You could perhaps be forgiven for missing Marisa Viggiano’s trade from the Orlando Pride to the Houston Dash. Whilst she was a valued commodity within the confines of Exploria Stadium under both Marc Skinner and Becky Burleigh, her time in Orlando drew to a close over the winter. It was never going to be a move that sent shockwaves around the NWSL.
An immensely talented player who never quite achieved her true potential in central Florida. As a 4th round draft pick out of North Western University in 2019, expectations weren’t particularly high for the midfielder. Still, she went on to amass 19 NWSL appearances (14 starts) in the 2019, scoring 1; an absolute golazzo against Gotham (then Sky Blue FC).
Despite all that, I do believe she has the potential to become a goal scoring midfielder. What’s that you say? I’m out of my mind? Well, I probably am in all fairness, but there’s method to my madness. So, let me explain… First of all, we need a little back story.
Goals?
She’s never been a goal scorer. At least, historically. As we’ve already mentioned, she got 1 goal in 2019, and 2 during the 2020 Fall Series; the Pride never made the 2020 Challenge Cup, and in any case she was omitted from their preliminary roster for said tournament. She only scored once in 2021 for the Pride, albeit she played in a much deeper CDM role. Even in college, she only chalked up 5 in 85 games for North Western. So, when you look at these numbers, it wouldn’t be unreasonable for one to wonder why the heck I’m saying she has the potential to become a goal scoring midfielder in Texas. She has always had the potential for more though, in terms of her scoring output. She just needs somebody to help her unlock it.
Her movement
It’s the positions she takes up for me, particularly on the edge of the area, that really stand out. She has an exceptional soccer IQ. I’ve been through some historical footage to back up what I’m saying.
If you look at the game still in figure 1, you’ll see one such example of what I mean. This still was taken from the 2-2 draw between Orlando and the Chicago Red Stars back in June of 2019. With the Pride on the offensive, Viggiano takes up a position on the edge of the D. Now, in this instance, her shot is charged down by a Chicago defender. But it’s still a great position. What I’m doing here is trying to paint a picture.
Again in figure 2, this time in the 2020 Fall Series against the North Carolina Courage, she takes up a good position on the edge of the area. Similar outcome, in terms of her shot being blocked, but the important thing is she was able to get into that position. In figure 3, she actually finds space in the box and scores (vs North Carolina, 3-3 draw). She’s cute enough to be alert to the loose ball, and applies an easy finish. She has the potential because she gets into these areas when given the chance.
Against, somewhat ironically, Houston Dash in that same fall series, we see another example of her goal scoring capabilities (figure 4). Viggiano takes up a good position on the left, before cutting inside and finding the net with a well struck shot inside the area. I genuinely believe, if Houston can get her into these areas, as they did against Louisville at the weekend, she’ll score goals.
Figure 4. Marisa Viggiano scores against Houston, for Orlando in the 2020 Fall Series.
And all of this, by the way, was in a system where she wasn’t expected to do much work in an attacking sense. In the game against Chicago for instance, she made more defensive plays than any other Pride midfielder with 4 tackles and 4 recoveries (figure 5). The system just wasn’t set up to allow her to flourish at the attacking end of the pitch. But it just might be in Houston…
A new lease of life in Texas
Viggiano has started life well in the Lone Star state. Through her 2 NWSL appearances so far, she’s still operating at the base of a double pivot in James Clarkson’s preferred 4-2-3-1 formation, but she certainly has more licence to roam forward. She’s already chalked up 3 shots (she had 7 total in 2021) and 1 goal and just generally seems to have more freedom; against Louisville for example she played almost as many passes in the opponents half, as she did in her own (figure 6). She seems to have licence to get forward,
Figure 7. Marisa Viggiano scores against Racing Louisville.
Conversion statistics
It’s all well and good getting into these positions, but when you do, you have to convert the chances. This is something she’s done reasonably well too. In 2021 her conversion rate stood at 14.3%, in 2020 it was 100% (only 2 shots), and 14.3% again in 2019. So far in 2022, it’s at 33.3%. The Dash just need to allow her the freedom to get into those goal scoring positions.
The obvious caveat is that she’s playing in a double pivot, so she’ll have to do her fair share of defensive work. She’s got the engine to do so, we know she has the fitness to do so; she played 63.8 on average in 2021 and many of her substitutions were tactical. She’s a great athlete, with tremendous fitness levels. To further underline that fact, in 2 games so far this season, she’s hit 3 shots, 5 crosses, completed 4 interceptions and won 4 tackles according to fbref.com.
For me it’s clear that Viggiano has all of the assets to become a goal scoring midfielder. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see her end the season on 6 or 7 goals. The challenge for the Dash is finding a way to consistently allow her to do that. And if she does, she could well turn out to be one of the signings of the season.
Written by Dan Berridge
Thanks for reading.
Check out more NWSL content by clicking HERE.
Follow Sporting Her on social media, links below:
