The NWSL not only used to be the deepest first-division league in WoSo (still is), it was also at least arguably the best. That just isn't the case right now, and I'm wondering what happened. Dilution due to expansion? Too many players and prospects heading to Europe for better pay? A combination?
Personally, I think this year specifically was that so so many teams have had coaching changes, which can kinda reset the clock for continuity, even among a group that may have been similar from last season.
Also, in other teams there have been injuries among key players that have totally changed the way they play (ie... Taylor Kornieck, Emily van Egmond, Abby Dahlkemper for the Wave; Fishlock, Lavelle, Quinn, Rapinoe- all at times for Reign.) Overall, the coaching changes and injuries have led to inconsistent play for almost all teams. NC lost most games at the beginning of the year, but I think that was because they had a ton of new young folks, and many of their veteran defenders left. Debinha left. But now, there's an identity with Nahas, and the team plays the same way no matter the personnel. Every player is super fit and fast and can execute his plan. Same kinda goes for Orlando. Maybe even Gotham.
There was a lot of player shuffling in the offseason (and with free agency- many veteran players). Tons of new players on many teams, new coaches all taking time. The Thorns had one of the least amount of turnovers in player personnel, but it's the coaching and lack of preparation in this WC period that's the reason for our form. When the WC players come back, we'll likely revert to our previous inconsistentish-but-still-scoring form and potentially still win a shield or championship despite the bad coaching. Somehow, maybe it's good Norris' coaching is being exposed in this window, otherwise he may have fully been able to hide behind a good roster and maybe would have a better chance at keeping his job...
We still have 3 CC games, and honestly, I'm not sure we win any of them. Then there's the league game against NC, which, I'm not sure we win either...depending on who we get back. It's very possible this turns into a 7 game L streak. Anyone know what the record is for this club?
Perhaps because it's what in the digital marketing world is called a "long tail" situation. Like keyword search volume, player quality is packed into a handful of keywords, er...players...on one end of the chart. The "long tail" is numerous, but low in volume, er...quality.
I would guess moving from 9 teams to 12 is the biggest culprit. It means talent is more spread out, the back end of rosters are worse than they were.
Also the almost entire (intentional) eschewing of the league by Australians has had an impact too - that’s quite a few top quality players who are gone for good.
And yet... the draft does not seem to be a consistent resource of 15-20 good-to-great new additions league wide, season to season. I cannot fathom why. Insufficient club investments in scouting and player development?
If going from roughly 225 to 300 pro players means that those extra 75 players are sub-pro quality? That’s pretty damning for the dozens of D1 programs supposedly developing players good enough to turn pro.
I’m not saying that a bigger player pool wouldn’t of necessity include more marginal squad players. But the number of those marginal players would seem unlikely to crash the level of play to the degree we’re discussing here…
I still think even Houston looks better in this window.
Still think we have the worst offensive line in the NWSL right now. Weaver, 3 players who don't play (one, a rookie), and an NTRP player from last season. Didn't expect for the whole team to look such a damn mess, though!
Agreed. Weaver's wonderful alongside the other front line starters, but isn't the sort of player who's going to carry an offense. She's just not a dependable enough finisher, and seems to be reverting to an earlier version: create a wonderful chance with aggressive dribbling and speed...then finish with a shot only vaguely in the direction of goal. It's almost as if she thinks she has to do it all herself...probably because she does.
Sigh, going to be a long, hot summer, and all of the PDX teams are a hot mess, and they all need new owners. Time to get more reading and writing done, methinks...
The Thorns will be fine once Soph et al are back and I still think it’s quite probable the thorns win the championship because they’re the best team in the league when 1-11 are fit and available.
sure, but that could happen in league play too. and like, yeah, if sophia smith is hurt we're not as good a team. that's true for every club team in the world. Arsenal lost Beth Mead and Viv Miedema within a month of each other and took about a month to rebuild the entire attack.
I am being a little melodramatic, but I am very concerned how our goalkeeping and defense have completely fallen apart. A better midfield might help, but gosh, the back line is kind of a hot mess right now.
I’d tend to agree, and I suspect it’s mutually reinforcing. The backline is playing tight and nervous because any error could result in a concession. Bixby lacks confidence which is exacerbated by knowing her backline is a hot mess.
