How important is the shield to the team as a whole? It's either PTFC or SDW, nobody else can snag it, and since SDW are hosting Loovull, Thorns likely need to win in LA, or it slips away like last year. SD has one loss in their last six.
[This is an opening for my standard rant at television sportschatters that teams do not "control their destiny" under the meaning of that word. Thank you.]
Do not see Soph playing more than a half and probably less than that. Do you sit other select critical players with an eye to the playoffs and not concern yourself with the shield?
Also want to see Soph win golden boot and Sam to claim the assist title, that one seems baked in now. But Kerolin is just one goal behind Soph, with Hatch and Debinha at two.
Losing the shield last year when it was in their grasp is probably fresh on the mind, so I do think they care. They've said they want both trophies.
They'll have 3 weeks after our AC game! Really, that could be too much time. It would be great if they can schedule a match against a local college team the weekend prior just to get back into game form.
Honestly I saw lots of hesitance from Soph after coming in, so I think her return will be slower. Getting her maybe 20 against AC would be good for her, but just based on the eye test in person (she was right in front of my section) I could tell her normal speed and acceleration is prob like 70%, and she was hesitant for ANY contact (stark, for someone who loves it.) I'll rewatch and see if I think differently. Another 4 weeks until playoffs though is a great runup to get her healthy! (but she's gonna be coming into playoffs cold without many game minutes)
Kerolin would have to score two goals in her last game. She is at 10 goals and three assists to Sophs 11 goals five assists. Kerolin's route to the Golden Boot has to be two goals, which is possible for her. But even is she ties Smith for goals and loses the Golden Boot she might still get MVP. I also think Sam Coffey is a candidate for MVP.
I don't think they will need to rest anybody. Won't they have two weeks with a first round bye?
I think both the shield and championship trophy comes with their own separate pots of money. I think this is the first year that they're giving $$$ for both.
Teams do not control their own destiny, and no individual or team is a "defending champion" with the exception of sports in which it remains with the individual or team unless they are directly beaten for it (e.g., boxing).
Props to Amoros. He was chasing the win when he subbed on Stengel for Edmonds and Iffy for Sheehan (who grabbed and tugged and pulled all day long). But he also made sure to get Farrelly and Shim on the field today too. It was great to hear the applause for Sinead and Mana.
Looks like the best possible result from NC-San Diego for the Thorns, the competition for the Shield boils down to San Diego and we’ve clinched a playoff bye! Still gotta seal the deal for the Shield next week but they own their own destiny and I’ll take a guaranteed bye over all else.
Good to see Soph back. Impeccable defensive play - Menges, Sauerbrunn, Hubly all solid. Kuikka excelled. Hina--wow. What a player. And a good call from Norris to put her centrally, she was so good at building.
Dunn was not great, but Sinclair's cameo...jesus christ. That was abysmal.
I had hoped that she'd score (or at least get a shot off) on that one where she had a ton of space, but then she just tripped over the ball and got stripped. It was right in front of us, everyone around us were dumbfounded a bit. I'm guessing she'll still get called up, but I wonder if she plays in any of Canada's upcoming friendlies...Bev seems to have finally moved towards getting younger players into the games.
I really don't understand the inconsistency this season. I'm glad we had a little more composure today. A little more dangerous in front of goal but still a bit inefficient (cursed post). Enough to get the job done but I can't help but think we should have been able to get a result last week too.
Thorns not only clinched a home playoff match, but indeed a first-round bye. SD can still surpass Thorns, of course. Only NC can catch Portland for 2nd but GD is the first tiebreaker.
For the life of me, I can't figure out why neither the NWSL itself nor the CBS/Paramount broadcasters are acknowledging the consequence of today's result.
I'll admit that I was pretty worried about Williams and Purce running at our back line but they were all but neutralized. Williams within a whisker of drawing them even but nice save for Bella. To me they were just so much more committed tonight than they were against the Wave. Everybody defended. Frankly starting Moultrie over Sinclair makes that possible. Excellent team effort all game long.
Defending was mostly excellent. Kuikka had some LOVELY moves for Lynn. I sit right where she was the first half and she had her in her pocket all game. I was so nervous for Midge and Kling in particular (and Midge did round her a few times), but the team was committed to defending as a unit and it worked like a charm. Besides the one shot at goal Esther Gonzalez had that was offside, I don't think she even got one shot on goal. If we can neutralize that group, I feel much more confident about other teams with formidable offenses...
