I can't say it better than I did on the match thread:
"I don’t want to speculate too much - this was a REALLY poor opponent - but I’m a bit encouraged by the good movement, passing, and intelligent coordination we saw today. I frankly expected Ken to try and play Smith hero-ball without Smith. He didn’t, and we saw a free flow and creativity we haven’t seen a lot of.
Yeah, okay, try that against full-strength Orlando, I get it. But…baby steps, maybe. Plus fun to see the left-behinders enjoy a fun day and celebrate.
Muchismas gracias, Xolos!"
Except to add that it was fun to see Sinc and Kling party like it was 2016. They're past the time they can run with the young wolves. But give them some little dogs to chase? It's Bark in the Park!
Agree. They played connected against an overmatched opponent. They’ve not done that against some of the weaker opponents in the NWSL, so that was a positive.
Again, tho...I will always rep Sinc for her glorious career, but that she had her "best game in a while" may have as much or more to do with playing the worst opponent in a while. I'd love to see her keep doing that, but I'd also be unshocked if this turned out to be a one-off.
I missed it at the time, but the replay shows how much Tijuana helped on her goal. I thought it was a defender who came sliding in, missing the clearance, and teeing the ball up for her. But since it was their keeper, no wonder all Sinc had to do was put the little chip on frame, easy-peasy since nobody could touch it.
I just hope it was fun for her. It has to be kind of galling to feel herself fading out of the picture, and I'm sure that's a big part of why we still see her so often. Greatness is addictive, and it's a hard jones to kick...
Chief said it well below- Bad opponent, but objectively really good stuff from the Thorns. Three things:
1. I watched every NWSL vs. Liga MX match this weekend, and the Thorns were the only team that didn't have any issues at all- That game could have been 8-9 pretty easily if Izzy could hit the broad side of a barn from two feet (she was really good tonight tho!). ACFC and Louisville didn't look as good despite playing their first teams and Washington only beat Chivas 2-1 with a number of their first teamers playing as well. Xolos are probably the worst of the bunch, but it's not like they're in a different tier entirely. Given who we had playing in the front line, that's not nothing.
2. Kudos to Gale for switching it up to match his available personnel. There was real, observable tactical stuff going on too. Instead of playing Kling at the six, he stuck his two most technically adept non-Hina players (Müller and Kling) at wing back and had them invert constantly to add a third to the two-woman midfield. There were more runners from the midfield than I think I've seen all season- Wade Katoa and Hina were in behind pretty consistently, and even Sinc was making aggressive check-and-go type runs all night. Tijuana played a high as hell line and then did about the worst job at tracking the runners I've ever seen in my life, but part of that was the movement. Really good stuff! I have no clue if he can replicate it against better opposition, but not just sticking with the 4-3-3 was a good baby step.
3. Biggest difference between the two leagues is athleticism and speed, especially in the backlines. The Thorns were noticeably bigger, fitter, and stronger EVERYWHERE. Izzy and McKenzie had their way all night --wouldn't mind seeing a little more of Mallie btw-- but the most observable was when Reyna came on and just looked like a woman amongst girls her entire stint.
Think with Kling it’s the space she gets from being a full back that just makes her more effective than as a midfielder. Teams expect her to do wing back things and not invert (despite a career of doing this).
Good point about runners. The wide center backs became very aggressive as the game went on and were either playing from deep or making runs (Hubly clearly wanted a goal lol) and the thorns sometimes had 4-5 runners
I think this formation really benefits Kling, as the defensive responsibilities are reduced and her ability to go forward are magnified. I don't know if the regular team can adapt to this formation, but it was the first adjustment I've seen under Gale that took advantage of the players that were available.
with a back 3 the outside centre backs can usually be pretty aggressive in all honesty. Rob talked about it post match, mentioned Kelly, Becky, Reyes all doing that
Hubly was a forward in college and it always looks like she wants to do that again. She made the team, and the starting position, as a walk-on so she's probably happy to play anywhere she can, but I'm certain she'd like to score more goals.
The Xolos had one player who jumped out at me, their #30, Solozano. Gal has some serious wheels and had the Perras Malas been able to string more than two passes together she might have had some more joy. Still skinned Hubly a couple of times and Sauerbrunn once.
Overall I'd disagree that the clubs were anywhere near on a level or even close, tho. Physically, yes, and even tactically the LMXF outfit looked overwhelmed. The chaos in their backline was appalling; they couldn't track Thorns runners if they'd radio-tagged D'Aquila.
This one was big fun and nice to see Coach Ken's tactical freak flag fly. Let's see if this roster can do something similar when they face whichever other NWSL clubs make the knockouts.
