one question for each nwsl team heading into week 2

Week 1 gave us a 6-0 demolition, last year’s bottom table side dominating last year’s championship runners up but losing 2-1, a nearly blown 3-0 lead, and every other game ending 1-1. It’s a long season, but there are already questions from week 1 that each team can begin answering in week 2.

So I decided to write down a main one for each team. Let’s get to questioning.

angel city: u sure about that midfield?

For reasons that go evade my understanding, interim head coach Sam Laity chose to situate Alanna Kennedy in midfield, between rookie defensive midfielder Macey Hodge and second-year teenage pro Kennedy Fuller. I’m not sure how these pieces fit or looked in practice, but against San Diego it looked like no one being able to get on the ball and complete passes.

According to FBref, Angel City’s 288 attempted passes were the fewest in week 1, and 207 completed passes was the second fewest (201, Louisville). This is all made even weirder by Katie Zelem, a midfielder known for her passing, not being on the availability report and also not making it into the XI.

bay fc: new formation who dis?

Bay apparently said enough with the hybrid back three in possession what it we just committed? And they did. It’s a rarity in the NWSL to see three-back formations, and even rarer that they stick around. In terms of pressing, it worked well, in terms of making connections on the ball, it didn’t. Bay’s 68.4% pass completion percentage was the second lowest in week 1 (64.6, Louisville, again).

chicago tsars: how long is the front office going to make everyone suffer?

I’ll remain mad at this ownership group and front office until they give me a reason not to be. What they’re doing to the players and Lorne is not kind, and shouldn’t be part of any plan. Can’t even say they’re tanking, because the draft no longer exists. They’ve just decided to have the players endure this for no good reason.

Currently my concern is that there’s an ideological difference in the style they want versus the style Lorne Donaldson coaches. If so, then they knew it’d be harsh to fire a respected coach after just one season, but aren’t willing to commit to investing in his style of play so instead are setting him and the team up for poor results. I hope this isn’t true, but it feels like the most true read one can have from the outside.

houston dash: are you legit or just unburdened?

Last year was an absurd year for Houston. Their front office was ridiculous and their head coach disappeared a quarter of the way into a season. I am sure there’s a ‘girl who is going to be ok’ feeling to simply no longer being associated with that much absurdity.

They also put in a lot of work, and new hires, to solve this. Their new head coach, Fabrice Gautrat, had the team performing impressively against the Washington Spirit. Against any other team (bar Orlando, and maybe Kansas City) they might have won. So another opponent provides an opportunity to not only build on the performance, but get a result this time.

kc current: where’s your chi bro?

The Current played the most dominant half of soccer during week 1, terrorizing Portland to a quick 3-0 scoreline. Then, Vlatko’ing happened. One of the hilarious things from last season was the coach known for refusing to go above 5mph with the USWNT’s young attackers was suddenly having his Kansas City squad in constant transition, with Temwa Chawinga scoring twenty goals and the Current leading all teams with 57 goals scored in the regular season.

The open joke was that Vlatko must be secretly hating this. Well, in week 1 we saw the Two Vlatkos. After that raucous 3-0 start, his team began the second half flat and immediately conceded. A late’ish penalty could have made the game 3-2, but was missed. In order for Kansas City to be the type of serious that can go through Orlando and Washington—or both—Vlatko needs to find a balance between the team’s two extremes.

nc courage: was that really your shaw + sanchez solution?

I’m not happy. There were so many fun ways to potentially fit Jaedyn Shaw and Ashley Sanchez on the pitch at the same time and in week 1 North Carolina chose the least fun option. That option led to the fewest touches of the ball for both, and fewer touches in the attacking third than Manaka Matsukubo (fine), Tyler Lussi (huh), and left back Felicitas Rauch (wut).

What’s worse is that Sanchez played on the right wing, not center midfield or the left where cutting inside was an attribute that routinely paid off at UCLA and early in her career with the Spirit. Instead it turned her into a cross-heavy winger, whose six crosses led the team. That’s not Sanchez’s game at all. Shaw also needs runners to stretch defenses and give her targets for throughballs, or space to exploit. That wasn’t happening either. It’s only week 1, but, help.

gotham fc: what happened to your width?

Gotham’s pass network was absolutely hilarious. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a team be this narrow, and certainly not on purpose.

Part of it was likely to win scraps in midfield since Laura Harvey likes to fill her midfields too. But that led to a surprising lack of width which didn’t help Gotham once they were on the ball. They need to find a way to create width from fullbacks or willing wide runners, otherwise it will be harder to keep Esther and Ella Stevens on the pitch at the same time.

orlando pride: why are you so mean?

Something compels me to say stop it, but something more powerful and sinister says keep going.

portland thorns: what are you up to?

I’m not sure I see the vision quite yet. It’s week 1, so, maybe it’s fine. But also I’ve been confused about Rob Gale’s midfield approach ever since he became the interim, then permanent, head coach last year. Players are often tightly packed together in midfield, don’t have wide outlets, and now there’s no Sophia Wilson to make all that okay.

I enjoyed some of the strikes Deyna Castellanos was able to put onto the ball, but they were all long range strikes. As president & ceo of Bangers Only, I approve, but someone(s) should probably make runs into the box too.

rahsing louisville: so it’s just iso sears then?

As you may have read above, Louisville’s in possession numbers were super stinky. They were last in passes completed (just 201) and pass completion percentage (64.6%). The midfield had Taylor Flint, Ary Borges and Savannah DeMelo, which means that should not have happened.

Yet it seems the team is still struggling for cohesion, and to compensate end up relying on rolling the ball into space and hoping Emma Sears does an Emma Sears thing. Luckily for them, as Emma Sears, she can do those things somewhat frequently. But she doesn’t have the goal output of peak Sophia Wilson to make this a long-term attacking plan. Especially if they can’t find a way for other players to chip in on some of the ball progression work.

san diego wavé: is your press really that good already?

The primary question I had after San Diego and Angel City’s 1-1 draw was how much of Angel City’s poor midfield performance was due to Angel City, and how much was San Diego’s new shiny press.

Utah didn’t look much better in possession against Bay, but assuming that’s an anomaly for a team that ended 2024 playing at a playoff level and improved its roster over the offseason, this game should provide some answers.

seattle reign: why can’t mondésir start games?

Since joining the Seattle Reign in the middle of 2024, Nérilia Mondésir has been available for eleven matches, and started two. Despite Laura Harvey’s team crying out for speed and direct attacking threat, she’s kept a super sub role of sorts. It doesn’t make any sense, and I don’t like it.

Reign’s offseason moves signaled an awareness that the team needed speed and directness. They signed Lynn Biyendolo, and brought in Maddie Dahlien who has super zoomies as well. Biyendolo missed the opening match due to injury, yet Mondésir still started the match on the bench.

utah royals: what was that?

Utah cooked this offseason, so I had relatively high expectations heading into week 1. Then they got pinned in their own half by Bay FC’s 3-5-2 formation, and looked completely clueless about how to get the ball forward. Their 65 touches in the attacking third was third fewest (59; Spirit, Stars), and their five touches in the penalty area were the league’s lowest.

washington spirit: what’s that availability report lookin like?

This is indeed a championship caliber team, when healthy. One glorious day their availability report will list fewer than the eleven it featured heading into week 1. Maybe this weekend will be the weekend. If not, maybe next time. Ok but if not then, soon? Please?

Now, let’s week 2.