Plus: major investment comes through for the Courage
Hello Courage Country!
Wow, it’s been a busy week! We saw some beautiful soccer, but also a lot of inconsistency, especially in the first half of each match, leaving the Courage chasing Boston and Kansas City to mixed results.
Thankfully, the NWSL continues to have ~all the chaos~ so the Courage largely stay firmly mid table as they regroup and figure out how to tackle Orlando next week.
Rather than a traditional recap, to keep the newsletter a reasonable size, I’m going to break down several plays that show both strengths and weaknesses in the Courage in a “what we learned this week” format. If you prefer the more traditional recaps, just let us know!
What we learned: Courage v. Boston Legacy
Boston came out swinging, with goals at 5’ and 13’. It was an embarrassing start, given that Boston had only scored a single goal the entire season to date.
The first goal exposed an ongoing Courage challenge. Forward Evelyn Ijeh was angled out of the way at the start of Boston’s build, unable to hold up the ball. Boston forward Sammy Smith was able to dance past Courage forward Cortnee Vine. Smith performed a quick pass to forward Amanda Guitierres, then to forward Nichelle Prince. Nobody was close to Prince, getting easily around defender Dani Weatherholt, with a cross to midfielder Alba Caño, resulting in the goal.
The Courage are particularly susceptible to this sort of play. With little hold up at the forward end of the pitch, followed by a clever line break through the midfield, teams can crash the box and score.
The other goal that taught us something was the build for the second Courage goal. Okafor delivered a nice handoff to Williams, who kicked a fierce cross to a charging Ashley Sanchez for the equalizer.
Things are working well on the Courage right side, almost no matter who is in play. Williams, Jackson, Crawford / Okafor form a tight triangle and can creatively work the ball upfield. This gives the opportunity for a cross to Manaka Matsukubo or Sanchez for a goal.
If the Courage can add a second option, they’ll be less predictable and potentially score more goals.
I also think it shows progress that the Courage managed to battle to a 2-2 draw on the road. We’ve seen the team go down a goal in the past and struggle to put together much. There is some growth in watching the team put the difficult start behind them, and create some scoring builds.
What we learned: Courage v. Kansas City Current
Once again, the Courage were down two goals by the half. While they earned one back, they ended up losing the match at home 2-1. Notably, the Courage were without either of their starting center backs, who are dealing with temporary injuries.
In the first half, we saw a lot of challenges for the Courage in the attack. The team would easily break the first line of defense and work the ball up the midfield. The team has many options for creative players with Riley Jackson, Shinomi Koyama and Manaka playing there. However, the team wasn’t connecting well with the forwards. We asked Mak Lind about this, and his answer is on this week’s podcast. Essentially, he describes a mix of forced passes, decision-making in shooting v. passing, and timing.
The team was also outplayed in all aspects of defense: tackles, ground duels, aerial duels and interceptions by a 2:1 or even 3:1 margin. It speaks again to the Courage’s predictability that so many passes are intercepted.
On the bright side, the Courage goal came from a midfield drive from Uno Shiragaki, who got a nice pass forward to Jackson. Evelyn Ijeh and Ryan Williams were both targets, and realized they were in the same lane. They got some separation from one another, which allowed Jackson to hit Williams with the pass. Williams did a short cross into Ijeh, who nearly scored, but the ball got deflected … right to Manaka, who put it away.
So, we saw some ups and downs in both matches, and it will be interesting to see how the Courage respond playing Orlando on Friday. The players are saying they are working on better consistency in the first half of the match.
Look ahead: Courage v. Orlando Pride
Like Kansas City, Orlando is surprisingly hovering mid table this year. They generally are one of the most consistent teams in the NWSL under coach Seb Hines.
It’s a sneaky squad, in that they generally favor an obvious tactic: kick the ball up-and-over and let current league scoring leader Barbra Banda take a shot. The Courage usually are able to contain an opponent’s leading goal scorer well. But … this is where Orlando shines. They have a lot of stealth talent that can score, including Lizbeth Ovalles, Summer Yates and Ally Lemos. Marta has been questionable the last few weeks, but could be available Friday. Add to that keeper Anna Moorhouse, and it’s a formidable squad.
Courage news and updates
- The Courage received expected backing from Marc Lasry’s Avenue Sports Fund. We’re eager to see what they do with the influx of new capital.
- Ashley Sanchez was named NWSL Player of the Month!
- Riley Jackson’s appearance against Kansas City marked her 50th NWSL regular season match, the youngest Courage player to hit that mark, and the fourth youngest in the league.
- The Courage had 10,031 people in attendance at the Kansas City match, the third highest in club history.
- Cameron Brooks is the NC Courage Lauren Holiday Impact nominee, so congratulations to her!
Around the league and beyond
- Parity continues to reign supreme in the NWSL, but Portland, Washington and San Diego are now officially two games ahead of anyone else on the table, so we may be seeing some early separation.
That’s it for this week! As always, you can get in touch with tips, suggestions, corrections and more: contact@lionspitch.com.
Next match: Friday, May 8, 8:00 pm ET
North Carolina Courage v. Orlando Pride
AWAY
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