ACFC 2-1 Seattle Reign

It’s amazing what a win does. A win and two draws is an undefeated start to the season, but a loss and two draws is winless in three games. The biggest thing is that the three points put Angel City 4th in the table. I personally think that we are not the 4th best team in the league right now, so I expect that to come down, but it is nice to see.

I thought that the performance itself was actually the most encouraging part, and the 2-1 scoreline flattered Seattle, and that’s not even factoring in Press’ goal (in which Hammond was very, very offside; it shouldn’t even be a controversy). But as exiting as this win was, I think that this team is still a work in progress.

The first question is why didn’t Angel City play like that in the first two games, and by extension, is this sustainable, or will we go back to allowing our opponents to dictate the match? Only time will really tell. I think that Zelem starting did make a big difference, and as she was the only change to the lineup, it’s easy to point to that, but I don’t think that was the only factor.

Game Statistics

So first, the good news. Angel City outshot Seattle 16-5, and 5-2 for Shots on Target. They also won the possession battle 58%-42%. This was the first time that Angel City has outshot their opponent this season, and it wasn’t even close. Seattle’s first shot on target was the penalty, and their second shot on target was in the 90+7’.

And regarding that penalty, I thought that it was very soft. There was minimal contact, and certainly not enough to bring Crnogorčević down. I’m not saying it was a dive, but she really made the most of it. That being said, Gisele needs to learn that veteran players are going to do this. Crnogorčević was contained, and there was no need to try to win the ball back in that spot. A tackle from behind, especially in the box, is always risky. This is just part of the learning process for a young defender, and knowing when to pick your moments is maybe the hardest skill to develop. But you don’t want to give the ref a decision to make in the first place.

On the not-as-good news, Angel City lost the xG battle, but this is largely due to the .73 xG that Seattle got from the pen. Without that, Angel City wins, 1.1 xG to .54 xG. The 1.1 xG is almost equal to what Angel City got from the first two games combined, but it’s still not a great number. The Current are averaging 2.7 xG, the Pride are averaging 1.63 xG, and even Louisville are averaging 1.67 xG per game. Even with this performance, Angel City is dead last in xG in the NWSL. So, progress, but work to be done.

And finally the outright bad news, which ties into the previous piece: the quality of each chance. Despite Angel City’s dominance, and make no mistake, we were dominant, Seattle had the two best chances in the game (and that’s not including the penalty). They were a .24 xG from Dahlien, and a .2 xG from Mondésir. Angel City’s 4 best shots were .14 (Kennedy), .12 (Kennedy), .1 (Fuller), and .1 (Vignola), and all of them were off target. Right now, Alyssa is turning just about everything into goals, but it’s not a sustainable plan to say, “Hey Alyssa, go make something from nothing.” Good teams consistently develop quality chances, and they are more clinical when they get those chances. Angel City needs to improve on both fronts. But I don’t want to rain on the parade too much. 16 Shots is good. The goals that were scored were both good. There are real positives here, but there is also a long way to go.

One other stat I wanted to look at was Tackles. In this game, Angel City had 7 Tackles in the Defensive Third, 8 Tackles in the Middle Third, and 7 Tackles in the Attacking Third. For the season, ACFC has had 8.33 Defensive Third Tackles, 7.33 Middle Third Tackles, and 4.33 Attacking Third Tackles per 90. Last year those numbers were 11.1, 6.96, and 2.77. The team has talked about pressing more, and winning the ball higher, and we’re seeing that happening. I really think that this suits Angel City. Alyssa’s skill set, especially, can hurt opposing teams in transition, so winning the ball in areas of the field that can catch a defense off-guard is key. This is something I’m going to keep an eye on, but I’m guessing that we’re going to see more Tackles in the Attacking and Middle Third in games that Angel City win this year.

Individual League Leaders

It’s only three games in, but there are some individuals on Angel City that have been amongst the best in the league. You’re probably not going to be surprised about which players have stood out, but may be surprised how they compare to the rest of the league.

Alyssa Thompson

Temwa Chawinga is the early front runner for the Golden Boot, tied with 3 Goals. What’s truly amazing, though is that Chawinga has 4.1 npxG, miles ahead of Ashley Hatch in second with 1.6 npxG. It’s scary to think that this is the underperforming version of Chawinga. But on the flip side, the best overperformance is Alyssa Thompson with 2 Goals from only .5 npxG. I think by this point, though, we all know that Alyssa can consistently score the kinds of goals that we’ve seen, so we can’t call it a fluke. And if anything, she’s looked even better during this international break.