Not sure how this gets fixed, either. Getting Sauerbrunn back will help but won’t be a magic bullet; the backs had a lot of the same issues when she was there.
Frankly, I don’t think we’re going to see major improvements until we get a coaching change. Either Norris gets a clue, or he gets canned.
Not melodramatic, just realistic! Pointing out the obvious, really. Norris has made an entire back 5 (sometimes 6) look poor. Of course there’s individual problems, but if it’s EVERYONE? Looking at you, coach…
Does this organization have it in them right now to make a coaching change this season if things do not improve? I feel like the club is in a holding pattern at the moment.
Very much doubt there will be any coaching change during the season. My guess would be a week before the 2024 season lol (knowing this club)…
No, but kidding aside, we won’t get any of that until after new ownership is in place. The window is closing, though. Ideally, new ownership and a new coach would be in place a good deal before both of the drafts looming. That sale really needs to happen in the next couple months otherwise I fear a very messy off-season that could see the 2024 season looking rough.
Good on them. If Dame goes to Brooklyn then that means the Blazers probably got a good trade. I wonder if the Thorns can piggyback on the trade and get another striker, or CB, or literally anyone?
...https://twitter.com/RyanTClarke/status/1678187959525277696 what did you anticipate my guy? That players who didn't score in two consecutive games were going to turn it on? That players who you've not used all season (because they are Not Good) were going to become good?
This is admittedly the hill I'll die on, but I really don't think this iteration of Moultrie is an 8- She neither works hard enough defensively or has the pace to shuttle, and certainly not the way Crystal Dunn can. I'd like to see a 4-2-3-1 with Liv at the 10 in the SD game
I never understood why she was being used in that way either. She doesn't really have the qualities of an 8. She needs to be in the 10, but she needs a competent midfield behind her so she can stay high and create. I'm not sure she'll get to shine with the players on this roster for this period, unfortunately...
Yeah, she's much more of the Sinclair type. Lower touch numbers, second striker stuff, whereas Dunn's much more high volume. We're asking her to do both at the moment.
In this iteration there's no focal talent on this team. Weaver's a supporting player, Moultrie is not ready for prime time, maybe they could start Betfort over D'Aquila who's been awful, Kuikka, Hubly, Kling and Menges, in other word our veteran leadership, are all in bad form, Coffey remains solid of course, and everybody else out there is a try hard but not really up to snuff. I just don't know about Bixby. Predictable results.
Simply unacceptable that Gotham could bring on an ex Spanish international and three ten year NWSL veterans to see out the game and we brought on a 2022 4th round pick who has literally not played all season, Taylor Porter, and Hannah Betfort.
KK literally doing her homework on the bus on the way to school with a crayon. Just, unserious behavior from this FO for a team defending a GD title. Infuriating. What does she do besides walk around Prov Park waving to the crowd?
Didn't he step away from basically everything on the Thorns side? I thought Heather Davis was in charge. Wouldn't she and KK be making those decisions? Who is actually in charge here?
And if what you said is the case, WHY isn't anyone reporting on it? This is like thee marquee club in this league and if the disgraced-former-owner-but-maybe-kinda-still-in-charge MP is holding the team hostage, why tf is no one talking about it...? Maybe I'm just naive to this whole process, but maybe the league shouldn't be ok with the team getting dragged through the mud while MP count his $$$? Just so so frustrated by all of this...
Reporters have been asking for updates about the sale, but nothing. I wonder whether Paulson is slow-walking the sale or setting a price that no one is willing to meet.
They may have, but, how often? Are they asking the league? It’s been over 7 months, and this can’t be good for the players on this team. Becky has said recently in a podcast that the sale is taking much longer than they hoped, but didn’t elaborate. The league should be taking care of the players on these clubs that have been for sale a long time now….If the people asking aren’t getting answers, maybe writing a story about getting stonewalled? I’ve only seen Ryan Clarke say he’s asked, but we need more pressure than that, and from larger media networks. But, it seems if they care about any team on the west coast…it’s ACFC who gets any of the east coast network attention. At this point, I’m sure MP is content to sit on this nest egg and (literally) cash in on the hype of the WC. It’s a shame, because this tournament would’ve been the golden time for a new ownership role out.
