NWSL 2020: OL Reign vs Chicago Red Stars – tactical analysis

The quarterfinals of an unpredictable NWSL Challenge Cup brought us a match-up between OL Reign and Chicago Red Stars. Both teams considered themselves legitimate title contenders but also recognized they had room to improve before reaching the final. After analysis, we see that Reign manager Farid Benstiti (who previously reached the 2010 Champions League final with Olympique Lyonnais) is beginning to implement an attacking tactic reflective of positional play in how players manipulate space and their location to create attacking opportunities. We also found that Chicago applied a direct form of attack to apply constant pressure on the Reign side. This tactical analysis will look into how it all played out.

Lineups

Chicago: playing direct

Chicago entered the match with the intention to play direct with large doses of passes into the space behind the OL Reign defensive line. We see this in the fact that Red Stars attempted 15 through passes compared to Reign’s 3. Through passes in this context can be described as “a pass played into the space behind the defensive line for a teammate to contest.

This led to Chicago achieving 6 deep completions: a pass (excluding crosses) that are received in a 20-meter radius from the opponent goal line. Chicago executed this by using dropping and drifting movements of midfielders and wingers to create attacking space for forward Rachel Hill.