Sam Coffey Scout Report At Portland Thorns 2022 – Player Analysis

Not many at the Portland Thorns will retain fond memories of 2022, as it was the year the club was embroiled in the player abuse scandal that rocked the NWSL and caused outrage in the wider footballing world.

On top of that, the fact that their most recent head coach, former Canada international Rhian Wilkinson, left her role just one year into her tenure after being caught up in other off-field issues will not have helped to settle matters.

On the pitch though, 2022 has been a year to celebrate for the team, with the Thorns losing just three matches in the regular league season and ending the campaign as champions, seeing off a rejuvenated Kansas City Current side in the Championship match to end their five-year wait for the trophy to return to Oregon.

Their success led to two of their players being included in the NWSL’s Best XI of the Season, with USA striker Sophia Smith and midfielder Sam Coffey both recognised for their efforts.

However, while much has been written about Smith and her achievements in recent years, Coffey is a relatively unknown player, with the 23-year-old generally going about her business without being included in the headlines.

Nevertheless, there is no doubt that, after one season at Portland, she is a player who has a big future in the game and that they simply can’t be without.

This Sam Coffey scout report will examine in closer detail exactly what Sam Coffey’s style of play offers to the team, focusing on her defensive, midfield and attacking characteristics in turn and explaining why she will be one to watch when the 2023 season gets underway.

Sam Coffey Defensive Roles

As a defensive midfielder by trade, she tends to stay further back when her team has the ball, with Sam Coffey’s aim being to offer her defensive line the protection they need to maintain their robust shape, and this is one of the reasons her efforts often go unnoticed.

Here, Portland are deep inside their own half and have been put under pressure by San Diego Wave, who, it is fair to say, were one of the surprises of 2022 as they ended their debut campaign in the playoff positions.

As a result, Portland knew in this game that they would face a challenge and would need to be organised at the back in order to limit the Wave’s threat.

This is where Coffey comes into the picture, with her positioned in the black circle and in a location that allows her to protect those behind her, adding an extra layer to their defensive setup.

By occupying this space, she enables the defenders to focus purely on staying in a line, with her ability to change direction and adjust her body position as necessary to prevent the Wave from having a clear route through to the goal.

As a result, when Amirah Ali takes a shot here, it is blocked by Coffey and San Diego are forced to look for another avenue through which to attack.

This is not the only time that Coffey has got into these situations and put herself in the way of opposing efforts on goal, with it being a common feature of her defensive play.

The fact that she ended up winning 64.2% of her defensive duels in 2022 demonstrates how her continued inclusion in the starting lineup was a key reason the Thorns suffered only three defeats during the regular season.

However, there were occasions when Portland didn’t have time to set up with this defensive line, such as here when San Diego were looking to launch a counterattack and use the open space ahead of them.

On this occasion, Alex Morgan (who finished as the league’s top scorer in 2022) has possession and is looking to create a goalscoring opportunity, with fellow forward Kelsey Turnbow making a run into the goal area.

Morgan knows that Portland will find it difficult to stop a goal being scored here, as long as she can time her pass into the middle to perfection.

However, this is why Coffey tends to stay further back than the other midfielders, and she has noticed the Wave’s attack evolving, so she is now working hard to get back and prevent the ball from finding the back of the net.

What is clever about her play this time is that she recognises how risky it would be for her to attempt an interception, with there being a strong possibility that she could turn the ball into her own net; therefore, she focuses on using her strength to stay between Turnbow and the ball.

This slows her opponent down and significantly reduces the chance of a goal being scored, allowing Portland goalkeeper Bella Bixby to move off her goal line and collect the ball.

Again, these are qualities that often go unnoticed when looking at the bigger picture, but they are still important on the field, which is why Sam Coffey has been a key player for her side and deserves more credit than she is sometimes given.

That awareness of where threats are around the field also means that she can fill gaps in the defensive line when one of her teammates goes out to close the ball down.

Here, OL Reign are looking to find a way through, with Arsenal Women captain Kim Little (who spent the English close season on loan at the Seattle club) attempting to move the ball into the spaces behind Portland’s defensive line.

However, when Kelli Hubly moves to close the former Scotland captain down, Coffey spots the gap and drops back to fill the space.

It is also worth mentioning that this positional adjustment cuts off the one available passing option that Little had, meaning that she is now forced to hold onto the ball and risk losing it to Portland’s press.

Therefore, this again demonstrates how Sam Coffey’s defensive qualities cannot be underestimated.

Sam Coffey Midfield Play

With the 23-year-old being a midfielder by trade, the central third is where she is at her most comfortable, and it is in this section of the field that she has often had the biggest influence on her team’s performances.

When not required to help out at the back, it is customary to see Sam Coffey in a more central position, often finding spaces in and around the centre circle.

From there, she is able to control the tempo of play and pick out passes that create goalscoring opportunities further up the field.

That is actually one of the most notable aspects of Sam Coffey’s playing style and something that the rest of her teammates recognise, with them all moving into different areas of the pitch here as they focus on the second phase and try to help keep the attack alive.

Her awareness is what helps the most here, and the fact that she is looking over her shoulder demonstrates how she constantly weighs her options before receiving the ball and assesses the spaces, identifying where she can hurt their opponents.

Therefore, when the American midfielder receives the ball, she already knows what she wants to do with it and only needs to take one touch to control the ball and one more to send it towards her chosen destination, with her pass on this occasion leading directly to a shot on the Chicago Red Stars goal by Smith.

Sam Coffey Shot Assists Map

As mentioned, it is common for Coffey to identify spaces early and create goalscoring opportunities for her side, with this graphic indicating how many times her passes have caused problems for Portland’s opponents.