I meant that the Liga MX teams are all on the same tier as each other, but a tier below the NWSL. I mentioned that because I've seen some "Tijuana is waaay worse than the other Liga MX teams" as a way of diminishing the Thorns performance and while they are likely the worst of the group, it's definitely not like there's a substantial difference between them and the others.
And yeah, Solorzano looked good, and Marta Cox --of Panamanian WC free kick fame-- had some nice moments as well. Both are new signings this year, btw.
Oh, gotcha. I didn't see any of the other matches. Supposedly Tigres were okay-looking (but their opponent was another LMXF club, so...).
I'm kinda shocked that the Club America side isn't better. There's a reason the men are known as "Los Millianarios"; it and Crux Azul are among the richest LMX sides. But they might be stiffing their women's team. The effect of machismo runs pretty deep...
Totally agree on Reyes - nobody could tackle her, nobody could get past her, nobody could catch up to her going forward.
Areas of improvement: McKenize stay onside, Dias get a better left foot, Izzy get a more accurate shot (that stoppage time miss will haunt her dreams for a while), Sauerbrunn needs to shoot when she's open - there won't be very many more opportunities like that in her career. Pleasant surprises: Müller in midfield, Alvarado in net, Valdez in general.
My hot take on Canada is that I don't really care about the drone spying from a cheating perspective. There's footage of every team in almost every conceivable scenario that any competent scouting team could use to gather the same information. It's not like the drones were eavesdropping on tactics meetings. Even stuff like pen placement --obviously relevant to 2021-- can be scouted pretty easily. This is hardly the equivalent of sign-stealing in baseball, for instance.
The part I'm outraged about is how fucking stupid it is: You're risking the integrity of your entire program, the accomplishments of your players, and jobs of everyone involved for a relatively minimal edge. The fact that players like Labbé and Sinc are having to come out and make statements is both depressing and pathetic.
While we're about to be inundated with a firehose of soccer and other sport for the next month, here's a few really good articles about Sam and Jessie that I've just read:
I find that delightful as well, although I suppose I'm not too surprised because I gather her sister Alex is a Zevon fan. I'll compare Sam's equalizer vs. Louisville to the apex of RT's "Calvary Cross" solo from "Watching the Dark."
Good insights from Jessie: NWSL is more physical and more competitive, top to bottom, than WSL. Also, Thorns got off to a rough start because they had so many new players and had not gelled. I think that's still the challenge.
Anyone go to the academy game last night? It's probably talked about below, but I'm avoiding scrolling so I don't get any spoilers for the other summer cup games...I always wanna watch without knowing the outcomes lol.
Was a pretty incredible night for both Wrexham and Thorns academy players because, for a lot of those players, they will never play in front of such an engaged crowd with flags and smoke, ect... again. Sure, it was half Wrexham-first fans, but also a ton of Thorns fans....that's also a lot of people who you can maybe pull into more Thorns games as well, btw. Players from Wrexham already posting about how incredible of a night it was, regardless of the absolute 7-0 route. I went! Not for the commercialization or Hollywood BS that I don't care about at all, but to support our academy players (and women's football in general) and to give both sides a night they likely won't ever forget. Morgan Weaver and Gabby P even went up on the capo stand (and Thorns scored 30 seconds later lol) so they got to do a 7-goals beyond march with the Riveters. T'was great fun.
This was a lay-up for the Thorns to get in on this....and it looked like our club did a really nice job at being welcoming and providing everyone with quite the experience. This is KK's bread and butter, really...
After the match was lovely...Wrexham did the post-match walk around with the academy players. And they did the whole interaction/rose ceremony with the crowd. And then the Riveters came down and scarfed every Wrexham player and staff member. It was was the kind of feel-good football that fills your cup. There were def fancy cameras out there filming, so this will absolutely show up on Netflix at some point...jah bless to the Netflix editors for this tour though lol, they were outscored 22-1.
I was there - great fun! Based on what I saw in the concourses, it was about 4:1 Thorns fans. I talked to a number of Wrexham "fans" from the PNW, mostly here because of the TV show and the celebs. They bought the shirt, so WAFC made some bank last night.
The announced 10,000+ attendance seems about right - the lower bowl was full all the way around. WAFC's previous record attendance was 7,000 so this was a big night for them. The Wrexham reddit has a post to the effect of "The Thorns players are 15-17 year olds. We [WAFC] need a game like after getting obliterated in the other matches." Needless to say, it actually was worse since I think WAFC had only one shot on target in the match, maybe two. Both well saved.
Thorns Academy looked really sharp from the start. Outstanding passing (my guess is 90%-ish for the night). First to everything. Calm play - able to break the press every time. Good finishing. Strong defensive play. The best thing was, they subbed out 2-5 players every 15 minutes and there was no drop off in quality. WAFC was under the kosh the entire 90 minutes.
