The stat machine rattled, sparked and sputtered but eventually spit out xG race charts and pass networks for every week 4 NWSL matchup.

This week we can see that Bay are starting to put it all together (which is a bit frightening), Houston has indeed not solved their problems, Utah flatlined, the Courage played keep away, Mike Norris needs an 8, and StruggleBall will continue until morale improves (or until a lead is lost).

houston dash 1-3 washington spirit

The Spirit equalized through a successful high press, then two exquisite passes helped blow the game wide open.

dash

Step 1: Get the Ball to María Sánchez
Step 2: ???
Step 3: Oh no she requested a trade

spirit

The Spirit’s right side is cooking, but that left? Oof.

utah royals 0-1 orlando pride

Siri is it good when your team stops playing attacking football in the 43rd minute?

royals

Whole lotta passing around the back, whole lotta not much of anything else.

pride

Now that Barbra Banda has arrived this should be one of the last pass networks in which Orlando’s attack is this disconnected.

nc courage 2-0 portland thorns

Two first half goals allowed the Courage to control and kill the game with possession.

courage

Controlled, killed. This will likely be a sicko’s collector’s item from North Carolina this season, but the early goals allowed them to use their sense of space and movement to play keep away with Portland.

thorns

Mike Norris is having a hell of a time trying to figure out his midfield, which is weird because one massive key piece is Sam Coffey. But there’s no complement to her, particularly now that Crystal Dunn and Rocky Rodriguez are gone.

Instead he’s trying to make it work with Olivia Moultrie, Jessie Fleming, and in this game Hina Sugita (who’s better as a forward). All three of those players want to do roughly the same things, and what you get is a hole right in the middle of your pass network where a box-to-box midfielder should, and would, be.

rahsing louisville 0-0 san diego wavé

Don’t let the gap fool you, .28 of the Wavé’s xG came from the delightful throughball Jaedyn Shaw played to Sofia Jakobsson, which Katie Lund saved.

rahsing

Rarely a good sign when your center forward’s average position is somewhere inside the center circle.

wavé

I quite simply cannot understand why Jaedyn Shaw is fielded as a wide forward just so she can drift inside to play where she should be playing anyway. It created San Diego’s best chance, but that kinda underscores the point. Having a forward drift centrally leaves an entire flank without an attacking player.

This limits the number of players Shaw can link with when she comes inside. Look at the space on the right, sure would be nice to have another forward to balance attacks and provide another threat in the final third.

chicago red stars 0-1 angel city fc

The Mal Swanson-less Red Stars got their first L via an own goal. Brutal. Also, that giant chance was a .51xG from a Jenna Bike header that missed the target. Subtracting that chance from 1.08xG leaves a lot to be desired from Chicago’s attack.

red stars

Solid defensive positioning and passing but not a whole lot going on in the other half of the pitch. You know, where teams typically score their goals.

angel city

Becki Tweed’s midfield shakeup didn’t provide a whole lot different. There’s still the problem of progressing the ball so Sydney Leroux doesn’t have to try to be in two places at once.

nj/ny gotham fc 1-1 kansas city current

When your manager gets the lineup wrong, this will happen. Gotham did well to keep the game in range, then claw back in the second half.

gotham

Stengel, Esther and Ryan having a little sleepover is extremely hilarious to me.

current

Actually kinda wild that there weren’t enough passes between CBs to register at all, but each are part of a solid passing triangle on their respective sides.

bay fc 3-2 seattle reign

StruggleBall remains real. When the Reign got that early own goal I feared the match would be plunged into quicksand. Tbf they tried, and didn’t register a single chance until the 40th minute, and by the 66th minute had only registered two. Heavens.

bay

Yes, Bay spent a lot of money and made a ton of noise resetting the global transfer market, but they’re starting to put their pieces together. Castellanos is getting into games more, and posted her highest Pass OBV of the season so far.

reign

Looks good on paper! It will always frustrate me that a team can be this organized and connected but absolutely terrified to come out of their shell until they go behind.

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