He did and she is, but it’s still his money.... and Davis is still his deputy.
And yeah. There should both be more reporting and the league should be putting more pressure on, but the NWSL doesn’t seem to want to get involved. Media won’t notice anything unless the top end talent starts leaving (which could happen this after this year, but likely won’t happen until after next unless the team is sold) or the team stops contending (which won't happen until the talent leaves). Until then, it’s still “Smith and Dunn and Sauerbrunn oh my.”
It does seem like the Riveters protests have kinda stopped and the attendance is back up, so there's no real pressure from any direction at this point.
Yeah, I have doubts Dunn sticks around after this season. She's a free agent, and you'd think they would've already tried to secure her contract if she was gonna stick around.
Anyone in the media who comes here and has access to the team and league: would love more questions about the sale!
Yeah, I keep coming back to this. Could the coach adapt? Sure. But at some point it's like rearranging the deck chairs on the titanic. There's no quality in midfield or attack that isn't already on the pitch or about to be in Australia. People talk forever about "Portland's depth"...i'm simply not seeing it
Yeah, I'm always like WHO?! Taylor Porter? Meghan Nally? Many of our starters shouldn't even be starting at this point....Rocky Rodriguez and Janine Beckie, sure. Good depth.
Part of it is also that the depth has not played well: No one wants to hear it but Moultrie was not only poor offensively today, but extremely lazy tracking back. Hubly has scared herself out of the small amount of composure she had left and no amount of stability can account for an attack lead by this version of Izzy and Michelle Vasconcelos.
Either last year, or the year prior there was a window where she played a lot more and she looked much better. Maybe it was the Euros? Olympics? I can't remember. I thought it was last season. There was a period where the Nats were not around. My guess is the coaching and the personnel around her, but yeah, not a great individual performance either. Hard to look good when your whole team is a flaming dumpster, though. This team isn't even threatening and bad, they just look meek and hesitant most of the time.
Right, having better quality around you improves your own play. KK should've been planning for that rather than hoping a second-year player in Coffey and a 17-year old would carry the team. We really needed some quality brought in in the attacking areas, and we kinda got worse than that- no real signings at all! We still went into this window with 3 damn midfielders, although they did just bring one in...a player who no one has ever heard of lol. What are the NTRP's even here for now? Bungled so bad....
Not even low key. She's totally always had derps almost every game since I can remember...she's just turned south from there over the last two seasons. Several years ago, my partner and I would call defensive derps "doin a Hubly" because of how often she had them when she started getting more time. But yeah, I think it's also the changes around her, and also, likely Bixby being pretty iffy the past two seasons now. This is also like, 3 years of not making a whole lot of changes on the backline coming to roost...
Kuikka missing passes, Hubly clearing every ball out over touch (regardless of actual need), Bixby passing to the opponent...this is just SO damn hard to watch.
Yep. Gotham sent a full line of attackers at the goal and our defense didn't get back. However, I'm not entirely sure Purce wasn't offside when she headed that one on to goal.
After 15 weeks of regular season play, only North Carolina (8) have won at least half of their matches.
Over the past 6 regular season matches, only North Carolina and Louisville actually have more wins than losses.
“Parity” or just garbage soccer? Both? Both!
Sounds like a game show: Parity or Garbage?
Sounds like it could be a bit on a Letterman, Conan, or James Corden type of show, too.
The NWSL not only used to be the deepest first-division league in WoSo (still is), it was also at least arguably the best. That just isn't the case right now, and I'm wondering what happened. Dilution due to expansion? Too many players and prospects heading to Europe for better pay? A combination?
Personally, I think this year specifically was that so so many teams have had coaching changes, which can kinda reset the clock for continuity, even among a group that may have been similar from last season.