Academy looked well-coached. Disciplined positioning, especially in central midfield and defense. Honestly, they played like I wish the seniors would. Granted a soft opponent.
WAFC looked not so well-coached. They played an incredibly high defensive line relying on the offside trap. The trap worked a number of times but the high line did not - their CBs were beaten for pace and the Academy players were in behind regularly.
I thought it odd that westside AR was waiting to raise the offside flag, as if there was VAR? Does anyone know why the first goal was waved off? My guess is a handball or foul - nobody was offside.
Sad part was the injury. Live, it looked to me to be non-contact. I assume an ACL and one woman's season is over. Nobody wants that in a friendly, but the knee gods apparently must be appeased.
An amusing part was after the scarfing, WAFC were lined up arms-on-shoulders doing the side-to-side dance with the Riveters. I assume they didn't realize they were celebrating the seven we scored. Or maybe they just didn't care - the trip was probably fun for them even if the soccer was dire.
Anyone know if there's a stream posted anywhere? I know Wrexham streamed the game but the Thorns didn't. Kinda curious to see if any the academy kids stood out, even against a semi-pro team.
Yeah that was way more fun than I expected. I wasn’t going to go but had wrist surgery and found myself wanting to sit and do nothing for two hours.
Was the score a, uh, surprise? I mean Wrexham are technically first division pros right, and Thorns academy are literally children? Not throwing shade, but I kinda expected a routing in the other direction!
Wrexham is a semi-pro team. The Welsh first division is also a semi-pro league, so they essentially would have to switch to one of the English leagues if they want to go pro (or the league would have to become a professional league).
I expected the Academy players to win, but wasn’t sure how bad it would be. I don’t think the Welsh Premier League is quite as good as you think it is.
FIFA's imposition of the six-point penalty is akin to this scene from the old Dudley Moore movie, "10": https://youtu.be/ikTrjQ3Cdbo?t=79
A better resolution would be for Canada to have to forfeit the points from the New Zealand match, but nothing else. There is no evidence as of now that any other team in their group besides New Zealand were harmed, and New Zealand already requested the forfeiture.
Agree and feel it's probably "make an example of them" for FIFA, they of the subtle-as-mallets decisionmaking. Canada's hosed, eh?
I had forgotten Abby Erceg retired from international play. The Football Ferns are not the same without her, one of the best defenders in the game's history.
A program that was engaged in a rampant, systemic form of cheating can't be given a slap on the wrist. Whether the players directly benefitted or not is immaterial. The coaches had the information and used it to guide the players.
1. Said the system shape was because he wants them to have multiple looks. Said if he'd had a full pre-season that's what they would've done. Important to have fluidity to change shape (which is obviously v different from Norris)
2. Obaze: struggling. They were hoping to get her 45-60 but she was feeling discomfort. Said "we have to build her tolerance."
3. On Mallie McKenzie: Mike played her at right back in pre-season, they've had her at centre back because of her physical capacity and then they put her at right winger where she was in college
McKenzie had some moments isolated on camera doing Tobin things along the sideline, doggedly and cleverly shaking her defender and moving the ball forward while keeping it inbounds. Other moments had her streaking in view from fvck knows where to get involved in a defensive situation.
Considering I had to look up who she was and correct myself our new Aussie keeper was not starting as a field player, impressed I was. From a long camera shot she looks too much like Muller to tell them apart.
Permanent Coach Rob has my permission to try 3-4-3 at least one more time.
If the team wants to run the 3-4-3 more often, Obaze is going to need to be healthy. We don't have enough CBs to handle a full game playing that way. But it could work in limited minutes with who we have. It certainly caused problems for the other team, but its hard to say how effective it would be as Tijuana was pretty bad.
Yes, though I think Reyes has a decent profile to be one of the outside centre backs in all honesty. You see a (more defensive) full back becoming an outside centre back a lot in a back 3
I’d take it one step further and think she actually profiles quite well as a center back long term regardless of formation. To me, she could be the long term replacement for Becky.
Physically, she seems to be the prototype for the position. There is always going to be a question of the instinctive part of the game for any player making a change.
You are absolutely correct about Reyes, I totally agree that she would fit in a 3 back formation. That would work as a 4 player rotation, with Sauerbrunn, Hubley, Obaze and Reyes. Reyes also allows some nice flexibility, as she can slot into the midfield wing postions as well.
Yes, this. Nally at the center of a 3 back for anything more than garbage minutes is asking for problems. Won’t work against even Utah imo. Esp when we now have no subs for any CB. My guess is they go back to a 4 back for the remaining games…
Oh good, it wasn't just me getting people confused, maybe I've just got some blonde lady face blindness but between the unfamiliar players and new formation I kept doing double takes between Mueller and McKenzie, when we throw in Linnehan and Beckie I'll have absolutely no dang clue who's running out on the flanks
Wellll…okay. I’d like to see her against decent opponents. I’d bet I could have done some Tobin things against those poor mooks, they were that overmatched.
