Well, Angel City next week will be illuminating. Happy for the players that they didn't get Chicago'd, and there were some positive signs, primarily from Liv --who was really active and tracked more today than I've seen from her maybe ever-- and Castellanos.
No denying Gale still a mess, but KC's a tough place to go into and that could have easily been 3-2 at the end of the day. Much easier to stomach this kind of thing when the kids are getting time vs. 40 year old Sinc and Izzy.
I laughed at the goofy kickoff stunt; it just seemed so Peak Ken. Then the appalling lack of organization, piss-poor lineup, individual errors, and poor tactics showed up as usual and it stopped being funny.
Honestly…what did we see this morning that we didn’t know last November?
There’s no excuse for not firing Ken after the final whistle of this one.
thu know they may have been on Moultrie. my guess is she had her foot on ball but was either before the whistle sos didn't count off failed to move the ball
Point is, whoever it was, it was 1) cute in concept but 2) failed because of poor training, individual error, or both, which is Peak Ken if anything ever was.
It’s just a great way to see a club that is doing most everything right vs. one that hasn’t been for 3 years. The contrast is good for us, even if it’s painful.
The question of the day, should you choose to answer it, is how much more does Agoos need to see of Rob Gale's sh'eety coaching results before Gale gets canned?!?!
In any major sport, which the NWSL is now, the firing gets done TONIGHT!!! The evidence is clear. When the hell does the needful get done?
Yeah, and this is after any number of us spent the 2nd half of last season saying he should resign or get canned after any number of disastrous losses.
That this is not the first time I've seriously suggested RG should resign or get fired at halftime is a fair measure of his incompetence. Prior to this, the thought hadn't crossed my mind in several decades of following pro and collegiate sports.
And this is no shade to Perry. Playing a high line against this KC team with a rookie in her first professional minutes. Good for her development? Hard to agree with the thought process unless Hiatt is carrying a knock
What still bugs me about KenBall is that he seems to train his squad to deliberately miss the point. If you’re going to play slow and deliberate the passing has to be precise and the movement off the ball decisive. Instead we’re slow AND tentative (and often sloppy).
It’s like we invite opponents “press us! We’ll turn over!” but we always seem stunned and disorganized when they do.
You can see there are pieces of a good team out there but they are all unguided missiles at this point. They too often have to stop and think before doing something. Deadly against a team like this. It's very hard to judge them yet.
But we saw this last season. His players always seem clueless as to what their teammates are doing or going to do. It’s not a black swan; this is how Ken trains
Accuracy yes, but it's thrown away because when the play is deliberately possession oriented (slow), the Thorns throw it away with a long ball ... and someone trying to run it down before the ball goes out of touch. Leaves me to ask what's the point.
These young Thorns players deserve better coaches that the owners and managers have given them. It’s a waste of their talent and detrimental to them not to provide the best resources.
The bottom line is a) ownership b) the general manager both failed when they kept this guy on. There was literally *nothing* indicating he should remain head coach. I'm sure he'll get fired at some point but before he does there'll be real costs to player development.
Like that he wasn’t fired day 1 of off-season is wild just based on that. We’d have been better off starting with an interim. Shouldn’t have been good enough for this club, no matter if we didn’t have a GM in place yet.
To be fair, Agoos wasn't even hired until January which was fail #1. Agoos isn't stupid. He'll see and will, hopefully, react after the European season when more candidates could be available. It was the previous regime that stuck him with Gale.
He could've fired him day one. You have a manager who is a) not playing players he should be b) playing players out of position which is going to cause real damage to form and confidence
Exactly! Worst case scenario is they bring in a babysitter for the first part of the season, as Parsons did with Sam "Hey" Laity (obligatory Jerry Lewis voice). Never should have started the season with Gale.
If he bombs against Angel City in our season home opener next weekend, they have to get rid of him. This isn’t the fucking Timbers man…Thorns used to set the standard in this league.
