Tag: Chicago Red Stars

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

Posted on 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.

Route Two Soccer: Chicago’s Win Over Houston Bodes Well for Their End-of-Season Hopes

Posted on by Backline Soccer

It’s been a puzzling season for the Chicago Red Stars. They were supposed to dominate during the World Cup break, when they held onto most of their key players even as all the other top teams were decimated. But they struggled mightily during that period. Then they came out of the World Cup break on fire, reeling off five consecutive wins, only to turn around and lose back-to-back games to the two worst teams in the league.

Looking at the roster, they should easily make the playoffs. And yet here they are, right in the thick of a tough race over the final month.

It’s always hard to make predictions about this team, but on the evidence of this weekend’s performance against Houston, they might just have kicked things back into gear at the key time. It was an accomplished, comprehensive, and thoroughly dominant result, and a demonstration of just how good this Red Stars team has the potential to be.

As I flagged last week, Chicago has faced significant problems this year in the central defense, and that was addressed directly by coach Rory Dames’s lineup as the two best center backs on the roster were finally moved back into the central defense. Julie Ertz and Tierna Davidson bring a huge amount of value in their other roles, so it’s certainly not an easy choice to place them at center back. But for a team struggling to keep a tight ship, it made sense.

To some extent, the change was informed by the opponent. The Dash are one of the league’s weakest teams at building play through the middle, making it far easier for Chicago to get by without Ertz in the holding role to break up possession. Where they do pose a threat is in quick counters and out wide. Dames countered this by matching the ever-adaptable Casey Short up against Kealia Ohai, and by using the lightning-fast Sarah Gorden on the opposite flank. This arrangement shored up the middle by removing the shaky Katie Naughton, and strengthened the wide defense.

It also had an additional advantage: with Ertz and Davidson at center back, Chicago were ideally suited to pass through and around a scurrying Houston press. Few, if any, central defenders in the league are as comfortable on the ball as this pair. If the Dash are closing down Morgan Brian or Dani Colaprico coming for the ball, it was very easy for Davidson or Ertz to simply dribble forward to create new angles.

The only real danger here was overconfidence. At times, Chicago seemed to double down so much on beating the press that they played themselves into danger. But once they found their rhythm, it was extremely comfortable for the Red Stars to build from the back.

And this set the tone for the whole game. Chicago didn’t dominate possession, nor did they play a tiki-taka style. Instead, they held possession comfortably while drawing the Dash forward, and then pounced, moving the ball quickly into space. You can see it from the goals.

For the first, Morgan Brian received the ball around the halfway line, picked her head up and saw a clear, direct vertical line. One beautifully weighted pass, a single touch from Kerr, and Chicago scored. The whole move took 8 seconds.

For the second, Davidson intercepted a pass, found Nagasato in tons of space, who passed to Kerr, who dropped the ball back to DiBernardo. In those few seconds, Nagasato had raced forward and was now ready to receive another simple, lovely vertical pass from DiBernardo. She then slid the ball between two converging defenders to Kerr, who let it roll and then unleashed a shot. Five passes in about 12 seconds. 2-0.

For the third, Naeher gathered the ball, passed to Brian, who advanced it to Colaprico, who sent it back to Davidson, who found Short out wide. Short received the ball well behind the halfway line, had time to watch the forward runs, and launched a ball over the top. McCaskill ran it down, beating Amber Brooks who inexplicably let it roll, and shinned it past the keeper and into the net. Five passes in 15 seconds. 3-0.

This is what we’ve been expecting from Chicago for so long. They have the personnel to attack with lightning speed and precision. Not because their players are particularly pacey, but because of their collective ability to pick out passes, isolate defenders, and capitalize on space.

Obviously, it doesn’t hurt to have Sam Kerr leading the attack. We all know how good she is, and yet her conversion rates continue to astound.

But this is by no means a one-woman show. After a poor start to the season, Yuki Nagasato is back in good form. Dani Colaprico also seems to have righted the ship and found some of the precision that usually defines her game. But perhaps the most important cog in the machine is Morgan Brian. After several lost years between 2016 and 2018, it’s now been roughly a year that she’s been mostly fit and very good. But her performances over the past few weeks are another step above. She still might never get back to where she was at the end of 2015, but for the first time in a very long time, it feels like she’s back in the conversation for being one of the best midfielders in the league. Her calm possession and incredible field vision are critical to this style of play, and if she can keep it up, it could be the difference that finally earns Chicago that playoff victory they’ve been seeking for so long.

Nothing is set in stone. Chicago have looked great before, only to fall away just as they seemed to be poised to grab hold of the league. And while they could afford to live without Ertz against the relatively frail Houston midfield, they might not have that luxury against a team like Portland or North Carolina. And for all the great performances lately, they haven’t been getting the best from Vanessa DiBernardo, another key player who looks like she’s carrying some significant nagging injuries.

So everything could very well still fall apart. But if anyone can disrupt the duopoly at the top of the league, Chicago is probably your best bet. If they can continue to play like this, they can beat anyone.

Route Two Soccer: Handicapping the NWSL Playoff Race

Posted on by Backline Soccer

The NWSL regular season concludes in a little over five weeks. That’s five more weeks for teams to sort themselves. Who will host home playoffs? Who will end up on the outside looking in?

