NWSL Week 8 Recap- Louisville run Gotham ragged, Chicago flash, and North Carolina continue to evolve

1. Louisville establishing an identity

   .....and that identity is "run the opponent into the freakin ground."

   
   

   At risk of slight hyperbole, Friday's victory over Gotham was one of the most impressive start-to-finish games I've seen in four years from the perennial 9th place-ers. Louisville has had stretches where they've looked good. They've had periods where they've created chances. They've had some great individual matches over the years from players like Savannah Demelo, Emma Sears, Emily Fox, Uchenna Kanu, and Thembi Kgatlana. Very rarely have they looked as cohesive structurally as they did Friday.

   
   

   One of my complaints since Bev Yanez took over is that it's never been even remotely clear what Louisville want to do, and that lack of identity generally manifests itself in disorganization and hoofing the ball long. Over the last few matches, Louisville has been a high-pressing physical machine, running through teams with a press led by the tireless Kayla Fischer and Emma Sears. In the past, this press has often been in 20 minute, uncoordinated bursts, but the 2025 version --particularly over the past three weeks-- has been much more disciplined. A main feature of their press is that they send big numbers rushing at the ball side with Taylor Flint and her 6'1 frame playing free safety behind the pressers. Even without the (deservedly) suspended Ary Borges, Louisville's midfield looked compact and energetic. Flint, who has turned herself into one of the best defensive sixes in the league since joining Louisville is the base, but it was the energy of Demelo and rookie Katie O'Kane --who made the roster as a preseason invitee-- who caused most of the damage.

   
   

   Look at Louisville swarm! The first two clips are from early in the first half (watch Flint playing that free safety role I mentioned in the second clip), but the third is in the 87th minute! Incredible levels of fitness and energy from Louisville's front line and midfield.

   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

   As a result of Louisville's press, a large portion of their chance creation comes directly from the balls won via the pressure: Louisville leads the league in both tackles won in their opponent's attacking third with 17, and in fouls drawn (the Sav Demelo effect), while also leading the league in shot creating actions resulting directly from fouls drawn as a result (more the Sav Demelo effect). This makes sense logically: When a team is winning the ball high up the field, their opponent to more likely to foul to stop a chance going the other direction.

   
   

   

   
   

   Seven fully deserved points from Louisville's last three games is a good first step for Yanez, but we have seen good stretches from this Louisville team before. I'm not entirely convinced by this run of form: They remain a relatively one-dimensional team who create most of their chances from the press and crosses, and take a LOT of shots (3rd most in the NWSL), but struggle to put many of them on target (third worst SoT rate in the league). Whether they can continue to run this type of high-energy press against more structured teams (Seattle and Angel City are upcoming) will tell us a lot.

   
   

2. Gotham missing the Houstonians

   My main takeaway from Gotham's inconsistent run of games as of late is that they are missing midfielders who are comfortable --and want to be-- operating in the half spaces. Anyone who has paid any attention at all to Gotham over the past few seasons knew that the loss of Delanie Sheehan was going to be a substantially bigger deal than that of her slightly more famous teammates, but I'm not sure even I, self-proclaimed president of the Sheehan hive, thought it would hurt quite this much.

   
   

   Manager Juan Carlos Amoros has experimented with a few different options to fill the holes left by the now-departed Sheehan and her Houston teammate Yazmeen Ryan in his 4-3-3. Jaelin Howell has been displaced from her preferred six position to play as a true eight, and the attacking eight/ten spot --generally occupied by either Ryan or the injured Rose Lavelle-- has seen a number of players give it a try, rookie Sarah Schupansky the latest on Friday night.

   
   

   The problem is that Jaelin Howell is not Delanie Sheehan, and Schupansky --a natural winger-- is not Ryan. Like, not even close. Howell wants to sit at the base of the midfield, make tackles, and distribute to her creative options. The FSU product has actually done better as an eight than I expected, but she just doesn't offer the same skillset as Sheehan does.

