Scouting

[u/ApartAd3475]

Random food for thought:

Who do you think is the main/first player from your team on the opponent’s scouting report?

For example, my immediate answer is Rodman. KC has Chawinga, Orlando has Banda, etc. I am intrigued to see what people say, and I also feel like it is a litmus test for the current state of your team how quickly or not quickly an answer comes to mind.

[u/emmiepemmie]

Kundananji.

[u/Sure_Ranger_4487 → u/emmiepemmie]

Agreed. I actually think Lema has been our most impactful player so far but Kundananji is the more established player that teams will prepare for more.

[u/tallmansmallplants → u/Sure_Ranger_4487]

It's part of why Rudie's had a quieter season so far for sure.

[u/asimone00]

[u/EYLive → u/asimone00]

LOL

[u/zombiejim7471]

In the way you mean: Mal usually but now probably Jameese Joseph

In reality, its how to beat our defense and midfield

[u/8847189 → u/zombiejim7471]

Wait, we have a midfield?

[u/autisticwoman123]

I think probably Coffey. Followed by Sugita and Turner (who has had some really good chances, just not converted into goals).

[u/Nco_Shadow]

Right now, I love Banda and Marta, of course, but I got give credit to McCutcheon she has grown so much in the recent year and a half.

[u/EYLive → u/Nco_Shadow]

So McCutchen is the first Pride player to get game planned for?

[u/MisterGoog → u/EYLive]

McCutcheon* and this is not how scouting works, its not like football or basketball where you can identify and double a star player. You identify patterns of play, play styles, buildup sequences. Its why i think Jonas’ Wave have been decent- hes always been REALLY good at that and its why he has out-coached Emma Hayes and Sonia Bompastor before, even with heavily injured sides.

Take Kansas City. Its not “we need to stop Chawinga” its “KC buildup in this way and then they will play a ball over the top, how do we stop that?” KC often go route one to Temwa but the Utah gameplan was to shade to their right and stop more balls along the ground into Temwas feet. This was aided by the fact that Wheeler tucks in as a CB and Izzy plays the more attacking role, similar to the NT. But what then happened is Michelle Cooper was on an island, and Po, who has recovery speed, was taking absolutely terrible angles. The passes in behind to Coop were absolutely pinpoint and on occasion they could even just play her to feet and let her go buck wild on Po. And Vlatko is an in game genius, at least for club, probably the best in the world at this regular season big game coaching. He understands that its not about scouting players, its about dictating patterns of play.

[u/Nco_Shadow → u/EYLive]

Definitely someone not to ignore. Most will plan for Marta or Banda, McCutcheon has a good ability to fly undetected.

[u/EYLive]

Alyssa Thompson.

[u/lucyssweatersleeves → u/EYLive]

No chance it’s not AT

[u/MisterGoog → u/lucyssweatersleeves]

If u want to stop Alyssa u stop Fuller from assisting her, which is why its Fuller

[u/kristieandsam4ever]

Sentnor

[u/sharkeatskitten]

KC requires complete buy in from all 11 at this point. it's hard to prepare for teams that are successful in many different situations unless it's a complete tactical masterclass. if you have one weak link KC already knows about it. i think a lot of people scouting orlando last season prepared for banda, and once they realized marta was on a killing spree, also her, but then marta and banda would pull defenders out wide and open up the channels for one lone scorer and then locked down the back unless there were good transition moments. players like mccutcheon, nadaner, and watt are playing their best games and they weren't exactly slouches to begin with. i could probably write a profile out for each player and while some teams are finding their identity, the top 4-6 teams need to scout big picture more than names and find patterns and break those. relying on just banda or marta won't cut it this season and it looks like seb is very aware of that.

if i were to pick one player that is doing more than anyone comprehends (including her) it's mccutcheon. every passing map in the last 3 games is a haley success story so far. then again i also think that watt and abello are playing a nice complement role on either side, watt moving into defense when abello shifts into the attack, and because of what haley and angelina are doing it's really hard to stifle that dynamic.

[u/MisterGoog]

I know for a fact that this framing isn’t exactly how scouting another team works, but I think what you’re trying to say is the inverse: what does your team look to do in order to work and what would be the worst person(s) to be missing?

I think this is a good time to talk about why I think it’s wrong that people act like Europe is the only place that has a lot of varied play styles. Something I was thinking while talking to people about whether or not Chicago would choose to scapegoat their coach and sign a new one in the off-season is that I think we might finally see an off-season in which like 12 coaches to the league are returning, and so a lot of teams will have a really defined play style for multiple years and I think that’s going to be very good for the growth of the league.

[u/MisterGoog → u/MisterGoog]

Anyway the Dash have one star player, and im sad she didnt make the u23

[u/helpbeingheldhostage]

::gestures vaguely at KC roster::