Orlando Pride Lineup Change Backfires in Loss to Kansas City Current

The Orlando Pride returned home Saturday to Exploria Stadium where they’ve been excellent in recent games. The visitors were the Kansas City Current, an underachieving team that sat in last in the NWSL standings with just three wins and nine points. The Current made an unexpected change to their lineup for this contest and Pride Head Coach Seb Hines reciprocated with a change of his own. However, the shift in the lineup backfired, resulting in a poor first half and, ultimately, a 2-1 loss.

It was a rough start to the 2023 NWSL season for the Pride, who lost their first four games. While many expected the team to sit near the bottom of the standings, this was mainly because they displayed completely different lineups as Hines attempted to find his best 11. On April 29, Hines displayed the lineup and formation that became the norm for the Pride and sent them on a four-game unbeaten run.

Hines’ primary lineup has consisted of a 4-2-3-1, with Mikayla Cluff and Viviana Villacorta in the defensive midfield in most games this season. The Pride’s first two picks in the 2021 NWSL Draft have formed a great partnership, especially with Villacorta finally being healthy. Their role is to link the back line, which has stayed consistent in league games since the team’s April 29 win over San Diego Wave FC, with the attack that includes Brazilian stars Marta and Adriana.

In most games, the onus is on the visiting team to adjust to anything unexpected by the hosts. The home team usually controls possession and the pace of the game, often with the away team looking to strike on a counterattack. However, despite being at home, the Pride responded to the Current rather than going with their normal lineup.

The Pride started the game in a 4-1-4-1 formation, with Jordyn Listro as the only defensive midfielder. Meanwhile, Cluff and Villacorta joined Marta and Julie Doyle in the midfield with Adriana up top and the team’s preferred striker so far this season, Messiah Bright, on the bench.

“I think we expected them to come out with two sixes and they came out with two 10s,” starting center back Emily Madril said after the game. “So we switched our midfield to play one six.”

“Just wanted to have more midfielders, control the game a little bit better,” Hines said about the lineup. “Obviously, you know, against North Carolina, we didn’t control the game at all. Very transitional, so we needed to change that.

“You make decisions. You see the game and how it can plan out. It didn’t plan out how we thought it would in the first half and we made some changes that second half.”

In that first half the Current scored twice and took a 2-0 lead into the break, and the Pride looked out of sorts. It was a formation they hadn’t played this season, against a team that has legitimate attacking threats in Debinha, Cece Kizer, and Michelle Cooper. Debinha and Kizer scored the two first-half goals for the visitors.

The Pride have dominated at home in recent weeks and came into this game with a three-game home winning streak. Two of those wins came against the Portland Thorns and Washington Spirit, who sit first and fourth in the standings. The most comfortable lineup Hines has displayed this season also beat the San Diego Wave, who currently sit in fifth, away from home.

According to Madril, the lineup caused havoc with a team that had not used that formation this season.

“We were always a little bit out of whack in the midfield and I think that just made it harder for us to defend,” she said after the game. “And, you know, be in the right spots.”

Hines made two substitutions at halftime that saw the Pride go back to their usual lineup and the difference in the team’s play was obvious. Bright and Doyle entered the game for Listro and Kerry Abello. Cluff and Villacorta dropped back to the defensive midfield, Bright moved up top, and Adriana joined Doyle and Marta in the attacking midfield.

From the second-half kickoff, the team looked much more comfortable in the 4-2-3-1 setup. Cluff and Villacorta helped the back line as Kansas City had fewer chances in the second half. Meanwhile, the Pride had more possession, shots, and shots on target in the second 45 minutes. Part of that was because the Pride were chasing the game, down 2-1 after Marta converted a 58th-minute penalty, but the team looked much more comfortable in that second period of play.

“We also made a tactical change at halftime, which helped us defensively a little bit, just in the midfield, so I think we were struggling a little bit in the midfield,” Madril said. “And then I think that just made the game flow a lot easier too and helped us be more successful. So, I think that change kind of gave us some extra energy and had us in the right spots so that we could be more successful.”

Despite falling 2-0 down by halftime, the Pride had a chance to get something out of the game. They trailed 2-1 in the 80th when they were given a gift to equalize. A poor pass by Kansas City center back Gabrielle Robinson to goalkeeper Cassie Miller allowed Ally Watt to take possession at the top of the box. Miller came out, and Watt had Bright wide open to her left, but shot herself. Unfortunately, Miller made the stop and the Pride fell for the first time at home since April 15.

While the late missed chance impacted the final score, Hines’ decision to change his lineup and formation for this game was probably the difference. As Madril suggested, the team wasn’t comfortable defensively in their new formation and it put them two goals behind at the break. Had they come out with their regular formation and lineup, they might not have conceded twice and come away with three points for the fourth straight home match.

Instead, the Pride find themselves in a more difficult situation. They currently sit on 13 points and are ninth in the league, five points behind NJ/NY Gotham FC for the sixth and final playoff spot. Given their poor away form this season, it’s hard to see them reaching the postseason for the second time in team history if they don’t get three points in their remaining home games.