Also, in other teams there have been injuries among key players that have totally changed the way they play (ie... Taylor Kornieck, Emily van Egmond, Abby Dahlkemper for the Wave; Fishlock, Lavelle, Quinn, Rapinoe- all at times for Reign.) Overall, the coaching changes and injuries have led to inconsistent play for almost all teams. NC lost most games at the beginning of the year, but I think that was because they had a ton of new young folks, and many of their veteran defenders left. Debinha left. But now, there's an identity with Nahas, and the team plays the same way no matter the personnel. Every player is super fit and fast and can execute his plan. Same kinda goes for Orlando. Maybe even Gotham.
There was a lot of player shuffling in the offseason (and with free agency- many veteran players). Tons of new players on many teams, new coaches all taking time. The Thorns had one of the least amount of turnovers in player personnel, but it's the coaching and lack of preparation in this WC period that's the reason for our form. When the WC players come back, we'll likely revert to our previous inconsistentish-but-still-scoring form and potentially still win a shield or championship despite the bad coaching. Somehow, maybe it's good Norris' coaching is being exposed in this window, otherwise he may have fully been able to hide behind a good roster and maybe would have a better chance at keeping his job...
We still have 3 CC games, and honestly, I'm not sure we win any of them. Then there's the league game against NC, which, I'm not sure we win either...depending on who we get back. It's very possible this turns into a 7 game L streak. Anyone know what the record is for this club?
Given how many of the top 100 players go undrafted every year? It seems hard to believe that going from 10 clubs to 12 is somehow strip-mining talent.
Perhaps because it's what in the digital marketing world is called a "long tail" situation. Like keyword search volume, player quality is packed into a handful of keywords, er...players...on one end of the chart. The "long tail" is numerous, but low in volume, er...quality.
I would guess moving from 9 teams to 12 is the biggest culprit. It means talent is more spread out, the back end of rosters are worse than they were.
Also the almost entire (intentional) eschewing of the league by Australians has had an impact too - that’s quite a few top quality players who are gone for good.
And yet... the draft does not seem to be a consistent resource of 15-20 good-to-great new additions league wide, season to season. I cannot fathom why. Insufficient club investments in scouting and player development?
If going from roughly 225 to 300 pro players means that those extra 75 players are sub-pro quality? That’s pretty damning for the dozens of D1 programs supposedly developing players good enough to turn pro.
I’m not saying that a bigger player pool wouldn’t of necessity include more marginal squad players. But the number of those marginal players would seem unlikely to crash the level of play to the degree we’re discussing here…
Somehow we go into the international break tied for 2nd and only -1 on the table.
Week 15... the week of the NWSL Power Outage Rankings
Second place…they’ll call this a win for Norris and the “deepest team in the league!”
Once again the last place team beats the top of table team. This league!
So the last shall beat first, and the first fail against last...
And once again, KC find themselves at the bottom.... yet just 6 points out of the playoffs.
Only Houston looks worse than us right now.
I still think even Houston looks better in this window.
Still think we have the worst offensive line in the NWSL right now. Weaver, 3 players who don't play (one, a rookie), and an NTRP player from last season. Didn't expect for the whole team to look such a damn mess, though!
Agreed. Weaver's wonderful alongside the other front line starters, but isn't the sort of player who's going to carry an offense. She's just not a dependable enough finisher, and seems to be reverting to an earlier version: create a wonderful chance with aggressive dribbling and speed...then finish with a shot only vaguely in the direction of goal. It's almost as if she thinks she has to do it all herself...probably because she does.
Sigh, going to be a long, hot summer, and all of the PDX teams are a hot mess, and they all need new owners. Time to get more reading and writing done, methinks...
The Thorns will be fine once Soph et al are back and I still think it’s quite probable the thorns win the championship because they’re the best team in the league when 1-11 are fit and available.
There's a big if there that frustrated Vietnamese (or whatever) player doesn't send Smith back to the US in crutches.
sure, but that could happen in league play too. and like, yeah, if sophia smith is hurt we're not as good a team. that's true for every club team in the world. Arsenal lost Beth Mead and Viv Miedema within a month of each other and took about a month to rebuild the entire attack.
I am being a little melodramatic, but I am very concerned how our goalkeeping and defense have completely fallen apart. A better midfield might help, but gosh, the back line is kind of a hot mess right now.
I’d tend to agree, and I suspect it’s mutually reinforcing. The backline is playing tight and nervous because any error could result in a concession. Bixby lacks confidence which is exacerbated by knowing her backline is a hot mess.
