This team level breakdown is really interesting. I'd love to see it for as many teams as you want to do it for (and especially for my team, the Washington Spirit, although the Spirit has a ton of rookies so it might be hardest to do for them -- maybe a video later in the season to see the impact of Giraldez finally taking the reigns as coach).
I only followed San Diego and Gotham last season so I should be able to do others once I get more film in. I did make it out to a Spirit game last season and was blown away by Sarr. Definitely want to see more of her and figure out what her deal is!
Thanks for this analysis. I’m a Gotham fan, and watch just about every game so it’s nice to understand the tactics a little better. What are your thoughts about the offensive strengths and weaknesses of this tactic? We won the championship, but squeaked into the playoffs because there were so many games where we controlled the play but struggled to create chances. Are we sacrificing opportunities for the sake of control? Or did we not have the right personnel to reach full potential?
I think offensively they looked a little predictable because of the strong desire to get wide. It's a great quality but the team looked best after adding Esther, partially because of how she would drop lower to combine and create in the midfield. That let them move through some more central areas and exploit holes created by trying to cover the width. Tactically I think being an attacking focused team worked well for Gotham most of the season. The weaknesses to me were more personnel based, sometimes goals were from really big defensive breakdowns. For example, the Nighswonger own goal on 10/31 was not fully her fault, the whole defense was shifted because of poor positioning from the rightback. That game ends tied and Gotham only takes away one point. It's a crazy fine margin of error that comes down to the decision of a few players in a span of 20 seconds. Often in football results don't reflect reality, so Gotham may have squeaked into the playoffs but I think it really just gave them the chance to show the best version of the team they were.
As far as Gotham’s lineup goes, I suspect we will see just as much rotation as last year, that’s just JCA’s style And it will help with load management, especially for someone like Rose. I share some of your reservations on Davidson. I think she is supremely talented and she looks fully healthy finally. But my impression is that she can lose focus and sometimes be a little rash or clumsy as a result. She has given up some big penalties, and almost gave up another one against Canada and the W gold cup recently. But I feel confident she will really thrive with new coaching. Because she was stuck under Dames in Chicago, she really hasn’t had a top-tier coach since leaving Stanford! So I’m excited for her.
Week one's lineup was not at all what I was expecting, I almost felt like JCA was treating the game as meaningless to give him the chance to see a few different things and make adjustments before a game that matters. I haven't got a lot of background on coaches across the league so I'm not that knowledgable about player development but that makes me optimistic to hear she's likely going somewhere better. She strikes me as being very coachable but I'm not sure I can point to anything to back that up!
This team level breakdown is really interesting. I'd love to see it for as many teams as you want to do it for (and especially for my team, the Washington Spirit, although the Spirit has a ton of rookies so it might be hardest to do for them -- maybe a video later in the season to see the impact of Giraldez finally taking the reigns as coach).
I only followed San Diego and Gotham last season so I should be able to do others once I get more film in. I did make it out to a Spirit game last season and was blown away by Sarr. Definitely want to see more of her and figure out what her deal is!
Ummm where has this channel been all my life!!!!!
In my brain for months and months before I worked up the courage!
Thanks for this analysis. I’m a Gotham fan, and watch just about every game so it’s nice to understand the tactics a little better.
What are your thoughts about the offensive strengths and weaknesses of this tactic? We won the championship, but squeaked into the playoffs because there were so many games where we controlled the play but struggled to create chances. Are we sacrificing opportunities for the sake of control? Or did we not have the right personnel to reach full potential?
I think offensively they looked a little predictable because of the strong desire to get wide. It's a great quality but the team looked best after adding Esther, partially because of how she would drop lower to combine and create in the midfield. That let them move through some more central areas and exploit holes created by trying to cover the width.
Tactically I think being an attacking focused team worked well for Gotham most of the season. The weaknesses to me were more personnel based, sometimes goals were from really big defensive breakdowns. For example, the Nighswonger own goal on 10/31 was not fully her fault, the whole defense was shifted because of poor positioning from the rightback. That game ends tied and Gotham only takes away one point. It's a crazy fine margin of error that comes down to the decision of a few players in a span of 20 seconds.
Often in football results don't reflect reality, so Gotham may have squeaked into the playoffs but I think it really just gave them the chance to show the best version of the team they were.
As far as Gotham’s lineup goes, I suspect we will see just as much rotation as last year, that’s just JCA’s style And it will help with load management, especially for someone like Rose.
I share some of your reservations on Davidson. I think she is supremely talented and she looks fully healthy finally. But my impression is that she can lose focus and sometimes be a little rash or clumsy as a result. She has given up some big penalties, and almost gave up another one against Canada and the W gold cup recently.
But I feel confident she will really thrive with new coaching. Because she was stuck under Dames in Chicago, she really hasn’t had a top-tier coach since leaving Stanford! So I’m excited for her.
Week one's lineup was not at all what I was expecting, I almost felt like JCA was treating the game as meaningless to give him the chance to see a few different things and make adjustments before a game that matters.
I haven't got a lot of background on coaches across the league so I'm not that knowledgable about player development but that makes me optimistic to hear she's likely going somewhere better. She strikes me as being very coachable but I'm not sure I can point to anything to back that up!
Enjoy your analysis, but I would suggest that somewhere you introduce/identify yourself! Don’t see your name anywhere! Thanks
Great timing, I'm filming this afternoon so I'll make sure to introduce myself.