Coachella Valley Invitational
After a long offseason, we finally got to see Angel City back on the pitch this past weekend at the Coachella Valley Invitational (CVI), and it was both good and bad, not least because I couldn’t stay for the second half due to a commitment back in LA that evening. Still, it was good to see ACFC soccer again, and I did have a few takeaways.
Overall, I really liked the event. The fields looked really good, the fans can get a pretty unprecedented pitchside view, and it was generally a nice atmosphere. There was a San Diego v Portland match prior to ACFC v Bay FC, and it was fun having fans from all four clubs, though, of course, Angel City had the best representation. This was the first time that the NWSL has been a part of the CVI, and I hope that they’ll be back next year, hopefully with even more teams.
I didn’t really get as much out of the actual soccer as I would have liked. For starters, there are a number of players missing from the team, as we’re still on an international break, including some newcomers that I would have really liked to see like Gisele Thompson and Rocky Rodriguez. Also, no teams were wearing their official kits yet, and ACFC’s training jerseys did not have their numbers on the back. Things got even more confusing when the substitutions started early and often, around every fifteen minutes. And then there were the inclusion of draft picks and Non-Roster Invitees (NRIs), so there were a lot of players that I just didn’t know. Next year, I’m bringing binoculars.
Here are the concrete, or at least somewhat concrete, items that I could see. All three goalies played, but it looked like Anderson got the start. Not sure how much to read into that, but it does support the case that the #1 job is hers to lose. When Angel City had the ball, it felt like there was a concerted effort to get one fullback high up the field. The other defenders would shift across, in essence providing a back three, while whichever fullback made the move became an out and out attacker. I think that our fullbacks can provide a significant advantage, and I like seeing them utilized more. I’m also not sure how much of this was a plan, or just the flow of the game, but Alyssa Thompson was often wider than I’m used to seeing. I tend to think of her driving at the goal when she gets the ball in the final third, but in this game, she frequently stayed wide and put in a cross instead. I wonder how much of that she’ll be doing when Emslie is back in the team. Leroux looked like she got some time in the #10 role, playing behind Katie Johnson. I didn’t really see enough before she was rotated out wide, but I’m encouraged that she’s getting consideration for that role. I also wasn’t sure what Johnson’s place in the team would be this season, but it looked like she is very much in Becki Tweed’s plans. Bay FC were also missing a lot of players, including their high priced attacking trident of Castellanos, Oshoala, and Kundananji, but you could clearly see their intent. They are set up to be a possession based football team and they were controlling the game for large stretches. Even without their big names, it seemed like every player, top to bottom, understood how they wanted to play, even if execution was sometimes lacking. It was actually a little bit disheartening to see an expansion team with a clearer identity than Angel City has after two seasons, though to be fair, I think that Tweed took us a lot further down that path. Maybe with a preseason in charge, Tweed will finally give us a clear idea of what Angel City football is. Or perhaps I’m reading too much into a preseason game? Luckily, we’re playing them again in the season opener on March 17th, when everyone should have all their players back, and that will give us a much better idea of things.
And one final note: Goosecat is now on Instagram, @goosecatanalytics. I’ll be posting when a new article comes out, and probably a few pictures from games, etc.