As we enter the midway point of the NWSL season, the standings are starting to take shape with Portland Thorns battling it out with North Carolina Courage for first place.
One point separates the two teams as they battle for the league title.
Courage have scored 26 league goals with 13 goals coming courtesy of their strike duo Kristen Hamilton and Lynn Williams.
The two have been influential core members of the squad.
Lynn Williams, particularly, has impressed, contributing four assists to go along with her six goals.
Williams will look to steer North Carolina Courage towards retaining their title with her all-around display.
This Lynn Williams scout report and tactical analysis aims to bring a better understanding of Williams’ playing style, strengths, and qualities.
Lynn Williams Player Profile
Hailing from Fresno, California, Williams is a hard-working number nine who scores goals.
Having started 13 games this season, Williams has six goals and four assists, making her an excellent partner to Jessica McDonald and Hamilton, who have seven goals to their names.
Consistency has been a key aspect of her game, as the forward started in 22 of the 23 games she played in during the 2018 season, totalling 1,887 minutes.
She scored 14 goals, coming in second place in the Golden Boot race.
Lynn Williams also had five assists during the season.
The 26-year-old striker can be classified as a defensive forward.
Diego Costa and Mario Mandžukić are two well-known defensive forwards who have been prolific in both their goal-scoring and all-around performances.
These types of forwards will typically look to use their physicality, aggression, and intelligence to pressurise the opposition defenders and bring their teammates into play.
Williams’ core competency is her work rate on and off the ball, as well as her ability to utilise her teammates.
The Courage forward’s game is based around speed and playmaking.
She typically looks to bring possession forward using her blistering pace and hold-up play, allowing her teammates to move into better goal-scoring positions.
Lynn Williams Forward Transitions
Part of Williams’ role for the Courage is using her intelligence to transition possession within the final third.
While she doesn’t frequently drop deep into midfield to collect possession, Williams will look to station herself in a slightly wider position to provide the final pass to her striker partner or any onrushing midfielders.
Lynn Williams Data Profile
The two wide players usually interchange positions depending on the situation.
They offer both wide and more central options, allowing an overload in both areas.
Any time the wide player closest to Williams chooses to remain central, she moves out wide.
This movement confuses defenders, and with her speed and precision dribbling, most defenders struggle to keep her quiet.
This run has dragged two players out of position, putting the centre-backs in some disarray.
The Courage are now engaged in a 2v2 situation with both striker and winger in advantageous positions over their markers.
Even if the resulting move did not end up in a goal, it showcased how her runs can influence the defending team’s movement.
Lynn Williams Midfield Connection
Williams’ ability is not only limited to her transition ability, but also to her dialogue with the midfield.
The American striker often tries to bring her midfield teammates into play when space around her is limited, in order to transition the ball forward on her own.
Playing with two strikers means that Williams can already play with her partner, but using the extra player for support can relieve pressure and create space for her or her partner to use.
This is an intentional move that looks to distract and bring focus onto her.
Notice how four players surround her position as she collects the ball.
The two runners are in advantageous positions and are afforded a blindside run into the penalty area.
Not only did Williams directly interact with her striker partner, Hamilton, but she also allowed her attacking teammates to make off-the-ball runs into the area.
Her through ball was perfectly weighted, and her decoy drop into zone 14 paved the way for teammates to pounce.
Having a striker with this sort of ability can create numerous goal-scoring opportunities, thereby increasing the team’s potential to score significantly.
Lynn Williams Movement
Movement is an incredibly important asset for any striker in modern football.
Anticipating the trajectory and timing of the ball is vital towards a centre-forward’s ability to score or assist.
Williams is no different. With her speed, Williams is able to outplay defenders by using intelligent movement, either in tandem with her striker partner or off the shoulder of defenders.
She has also been a prolific playmaker, assisting four times this season.
Part of why she scores and assists is North Carolina Courage’s tactics of playing through the channels.
Lynn Williams Heat Map
She uses the channels more than other strikers and is helped by the Courage’s 4-2-2-2 system.
In this formation, Debinha and McCall Zerboni provide support by playing through balls between the opposition centre-back and full-back.
This is further backed by her 5.68 dribbles per 90.
This means that Williams is fed possession in areas where she has a chance to run at the opposition defence.
The Chicago Red Stars were looking to counter-attack, but O’Sullivan’s press propelled the Courage to halt the opposition attack.
Dispossessing DiBernardo during the transition allowed North Carolina to exploit the spaces created by the Chicago Red Stars’ disjointed backline.
The Courage took advantage of the unoccupied space in front of the centre-backs.
Williams’ understanding of the situation allowed him to take up a better position to run between the two defenders.
Debinha’s first time through ball into space saw Williams use her incredible pace to create a 1v1 situation against Alyssa Naeher.
Her assist record in the NWSL this season has been a pleasant surprise and is another by-product of her movement and intelligence.
As we mentioned earlier, part of the Courage’s system is to play with two strikers.
Whether they play a 4-4-2 or 4-2-2-2 formation, Williams is also surrounded by a strike partner in McDonald or Hamilton.
5.29 touches in the box per 90 indicate Lynn Williams’ preference to get on the ball in the penalty area to possibly shoot or pass to her closest teammate.
Notice that as she turns, she sees Hamilton in an advantageous position and has a run on her marker.
Williams’ shift to the left sees her drag the three defenders as far away as possible before she sends a pass to her teammate.
However, the most important point to note is that Williams’ quick thinking and intelligence created the best possible opportunity for Hamilton to score.
Conclusion
Through this analysis, one point is clear: Lynn Williams is an exceptionally talented and versatile striker.
Being paired up with the likes of Kristen Hamilton or Jessica McDonald doesn’t change her style of play, and she has continued to score and assist with freedom.
The 26-year-old American has a point to prove after not being selected for the World Cup and will want to be part of the next squad.
With Alex Morgan on the wrong side of 30, the 26-year-old Williams has a chance to stake her claim as the number one striker for the United States Women’s National Team.
However, as the Courage will look to stretch Portland Thorns all the way to the NWSL title, they will need their star striker to be firing on all cylinders and continuing her impressive all-around display.
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