Not sure how this gets fixed, either. Getting Sauerbrunn back will help but won’t be a magic bullet; the backs had a lot of the same issues when she was there.
Frankly, I don’t think we’re going to see major improvements until we get a coaching change. Either Norris gets a clue, or he gets canned.
Yeah, I don't think you're being melodramatic. This group is really rattled.
Not melodramatic, just realistic! Pointing out the obvious, really. Norris has made an entire back 5 (sometimes 6) look poor. Of course there’s individual problems, but if it’s EVERYONE? Looking at you, coach…
Does this organization have it in them right now to make a coaching change this season if things do not improve? I feel like the club is in a holding pattern at the moment.
Very much doubt there will be any coaching change during the season. My guess would be a week before the 2024 season lol (knowing this club)…
No, but kidding aside, we won’t get any of that until after new ownership is in place. The window is closing, though. Ideally, new ownership and a new coach would be in place a good deal before both of the drafts looming. That sale really needs to happen in the next couple months otherwise I fear a very messy off-season that could see the 2024 season looking rough.
https://twitter.com/GothamFC/status/1678181467149434880?s=20
Holy SHIT Lmaoooooooooo
Good on them. If Dame goes to Brooklyn then that means the Blazers probably got a good trade. I wonder if the Thorns can piggyback on the trade and get another striker, or CB, or literally anyone?
Rather bold, wasn’t it.
A+ social media admin-ing imo
Ouch.
...https://twitter.com/RyanTClarke/status/1678187959525277696 what did you anticipate my guy? That players who didn't score in two consecutive games were going to turn it on? That players who you've not used all season (because they are Not Good) were going to become good?
Thanks for trying to explain Norris. Cuz I sure as hell don’t know what he meant.
Because it's gobbly-gook coach speak not really meant to be understood.
Yeah, I know. Code for “I’m lost.”
This is admittedly the hill I'll die on, but I really don't think this iteration of Moultrie is an 8- She neither works hard enough defensively or has the pace to shuttle, and certainly not the way Crystal Dunn can. I'd like to see a 4-2-3-1 with Liv at the 10 in the SD game
I never understood why she was being used in that way either. She doesn't really have the qualities of an 8. She needs to be in the 10, but she needs a competent midfield behind her so she can stay high and create. I'm not sure she'll get to shine with the players on this roster for this period, unfortunately...
Yeah, she's much more of the Sinclair type. Lower touch numbers, second striker stuff, whereas Dunn's much more high volume. We're asking her to do both at the moment.
NC can go 4 points clear with a result tonight.
In this iteration there's no focal talent on this team. Weaver's a supporting player, Moultrie is not ready for prime time, maybe they could start Betfort over D'Aquila who's been awful, Kuikka, Hubly, Kling and Menges, in other word our veteran leadership, are all in bad form, Coffey remains solid of course, and everybody else out there is a try hard but not really up to snuff. I just don't know about Bixby. Predictable results.
Simply unacceptable that Gotham could bring on an ex Spanish international and three ten year NWSL veterans to see out the game and we brought on a 2022 4th round pick who has literally not played all season, Taylor Porter, and Hannah Betfort.
And Betfort was arguably WOTM.
This alone is lol, and should require deep reflection from the coach…
KK literally doing her homework on the bus on the way to school with a crayon. Just, unserious behavior from this FO for a team defending a GD title. Infuriating. What does she do besides walk around Prov Park waving to the crowd?
Not an excuse or something that makes me feel any better, but I feel pretty confident Merritt is just refusing to spend at this point.
Didn't he step away from basically everything on the Thorns side? I thought Heather Davis was in charge. Wouldn't she and KK be making those decisions? Who is actually in charge here?
And if what you said is the case, WHY isn't anyone reporting on it? This is like thee marquee club in this league and if the disgraced-former-owner-but-maybe-kinda-still-in-charge MP is holding the team hostage, why tf is no one talking about it...? Maybe I'm just naive to this whole process, but maybe the league shouldn't be ok with the team getting dragged through the mud while MP count his $$$? Just so so frustrated by all of this...
