When NJ/NY Gotham FC announced that USWNT regulars Rose Lavelle, Tierna Davidson, Crystal Dunn and Emily Sonnett would be joining them ahead of the 2024 NWSL campaign, there was a noticeable buzz around the New Jersey club as fans geared up for what was shaping up to be another strong season, and one that many felt could end with the league trophy once again within their grasp.
Whilst they did make a slightly laboured start to the season due to the need to gel their new arrivals into their structure, they have grown into it and now look like a team to be reckoned with whenever they step out onto the field.
Central to that has been the form of Ella Stevens, another of their new arrivals whose signing largely went under the radar. However, there is no doubt that the former Chicago Red Stars player has made a name for herself at the Red Bull Arena, with her becoming intrinsic to everything that her new side has done well.
The consistency of her performances has led to calls among the wider fanbase for her to be included in Emma Hayes’ USWNT squad, and it surely won’t be too long before she is named on a national team roster.
With that in mind, this Ella Stevens tactical analysis will take a closer look at Stevens’ game to see why she has earned so many plaudits of late and what she could bring to the national team when her opportunity does arrive.
Ella Stevens Build Up Play
With Ella Stevens being a forward by trade, there is no doubt that she is at her best when inside the final third and leading the line.
However, Gotham signed her for other aspects of her play, too, with it clear when watching the former Red Stars attacker that she is a very well-rounded player who brings a lot of different attributes to her team’s game plan.
One of the qualities that is most evident in her game is her strong passing ability, with it not uncommon to see her dropping back to get on the ball in deeper areas and assisting those behind her to construct phases of play.
This has particularly benefited Gotham, which they have used to their advantage where possible.
Their tactics under head coach Juan Carlos Amorós are reminiscent of traditional Spanish possession-based principles, requiring players who are confident on the ball whenever they are in transition.
As Stevens has demonstrated here, this is something that she has in abundance, with her tracking all the way back into her own half to bridge the gap between fellow former Chicago player Davidson and ex-Manchester City Women midfielder Lavelle, receiving the ball from the former before transferring it out to the latter on the far side of the pitch.
Being able to move the ball around with this amount of precision across a range of distances, as is highlighted by 75.1% of her passes finding their intended targets, also aids Gotham in their bid to prevent opponents from intercepting the ball mid-transit.
To explain, the risk of it travelling directly from Davidson to Lavelle here is that Seattle Reign would have a chance of disrupting their rhythm and of launching an attack from a dangerous position.
However, with Stevens dropping back to fill the gap between them, that risk was minimised and Gotham were able to prevent the ball from falling into Seattle’s grip.
The other thing to point out in that situation was how Stevens transformed in an instant from a centre forward to a central midfielder.
That level of positional rotation is something else that Amorós has built into his side’s tactics.
As her heatmap for the campaign so far illustrates, it is not the only time that she has been seen in alternative roles.
This does add a Dutch flavour to Gotham’s play, too, with traces of the “Total Football” philosophy made famous by Johan Cruyff evident through movement such as this.
For this reason, Stevens only averaged 3.43 touches inside the penalty area per game in 2024, which could be considered low for someone tasked with leading the line.
However, the vast amount of territory that she covers demonstrates that her game is about so much more than simply scoring goals, and that has made her such a valuable asset for Gotham to have in their ranks.
That desire to play fluidly and pass-orientated has been translated into other areas of the pitch.
Tham’s final third play also contains incisive passes as they try to play through their opponents and fashion goalscoring opportunities.
Once again, Stevens plays a vital role in making that possible.
Here, she holds her position amongst the Angel City back line before moving towards the ball at the last minute.
Nealy Martin sends it in her direction, and the defenders are caught out.
As a result, she is allowed to send the ball out towards former Portland Thorns forward Dunn under no pressure from the home team before another one-touch pass finds Lavelle, who had ghosted into the area behind the Angel City players and who then puts the ball beyond former Bosnia goalkeeper DiDi Haračić.
It was a team goal and one that indicated just how central that desire to play their way through opponents has been, but there is no doubting the role that Stevens had in facilitating it.
It was her decisiveness that kept Angel City on the back foot, and the fact that she can assist as well as score (with her picking up two assists as well as five goals so far) shows again how much she brings to Gotham’s play.