About the closest thing to a complaint I can come up with is that the xG was probably a fair bit higher than the actual score (or however that works...I'm NOT a stats guy!). We were fairly dominant - although not excessively so - and I might have expected the score to reflect that.
But whatever. A very good performance all around. I agree with Hina as WotM (big surprise, I'm sure...). An all-around performance from her, as strong on the defensive side of the ball as on the attack.
See THIS is the Hina I know she can be! I hope you were so pleased. She had me grinning for a full 90. My only gripe was that she should have had a hattrick! She was literally everywhere though. I thought our midfield the first half was mostly excellent.
I agree our xG wasn't the best. In some respect, I do appreciate them not just taking 40 shots on goal only to have them quickly shoved back down our throats while our team is outta position and vulnerable to a counter, especially because our FB's are both so high generally (and def slower than their wingers.) Absolutely Gotham could've punished us on the counter with their speed if the keeper was quick to clear. As an aside- that's one thing I question about Amoros' style...he's trying to play more possession based Spanish football, but his wingers thrive best on transition. Lynn is most dangerous for her speed and ability to get into good spaces...not necessarily for her technical skills. There were a few times when they could've sped down the wings from half field, but either Midge or Lynn would stop and hold up the ball and pass back inside to progress....Anyways, while I'd love for them to still clean things up to create better chances, I do think being cautious with their shooting may have helped mitigate those transition moments (even though Gotham didn't often take the ones they got.) Gotham also just had a mostly solid defense and our forward options are sparse (though I do think at least one of those bumps from Maitane Lopez was a penalty.)
I was delighted! Hina at her best... My favorite players tend to be those with high-end technical skills and "one step ahead" football brains. Hina's that kind of player and has become one of my favorite Thorns ever (I loved Tobin, Lindsey, and Vero, too...if that gives you any idea).
That's an excellent observation about Gotham not exploiting its pace. It's not a team built for tiki-taka. A team with Gotham's defensive prowess would seem to be perfect for relying on high-speed counters, but they don't do a lot of that. That's got to be a deliberate coaching decision, and I also have to question it.
It’s a system/Norris tactic thing. Too slow, too static. Nobody makes runs off the ball, nobody slots passes inside. It’s all “dink around the box and cross in”. If we had a target forward it might even work…but we don’t.
Yeah, I do think it's both. To my eye, Betfort lost the ball a bunch the first half....which doesn't help the tactics, no matter which plan the coach uses. But def a system/tactics thing first....there were so many times that I thought Liv could've threaded a ball straight to Betfort...but it just looks like they aren't coached to do that. Liv generally has that vision better than most on this team, I wish she was coached to use that skill more often.
But, it's also that our F options are sparse and maybe she doesn't trust Betfort (who has a stone touch, mostly) so she goes for those risky passes less often. I say risky, because with how high our team gets up in the attacking phase, a turnover can (and has been in the past) pretty dangerous. Hard to know if it's Liv's training, or if it's her intuition suppressing that...
As I've said before, I think Betfort is a fine late sub when we're ahead but a starter or even 1st sub, she is not. And I agree it's not fair to expect that of her.
The replay wasn’t clear (camera didn’t adjust to shadow) but it sure looked like Lopez didn’t even attempt to play the ball after the initial touch; looked like a pure hip-check on Betfort.
I think that one should have been given. She made a clean tackle on the ball...but then absolutely hip-checked Betfort to the pitch. In the modern game, that's a foul. But it's not like anyone ever accused Danielle Chesky of competence...
They have a 4 back. Nighswonger plays LB and will get high…it’ll be Lynn at LW, Esther at CF, and midge at RW. Maitane and Kreiger play CB. Bruninha will be at RB.
No Rocky, huh? Does that mean no double pivot now? Moultrie can’t do what a Rocky does, but maybe Crystal sits deeper? Not sure I love that…we need her closer to goal imo. I’m not even sure which formation this is…
How important is the shield to the team as a whole? It's either PTFC or SDW, nobody else can snag it, and since SDW are hosting Loovull, Thorns likely need to win in LA, or it slips away like last year. SD has one loss in their last six.
[This is an opening for my standard rant at television sportschatters that teams do not "control their destiny" under the meaning of that word. Thank you.]