Reporters have been asking for updates about the sale, but nothing. I wonder whether Paulson is slow-walking the sale or setting a price that no one is willing to meet.
They may have, but, how often? Are they asking the league? It’s been over 7 months, and this can’t be good for the players on this team. Becky has said recently in a podcast that the sale is taking much longer than they hoped, but didn’t elaborate. The league should be taking care of the players on these clubs that have been for sale a long time now….If the people asking aren’t getting answers, maybe writing a story about getting stonewalled? I’ve only seen Ryan Clarke say he’s asked, but we need more pressure than that, and from larger media networks. But, it seems if they care about any team on the west coast…it’s ACFC who gets any of the east coast network attention. At this point, I’m sure MP is content to sit on this nest egg and (literally) cash in on the hype of the WC. It’s a shame, because this tournament would’ve been the golden time for a new ownership role out.
He did and she is, but it’s still his money.... and Davis is still his deputy.
And yeah. There should both be more reporting and the league should be putting more pressure on, but the NWSL doesn’t seem to want to get involved. Media won’t notice anything unless the top end talent starts leaving (which could happen this after this year, but likely won’t happen until after next unless the team is sold) or the team stops contending (which won't happen until the talent leaves). Until then, it’s still “Smith and Dunn and Sauerbrunn oh my.”
It does seem like the Riveters protests have kinda stopped and the attendance is back up, so there's no real pressure from any direction at this point.
Yeah, I have doubts Dunn sticks around after this season. She's a free agent, and you'd think they would've already tried to secure her contract if she was gonna stick around.
Anyone in the media who comes here and has access to the team and league: would love more questions about the sale!
Theoretically speaking, don't the STF writers here, who also write over on Rose City Review, have such access?
Outside of what's necessary, that seems probably right. And would track with the NTRP they got.
I think that's the answer. I don't take for granted that anybody is going to be back here next year, except for players.
Yeah, I keep coming back to this. Could the coach adapt? Sure. But at some point it's like rearranging the deck chairs on the titanic. There's no quality in midfield or attack that isn't already on the pitch or about to be in Australia. People talk forever about "Portland's depth"...i'm simply not seeing it
Yeah, I'm always like WHO?! Taylor Porter? Meghan Nally? Many of our starters shouldn't even be starting at this point....Rocky Rodriguez and Janine Beckie, sure. Good depth.
Part of it is also that the depth has not played well: No one wants to hear it but Moultrie was not only poor offensively today, but extremely lazy tracking back. Hubly has scared herself out of the small amount of composure she had left and no amount of stability can account for an attack lead by this version of Izzy and Michelle Vasconcelos.
Yep. She's been inconsistent which...fair enough, she's 17. We're asking her to be the focal point of a team that just lost it's entire attack.
And the one-sided role she plays doesn't really allow her to be a focal point anyhow- Which is another reason I want her more centrally.
SELL
THE
TEAM
New FO, new coaches, new defenders, new attacking depth please...not a long list.
Garbage.
it's actually funny how bad the last two passages of play were
Gotham has done very well to take the sting out of this. Helped by some fairly blatant timewasting but
They have a lot of experience on the field to see out this game. It matters.
Moultrie's been borderline unwatchable this half
Yeah, she's not ready to be the centerpiece. Alas.
Literally no one looking even decent.
she was one of the players we wanted to step up during this period...she might not be ready for that
It's a lot to ask at 17 but I still think she would probably be capable with just a little more support. The whole right side was trash this match
Either last year, or the year prior there was a window where she played a lot more and she looked much better. Maybe it was the Euros? Olympics? I can't remember. I thought it was last season. There was a period where the Nats were not around. My guess is the coaching and the personnel around her, but yeah, not a great individual performance either. Hard to look good when your whole team is a flaming dumpster, though. This team isn't even threatening and bad, they just look meek and hesitant most of the time.
We had better personnel around last time. Sugita was there, we had better attackers. Yazmeen Ryan was also big in that period.
Right, having better quality around you improves your own play. KK should've been planning for that rather than hoping a second-year player in Coffey and a 17-year old would carry the team. We really needed some quality brought in in the attacking areas, and we kinda got worse than that- no real signings at all! We still went into this window with 3 damn midfielders, although they did just bring one in...a player who no one has ever heard of lol. What are the NTRP's even here for now? Bungled so bad....
