Gotham FC had a very disappointing NWSL season in 2022 after finishing at the bottom of the standings and failing to achieve their minimum seasonal targets. This failure led to a recurrent change of head coaches.
Scott Parkinson was fired after failing to achieve the needed results as he wasn’t able to make the team finish higher than the season before. In fact, the team reached the quarter-finals of the playoffs in the 2021 season after finishing 5th in the standings. But in 2022, they had a very disappointing season and finished in 12th with only 13 points from 22.
Following 2022’s disappointing season with Scott Parkinson and then Hue Menzies as head coach, Gotham FC hired Juan Carlos Amorós as their new head coach and his results during the 2023 season are excellent so far. Amorós had a relatively long coaching career in women’s football as he coached Tottenham Women from 2011 to 2020 in the WSL before moving to Real Betis Women for a year in The Primera División de la Liga de Fútbol Femenino, the equivalent of the mens La Liga. Then, he moved to Houston Dash as interim for the 2022 season, leading them to their first-ever NWSL Playoffs. Since he joined Gotham FC in November 2022, Amorós and his team won six games, had three draws and lost only twice. This helped Gotham FC snatch the top spot of the regular season so far, with one point ahead of Portland Thorns, OL Reign, San Diego Wave and Washington Spirit.
In this tactical analysis scout report, we will be exploring how Gotham FC are looking tactically under the management of Amorós, what did they change from last season, and how to maintain this excellent run of form to keep on improving their performances as well. The analysis will therefore study the improvements and changes carried out by Amorós in terms of formations, line-ups and tactics.
Tactical changes
Compared to 2022, Amorós succeeded in finding the best shape for his team and the most adequate formation to his players’ abilities and especially to the roles they can interpret on the pitch. Instead of their previous 4-2-3-1 formation used by Hue Menzies, Amorós switched to the 4-1-4-1 and tried to have more consistency using this same formation for all of the games he was in charge of Gotham FC so far.
The results were overall very positive since he won six games and lost only twice and this took place mainly because the players had clear ideas and played with more realism than before. In addition, the usage of key players in their most adequate positions helped the team perform better, mainly in the attacking phase. The arrival and rapid integration of an experienced player like Lynn Williams helped Gotham FC a lot inside the final third since Amorós played her as a striker, as a left winger and as a right winger when needed.
This variety of positions helps the team have variable references for opponents who try to study their plans and such changes don’t only concern Williams but also Bruninha who is starting to become a key element within the team. Amorós helped the Brazilian player improve and gave her the confidence needed to play well in the defensive and especially the attacking phase, knowing that she can play as a right-back, left-back and as a right-winger as well.
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