Another interesting comparison is that Alyssa leads the league in Progressive Passes Received, just 1 ahead of Chawinga. The way that KC utilizes Chawinga’s speed to stretch a defense can be a blueprint for Alyssa, as well. And we have seen more of that this year, with Alyssa getting the ball in space and being able to run at a defense with speed. But there’s clearly a difference here, if both of these players are receiving a similar number of Progressive Passes, but Chawinga has turned that into 4.1 npxG, while Alyssa has only .5 npxG. I don’t think that this is a difference in talent. There may be some edge to Chawinga in experience, but not 3.6 npxG worth. I think that the difference is that KC as a team can create more in the second phase of a counter attack. We see Chawinga get in behind, and sometimes that leads directly to a shot, but sometimes the defense recovers, so Chawinga lays it off to Debinha or Cooper and the defense forgets about her a little since there isn’t any space behind. And it’s at that point that Chawinga drifts into a little pocket of space and is there for a rebound or a tap-in on the back post, i.e. a high xG chance. With Angel City, we see Alyssa drive at goal, but if that first opportunity breaks down, we haven’t quite found a way to generate chances in the second phase. Some of this actually comes down to Alyssa recognizing when there is a chance, and when she should reset the play. I do think that this is possible to achieve, though, and with the players that are currently on the squad, but it’s something that needs to be worked on.

Claire Emslie

Emslie so far has 0 Goals and 1 Assist, but she has been her usual creative self. She leads the league in Crosses (31), as is tradition at this point. She is tied for third in Key Passes (8), and she is 7th in Shot Creating Actions per 90 (4.58). Angel City still needs to find a way to turn that into goals, but Emslie’s levels haven’t dropped at all this season.

Kennedy Fuller

Fuller needs to get the ball more. She’s third to last on the team in Touches per 90 (42.5) and only has 16.8 Touches per 90 in the Attacking Third. For comparison Debinha has 24.8 Touches per 90 in the Attacking Third. But Fuller has been outstanding when she does get the ball. She’s had a goal contribution in every game and those 3 Goals + Assists has her right there tied for first in the league with the likes of Debinha, Chawinga, Marta, and Banda. For G+A per 90, Fuller is 5th. She is also tied for 8th in Progressive Passes with 18, and I think we’re seeing a real connection forming with Alyssa. Angel City just needs to get her the ball more.

Progressive Carrying Distance

This is interesting, and I don’t know if it’s good or bad, but three of the top six players in the league in Progressive Carrying Distance play for Angel City: Vignola, Gorden, and Gisele. Vignola is the league leader and Gorden is second. Gisele is also second in the league in number of Progressive Carries (13). This seems to be a clear plan to have the Gorden and the fullbacks carry the ball out of the back, but I wonder if that’s part of why we’re not seeing the ball with central players (notably Zelem and Fuller in my mind). On the other hand, carrying the ball is definitely a strength of Vignola, Gorden, and Gisele, so maybe we should be leaning into this? No matter what, three of the top six is notable. One note: Mandy McGlynn is 10th on this list. It’s a crazy to me that any goalie ranks in the Top 10 of Progressive Carrying Distance.

Angelina Anderson

Simply put, Anderson has been great so far. She leads the league in Saves, and is second in Save Percentage behind Lorena. In Post Shot xG - Goals Against (the stat I value the most), she is fifth, but I think that this is entirely because she hasn’t had a clean sheet yet, and I don’t actually think that she’s been at fault for any of the goals that Angel City has conceded. She also leads the league in Defensive Actions Outside the Penalty Area (6). A word of caution, though. I think that Anderson will have a rough game at some point, and I think that everybody has to understand that that’s part of her growth. I think that she’s shown that she’s capable of being a #1, but I also think that her ceiling is still a long ways off. It won’t be linear progress.

Angel City’s next game is Saturday 4/12 against the reigning Rookie of the Month, Maggie Graham, and the Dash in Houston. It’s at 2p Pacific on Paramount +. I think that Angel City has chance to get some points here, but we’ll have to see how some of the star players’ minutes are handled after the international break.

All stats in this article came from FBRef.