Snubbed by NWSL's Best XI, Maria Sánchez is still MVP caliber

There is an overlooked genius in the NWSL. I know it. You know it. Anyone who watched the NWSL knows it. 

Maria Sánchez. The artist known as “La Bombi."

Assists, goals, Cruyff turns, claimed souls, outside-of-the-boot pin-point passes, stunning crosses and mazy dribbles have all become synonymous with Sanchez' repertoire. Often her most recent exploits will be littered across social media timelines in gifable replays in the hours after Houston Dash matches. 

Moments of magic, years and years of hard work, cooked down and synthesized into a few seconds of wonder.

Just a few weeks ago, Sánchez produced two of her most viral highlights of the year in one match. The first was a 30-yard screamer to give the Dash the opening goal against Angel City, which the forward admitted after the match could be the finest goal she’s ever scored. The second was an audacious nutmeg, through the legs of former teammate Jasmyne Spencer, to carry the ball into the box to create an opportunity on goal. 

But for all her breathtaking witchcraft on the soccer pitch, why is it that Sanchez is yet to be recognized as one of the NWSL's most brilliant players? 

On Tuesday, two NWSL Best XIs were released. A first team and a second team. The results were from a ballot with a weighted voting scale comprised of players (50%), owners/GMs/coaches (20%), media (20%), and fans (10%). Sánchez remains cast out of the NWSL's end-of-season awards. 

Furthermore, how did we get through an entire 2022 NWSL regular season without the Mexican international making a single team of the month or winning the league’s regular season player of the week award?

You could ask, who am I to debate the votes of the players and coaches she faced this season? Well, let me see if I can find an answer without offending anyone.

Data diving 

One reason is the cold hard facts of end product. Soccer is still a game decided by goals and goalscorers. After that, assists and goal creators are the next most widely accepted benchmark of success. 

Sánchez has only scored twice for the Dash in the 2022 regular season, albeit both strikes were gorgeously executed from range. Her goal total ranks joint 33rd in the NWSL. Nothing to bring the ballots home for Bombi. 

While Sánchez ranks much higher in assists - joint 11th with four and just two behind league-leading Carson Pickett - her total isn't sizable enough to bring her into the spotlight either. 

Advanced metrics do rank Sánchez higher. She ranks seventh for expected assists. And while that might make you question her teammates' ability to finish the chances that she creates, Sánchez finished the season with 3.9 xA and four asissts. So almost right on the mark. 

Beyond direct assists, Sánchez climbs even higher in the league rankings, to seventh, for goal-creating actions (GCA) with 10. GCA is a statistic that looks at the two actions - passes, dribbles, tackles - before a goal is scored. All six players above Bombi for GCA, excluding Ashley Sanchez of the Washington Spirit, made the NWSL's Best XI. 

Another statistic, that perhaps gets less attention, is key passes. Sánchez (56) was behind only Pickett (63) in terms of playing passes that led to attempts on goal. For crosses, Sánchez finished third with 123. She trailed Picket (173) and Savannah Demelo (151). 

There are caveats to these numbers that I think could make Sánchez's total maybe even more impressive. The Dash had the lowest average possession of any team in the NWSL in 2022. This means that Bombi had fewer opportunities on the ball to make an impact, and yet she is still able to be a difference-maker in those situations. 

But again, this is not a squabble over whether Sánchez should have scored more goals. In my opinion, she is not a great scorer of goals but rather a scorer of great goals. Something that is so important and needs to be celebrated. 

And in the same vein, she is an assister of scintillating strikes. One example that sticks out in the minds of any NWSL viewer — casual or diehard — is the technical ability she showed off in the Dash's 5-0 win over the Orlando Pride. 

Sánchez receives the ball near the halfway line and spots Rachel Daly making a darting run toward the Pride box. Having spotted the run, the Mexican international pulls off easily one of the most stunning passes of the season. She weighs up the timing of Daly's run, the swerve needed to evade any Orlando aerial blocks and the right amount of power and placement.

Like German public transportation, everything arrives on time and in the right place. So few players in the NWSL could pull that off.

Expected sauce

Despite unloading all this data on you, one of the biggest things holding back "La Bombi" might be the data. How are we meant to judge her skills when there is no accurate measure of what she does better than anyone else? The soccer zeitgeist is yet to create a metric for "expected sauce," "souls taken" or even "nutmegs that changed someone's life." These are the areas that Sanchez is truly peerless.

That's right, Sánchez doesn't just help your soccer team win. She inspires everyone who has ever tried to control a ball at their feet to dream bigger. Find the spaces on the pitch that not every player can see. Go through, around, or above an expert defender in her way.

I'm sure Sánchez doesn't enjoy it, but I let out a small smile when I see defenders struggling against her and reducing themselves to fouling her because it's the only way to survive her dribbling at you. In a way, it's a sign of respect. And one more obstacle that I know Sánchez will figure out how to maneuver around. 

Positionless 

Something else laudable that Sánchez had to do was play multiple positions in 2022.

Initially, Sánchez was signed to the Dash to play on the left side of a front three or on the left side of an attacking midfield trio, her natural position. But after a trying Challenge Cup, and the suspension of head coach James Clarkson, Sarah Lowdon opted to experiment with Sánchez in different positions in order to help the team.

During May and June, Sánchez mostly featured as a left wing-back, something she had never previously done before. Lowdon also deployed her as a No. 10 and as one of two nines in a 3-5-2. Against ACFC on the road at Banc of California Stadium, we even saw her play three different positions across 90 minutes. Quite extraordinary. 

Once Juan Carlos Amoros took control of the team in July, Bombi's instructions were adjusted again. In Houston's first match under Amoros, a 4-1 win over the Chicago Red Stars, Sánchez featured on the right-hand side of a 4-2-3-1. During the final 11 matches of the regular season and in the playoffs, Amoros would tinker with exactly where he wanted Sánchez to be. 

How many players in either of the NWSL's Best XI had to grasp the positioning nuances that Sánchez had to this season? It is a skill and an achievement that few players can attest to and something that is very difficult to measure. 

The eye test

I'll finish with the age-old argument of someone merely observing, not analyzing: The eye test. 

It’s the evening after an NWSL matchday. A friend and experienced soccer writer, who will remain anonymous, shoots me a direct message. It reads: “Idk if this is a basic take but Maria Sanchez is my favorite player. It's like the ball is on a string when she passes.”

Arguably the take could be “basic”, inarguably it is not. Any player can be one’s favorite. And yes, when Sanchez controls the ball it is as if it were sewn to her cleat with an invisible string. 

That one soccer writer’s reaction to watching “La Bombi” for the first time is not a rare occurrence. That writer’s message is just one of many profound reactions that I have sent or had spoken to me upon witnessing Sanchez live.

You know you're watching greatness when you're watching Sánchez. We just need to find a way to quantify it. Or if we can't, then that's fine. Individual accolades are flawed anyway. 

In the categories that may matter most, Sánchez did not have a better season than Sophia Smith, Mal Pugh or Alex Morgan. But to me, she's an MVP.