Up until this last weekend in the National Women's Soccer League, arguably the most disappointing player in the league had been Stephanie McCaffrey during her time with the Boston Breakers.
McCaffrey had a stellar 2015 in the NWSL, and even though the Breakers finished at the bottom of the table, McCaffrey's play did not go unnoticed, and it earned her a call-up to the national team and the caps that followed after that. After seemingly falling out of favour at the national team level earlier this year, McCaffrey could not rediscover her form, to the detriment of the Breakers who looked to her to provide her previous spark.
2015 and 2016 present two different cases
As a draftee for the Boston Breakers in 2015, McCaffrey would end the season with three goals and three assists in 19 appearances. Those numbers may seem insignificant, but for a team like Boston that continually struggled to find ways to win matches, McCaffrey's efforts made an enormous difference. She was the team's top assist maker and tied second for the most goals scored. 2016 was a marked difference for McCaffrey. Not only was her total number of shots down but her mazy runs to the byline to create chances for her teammates seemed to end in her being dispossessed by her marker time and time again. Even the introduction of a new coach in Matt Beard did nothing to rejuvenate McCaffrey and until her trade to Chicago, the winger had not scored or assisted in any of Boston's goals.
McCaffrey's struggles evident from the onset
Confidence is a big part of any player's form but this is especially true for attacking players and dips or losses of that confidence can make even the very best look lost on the field. The Boston Breakers started the season with a 1-0 loss to the Washington Spirit and the troubles that have continued to plague them since were evident in that match. The team could not only not find the back of the net, but McCaffrey and the rest of the forward line could not create enough clear cut chances to trouble many of their opposition's goalkeepers. In some matches, unfortunate bounces made it difficult for McCaffrey to inject some life into her season but other moments, it seemed as though the Bostonian had lost her confidence and it was clearly affecting her play. McCaffrey, along with Boston, would go onto to only managing one win all season long, with a 7-1 loss away at the Western New York Flash bringing all of their problems to a head in one game.
New location may rediscover confidence
On July 22nd, the Breakers announced that they had traded McCaffrey to Chicago Red Stars for the two-highest second round draft picks, a third-round pick and a fourth round pick in the 2017 NWSL College Draft. The Red Stars had initially drafted McCaffrey as their fifth overall choice in the 2015 NWSL College Draft, but traded her to Boston in the second round of that draft so she was clearly always on the Red Stars coach Rory Dames' mind. Chicago needed width and a confident McCaffrey can provide that in spades so the deal made sense for both parties, even if Breakers fans were unhappy with the news.
The change of environment has seemingly worked for McCaffrey as she not only looked sharp in her first appearance for the Red Stars against the Houston Dash and this past weekend, helped Chicago keep their playoff hopes alive by scoring the only goal of a 1-0 win against FC Kansas City. Chicago is known for developing young players well and into a cohesive unit for the team, and once a goal-scorer like Christen Press returns from the Olympics, McCaffrey's flank play will likely not only increase but become more evident.