Is Gotham FC in trouble for the playoff push?

With only three points and two goals over four matches, it's looking tough out there. Let's get into it.

Photo Provided by NJ/NY Gotham FC

It has been 68 days since Gotham FC has won a game in the National Women’s Soccer League. Since then, a loss and three draws across August has given the team only three points in a very tight race for a playoff spot.

As of now, Gotham finds themselves in 8th place, tied on points with 9th place North Carolina Courage and only one point up on 10th place Angel City FC. Gotham sits four points behind Racing Louisville in the 7th spot.

All this to say, this is not the place the 2023 NWSL Champions expected to find themselves in the back half of the season, especially with the Golden Boot leader (Esther) and league assist leader (Sarah Schupansky) on the roster.

So, what’s going on, and is it time to panic?

The team continues to be among the top defensively, allowing the third-fewest goals across league play. However, Gotham is in the bottom five of goals scored.

Gotham’s 0-0 draw against Utah last week is a prime example of the team’s consistent struggles to find the back of the net. One look at the stat sheet shows the home team’s dominance against the visiting Royals:

18 shots, 7 on target; 51% possession; 44 touches in the opponents box (compared to Utah’s 11); 11 corners (compared to Utah’s 3). The list goes on.

Yet somehow, even with the firepower of Esther, Schupansky, Gabi Portilho, Katie Stengel, Rose Lavelle, and Jaelin Howell, Gotham produced 0 goals on an xG of 1.14 and allowing only one shot on target from Utah all night.

“In the first half, our effort was there—you can’t knock that,” said midfielder Taryn Torres after the match. “We always come out giving 100%.But it’s about more than effort; we need to start strong, get an early goal, add another, and put teams away in the first half instead of chasing the game in the second.”

Three of Gotham’s last four matches were against bottom-of-the-table teams. Including Utah, the team faced (and lost 2-1) to the Houston Dash, and drew 1-1 with the Chicago Stars. Over all four matches, the team scored only two goals.

Now, Gotham must face the 2024 defending champions the Pride away at Orlando, and the pressure is on to pick up points and regain their composure with just a couple months left in the season.

But according to head coach Juan Carlos Amorós, the pressure is the same for every game, every training session, and the expectations are high to not only perform, but to win.

“Every single game since I’ve been here, we face it as a final. We prepare, we take care of every detail in order to make sure that we win,” he said to media ahead of Friday’s match in Orlando. “The main thing is to win tomorrow. Orlando is going to be a big challenge, but I don’t think it really changes the perspective compared to how we faced the last few games.”

Amorós knows that there is still time left in the season, but the team has to start putting together the wins now. A string of three points across just a few games could catapult Gotham up the standings, but it has to start coming now — which means they have to start scoring.

“We can be slightly better, especially on the offensive side, because I think defensively we are restricting teams to one shot on target over 90 minutes,” he said, referencing Gotham’s match against Utah. “We need to be better obviously, with looking at trying to make sure that we make better decisions and executions in the final third.”

Amorós also knows that the team’s strong defensive performances are due in large part to the defensive work rate of his forwards. Gotham defends as a team, and he wants them to attack as a team, too.

Gotham’s scoring abilities were on display during the midweek CONCACAF W Champions Cup group stage match against Monterrey on Aug. 20th. The team won 2-1, with the first goal coming from Brazilian defender Bruninha. This is more of what Amorós wants to see from his group, and he knows what’s possible.

“We need everyone when it comes to making sure that we decide and execute as well in the final third,” he said. “I think everyone is important here, we are a team, we defend together, we attack together. So we want to make sure that we can be consistent in that defensive record and improve those little bits.”

The players know what they need to do. During the ION postgame interview following the draw against the Royals, Rose Lavelle summed it up:

“We’re a little disappointed – we didn’t come out strong in the first half, although we picked it up in the second,” she said. “We know we need to clean some things up and be more clinical in the final third. Overall, we just have to be better, and we know that.”

All that to say, there’s still time. No need to panic just yet.

Gotham still holds their destiny in their own hands — for now.

However, if Gotham want to comfortably make the playoffs this season, they’ll have to start picking up points against tough opponents to secure the spot.

After Orlando, Gotham play Angel City at home, followed by San Diego Wave and Bay FC away. At the end of September, they’ll host the Portland Thorns and round out October with Seattle Reign, Kansas City Current, Racing Louisville, and North Carolina. Throw in the midweek CONCACAF games and travel, this will not be an easy lift for Gotham by any means, but it’s a challenge they are prepared to face.

“We want to be in this tournament [CONCACAF] —that’s a positive. And that’s why we’ve built a deep roster,” Torres said. “We have the players to handle playing midweek and then turning around for league matches on the weekend. Everyone has stepped up when called upon, and that’s been really important. Of course, it’s difficult with the extra travel and the increased load, but this is where we want to be. We want to showcase Gotham on the world stage, and balancing both competitions is part of that challenge.”