Promising? Yes. But just like everyone yesterday, bad opposition helps make the merely promising look superb…
Yeah, they will never have nearly as much time and space against even the Utah’s of the world. But I do still think there were some good ideas and it’s at least nice that some of the deep benchers can execute even against a high school team lol.
Haven't seen it yet, but by "that's what they would have done" does he mean that 3-4-3 is his preferred shape in general, or just something he would have tried earlier? Cause....that's a pretty big thing to say!
Just something he would've tried earlier. I am guessing we see it again against either Utah or Seattle. He spoke about having multiple looks and set ups for the opposition; I get the sense that he didn't want to do that as interim in part because it was about settling things down but also they haven't had the time: they had 16 full training sessions before last week.
OMG there are some absolutely hilarious examples in this article, I'm dying lmao...
I could see this scene in an 80's movie probably starring John Candy and Dan Aykroyd:
"In an odd twist, U.S. Soccer officials often joked with each other about Herdman's penchant for publicly suggesting that Canada was actually nervous that other teams were spying on them, and that position -- that Canada was the one at risk of being targeted -- seeped into other Canada Soccer staffers, sources said.
For example, two sources recalled an incident in 2017, when the U.S. women's team faced Canada's women's team in a friendly at Avaya Stadium in San Jose, California. At that stadium, there is a training field alongside the main stadium, and before Canada's day-before-the-game practice, a Canada Soccer official approached U.S. Soccer officials and accused the U.S. of installing cameras on the roof of the adjacent stadium, pointing at a pair of objects on the roof over and over.
When baffled officials went up to the roof to look at the objects, they found only a pair of plastic birds -- designed to keep actual birds from sitting on the roof -- as well as two pigeons."
"Both federation's men's teams were practicing in Florida at the IMG Academy, and on the day before the teams were set to stage a scrimmage against each other, the United States team was training at the facility's soccer stadium.
During training, a team security guard noticed a man sitting in the otherwise-empty adjacent football stadium watching the U.S. practice. The security guard approached the man and asked him who he was. The man said he worked for IMG Academy, at which point the security guard told him that he wasn't allowed to be watching practice. The man said he would leave, and the security guard went back to training. Moments later, the security guard looked back, and the man had simply moved to a different point in the football stadium to continue watching.
At that point, the security guard asked another IMG staff member who the man was, and was told, "He doesn't work for us." The security guard then returned to the football stadium and confronted the man, who finally admitted he was a Canada staffer."
I can't say it better than I did on the match thread:
"I don’t want to speculate too much - this was a REALLY poor opponent - but I’m a bit encouraged by the good movement, passing, and intelligent coordination we saw today. I frankly expected Ken to try and play Smith hero-ball without Smith. He didn’t, and we saw a free flow and creativity we haven’t seen a lot of.
Yeah, okay, try that against full-strength Orlando, I get it. But…baby steps, maybe. Plus fun to see the left-behinders enjoy a fun day and celebrate.
Muchismas gracias, Xolos!"
Except to add that it was fun to see Sinc and Kling party like it was 2016. They're past the time they can run with the young wolves. But give them some little dogs to chase? It's Bark in the Park!
Agree. They played connected against an overmatched opponent. They’ve not done that against some of the weaker opponents in the NWSL, so that was a positive.
That was Sinclair’s best game in a while.
Again, tho...I will always rep Sinc for her glorious career, but that she had her "best game in a while" may have as much or more to do with playing the worst opponent in a while. I'd love to see her keep doing that, but I'd also be unshocked if this turned out to be a one-off.
I missed it at the time, but the replay shows how much Tijuana helped on her goal. I thought it was a defender who came sliding in, missing the clearance, and teeing the ball up for her. But since it was their keeper, no wonder all Sinc had to do was put the little chip on frame, easy-peasy since nobody could touch it.
I just hope it was fun for her. It has to be kind of galling to feel herself fading out of the picture, and I'm sure that's a big part of why we still see her so often. Greatness is addictive, and it's a hard jones to kick...
Happy Birthday Marie Müller
Chief said it well below- Bad opponent, but objectively really good stuff from the Thorns. Three things:
1. I watched every NWSL vs. Liga MX match this weekend, and the Thorns were the only team that didn't have any issues at all- That game could have been 8-9 pretty easily if Izzy could hit the broad side of a barn from two feet (she was really good tonight tho!). ACFC and Louisville didn't look as good despite playing their first teams and Washington only beat Chivas 2-1 with a number of their first teamers playing as well. Xolos are probably the worst of the bunch, but it's not like they're in a different tier entirely. Given who we had playing in the front line, that's not nothing.
