NWSL Challenge Cup #4: Washington Spirit vs. Houston Dash

Leagues, NWSL

July 12th, 2020

Final Score: Washington Spirit 1-0 Houston Dash

Background of the Challenge Cup: After eight months without women’s professional soccer in the United States, the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) has returned in style with a one time tournament replacing the normal season schedule. In light of recent events, namely the global pandemic, the Challenge Cup is hosted by the owner of Utah Royals FC, Dell Loy Hansen in Utah. The tournament features a preliminary round, though because of a last minute withdrawal of the Orlando Pride from numerous positive COVID-19 tests, these games will only determine knockout round seeding. The later stages of the tournament work similarly to those seen in World Cups, with the winner of each match moving to the next stage of the tournament, and the loser ultimately being knocked out. The final will be held on July 26th, 2020 in Rio Tinto Stadium, one day shy of a month after the tournament opener. The NWSL Challenge Cup is the first professional sports league to return in the United States, and though there have been debates on the welfare of the tournament, it is inarguably a great boost for women’s sports in America. Aside from larger health concerns, people may be disheartened to not see a few big names of the United States National Team on television. However, big name stars, including many World Cup winners, still are featured and many more talents, international and domestic, have a chance to shine.

Game Recap: The Washington Spirit came out with intensity and energy in their fourth preliminary match of the tournament, dominating the entirety of the first half and much of the second before the Houston Dash were able to regain composure in the closing minutes. The first chance came quickly for the Spirit inside three minutes, causing Rachel Daly, a center forward, to track back on a corner kick to make a goal line clearance. However, the attempts to keep her team in the game were soon faltered, as a pretty combination play out wide by Kumi Yokoyama to Ashley Hatch resulted in a beautiful finish into the corner for Bailey Feist to net her first goal of the tournament. The first half kept going in a similar direction for the Spirit, who maintained a massive amount of possession and numerous chances on net from everyone working across their front line. It wasn’t until after the forty minute mark when the Dash had their first meaningful chance of the game. This, unsurprisingly, was not a ball launch over the top like their previous attempts, but a beautiful through ball from Kristie Mewis in the midfield to Daly up top. The second half was equally as eventful with chances from both sides this time, and a complete turnaround in play from the Dash. Houston came out with a hunger only given in glimpses of the first half. The entire Houston front line had various chances throughout the last 30 minutes of the match, and numerous balls were floated into the box for someone to get on the end of. Somehow, the Spirit were able to handle the barrage of incoming chances and stay compact to seal the win and a clean sheet to go along with it.

Washington Spirit Analysis:

Defense

HERRIMAN, UT - JULY 12: Paige Nielsen #14 of Washington Spirit attempts a header during a game against the Houston Dash on day 7 of the NWSL Challenge Cup at Zions Bank Stadium on July 12, 2020 in Herriman,

The Spirit play a 4-3-3 and are consistent defensively, in both tactics, and in personnel used. Washington is known to be more possession based, though when the Spirit does make slight tactical changes to advance their attacking firepower, it can expose weaknesses throughout their back line. Because the Spirit keeps the ball for long stretches of time in their back four, it gives them the freedom to dictate the tempo of the game. The Spirit are usually very patient in their approach going forward, making other teams come to them to press the ball and make sure that they decide when they want to play up the field. This type of play forced the Houston Dash to go into a full forward press to try and block the Spirit from playing out of the back. This allowed for balls to be played in behind and for the Spirit to use their midfield for distribution because the Dash had given up so much space behind their initial press. This also made Houston’s front line very tired, and even if the Spirit would lose the ball within their back third of the field, they were quick to recover and continue to keep possession.

Adding on to the Spirit using their midfield to play out of the back, many central and outside attacking-minded players were seen dropping back to collect the ball and break Houston’s press. Because of this, the Spirit became more flexible allowing their fullbacks to push forward into space left by players collecting the ball in the middle. This meant that even though crosses and drives down the wings were more apparent from the Spirit, wider areas were left unmarked and this became a big area of problem for the Spirit when the Dash finally got going. Most, if not all, of Houston’s notable chances came from playing or dribbling the ball through wide areas and crossing or cutting inside. This was a problem seen in previous matches from the Spirit, and was lucky not to be a point of collapse in terms of winning the game. Even though this was a large weak point for Washington, the team was able to stay compact in central areas and be the first to the ball. They had a huge sense of urgency when the ball was in their box and this saved them the game.

Attack

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Going forward, the Spirit used similar tactics to the ones they have used previously in other Challenge Cup matches. Washington loves to keep possession in the center of the field and play out of the back with patience. Especially throughout this match, the Spirit were seen dropping in to collect balls from their defenders. Players collecting these balls would usually be central players, though on occasion, wider forwards would drop back to help feed the ball up the field or into the center and give the opportunity for someone else to make a run wide. Once the ball would be distributed into the center of the field, it was often kept through short passing spurts and playing upfield. This adds on to Spirit’s usual game plan of driving through the middle of the field to create chances. This style presents itself as working very well against the Dash, because the midfield is largely left open when they are pressing with their front players.

