Western New York 1:1 Portland Thorns

 

Two things I wanna start off with. First sorry for missing last week. To my ten readers I hope you made it through the week without my analysis, if you did not then sadly I am most likely back to the single digits when it comes to readers. But for those of you that stuck with me, there will most likely be an extra post this week looking at the some of the more advanced statistics of the NWSL season so far.

Secondly this blog post will be sadly missing pictures that have so far been a staple of these posts. The reason being that the Youtube footage that provides the pictures usually is no longer online. So while I was able to review it, I was not able to take down some pictures. That being said so you don’t have to read a wall of text, this post will be a little shorter.

Summary:

The rematch of the inaugural NWSL Championship game was slated to be an exciting one. Goals were expected as you had Abby Wombach and Christine Sinclair as the marquee match up. However both teams worked hard to limit the two striker’s chances. The big way that this was done was congesting the middle.

In today’s modern game, more space is going to be found on the flanks. As teams move to protect the middle with bodies and people, room is opened up out wide for players. That is why you see a lot of strikers drift out side for the ball, because that is where they can safely receive the ball. For example if you look at my last recap Boston Breaker’s Lisa DiVanna was often seen receiving the ball on the flanks. This is because that is where the space is.

Damned if you do:

For most of the game, the two teams canceled each other out. The goals themselves had a few things in common, that being they were created by open crosses. On both plays the ball is sent in from wide and the defender or goalie are forced into a mistake because of the quality of the ball.

Looking at the Western New York goal, the ball is crossed in from out wide. As the Western New York striker takes it, the Portland defense is instantly on their heals. Even though it is still a 2 v 1 situation, the Western New York striker is able to cut the ball by one defender taking her out of the play. She then forces the second defender to defend her 1v1. She then makes a move to go around her marker. The Portland defender knowing that she has no help is forced to foul to prevent a break away with the goalie. The free kick is pocketed top corner and Western New York take the lead.

What causes this whole chain of events is the fact that Portland left the flank open for the Western New York player to receive that ball. With time and space the fullback is forced to come out and defend her, the problem was the full back, previously narrow to help congest the middle, has too much space to make up. Portland played narrow not to let any plays develop through the middle, however when the ball went out wide, the defense became stretched leaving the central defenders on an island.

Damned if you don’t:

On the Portland goal, the immediate culprit is is the goalie for giving up the rebound. It is hard to argue against that, the ball is muffed by the goalie and a Portland attacker is quick to pounce on it and tap it into essentially what was an open goal. It seems simple to blame Western New York’s goalie, and on some level you can, but that doesn’t tell the whole story.

Much like the Western New York goal, the chain of events was caused by the space on the flanks. While Portland tried to close down on the ball out wide, Western New York didn’t, giving Portland time to tee up a perfect cross. One of the reasons the goalie fumbles it is because the quality of the ball delivered. The ball goes over the Western New York defender who tries to clear the ball, and dips right in front of the goalie, making it look much easier than it actual was to hold on to the ball.

Conclusion:

As more teams try to stuff the middle and force the play out wide, it is going to be interesting to see how they deal with the play once it is out on the flanks. In week 2 we saw Houston try to shift as a unit to contain the play, but they also gave up 2 goals one of which came from a Heather O’Reilly cross. This week we saw another two strategies. Closing the player down out wide once they receive the ball, and trying to stay compact once they have.

Right now it seems that the problem is that the player can’t receive the ball in space. That if the player gets the ball it is already too late. Teams are going to have to figure this out how to deal with it if their game plan is to keep packing the middle of the field, and clogging the midfield. Tactically it will be interesting to see how teams not only defend the space on the flank, but attack it as well.

 

Boston Breakers 2:3 Houston Dash

In a game that saw the Dash get their first win in franchise history, it also saw the Boston Breakers remain at the bottom of the table, looking for their first win. While Boston was dominated last week in their defeat to Seattle, this time while a draw was probably a more fair result, the Dash left Boston with three valuable points.

Don’t let the score deceive you. While there may have been five goals between the two teams, tactically the two coaches could walk away knowing they did all they could. The team’s conflicting systems for the most part canceled each other out. Which made for tactically a uneventful game. Houston let Boston have the flanks, and Boston let Houston have the center of the pitch. The goals instead came from individual errors. Three of the goals could have been prevented from surer hands from Houston and Boston’s goalies, while a fourth from a bad foul from a Boston defender.

Formation:

Both sides came out in a 4-3-3, what this game showcased was the versatility of how the 4-3-3 can be deployed. Houston for example was a more compact. Their central three stayed close together, with two central midfielders and third midfielder sitting behind the two. Essentially they packed the midfield space and forcing Boston to utilize the flanks. With the dominance of the midfield space, Houston looked to play more through the middle of the field.