It is not only in open spaces that Stevens can have an impact on their build-up phases, though, with her just as capable of operating in tighter areas and when under significant pressure from her opponents.
In this case, North Carolina Courage have sought to close her down through the combination of Republic of Ireland star Denise O’Sullivan and Japan midfielder Narumi Miura, and the fact that they have come at Stevens from both sides makes it seem as though they will succeed in dislodging the ball and at ending Gotham’s attack.
However, to think that way would be to discount the sharp movement and decisiveness already highlighted in this scout report, with Stevens showing both here as she not only moves the ball out of danger but then has the presence of mind to feed the ball out towards the nearside wing for left-back Jenna Nighswonger to send towards fellow USA international Lynn Williams.
Therefore, regardless of the circumstances, Stevens is a player who can impact her team’s ability to build chances and move the ball around the field effectively.
This has made her the perfect fit for Gotham’s possession-orientated style of play.
Ella Stevens Attacking Threat
That variety in what Ella Stevens offers continues when looking at the threat that she poses at the top of the field, too. The analysis already states that she is far from being just a goalscorer.
That has once again played into Gotham’s hands, with it enabling them to adapt to different situations as and when they come about.
This was most apparent when they took on Chicago earlier in the campaign, with the Red Stars known for their robust defensive setup under former Jamaica head coach Lorne Donaldson and constantly making it difficult for opposing teams to break them down.
As a result, the passing sequences that had worked so effectively against other sides would not have the same result for Gotham, simply due to the same spaces not being available for the ball to travel into.
For that reason, Amorós opted to take a more direct approach in this game, with Gotham operating with a greater sense of verticality and not looking to construct as many passing sequences whenever they had the ball.
By doing so, they sought to exploit any gaps that did appear before they could be completely closed off, just as Nighswonger is looking to do here.
However, what makes this pass possible is the speed and awareness of Stevens, with her here identifying a gap between Finland defender Natalia Kuikka and former Bayern Munich Frauen full-back Maximiliane Rall and accelerating through it, which then gave Nighswonger something to aim for and allowed her to move the ball into an area from which it would not be as easy for Chicago to defend against them.
On this occasion, it didn’t matter as Gotham were only seconds from victory and so were looking to kill the clock rather than create a shot on goal, but the principle is there, and it highlights how Gotham are not just a one-dimensional team.
They are capable of adapting whenever there is a need for them to do so.
There have also been times when Stevens has needed to move in a more horizontal fashion, with the trip to Racing Louisville being one outing when that really came into its own.
With Louisville registering the most draws in the league (seven at the time of writing), Gotham knew that they would need to work hard to have a chance of breaking them down.
Stevens once again played a pivotal role in them doing just that.
She stayed slightly off-centre and outside Louisville’s narrow defensive line, which meant that she was out of sight of the defenders.
She had the necessary freedom to move around and to create space from which she could receive the ball once Mandy Freeman had delivered it into the goal area.
She was helped by Louisville right-back Lauren Milliet turning her back and so not being aware of Stevens’ movement until it was too late, but there was still a lot of quality in the way that the Gotham player controlled the ball and then despatched it back across goal from a tight angle.
With the USA’s tactics in France over the last weeks revolving around the same diagonal passes, this aspect of Stevens’ play will really allow her to fit into the former Chelsea Women’s manager’s tactical blueprint.
Therefore, if she were to receive a call-up to the national team in the near future, this is where she could be best utilised and become a key asset for them to have in their options.
It is also worth pointing out that Stevens is not only capable of being the key target player whenever her side moves into promising areas; she is just as capable of holding back and operating as part of the secondary wave, too.
This situation was one when that was particularly apparent, with Stevens sending the ball forward for Dunn to pull back into the goal area but not then running to immediately get on the end of the return pass.
Instead, she circled around to the edge of the goal area and put herself in a position from which she could tidy up anything that came her way.
That paid off for Gotham here as Dunn’s initial pass was cleared by Houston Dash defender Paige Nielsen, but not convincingly.
Stevens’ positioning allowed Gotham to keep the pressure firmly on their opponents with a second attempt to find the back of the net.
