Juan Carlos Amorós coached Gotham FC to a pair of hard-to-top wins before departing on a seven-week parental leave.
Can the team keep it going in the Shaun Harris era?
Gotham beat rival Washington amid the fanfare of a sold-out special showing at Citi Field last Wednesday and followed with a sensational late rally from 2-0 down against Seattle on Saturday at rainy Randall’s Island.
Star midfielder Rose Lavelle scored the game-winner in both matches off her signature left foot.
Gotham’s scorching form — four wins in its past five overall — has moved the defending champion to second place in the NWSL standings, level on points with first-place Washington but trailing due to an inferior goal differential (plus-9 compared to plus-12).
Harris, an Englishman who is typically the lead assistant coach, was installed as the acting head coach in Amorós’ absence.
He remembers meeting Amorós in the early 2010s, when they worked at Tottenham, giving the Spanish newcomer rides to practice, before later joining Amorós with the Spurs women’s team and with Gotham.
Harris replaced Amorós for a few matches earlier this season immediately following the birth of Amorós’ child, and called it a “natural transition” to step up now.
“We just spoke about the period as a chance for the group to show that we can hold this s–t down without him,” Harris said Thursday.
“And you know, he’s a really important part of the team, but at the same time, he’s created an environment where everyone can keep the same processes and keep moving forward. We’re really happy that he’s able to do this. For myself, stepping in, and the staff here, we’re really supportive of everything that he’s doing. We’re just here to keep the job going well.”
That job begins Friday night against the fourth-place Portland Thorns (10 p.m., Amazon Prime Video), who are led by forward Sophia Wilson.
The three-game road trip also takes Gotham to face bottom-table outfits Bay FC and Houston in a nine-day span.
“We can hold it. We can hold it really well,” outside back Bruninha said, referring to the coaching transition. “Nothing changed, and our energy, our style, it’s the same.”
The congested schedule will test Gotham’s depth, bolstered by a pair of marquee arrivals in striker Sam Kerr and midfielder Denise O’Sullivan — don’t be surprised to see them earn their first starts of the season on the trip — while undermined by the recent absence of star rookie forward Jordynn Dudley.
“We’ve been slowly building and preparing for these kind of moments,” Harris said. “Obviously with Juan’s departure, that kind of unstabilizes things a little bit, but at the same time, we have our processes and everyone knows what needs to be done.”
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