The Second Coming: Why Utah Royals’ NWSL return has yet to take off – scout report

When the NWSL announced that one of the two expansion sides entering the league in 2024 would be Utah Royals, there was a significant outpouring of joy among the fanbase at the return of a franchise that had last graced the division in 2020. There was also a strong sense of wonder at what Utah could look like on the field from a tactical point of view, with some questioning if they would be able to provide the success that the last iteration of the club had seemed capable of delivering had it been allowed to continue.

Whilst there may well be moments for them to celebrate in the years ahead, Utah’s first campaign back in action has not gone to plan so far as they have incurred 10 defeats from their opening 12 matches and currently prop up the rest of the table. There is an understanding that the club is building from scratch and so will need time to get back into the rhythm of life in the NWSL, but it has also been pointed out that football is a results business and that the Royals have worryingly not been able to get them to date.

With that in mind, this tactical analysis will look at what has been going wrong for them so far and will highlight the reasons for their struggles, but will also show why things are not all bad and that there is no need for drastic action just yet.

Attack

When looking for a coach to lead the team’s re-integration into the NWSL, Utah Royals’ owners selected former USA forward Amy Rodriguez, who had performed with distinction for them in her playing days and who knew what was expected of the club from those who follow and support them. From her first day in the role, it was clear that she had a desire to reinstate the “Royals DNA” of old, which was based around regaining the ball at speed and controlling the tempo of their matches, and there has been evidence that her players are buying into that philosophy.

However, what has been just as clear is that it will take time for them to implement Rodriguez’s tactics faultlessly, with them possessing the basic ingredients such as moving the ball around the pitch in transition but lacking the speed of thought needed to make their chances count. That is shown clearly in this situation, with Dutch midfielder Dana Foederer feeding the ball into the path of wide attacker Paige Monaghan and expecting the return pass, but never receiving it. Instead, Monaghan held onto the ball for a fraction of a second too long and then failed to find Foederer when she did look to release the ball, with Chicago Red Stars’ Taylor Malham preventing the two from connecting.

Quickening the pace in moments such as this will be vital against any side in the NWSL but is especially critical against Chicago due to them being a lot more robust and defensively organised under former Jamaica head coach Lorne Donaldson, and teams who come up against them quite simply have to take their chances as and when they arrive as they will otherwise be cut out. Therefore, holding onto the ball in the manner that Monaghan did here will only make it harder for Utah to turn this promising opportunity into anything, and it is this slight hesitation at key moments that has been largely to blame for the Royals only finding the net on six occasions so far (an average of 0.5 per game).