2. Kudos to Gale for switching it up to match his available personnel. There was real, observable tactical stuff going on too. Instead of playing Kling at the six, he stuck his two most technically adept non-Hina players (Müller and Kling) at wing back and had them invert constantly to add a third to the two-woman midfield. There were more runners from the midfield than I think I've seen all season- Wade Katoa and Hina were in behind pretty consistently, and even Sinc was making aggressive check-and-go type runs all night. Tijuana played a high as hell line and then did about the worst job at tracking the runners I've ever seen in my life, but part of that was the movement. Really good stuff! I have no clue if he can replicate it against better opposition, but not just sticking with the 4-3-3 was a good baby step.
3. Biggest difference between the two leagues is athleticism and speed, especially in the backlines. The Thorns were noticeably bigger, fitter, and stronger EVERYWHERE. Izzy and McKenzie had their way all night --wouldn't mind seeing a little more of Mallie btw-- but the most observable was when Reyna came on and just looked like a woman amongst girls her entire stint.
Think with Kling it’s the space she gets from being a full back that just makes her more effective than as a midfielder. Teams expect her to do wing back things and not invert (despite a career of doing this).
Good point about runners. The wide center backs became very aggressive as the game went on and were either playing from deep or making runs (Hubly clearly wanted a goal lol) and the thorns sometimes had 4-5 runners
I think this formation really benefits Kling, as the defensive responsibilities are reduced and her ability to go forward are magnified. I don't know if the regular team can adapt to this formation, but it was the first adjustment I've seen under Gale that took advantage of the players that were available.
Yeah, yesterday looked a lot like "Play Wherever You Want" day, with all the backs bringing the ball forward and making runs.
Was dying at Hubly’s runs. So many times out loud I was like “girl where are you going?!”
with a back 3 the outside centre backs can usually be pretty aggressive in all honesty. Rob talked about it post match, mentioned Kelly, Becky, Reyes all doing that
Yeah Kelly really wanted a goal lol.
Hubly was a forward in college and it always looks like she wants to do that again. She made the team, and the starting position, as a walk-on so she's probably happy to play anywhere she can, but I'm certain she'd like to score more goals.
The Xolos had one player who jumped out at me, their #30, Solozano. Gal has some serious wheels and had the Perras Malas been able to string more than two passes together she might have had some more joy. Still skinned Hubly a couple of times and Sauerbrunn once.
Overall I'd disagree that the clubs were anywhere near on a level or even close, tho. Physically, yes, and even tactically the LMXF outfit looked overwhelmed. The chaos in their backline was appalling; they couldn't track Thorns runners if they'd radio-tagged D'Aquila.
This one was big fun and nice to see Coach Ken's tactical freak flag fly. Let's see if this roster can do something similar when they face whichever other NWSL clubs make the knockouts.
I meant that the Liga MX teams are all on the same tier as each other, but a tier below the NWSL. I mentioned that because I've seen some "Tijuana is waaay worse than the other Liga MX teams" as a way of diminishing the Thorns performance and while they are likely the worst of the group, it's definitely not like there's a substantial difference between them and the others.
And yeah, Solorzano looked good, and Marta Cox --of Panamanian WC free kick fame-- had some nice moments as well. Both are new signings this year, btw.
Oh, gotcha. I didn't see any of the other matches. Supposedly Tigres were okay-looking (but their opponent was another LMXF club, so...).
I'm kinda shocked that the Club America side isn't better. There's a reason the men are known as "Los Millianarios"; it and Crux Azul are among the richest LMX sides. But they might be stiffing their women's team. The effect of machismo runs pretty deep...
Totally agree on Reyes - nobody could tackle her, nobody could get past her, nobody could catch up to her going forward.
Areas of improvement: McKenize stay onside, Dias get a better left foot, Izzy get a more accurate shot (that stoppage time miss will haunt her dreams for a while), Sauerbrunn needs to shoot when she's open - there won't be very many more opportunities like that in her career. Pleasant surprises: Müller in midfield, Alvarado in net, Valdez in general.
My hot take on Canada is that I don't really care about the drone spying from a cheating perspective. There's footage of every team in almost every conceivable scenario that any competent scouting team could use to gather the same information. It's not like the drones were eavesdropping on tactics meetings. Even stuff like pen placement --obviously relevant to 2021-- can be scouted pretty easily. This is hardly the equivalent of sign-stealing in baseball, for instance.
The part I'm outraged about is how fucking stupid it is: You're risking the integrity of your entire program, the accomplishments of your players, and jobs of everyone involved for a relatively minimal edge. The fact that players like Labbé and Sinc are having to come out and make statements is both depressing and pathetic.
I would tend to agree. I mean, are you REALLY going to gain groundbreaking insight into formations, tactics, who is likely to take PKs, etc?
So, the question is... WHY DO IT, and WHY JEOPARDIZE SO MUCH FOR SO LITTLE?
While we're about to be inundated with a firehose of soccer and other sport for the next month, here's a few really good articles about Sam and Jessie that I've just read:
Sam (and some chats about music): https://beatsandrhymesfc.com/sam-coffey-interview-soul-untucked-out-on-the-porch-with-uswnts-olympic-six/
Jessie (some discussion abt adapting to the Thorns): https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5616387/2024/07/24/jessie-fleming-thorns-chelsea-environment/?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=sccrtw&source=twitterhq&redirected=1
I loved the Sam Coffey interview too. I really like her and after reading that I like her even more. I hope she stays in Portland for a long time.
Sam's personality shines through and Richard Thompson? John Prine? Be still my heart.
The writing though...whew.
I find that delightful as well, although I suppose I'm not too surprised because I gather her sister Alex is a Zevon fan. I'll compare Sam's equalizer vs. Louisville to the apex of RT's "Calvary Cross" solo from "Watching the Dark."
Good insights from Jessie: NWSL is more physical and more competitive, top to bottom, than WSL. Also, Thorns got off to a rough start because they had so many new players and had not gelled. I think that's still the challenge.
Good news re: Soph: https://x.com/itsmeglinehan/status/1817203400330637788
Anyone go to the academy game last night? It's probably talked about below, but I'm avoiding scrolling so I don't get any spoilers for the other summer cup games...I always wanna watch without knowing the outcomes lol.
Was a pretty incredible night for both Wrexham and Thorns academy players because, for a lot of those players, they will never play in front of such an engaged crowd with flags and smoke, ect... again. Sure, it was half Wrexham-first fans, but also a ton of Thorns fans....that's also a lot of people who you can maybe pull into more Thorns games as well, btw. Players from Wrexham already posting about how incredible of a night it was, regardless of the absolute 7-0 route. I went! Not for the commercialization or Hollywood BS that I don't care about at all, but to support our academy players (and women's football in general) and to give both sides a night they likely won't ever forget. Morgan Weaver and Gabby P even went up on the capo stand (and Thorns scored 30 seconds later lol) so they got to do a 7-goals beyond march with the Riveters. T'was great fun.
This was a lay-up for the Thorns to get in on this....and it looked like our club did a really nice job at being welcoming and providing everyone with quite the experience. This is KK's bread and butter, really...
After the match was lovely...Wrexham did the post-match walk around with the academy players. And they did the whole interaction/rose ceremony with the crowd. And then the Riveters came down and scarfed every Wrexham player and staff member. It was was the kind of feel-good football that fills your cup. There were def fancy cameras out there filming, so this will absolutely show up on Netflix at some point...jah bless to the Netflix editors for this tour though lol, they were outscored 22-1.
I was there - great fun! Based on what I saw in the concourses, it was about 4:1 Thorns fans. I talked to a number of Wrexham "fans" from the PNW, mostly here because of the TV show and the celebs. They bought the shirt, so WAFC made some bank last night.
The announced 10,000+ attendance seems about right - the lower bowl was full all the way around. WAFC's previous record attendance was 7,000 so this was a big night for them. The Wrexham reddit has a post to the effect of "The Thorns players are 15-17 year olds. We [WAFC] need a game like after getting obliterated in the other matches." Needless to say, it actually was worse since I think WAFC had only one shot on target in the match, maybe two. Both well saved.
Thorns Academy looked really sharp from the start. Outstanding passing (my guess is 90%-ish for the night). First to everything. Calm play - able to break the press every time. Good finishing. Strong defensive play. The best thing was, they subbed out 2-5 players every 15 minutes and there was no drop off in quality. WAFC was under the kosh the entire 90 minutes.
Academy looked well-coached. Disciplined positioning, especially in central midfield and defense. Honestly, they played like I wish the seniors would. Granted a soft opponent.
WAFC looked not so well-coached. They played an incredibly high defensive line relying on the offside trap. The trap worked a number of times but the high line did not - their CBs were beaten for pace and the Academy players were in behind regularly.
I thought it odd that westside AR was waiting to raise the offside flag, as if there was VAR? Does anyone know why the first goal was waved off? My guess is a handball or foul - nobody was offside.
Sad part was the injury. Live, it looked to me to be non-contact. I assume an ACL and one woman's season is over. Nobody wants that in a friendly, but the knee gods apparently must be appeased.
An amusing part was after the scarfing, WAFC were lined up arms-on-shoulders doing the side-to-side dance with the Riveters. I assume they didn't realize they were celebrating the seven we scored. Or maybe they just didn't care - the trip was probably fun for them even if the soccer was dire.