   
   

   

   
   

   Never is Gotham's lack of a confident, ball-progressing midfielder made clearer than against teams like Louisville who want to press. Gotham were caught in possession in the middle third so many times that Amoros dropped striker Esther Gonzales into the ten to ensure she could get on the ball a little more after the Spaniard barely saw the ball in the first half. It worked for a little while --Gotham had their best period with Esther dictating play, including a 50th minute Geyse header from an Esther cross that really should have found the net-- but Louisville gained control back in the game's latter stages and actually ended the match with more final third entries than their opponents despite finishing with over 20% less of the ball.

   
   

   I wondered preseason whether UCLA rookie Sofia Cook, who made her second appearance Friday as she recovers from a thigh injury, might be the closest facsimile to Sheehan, and she had some bright moments after coming on. Ella Stevens is another creative option that could, in theory, play the Ryan role relatively well. Perhaps Amoros will shift to more of a double pivot with Howell playing deeper next to Nealy Martin, or maybe Gotham will continue to experiment until Lavelle comes back healthy. It's a bit of a roster puzzle for Amoros, and one I'm curious to see how he solves.

3. Savy King + The NWSL

   The league's rather defensive response to King's medical event near the end of Angel City's clash with Utah was typically tactless, if unsurprising. While the main concern is obviously King and her health, the league's response in the face of near-universal questioning of why the game was allowed to continue was.....not ideal. The NWSL's statement indicated that all protocols were followed in finishing the game, one that both doesn't seem to track -- the protocols in question allow the league some discretion in the case of a serious injury-- and feels vaguely irrelevant given 22 players were forced to continue to play soccer after watching a colleague experience a dangerous medical event. The game should have been stopped, and it wasn't. Period. For what almost certainly will not be the last time: DO BETTTER NWSL!

   
   

   (King, who was down on the field for over ten minutes and appeared to require chest compressions, is fortunately, as of the most recent update, in stable condition after being taken to a nearby hospital)

   
   

4. Christen Press: SO BACK

   I'll admit to not having quite as angry a reaction to Press's lack of playing time in 2025 as most, but if THIS is the version of Press we're going to get, count me among those pulling up with pitchforks outside Sam Laity's house demanding to see more of the Angel City forward.

   
   

   Press, who got her longest run out of the season on Friday, looked like the Press of old. Within 25 seconds, she had run onto a through-ball after a typically lax Utah giveaway in midfield, sent Madison Pogarch flying by with a chop, and finessing a vintage Press-ian finish into Mandy McGlynn's top left corner. Bonus points for staying on her feet when Pogarch clips her, because she would have been well within her rights to go down looking for a penalty.

   
   
   
   

   Press played a part in Alyssa Thompson's clincher as well, sending Aisha Solorzano flying even more cartoonishly than she did Pogarch the previous play.

   
   

   It wasn't Angel City's best performance overall despite the win, but if Press can be even 80% of her 2017 vintage, she'll give them a much needed punch off the bench going forward.

   
   

5. Utah: Juiceless

   I remain --perhaps naively-- confident that Utah's current side is closer to its end of 2024 version than the start of 2024 version its record and production would indicate, but it's getting damn near impossible to make a legitimate argument for why I feel that way.

   
   

   Utah's second half Friday against Angel City was unquestionably one of their better halves of the last few weeks, but their final third woes didn't improve despite the return of Mina Tanaka to the starting 11. Utah's overall chance creation is actually better than their second to last place non-penalty xG accumulation would indicate -- The Royals are middle of the pack in shot creating actions, ranking 7th of the 14 NWSL teams-- but how many shots you take don't really matter if you're not converting. There is a narrative that a big part of Utah's issue is that they pull from distance too frequently instead of being patient, and while I think that's a bit too simplistic of an explanation, Utah do shoot from range at a disproportionately high rate. The images from left to right compare Utah's season shot map to Bay (second worst in npxG/90) and Washington (best in npxG/90) through Week 6.

