NWSL Challenge Cup #2: Washington Spirit vs. North Carolina Courage

NWSL (1)

July 1st, 2020

Final Score: North Carolina Courage 2-0 Washington Spirit

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 game started off with a typical possession oriented style from the Spirit, who fired multiple long range efforts into Stephanie Labbé’s vicinity throughout the first half. One of the best chances in the half came from a lunging effort by Bailey Feist that rebounded off the post. The Washington team did have their fair share of scares however, with loose passes and slipped through balls allowing Debinha to have one of the closest chances of the half with a curling shot that ended up hitting the post. The North Carolina Courage however, got the better end of the stick from the Spirit as the half went on, causing all sorts of defensive issues that culminated in Cari Roccaro just missing the crossbar a few seconds before the half. To add to the Courage domination, the North Carolina team made changes at the half that saw the likes of Sam Mewis, Denise O’Sullivan, and Crystal Dunn enter the midfield. Lynn Williams finally broke the deadlock just as the second half had started to get underway by a brilliant individual run that saw Willliams beat the entirety of the Spirit defense. Williams solidified the Courage lead again around the hour mark by practically forcing the ball into the net off of an excellent assist by Debinha. Each team would go on to have a few more chances each, but ultimately, the Courage conquered.

Washington Spirit Analysis:

Defense

Spirit face North Carolina Courage in midweek showdown at 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup

The Spirit changed their formation from their winning 4-3-3 in their opening match of the Challenge Cup against the Chicago Red Stars, into a more structured 4-4-2 to counteract the box midfield that the North Carolina Courage had put together. The Spirit attempted, and were partially successful in, continuing to keep the majority of possession until the end of the first half. For the Spirit, they aim to build out of the back, but North Carolina forced them to pass laterally most of the time throughout this build up. This made it extremely hard for the Spirit to play the way they like to play, which is up through the middle using short passing. As the game went on, the Spirit found themselves losing the ball in dangerous areas, allowing North Carolina to capitalize and cause the Spirit to grow tired. Especially in the second half, the Spirit were constantly under pressure while on the ball, and chasing the Courage’s fast paced passing when they did not have possession.

The Spirit were successful however at building out of the back for the majority of the first half, and slipping balls through into wider areas for forwards to chase on to. The Spirit were mostly successful in going wide for one main reason, North Carolina’s lack of defensive width. Even though this seemed uncharacteristic for a team who have previously been known to attack mostly using their wide players, using their 4-2-2-2 set up limits their ability to press wide. This meant that Spirit’s defense could drive balls over the top and slip balls through wide while still maintaining their usual strategy of attacking down the middle. This did come with some issues however, in the fact that the Spirit were very weak in wide area’s defensively because their fullbacks would often be caught too far forward and the centerbacks did not have many options for people to cover them. This is what led to North Carolina’s first goal, and indirectly, their second goal as well.

Offense

As previously noted, the Spirit changed their offensive formation to try and counteract or play through North Carolina’s box midfield set up. This strategy started off well, with a larger midfield being able to hold their own and continue to keep possession against an equally numbered North Carolina side. To suit this set up, Meggie Doughtery Howard came on in place of Jordan DiBiasi as a technical and direct midfielder to cover the defensive midfield area and play balls through to Rose Lavelle, Dorian Bailey, and Andi Sullivan further up the pitch. This type of position was not seen previously in the Spirit set up against the Chicago Red Stars and presented new positives and challenges along with it. Using this set up, the Spirit struggled to attack together as a unit, usually leaving their back five on-field players, sometimes only the three central defensive players, to deal with the onrush of pressing and passing from the Courage. This left their defense open to many through balls and in turn, made it harder to mark in wider areas as the middle was left open. This isn’t to say that this strategy didn’t have it’s benefits though, because using this midfield pivot in the middle of the field allowed for good distribution and relief of pressure and Doughty Howard in this role made it easier for the Spirit to attack.