I'm starting to be over Hubley. She's a turnover machine.
Yeah, she's been that way for like 2 seasons now.
low key i think she's always been loose with her passing but there were some structural things (Salem, Becky) that alleviated that.
Not even low key. She's totally always had derps almost every game since I can remember...she's just turned south from there over the last two seasons. Several years ago, my partner and I would call defensive derps "doin a Hubly" because of how often she had them when she started getting more time. But yeah, I think it's also the changes around her, and also, likely Bixby being pretty iffy the past two seasons now. This is also like, 3 years of not making a whole lot of changes on the backline coming to roost...
Been that way for a bit now. We need to be looking at long-term options at CB.
Kuikka missing passes, Hubly clearing every ball out over touch (regardless of actual need), Bixby passing to the opponent...this is just SO damn hard to watch.
Becky has to be home watching this and weeping.
They look to be an unconfident team.
Kuikka...come on
...WHY
TAYLOR PORTER WORLD CLASS MIDFIELDER HERE TO SAVE US!
Last time you said that, our sub scored. Keep it up!
WORLD CLASS WINGER NATALIE BECKMAN HERE TO SAVE US!
Sorry y'all, didn't work this time.
Water break? Are the officials trying to run out the weather clock now?
Kling's getting treatment
I see. Did it help?
sure, why not
lol it's amazing how much better Betfort looks at #9 than D'Aquila
Omg I didn't even realize she was still on the field!
The Canadian Overlords must have seen something in her. I hope she adjusts upwards here soon.
GD Bella open up your body and show some damn composure there
her poor kicking is acceptable when she's adding value elsewhere...but now it's another huge flaw
Gotham's players do go down rather easily
Nice dive Allie.
They just said Portland's xG was .2 lol
Thought that could've been a pen :/
On replay Reyes poked the ball out. I was briefly worried too.
Ends up being a great tackle, but still such a bad decision.
Surprised to see Weaver sky that one over the bar...said no one, ever.
The plan should be to isolate Weaver on Freeman whenever possible. Hunt her like a NBA mismatch.
MORGAN TAKE HER 1V1 DON'T HIT IT FROM 30 YARDS
Literally never going to work
omg i thought Kling had done it
Same, I shrieked in my office by myself. I don't think she's ever scored for the Thorns.
Same.
if the difference in the game is because Bixby fell asleep with her positioning i'm going to be really annoyed
Unbelievable touch from Betfort.
She does show that from time to time.
HOW SHIT ARE YOU WE SCORED WITHOUT SOPH
this is gonna get cancelled by the storm with the Thorns pressing you watch
Gotham sending the up the bat signal to say "ok someone hit the damn STORM button, we need a breather" lol
They ordered 100 lighting rods from Amazon at halftime.
BETFORT!
Kay I just have no damn clue with this stupid game lol, Taylor Porter goal next...
hey didn't she score like 3 last season?
She totally did lol. She has def not looked like she's been close at all this season though
Wow! I didn't think she had that kind of technique in her bag.
Sheesh, finally
It's like the second coming.
HANNAH BETFORT SZN STARTS NOW
Ha ha, new starting striker Hannah Betfort.
OMG WORLD CLASS STRIKER HANNAH BETFORT I SAID IT FIRST
Just reminding everyone I said it 9 minutes ago lolol
What happened to this team... I'm weeping over here
I think I hear your dad calling you.
Morgan WHY are you not shooting there
Alright time to bench Bella again
i'm not even sure it was ever time to start her again
(it wasn't)
what on earth is Bella's positioning there
She got her hand on it at least. No teammates there to clean up.
Yep. Gotham sent a full line of attackers at the goal and our defense didn't get back. However, I'm not entirely sure Purce wasn't offside when she headed that one on to goal.
Sure. But if she's standing in the right place it's an easy grab--or she can parry not right in front of goal
Chipping the keeper. What a concept.
WELP
3 L's in a row. What say you, KK?
I'd stick Natu on the right wing and take Izzy off. Play Betfort centrally.
Hate myself for typing that