It might not have led to anything, but it once again highlights how her attacking threat is about much more than simply providing an end product.
Ella Stevens Movement Off The Ball
This analysis has already hinted at this, but what is always apparent about Ella Stevens is that she is an effective player not only when she has the ball at her feet but also when she is out of possession.
She constantly works hard to create spaces and gaps around the pitch that her teammates can then exploit.
That, too, has proven beneficial for Gotham, allowing them to consistently manipulate their opponents and to make different situations work in their favour.
Again, this comes down to her desire to work hard and in her team’s best interests.
One thing that Gotham has really used to their advantage is her speed and offensive threat at the top of the field.
In this case, she has made a run that has forced the majority of the Louisville back line to stay in her vicinity, yet she has no immediate intention of receiving the ball here.
Instead, she simply wants to isolate that section of the team and to separate them from the others around them.
By doing so, she fashions a space in between the Louisville ranks that her teammates can then progress the ball into, which here allows former Liverpool Women striker Katie Stengel to cut inside from the nearside wing under less pressure than she might have otherwise been under.
Therefore, Stevens’ run, whilst not directly leading to a shot on goal, has allowed her side to enter a space which might not have been as accessible without her contribution and from which they can decide to try their luck.
These movements have also given her teammates options when they have got into those threatening areas, with Dunn making another infield run with the ball here and Stevens once again clearing some of the opposing players out of her way.
This not only prevents Nielsen and Natalie Jacobs from tackling the Gotham player but also leaves Williams with just Nigeria utility player Michelle Alozie ahead of her, which significantly increases her chance of breaking into the open territory behind the Houston back line and of making it into their goal area.
As a result, Dunn has two potential passes that she can look to make, with one being to send the ball towards Stevens, which is perhaps the more conservative option, and the other being to feed the ball directly into the path of Williams and to allow her to take Alozie on in a duel.
In the end, she opted for the former, perhaps as a result of Gotham’s desire to retain possession without taking too many risks, but the fact that she had a choice at all is the key point to take from this, and it was due to Stevens that that was the case.
It is not only in attack where Stevens’ off-the-ball movement has aided Gotham, though.
In this case, she looked to get up the pitch in a bid to meet Davidson’s long clearance but quickly realised that doing so would require her to compete in a 1-v-1 aerial battle with Sarah Gorden.
The Angel City defender has always been a tough player to face in moments like this, and Stevens has only succeeded in 42.2% of her aerial duels so far this year, so this is clearly not one of her strengths.
As a result, she opts to let Gorden win the ball and instead focuses on the next phase of the play, with her stepping back and positioning herself to intercept the clearance that she knows the Angel City defender will attempt.
That turned out to be the right move for her to make, with her preventing Gorden’s attempt to find one of her teammates ahead of her from coming about and allowing Gotham to keep the pressure on their hosts.
This shows once again how she constantly assesses her surroundings and makes decisions that allow her team to have the best chance of testing their opponents.
C0nclusion
In conclusion, this tactical analysis has taken a closer look at NJ/NY Gotham forward Ella Stevens, highlighting the reasons that she has become such a key player for her new team and why having her fit and available for each outing will be vital if they are to maintain their place at the summit of the NWSL.
When looking at Stevens’ overall play, what is apparent is just how well-suited she is to the Spanish-based tactics that Amorós and others in the league are looking to implement, with both Houston and Washington Spirit turning to that brand as they try to stay in tune with modern trends and appointing former Celtic Women manager Fran Alonso and ex-Barcelona Femení head coach Jonatan Giráldez respectively (the latter only arriving over the summer once the Spanish champions’ season had finished).
There is a strong belief among some in the higher echelons of the American women’s game that the USWNT should also look to adopt this style of play, with the benefits of doing so clear to see in Spain’s current status as the best team in the global game.
Hayes’ appointment was designed to upgrade the national side stylistically and bring them more in line with current tactical trends.
Stevens has shown during the ongoing campaign that she is ready-made for that way of playing.
It will surely not be too long before she is handed an opportunity at international level, with her possessing a lot of the characteristics that Hayes looks favourably on, and it will certainly be worth keeping an eye out to see when her moment does come.
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