“Wildly inconsistent”: Why the NWSL playoffs may evade North Carolina Courage in 2021 – tactical analysis

The NWSL regular season is drawing to a close, with Portland Thorns, OL Reign and Washington Spirit already confirmed in the playoffs, whilst other clubs will be hoping to seal their places in the last round of fixtures. However, one team that may miss out is three-time NWSL Shield winners North Carolina Courage, who started the season well, but have won just once since 22 August. They look to have lost their confidence and have become wildly inconsistent at just the wrong time, and, while much-publicised off-field matters will have no doubt contributed to this, their poor run of results actually started before that, so there are definite problems on the pitch that need addressing.

This tactical analysis will focus on those on-pitch issues, with analysis of their attack and defence, and we will point out where they can improve ahead of the trip to Portland in their final regular game of the season; a game they simply have to win.

Final third play

The first thing to look at is their final third play, as they have lacked a clinical edge in front of goal recently, which has led to four out of their last eight games ending without them scoring.

The main problem is that, whilst they are creating plenty of chances for each other, North Carolina aren’t converting them. This would be understandable if they were shooting from difficult angles, but USA forward Lynn Williams, in the yellow circle here, shoots over the bar from in front of goal here. Brazil midfielder Debinha has done well to get behind the NJ/NY Gotham defence, setting up the chance for Williams, and these are the opportunities that North Carolina need to take. This was not the only bad miss for the home side in this game, and the fact that Gotham won 3-0 highlights how not taking their opportunities cost the Courage a crucial win against a rival in the playoff hunt.

Their movement is also not effective enough at times, meaning that, again, good chances are not taken. Here, right-back Merritt Mathias has advanced up the pitch with the ball, with three players ahead of her, in the red circles. However, none of them make a run into the box, where it would have been easy to get on the end of a cross from Mathias and potentially score. Instead, they hold their positions on the edge of the box, which makes it easier for Gotham to get between them and the goal. As a result, Mathias only has one option, which is to shoot at goal herself from this distance, and it goes over the bar.

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