Simone Charley

Two important pieces of business in two days for Angel City, and it’s worth taking a look at both of them. This article will look at the choice to let Simone Charley depart, and I’ll also write an article on the trade for Rocky Rodriguez.

I’ve been seeing a lot of confusion in Angel City fan forums about players leaving, which I think stems from the documentary. Charley, Weatherholt, and McCaskill were all free agents, so they weren’t cut, they just weren’t re-signed. It’s possible that Angel City didn’t put enough money on the table, or maybe they didn’t make an offer at all. But I don’t think that Angel City’s commitment to player stability can or should extend to an obligation to offer new contracts to any member of the team. In terms of this decision to move on from Charley, I think that it makes sense for both parties. I also saw a lot of comments lamenting Charley’s departure, and honestly, that did surprise me a little bit. She seems really nice, and I know that her work in the community has been fantastic, but I thought she was pretty clearly not the solution at striker.

In 22 games for Angel City, with 1,132 minutes, she scored 2 goals. Admittedly, all of these games came under Freya Coombe, who’s tactical setup never really got the best from the pace of any of our attackers. Charley’s best season to date was 2021 with the Thorns, when she scored five goals in 19 matches (957 minutes). Going into her age 29 season, I don’t think we should expect anything to dramatically change. But beyond goal scoring, I don’t think that she was the right player. Looking at her scouting report for 2022 on FBref.com, there are a number of categories that stand out to me. In terms of shooting, she’s in the 54th percentile in total shots, and 34th percentile in shot % on target, neither of which are great. But the stat that really stands out to me is take-ons. Charley was 90th percentile in Take-Ons Attempted and Succesful Take-Ons, although only 38th percentile in Successful Take-On %. The importantance of this, to me, is what is necessary to even attempt a take-on. Namely, there needs to be a defender between you and the goal. To be this high on these stat, you’re not running in behind, you’re not running the channels, and you’re not playing with your back to goal. You’re either dropping deep or drifting wide, receiving the ball with enough space to turn and square up the defender, and then taking them on. Also, you need to have the ball, right? All three attackers can’t have the ball at once, and I don’t see Charley doing enough off the ball from either my own observations or the stats.

I’m a big believer in an attacking front three possessing different, and ideally complimentary qualities. And I think that Charley’s qualities here are much too similar to other Angel City players. Alyssa Thompson brings pace and is also good at taking on defenders. Jun Endo is also very good at taking on defenders. And though I don’t think they’re as known for it, Emslie and Vignola both have a similar number of take-on attempts to 2022 Charley with a higher percentage of success, while Le Bihan has much fewer attempts, but also a much higher success rate. I don’t think we need another player to take on defenders, and especially in the #9 role. In my opinion, we need a #9 that can occupy defenders to make room for our wingers, receive the ball under pressure and distribute it, and win aerial duels. And pouncing on loose balls in the box would be good too. Charley wasn’t bad at the aerial duels, but otherwise, I don’t think that any of that describes her game.

There is also the issue of her injury. I hope, and would expect, that she’s able to return to 100% after her ruptured Achilles last year. But it’s pretty rare to be able to look at a free agent on your team and predict what it will look like without them. In this case, though, we do know. Angel City is a team capable of making the playoffs without Charley in the squad. You might argue that Charley could have played a role off the bench, but I think that’s where the Casey Phair signing comes in. It would be surprising, and unfair, to think that Phair can hit the ground running and play the majority of minutes as a #9. This is her first time in a professional environment and it will take her time to adjust to the league. But she’ll also need minutes, so she should be playing in any and all situations in which the coach wants to bring on an additional, or back-up, striker. It doesn’t surprise me that Angel City got the Phair signing done before announcing that they were parting ways with Charley. I do sincerely hope that Charley lands on a team that can make use of her talents, and that puts her in a role to succeed. I also think that Angel City made the right call in not renewing her contract.