it might just be Hinkle. She started nearly every game the Courage have played since the team moved from New York, and every match this season. She is maddening competent at her job. In fact, Hinkle has the edge in raw offensive stats over Short. She has more assists, more successful crosses and more key passes. She’s not the defender of the year, but she’s not that far away.

And so, as I wrote out my Best and Second best XI, I struggled with whether to list her. If I am going by the stat sheet and on field play, she has been among the best in the league at her position this year. So if I don’t list her, the XI has to come with asterisk next to it. This is the Best XI, minus one player who otherwise should be on there. After all, if her own teammates can vote for her, why can’t I?

When I put the names down on the spreadsheet I use before writing my NWSL awards piece I wrote and then deleted her name. Then wrote it again. Then deleted it again. But I finally settling on not voting for her.

I have voted for her in past years. But each year it get harder. Each year it feels the harm compounds. Two years ago, this was mostly unspoken. Then she turned down a USWNT callup over the pride numbers and she gave that 700 Club interview. Now it’s all crystal clear. And I find I can no longer hold my nose and cast a vote. I can’t keep voting for someone when it takes this much mental gymnastics to justify it to myself.

Others may vote for her, and I get why. I won’t begrudge them their vote. She has been very good. She may very well be in the Best XI and she has an outside shot at Defender of the Year. But I can’t do it. Will one vote matter? Likely not, given how the NWSL compiles the awards. But at the end of the day, they entrust us each with a vote, and we have to make up our minds as best we can. So it is my ballot to do with what I want. And in this moment, I don’t want her name written there next to mine.

Hinkle may be one of the best in her position in the NWSL, but she doesn’t represent what the league has come to mean for so many of the fans of the sport. Until and unless she changes her bigoted views I can’t include her in my voting.

Red Card, Ref!

Posted on October 7, 2019December 31, 2019 by Backline Soccer

It’s no secret or surprise that the only aspect of the NWSL that seems to bond all fans is the quality of refereeing. Or lack thereof.

Since 2015 fans have been consistently lamenting and bemoaning the quality of refereeing in the league and how it seems to get worse every year. There have been some questionable non-calls and some downright incorrect ones. One of them being when Utah Royals goalkeeper Nicole Barnhart kicked Orlando Pride striker Claire Emslie in the stomach, denying her an obvious shot on goal, and Emslie was the one who received the yellow card. Granted nobody likes the referee when a call goes against their team, as Utah fans can attest regarding defender Becky Sauerbrunn and the imprint of the ball she wore on her cheek for a while. However, the pool of referees seems to be getting smaller, leaving the ones that fans know and most certainly do not like.

The two major complaints that all fans seem to agree on are the perceived inexperience and inconsistency of all referees in the NWSL. While it’s easy to rip on the referees when they make a call fans don’t like and their team ends up losing because of it, there is a deeper problem that lies at the heart of this and it’s something that fans won’t like but will need to accept: referees are only human and are only as good as the organization they work for.

The first complaint I’ll tackle is the perception that referees in the NWSL don’t have all the experience they need to do their job properly. The training to become an official referee is not an easy one. US Soccer recently made changes to the referee program in June of this year, merging some of the levels, or grades together. The first grade is the grassroots, which is typically for the little kids/youth games. Next grade is regional, where the candidate gets their training and experience from a minimum of 50 adult amateur matches. The grade after regional is national. This is where they begin their training at US Soccer national camps and must have assistant referee experience as well. Once the person has been certified as a national referee, the dream is making PRO and FIFA grades. Once they’ve reached PRO, the next step is the NWSL, then MLS, then national team games. It is very time consuming since in order to move to the next grade and be certified nationally, the candidate must log in a lot of miles, which calls for a lot of free time to work enough matches and tournaments so they can continue to advance.

Ian Knighton is a referee that was gracious enough to give insight to what it takes to become a referee. “I think that the whole system is trying to gear towards bringing people through that are better prepared, but it’s just a few years behind. It’s a hard system to work through for most people, so you really have to narrow in on people who have the flexibility in their life to do it.”

Everyone has a side hustle that they really enjoy. More often than not, referees have day jobs or at least one other job that pays the bills. Spending all their free time working matches to climb the ladder to do NWSL games is no joke, but it can turn into one when the referee that has worked so hard makes every call incorrectly on the field. Just because you’re passionate about something doesn’t mean you’re good at it.