For Boston, the 4-3-3 was fueled by the flanks and runs from midfield. When Boston traded away Sydney Leroux in the off-season they traded away 11 goals. Boston this year is deploying Lisa De Vanna as their sole striker. While De Vanna scored 5 goals for Sky Blue last year, she is a different kind of striker, not as powerful as Leroux, she drifts out wide more. The problem was even though De Vanna was often able to receive the ball in space, she also left a large amount of space behind. Boston relies then on people making runs into the space that she leaves behind. While for Houston the third midfielder sat behind the other two, for Boston the third midfielder was in front of the central two, looking to make runs in.

Space Key:

De Vanna is seemingly the catalyst of Boston’s attack. Yes, Boston relies on Heather O’Reilly’s play on the flanks to create chances, but much like for the US National team, you know what you’re gonna from O’Reilly. Speed down the flanks, good service, and occasionally more central runs. With De Vanna, it is more up in the air. When the Breakers are on the same page as De Vanna it leads to dangerous opportunities. When someone comes in late to the space it leads to goal scoring chances.

You can see number 9 O’Reilly is able to use her speed to not only occupy the space that De Vanna left, but to get behind the defense as well

For example the first goal was a result of an in-cutting occupying the space that De Vanna vacated. As you can see De Vanna, in blue, has dropped into space for the ball. As she turns, number 9 O’Reilly is curling into space and makes a run that leads to the goal. More often though this space was left vacant, instead Boston often was relegated to the flanks.

This space on the flanks for Boston was seemingly by design. Boston took advantage of the space that Houston left open for them on the flanks. However they could only really capitalize on it once. The problem was that when De Vanna drifted into space, the only person there was a midfielder or winger making a run in which was often picked up. The one time Boston scored was when Boston’s Lohman was left unmarked from her midfield run as the Breaker’s Heather O’Reilly served in the ball from the flank.

While De Vanna is able to not only get the ball at her feet, you can see that no one is in Zone 14

Here on the set up of Boston’s 2nd goal, you can see how deep and wide De Vanna has to drop to get the ball at her feet. For Houston, in orange, this is exactly what they want, the play is in front of them and there is no one really attacking them or the space behind them. The problem is they go to sleep as Joanna Lohman makes her run through the defense, while McCloud doesn’t do a good job of coming out and claiming the ball.

Packing it in:

When Boston had the ball on the flank though, did their best to make sure that it stayed there. For example while Sky Blue last week used their flanks to play a diagonal ball onto the straight run from Maya Hayes at striker, Houston didn’t let that happen. Boston’s only play from the flanks was either a long change of field or to serve the ball into box. Houston did a good job of not only keeping their three compact but also moving as a unit.

Here you can see that Houston not only has 9 players behind the ball but also how congested they make the field

In this shot, early in the game, Boston has the ball in the middle of the field. In this one shot though, you can see nine Dash players in the shot. Effectively jamming the midfield and making sure that there are not only no easy passing lanes but no space for the Boston ball carrier to operate in as the Dash players close in on the ball.

The team’s tendency to clump together leads to a vulnerability to quick counters.

However, in this shot you see the downside of the packed middle. If teams are able to find a seem quickly, there is tons of space on the other side. Here you see De Vanna is able to play a quick outlet through the defense, exposing the tons of space behind Houston. This play quickly develops into a track meet as the ball is played to an on running fullback.

As the play develops, Boston is now able to play it into space and attack that space

Once Boston is able to play it through the midfield, Houston is forced to recover. In this shot you can see the players scramble to get back in position. As a new team this is going to be a problem, their unfamiliarity with each other means that they are going to find themselves in trouble from time to time. For the most part it seemed to work, however this is the danger that Houston is going to have to deal with if they keep playing this way.

Conclusion:

The game was even for the most part. It will be interesting to see how both teams continue to develop. Boston has seemingly gone from a mid-table team, right out side of the play-off spot; to a team with zero points after two games and two tough losses. Houston though has shown they are going to be tough to play while stuffing the midfield. Holding the Portland Thorns high powered attack to 1 goal and were unlucky to come away with a point in that game, while stealing three points from Boston. Tactically as the team gels, I would not be surprised if by the end of the year we see Houston hanging around 5^th with a chance to make the play offs.

 

Sky Blue FC 1-1 FC Kansas City

The short summary of this game is that Kansas City attacked while Sky Blue defended. Kansas City not only scored first, but dominated possession while Sky Blue looked to defend and hit Kansas City on the counter. The two team’s contrasting styles canceled out, leading to a pretty quiet game over all, with the majority of chances coming for Kansas City.

Formation:

Kansas City continued with their 4-4-2 diamond that they saw success with last year. Sky Blue came out in what appeared to be a 4-2-3-1. More intriguing than the formation was how Sky Blue where the players were deployed. Playing both left-footed Kelley O’Hara and Kendall Johnson at fullback, Kelley O’Hara played on the right, acting almost as a inverted fullback. Ahead of her was the young Australian fullback, Caitlin Foord, playing in the midfield. It will be interesting to see if Sky Blue keeps this deployment or if in the future Foord drops to the backline and either Johnson or O’Hara move out into the midfield.