Do not see Soph playing more than a half and probably less than that. Do you sit other select critical players with an eye to the playoffs and not concern yourself with the shield?
Also want to see Soph win golden boot and Sam to claim the assist title, that one seems baked in now. But Kerolin is just one goal behind Soph, with Hatch and Debinha at two.
Losing the shield last year when it was in their grasp is probably fresh on the mind, so I do think they care. They've said they want both trophies.
They'll have 3 weeks after our AC game! Really, that could be too much time. It would be great if they can schedule a match against a local college team the weekend prior just to get back into game form.
Honestly I saw lots of hesitance from Soph after coming in, so I think her return will be slower. Getting her maybe 20 against AC would be good for her, but just based on the eye test in person (she was right in front of my section) I could tell her normal speed and acceleration is prob like 70%, and she was hesitant for ANY contact (stark, for someone who loves it.) I'll rewatch and see if I think differently. Another 4 weeks until playoffs though is a great runup to get her healthy! (but she's gonna be coming into playoffs cold without many game minutes)
Kerolin would have to score two goals in her last game. She is at 10 goals and three assists to Sophs 11 goals five assists. Kerolin's route to the Golden Boot has to be two goals, which is possible for her. But even is she ties Smith for goals and loses the Golden Boot she might still get MVP. I also think Sam Coffey is a candidate for MVP.
I don't think they will need to rest anybody. Won't they have two weeks with a first round bye?
Yes, the bye is a big get for them, and well-earned.
Does the shield come with player bonuses? Reason enough to land it.
$15k per player.
I think both the shield and championship trophy comes with their own separate pots of money. I think this is the first year that they're giving $$$ for both.
If there is a Regular Season Shield, I think there should also be a Championship Sword.
Teams do not control their own destiny, and no individual or team is a "defending champion" with the exception of sports in which it remains with the individual or team unless they are directly beaten for it (e.g., boxing).
Chicago have conceded 47 goals in 21 regular season games, including 9 matches with 3+ conceded and 5 matches with 4+ conceded. Poor Naeher.
But the all-time stinkaroo belongs to Orlando Pride 2019, who conceded 53 goals in 24 games.
Props to Amoros. He was chasing the win when he subbed on Stengel for Edmonds and Iffy for Sheehan (who grabbed and tugged and pulled all day long). But he also made sure to get Farrelly and Shim on the field today too. It was great to hear the applause for Sinead and Mana.
Sam Coffey was an absolute rock star! She made so many great plays!!
CHI have been eliminated. 6-3 KC and counting...
The 10 Sides Who Still Matter:
POR 35 (1)
SD 34 (1)
NC 30 (1)
NJY 30 (1)
WAS 30 (1)
OLR 29 (1)
ORL 28 (1)
LOU 27 (1)
HOU 26 (2)
ACFC 25 (2)
If Houston wins today, then ACFC are eliminated.
Good Janet edition Thorns appeared today. Yay! Hina was a monster, Hinzilla stomp!
Good palate cleanser after last week, can Good Janet show two weeks running?
Soph seemed mobile, maybe a quarter step less quick? Very positive going forward.
How I love hearing the fans chant "Morgan Weaver."
8 assists? You go, Sam Coffey.
Looks like the best possible result from NC-San Diego for the Thorns, the competition for the Shield boils down to San Diego and we’ve clinched a playoff bye! Still gotta seal the deal for the Shield next week but they own their own destiny and I’ll take a guaranteed bye over all else.
3-2 KC over CHI at halftime. Franch with at least her 3rd OG of the season.
Terrible season from her. Just sad to see.
My word was that bad.
Well, I suppose the good news is that she only allowed in 1 more goal today. I mean, after the own goal. Jeezus.
Good to see Soph back. Impeccable defensive play - Menges, Sauerbrunn, Hubly all solid. Kuikka excelled. Hina--wow. What a player. And a good call from Norris to put her centrally, she was so good at building.
Dunn was not great, but Sinclair's cameo...jesus christ. That was abysmal.
I had hoped that she'd score (or at least get a shot off) on that one where she had a ton of space, but then she just tripped over the ball and got stripped. It was right in front of us, everyone around us were dumbfounded a bit. I'm guessing she'll still get called up, but I wonder if she plays in any of Canada's upcoming friendlies...Bev seems to have finally moved towards getting younger players into the games.
yes! you must have been near me because that was right in front of me too.