A few weeks ago, it looked like things might end up finishing with more of a whimper than a bang, but thanks to some compelling results, we’re in for a bumpy ride, with every spot in the table still up for grabs. This column will assess the chances for each of the teams still in the race.

1. Portland Thorns (36 points) 

(at Utah, North Carolina, Houston, at Reign, Washington)

The Thorns are in the pole position, with a five point lead over North Carolina. The Courage do have two games in hand, and a head-to-head clash with the Thorns still on the calendar, so the lead certainly isn’t safe. But those points already in the bank are critical, and (with a 9 point lead over the fifth place Reign) they’re probably the only team in the league that’s effectively locked up a playoff spot.

The emergence of Midge Purce as a major goal-scoring threat has been the story of the season, but the fate of the Thorns ultimately still depends more on the old guard than anyone else. Can Christine Sinclair keep defying time, can Tobin Heath find her top level more consistently, can Emilys Sonnett and Menges continue to hold down the backline? Those are the key questions for the Thorns. Keep the engine running, and the goals will keep pouring in.

The only ‘problem’ for Portland is that they’re facing a pretty tough run-in. Four of their five remaining matches are against playoff contenders. Still, the way they’ve been playing, there’s no reason to expect them to falter. It’s hard to bet against North Carolina closing the gap, but I expect Portland to barely hold them off and take home the Shield.

2. North Carolina Courage (31 points)

(at Sky Blue, at Portland, Orlando, Houston, at Utah, at Washington, Sky Blue)

When everyone is at full strength, North Carolina is the best team in the league. We saw clear evidence of that last year, and even this year’s slightly-diminished version of the squad has still shown the ability to dominate the league. Still, they’ve dug themselves into a bit of a hole, and will have to work pretty quickly to get back out if they want to top the table once again. Their run-in isn’t especially tough in terms of opponents—with games against the four bottom teams on the list. But those first five games come at a breakneck pace—spaced out over just 15 days in mid-September.

If everyone can stay fresh, and if coach Paul Riley can work his secondary players into the lineup effectively, they should come out of that period with a playoff spot locked down. And they might even have retaken first place from the Thorns. But that’s a big if. This is a team that’s played a lot of soccer in the past year, and is facing a number of minor ailments.

The strike force should be fine. The only real problem is figuring out how to get enough minutes for all the options, with Lynn Williams, Jess McDonald, and Kristen Hamilton all deserving starters. The crunch of matches will simply allow for some necessary rotation.

The midfield, however, is a bigger question mark. Over the past two dominant years, Riley has shown a clear preference for a 4222 box midfield, which relies heavily on the high work rates of Sam Mewis and McCall Zerboni in the deeper positions. But Zerboni has recently seen more time as a substitute, and Denise O’Sullivan can’t cover quite the same ground as a replacement. Can Carolina continue to play the same way—in order to get as much time on the ball as possible for Crystal Dunn and Debinha—or will Riley be forced to tinker with his system?

It would be extremely surprising if North Carolina didn’t end up hosting a home playoff match. But given the issues they’ve faced trying to maintain the delicate balance of their system, you’d probably have to bet on them dropping some points between now and October. And that might put the Shield out of their reach.

3. Chicago Red Stars (29 points)

(Houston, at Orlando, at Sky Blue, Washington, Utah)

This team is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma. Look at their roster, and it’s hard to understand how they’re not topping the table. Watch them when everything is clicking, and it’s hard to understand how they ever lose a game to anyone. With Sam Kerr and Yuki Nagasato, they have arguably the best strikeforce in the league. With Julie Ertz, Morgan Brian, Dani Colaprico, and Vanessa DiBernardo, they have arguably the best midfield in the league. Their goalkeeper is the number one for the US team. Casey Short has been the best defender in the league this year.

So why are they mired in third place? How did they win five in a row, and then fall to the two worst teams in the league? I see three plausible explanations.

First, injuries. Most of this team is banged up. While that midfield quartet are incredibly impressive, they have also faced some niggling problems that keep them from playing every game. And when they do play, they’re generally not 100%. The Red Stars haven’t faced the kind of devastating injury procession suffered by the Reign, but persistent low-grade problems take their toll.

Second, tactics. With a high-octane creative midfield, and with strikers capable of linking play, this team should be regularly out-passing the opposition. But with some limited exceptions, that hasn’t really been the case. Far too often, the team slows down and reverts to the strategy of kicking long balls to Kerr and hoping for some magic. Kerr is good enough that this sometimes works, but it’s far less than Chicago ought to have on offer, given the talent they can put out there.

Third, the central defense. The Red Stars have three world class centerbacks, neither of whom have spent much time in the position. There’s a good reason for that. Ertz is also a world-class midfielder and arguably better used in that position. While Tierna Davidson has increasingly looked like a long-term fit at left back, and Casey Short is one of the world’s best right backs. But while there are good reasons for the choice, there’s no denying that Chicago have looked mighty fragile in the critical central positions. Sarah Gorden has had an excellent year there, and is a serviceable replacement. But she’s also not quite at the level of the world’s very best. And Katie Naughton has had a very tough year, after some excellent work in previous seasons. Put it all together, and you have a team that’s conceded 26 goals—third-most in the league.

Can Chicago fix these problems? I really have no idea. It wouldn’t surprise me if they reel off another run of wins to shoot up the table. And it also wouldn’t surprise me if they struggle enough to put playoff qualification in doubt. But they only have five games left, which doesn’t leave them a lot of margin for error.