Which leads to the main issue NWSL fans have with referees: Inconsistency, with a capital “I.” Perhaps the best example of fans’ long-term frustration with inconsistency is the parallel situation of Lindsey Horan and Shea Groom. Groom had a particular thought about Horan’s yellow card and tweeted out on September 6^th “I distinctly remember getting a red card for shoving…#NationalTeamImmunity.”

Let’s travel back in time to July 2017 to an FCKC vs. Sky Blue game. Things got a little saucy between these two teams, coming to a head in stoppage time of the first half. Sky Blue’s Erica Skroski loses the ball to FCKC’s Shea Groom and decides to show her displeasure by grabbing a hold of Groom’s jersey. Of course, nobody likes being choked by their collar, so Groom swings an arm back, trying to dislodge her. Once Skroski lets go, Groom turns and raises both arms to shove her in the neck/face area, letting Skroski know that she is not the one. Skroski was shown a yellow card for a dangerous foul and Groom was shown a straight red card for violent conduct. FCKC would not only lose the game to a Sam Kerr hat trick, but head coach Vlatko Andonovski would be fined for his comments about the officiating that saw his team go down to 10 men. “This league has some very good referees, but some of the referees are the worst in the whole world. And, unfortunately, if we want this league to go forward, if we want good players to come [to] this league…something needs to happen.” Now those were super bold words for 2017, and, some would say, a prediction for the future.

Fast forward to the Portland Thorns vs. Utah Royals game this September. In the 77^thminute, after being on a yellow card for a foul against Christen Press, Emily Sonnett brought down Amy Rodriguez. The Portland defender was given a red card and received quite the unnecessary ass chewing from Rodriguez that I’m sure she will never forget. In the 80^thminute Lindsey Horan, who took great offense at the treatment of her best friend and was dead set on defending her honor, shoved Rodriguez off the ball from behind. She capped her action off by spreading her arms wide open and stating “You wanna fight?” What should have been a straight red was merely a yellow card for the national team midfielder.

There are arguments that since it was the first offense for Horan, it was only a yellow card. Groom’s red was undoubtedly earned. She had both of her hands up in the face/neck area of Skroski’s face and pushed her hard enough to upset her balance. However, in Horan’s case the play had been called dead, the ball wasn’t moving, and it was clearly done out of pure spite. It’s easy to categorize Groom’s actions as violent but not so with Horan’s.

Those two instances, out of the MANY over the past 7 years, have cemented the legacy of inconsistency among NWSL referees and honestly, it’s hard to dispute. PRO pride themselves on their extensive training, and yet none of their referees ever seem to be on the same page when it comes to calling, well…anything. In an Orlando/Houston game earlier this August the Pride lost 1-0 on a controversial PK call. Later on it was reported that the NWSL front office admitted to Orlando head coach Marc Skinner that the foul shouldn’t “have resulted in a penalty kick.” There is also the separate issue of violence that seems to be becoming more overt as referees lose more and more control over players, but that is a separate article.

It’s long been rumored that the NWSL is a training ground for referees who want to make it to the MLS level, something that Portland head coach Mark Parsons seems to believe himself when he was quoted saying, “the NWSL is a training ground for referees.” If – and that’s a big if – that is true, it’s just one more way that shows how low the women’s game is treated in America. Or it could simply be a continuous case of human error. “You get inconsistency across all referees. Just depends on experience and perspective”, says Knighton. “When you have referees with different external influences, that can create a lot of differing opinions on calls.”

So where does that leave the fans and players suffering through those differing opinions? Right where they started – nowhere. Accepting that it may take more drastic measures for refereeing to get better is a fact of life. MLS referees are barely any better and the same issues happen across the pond. And before you lot all scream “VAR!”, that’s just putting a band-aid over a bullet hole instead of stitching the wound closed. You still have the issue of human error when it comes to VAR, opening the door for even more complaints from everyone and their mom. Putting more resources into proper training would go a long way into changing the legacy of PRO.

But what about the right calls that fans and players just don’t like? Suck it up, buttercup. Knighton recommends encouraging education and dialogue. “There’s only so much you can do, but it helps to look at things from the physical position of a referee in time and space without the aids of a replay camera. It’s very easy to call a game on TV and the more people have experience or empathy for what it’s like to try and make those calls at a full sprint after 90 minutes.”