Like a blooper reel...while Yakety Sax plays softly in the background lol.
We teevee watches were treated to Sinc giving Krieger an extended savaging after an egregious foul. Glorious.
Sinc was not-so-good offensively, but she hustled and played some real defense.
The ~10 minute period in between when Betfort went off and Soph came on and our only outlet was a clearly tiring Weaver was tough
She did have a nice header out of a dangerous CK play.
I really don't understand the inconsistency this season. I'm glad we had a little more composure today. A little more dangerous in front of goal but still a bit inefficient (cursed post). Enough to get the job done but I can't help but think we should have been able to get a result last week too.
Thorns not only clinched a home playoff match, but indeed a first-round bye. SD can still surpass Thorns, of course. Only NC can catch Portland for 2nd but GD is the first tiebreaker.
For the life of me, I can't figure out why neither the NWSL itself nor the CBS/Paramount broadcasters are acknowledging the consequence of today's result.
That was a very hard-fought game and I DO NOT want Thorns to face Gotham again. We were surely sun-aided in the 2nd half.
Great to see Sinead and Mana on the Portland pitch again.
Glad to say that I was totally wrong on Smith's availability and play. It changes everything in terms of depth if she is available.
I'll admit that I was pretty worried about Williams and Purce running at our back line but they were all but neutralized. Williams within a whisker of drawing them even but nice save for Bella. To me they were just so much more committed tonight than they were against the Wave. Everybody defended. Frankly starting Moultrie over Sinclair makes that possible. Excellent team effort all game long.
Defending was mostly excellent. Kuikka had some LOVELY moves for Lynn. I sit right where she was the first half and she had her in her pocket all game. I was so nervous for Midge and Kling in particular (and Midge did round her a few times), but the team was committed to defending as a unit and it worked like a charm. Besides the one shot at goal Esther Gonzalez had that was offside, I don't think she even got one shot on goal. If we can neutralize that group, I feel much more confident about other teams with formidable offenses...
At a wedding, couldn’t watch, but what a ginormous fucking win.
I won’t say it was pretty. But it worked and that’s the bottom line. Props to the defenders. They did what they needed to do.
Hina was WOTM, classic Sugita. But great games by Weaver, Coffey, Moultrie and Dunn. Defense was solid. Great game!
About the closest thing to a complaint I can come up with is that the xG was probably a fair bit higher than the actual score (or however that works...I'm NOT a stats guy!). We were fairly dominant - although not excessively so - and I might have expected the score to reflect that.
But whatever. A very good performance all around. I agree with Hina as WotM (big surprise, I'm sure...). An all-around performance from her, as strong on the defensive side of the ball as on the attack.
See THIS is the Hina I know she can be! I hope you were so pleased. She had me grinning for a full 90. My only gripe was that she should have had a hattrick! She was literally everywhere though. I thought our midfield the first half was mostly excellent.
I agree our xG wasn't the best. In some respect, I do appreciate them not just taking 40 shots on goal only to have them quickly shoved back down our throats while our team is outta position and vulnerable to a counter, especially because our FB's are both so high generally (and def slower than their wingers.) Absolutely Gotham could've punished us on the counter with their speed if the keeper was quick to clear. As an aside- that's one thing I question about Amoros' style...he's trying to play more possession based Spanish football, but his wingers thrive best on transition. Lynn is most dangerous for her speed and ability to get into good spaces...not necessarily for her technical skills. There were a few times when they could've sped down the wings from half field, but either Midge or Lynn would stop and hold up the ball and pass back inside to progress....Anyways, while I'd love for them to still clean things up to create better chances, I do think being cautious with their shooting may have helped mitigate those transition moments (even though Gotham didn't often take the ones they got.) Gotham also just had a mostly solid defense and our forward options are sparse (though I do think at least one of those bumps from Maitane Lopez was a penalty.)
I was delighted! Hina at her best... My favorite players tend to be those with high-end technical skills and "one step ahead" football brains. Hina's that kind of player and has become one of my favorite Thorns ever (I loved Tobin, Lindsey, and Vero, too...if that gives you any idea).
