Debinha scout report: why Brazilian is crucial to North Carolina Courage’s tactics

The 2021 NWSL season, the top flight of women’s football in the USA, is well under way, with plenty of teams making their mark early on, and plenty of players showing good form. One team showing early promise is North Carolina Courage, who have won one, drawn one and lost one so far. They have plenty of good players in the team, but the one who binds them together is Brazil midfielder Debinha. Usually operating in an attacking midfield role, she is involved in a lot of their final third play, creating chances and finding spaces in opposing defensive lines.

This tactical analysis will look in closer detail at her game, analysing her positioning, ability to see spaces, and the way she links up with others around the pitch. This will give us a greater understanding of her place in Courage’s tactics, and why they always look more likely to win when she is on the pitch.

Positioning

The first thing to look at is Debinha’s positioning, showing us how she helps her team around the pitch.

Debinha is very much a team player, and never expects her teammates to constantly play the ball into her. Instead, North Carolina Courage’s fluid formation allows all of their players to move around the pitch, positioning themselves in ways that help them to keep possession. This image demonstrates how one Courage player has gone inside, looking for passing options to move the ball to. Debinha makes space for her by coming out to the wing, and this also provides her teammate with a wide passing option if she wants to use it. This shows how the Brazilian’s positional awareness makes her a key part of Courage’s tactics.

The bigger picture here is that Debinha’s movement maintains Courage’s wide attacking setup, making it harder for Washington Spirit to cover every part of the pitch. This means that one player will likely be left open, ensuring Courage can move the ball forward and keep their attack alive. This is another reason why Debinha’s intelligent positioning is important for her team. Courage head coach Paul Riley wants her to play more centrally, which is perhaps highlighted by her poor crossing accuracy of 27.8%, but the fact that she can play in these areas when needed gives Courage more options tactically.