This weekend sees the NWSL playoff semi-finals take place, with the first game being between the second-seeded Portland Thorns, coming off a bye, and the bottom-seeded sixth-placed Gotham, who are coming off their first playoff win in franchise history.
If that wasn’t enough, this game is then followed by the top seed San Diego Wave coming up against an OL Reign side who come off an impressive 1-0 victory over Angel City in the opening round of the playoffs.
In this tactical analysis and scout report, we will provide some analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the critical things to look out for this weekend within these four sides’ tactics.
Portland Thorns
Strengths
Portland finished the regular season in 2nd place, which earned them the first-week bye. One of the primary reasons behind their successful regular season was their potent attacking threat, with them finishing the season with the most goals at 33, the highest xG at 33.22, and more shots than any team with 307, an impressive 47 more than the next-best Gotham.
One reason why their attack is so dangerous is due to their possession style of play, where they look to stretch the opposition out. This then creates more space for the attackers to find and look to damage opposition defences, with attacking players such as Sophia Smith, who is just coming back from an MCL sprain injury.
Sophia is one of the most dangerous in world football when she’s fully fit, combining her with the likes of Morgan Weaver, Christine Sinclair and Hina Siguita, the four of whom are all in the top 20 in the NWSL in terms of xG per game, two more than any other playoff contender.
Couple these potent attackers with more creative players such as Olivia Moultrie and Crystal Dunn, and you get a sense of how difficult a prospect defending against Portland can be.
All this attack doesn’t lead to anything. The quality of the Portland players to play a disguised pass penetrating the best defensive side in the league to open up the space for other players to exploit this team potentially really demonstrates how practical an attacking side like Portland can be. Another thing to note is how many bodies are looking to get involved in attacking play — about seven — and look at the width that Portland are operating with; this always means, in particular, the wingers have control over that wide space channel against the opposition full-backs.
Weaknesses
Now, despite being a scary prospect in attack, there are potential vulnerabilities in the Portland defence that could be targeted. Most notable in a recent 5-1 demolition by Angel City was how they struggled to defend crosses, particularly when the balls were hit with pace across the box.
Above is an example of how Portland struggled from these wide situations. With the Portland right-back Natalia Kuikka being beaten on the outside, much as she was for the first goal, this allows Angel City to play a looping cross towards the back post. However, although fairly well marked by left-back Meghan Klingenberg, the Angel City player running onto the ball could outjump Meghan and attack the header, resulting in it being 2-0 inside the 1st half.
NY/NJ Gotham
Strengths
Gotham finished the regular season in sixth place, scraping through on the last day despite throwing away a 2-0 lead against a Kansas City team that fired their manager at the end of the season. However, despite coming into the playoffs in mixed form, last weekend in the opening round of the playoffs saw Gotham defeat NC Courage 2-0 in impressive fashion.
One of the significant reasons that Gotham overcame the Courage was their relentless press, which prevented the Courage from ever really getting their possession-dominant style of football going. However, this wasn’t just a one-off occurrence, as Gotham has been the leading pressing side in the NWSL all season with the lowest PPDA in the league, 7.57. This prevents opponents from getting any rhythm on the ball.
Here is an obvious example of how Gotham looks to push high up the field, disrupt the numbers in your attacking shape and prevent you from developing effective attacks.
Weaknesses
Despite a relentless Gotham press being a definite strength of theirs. Opposition teams have been able to score on Gotham, and their xG for (23.80) is only 0.38 higher than their xG against (23.42). This is mirrored by their goals for and against being only one goal apart at 19 and 18, respectively.
Now, part of this is due to them being unable to capitalise on many of these high turnovers, with only three of their 353 high turnovers leading directly to a goal. However, several reasons are behind this xG deficiency, and it’s down to the defensive side of the ball.
Due to their high press, they operate a high defensive line, which can leave these defenders isolated and force them to defend a larger space. What they have mainly found difficult is dealing with long aerial balls, and there are several examples of how teams have been able to get in behind the defence with no defenders to command of the situation and prevented the attacks from developing.
In this example, what you have is a period of transition where both sides are fighting for possession of the ball. However, here, Kansas City can win the ball and quickly identify the space behind right-back Kristen Edmonds and the disconnect along the back line. Kansas can get in behind the Gotham defence and play a ball across the box, which is turned in for an own goal by Jenna Nighswonger.
In the above situation, Gotham loses the ball high in possession, and Houston can launch a looping ball towards the centre forward, occupying the space between the two centre-backs. Now, in this circumstance, Gotham hasn’t been able to react to losing the ball yet, and as a result, the centre-backs aren’t as tight to the forward as they might like. As a result, they aren’t able to deal with this looping ball over the defence, which leads to a Houston goal as the attacker lobs the keeper from range.
Not only have they found it challenging to deal with long balls, they have struggled to cope with crosses into the box with no defenders attacking the ball sufficiently to prevent danger from occurring.
In this example, all that happens is the San Diego attacker makes a run to the front post; however, she catches the Gotham player off guard, giving that half a yard of space needed to finish off this chance for a goal.