   
   
   

   

   
   
   

   There are a few ways to read this. I think many will see the shot maps as Utah settling for low xG shots over slightly better average xG opportunities as though they could fix the issue with a little more patience, but I tend to believe the low-xG efforts are more a symptom of Utah's personnel issues than the root cause. The first reason for why I believe this is because over half of Utah's shots from outside the 18 yard box come from one player in Aly Sentnor, who is both a prolific and talented long range shot taker, but the biggest reason is that Utah have been playing virtually without a striker all season. Offseason signing Aisha Solorzano has simply not adapted to the NWSL as quickly as I thought she would. The Guatemalan --who looked so good against NWSL competition last season for Tijuana in the Champions Cup-- has been a complete zero for Utah. In six matches and four starts), Solorzano has accumulated a grand total of 0.1 xG while taking just three shots in 320 minutes. That ain't gonna cut it. The other players that have played up top for Utah --it was Sentnor's turn Friday in LA-- have not fared a whole lot better.

   
   

   Utah will hope that the return of Tanaka, who played as a 10 against Angel City, combined with the pleasantly surprising play as of late from 2nd year winger Brecken Mozingo will get them firing, but sometimes it's as simple as needing to get more production out of your attackers.

   
   

6. The Unconvincing Spirit

   I keep reminding myself to look at the big picture with the Spirit: Washington sit just three points off the top of the table and lead the league in npxG per 90 despite me having to start every week's discussion of Washington with who exactly was actually available to play. Pretty good!

   
   

   With that said, this was not what I would call a good performance from any Spirit player not named Rose Kouassi. I wondered why the Spirit were sticking with the 3-back despite their weekly issues in central midfield after last week's loss against Angel City, and sure enough, Rebecca Bernal was bumped from CB into what appeared to be a single pivot at the base of Washington's midfield with Narumi Miura and Meg Boade sitting as dual eights. The midfield had a few nice moments at the start of the match, clearly looking find Kouassi over the top. This is a little thing, but look how Bernal finds space in the pocket before picking out Kouassi:

   
   

   While Washington's attack has remained surprisingly potent despite their long list of absences. The Spirit's defense and midfield structure has become an increasingly large problem regardless of formation. No team have conceded more xG than the Spirit this season. None. Not Utah, not Chicago, not Angel City.....not nobody. It's been BAD. Chicago, hardly an offensive juggernaut, looked like scoring nearly every time they got forward with numbers. Washington's left side has looked vulnerable against just about anyone, and Chicago were no exception; the Ludmila/Julia Grosso combo having a field day for much of Saturday morning's contest. I remain somewhat unconvinced by Esme Morgan in particular, who, while clearly very talented, has struggled under pressure all season and for whom Tara McKeown seems to be consistently covering for.

   
   

   One player who did NOT struggle was Kouassi, who finished with a goal and assist and was a general terror to Chicago's backline all morning. In my Spirit season preview, I highlighted Kouassi as the player to watch in 2025, mostly because the Ivorian's metrics were off the charts levels of good last year. With the uncertainty around Trinity Rodman's status going forward, the Spirit need Kouassi to take on some her chance creation burden, and if her 2024 creation numbers are any indication, the former Fleury player is plenty capable. This is pretty good company!

   

   While immensely concerning, the defensive numbers speak just as much, if not more, to Washington's lack of a marauding six as they do to the defenders themselves. Krueger's return should help things, but Washington really need to sort out the midfield- Sticking Bernal higher up was, I thought, a good first step, but the move to more of a 4-3-3 instead of dropping Narumi next to Bernal was an odd choice. Something to monitor until Hal Hershvelt returns.

   
   

7. Julia Grosso, inverted winger

   Despite the loss, this was comfortably Chicago's best performance of the season. While still mostly a 4-4-2 out of possession, we're starting to see Julia Grosso higher up the field as a 10 in more of a 4-2-3-1 shape in the instances where Chicago puts together a functioning attacking sequence.

   
   

   This isn't where Grosso, who has been exclusively an eight over the course of her pro career, has played very often. Against Washington, however, getting Grosso --one of Chicago's only semi-creative players-- in more attacking spaces made a lot of sense, and it worked pretty well! Grosso played her best game as a Star, consistently floating inside from her base right sided position to combine with Ludmila and create numbers advantages down the Chicago right. Here's Grosso's goal, the Canadian finding the space between Narumi Miura before doing well to cut inside (Narumi's 1v1 box defending here is less than perfect for the second straight week) and finish nicely into the bottom corner.

