{Watched this over the Fox Stream which, after a rough start with their game a few days ago, was pretty stable until about halfway through the second half. However, the Fox Stream (at least through the website) does not allow rewinds. Combine that with the general weakness of the replays and the lack of tactical depth to the commentary, and I was unable to verify the players involved in a few plays.}
This was, simply, the best game in Dash history, and one of the best in the short history of the NWSL. It had everything: strong debuts by new players, strong performances from established stars, a second half from a player who just announced her retirement, two comebacks, a tying goal with less than ten minutes to go, and a stunning strike to win it in the waning moments.
The Dash won 3-2, on an 85th minute wondergoal from Carli Lloyd. FC KC had taken a very quick 1-0 lead, only to see the Dash score twice to lead 2-1 for most of the game before a tying goal with about 10 minutes left set the stage for Lloyd.
But, if you’re reading this, you probably know all that. So I’m going to try to keep the focus on the tactical and the analytical, but forgive me if I go all fanboy at times. This really was a great game.
#THE GOOD
The game certainly started well: at kickoff, the Fox graphic showed Houston up 1-0. It was nice of the network to spot us a goal, but it unfortunately wasn’t accurate or predictive.
Lauren Holiday was her usual dependable, influential self. Her goal itself was a bit lucky (a shot from distance that took a deflection from Ellie Brush before nestling inside the post), it was setup by a fantastic pass that set Amy Rodriguez free behind the Houston back line.
The debutante was Andressa, who slid directly into the starting lineup, forming a midfield trio with Morgan Brian and Lloyd. Andressa had a very solid first game, especially considering she only had a single practice session with her new team. There were moments where there was clear confusion between the three of them as to who should hold back and who should press forward, but that was offset by the Brazilian’s ability to retain possession, the fantastic touch on her passes, and her ability to move the ball on either through crosses into the box or raking vertical passes.
The Dash are not, historically, a great offensive team, and being down a goal early was troubling. The team responded as well as they ever have: Brush tied the score on an impressive side-volley (for her first NWSL goal) and Jessica McDonald gave the Dash the lead from a blistering run and strong finish.
Both goals are worth breaking apart a little to learn some more about the team. The first came when a deflection rolled towards the corner. Kealia Ohai, instead of letting the ball spin out of bounds, chased it down, setting herself up for a first touch cross, which found Brush alone between the penalty spot and the edge of the box. It was a lucky shot: Brush is athletic, but her success rate on taking balls out of the air with well-placed volleys won’t be fantastic over an entire season. But the shot only existed because Ohai, who was tireless as usual, made the hustle play.
Ohai was on the right for most of the first half (although the Dash did their usual thing in allowing all three forwards, plus Lloyd, to rotate regularly through the attacking positions), and most of the Dash build up was a product of her work combining with Ella Masar and Andressa, or Melissa Henderson doing the same when Ohai moved more centrally.
But the team was more balanced than they have been at times, and McDonald’s goal was an attack down the left channel, where she was able to use her athleticism to get past Lee Ann Robinson (I think–it may have been Becca Moros, but I think it was Robinson) and then remained fully composed in beating Nicole Barnhart from close range.
It’s so hard to put this under THE GOOD, but it was: this game was the final home appearance of the #NCE, with Niki Cross having announced her retirement earlier in the day. Cross came on at halftime for Brian, and instantly the issues from the first half were addressed: with Cross as the holder, both Andressa and Lloyd knew exactly what their role was, and with the safety net of Cross behind them, both players roamed forward more effectively.
Finally, at a point where it looked more likely the Dash would lose 3-2 instead of win, up stepped Lloyd. It was an odd sequence: Cross missed a pass, but it fell to (I believe) Andressa, who touched it back to Cross. Perhaps making up for the initial miss, Cross nutmegged the FCKC defender to free Lloyd into space. The initial touches had drawn the defense slightly to the right which left a gap for Lloyd to step into. She looked up, saw the space and the goal, got her stride right, and sent a laser of a shot into the upper left corner. The Vine of the shot has 90K views, and the shot is fantastic, but I would urge you to look at the footwork–the slightly longer penultimate stride that gets her perfectly positioned to nail the shot. She’s, um, quite good.
#THE UNGOOD
FC Kansas City’s opening goal was a big red flag: in the meeting between these teams nine days ago, it was Heather O’Reilly that kept slipping into space on the right flank; here, while O’Reilly was largely contained, it looked like Rodriguez was getting behind Brush and Toni Pressley with far too much ease.
Between the two goals, the Dash were exposed defensively: Erika Tymrak, who was a constant threat from distance, missed by a few feet and then Rodriguez was again all alone in space. In both of these instances, the culprit was Lloyd, or more accurately, the communication between Brian and Andressa. Here’s what I mean: the Dash can’t ever (or, very rarely) leave Lloyd as the bottom point of their midfield triangle. Lloyd is a fantastic player, and certainly has an argument of the best player in the world right now (seven games straight with a goal, including four in the World Cup). But her greatness is at the other end of the field, and while her defensive effort is there, the awareness and skill lags behind.
That makes it critical that whomever the Dash have in midfield are aware enough to either stay back with her (making a triangle with a wide base, dangerous on the counter as each midfielder is an outlet for the other), or to stay back instead of her. Both Brian and Andressa have the ability to do that, and I would expect this to be shored up as the trio plays together more.
While the #NCE was good (see above), it also contributed to the Dash being constantly on the back foot in much of the second half. Cross naturally drops deep, just in front of the two central defenders, which welcomes pressure. It’s a difficult judgement to make: if the holding midfielder steps up, the risk goes up of what happens if she gets beat; if they drop deep, you face a lot of possession in your own half, which is what happened.
The equalizer for FC Kansas City was a product of a mediocre clearing header from Brush (yeah, it was an up and down game for her). She cleared the ball, but it didn’t go as far as he would have liked, and the ensuing shot rebounded off the post and directly to the feet of Sarah Hagen, who calmly buried what amounted to little more than pass into the back of an open net.