4. Utah Royals (28 points)

(Portland, at Houston, at Reign, North Carolina, at Chicago, Houston)

It’s been a tale of two halves for Utah this year. Of the eight games with Christen Press, they’ve won five and drawn two, accounting for 17 of their 28 total points. In ten games without her, they’ve only managed 11 points. Basically, without Press they’re a contender for the bottom of the table. With her, they’re a contender for the Shield. That’s just how good she’s been this year.

Fortunately for Utah, Press appears to be healthy and ready to go for the final month. That’s going to be crucial for a team with only six goal-scorers on the whole season. They’ll need Press and Amy Rodriguez to continue working together well, and will also need some of the secondary attackers to provide a bit more.

The other key for Utah is their defensive core. The Royals have the best defense in the league, even in a year when Rachel Corsie hasn’t looked her best and Becky Sauerbrunn is starting to wear down a bit. That’s a testament to the organization instilled by coach Laura Harvey, and to the tireless efforts of Desiree Scott patrolling the midfield.

Utah have a tough schedule, with matches against the other four top playoff challengers, but in some sense that’s an advantage. At a minimum, it puts their chances in their own hands. Win a few of those games, and they’ll not only get the points they need, they’ll deny critical points to their competitors.

5. Reign FC (27 points)

(Orlando, at Washington, Utah, Sky Blue, Portland, at Orlando)

It’s astonishing that the Reign are still hanging around the playoff race given the absurd injury list they’ve suffered this year. Coach Vlatko Andonovski deserves a lot of credit for holding this team together with bubble gum and some bits of string, for aggressively working the transfer market to bring in replacements, and for getting the absolute most from a series of useful-but-limited players.

The big question mark here is Megan Rapinoe. If she can come back, and play like she did in 2018, that might well be enough to muscle the Reign into the playoffs. But if she can’t return, or if she struggles to work back to form, it’s hard to tell where the goals are going to come from.

The Reign have—out of necessity—adopted a bunch of tactical innovations this year. The most recent iteration came against North Carolina, with the Reign choosing a 4321 Christmas tree formation. It was an interesting idea, but more a matter of desperation than desirability. In this formation, Rosie White and Bethany Balcer operated as the two attacking mids. And while they did their best, it’s simply not a position where either is likely to find much success. It made for a toothless attack, and a defensive core that worked hard but were never going to be able to withstand the relentless pressure.

Will we see further innovations as the Reign move on to face some weaker opponents? Most likely. Will it be enough to secure some critical victories? It’s very hard to say. Far be it for me to bet against Vlatko, but it will most likely take some additional wizardry for them to sneak one of those final playoff spots.

Keep a close eye on that September 18 match against Utah. These could easily end up being the two teams vying for that final playoff spot, and the head-to-head record is dead-even right now. A win their could be the key to a Reign playoff appearance. Anything less, and they might end up on the outside looking in.

6. Washington Spirit (25 points)

(Reign, at Chicago, at Houston, North Carolina, at Orlando, at Portland)

Washington sit three points out of the playoff spots, trailing two teams. With six games left, that’s plenty of time to make up the gap. But it’s going to be mighty tough to implement in practice. The Spirit have a very tough run-in, with away matches against Portland and Chicago, in addition to games against the Reign and North Carolina. They’ll probably need to get at least six points from those four games if they’ll have any hope of making the playoffs, and that’s a big ask.

At the same time, this is a team that’s managed to stick around in the playoff race all season despite getting a mere combined eight appearances from Rose Lavelle and Mallory Pugh. If they can get their young playmakers back, and see them work with fellow young standout Andi Sullivan, there’s no reason to think the Spirit can’t hang offensively with anyone in the league.

The big question, then, is whether the defense can continue to hold together. It’s astonishing that they’ve held up as well as they have—given a backline filled with rookies in a league where even very talented young defenders have generally struggled to adapt. If Sam Staab and Paige Nielsen can continue to hold the line, and if Aubrey Bledsoe can continue her excellent form, the Spirit might just be able to give themselves a chance to sneak that final playoff spot.

I wouldn’t bet on it, and they really don’t have much margin for error. But it’s a great sign that they’re still within shouting distance at this point.

The rest

In seventh place, the Houston Dash aren’t technically out of the running. But they have an exceptionally tough set of remaining fixtures (with five of the six matches against teams currently in the playoff spots), and would probably need at least four wins from those matches. Given their current form, it’s far more likely that they’ll get further away from the playoff spots than that they’ll close the gap.

Meanwhile, after the horrible race to the bottom between Sky Blue and Washington last year, it’s nice to see the two trailing teams playing some decent soccer. Orlando and Sky Blue could each easily play spoiler to some of the playoff hopefuls, and (given that tough Houston run-in) could conceivably shoot for 7th place. Given how horribly they both started the season, that’s real progress.

Route Two Soccer: Chicago Teach a Course on How to Beat North Carolina

Posted on by RJ Allen

The Chicago Red Stars showed this weekend how North Carolina can be defeated. Other teams may try to emulate them…at their own risk.

