NWSL Challenge Cup #3: Washington Spirit vs. Portland Thorns

Leagues, NWSL

July 5th, 2020

Final Score: Washington Spirit 1-1 Portland Thorns

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 first half was a paced filled match from both sides who wanted the majority of possession and the ability to utilize wide and central areas. Kumi Yokoyama had the first notable chance for the Spirit, driving the ball just wide of the left post. Yokoyama had an even closer chance towards the end of the half, which forced Bella Bixby to make a diving stop to prevent the first goal of the game. Ashley Sanchez also had a worrying strike against the Thorns just after the ten minute mark, but again, Bixby was there to clean up after the gaps in Portland’s defense. Portland also had their fair share of chances in the first half, with Lindsey Horan forcing a clearance off of the goal line by Spirit’s defenders and Tyler Lussi forcing Bledsoe to go to ground for a low liner from the right wing. After the break, the game continued to grow into itself. Rose Lavelle and Ashley Hatch were subbed on at the half, and immediately upped the tempo of the match. Towards the midway point in the first half, Hatch was almost able to capitalize off of a well envisioned pass by Sanchez. The Thorns were more than able to match the raised level of play on the field however, and ended up scoring off of a spectacular diving header by Horan in the 69th minute. The Spirit equalized a few minutes later off of a corner kick through Sam Staab, which was accompanied by an amazing back-heel assist through Sanchez. Neither team were able to produce a go ahead goal, though Horan came the closest, almost finding her second of the night with a well placed driven ball that provided full extension from Bledsoe to make a save.

Washington Spirit Analysis:

Defense

Spirit grab late equalizer, draw against Thorns in third Challenge Cup match

The Spirit reverted back to their most comfortable, and arguably most effective, formation using a 4-3-3. This meant that many things were inconsistent from their clash against the North Carolina Courage and many things were reverted to how the Spirit have usually played in previous league matches and in their opening game against the Chicago Red Stars at this tournament. The Spirit, like usual, kept a very compact shape within their back four and defensive midfielders. Without the ball, they did a very good job of not allowing the Thorns to dribble straight up the middle of the field or use through balls to break defensive barriers. This meant that the Thorns had to become craftier when attacking and utilize wider areas. This system also pushed Horan to drift to outside areas more often, which was a deficit to the wider areas of the field, but it also limited the amount of combination plays using Christine Sinclair in the middle. This was a large hit to take for Portland, as Sinclair can be absolutely lethal in front of net, even as she gets to the later stages of her career. Along with this, through balls from the Thorns were also limited. The Spirit’s press and positioning, especially in the second half, were very rigid and precise. Compared to other games, the Spirit did a better job of making sure that balls could not be played in behind their defense.

Although Washington was compact in the more central areas of their defense, wider areas proved to be more of a struggle. As midfielders for the Thorns started to go wide more often, the Spirit had a harder time tracking Portland’s front line of attack. Horan in particular was extremely hard to keep an eye on and cover. Her distribution with the ball and her ability to drive into space proved to be difficult for the Spirit to handle and most of Portland’s chances proved to be at the hands of Horan herself. The goal scored is a memorable example of Horan being able to challenge the limits of the match and find space no one else was occupying. Horan however, was not the only problem within wider defensive areas for the Spirit. Because of the addition of forward wingers and the flexibility of central midfielders to move wide, balls were rarely played down the wings, and fullbacks were not used as often throughout Washington’s attacks.

Attack

NWSL Challenge Cup: Washington and Portland play wild tie, North Carolina beats Chicago to stay perfect

Again, similar to how the Spirit usually plays, Washington’s attack is very possession based and in some cases, it can be very direct. Throughout the midfield, the Spirit prefer to use a lot of short passing and creative movements. The Spirit’s set up all through the duration of this game was very well suited to the types of players on the roster. As the Spirit are a technically skilled team with a lot of individual talent, midfielders were able to play into wide areas at will and switch in and out with teammates in wider areas. This allowed for more space to be used in the midfield for passing and combination plays. These combination plays could be applied in the middle, or out wide with different types of passing triangles and ways to play around defenders in a creative manner. Lavelle would often be found out wide within these plays, orchestrating where the ball would go, and switching the point of attack. In turn, this style of play also allowed for outside forwards to be able to drive into the middle of the field and create their own chances. This was seen multiple times, especially in the first half, when Yokoyama and Sachez each came very close to breaking the deadlock by cutting into the center of the field and having a go at goal.