Out wide looked to be a similar story for the Spirit in comparison to previous tactics. Yokoyama and Ashley Sanchez are adept at creating space for themselves out wide and giving options for midfield players once they have gotten the ball far enough up the field. They are often found drifting inside and then pulling back out to allow for overlapping runs and to be able to create this space, even positioning themselves in defensive midfield to be able to collect balls and distribute them themselves. This allowed for more combinations with the Spirit’s fullbacks along with combinations already played out wide using central players. These combinations with central players are usually simple and technical and are used to eliminate defenders and break passing lines in order to get the ball to the top of the box and have a chance at goal. This was especially apparent during the combination that ultimately led to a goal by Feist with Yokoyama able to get the ball wide and play the ball centrally to Hatch who ultimately layed it off for an assist.

Although it is the Rose Lavelle and Ashley Hatch partnership usually discussed when referring to Washington’s attack, Feist came into the fold during this game as someone who works well weaving into forward positions. Without the likes of Lavelle to play the ball through, Hatch is free to drop back in to receive the ball herself to create chances. She was able to work to play like the technical Spirit midfielders usually seen within the Washington side and slip balls through to other players. Her and Feist were seen interchanging positions numerous times and worked effectively off of one another. It also allowed more space for outside forwards, and even fullbacks, to drive into space up front and challenge Houston’s back line.

Houston Dash Analysis:

Defense

2020 NWSL Challenge Cup - Day 7

Houston plays their games in the same formation as the Spirit, a 4-3-3, though have very different tactics when it comes to actually playing the match. The Dash like to play wide, and therefore have a very spread out defensive line to accommodate. This can be a large problem when defending against teams such as the Spirit, who like to play line-breaking passes to their forwards on a regular basis. This meant two main things when the Spirit won the ball. The first is that the Spirit could catch the Dash off guard with longer balls over the top or combinations down the wings. This is because the Dash usually play with attacking minded wingers, which even though it is a part of their attack, it can also lead to gaps in the back line. The second point, perhaps the most major one, is the fact that the Dash liked to press the Spirit when they had the ball. This press included both midfielders and forwards, therefore leaving a large gap in the center of the field which, in turn, exposed Houston’s back line. The Spirit thrive in the center of the field and most likely should have hurt the Dash even more than they did with the one goal they scored in the first half. This also eliminates any ability for the Houston midfield to properly play the ball to their own forwards in addition to not being able to mark defensively. The only positive that can be seen coming from this press is the fact that the Dash have the ability to win the ball closer to the Spirit’s net which meant that they could counterattack quickly. Although this has worked on occasion, the Dash were usually too tired from chasing Washington around to do anything with it.

On a more positive note, the Dash outside backs are a crucial part of the Houston attack and are pivotal in the way Houston likes to move forward. Houston’s fullbacks are often found very wide and farther up the field then their central counterparts. They combine frequently with more attacking players, central and outside forwards alike, and can make runs in behind or play in small passing triangles to get the ball into an area where they can cross. Allysha Chapman, a Canadian international, in particular is especially prevalent in Houston’s attack going forward. She drives the ball down the field, before combining with a teammate or playing a ball through.

Attack

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Throughout the first half, the Dash tried a very direct style of play that was doing them anything but favors. Houston would try to launch the ball down the field for their forwards, mainly Daly, to get on the end of. This would give the Spirit time to regain possession, without wasting any energy, and build their attack up from the back. Even though the Spirit are strongest through their midfield, the Dash have a very different style of play and can match just about every team they play if they stick to what they do best. If the Dash had played through Groom, Mewis, and Sophie Schmidt the entire game, who knows what could have happened? Sadly for the Dash, they only started to get into the game when the Spirit were already a goal up and the game was two thirds through.

When their midfield was able to drive up the field and play into Rachel Daly and out wide for a winger to get on the end of, the Spirit started to struggle. Especially seen in Daly’s chance at the end of the first half, when Kristie Mewis can link up play with wider players, Houston create many chances going forward. Midfielders for the Dash, including Mewis, can often be seen driving down the field and then playing the ball over the top or through to a forward position. Once in this forward position, the Dash like to play combination plays, such as up-back-throughs or smaller passing triangles and attempt to find options to create a chance at goal. If someone is not available up front centrally, the Dash resort to their other plan of getting crosses into the box. As demonstrated in their games against the Utah Royals and OL Reign, the Dash are very good at winning set pieces and capitalizing on crosses. This adds on to why they like to attack using fullbacks going forward. Rachel Daly in particular is usually the main target for these through balls and crosses. Daly is the player that makes the Houston Dash run and sets the tone for her team as soon as she is able to get onto the ball which, unfortunately for her, did not start to happen until the later stages of the game. Daly is not only highly skilled technically, but extremely tenacious and will try and win every ball played to her, whether she has any chance or not.

Conclusion:

Both the Washington Spirit and the Houston Dash have foolproof playing styles and skilled tactical plans. The only difference in this game is that one team decided to come out and utilize their plan for the majority of the game and the other did not. Both teams are still growing into themselves and will be sides to look out for in coming games and seasons.

Formations:

Washington Spirit: 4-3-3

Bledsoe

Huster        Staab        Neilsen        McGrady

Bailey       Sullivan        Feist

Yokoyama        Hatch        Sanchez

Houston Dash: 4-3-3

Campbell

Simon      Naughton        Prisock       Chapman

Mewis       Schmidt       Groom

Stengel       Daly       Latsko

Written by Maddie Metz

Creator of Only Women’s Soccer

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