Barbra Banda’s transfer from the Chinese Super League’s Shanghai Shengli to Orlando Pride has been creating a lot of buzz in women’s football media, generating increasing interest in Banda’s profile and what the Zambian international can add to the NWSL in general — Orlando Pride, in particular. The reason for this attention to Banda comes mainly but not exclusively from the fact that this was the second most expensive transfer in the history of women’s football. Orlando Pride paid Shanghai Shengli $740,000 to acquire Banda’s services on a four-year deal.

With a few hat-tricks scored against numerous big teams, outstanding 2023 World Cup participation, and an enriching experience in the Chinese Super League, the 23-year-old striker is set to have a bigger opportunity on a more viewed stage to showcase her talent and help Orlando Pride reach their short—and long-term goals.

In this tactical analysis and scout report on Banda, we will analyse her profile as a striker and explore what makes her special to Zambia, Shanghai Shengli, and potentially Orlando Pride’s tactics. The analysis will also cover her general traits, possible roles on the pitch, and how head coach Seb Hines can utilise her in the best possible way.

Before delving into the sections of the article, it should be noted that although Banda is the captain of Zambia, she has not had the chance to play in some of the big European teams yet. This Orlando Pride represents her first “big move” offer. She started her footballing career in 2016 with the Green Buffaloes in Zambia before moving to Logroño, who offered her the chance to play against Spanish giants like Barcelona, Real Madrid, Levante and Atlético Madrid from 2018 to 2020. Afterwards, Banda got a special opportunity to play in the Chinese Super League with Shanghai Shengli.

What was impressive with Banda is that she was always capable of getting excellent numbers per season in terms of goals. For instance, she was able to score 18 goals in 13 games during her first season with Shanghai Shengli, emerging as the 2020 Chinese Women’s Super League Golden Boot winner for most goals scored in the league.

In addition to that, she was also capable of scoring plenty of important goals for Logroño and especially for Zambia, leading them to achieve unprecedented results whether during the 2023 World Cup or during their first 2022 COSAFA Women’s Cup, the competition during which Banda led Zambia to win while contributing ten goals to earn the Golden Ball Award.

General traits

Banda is a unique striker in women’s football, with special characteristics and natural strength combined with hard work.

She wins 44% of duels and can be considered a very good passer, as her passing accuracy equals 65.2%, and she provides 0.15 assists per game. Banda has proven on numerous occasions that she plays for the team and does not really want to shoot on goal on every occasion she gets; she prefers to serve her teammates whenever she notices a better-positioned player.

Perhaps one of the most notable examples of Banda’s unselfishness is her assist against Costa Rica during the 2023 World Cup. She had the ball inside the final third, dribbled past two players, and was capable of shooting, but she preferred to opt for the assist to a “freer” teammate.

In addition to this type of assist, Banda is used to serving her teammates from both wings, as she played in these two positions on some occasions. Plus, she moves a lot towards the wings even when she plays as a striker, which gives her more room for creativity and changing roles with her teammates during the game.

This picture shows how accurate her assists can be as it showcases her excellent decision-making in terms of passing since she picked the most suitable player in terms of position to receive the ball and be able to shoot on target. Therefore, Banda can participate a lot in the playmaking process as she can often retreat or move to the wings to receive the ball and either try to penetrate the box or serve a teammate.

In addition to her generosity in passing despite being a striker, Banda is characterised by her acceleration and very explosive runs even when she seems in disadvantageous situations, like in the following example. These accelerations can greatly help Orlando Pride and Banda during counterattacks and even when finding gaps within the opposing defences. More importantly, such speed paves the way for midfielders and defenders to serve Banda with through passes into space while knowing that the chances of Banda getting first to the ball will be very high.

This example shows a glimpse of how quick Banda can be and how dangerous she can become in such situations. Knowing that she was way behind the defensive line when the ball crossed at the back of the defensive bloc, Banda could still reach the ball first and protect it with her body while running and resisting the defender’s disturbance.

