The NWSL 2020 Challenge Cup brought us a Sky Blue team in the middle of drastic change. Manager Freya Coombe has overseen a transition in attacking style towards a more possession-based system in her few games in charge. Having joined the team in the 2020 offseason, Margeret Midge Purce has been seen as a major step towards Sky Blue’s new attacking tactics.
Through analysis, this scout report will delve into what kind of attacking player Sky Blue have in their ranks and whether or not she was used to full effect in the Challenge Cup. This tactical analysis will look at exactly what Purce can bring to Sky Blue.
Background
Purce advanced through her youth and college career as a striker. When entering the professional ranks, she began to see play time as a right-back as well. This comes from managers aiming to employ more aggressive attacking tactics by stashing attacking minded players in the outside back position. This allows teams to not only use forward and midfield players in attack, but also allocate players from the defensive line to create overloads on the flanks, penetrating overlaps or underlaps and late attacking runs into the attacking third.
1 vs 1 capability: What is she good at?
Purce’s ability in various 1 vs 1 situations makes her a liability to any opponent she comes against. She is able to use a combination of speed, agility, technical proficiency with all surfaces of the foot and attacking aggression to make herself an attacking force on the field.
This is reflected in her 2019 statistics with the Portland Thorns, having finished top ten in the league on the goal chart with 8 goals (0.51 per 90’). She also finished third in the league in touches in the penalty area with 5.78 per 90’. Both of those statistics can be said to stem from the fact that Purce ranked top five in the league in offensive duels with 14.07 per 90’.
Purce is able to successfully execute offensive duels from multiple angles of pressure. Whether the nearest defender approaches from the front, side or behind, Purce has the ability to win the duel and advance play for her team. These movements are performed not through flair or trick moves, but through simple change of speed and change of direction.
Her use of rapid change of speed and change of direction paired with the ability to use all parts of both feet make her quite hard to defend against. We can see a few examples of this below.
In a 2019 match against the Red Stars we see a moment in which Purce has received the ball with her back to the Red Stars goal. For the marking centre-back, this is ideal because their objective in this situation is typically to keep the attacker facing away from goal to prevent any forward penetration.
Purce is aware that there is plenty of space behind the defender to exploit, she just has to move the ball past the defender and penetrate forward.
We see that Purce has received the ball with her right foot. Typically, the attacking player will use their body to roll off the opponent and push into space behind. Instead, Purce opts to put her foot on top of the ball and uses her right foot to pull the ball back.
This movement opens up Purce’s body to the defender and allows the ball to be completely exposed to her marking opponent. As the ball is pulled backwards, Purce then uses the inside of her right foot to push the ball forward into space behind the Chicago defensive line.