San Diego Wave
Strengths
San Diego Wave finished the season as regular season champions and has been the most consistent team throughout the competition, particularly in the back end of the season, where they won four out of their final six games, beating fellow playoff semi-finalist Portland and Gotham in that run in.
What has made them so effective in this run has been the balance in their team. In possession, they generally looked to play this patient possession style of football like NC Courage or Portland Thorns. However, in the big games against the likes of Portland or Gotham, they instead opted to cede much of the possession to the opposition. Instead, they operated a really disciplined, hard-working defensive shape where players always knew when to press and then almost always had players working to cover if that player was then beaten. Most impressively, against Gotham, winning 2-1 with only 38% possession.
The exciting thing about how San Diego defends is that it’s the complete opposite of, say, Gotham, as they actually had the joint third-lowest PPDA with OL Reign. Instead, it’s an opportunistic press where they wait for a loose touch or poor pass before looking to capitalise and take advantage. The results speak for themselves as in the regular season; the Wave had the lowest xG against (16.07) of any side, 4.49 lower than the next best remaining playoff side.
Just look at the shape San Diego has deployed; they are in dark blue, and there are no real options for Louisville to play inside the San Diego shape, with players either being marked or blocking passing lanes. This is not a one-off occurrence. San Diego is like this throughout the 90 minutes.
Weaknesses
Now, despite this generally really disciplined defensive shape. The way to take on the opposition is to be effective and efficient in transition, as this is the best place to find chinks in the Wave’s armour. However, these gaps only appear briefly before they get back into shape, so opponents must be swift in taking full advantage of these transition moments.
In the above example, Louisville have won the ball back, and with a straightforward flick pass on from the striker, you can see what kind of gaps can appear for opposition sides. However, look below as eight seconds later, San Diego players are back and in shape to defend.
A further way that teams have been able to take on the San Diego defence is to really make them work off the ball defensively, with lots of switches of the ball forcing the midfield to have to work across and cover. Particularly in their game against Portland Thorns, you did notice these gaps appearing, and despite the Wave coming out victorious in the game, you could see how a team might be able to unlock this defence.
Here, the ball has just been switched from right to left. Notice, in particular, how the Wave midfield is working hard to get across to the ball. Then, also see how the right-back is now isolated in a 2v1 with Klingenberg overlapping around the outside of Morgan Weaver.
OL Reign
Strengths
The OL Reign finished the regular season in fourth place following a mixed back end of the season. However, they were forced to come up against a dangerous Angel City team in the first round of the playoffs. Similar to the Wave, OL Reign demonstrated an imposing and disciplined defensive shape and would always send one player out to put pressure and try to prevent crosses into the box, as this was something that had torn the Thorns apart the week before.
This proved successful and prevented Angel City from being able to create any significant goalscoring opportunities from these wide areas. Particularly as the next thing they would do is pack OL Reign bodies into the box to defend.
Above is a situation where Angel City has been able to get the ball out wide and attempt to play a cross into the box; however, Quinn is able to work across from central midfield and put pressure on the ball, making life more difficult for the opponent. Then, just look at the middle of the box; you have five OL Reign players against three Angel City players. As such, they are able to defend every player and have spares, which enables them to have a player on the front post who can clear this ball away.
Another major strength in the OL Reign side is their ability to transition effectively and efficiently; this is primarily due to the front three of Megan Rapinoe, Jordyn Huitema and Veronica Latsko. She then drives at defenders and creates goalscoring opportunities for one another. Now add in the fact that dynamic midfielder Rose Lavelle is just returning from injury; you can see how the OL Reign can cause a real stir in these playoffs.
In the above example, Jessica Fishlock has won the ball high up the field. What you are going to see is how OL Reign can create a 3v3 on the counterattack quickly, with Huitema pushing up on the right and Rapinoe on the left.
One of the most important things to note is how both Rapinoe and Huitema look to remain on the outside of the defenders and keep them far apart. This means that wherever the ball eventually goes, the defenders will be further apart, making it more difficult to help each other out.
Ultimately, the ball is played out to Rapinoe after the right centre-back jumps in towards the central ball carrier, and Rapinoe can get a shot away, but it goes just over the bar.
Weaknesses
Now, I’ve already noted how well OL Reign dealt with crosses against Angel City; however, dealing with crosses hit with pace. One of the primary reasons they have struggled with this is when teams hit crosses with pace across the box, and defenders are forced to pick up attackers moving in the box. Often, these situations come about because the Reign defenders have been beaten 1v1, which has created some chaos in the generally organised defensive structure.
In the above example, you can see how San Diego could pull apart the OL Reign shape with an underlapping run. The winger is then able to cut inside as Alana Cook overworks, trying to make up for this error. This gives the Wave player space to play a whipped cross into the box where Jaedyn Shaw can get in front of the defender and flick the header across for a goal.
Conclusion
As you can see, the next two weeks look to be an exciting prospect. With the opening game of the weekend, you get to see the contrast between the possession-based, attack-heavy Portland Thorn side against the high-energy pressing juggernaut that is Gotham. Then, this game is followed by two hyper-drilled and disciplined sides who are just efficient and accurate with everything they are going to do.
Two very contrasting games but two fascinating battles that we can’t wait for this weekend.
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