   
   

   Here's Chicago's second of the night, a chance created by Grosso cutting inside to receive the ball and drawing Esme Morgan out of position, leaving the space for Sam Staab to run into to take advantage of Aubrey Kingsbury's error.

   
   

   While it remains unlikely that Chicago will be as high energy in attack as they were on Saturday, I'll give interim manager Masaki Hemmi a little bit of credit for some slightly more aggressive adjustments. Can they develop a more attacking mentality going forward? We shall see!

   
   

8. Orlando and North Carolina's Freaky Friday (Saturday)

   What has gotten into Sean Nahas? If his switch to a 3-back two weeks ago wasn't enough, the Courage are apparently now a counterattacking team? Look at these sequences! Playing a game with less than 40% of the ball??? Are those vertical runs into space????

   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

   I don't think this is a permanent change or even anything close to it for North Carolina, but Nahas' sudden evolution from a "play the game the right way" dogmatism to a flexible game by game tactician is a lovely, if extremely surprising subplot of the 2025 NWSL season. If the Courage can combine their cohesive possession with an ability to play through their fleet of attacking midfielders on the counter, the ceiling of this team might be slightly higher than I thought.

   
   

   It was less of a sea change for Orlando, who while preferring to attack into space, frequently blitz teams with high presses and long spells of pressure early in games. This was also a much better game for the Pride than the previous week against Portland- Angelina was back in central midfield and her presence, particularly in the press and in possession was noticeable. Orlando, however, continues to miss the incisiveness of departed Adriana and the injured Summer Yates on the wings. Prisca Chilufya hasn't quite hit the ground running and has started only once, with manager Seb Hines electing to play both Carson Pickett and Kerry Abello at the same time on the left side over the past two weeks. This is a bit of a change tactically from Hines, who has preferred his left wings to invert, whereas Pickett and Abello are much more prone to staying wide and delivering crosses. Combined with a somewhat shakier defense than the 2024 version and teams doing a better job dealing with Barbra Banda, I'd imagine will see a little more tinkering from Hines over the rest of the season.

   
   

   One player who remains in top form? Marta, who was absolutely SPECTACULAR throughout Saturday's match, and spent a lot of her time playing wide left to give Orlando more creativity next to the two left backs. For a player who looked --to me, at least-- to be on the downslope two years ago, Marta looks better than ever.

   
   

9. Houston finally gets one in Seattle

   Two weeks ago, I wrote about Houston's tentative decision making inside the box. The one player who hasn't had that issue? Rookie Maggie Graham, who knows the difference between waiting for a cross and going and getting it. Here's Houston's winner in Seattle, a nice build culminating in Ryan Gareis(!) picking her head up (!) and finding the darting Graham for the tap in.

   
   

   Other than some Abby Smith heroics late on as Seattle pushed for an equalizer, this was far from a classic of the NWSL genre, with two impotent attacking teams (Seattle and Houston are both in the bottom four in total xG, though Houston is a little better when looking at npxG) combining for four total shots before the 75th minute. The Dash have a slightly Utah-esque quality of having some really sharp moments without much end product, but are starting to show signs of that changing.

   
   

10. KC back at it

    I've been screaming this from the rooftops all season, but sometimes it do just be as simple as "get your best players healthy and on the field together and good things will happen." For the second time all season, all three of Bia Zaneratto, Debinha, and Temwa Chawinga started and the result was about what you would expect: A 4-1 mauling of a wide open Bay FC side and manager Albertin Montoya, who evidently learned nothing from the teams that have had success playing more compact against the Current.

    
    

    With Debinha making a real run at league MVP and looking close to prime Courage Debinha levels, Chawinga back and firing after a brief injury-induced drought, and Bia finally healthy, it seems more likely than not that we'll look back on KC's back to back losses against NC and Seattle as nothing more as a blip.

Goal of the Week: Taylor Flint's long range winner against Gotham