The North Carolina Courage lost this weekend, for the first time in almost a year. And that’s not even the strange thing. The strange thing is: it didn’t even end up being all that close. The Chicago Red Stars certainly didn’t dominate the game, but neither did they look especially threatened. And their final margin of 3-1 could just as easily have been bigger—with Chicago having been denied a fairly clear penalty when Sam Kerr was pulled down in the box in the first half.

So what happened? Did Chicago reveal a secret flaw that may now be exploited by others? Is North Carolina taking a bigger hit than expected from the loss of their national team players? Or was this just a one-off game, and everything will return to normal soon?

The answer isn’t completely clear at this point, but likely is a combination of all three. Certainly, the Courage backline has looked far more rickety with the absence of Abby Dahlkemper, and those issues will only magnify now that Abby Erceg is off to join New Zealand. Last week’s replacement center back, Kayleigh Kurtz, struggled badly trying to contain Imani Dorsey of Sky Blue. This week’s fill-in, Cari Roccaro, faced similar issues with the multi-pronged Chicago attack.

With both Roccaro and Kurtz having issues with speed, and neither distinguishing themselves in one-on-one defending either, Carolina was always going to look more exposed. However, it would be unfair to level all (or even most) of the blame on those two players. The hallmark of the Courage’s resilient defense has always rested higher up the pitch, where aggressive pressing disrupts the opponent and kills attacks before they can even begin. And that’s where the team really struggled against Chicago. Time and again, the Red Stars midfield pierced the Carolina press, with smooth passing, clever dribbling, and intelligent runs. Particularly at fault here was Denise O’Sullivan, who was exposed repeatedly in the holding midfield role, and looked much more like the version of O’Sullivan we saw back with the Houston Dash in early 2017, and much less like the more dynamic player we’ve grown accustomed to with North Carolina. McCall Zerboni also had an uncharacteristically quiet game, finding it difficult to disrupt play, and also struggling a bit in possession.

Even further up the pitch, Kristen Hamilton one of her weaker games in recent memory, while Julia Spetsmark looked lively on occasion, but wasn’t able to exploit the wide channels nearly as much as the departed Jess McDonald.

Put it all together, and you’ve got a recipe for trouble. When multiple players have games on the lower side of their ability, and you’re playing a strong team, results will sometimes tip away from you. And Chicago was uniquely well-suited to seize the opportunity that was provided. They possess one of the strongest midfields in the league under any circumstance—and that advantage has only magnified with the removal of the World Cup-bound. Vanessa DiBernardo and Dani Colaprico are two of the best passers in the American player pool. Support those two with Nikki Stanton in behind to clean up any messes, and give them the chance to play off Yuki Nagasato and Sam Kerr dropping in from forward positions, as well as Michele Vasconcelos’s speculative runs down the wing, and you have a recipe for unlocking the oppressive North Carolina press.

The problem for everyone else in the league is: without players who can dictate play in such a cool and measured fashion, the potential to exploit a weakness in the Carolina armor may be more fanciful than realistic. For all that the Red Stars found an opportunity, it’s also important not to overstate the case. Chicago scored three goals from just three shots on goal. And two of those were fairly tame shots, too, which the keeper probably should have saved. Meanwhile, North Carolina amassed seven more shots than Chicago, two more shots on goal, more corners, more crosses, and more passes at a higher accuracy.

On another day, if this game was played out in the same way, you’d expect better performances from a few Courage players, a bit less luck for Chicago, and things could easily turn in the opposite direction. What’s more, a big part of the Chicago performance depended on Sam Kerr, who is sui generis, and has now left for her own World Cup preparations. You certainly can’t count on getting that kind of performance going forward.

So Chicago’s approach certainly could be replicated, but even for them it would hardly be a sure thing. And for everyone else, it would be even more of a risk. Because for all that there’s a potential weakness here, the past two years have shown just how devastating this Courage team can be when given the chance to attack an open opponent. If the lesson teams take from this game is that North Carolina is ripe for the picking, they run the risk of being carved to bits by a revitalized Courage press. It’s a gamble that some might take, but it’s a dangerous one.

As the saying goes, if you come at the devil you better not miss.

Backline Chat: The NWSL is back!

Posted on by RJ Allen

Charles Olney (@olneyce): Welcome to the first Backline chat of the 2019 NWSL season. We have four matches under our belts, and a lot of material to cover. To kick things off, let’s stay big picture. Did anyone see anything this weekend that changed their expectations for the year? Or is the sample size still too small to draw any conclusions?

Allison Cary (@findingallison): Too small, for me. Everything I can comment about this weekend, I can also blow off as a bad game. Or a good one

RJ Allen (@TheSoccerCritic): It looked very Week 1 of the season to me. But I do think Portland and Houston were stand outs for me so far in this season. Both looked better in some ways already than their 2018 form.

Luis Hernandez (@radioactivclown): It’s still early. Most teams looked to still be in preseason mode. I felt Portland and Chicago looked the best while North Carolina was exactly what I expected.

Charles Olney: The closest I can say is that Orlando might be even worse than I was expecting. But that’s really only one the evidence of a single half. And as Allison says, anyone can have a bad half. Still, it was a REALLY bad half.

Luis Hernandez: The second half was better. I’ve watch Orlando a bit in the preseason and I know what Skinner wants to instill. It’s going to take time.

Allison Cary: I feel like the Houston game is one they would have lost in the past. Granted, they almost choked. But it meant something to me that they didn’t.

