(Photo by Victor Tan / New Day Review)
ORLANDO, Fla. – A change was needed in the Orlando Pride squad. Even after defeating the No. 1 North Carolina Courage 3-1 for their first victory on May 14, the Pride were still stuck in the bottom half of the National Women’s Soccer League table. Orlando’s fortune began to change, though, when head coach Tom Sermanni implemented a new 4-2-3-1 formation for his team, moving midfielder Kristen Edmonds to right-back and center-back Alanna Kennedy to the midfield.
And the proof has been in the pudding. Since using this new formation, Orlando has been on a two-game winning streak, earning 2-0 and 4-2 wins over the Boston Breakers and Houston Dash, respectively.
For Sermanni, if this trend of winning continues, so will this formation.
“If we keep playing well and winning, yeah, then it probably will be [the norm],” Sermanni said after training Thursday. “But you never quite know. You know, we fiddled about a lot last year, and we’re still doing that this year, as do most teams because you’re obviously trying to find the right starting 11, the right formation, the right tactics. And, obviously, in the last couple of games, we’ve done that quite well. And hopefully that continues, but, you know, football’s a funny game, and it can change quite quickly.”
But change has been a common theme for the Pride all season. Midfielder Camila Martins Pereira, for example, joined the Pride as a defender but has seen her role evolve into a more offensive-minded one. Along with forwards Jasmyne Spencer and Marta Vieira da Silva, Camila is in the top 10 for most goals scored (three) and most assists (three) in the NWSL.
Camila most recently earned Week 9 Goal of the Week honors for her long-distance shot in the win over Houston on June 17. For Camila, she primarily attributes the success to one person: Sermanni.
Week 9 #NWSL Goal of the Week: @camilinha94mp of the @ORLPride! pic.twitter.com/9c0y52oMm9
— NWSL (@NWSL) June 20, 2017
“So in the beginning, we had a lot of mistakes, and I think whenever [Sermanni] made [the formation] change, it literally helped us a lot,” Camila said, translated from Portuguese, after training Thursday. “So, that was great for us. We kinda knew how to play, and, like, we got together, and, like, we made a body, like I was saying. So, it was great—that change that he made. He always tries to help us and fix every mistake and every problem that we do in games.”
As for Sermanni, even though he signed Camila as a defender, he’s always recognized the offensive threat the 22-year-old poses.
“[I’m not necessarily surprised by Camila’s offensive production] because when you watch her as a defender, she was going forward more than she was going backwards,” Sermanni said. “But, initially, yeah. Initially, we brought her in here after watching her play as a left-back for Brazil. But it was mainly her skill set that attracted us to her.
“You know, she looked mobile, she looked comfortable on the ball. She looked like she was just a good football player all around. So, once we got her in here, you know, fairly obviously early on that she’s a kind of player—apart from perhaps goalkeeper, because of her height, and center-back—you know, she could play anywhere else on the team.”
The new formation has also produced a scoring result for Kennedy. In the win over Houston, Kennedy headed in her first Pride goal off a corner kick delivered from the right by Marta in the 68th minute. For Sermanni, the significance of Kennedy scoring was two-fold, as that was the first time his team has scored from a corner all season.
“Well the fact that we scored from a corner is a bonus. That’s the first one for the season. May be the first one for last season as well,” Sermanni said. “Look, Alanna has always been either a midfield player or a defender. So when—and going back in history a little bit—[we] brought her into the Matildas when she was a 17-year-old, we actually put her in as a midfield player, but she was kind of a gangly 17-year-old at that stage, growing into her body. So, the game was a little bit quick for her in midfield.
“She’s now very much matured into an outstanding player, an outstanding international. And she’s got all of the skill sets to play in midfield. So, when we brought her in here, we weren’t sure if we’re going to play her at the back or play her in midfield. And I think with the formation we play and the role that we’re asking her to play in midfield, it’s a great fit for her and for us.”
The Pride’s newest look will once again be put to the test when Orlando hosts Houston on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
For more on the Pride’s new 4-2-3-1 formation, follow Victor Tan on Twitter at @NDR_VictorTan.