I've been pretty consistent that I don't want owners ordering the GM how to run his team. I get they could (and maybe should) ask for Gale's head, but owner intervention in soccer ops is bad and I stand by that.
Fair enough. I’d say that there’s enough here that Agoos shouldn’t need that direction, and if he isn’t at least giving that option a hard look the owners should be asking him why not. In the end they are responsible for the team.
But your point stands; they’re also not soccer subject matter experts. Good owners hire good people and trust their judgement.
I’d like to agree. But I haven’t seen that kind of decisiveness from the owners since they canned Norris. Both LeBlanc and Gale have been allowed to hang around for too long already.
Well, Angel City next week will be illuminating. Happy for the players that they didn't get Chicago'd, and there were some positive signs, primarily from Liv --who was really active and tracked more today than I've seen from her maybe ever-- and Castellanos.
No denying Gale still a mess, but KC's a tough place to go into and that could have easily been 3-2 at the end of the day. Much easier to stomach this kind of thing when the kids are getting time vs. 40 year old Sinc and Izzy.
I laughed at the goofy kickoff stunt; it just seemed so Peak Ken. Then the appalling lack of organization, piss-poor lineup, individual errors, and poor tactics showed up as usual and it stopped being funny.
Honestly…what did we see this morning that we didn’t know last November?
There’s no excuse for not firing Ken after the final whistle of this one.
The crap part is, I want to root for the kids, but I'm just too pissed about the poor coaching
Why wait til AFTER?
And I quote Ahnuld here, to the Predator::
"Do it! Do it now! Come on! Kill me!"
"What are you waiting for?"
thu know they may have been on Moultrie. my guess is she had her foot on ball but was either before the whistle sos didn't count off failed to move the ball
Point is, whoever it was, it was 1) cute in concept but 2) failed because of poor training, individual error, or both, which is Peak Ken if anything ever was.
It’s this whole half in miniature.
Hi Rocky 🫶
I like that Agoos is there and he gets to see this mess live. Things he needs to see.
Agree wholeheartedly on this. This year is a massive opportunity to build for the long term
It’s just a great way to see a club that is doing most everything right vs. one that hasn’t been for 3 years. The contrast is good for us, even if it’s painful.
Expansion side Portland Thorns falls to juggernaut Kansas City but shows pluck in second half. Coaching remains a concern.
Film at 11.
God I love Hina
One of the most underrated players in the league imo
The question of the day, should you choose to answer it, is how much more does Agoos need to see of Rob Gale's sh'eety coaching results before Gale gets canned?!?!
In any major sport, which the NWSL is now, the firing gets done TONIGHT!!! The evidence is clear. When the hell does the needful get done?
Yeah, and this is after any number of us spent the 2nd half of last season saying he should resign or get canned after any number of disastrous losses.
That this is not the first time I've seriously suggested RG should resign or get fired at halftime is a fair measure of his incompetence. Prior to this, the thought hadn't crossed my mind in several decades of following pro and collegiate sports.
In the world of college football Ken would get fired on the tarmac at the airport before the plane takes off
Sam Hiatt on the bench is a head scratcher..
No, KEN on the bench is a head scratcher. Literally, scratching his head like "I wonder why that didn't work the way I imagined it?"
Especially after that major defensive mistake.
And this is no shade to Perry. Playing a high line against this KC team with a rookie in her first professional minutes. Good for her development? Hard to agree with the thought process unless Hiatt is carrying a knock
What still bugs me about KenBall is that he seems to train his squad to deliberately miss the point. If you’re going to play slow and deliberate the passing has to be precise and the movement off the ball decisive. Instead we’re slow AND tentative (and often sloppy).
It’s like we invite opponents “press us! We’ll turn over!” but we always seem stunned and disorganized when they do.
You can see there are pieces of a good team out there but they are all unguided missiles at this point. They too often have to stop and think before doing something. Deadly against a team like this. It's very hard to judge them yet.
But we saw this last season. His players always seem clueless as to what their teammates are doing or going to do. It’s not a black swan; this is how Ken trains
Oh I know that. It's why it's so hard to judge the players sometimes. Gale being bad is an initial assumption.