RJ Allen: Houston played like a team with a plan and the ability to (mostly) complete that plan. Which is an upgrade for them.

Allison Cary: Exactly @rjallen, completely agree.

Charles Olney: I feel like Houston did a lot to push off the unlucky loser dynamic last year, when they actually got results in lots of games that (to my eyes) they shouldn’t have. But I agree with Allison that there was something specific about those final minutes that felt different. There was definitely an intensity, combined with a joyfulness, in the Houston players post match. They knew they played well, and felt good about being able to repeat it.

Luis Hernandez: I feel better about Houston and less so for the Reign. That team can’t afford more injuries. As for the Dash, I still think they can do better but I was pleased.

RJ Allen: I do wonder if Washington looked better or if Sky Blue are just somehow worse. More matches are needed there, for sure.

Charles Olney: To dial in a little bit, let’s talk through each match briefly. Starting with North Carolina-Chicago. It was a rematch of last year’s semifinal (the #DrainageDerby), and North Carolina picked up where they left off. But Chicago managed to hang onto a draw. What were people’s thoughts there?

RJ Allen: North Carolina’s whole MO is to take a bunch of shots and have a few land. They looked a bit rusty which happens early in a season. Plus having McCall Zerboni not look 100% yet changes how that midfield plays. She is really what drove them forward.

Allison Cary: I thought it was North Carolina’s game to lose. After such a dominant season, not being able to get three points out of your home opener isn’t exactly where you wanted to start. But credit to Chicago for going toe-to-toe with them.

Luis Hernandez: I think North Carolina could have been more sharp in the attack, and if they had cleaned that up they could have beaten the Red Stars.

Charles Olney: This very much felt like a game that NC dominated – and I fully expected them to do their normal thing of reeling off two or three goals around the 60th minute. But they didn’t, and Chicago actually ended up with the final great chance. I do think that was more to Carolina being unable to put them away than any special performance from them.

But from Chicago’s perspective, getting a point away to North Carolina, in a game they didn’t actually play that well, is hardly a bad way to start the season.

Allison Cary: Yeah, I’m happy if I’m Chicago.

RJ Allen: That is the magic of Sam Kerr.

Luis Hernandez: However, I felt the Red Stars came in with a smart game plan and Chicago was able to get a result. Taking points from the Courage at Cary is going to be a win for any team.

Charles Olney: I do sort of disagree there. I don’t think Chicago really had a great game plan. The Courage ran right through them most of the game and they depended a lot on excellent performances from the keeper and center backs. Which…it succeeded, I guess, and maybe there wasn’t any better option available. But I don’t think it was a successful game plan. But we’ll have to see them with a full strength team to really draw any conclusions, I think.

Charles Olney: Okay, the other Saturday game was Washington-Sky Blue. In the matchup of the two bottom teams from last year, Washington managed to find a win. How much of that was due to improvements on their end, and how much was due to Sky Blue’s continued problems?

RJ Allen: 40% improvements and 60% Sky Blue being terrible.

Charles Olney: I’ll admit this is one that I’ve still only seen the first half of. But at least there, the quality on both sides was still pretty lacking. But Washington at least seemed to be reasonably coherent, and occasionally exciting. It was, as usual, hard to even tell what Sky Blue thought they were doing.

RJ Allen: Sky Blue just looked bad. And I’m not sure there is anything that can be done at this point that isn’t new ownership or moving the team to fix it. A lot of the changes are a bit like putting lipstick on a pig.

Charles Olney: You do have to wonder about a team coming straight out of preseason, when they’ve had a month to talk about their approach and style, with no particular idea of how to play. And a coach whose postgame comments make clear that she doesn’t have a vision, either. That’s bad, no matter how you dress it up.

Allison Cary: Neither team really looked “good.” I feel like they’re gonna be hard to judge until they go up against other opponents, but if I’m Sky Blue I’m pretty terrified.

Luis Hernandez: The Washington/SkyBlue game was really hard to watch, and I’m not taking Yahoo Sports stream.

Charles Olney: We’ve spent a lot of time on these chats feeling sad about Sky Blue, so let’s turn our attention to the positive side. Do people see this Washington with a real chance to break out from the bottom tier? Or not? Or, again, still too soon to know?

Luis Hernandez: I can’t say too much against the Spirit since they won. I’m reserving judgment on them until they play a game or two more.

Allison Cary: I think it’s too soon but… I’m not encouraged.

Luis Hernandez: It just isn’t an accurate indicator because of who they played.

Charles Olney: The Spirit have Utah next weekend, which could be a good match to tell us a lot about both teams. Or maybe will end up being another game that will just leave us scratching our heads for more data.

The one thing I’ll say for the Spirit is that, whatever the history behind Burke as a coach (which I continue to think has not been taken nearly seriously enough by the team), he seems to be pretty popular at the moment with the players.

Allison Cary: Yeah, I’m not really a fan but I guess I’ll give him a chance to change my mind.

Charles Olney: The real test will be when things go poorly for a while, so it’s absolutely something to keep our eyes on.

Charles Olney: Okay, turning to Sunday’s games, the first was Orlando-Portland. As we’ve already mentioned, the first half was very good for Portland and very not good for Orlando, but the second was much more even. Thoughts on what that tells us?

I’ll start with the controversial statement that Tobin Heath looked very very good, which is a good sign for the US this summer, but a bad sign for other NWSL teams.

