They score often, they concede late, and they aren’t going to change.
That’s the mentality of the Bay FC staff and players through four games this season, and it’s created must-see entertainment as women’s professional soccer has returned to the Bay Area for the first time in a decade.
Perhaps it wasn’t surprising to see PayPal Park sell out with 18,000 people for the club’s inaugural home game on March 30. But to see 16.719 show up for the club’s second home game on Sunday, when Bay FC beat Seattle, 3-2, should be a sign of good things to come.
This team has already developed a loyal fanbase. The players have developed chemistry. And there’s a lot more growth to come.
Through four games, here’s what we’ve learned about Bay FC so far:
On offense:
Bay FC wants to score goals and it’s willing to do just about anything to get them.
Counter-pressing for nearly 90 minutes? Check. Playing a 4-3-3 with two attacking center midfielders playing just behind the striker, two fullbacks joining the attack and a holding midfielder, Alex Loera, who can score from distance? Check. Sending the entire defense up the field for set pieces? Check again.
Even late in games, Bay FC has shown the desire to go forward. It wasn’t until the 98th minute on Sunday that coach Albertin Montoya made a defensive substitution, despite the club holding a lead for a majority of the second half and 12 minutes of stoppage time.
The offense often starts with the fullbacks, particularly on the right side, where veteran Caprice Dydasco should be considered the early MVP of Bay FC. She’s a nightmare to go 1-on-1 against, with tremendous speed and a deep understanding of how wingers are trying to attack her. And she’s one of the club’s best players on the ball, often dribbling seamlessly through multiple opponents while playing the smart pass whenever it’s available to her.
Even with Racheal Kundananji making her first career start on the left wing on Sunday, Bay FC insisted on playing through Dydasco on the right. And while right wing Tess Boade takes a lot of risks, some of which turn into costly turnovers that force midfielders to make long recovery sprints, Boade and Dydasco have been fun to watch as they dissect opponents from the flank and create chances via crosses into the box.
On the left side, Montoya has used rookie 19-year-old Savy King and 25-year-old Alyssa Malonson at left back. Both have speed and can attack, and they’ll need to develop chemistry with Kundananji, who wants to take the ball herself most of the time she has it.
The most interesting pairing to watch will be Kundananji with striker Asisat Oshoala. They’re two of the world’s most dynamic goal-scorers, having come over from Spain’s top clubs in Barcelona and Madrid, and even though Sunday was the first time they both started in the same game for Bay FC, there was the sense that this combination could be special. Oshoala likes to play one-touch football with quick movements, while Kundananji wants to break free with speed, and if the two can develop the timing together, look out.
“Today they were not excellent, but very good, and they will be excellent,” Montoya said Sunday. “Imagine trying to defend those two? They’re a handful, and you also have Tess, who is constantly moving into the right spaces.”
In the midfield:
Bay FC’s midfielders have shown the ability to combine to go forward, but primarily stay central and serve more as distributors and shot-takers than players who make dynamic runs themselves. And rightfully so; they’ve got a lot to do defensively.
Bay FC wants to press the opponent as soon as it turns the ball over. It’s like watching the Liverpool FC men’s team, and the work is tiring, with players often looking fatigued towards the end of games.
Montoya likes to use Alex Loera as a central holding midfielder, and she’s a feisty defender who can hunt down the ball and isn’t afraid to get physical. She’s also got tremendous vision, loves to send players on long balls and isn’t afraid to move into tight spaces to combine on quick passes. She’s a do-it-all player at the No. 6 position, and she said she’s loving it, especially after playing some center back early in her NWSL career.
In the attacking midfield, the club has used Deyna Castellanos, who looks to shoot any time she has the chance, and either Joelle Anderson or Dorian Bailey. Bailey is more defensive minded but has a knack for being in the right place on offense, too. Anderson is a risk-taker as a passer, often looking to play the ball long, which makes her a player Montoya might want to use only in specific matchups.
The four of them have soaked up most of the midfield minutes thus far.
“You can tell we’re very possession-based,” Loera said. “But we want to make sure it’s not a boring possession. We look to attack when the moment’s right. I think it’s just making sure we’re composed, we’re patient and when we come, we’re going to come and we’re going to be pretty hard to defend.”
On defense:
General manager Lucy Rushton will surely get a lot of praise for luring Kandananji from Madrid CFF for a world record transfer fee of about $800,000, and for acquiring Oshoala, a two-time Ballon d’Or finalist at Barcelona.
But Rushton might not get enough credit for putting together a defensive unit that somehow has already found tremendous chemistry together just a few months in.
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It’s all built around on veteran center back Emily Menges, a 31-year-old who spent the last 10 years playing on the back line for the Portland Thorns, winning two championships in Portland before Bay FC acquired her via trade. Menges is composed, speedy and aggressive as a ball-winner, with tremendous discipline and understanding while directing traffic from the back line. She’s also a fine facilitator of ball movement and rarely makes the wrong decision.
She’s paired nicely with Kayla Sharples, a surprise thus far as she’s stolen the other center back job from Arsenal’s Jen Beattie, who has served as a backup for three of the first four games.
On the flank, Dydasco and King are rarely beat 1-on-1 and allow for Bay FC to push numbers forward without being concerned about the counter-attack.
It can be costly, and has been at times, but as long as they have four defenders playing as well as these four have, it seems like a worthy gamble.
At goalkeeper:
Bay FC suffered a huge blow in the preseason when starting goalie Melissa Lowder tore her ACL and was ruled out for the year. But Canadian keeper Lysianne Proulx stepped in and looked remarkable for three games. With tremendous reflexes, she’s been difficult to beat, and her footwork allows her to serve as an easy target when the defense is moving the ball around in the back.
But Proulx was injured last week while training with the Canadian Women’s National Team and will be out for an undetermined amount of time.
Katelyn Rowland took over on Sunday against Seattle and was solid, but it’s too soon to tell how she fits in with the possession-based style of play on Bay FC.
The coaching:
For a coach to pull together 26 players this quickly is remarkable, particularly given all of the international players weren’t signed until just a few weeks before the season kicked off.
But Montoya knows what he wants and has been a brilliant communicator in his ability to ask his players to do it.
Several of them have said that Montoya’s desire to play with possession and counter-press high up the pitch is unique in the NWSL. Other teams might play more of a physical, old-school style of kicking the ball into dangerous areas and hoping for the best. But Montoya has the personnel to do it, largely thanks to his work with Rushton as the two built the roster together.
Still, Montoya has sometimes gotten hoist with his own petard, as his club has allowed late-game goals in each of its last three games, two of them losses, largely because Bay FC doesn’t want to stop looking for goals. Nevertheless, he remains committed to a style of play that is enjoyable to watch and, most importantly, a style that his players love to participate in.
“The first word that comes to my mind is energetic; he’s buzzing all the time,” Loera said. “No matter what, he is always positive with us, tries to speak to us in the most professional way. He does such a great job bringing us all together and inspiring us.”