I’m not a fan of PRO at all, but I do think it’s important to recognize and embrace that some things are just a fact of life and that includes suspect refereeing at all levels of the sport. Perhaps things will get better and perhaps they won’t. But as fans, and ever as reporters, we can try and have a little more grace towards the referees who are doing their best. As Knighton says “it’s really just a change of perspective in the narrative.”

The Game Changers: Week 23

Posted on September 25, 2019December 31, 2019 by Backline Soccer

The Game Changers is a weekly series looking at the most important results each week. Each section will look at one team and how its win, loss, or draw impacts the season.

As we enter the final weeks of the NWSL season, the playoffs are starting to take shape. Two teams have already clinched playoff spots: the North Carolina Courage (who also clinched the NWSL Shield) and the Chicago Red Stars. The Portland Thorns haven’t clinched yet, but they sit in the No. 3 spot, eight points ahead of the No. 4 Utah Royals and the No. 5 Seattle Reign. The Utah Royals and Reign FC continue to battle it out for that final spot; the two teams are currently tied on points, with the Utah Royals currently sitting in the final playoff spot due to goal differential. These two teams still have everything left to fight for. Here is a full breakdown of this week’s results.

North Carolina Courage vs. Houston Dash (1-0)

Chicago Red Stars vs. Washington Spirit (3-1)

Utah Royals vs. North Carolina Courage (0-3)

Reign FC vs. Sky Blue FC (0-1)

Portland Thorns vs. Houston Dash (1-0)

North Carolina Courage clinch the NWSL Shield.

The North Carolina Courage earned two wins in Week 23, but it was their 3-0 victory over the Utah Royals where they clinched the NWSL Shield for the third year in a row. The two teams were relatively even in terms of shots and shots on goal. But it was the Courage who found the back of the net three times, starting with a goal from Samantha Mewis in the 30th minute. Mewis stepped up to take a penalty for her side after Kristen Hamilton was taken down in the box. She slotted the ball into the left corner to give the Courage the lead. Jaelene Hinkle and Debinha scored back-to-back goals in the 65th and 70th minute to put the game away for North Carolina.

The Courage haven’t looked as strong in 2019 as they did in 2018, but they still managed to come out as the strongest team in the NWSL regular season. And they certainly look strong heading into the NWSL playoffs. They’ve won their last six games in a row. Can anyone stop them?

The Chicago Red Stars dominate Washington to clinch a playoff spot.

The Chicago Red Stars clinched a playoff spot this week, dominating the Washington Spirit in a 3-1 defeat. Sam Kerr opened up scoring in the 9th minute, launching her shot over the outstretched arms of Aubrey Bledsoe for her 17th goal of the season. Yuki Nagasato made it 2-0 less than fifteen minutes later, finishing off a pass from Kerr. In the 32nd minute, it looked like the Spirit might get an opportunity to get a goal back, but Alyssa Naeher stopped a penalty kick from Chloe Logarzo. Kerr sealed the game for the Red Stars in the 49th minute with her 18th goal of the season, finishing off a beautiful pass from Yuki Nagasato and beating both the Spirit defenders and goalkeeper Aubrey Bledsoe. The Spirit got a late goal from Mallory Pugh, but it didn’t have much of an impact on the match.

Sam Kerr has now scored 18 goals this season, beating her own record for the most goals scored in an NWSL season. Yuki Nagasto leads the league in assists, with eight on the year. And the Red Stars have won their last four games, scoring at least three goals in three out of those four matches. Could this be the year they finally make it to the NWSL Final?

The Portland Thorns are one step closer to clinching.

The Portland Thorns didn’t clinch a playoff spot this week. But they came one step closer with a 1-0 win over the Houston Dash. Even though the Thorns appeared to dominate in nearly every statistical category, it was the lone goal from Tobin Heath that lifted them above the Dash. In the 48th minute, Horan was able to slide a pass to the feet of Tobin Heath, who directed the ball into the left corner to give Portland the lead. With that goal, Portland took one more step towards the postseason.

With Reign FC and the Utah Royals losing their games this week, Portland appears to be in a solid position to make it to the playoffs. Which really just leaves one more question mark. Will it be Reign FC or the Utah Royals who have a chance to compete for the title?