Up front, the Spirit struggled to create their usual amount of chances. No one was pressuring North Carolina’s back line, hence the slipped balls through to Lavelle or Ashley Hatch were not available like they had been against Chicago in their first game of the tournament. This took away a lot of creative and useful opportunities throughout that the Spirit could have been on the end of. Another issue with this structure comes as a result of North Carolina’s press using their box shaped midfield setup. They were often forced out of the top of the box and were forced to shoot from long rang or cross from wider areas. North Carolina, as a defensive unit, really tried to stop Washington from using their normal game plan in attacking through the middle and slipping balls through. As Hatch started to get more tired left alone at the top of the field, the Spirit’s attack started to dwindle. Later subs did make an impact however, and the Spirit were never left completely out of the game.

North Carolina Courage Analysis:

Defense

2020 NWSL Challenge Cup - Day 3

North Carolina has played their soccer in an unusual, but highly effective formation during the Challenge Cup so far using a 4-2-2-2. This formation includes a box shaped midfield and two wide forwards. Ultimately, this back four does not differ from a lot of defensive lines seen previously with this North Carolina side, but the players who are part of North Carolina’s back line are always compact, and for the most part, attacking minded. Because their 4-2-2-2 set up limited the amount of width within their midfield, it is very hard to distribute out wide or up the middle to teammates, especially with a strong midfield Spirit press.

This does not stop the Courage defense from pushing up though, and makes their defensive line even more compact as the threat of an over the top ball is less applicable. Adding on to the solidity of the Courage defense, they are also very effective in preventing any balls from coming through the middle of the field into dangerous areas. The Courage, using their double defensive midfielders, force the Spirit attack out wide or far enough away from the box where shots can be easily dealt with by Labbé. This meant that the Spirit were, as some would say, out of their element for most of the match in their attacking third of the field. This also forced Spirit possession to be in their defensive area, which is of no use to them going forward and allows the Courage to get onto the end of loose balls to counter.

Offense

NC Courage 2-0 Washington Spirit: Debinha takes center stage ...

The Courage positioned their attacking players on the field into three sets of two, ending with their strikers in a wider position. Having only two players in one line of attack allows for the width to create itself on the field. This gives extreme flexibility to players on the field and allows them to be creative going forward. This structure is especially appropriate for the squad that North Carolina possesses, with many players enjoying driving up the field and being creative in their dribbling and passing choices while staying in a position to defend and press. This was primarily shown in the second half of the game when Paul Riley, North Carolina’s manager, almost unfairly brought on three of the best midfielders in the league in Sullivan, Mewis, and Dunn.

Debinha is a great example of utilizing this type of attack. She is very creative on the ball and can pick out pockets of space when passing and fool defensive lines with her runs in behind. A standout of the tournament so far, the Brazilian continues to impress every game with her running on and off of the ball and her ability to play the ball through to an onrushing forward at practically every angle. This setup has really allowed her to shine, playing just where she left off as MVP of the NWSL Championship match.

Another player to highlight in this attack is none other than Lynn Williams. It would be crazy not to mention the topscorer of the tournament so far, with three goals in the three games the Courage have played so far in this tournament. Williams dominated the second half of this match, scoring two goals inside 20 minutes. The first goal was an absolutely stunning individual run, beating a slide tackle from a Spirit defender and driving touchline before deciding to cut in and finish the chance herself. This goal gives credit to the set up of the North Carolina team and shows what can happen if a player like Williams has the freedom to run at opposition.

Another key aspect of the North Carolina attack was their ability to pressure opposition until they either got too tired or gave up the ball, both of which they did to the Spirit. North Carolina is patient and capitalizes on these chances. This is very similar to how the United States National Team wears down their opponents. This caused the Spirit to grow very fatigued towards the end of the game and gave the Courage a substantial portion of possession.

Conclusion:

Overall, this game was a test for the Spirit to see where they stood against the reigning champions of United States women’s soccer. There are things to improve on, but a lot to take away for a young team with unlimited potential.

Formations:

North Carolina Courage: 4-2-2-2

Labbé

Merrick        Kurtz        Erceg        Daniels

Roccaro       Speck

Milliet        Debinha

Meehan             L. Williams

Washington Spirit: 4-4-2

Bledsoe

Huster        Staab        Nielsen        McGrady

Doughtery Howard

Sullivan                      Bailey

Lavelle

Feist        Hatch

Written by Maddie Metz

Creator of Only Women’s Soccer

Sources:

Images

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