Well, she finally has ridden off into the sunset. Congratulations on an incredible career, Alex Morgan! If there are any other elder millennials out there for whom Alex was the one that really crystallized your passion for women’s soccer, I feel your pain. On the bright side, my four Morgan jerseys are now officially retro (just like everything else us older millennials own).
In other news, we’ve got some great games on the docket in FNWSL this weekend, highlighted by Kansas City’s visit to Orlando on Friday evening. Round 19 officially kicks off at 7/6c pm on Friday with North Carolina hosting Bay FC.
As we approach the NWSL season run-in, we should evaluate what our FNWSL strategies will be for the remaining seven rounds. If you’ve made some unfortunate FNWSL decisions lately, for example leaving Malia Berkely on the bench last week (like one reporter that shall remain nameless), you may have fallen off the pace in your mini-leagues. With only a few weeks left in the FNWSL season, it’s time to consider some differential options for your team. These are the higher-risk, higher-reward decisions that have the potential to catapult you back up the table in a hurry.
Over the next two weeks, we are going to talk about those differential options – starting with captains! Giving the armband to a less commonly captained player is an ideal way to dip your toe into a differential strategy without fully committing to a lineup change or transfer.
Which players got the armband in Round 18?
Let’s start with a look at the current captain landscape in FNWSL. As you’d expect, most FNWSL managers are captaining their elite forwards, and only four players were captained by more than five percent of managers in Round 18:
- Sophia Smith: 15.7%
- Temwa Chawinga: 15.3%
- Barbra Banda: 11.2%
- Trinity Rodman: 7.5%
(Curiously, despite a difficult matchup against Orlando, Alyssa Naeher was in fifth place at 4.5%).
Like many FNWSL managers, I have three of these four FWs on their team, and I’ve been rotating the armband each week between Smith, Chawinga, and Banda based on matchups. However, if you really want to go differential, this data means that you’ll have to captain someone outside this group. Rodman would be the most differential of the four, but I’d recommend treading lightly with her over the next couple of weeks.
Almost all of the Olympic players have gotten a week off from NWSL play since the tournament ended, and it appeared to be Rodman’s turn last week. However, due to the injury to Ouleymata Sarr, Rodman came on in the 22nd minute and finished the game. That means that we may see reduced minutes for Rodman (or a full game off) this week or next, especially considering that post-match when asked about the early change she commented: “We’re always ready, obviously that wasn’t ideal and my legs are probably angry again, but I’m happy.”
But I digress… let’s get back to differential captains. If you can’t captain one of the elite forwards as a differential, who should you captain?
Which players should you consider as differential captains?
Excellent question. Let’s talk through four potential options, starting from the least commitment to the most commitment (to a differential strategy):
Taylor Flint (captain of 0.3% of FNWSL teams in Round 18):
Defensive points are the most reliable way to consistently score points each week, and Flint scores an absurd number of defensive points. She’s racked up almost twice as many as every other player in FNWSL. She averages over a total of 10 tackles, clearances, and interceptions per game, and has mixed in a goal and an assist over the last few rounds. If there is a week when the elite forwards don’t score a goal or three, Flint could be the best captain option available!
Leicy Santos (0.0%)
No FNWSL managers have captained Leicy Santos yet, so you could be a trailblazer! It’s about time we consider her – after playing 78 minutes in her first game for Washington, she’s logged a full 90 in each of her second and third games and has racked up nine shots in those two matches. With the injuries to Croix Bethune (major) and Sarr (minor), we have to assume that Santos will be locked into the Spirit starting XI for the rest of the season and should see plenty of goalscoring opportunities. (Next week, we’ll talk a little more about Washington’s new look and the fantasy opportunities… spoiler alert, Ashley Hatch is on our watchlist.)
Adriana Leal da Silva (0.3%)
Now both Flint and Santos are midfielders, so you could very easily captain either one of them while still starting three elite forwards. If you really want to go differential though, you need to captain another forward. Adriana had a pretty quiet game in Chicago last weekend, but generally is a lock for 80+ minutes and 30+ touches for a very good Orlando team. Other than Banda, Adriana has the highest npxG+xAG on the Pride, who have shown no signs of slowing down. At a price point of $400k, you’ll definitely have to make some changes to your team in order to captain Adriana, but that may be just what you need to jump up the table in your mini-leagues!
Sofia Huerta (0.2%) (Edit: except not, because Seattle just sent her on loan)
Don’t look now, but Seattle has won three games in a row and Huerta has scored in the last two. Now, you probably can’t count on her getting a PK opportunity every week, but she is one of only two DFs in the league that consistently takes her team’s spot kicks (Malia Berkely is the other). Huerta is always near the top for attacking points among DFs, and if Seattle keeps up this hot streak, she’ll be a contender for double-digit points every week. DFs are inherently risky because they do generally depend on clean sheets to get big fantasy points, but if an attacking-minded DF like Huerta gets a goal or clean sheet, she could end up as the player of the week! (Editor’s Note: Sofia Huerta has been loaned to Olympique Lyonnais FĂ©minin, but Nick’s wonderful analysis stands)
Are you going to switch up your captain strategy this week? Comment or tweet @MansersAnswers!