Back to basics helps Angel City turn things around

by Alyce Collett (14/7/26)

Above: Angel City players thank fans after defeating San Diego at Snapdragon Stadium. Photo: Angel City Football Club.

Things are starting to look quite on the up for Angel City, with a 2-0 win over rivals San Diego further cementing a turn around in form from the side since the mid season National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) break.

Speaking to the media post match, captain Sarah Gorden explained what she puts her side’s turnaround in form down to.

“I think over the break we just tried to simplify everything” Gorden said.

“First and foremost, to focus on us, to focus on the things that we do well, to refine the things that we do well, and then secondly to simplify the things that we need to get better at, which we felt like were defending in transition, defending in the box, things like that. So we’ve had like a big focus on those things, and then I would say the third thing is Leif just bringing this mentality of presence over perfection, and trusting ourselves.”

Gorden later explained what she meant by “presence over perfection”, explaining that it is something interim coach Leif Smerud has brought in since taking over.

“I think sometimes we have a tendency to kind of focus on getting it right, making the right choice, instead of just being present in the full game” Gorden explained.

“and in a football match, you come in with tactics and you know they’re going to adjust and you’re going to have to adjust. So it’s not just a game of perfection.

“And what Ari was saying, we know San Diego is a really good football playing team. We know they play through the middle, and there were a lot of things we had to adjust, and we also knew there were going to be spells where they had the ball, and we just had to deal with them having the momentum.

We saw that in the first half. They were overloading our sixes, and we had to figure out how to deal with that. So I think it’s not perfect, but it’s about figuring those things out as the game goes on, trusting each other and just like a full body and mind presence.”

Ary Borges joined Gorden at the post match conference, and was just as proud in the team’s performance as her captain.

“San Diego was a really good team, and they love to take on possession, and we know that” Borges said.

“I think one of the qualities on our team is to be adaptable in the game. Of course, we want to have control of the game the whole time, but we know sometimes we need to put us in the back and defend it. And of course, like as Sarah said, Ange had a good performance today and save, particularly on the penalty kick.

But yeah I’m so proud of the team, how we played in the first and the second half, and I think of course we dropped in the second half, but we still create chance. We have one chance with Gee [Giselle Thompson], another with Ally [Sentnor], and other situations to score.”

She also reflected on her goal that she scored, praising the team’s systems and strengths in the process.

“We have this advantage with the long throw, so we work a lot about this moment because the set pieces is always important moments in the game.” Borges said. “I don’t want to talk about too much what we do, but I was exactly in the right place to score. And like I said, we work a lot on this long throw, and I was really happy to score.”

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