Accuracy yes, but it's thrown away because when the play is deliberately possession oriented (slow), the Thorns throw it away with a long ball ... and someone trying to run it down before the ball goes out of touch. Leaves me to ask what's the point.
Most of Portland's good has come through Deyna. Would be nice to see what she could do with a few wingers on the field.
These young Thorns players deserve better coaches that the owners and managers have given them. It’s a waste of their talent and detrimental to them not to provide the best resources.
True dat.
If this was a closer game this ref would be getting more attention. She's been TERRIBLE. Missed 3-4 obvious fouls on both sides.
That Spaanstra non-call in the 32nd minute alone was utter rubbish.
The bottom line is a) ownership b) the general manager both failed when they kept this guy on. There was literally *nothing* indicating he should remain head coach. I'm sure he'll get fired at some point but before he does there'll be real costs to player development.
He lost 9/12 games after June. It’s wild. Has won two games since last June.
No excuse for keeping him on. None.
Like that he wasn’t fired day 1 of off-season is wild just based on that. We’d have been better off starting with an interim. Shouldn’t have been good enough for this club, no matter if we didn’t have a GM in place yet.
To be fair, Agoos wasn't even hired until January which was fail #1. Agoos isn't stupid. He'll see and will, hopefully, react after the European season when more candidates could be available. It was the previous regime that stuck him with Gale.
He could've fired him day one. You have a manager who is a) not playing players he should be b) playing players out of position which is going to cause real damage to form and confidence
Exactly! Worst case scenario is they bring in a babysitter for the first part of the season, as Parsons did with Sam "Hey" Laity (obligatory Jerry Lewis voice). Never should have started the season with Gale.
#SackKen@Halftime
The firing part is easy. It's the replacing part that is tricky.
That was really nasty from Wheeler, how the fuck is that not a yellow?
'Cause all that streaming and sponsorship money isn't going to help make the refs any more competent than the depressing historical norm?
The ref is literal feet from that play and has been card happy all night! What is she watching?
NO FOUL!!!
Wild lol. Wtf
kc is the new nwsl poster child.
no doubt second tome just clattered into someone's head. torpedo in first half
If he bombs against Angel City in our season home opener next weekend, they have to get rid of him. This isn’t the fucking Timbers man…Thorns used to set the standard in this league.
Bhathals have yet to convince me Thorns are anything more than an investment.
Keeping Leblanc was their first mistake and taking too long to replace her was the second
I agree. They have to do more to convince me that they see it as more than that.
The Bhathals aren't responsible for firing the coach.
So if Lisa is on the phone to Agoos right now saying “I want his head!!” Goose will flat out refuse?
I've been pretty consistent that I don't want owners ordering the GM how to run his team. I get they could (and maybe should) ask for Gale's head, but owner intervention in soccer ops is bad and I stand by that.
Fair enough. I’d say that there’s enough here that Agoos shouldn’t need that direction, and if he isn’t at least giving that option a hard look the owners should be asking him why not. In the end they are responsible for the team.
But your point stands; they’re also not soccer subject matter experts. Good owners hire good people and trust their judgement.
I have to agree, unless the owner has been a successful collegiate player themselves; I'm thinking of Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys.
They direct the GM. "Fix this."
I’d like to agree. But I haven’t seen that kind of decisiveness from the owners since they canned Norris. Both LeBlanc and Gale have been allowed to hang around for too long already.
New mascot for this year: The Fucking Timbers Man!
The logo possibilities for that are endless.
Bright spots:
We had a shot on goal. More than I expected.
We only gave up 6 shots. Fewer than I expected.
It's halfway over.
That's all I got.
I like that "we gave up (only) 6 shots. ROFL
"Only" 3 of the 6 hit the back of the net!!!
:-D :-D :-D :-D :-D
Filed under Gallows Humors.
Depriving them of the clean sheet is all the hope I'm left with.
Me so happy.