While this off-season many people wondered if they would revert back to the 4-3-3 or 4-4-2 over the off-season. There were concerns this off-season if Amy Rodriguez would be able to play as the sole center forward in their preferred 4-3-3. But it seems that with Amy Rodriguez, Kansas City has stuck with the 4-4-2 for now.

Pressing Concerns:

Both of these teams are teams that want to force mistakes when their opponents have possession of the ball. How the teams pressed each other, really shows how they approached the game differently. Kansas City played more of an organized pressing system, akin to Barcelona, Looking to win possession and then keep the ball. On the other hand Sky Blue pressed to create attacking chances, using their press to quickly transition to direct counter attacks.

Kansas City’s pressure was based on shape. What that meant is that while one player stepped in to pressure the ball, the other defenders looked to block the passing lanes looking to intercept a bad pass. But rarely did they commit more than one person to the ball, looking to force a mistake in possession or Sky Blue to send the ball deep.

Kansas City Structured Pressing:

When Kansas City retrieves possession, they immediately are able to keep possession because of the players defending the passing lames immediately becoming passing options. They maintain their spacing and structure.

Like Barcelona, the ball is the ultimate prize. Theoretically, they can’t be hurt when they have the ball, so immediately after losing it they try to win it back. On the other hand once they have the prize, there’s no reason for them to waste possession. Their structure then helps them both in offense and defense. Getting the ball back is enough, it doesn’t matter if the ball is sent deep or they win it in a tackle. Getting the ball back is success enough. That is why it is important for the team to work as a unit.

 

For example here you see Tymrak pressuring Katy Freels. Kansas City had just lost the ball and are quickly trying to get it back. The other three Kansas City defenders sit in passing lanes, preventing an easy outlet. Kansas City does a good job of using the sideline as a defender, Freels has no options to her right or in front of her. She is in turn forced to either play a blind back pass to Johnson, turn in possession, or play the ball out. Kansas City presses trying to strangle an opponent.

Freels here decides to turn putting her back to Tymrak. Tymrak recognizes that Freels is now the pressing “responsibility” of Amy Rodriguez and drops into space. While Freels ends of blindly clearing the ball, where the ball is retrieved by the Kansas City defense, you can see that the Kansas City attackers are all anticipating the ball coming to them. They’re all watching the ball, trying to win possession back each player with their own responsibility in the action.

Sky Blue Chaos Theory:

On the other hand, Sky Blue’s pressure is more of a swarm mentality. They don’t maintain shape as well in their pressing. Instead they want to win the ball back with a tackle, so they can quickly counter from possession. Sky Blue didn’t do a lot of pressing in their opponents half, ceding that half. However once, Kansas City got the ball into their final third, Sky Blue crashed the ball hoping to win the ball back to trigger a quick counter.

 

For example here, as Kansas City enters the final third, you can see 4 Sky Blue players moving towards the ball, with two of them trying to make the quick tackle. However, just outside of the shot on the right, is a Kansas City player making a run for the quick outlet for the ball. This was not atypical, because so many people are committed to attacking the ball carrier, Kansas City was able to keep possession with quick outlets and switching the field. Sky Blue is doubly relying on their player’s athleticism. They need it to press the ball, but also to recover quickly and get back into position after committing to the ball.

Here you see the scramble after a swarm. There is acres of space for Kansas City to run into.What ends up happening is that there were a lot of 1 on 1 situations for Kansas City, where Sky Blue defenders were forced to attempt to hold up play waiting for help. Kansas City though, didn’t really take advantage of these, often they were instead too patient with the ball. Holding it in space waiting for passes to develop and trying to keep the ball rather than push their advantage.

Amy Rodriguez:

While many people questioned how Rodriguez’s athleticism would translate to the structured system that Kansas City played previously. Kansas City showed that she added a wrinkle to their system, but didn’t overhaul it. What Rodriguez provided was another option. Against teams that press and as dramatically as Sky Blue, Rodriguez provided a more direct option. Lauren Holiday moved a little bit deep and farther from the goal, seemingly more content to send through balls than receive them.

Rodriguez’s speed created chances, though she only put one of them away, you can only expect her to get sharper after a year off. Her speed and work rate also helps in pressing the ball and winning it back quickly. Even though Kansas City can’t play their 4-3-3 with her, she helps their system more overall. Formation isn’t how a team plays, but only how its set up. While Kansas City is not playing a 4-4-2, Amy Rodriguez allows them to play their possession and pressing system more effectively.

Conclusion:

Sky Blue was lucky to come away with a draw, only putting two shots on goal, both from Katy Freels. However you can only expect the two teams to get better at what they do as the season goes on. Perhaps the return Christie Rampone, will add a little bit more organization to their fast pressing system. Lloyden also looked shaky with the ball at her feet, perhaps why they looked to be aggressive with the ball. Sky Blue’s goal from an off-side’s by Kansas City had a total of 5 passes before the ball hit the net.

But Sky Blue is playing with fire, yes they were very efficient, but last year they dominated the shot count. They lead the league in TSR, consistently out shooting their opponents. This week they were out shot 14-5. And on another night where Amy Rodriguez is more clinical, they lose this game by a wide margin.