NC vs Bay video review - Erica Meg Parkinson debut

On Saturday, the Courage dropped a 3-0 decision against Bay FC. I could go into how the Courage gave up three goals… but I already did that for the first Bay FC game.

So instead, let’s do something optimistic. Previously, we discussed what Erica Meg Parkinson might bring to the team. At the start of the second half, coach Mak Lind looked to Parkinson for a spark. Let’s hit up the tape and see what she did in her first half of NWSL action.

Ball control and working off the dribble #

When looking at how Parkinson played in Portugal, she Parkinson stood out in technical ball control and taking opponents off the dribble. She continued this in her debut, even if it didn’t always end well.

The first clip is an example of both. In the 52nd minute, she received a throw-in with a heavy touch. She immediately sought to win the ball back, won it, made some space via the dribble, and got a pass off. The pass was lost, and she hunted the ball again, and attempted a second dribble. While she lost possession, the contested ball eventually fell to Shinomi and the Courage were able to get out of their end.

In what was her best overall sequence, she used her speed to retrieve an overhit corner. (Note the slide tackle. We’ll come back to that.) She then receives the ball back, dribbles a defender, and picks out Riley Jackson in space. After Jackson crosses again, Parkinson makes herself available for a layoff from Ashley Sanchez. She again dribbles her defender and gets off a decent half-chance that goes wide.

Later, she picked up the ball in midfield, accelerated away from her defender, and carried it into the box. Once there she was unable to shake the defender, ended up in a 1-on-3, and lost the ball.

In the 77th minute, she took a layoff in the defensive third from Ashley Sanchez. On the good side, she beat one defender and, after losing the ball, won it back with another half-slide and drew a foul. However, attempting an immediate return pass to Sanchez would likely have been a better decision than dribbling back towards her own goal to begin with.

In the 79th minute, she was able to control and redirect an extremely hot layoff from Hannah Betfort, playing a combination that eventually led to winning a corner. On the ensuing short corner, she is immediately pressured by Rachael Kundananji; she is able to hold her off, generate some space, and find Ryan Williams who then draws a free kick.

In one half of play she was tracked with 7 carries, two of them ‘progressive’ (more than 25% of the way towards goal, while being dispossessed three times. By comparison, those carry numbers are higher than what Ashley Sanchez is averaging - she was very busy on the ball.

Defensive awareness and energy #

One of the most encouraging aspects of Parkinson’s game was how active she was defensively.

In the Courage midfield, while Shinomi Koyama and Jackson are not bad defenders, neither of them would be considered to be pressers or ball-hunters.

Parkinson in her debut came out with her hair on fire, relentlessly pressuring the ball to win it back. Possibly even more than is advisable.

It started a few minutes into the half. Kennedy Fuller beat Parkinson to a ball, winning a duel, and then turned to drive into the box. Parkinson chased her from behind, and attempted a slide tackle, fouling Fuller. If Fuller is one step further forward, that’s a penalty.

Her awareness and willingness to commit showed up in the 52nd minute. As Bay sets up a free kick from the left, Parkinson notes that the Courage may be outnumbered. She rushes to help cover and pressure, and ends up double-teaming the crosser along with Ryan Williams.

Her defensive effort continued with some of her recovery tackles shown in the earlier examples of carrying. She would lose the ball on a dribble, but immediately fight and win it back.

Her best effort likely came in the 83rd minute. Maycee Bell attempts to carry the ball forward, but a heavy touch leads her to lose it at midfield. Parkinson immediately sprints back to cover, catching and pressuring Kundananji. After Kundananji lays it off, she assists Dani Weatherholt in pressing. Eventually she goes for the slide tackle to poke the ball away (almost taking out Weatherholt in the process).

What’s notable here is her awareness. Before the Bay defender even touches the ball, Parkinson has already shifted her weight to start sprinting back to cover.

In one half of action she finished with three tackles, one interception, and five recoveries for an extremely active defensive performance. She also attempted five slide tackles/slide blocks and came close to giving up a penalty.

Parkinson was amped to perform on her debut. The awareness & effort were great. Her exuberance in challenges worked OK this game, but if her timing is off it may not in the future.

Welcome to the league, kid #

For all her skills, Parkinson is an 5'3" 18-year-old who is new to NWSL physicality. There were a few times where she got bodied by older, bigger, and stronger players.

In the 58th minute she sets up to take a pass from Riley Jackson but is completely bodied off by Claire Hutton. To her credit, she harasses Hutton, who eventually turns it over to Jackson. One give and go later, Parkinson gets hacked down, although no foul is called.

Five minutes later she goes to receive another pass from Jackson and is unceremoniously dumped by a retreating Bay defender.

Overall, she won four of her nine ground duels. Time and the weight room will help.

Making herself available across the attacking third #

Parkinson subbed in for Feli Rauch, taking up a position as the forward-leaning midfielder on the left of midfield - the same position that Manaka Matsukubo occupied.

Manaka played the position vertically; she would drop deep to help in buildup, and also help to progress the ball into the box. But she mostly remained on the left half of the field.

Parkinson played the position very differently. She would float anywhere in the final third to combine and progress the attack.

A couple of examples are in the above videos, but there are even more. At one point, a long ball was played to Ryan Williams on the right. As Riley Jackson drifted over to give Williams a combination option, Parkinson came to provide a second option.

After the play cycled back to the left, the two rightmost players for the Courage were… their center midfielders.

Overall, despite nominally being on the left side of midfield, the majority of Parkinson’s touches were on the right.

Some of this may be force of habit; Parkinson leaned to the right when playing for Valadares Gaia. But as long as the team’s midfield is aware and can maintain their positioning out of possession, having less rigid positioning and more overlapping and covering in midfield can open up space and scoring opportunities in the future. Lind could also flip Jackson and Parkinson in the future depending on whether he thinks a passer or a dribbler is the right fit for combining with either Ryan Williams or Ashley Sanchez.

Looking forward #

Riley Jackson debuted as an 18-year old for the Courage in 2024. It took her 6 appearances to total one half’s worth of game action.

Erica Parkinson debuted as the second youngest player to ever suit up for NC (behind Sydney Schmidt). I thought she might be given the same easing into the environment that Jackson did.

Instead, she was tossed directly in at halftime and told to go. and go she did. She brought ball-carrying and defensive activity, and a willingness to combine across the front line. Even with obvious areas where there could be improvement, it’s a promising debut. Courage fans will be excited to see what more time with the team and in the league will bring, possibly as soon as this week.