The Kansas City Current announced the double signing of experienced due Morgan Gautrat and Vanessa DiBernardo on Wednesday (December 7th), adding to what is an already impressive looking roster.
The experienced midfield pairing will supplement a Kansas City midfield that already boasts the likes of Sam Mewis and Lo’eau LaBonta. The Current are going places and it was undoubtedly the visible signs of progress on and off the field that proved so attractive to Gautrat and DiBernardo. Gautrat told the assembled press (at her unveiling):
‘…Once I visited, I just was blown away by the resources, the facilities, the organization. And I think what’s so important is, I wanted to be part of an organization that put the players first full stop. And I think that that is something that I’ve missed in my career. And I wanted to be part of that. I wanted to experience that in my career.’
Similar sentiments were echoed by Gautrat’s new teammate, DiBernardo:
‘You’ve really been able to see it (the club) grow, and seeing this club put in what they’re putting in, and supporting the players, giving them everything they need to be able to succeed is pretty awesome to be a part of’.
Building on 2022
These are undoubtedly exciting times for the club, as they look to build on a successful 2022 campaign. Injury robbed the Current of key players like Mewis and Lynn Williams last season, though they had enough about them to secure a play-off finish. They lacked the clinical edge to take home the championship however, losing 2-0 to Portland in the final. Still, the progress the club continues to make on and off the field is enviable.
You get the sense major honours are inevitable for this club. The Missouri based club’s ownership group are committed to making the Current a force to be reckoned with. The club hope to move into their new home, Berkley Riverfront Park, by 2024. They have top class training facilities; the $18m Riverside, MO complex was the world’s first facility built specifically for a women’s soccer team. In the meantime they are building a formidable squad.
Morgan Gautrat
Gautrat will add further experience and defensive resolve to the midfield. Whilst injury limited the 29-year-old USWNT player to just 5 league appearances for the Chicago Red Stars last season, she still put up some respectable numbers in 2022. Gautrat won 8 tackles, 12 interceptions and completed 5 clearances across 5 games and 231 minutes, according to fotmob.com.
What Gautrat brings is a steadfast belief in her own ability, that correlates perfectly with her excellent positional sense and ability to distribute the ball. There are 2 excellent examples in figures 1-4, both during her time in the Windy City.
First off, look at the image in figure 1, taken from the 2020 NWSL Fall Series. Gotham (then Sky Blue) try to advance the ball through midfield. Gautrat is initially concerned about cutting out the space between the left sided centre back and her left-back. When the ball squirms loose, however, she’s onto it in a flash, before pinging a wonderful pass over the defence (figure 2). Chicago score on the play.
Kansas averaged 10.7 interceptions per game in 2022, which was one of the worst averages in the NWSL. They also had the 4th worst record for tackles won per match, with 11.4. You have to think Gautrat has been signed with these stats in mind, as Matt Potter looks to ensure the Current manage games better; the Current lost 6 points from winning positions in 2022. They also won a lot of games by the odd goal last season (10). So game management is key for this club, and the ability to win the ball is central to that.
Gautrat can also act as a deep lying playmaker, as seen in figures 3 & 4, as she turns a marker and plays a positive pass down the line during a 2020 defeat to Sky Blue.
Vanessa DiBernardo
As for DiBernardo, she will add further composure to the midfield. DiBernardo is a classy player with the ability to take the sting out of a game with her excellent range of passing. The former Perth Glory midfielder posted a 79% pass completion rate in 2022 (fotmob.com) and averaged 50 passes per game, according to NWSLSoccer.com.
What really stood out last season was her ability to find passes into the final third, which led to her chalking up 25 key passes (passes into an area that led to an attacking output). I wouldn’t go as far as to say creation is her MO; after all her 5 goal contributions in 2019 are a career high. But she’s an enabler. The clip below is an excellent example, as DiBernardo and Sam Kerr combine. This move actually ends in an assist as Kerr finds the net, but the point stands.
DiBernardo is a progressive passer; just look at her pass positioning matrix from Chicago’s 2-0 win over Angel City in October (figure 5). Her successful passes (green) are pretty much exclusively either into the Angel City half or played in their half. I think the Current’s attacking players will appreciate the ammunition DiBernardo will give them.
Whatever your opinions on these two players, to bet against this side in 2023 would be foolhardy in the extreme. The Kansas City Current are here to stay folks.
Written by Dan Berridge