However, what is also critical to note here is the length of the arrows, because that shows, firstly, that Coffey is often in deeper areas of the pitch when making these passes, and secondly, the accuracy that she needs to have when transferring the ball around, as any slight mistakes would lead to opponents intercepting the ball whilst it is in transit.

The 23-year-old had an impressive 83.3% passing accuracy in the 2022 season, so her teammates knew they could trust her to find them when she received the ball.

This is another reason she will be critical to their hopes of defending their NWSL title when the next campaign gets underway.

Not all of Coffey’s midfield play is about creating chances, though, as she is also an important player to have on the pitch when her side loses the ball, too.

Once again, her awareness comes into play in these situations, as she constantly reads the game and reacts to things more quickly than her opponents.

In this case, during the 2022 edition of the Women’s International Champions Cup, Chelsea Women aim to move the ball into the midfield area as they seek to find a way through their opponents, with Scotland star Erin Cuthbert receiving a pass from former Liverpool Women player Niamh Charles.

However, Cuthbert takes too long on the ball and delays her pass, which is something that teams can’t do when Coffey is on the pitch, and the Portland player was able to close her down from behind and make a successful tackle as a result, regaining possession for her side and bringing a premature end to Chelsea’s attack.

The fact that this happened several times against the WSL champions showed again how she never gives her opponents time to weigh up their options, which is why she has become an invaluable player to have in the squad.

It is not always the case that Coffey will look to win the ball back though, and this is where her strong judgement comes in.

When facing North Carolina Courage, for example, the way to contain their attacking threat is to isolate their most creative players, such as Denise O’Sullivan and Brazil playmaker Debinha.

By cutting those players off, the service that the likes of Kerolin and Mexico striker Diana Ordoñez thrive off doesn’t come, meaning that the Courage’s tactics fail.

This is something that Portland knew and had evidently talked about, as when O’Sullivan received the ball here, Coffey knew that she didn’t need to make an immediate tackle attempt and could instead work with Costa Rica midfielder Raquel “Rocky” Rodríguez and Canada legend Christine Sinclair to slow the Republic of Ireland international down here.

This was clever of Coffey and the wider Portland team because by constricting the space around O’Sullivan, they forced her to hold onto the ball for longer than she would have ordinarily liked to, with Japan midfielder Hina Sugita coming in to make a tackle and launch a counterattack from a dangerous area of the pitch.

However, it would not have been possible without Coffey first reading the situation and putting herself in the right position once again, recognising where she could affect the game.

Sam Coffey Supporting Attacks

Whilst her defensive and midfield qualities are what she is most known for, the 23-year-old midfielder is also capable of moving up the pitch and occupying advanced areas of the field when necessary, again working to ensure that her team always have the ability to keep their attacks alive.

In this situation, Portland didn’t have a player available at the top of the field to either receive the ball or occupy the North Carolina defenders, so there was always going to be a strong chance either that the Courage might try to come forward and close the Thorns down or that Portland would have to send the ball backwards once they realised that there was no-one in a position to receive a pass in the forward areas.

However, Sam Coffey realised this early on, again highlighting her awareness around the pitch, and made the run forwards to occupy that space, as the black arrow shows.

As a result, she gives the Courage players something to think about, as they now have to decide how much of a threat she poses and whether they can afford to leave her unmarked.

On this occasion, they decide to stay where they are, with O’Sullivan intercepting the pass towards Coffey from forward Morgan Weaver.

Still, the fact that the Portland midfielder noticed the gap and made the run to fill the space shows again why she has been so crucial for them in her short time at the club so far.

Even when there are Portland players in the final third and it appears that they are capable of creating a goalscoring opportunity on their own, Sam Coffey shows a willingness to get forward and help out where she feels she can.

Here, North Carolina have a compact defensive shape, aiming to limit what Sugita, Sinclair and Smith can do as they combine to find a way through.

However, in doing so, they have left space open on either side of their defensive line, which has allowed Coffey to run up the field and give her teammates another passing option as they look to find a way through their opponents.

Even though Sophia Smith, on this occasion, opted not to use her teammate, she instead played the ball back across the goal area.

The fact that the option was available is the key point to take from this, as it demonstrates once again how Coffey is a key player in this team and can attack just as well as she can defend.

However, whilst everything in this analysis so far has been positive, there is an aspect of her game that Sam Coffey can improve — her end product.

In this situation, she has the ball in a threatening area of the pitch and has a gap ahead of her through which she can shoot at goal.

However, this time the American midfielder didn’t look to pass the ball, which would have been the better option, as she had teammates who had a more likely chance of scoring.

Instead, she took the shot at goal, but her effort lacked pace and was easily saved by OL goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce.

Sam Coffey only scored one goal in 2022, and only 36% of her efforts were on target, so it is clear that scoring is not a quality for which she is particularly well-known.

However, if Coffey does want to increase that tally in 2023, as she continues to develop her game, then the 23-year-old will need to hit the ball with more conviction when she does have chances like this.

Conclusion

In conclusion, this tactical analysis has looked in detail at Portland Thorns midfielder Sam Coffey, who often went under the radar during the 2022 NWSL season and who brought a lot to her team on the field.

What has become clear throughout this Sam Coffey scout report is that she contributes a lot to Portland’s defensive, midfield and attacking play, with her being a good all-around player and someone who can operate in different roles and fit different tactics.

These things, in fact, are what have led to her catching the eye of USWNT head coach Vlatko Andonovski and being called up to national training squads as the season progressed.

Portland will enter a new era in 2023, with a new head coach coming in and a new owner taking over, so it remains to be seen what role Coffey will be given next season.

However, with the World Cup on the horizon, there is no doubt that, whatever happens, Sam Coffey’s name should be included in discussions when it comes to the final squad selection.

It will certainly be worth keeping an eye on her individual development once the new campaign commences.