vanessa dibernardo is hoopin

The Kansas City Current have lost their damn minds, but this time in a good way. They’ve scored twenty goals in their first six games, and currently top the table with a quarter of the season played. Primary goalscorers, Bia Zaneratto (4) and Temwa Chawinga (4), both in their first NWSL season’s, deserve credit for helping to change the landscape of the league the same way that asteroid did the dinosaurs.

But the gravity helping to propel the team’s success has been the form of midfielder Vanessa DiBernardo.

Among all midfielders, DiBernardo leads in StatsBomb’s overall On Ball Value (OBV) per 90. Specifically, she tops every midfielder in both Pass (.19) and Shot (.13) OBV, plus has respectable numbers for Dribble & Carry (.09) and even Defensive Action (.02). Basically every trackable action DiBernardo has made on the pitch is increasing her team’s likelihood of scoring a goal.

OBV is great for getting a big picture view of a player and how they’re impacting games (positively or negatively). Though since each category is a collection of metrics, we need to dive deeper to find out exactly why DiBernardo’s having this impact.

Her largest number relates to her passing, and there’s no mystery here. In open play, she’s just flat out wildin. Cookin. Ballin tf out. Hoopin.

Last year’s NWSL assist leader, Sam Coffey, dropped eight assists; through six games DiBernardo is already halfway there. Three of Coffey’s assists were from set pieces, and five came from open play. So far all of DiBernardo’s assists have come in open play.

Beyond pure assist numbers, the comparison in volume and quality of shots further highlights DiBernardo’s already absurd season. In twenty-two regular season matches in 2023, Coffey hit 27 open play passes leading to shots, totaling 2.4xG, an average of .09 per shot. Through just six regular season games in 2024, DiBernardo already has eleven open play passes leading to shots, 1.84xG and .17 per shot.

The targets a passer has to aim for can make a substantive difference too. While Coffey had Sophia Smith, only one of her open play assists was to smith. For DiBernardo, only of her assists wasn’t dispatched by Zaneratto or Chawinga. But this is where her .17xG per shot becomes important.

Bia and Temwa my be the ones actually scoring, but DiBernardo has also cut out quality chances for Michelle Cooper, Lo LaBonta, Alexa Spaanstra and Debinha. The variety suggests that she’s aiming, timing and weighting her passes to get teammates in good positions to shoot.

The best example of this is her lone assist not scored by KC’s golden boot-chasing duo, a wicked first-time cross to Alexa Spaanstra.

My favorite bit is how she prepared to hit the ball first time. She made an outward arcing run to go wide then charge into the box at an angle but didn’t want to take a touch and lose momentum. So she stutter stepped to wait for the ball to slow and roll in front while she lined it up.

Evidence of just how right she got it was that the goal was initially disallowed for offside. Then VAR had to confirm the call, and after approximately seven-and-a-half hours, judged that there was no reason to not let it stand. If DiBernardo had taken a touch or been slower to pick out the pass, it never would have been an assist.

But don’t let the other assists fool you. While smart runs can open passing lanes, and elite attackers find space where it’s meant to be most restricted, the pass can still be important, and the difference between a goal and a missed opportunity. Especially when a pass in hit from inside the center circle.

Bay’s crudely drawn horse defense had a lot to do with the space being available, but that’s still not a simple pass. Any more air under the ball would allow defenders to close down the space. DiBernardo not only hit it flat enough to preserve time and space for Chawinga, but got it to bounce in front to expel velocity and make it easier to control.

In both instances it’s DiBernardo’s ability to drift into space that gives her time to survey the pitch and execute dangerous passes. This magnetic pull to open spaces has also been key to her scoring three goals from twelve shots and 1.46xG.

Her first goal of the season was .87 of her overall expected goals total, which is a chance with a higher expected value than a penalty. It’s hard to replicate those sorts of chances, but luckily DiBernardo also possesses the ability to straight up score bangers, which her other two goals certainly were.

Though her outside of the box banger is more apt for highlight reels, this goal displays her blend of space finding and striking technique. From the moment Zaneratto wins the ball, DiBernardo begins sprinting across the pitch to the other side of the box. She slows down once Chawinga receives the pass, in case she’d opted for a pass back. Chawinga didn’t choose that option, so DiBernardo didn’t hesitate to continue her sprint into space that didn’t exist until Chawinga’s third touch of the ball.

And, of course, the strike was perfectly placed.

While DiBernardo and Kansas City have been on a hot streak of sun-like intensity, there is a caveat. Of their opponents so far (Thorns, Wavé, Angel City [2x], Gotham, Bay FC), only one has a positive xG difference and three have conceded over fourteen shots per 90.

As far as defenses go, Kansas City has racked up a bunch of goals and impressive stats against some of the league’s most Charmin-worthy defenses. Stiffer tests will come, but a hooper’s only job is to hoop, no matter who’s in front of them. And Vanessa DiBeranardo is a real hooper.

(p.s. ok fine here’s the outside of the box banger you were hoping for.)

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