Luis Hernandez: It’s going to be a rough year for the Pride. Portland was Portland. Very good. Talented. Deep.

RJ Allen: Orlando is not a good soccer team and hasn’t really been since they were founded. For a team that has some of the best players in the world it is not a good sign. I understand it takes time to build a team and with a new coach it takes more. But they do not have 1-20 a good or solid roster.

Allison Cary: Even if they aren’t as bad as they were in the first half, Orlando is not gonna be able to compete with the top teams in this league.

Charles Olney: In some ways, I wonder if that great run at the end of 2017 actually ended up hurting the Pride overall. I think it’s pretty clear on the evidence of the past few years that this roster isn’t actually a world-beating group, but for a couple months they just looked that way. But because they had that success, they maybe stuck with the plan longer than might have otherwise happened.

Luis Hernandez: Orlando had to field supplemental players in the first match. What else do people need to know?

Charles Olney: That said, it was pretty clear this offseason that things needed changing, and they didn’t change much, so maybe not.

Allison Cary: Yeah, they didn’t fix their problems from last year. Even with a new head coach, they needed to do more. It’s gonna be a long year.

Luis Hernandez: The main problem from last year was that they underachieved.

Charles Olney: I do think there’s space in this squad to set things up for the next few years, in anticipation of the team that will come after Morgan and Marta leave. But it may be a bit of a slog.

RJ Allen: The league wants Orlando to be a good team. They might even need Orlando to be a good team. So I hope they can get it together.

Luis Hernandez: I know sports isn’t about patience but that’s exactly what everyone will need to have for the Pride. The roster isn’t even complete.

RJ Allen: That makes it so much worse though.

Luis Hernandez: And look at the first ten matches for Orlando, it’s brutal. Hi. Let’s play Portland at home then travel to North Carolina then to the Reign in one week.

Charles Olney: For Portland, any other thoughts? They looked good, certainly. Better than I was expecting for them out of the gate. I do really worry about what they’ll be able to do during the World Cup, but if they can play this well outside of that window it may not matter.

RJ Allen: I do think they dip a bit during the World Cup but I think they will still end up in the playoff picture and end strong.

Allison Cary: They looked impressive, albeit with very little resistance.

Luis Hernandez: Yeah, I wanted to call out Kling for a dirty foul on Morgan that didn’t get called.

Allison Cary: Yeah, that was a bad missed call.

Charles Olney: I think we’re all pretty sick of rough play going uncalled. This was just one more example.

RJ Allen: A lot of players in the league play to whatever level of reffing there is. Kling is one of them. If they let her get away with murder, she and a lot of other players will go for it.

Luis Hernandez: The Thorns need to grab all the points while they have their starters. They will make the playoffs. I didn’t think they would until Sunday.

RJ Allen: Can we talk about the surprise front runner for best match of the week now?

Charles Olney: Absolutely. In the final game of the weekend, Houston drew with Reign FC. I was able to make it up to Houston for this one, and it was one of the most enjoyable games I’ve attended in a long time. We’ve already talked a bit about Houston, but any further thoughts there, or about the Reign?

Allison Cary: Injuries suck

RJ Allen: Two subs for two hurt players in quickly is going to hurt any team. I think Seattle handled it about as well as you could.

Allison Cary: Yeah, especially considering who they lost and who was already out.

Charles Olney: I’ve got a full post coming up on the site about this game, so I won’t repeat myself too much here. But the main point I do want to hit is that I saw qualities from both of these teams that helped answer some of the lingering questions I had about them.

RJ Allen: Houston had 8 shots on goal. 8! And they were good chances too.

Charles Olney: Houston actually possessed the ball really well, which is a huge change from last year. They also pressed well, which is different, and gives them a new angle. Those suggest a team who isn’t just hanging on. They think they’re good enough to outplay the opposition. That’s great.

For the Reign, the first half was really rough, but the second half showed that they should be very good again. Even accounting for injuries, and for the strange poor play from Theresa Nielsen. They’ve got a real player in Darian Jenkins. They’ve got a potential replacement for what they’ve traditionally gotten from Rapinoe (playmaking from the wings drifting inward) in Shea Groom. They have real depth in the defense, with McNabb and Celia both performing well. But oh boy do they need to get Fishlock back and/or need better performances from Andrews and Kellond-Knight.

RJ Allen: Charles took the words right off my keyboard.

Luis Hernandez: The game I felt was officiated well. I don’t give credit when that happens but I kind of feel like I need to since I’ve been bashing the refs in Orlando.

RJ Allen: Also maybe have Allie Long take the Seattle PKs?

Allison Cary: Yeah that PK from Taylor was… not good.

Charles Olney: Okay, we’ll wrap up with the conversation about matters ON the pitch there. But let’s also take a moment to discuss everyone’s favorite topic: streaming. How was the experience using Yahoo for the first time?

RJ Allen: My Roku played the Yahoo app without issue. The only problem was the steams on day 1 being switched and then switched back.

Luis Hernandez: I had difficulties casting to my TV but I could watch on my laptop. I didn’t try to use the mobile app

Allison Cary: I just watched on my laptop. It was fine.

RJ Allen: Chromecast doesn’t allow Yahoo steams to be cast, so I’ve been told.

