NWSL Snap: Are the 2024 Orlando Pride the best title-winners ever?

Purple rain, purple rain...

NWSL Snap: Are the 2024 Orlando Pride the best title-winners ever?
A soggy night of well-deserved jubilant celebrations in central Florida | Courtesy of Orlando Pride, photo Mark Thor

Note: Welcome to 'NWSL Snap' – A weekly brief whip-around of the weekend's action. Something different this week, we're focusing on just the Orlando Pride because they deserve it. A more pithy round and bout column next week. But there's still a team of the week at the bottom too.

NWSL Matchday 23 Results:
Houston 0-2 Chicago | Seattle 0-1 ACFC
NCC 2-1 San Diego | Louisville 0-2 KCC | Gotham 5-1 Bay
Portland 1-2 Utah | Orlando 2-0 Wash. Spirit

Watch NWSL highlights here

Table (via FotMob):

The Snapshot

The rain came down. Marta roared. Many wept. Many more applauded, or stood in awe.

Sunday night was the debut outing for the rather impressive brand-new NWSL Shield – the trophy given out to the league's table-topping regular season winners. Lifting that silverware was the Orlando Pride.

The dazzling new NWSL Shield reflecting title-winners | Courtesy of NWSL

It was fitting to see Marta - one of the best players to ever play the game – finally get a platform to lift a trophy in the NWSL. Since arriving in Orlando in 2017, she has only finished in the top half of the table or qualified for the playoffs once (both in 2017). It was her first trophy in club football since 2016.

The Brazilian legend doesn't need anything more to add to her glittering repertoire, but it was still special to see the emotion that winning with Pride meant to the veteran.

"It's unbelievable. Something that I, I dreamed about, but to be honest, never believed that it was going to happen the way that it did [by doing it undefeated]," Marta told the media on Sunday.

"And I can tell you guys, I don't think that’s going to happen again with this team or another team. I'm sorry, but it’s so special and the way that we did it was incredible.” 

The 2-0 win over the second-placed Washington Spirit was just the latest in one of the most dominant seasons we have ever witnessed in the NWSL. In all honesty, it has felt like the league title had been wrapped up for a couple of months now.

After 23 of 26 matches, the Pride have won 17, drawn six, and lost zero. Unprecedented, there has never been an unbeaten season in the history of the NWSL and that is very much something this special group is still focused on accomplishing.

Considering how spectacular Orlando has been this year, it begs the question: Are we witnessing the greatest season and/or greatest team that we have ever seen in the NWSL?

Past Shield Winners in the conversation?

Looking back through history there have been some standout teams. Namely the 2014 Seattle Reign, the 2018 North Carolina Courage, and this iteration of the Pride.

One thing that makes it hard to judge these teams against each other, when looking at just points totals, is that many seasons of the NWSL have featured a different number of matches.

So, on the chart below points totals are replaced by points per game.

Overall it does little to separate the fine margins between the most elite teams we have seen in the NWSL. It certainly gives an edge to the Pride who, with three matches remaining, can still register the largest points total and points-per-game we've ever seen.

So, looking a little bit closer at those two teams' statistics we can see a couple of other differences too.

For now, in the attack, the 2018 Courage are nine goals ahead of the 2024 Pride. But defensively, Orlando has the edge by four fewer goals conceded and has banked two more clean sheets (13) – another NWSL record.

If Orlando can get through 24 matches unbeaten, then I think it emboldens the case that they are the undisputed best-ever NWSL team. In my opinion, even if they lose to the Portland Thorns on Friday night, they still have a case regardless.

And the reason I say that is that I think this Orlando team, as Marta alluded to, is different. I think their squad is exceptional but I think the organization as a whole is in an incredible place. Every facet compliments.

The Pride has the best front office, with Haley Carter mixing uncanny footy education with heart and integrity. Her Director of Scouting & Analytics Kat Conner has shown tremendous nous to develop players.

The coaching unit is wildly talented too.

Seb Hines is a quiet trailblazer, the first Black head coach in the NWSL, and now the first to win a trophy. He has surrounded himself with more promising coaches with differing backgrounds.

"I think when I stepped into this role, you always have doubters," Hines reflected on becoming the first Black coach to win a NWSL trophy.

"You have people that always say you may not be ready, but hopefully now I can be a person who was given an opportunity to be successful with the backing of the ownership and the backing of Haley Carter coming in as well. 

"You can see that with great support staff, that you can be successful, you can achieve something and that's really important to me that you have good people around you. Hopefully, I can be an advocate for many more Black head coaches around the world. So yeah, I'm really pleased.” 

Assistant Yolanda Thomas, who came up through Oklahoma State University, feels like a NWSL head coach in waiting and is deeply respected in U.S. coaching circles. Vast knowledge, and an attention to detail.

Then there's Giles Barnes, who cut his teeth in the men's game playing in the English Premier League and later in MLS (where he reconnected with Hines at Orlando City in 2017, although the two have known each other since they teenagers). Barnes has been credited with being integral to helping develop Orlando's style of play.

Meanwhile, goalkeeper coach Paul Crichton has also aided Anna Moorhouse in taking another leap in her performance and break into the England squad in 2024. Since Crichton arrived in Orlando in 2023, Moorhouse's post-shot xG +/- has risen from -1.1 (in 2022), to +7.0 (in 2024).

Returning to the players, time and time again I've asked opposition players facing off against the Pride to talk about what makes them so difficult to play against and a consistent theme has been balance.

Goalkeeper, defense, midfield, and attack. Every unit is balanced, with caliber players who have different skillsets. There's youth, there's experience. There's new arrivals and old Orlando heads too.

Brazilian playmakers like Marta and Angelina excel off of the industry of Haley McCutcheon and Summer Yates. The type of winger Julia Doyle is differs from Adriana, but the two help to create a pincer that makes Barbra Banda thrive as one of the most effective centre forwards in the world.

Similarly, the depth in the defense – especially with Rafaelle missing a large portion of the season with an injury – has been outstanding. In an age where many have declared the art of defending to be dead, I implore you to go and watch the Pride.

In particular, Kylie Strom and Emily Sams. A centreback duo carved out of rock, and situated obstinately in front of the opponent.

Yes, this Orlando team is special. And, for some, the next few weeks may help prove statistically if they are in fact the best NWSL team we have ever seen.

But in my mind, even with three matches and the playoffs still to come, I don't think we've ever seen any club top to bottom be this special.

NWSL Feels XI – Matchday 23

Sort of like a team of the week – mostly gut feels, and who brought the good vibes.