Orlando Pride exemplify successful ideal rebuild in NWSL, while Utah Royals, San Diego Wave need rethink

The start of any season almost always forces any team to ask one question: will this form last? The good news is that the wait for a response is never very long. Some 11 games into the NWSL season, the leaderboard alone feels like a key resource for evaluating a team’s body of work, allowing each team to feel like a known quantity at this point.

While last weekend’s matches had a surprise or two (which warranted a quick name change for the Houston Dash’s 3-0 victory over the North Carolina Courage), the pre-Memorial Day action was all about the retention patterns that different teams find themselves in – pleasant or not. The Orlando Pride remain in the top tier after a landmark win over the Portland Thorns, while the Utah Royals demonstrated similar but contrasting consistency with a loss to the Kansas City Current that extended their winning streak to five. Both teams, as well as those around them, appear to be stuck in the habits that defined them at the start of the season. It’s good news for some and bad news for others, but at least some can draw positive conclusions from the fact that there is plenty of time on the schedule and that more teams will make the playoffs than not in the fall.

As the halfway point approaches, however, the first question gives way to another: Are the plans they each established at the start of the offseason working, or do they need to go back to the drawing board?

Here’s the latest batch of talking points from another weekend of NWSL action.

Pride rebuild achieves another record

If you’re looking for a successful rebuild, look no further than the Pride, who demonstrated they can be the real deal in a 2-1 victory over a resurgent Thorns side on Friday. It marked their eighth consecutive victory, becoming the first NWSL team to do so.

They stayed true to their identity, allowing the Thorns to win the battle for possession but demonstrating impressive attacking acumen with 22 shots to the Thorns’ 13 and reaping the rewards of Barbra Banda’s two first-half goals. They were particularly excellent in the first half, limiting the Thorns to just one shot on goal and 0.22 expected goals, which was enough to see them through the second half after Banda was substituted and the Thorns began to recover.

The encounter evolved into a tale of two halves, which provided an entertaining and high-level clash for the neutrals, but raised questions about the Pride’s ability to maintain their lead against another attack-minded team – and without Banda on the field. The Pride had just one of their eight shots on goal, while the Thorns had 10 shots and scored 2.29 expected goals, with Izzy D’Aquila scoring in the 71st minute to keep the winning margin tight.

It’s a departure from the defensive resolve the Pride tend to show – they’ve conceded the third-fewest goals and have the second-fewest shots against in the NWSL, which is impressive considering the influx of offensive talent this season. The lingering question of this match will be whether Pride can be overcome on a regular basis or whether that will only happen if the opponent is at their best. In one of the first tests of their form, however, the Pride came away with a passing grade, which is a vote of confidence in the plans laid out by coach Seb Hines and general manager Haley Carter.

Royals losing streak continues

The Royals recorded yet another defeat on Saturday, this time 1-0 to Current, which raises serious concerns about the tactical design for their expansion season. They took just four shots against a current team that isn’t afraid of conceding goals – 15, to be exact – which is unfortunately a trend for Amy Rodriguez’s side.

After 11 games, the Royals have scored just six goals and are in the bottom two in the league in shots, shots on goal and expected goals. It could be argued that this is par for the course for expansion teams considering the monumental challenge of building a team from scratch, but they are well behind newcomers Bay FC in this category. The California team scored 15 goals this season, despite being in 12th place, which allowed them to have two more wins than the last-placed Royals, who have just one.

There is no redeeming quality to the Royals’ low-scoring performances, even if they were intentional. The best comparison in this case may be NJ/NY Gotham FC, a team whose defensive strengths serve as the basis for their success. The defending champions have a modest goal difference of +3 and have struggled to score at the start of this season, but a recent run of goals from Ella Stevens allows their defensive plan to work. The Royals cannot claim similar triumphs considering they have conceded 20 goals and are ahead of only the Bay in that category. It’s hard to see them climbing out of this hole anytime soon, which is a disappointing way to mark their return after the team’s 2020 shake-up.

Wave’s ambiguity costs them

While some teams put together impressive runs and others seem destined to go the opposite way, the San Diego Wave are confusingly caught in the middle. Their last unspectacular result came in a 0-0 draw at Angel City on Thursday, in which they had around 50% possession but trailed their opponents in most possession-related categories. The Wave were also unable to redeem themselves on offense, outscoring Angel City 15-10 but making just five of those shots.

It reflects a malaise that has plagued Casey Stoney’s team all season despite two consecutive seasons of dominance. Although they have the second best defensive record, with just nine goals conceded, they are mid-table in several attacking categories and have a goal difference that matches their current ninth place in the table. There is a clear area for improvement in attack as their shots on target percentage is a paltry 35.7% and the ability to become more efficient in front of goal may not only have served them well in Los Angeles, but in general.

Stoney can blame injuries for some of this – players like Jaedyn Shaw and Alex Morgan have been unavailable at different times this season but could be back after the international break. The Wave’s transition from NWSL Shield winners in 2023 to a mid-major team in early 2024, however, is intriguing. The solution is easy to identify — midfielder Savannah McCaskill said the team just needs to score more goals — but it’s also the hardest thing to solve.

“The hardest part of the game is getting the final third right,” she said, by The San Diego Union Tribune. “It’s creating those opportunities and getting that creative exchange and fluid movement.”