Charles Olney: Everything also basically worked for me. I do have some nitpicks: the streams swapping, some difficulty actually finding the streams on the app, technical issues causing problems with the replays (both during the broadcast, and with attempts to watch the streams after the match was over), and the obligatory name-flubs and other commentary issues. But it’s far better than the go90 rollout. And we heard some nice new voices in the broadcasts, too.

Luis Hernandez: I wasn’t expecting Dan on the broadcast.

RJ Allen: Having someone with as much woso knowledge as him back, was nice.

Luis Hernandez: I’m going to try the other options as the matches come up. Or invest in a Roku.

RJ Allen: Roku’s are the best.

Charles Olney: On the whole, it sounds like our experiences were okay, though there could always be improvements. I certainly would like to see more and better options for streaming, casting, and watching. It continues to frustrate me that the experience on the league website is clearly superior to the official one through a huge tech company. But que sera.

RJ Allen: VPNs are good my friends.

Charles Olney: Alright, any thoughts on the matches coming up this week? We’ve got North Carolina and Orlando tonight, and four more games on the weekend. Any that particularly catch your eye?

Luis Hernandez: I’m looking forward to seeing Utah.

Allison Cary: Orlando is gonna get killed.

Luis Hernandez: Which match Allison?

RJ Allen: Both.

Charles Olney: Both.

Allison Cary: I meant NC, but both.

Charles Olney: I actually would be a little surprised if they lose both. But not that surprised.

Luis Hernandez: I think they’ll fare better in Tacoma.

Charles Olney: To me, Chicago-Portland looks like the game of the week, and could give us a real sense of where those teams stand at this point. But I also am excited about Utah and Washington, as a game with two teams that have some potential to make big improvements this year facing off.

RJ Allen: I’m just glad the NWSL is back and we can talk soccer weekly.

Allison Cary: Amen

Charles Olney: RT @rjallen

Luis Hernandez: Are we expecting a Chicago win at home or a Portland win on the road. RJ picked a draw.

RJ Allen: Spoilers!

Allison Cary: Portland win. Because why not.

Charles Olney: Draw seems like a fair call. I wouldn’t be surprised at any result, though.

Luis Hernandez: I expect Chicago to find a way to win.

I also expect Kerr to get fouled like it was going out of style.

Allison Cary: Fair prediction.

Charles Olney: Alright, with that we’ll call it a wrap for this week. Thanks to everyone for joining us. And as always, feel free to hit me any of us up on twitter with questions or comments.

The NWSL Weather Woes: Playoff Edition

Posted on by RJ Allen

The National Women’s Soccer League 2018 season will be remembered for the extremes of the standings with the dominance of the North Carolina Courage and the woes in New Jersey both on and off the field with Sky Blue FC. Among the lesser stories which will be nothing more than footnotes in the season, will be the impact of the weather in the season.

Unlike the increased risk of heat which had to be dealt with in 2017 by the league with a change to the extreme heat policy and hydration breaks mid-season, this year the league’s weather bone of contention was lighting delays. Multiple matches throughout the season had to be rescheduled, most notably was Sky Blue’s match against the Washington Spirit on Sunday, September 2nd which caused the side from the Garden State to play the Chicago Red Stars the very next Tuesday with less than 48-hours of rest.

Fast forward to the star of the post season and the playoff games scheduled for this weekend where North Carolina is scheduled to host Chicago in the second playoff game on Sunday, September 16.

However, the league is going to face a unique weather related situation, Hurricane Florence is projected on making landfall as a major hurricane somewhere along the coast in the days leading up to the match. The same time the Red Stars will be looking to fly in to North Carolina and the same time fans will be looking to head toward Cary. 

The Saffir-Simpson scale is a wind rating from category one, being the weakest, to category five, the strongest winds causing catastrophic damage. A major hurricane would be a category three or higher. The current projections put Hurricane Florence at a category four. 

[media-credit name=”Chart Source: NOAA” align=”aligncenter” width=”762″][/media-credit]

Several factors to consider is this storm will bring a large amount of rain to the area, and potentially flooding to parts of the state. Tornadoes can potentially occur even several hundred miles away from the center of the hurricane. This isn’t going to be an ideal situation to host a playoff game even with Cary being much further inland that it would be spared much of the initial impacts.

The league should already be working on getting ahead of the situation since the threat is real even with the high level of uncertainty.  Last season, the league moved up the game in Orlando from Saturday to Thursday when the Pride hosted Seattle due to Hurricane Irma. The NWSL could do this as well, but since it is a scheduled televised game that may not work out. That option may be too soon, and not logistically wise since the storm would arrive by the end of the week which could push up the Courage playoff game too early for anyone to travel into North Carolina. Additionally, the teams would have to leave quickly, so they wouldn’t feel the impact of Florence.

The North Carolina Courage have issued a statement advising they are monitoring the situation. 

The North Carolina Football Club is closely monitoring the forecast for Hurricane Florence related to potential impacts on the upcoming home NC Courage NWSL Semifinal on Sunday September 16, as well as travel for NCFC as they visit Penn FC on Sunday evening.

Specific to the NC Courage NWSL Semifinal against the Chicago Red Stars on Sunday, September 16 at 3:00 p.m., at Shalen’s Stadium,  the club is in contact with the League and the visiting team. The safety and well-being of fans, players and event staff is the club’s priority.