Aside from possession based play down the middle of the pitch, the Spirit have another common type of attack which is very direct. Often, if there are opportunities to play a long ball straight to an attacking midfielder or forward, and the Spirit’s defensive line will optimize that opportunity. Particularly when Hatch is on the field, balls are played over the top of the opposition’s defensive line for her to run onto. If Hatch cannot be found, another forward will attempt to run onto the ball and slip the action through to a centrally forward positioned player if at all possible. This happened less in the first half, as the Spirit seemed to be trying to get their forward line more comfortable with maintaining possession through and with the midfielders.

Portland Thorns Analysis:

Defense

Portland had a somewhat similar setup to the Spirit, also using a 4-3-3 with Christine Sinclair playing a sort of false nine role for the majority of the match. Defensively, the Thorns are also a very compact team with more attacking qualities. The center backs have attributes seen in a lot of European national teams, such as driving forward and having the ability to be a distributor of the ball, a characteristic usually seen in an defensive midfielder. These center backs are not afraid to push into open space to create opportunities, and this allows Portland’s midfield to have more flexibility and push up and into wider areas. Most of Portland’s possession also comes from their back four. Patience is key to the Portland defensive line and this is what makes it possible for them to drive forward themselves and play the ball.

In terms of Portland’s fullbacks, they are also a part of this forward thinking mindset. When Portland’s attacking players have the ball farther up the field, outside backs are commonly seen making overlapping runs to be able to cross the ball, or providing an outlet to pass the ball in behind. This gives the Thorns the opportunity to have positional flexibility with a constant additional wide option to cross, drive, or play the ball. A strong negative with this setup however, is the fact that when balls are played in behind Portland’s outside backs or center backs, it can become a tricky situation and a race to defend the ball. Luckily for the Thorns, Washington rarely uses wider areas in a 4-3-3 set up.

Attack

If their defense chooses to play into the midfield rather than directly up top, Portland uses combinations and particular personnel to be successful. The main method of combination plays that the Thorns use are passing triangles. These triangles are designed to exploit the Spirit’s defensive press and create space and ways to go forward. The Thorns are known for their partnerships in the midfield to create this kind of flow into their attack. Rocky Rodriguez, Horan, and Sinclair each play a crucial role in annihilating Spirit’s press and creating the ability to make space in the middle before knocking it out wide. The Spirit do something similar, though they do not use the wider areas as much as the Thorns. Another huge asset to this system is bringing the outside backs into the attack. Because there is space available out wide and most of the action is happening in the middle, outside backs can be used as outlets to play up the field, or a midfielder themselves can sneak out wide and receive the ball. Although this option is hard for the Thorns to pull off, when they make it work it leads to beautiful chances. Horan in particular had a lot of opportunities to stretch the width of the field and ended up playing numerous through balls into her forwards and produced her own chances by cutting in from the sideline to create problems for the Spirit. This allowed for rotation in positioning from the more central players and simultaneously allowed for wider, even defensive, players to crowd their attacking third to cross or receive aerial balls.

Worth noting again, Lindsey Horan was an integral piece to Portland’s set up. The United States international created the majority of large opportunities her team had while still managing to find the back of the net on an incredible act of athleticism. Starting off with her positioning, Horan was able to move off of the ball at a level that seemed almost beyond anyone else on the field. She dragged the Spirit wide to defend her, before cutting back inside and either slipping the ball through to a teammate or going herself. This made it very hard for the Spirit defense and midfield to track and mark her as she was never in one place for an extended period of time. Along with causing the Spirit problems individually, Horan made the attack a collective effort by allowing other players to move off of her and play the way they felt comfortable. Horan’s workrate and ability to raise her entire team’s tempo when Lavelle and Hatch were subbed on at half time, easily gave her player of the match and a goal in her own right.

Conclusion:

Even though Portland have yet to win a game, their draw with the Spirit secures their place outside of the bottom seed and forces the Spirit to be at level points with four other teams. The match was aggressive and entertaining, and was an interesting watch from both sides as each were playing in a competitive possession based style.

Formations:

Washington Spirit: 4-3-3

Bledsoe

Jacobs        Staab        Neilsen        McGrady

Fiest       DiBiasi        Sullivan

Yokoyama        Collins        Sanchez

Portland Thorns: 4-3-3

Bixby

Westphal        Menges       Hubly        Klingenberg

Rodriguez        Salem        Horan

Sinclair

Lussi                       Weaver

Written by Maddie Metz

Creator of Only Women’s Soccer

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