Anyone know if there's a stream posted anywhere? I know Wrexham streamed the game but the Thorns didn't. Kinda curious to see if any the academy kids stood out, even against a semi-pro team.
#8 for the Thorns was a beast. I don’t know the kid’s name, but she was head and shoulders above most everyone on the pitch.
I looked her up when you pointed her out, #8 is Ella Callanan
Yeah that was way more fun than I expected. I wasn’t going to go but had wrist surgery and found myself wanting to sit and do nothing for two hours.
Was the score a, uh, surprise? I mean Wrexham are technically first division pros right, and Thorns academy are literally children? Not throwing shade, but I kinda expected a routing in the other direction!
Isn't throwing shade part of the PT and rehab after wrist surgery?
Yes but it will be thrown left-handed
Just think - you'll become ambidextrous at making backhanded comments!
Wrexham is a semi-pro team. The Welsh first division is also a semi-pro league, so they essentially would have to switch to one of the English leagues if they want to go pro (or the league would have to become a professional league).
Yeah, a lot of those players have another job (or two!) The "star" of their team is Hughes, who is 28 and works at a jail.
You know what they say: Better to work there than stay there.
"I'm just visiting Springfield Prison. I get to sleep at home tonight."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nq2HekQ7D8
I expected the Academy players to win, but wasn’t sure how bad it would be. I don’t think the Welsh Premier League is quite as good as you think it is.
Does somebody have the roster of Thorns Academy players for last night's match?
This is the best I can do:
https://www.instagram.com/p/C96GJ8zPPAw/?igsh=NHdvbWd5eDEwa2I2
So that’s one way to stop Banda doing Banda things; don’t let her team see the ball. Cunning, that…
Best defense is a good offense.
Yep. You miss every shot you can’t take…
Canada are seeking to appeal the six-point penalty: https://x.com/BTFR17/status/1817283434974515419
FIFA's imposition of the six-point penalty is akin to this scene from the old Dudley Moore movie, "10": https://youtu.be/ikTrjQ3Cdbo?t=79
A better resolution would be for Canada to have to forfeit the points from the New Zealand match, but nothing else. There is no evidence as of now that any other team in their group besides New Zealand were harmed, and New Zealand already requested the forfeiture.
Let the players play on.
I think the 6-point penalty is appropriate. The penalty should be more than what you stood to gain; otherwise there's no deterrent.
I agree it's hard on the players, and I feel terrible for them, but they were betrayed by their federation, not by the disciplinary process.
I agree with this. Make an example as a warning to others. Also, seems like Olympics are a little different than other tourneys, at least ideally.
Agree and feel it's probably "make an example of them" for FIFA, they of the subtle-as-mallets decisionmaking. Canada's hosed, eh?
I had forgotten Abby Erceg retired from international play. The Football Ferns are not the same without her, one of the best defenders in the game's history.
No Erceg and no Ali Riley (injury) for Les Ferns. Tough go of it.
Rumor has it that, as a consolation, FIFA will give Canada all that Budweiser left over from the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Ooh, hope it includes some barrel-aged Michelob Ultra.
Also known as Löwbräu.
A program that was engaged in a rampant, systemic form of cheating can't be given a slap on the wrist. Whether the players directly benefitted or not is immaterial. The coaches had the information and used it to guide the players.
And no, that's Mrs Kissel, not Sinc breaking toward the goal.
This is fun:
https://equalizersoccer.com/2024/07/22/lauletta-a-look-at-all-12-nwsl-no-1-overall-picks/
Don't agree with all of the assessments, but it's entertaining.
Gale in the presser:
1. Said the system shape was because he wants them to have multiple looks. Said if he'd had a full pre-season that's what they would've done. Important to have fluidity to change shape (which is obviously v different from Norris)
2. Obaze: struggling. They were hoping to get her 45-60 but she was feeling discomfort. Said "we have to build her tolerance."
3. On Mallie McKenzie: Mike played her at right back in pre-season, they've had her at centre back because of her physical capacity and then they put her at right winger where she was in college
McKenzie had some moments isolated on camera doing Tobin things along the sideline, doggedly and cleverly shaking her defender and moving the ball forward while keeping it inbounds. Other moments had her streaking in view from fvck knows where to get involved in a defensive situation.
Considering I had to look up who she was and correct myself our new Aussie keeper was not starting as a field player, impressed I was. From a long camera shot she looks too much like Muller to tell them apart.
Permanent Coach Rob has my permission to try 3-4-3 at least one more time.
If the team wants to run the 3-4-3 more often, Obaze is going to need to be healthy. We don't have enough CBs to handle a full game playing that way. But it could work in limited minutes with who we have. It certainly caused problems for the other team, but its hard to say how effective it would be as Tijuana was pretty bad.