That's an excellent observation about Gotham not exploiting its pace. It's not a team built for tiki-taka. A team with Gotham's defensive prowess would seem to be perfect for relying on high-speed counters, but they don't do a lot of that. That's got to be a deliberate coaching decision, and I also have to question it.
I’d be shocked if either team had an xG over 1.0. Both had some chances, not many, and Hina-san finished one of ours, so, yay!
We needed this after SDW. Now the squad can go to LA loose and comfortable
.7 to .36 in favour of the Thorns. Gotham are a good defensive team.
Both sides were solid in back. We got one break, finished it, so yay, us.
And the benefit of the keeper having to stare into the sun in the 2nd half, just as happened in last year's semifinal.
Good job Thorns! Go Courage!
Weaver down with a sore leg…3 minutes left
Tactical cramp!
Reyes for Kling, Sinc for Betfort, Rocky for Dunn
Rodriguez, Reyes, and Sinc are up on the sidelines.
Lovely cross, too! Thanks, Sam!
Hina-senshu!!!
Hina! Yes!!
Arigato, Hina san!!!!!
It’s a low bar…but given how static our “attack” is I’ll settle for a scoreless draw at this point.
Betfort has been pretty useless unfortunately. We just need a better backup 9…
It’s a system/Norris tactic thing. Too slow, too static. Nobody makes runs off the ball, nobody slots passes inside. It’s all “dink around the box and cross in”. If we had a target forward it might even work…but we don’t.
Betfort is a symptom, not the disease…
Yeah, I do think it's both. To my eye, Betfort lost the ball a bunch the first half....which doesn't help the tactics, no matter which plan the coach uses. But def a system/tactics thing first....there were so many times that I thought Liv could've threaded a ball straight to Betfort...but it just looks like they aren't coached to do that. Liv generally has that vision better than most on this team, I wish she was coached to use that skill more often.
But, it's also that our F options are sparse and maybe she doesn't trust Betfort (who has a stone touch, mostly) so she goes for those risky passes less often. I say risky, because with how high our team gets up in the attacking phase, a turnover can (and has been in the past) pretty dangerous. Hard to know if it's Liv's training, or if it's her intuition suppressing that...
As I've said before, I think Betfort is a fine late sub when we're ahead but a starter or even 1st sub, she is not. And I agree it's not fair to expect that of her.
Agreed, and her value is in challenging the keeper into unfavorable distribution.
Sure would be nice if the calls were being made the same way for both sides, huh?
The replay wasn’t clear (camera didn’t adjust to shadow) but it sure looked like Lopez didn’t even attempt to play the ball after the initial touch; looked like a pure hip-check on Betfort.
Lopez has been a wrecking ball in the box. 2 possible penalties on her. The one on Betfort was pretty aggressive
I think that one should have been given. She made a clean tackle on the ball...but then absolutely hip-checked Betfort to the pitch. In the modern game, that's a foul. But it's not like anyone ever accused Danielle Chesky of competence...
Gotham showing a 3-4-3 with Purce-Nightswonger-Maitane up front.
They have a 4 back. Nighswonger plays LB and will get high…it’ll be Lynn at LW, Esther at CF, and midge at RW. Maitane and Kreiger play CB. Bruninha will be at RB.
Their lineup on Twitter is all fucked up, then.
Yeah, I don't know why they post their lineup graphics like that. They are never correct. Purposely misleading? Clueless admin? Who knows...
No Rocky, huh? Does that mean no double pivot now? Moultrie can’t do what a Rocky does, but maybe Crystal sits deeper? Not sure I love that…we need her closer to goal imo. I’m not even sure which formation this is…
My guess is 4-3-3 with Coffey lone six and Dunn/Moultrie as dual eights. Not sure I’m confident against Gotham with that.
Yeah both of those players are more 10s thanu 8s. I fear Sam Coffey on an island…
Especially if they’re going with four in midfield. Seems like a big overrun risk.
Could work if the fullbacks stay home. But that's a big, big "if," and even if they do, we're going to have to be careful to create width.
Yay: 6 in the morning! (*grumble*)
You knew the job was dangerous when you took it..! (gratuitous SuperChicken reference…)
Definitely some adjustment being so far ahead of everyone back in 'Murrica.
Well, we ARE the Center of the Universs. Shigata ga nai, eh?
Betfort, Moultrie get the start. Soph available on bench.
https://twitter.com/ThornsFC/status/1710747613291814980