NWSL 2019: Portland Thorns vs Chicago Red Stars

The NWSL is heating up and the standings are beginning to take shape at the top of the table. Both Portland Thorns and Chicago Red Stars were mounting a serious challenge for the title with this match shaping up as a highly anticipated contest. Both teams were gunning for the top spot, however, a recent downturn in results has seen the Red Stars start to falter after back to back losses to Sky Blue and Orlando Pride. Portland Thorns, on the other hand, were coming off a two-match winning streak beating North Carolina Courage and Washington Spirit. The teams needed a win to create daylight between themselves and stay ahead of North Carolina Courage who have two games in hand.

This tactical analysis will look at the main tactical talking points in this encounter and how Chicago Red Stars failed to take any points back home. We will look at the tactics employed by both teams and how both coaches looked to play.

Line ups and squads

Mark Parsons lined up his side in their familiar 4-2-3-1 formation and named an unchanged side for the visit of Chicago Red Stars. Christine Sinclair continued in her number 10 position with Margaret Purce leading the line. Hayley Raso continued to bring dynamism and creativity to the Thorns with Australian right-back Ellie Carpenter bombing down the right-wing just behind her.

Rory Dames made two changes from the match against Orlando Pride, with Katie Naughton and Savannah McCaskill replacing Arin Wright and Danielle Colaprico. Julie Ertz resumed her customary role as the defensive midfielder partnering up with Morgan Brian. Dames decided to match the Thorns and utilised his own 4-2-3-1 formation that has served the Red Stars well. Star centre-forward Sam Kerr led the line, with Vanessa DiBernardo moving out to right-wing to make way for McCaskill to play the number 10 role.

Portland Thorns (4-2-3-1): Franch; Carpenter, Sonnett, Menges, Klingenberg; Brynjarsdóttir, Horan; Raso, Sinclair, Heath; Purce

Chicago Red Stars (4-2-3-1): Naeher; Short, Naughton, Gorden, Davidson; Ertz, Brian; DiBernardo, McCaskill, Nagasato; Kerr

Chicago’s Pain & Portland’s Gain

Parsons looked to have a clear game plan from the very start. With the knowledge that the Chicago Red Stars were playing a much narrower, more compact formation in the forward areas, he wanted to overload the central areas and make it difficult for the Red Stars defence. The Thorns planned to disorientate the Red Stars compact defence by allowing midfield runners to burst into the area. Lindsey Horan is particularly devastating in this regard, with her style of play suited to late surges into the box. Ideally, they would look to isolate players and create numerical superiority in the 18-yard area.

The above image illustrates the theoretical plan the Thorns tried to implement and the first goal was a testament to this strategy. The wide players were hugely vital in supplying, creating space, and switches of play (more on the wide players later in this analysis). They were able to divert attention away from the central players.

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