How she can fit into Orlando Pride’s tactics

Banda has already played with different teams and according to various formations while interpreting diverse positions. What is certain is that she occupies most, if not all, attacking positions well and can be dangerous when playing in any attacking position. This being said the ideal position for Banda is the striker role since that’s the position that allows her to win duels against defenders and battle with them on the ball recurrently while exploiting her goalscoring potential in the best of ways and in various manners.

At Orlando Pride, Banda can be instrumental in counterattacks as she is quick enough with or without the ball. Moreover, she will be of great use during crosses and set pieces as she proved numerous times that she can battle defenders well in the air to win aerial duels.

Banda will surely be competing with Adriana and Julie Doyle for a regular spot at Orlando Pride. Alternatively, Seb Hines can also opt for a change of formation at times to use two strikers simultaneously since Banda and Adriana, for example, can form a powerful attacking duo, especially with someone like Marta being the advanced playmaker just behind them.

This being said, Seb Hines will probably keep using his usual 4-2-3-1 formation with Marta as a playmaker and one of Adriana or Banda as a striker. As you can see below in this heatmap, Banda not only can play as a second striker but can also be used on the wings if necessary, especially if the team urgently needs a winger.

Since Hines already used Doyle as a right winger at the start of this 2024 NWSL season, he will probably opt for an attacking three consisting of Banda as a left winger, Adriana as a striker, and Doyle as a right winger. Angelina is a solid left-winger alternative, and Marta plays behind Adriana.

Goalscoring and shooting abilities

We can say that Orlando Pride will have a goal machine within their team in the form of Banda. This will oblige their opponents to consider this fact and change their tactics to mark such a dangerous attacking player better. With an average of 0.78 goals per game and a high average of 4.57 shots per match, Banda is considered one of the most dangerous strikers on the footballing scene and has the potential to become even more clinical in the coming seasons if she keeps on working hard to further improve her numbers.

The following goal example shows how dangerous Banda can be when starting the action from the left wing, quickly dribbling past her direct marker and finishing with great technique. Succeeding to do all of this quickly while guaranteeing the quality needed in dribbling, acceleration, and finishing might look easy from the stands, but it is very complicated to apply on the pitch without errors. Since Banda has been doing this many times already, it is fair to consider her one of the most dangerous strikers nowadays. Yet, it is up to her to confirm these traits or not during her upcoming performances at Orlando Pride.

Mastering the way she deals with long passes and succeeds in finishing when receiving such passes despite being tightly marked is something that not all strikers can do with efficiency. However, Banda proved on numerous occasions that she is physically strong enough to resist the tight marking of defenders and still needs to find the necessary timing, body coordination, and endurance to execute volleys and half-volleys, which are never easy to execute successfully.

This example highlights one remarkable action by Banda during which she received the ball. At the same time, she was marked but was still able to let the ball bounce, prepare herself for the half-volley while protecting the ball and then shoot towards the net, scoring a stunning goal.

Apart from pacy runs and volleys/half-volleys, Banda can also score headers regularly as she usually frees herself inside the box and does what is necessary to touch the ball when receiving crosses. Moreover, it is essential to stress how unique Banda’s accelerations were.

This example looks unbelievable: Banda retreats to get the ball, passes it to a teammate, then runs to surpass everyone, catches her teammate’s pass at the back of the defensive line, and scores.

The question that needs to be answered is whether Banda would succeed in repeating such accelerations and getting to the ball first when playing against NWSL defenders. The answer is most probably yes, but with less ease since NWSL defenders can be quicker than those of the Chinese Super League.

Conclusion

Barbra Banda will represent a massive addition to Orlando Pride in the short and long term. She will add a much-needed attacking depth to a squad that needs more confidence and quality players like Banda to excel. If she adapts well and quickly to NWSL’s playing style, Banda will surely be pivotal to Orlando Pride’s tactics this season, whether in terms of finishing, playmaking, or moving between the lines with and without the ball.