Any updates will be posted on NorthCarolinaFC.com and NCCourage.com, as well as shared with fans via email, social media and other communications channels. 

The NWSL needs to act swiftly by coordinating with both teams to move the venue for the playoff game to Chicago or a neutral city since the Chicago Fire will actually host Orlando City on Sunday at Toyota Park.. It will be an unfortunate situation since this will impact attendance and cause North Carolina to travel when they have obviously earned the right to host the playoff match. The prospect for this situation to create another black eye for the league is extremely likely especially if it doesn’t get ahead of this possible weather woe.

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 First Quarter Review

Posted on by RJ Allen

So we are about a quarter of the way through the 2018 NWSL season. There has been some great moments, some beautiful shots, and some excellent defense. Some teams surpassed expectations, while others are exactly where the world predicted they would be. We still have the majority of the season to go, but now is a great time to review exactly where all our favorite teams are at and how they have fared. So let’s get into it!

Chicago Red Stars
Chicago started their season off with a bit of a depleted roster because of injuries and international players participating in World Cup Qualifiers. The Red Stars have also played more games this season than any other team so far. But despite the roster holes and the heavy schedule the Red Stars are currently camped out near the top of the table. And good news Chicago fans—Sam Kerr is officially back from international duty, so there is a chance that you rise a spot in the table moving forward.

Houston Dash
Well, things aren’t great for the Dash. But they certainly aren’t as horrible so far as originally expected. The Dash had some important draws early in their season, and just this last week they recorded their first win. They are hanging out at the bottom of the table but they aren’t in last place. And now with the return of Kealia Ohai and Kyah Simon the Dash offense is beginning to really take form. They also just recently acquired Allysha Chapman in a trade for North Carolina. So with those added components they may be able to steal a few more points and climb a bit in the standings toward the middle of the season.

North Carolina Courage
The Courage are exactly where everyone expected them to be – in first place. They have been dominant in this first quarter of the season but there are still some things they need to work on. Specifically, converting those shots on goal into actual goals. NC creates a lot of chances and take more shots than any other team in the league, but they haven’t been able to score a lot of goals. Still, the Courage are currently undefeated and don’t look to be slowing down any time soon. And once those finishing touches come they will be even more lethal than they already are.

Orlando Pride
The Pride have done mediocre so far this season. Not too good, but not too bad either. They are camped out in the middle of the table and ended week 6 with a record of 2-2-2. But this team definitely is on the upswing of the pendulum, as their last three results of the quarter ended in two wins and a draw. Orlando had to deal with the loss of Marta and Alanna Kennedy for international duty and had a few other key minor injuries that made the first quarter of their season a bit challenging. But things are looking up for the Pride now that their roster is almost back to full form.

Portland Thorns
The Thorns are at about the exact same place as the Pride at the end of week 6. Though, most would consider their first quarter of the season underwhelming. Much was expected of the Thorns and they haven’t fully delivered yet. But with the majority of the season still ahead, they have plenty of time to find their form. Tobin Heath is only just back from a very lengthy string of injuries, but her touch on the ball seems to be coming back to her rather quickly as could be seen by her first goal of the season against Utah. Overall, the Thorns can do better, and most likely they will continuing through the season.

Seattle Reign FC
Seattle may just be the greatest surprise of the 2018 season so far. They are exciting to watch, incredibly skillful, and are giving their competitors a run for their money. Their current second place position is a bit unexpected, but the Reign are here to defy expectations this season. Even with Rapinoe out on injury, they have still found a way to win. Just look at last week’s match at Providence Park. They weren’t expected to win, but the Reign don’t live in a world where they do what is expected. It’s hard to say what could potentially slow this team down currently, but for our entertainment value let’s hope they don’t.

Sky Blue FC
The 2018 NWSL season surely has not gone Sky Blue’s way up to this point. After numerous roster changes in the off-season, a new head coach, and a on-again-off-again schedule throughout the first quarter Sky Blue has not fared well. They are still in the hunt for their first win of the season and are sitting in last place, but they have also played less games than all other teams. That makes it difficult for a team to get into a good rhythm, and well the women from Jersey are quite a bit off-beat right now. But there is still time to turn it around. They have a lot of attacking power that can be utilized, and they still have 20 matches left to go, so not all hope is lost.

Utah Royals FC
New kids on the block had a bunch of…draws. Utah’s first quarter of their inaugural season was littered with them. Some of them were hard fought, like their match against North Carolina. While others were simply poor luck, like getting a PK called for a hand ball after your best defender actually got drilled in the face. But hey, you can’t win them all. Regardless of the draws in the first quarter, Utah is starting to come together. And with the stable roster they have, matched with the coaching skills of Laura Harvey, they are definitely not a team to underestimate moving forward.

Washington Spirit
Washington is the epitome of young raw talent. They haven’t quite figured out how to harness all that talent yet, but their future-whether this season or next-looks promising. Probably the biggest impact for the Spirit in the first quarter comes from the goalkeeper, Aubrey Bledsoe. She has had some down-right filthy saves this season, and has helped to keep the Spirit competitive. How they will progress through the rest of the 2018 season is still a bit of a question mark, but they are definitely a team to keep an eye on.

So there you have it—a review of where we have been. Where we are going? Who knows. But with so much season left to be played there are sure to be some excitement, some upsets, and some surprises.