{In the time since I first began this, ticket sales have exploded for the NWSL–and for the Dash game on Sunday. As more media demands have come down, it turns out–as of right now–the USWNT players won’t be available to take the field on Sunday, despite the increased attendance. That’s too bad all around, but it will offer an interesting glimpse of what the Dash might do down the road, as all three Canadians will be available as far as I can tell. I’ll be at the game, will have a Dashing recap sometime Monday.}
I’ve thought it was quite odd that, of all the teams in the NWSL, the Dash might be the one most impacted by the WWC. Six Dash participated, and at least five will step right into the starting lineup. That’s upgrades across half the team. Here’s what I see happening …
- Erin McLeod takes over in goal. Bianca Henninger has been great, but she’s a cut below McLeod, easily.
- Allysha Chapman and Meghan Klingenberg should slot right in at DL and DR. That means a loss of a starting job for Camila, with Ella Masar sliding up to midfield.
- Morgan Brian and Carli Lloyd step right in at DMC and AMC respectively.
- That leaves five spots up for grabs–a forward, two midfielders, and two DC’s. Kealia Ohai has to retain her spot, and I would suspect that Jessica McDonald does as well.
- The final midfielder is perhaps the most interesting: the question here is who operates centrally with Brian? Randy Waldrum could continue with the marvelously ingenious Niki Cross experiment (hereafter referred to as the NCE), playing the lanky Cross as a DMC. That would offer Brian great protection and allow her to range further upfield, essentially an attacking move. The other option would be to pair Brian with Brittany Bock or Rachael Axon in a more traditional pivot. I hope the NCE keeps rolling along.
- DC is a little harder. Lauren Sesselmann had such a rough WWC, I think she hits the bench, leaving Ellie Brush and Toni Pressley as the defenders. If she does come in, it will be for Brush: I think we would retain Pressley’s size and physical presence.
So, my guess is that we end up in something like a 4-2-3-1, with Ohai, Lloyd, and Masar operating behind McDonald. It’s not ideal for Ohai, who seems happier if she is central, but that’s Lloyd’s position right now, and Ohai’s speed and ability to cut inside will benefit from the defensive attention Lloyd receives.
That last bit may be important: both Masar and Ohai are more comfortable cutting in and attacking (although Masar is capable of decent service from the flanks). But if the Dash are to find width when attacking, it is likely going to come from Chapman and Klingenberg.
So all of this is exciting: four world-class players, another two that are clearly better than the current incumbents, more competition in the squad for the reserve slots, and an attack that now has an awful lot of bite to it. None of these players are defensive stalwarts, but you do go from an NWSL quality goalkeeper to someone who is in the top half-dozen in the world in McLeod, and the defense will certainly not be any worse. Camila was never all that interested in defense, and while Masar did well at DR, it’s not her natural home.
This also means reduced playing time for quite a few players: the standard bench probably becomes Sesselmann, Cross or Bock, Melissa Henderson, Tiffany McCarty, and a tactical choice between Camila and Axon and Jordan Jackson. Carleigh Williams, we hardly knew ye … but man do we love your hair and sock style. So we hope you stick around.
That’s a bad thing for them (and, of course, for the amateurs–thanks for all the hard work and hustle, Allie Bailey, but, um, yeah …), but it is a very, very good thing for the Dash. The pure talent level of the squad just rose significantly, and should see them both qualify for the playoffs and–largely dependent on the force of nature known as Carli Lloyd retaining that status–perhaps make some noise when they do so.