Yes, though I think Reyes has a decent profile to be one of the outside centre backs in all honesty. You see a (more defensive) full back becoming an outside centre back a lot in a back 3
I’d take it one step further and think she actually profiles quite well as a center back long term regardless of formation. To me, she could be the long term replacement for Becky.
i think that's quite a step, lol. I think I need to see more in how she reads the game. She can still be quite reactive.
Physically, she seems to be the prototype for the position. There is always going to be a question of the instinctive part of the game for any player making a change.
You are absolutely correct about Reyes, I totally agree that she would fit in a 3 back formation. That would work as a 4 player rotation, with Sauerbrunn, Hubley, Obaze and Reyes. Reyes also allows some nice flexibility, as she can slot into the midfield wing postions as well.
Yes, this. Nally at the center of a 3 back for anything more than garbage minutes is asking for problems. Won’t work against even Utah imo. Esp when we now have no subs for any CB. My guess is they go back to a 4 back for the remaining games…
Oh good, it wasn't just me getting people confused, maybe I've just got some blonde lady face blindness but between the unfamiliar players and new formation I kept doing double takes between Mueller and McKenzie, when we throw in Linnehan and Beckie I'll have absolutely no dang clue who's running out on the flanks
Wellll…okay. I’d like to see her against decent opponents. I’d bet I could have done some Tobin things against those poor mooks, they were that overmatched.
Promising? Yes. But just like everyone yesterday, bad opposition helps make the merely promising look superb…
Yeah, they will never have nearly as much time and space against even the Utah’s of the world. But I do still think there were some good ideas and it’s at least nice that some of the deep benchers can execute even against a high school team lol.
Let's give a shot against Utah, yes?
Haven't seen it yet, but by "that's what they would have done" does he mean that 3-4-3 is his preferred shape in general, or just something he would have tried earlier? Cause....that's a pretty big thing to say!
Just something he would've tried earlier. I am guessing we see it again against either Utah or Seattle. He spoke about having multiple looks and set ups for the opposition; I get the sense that he didn't want to do that as interim in part because it was about settling things down but also they haven't had the time: they had 16 full training sessions before last week.
First place! My plan is to enjoy it because we probably won't be in first place in any other competition this year. But for now, smiles.
Looking the other way...
https://www.espn.com/olympics/story/_/id/40654826/us-soccer-aware-prior-canada-spying-incidents
Also sounds like Herdman is the master of DARVO. Time to hire Nathan Thurm: https://youtu.be/9vHVOREW68A?t=14
OMG there are some absolutely hilarious examples in this article, I'm dying lmao...
I could see this scene in an 80's movie probably starring John Candy and Dan Aykroyd:
"In an odd twist, U.S. Soccer officials often joked with each other about Herdman's penchant for publicly suggesting that Canada was actually nervous that other teams were spying on them, and that position -- that Canada was the one at risk of being targeted -- seeped into other Canada Soccer staffers, sources said.
For example, two sources recalled an incident in 2017, when the U.S. women's team faced Canada's women's team in a friendly at Avaya Stadium in San Jose, California. At that stadium, there is a training field alongside the main stadium, and before Canada's day-before-the-game practice, a Canada Soccer official approached U.S. Soccer officials and accused the U.S. of installing cameras on the roof of the adjacent stadium, pointing at a pair of objects on the roof over and over.
When baffled officials went up to the roof to look at the objects, they found only a pair of plastic birds -- designed to keep actual birds from sitting on the roof -- as well as two pigeons."
It does have a certain "Spies Like Us" meets "Canadian Bacon" vibe to it, doesn't it?
Or maybe this one:
"Both federation's men's teams were practicing in Florida at the IMG Academy, and on the day before the teams were set to stage a scrimmage against each other, the United States team was training at the facility's soccer stadium.
During training, a team security guard noticed a man sitting in the otherwise-empty adjacent football stadium watching the U.S. practice. The security guard approached the man and asked him who he was. The man said he worked for IMG Academy, at which point the security guard told him that he wasn't allowed to be watching practice. The man said he would leave, and the security guard went back to training. Moments later, the security guard looked back, and the man had simply moved to a different point in the football stadium to continue watching.
At that point, the security guard asked another IMG staff member who the man was, and was told, "He doesn't work for us." The security guard then returned to the football stadium and confronted the man, who finally admitted he was a Canada staffer."
"These aren't the drones you're looking for."
Surprised he didn't just break out the Groucho glasses and mustache.
Well dang. With all that drone time in, they can volunteer in Ukraine to drop packages down T-72 hatches.
Here's a hidden gem: Priestman was an assistant under Phil Neville for England before taking the reins for Canada.
Katie Duong has signed with DC power. Good for her.
Note to Coach Emma: mind those Germans on set pieces. Our team ain't tall and ain't vertically inclined.
https://x.com/WomensGameMIB/status/1816527440602361857