Houston handled the heat and humidity better than we did. After pressing hard early on, we just ran out of gas at around 35' and never really got our mojo back.
That, plus having too many bench players out there at the end when we needed a goal. I mean, we had Nally, Porter, D'Aquila, and Reyes playing while Hina Freaking Sugita was watching from the bench. (Mind you, Reyes and D'Aquila have potential to be really good, but clearly aren't there yet.) I understand the need to get some of those players some minutes, but not all of them at once when the game is balanced on a knife edge. Bad substitutions, Mr. Norris.
+1. Seemed like a tale of two games--Thorns organized, dangerous and on the front foot for the first half hour, then regression to Brownian motion for the last sixty.
When the response to sluggishness is bringing Sinc off the bench, maybe rethink the whole scheme.
I ‘ve noticed the same thing. Around 30-35 minutes the focus seems to go away, freelancing sort of creeps in. A pass that tactics might dictate isn’t attempted. Instead something more creative, but more risky, is tried. Hubly (and not to single out just Hubly)will dish to the wings and once in a while to a midfielder at the start. But a half hour in, she goes over the top and a turnover results. That turnover in and of itself is not so bad, it just makes it that much harder to establish a flow or keep a flow going. Again, Hubly by far is not the only culprit here, IMO.
I also think that’s indicative of Smith just losing balls left and right. We won’t see any passing metrics to Soph if a pass is never actually completed. She never quite gained/or straight up never got possession (due to poor receiving choices on her part) most of the time a pass was attempted to her.
Once Norris saw that Soph was well marked and having an off game, he should’ve brought in D’Aquila to throw a wrench in the opponent’s game plan and go with a different tactic and different type of player. There were lots of balls being sprayed into the box, but Weaver and Soph are dire with their heads. Would’ve been nice to see a true 9 with aerial ability in there. I should say though, D’Aquila did have a nice lateral run into the center to lay off a point blank pass that Sinclair then missed. Would’ve liked to see her take the shot there, but it was a great pass and nice vision from her.
That's right, Norris: bench the player who grew up in Kitakyushu (not so very different from Houston, climate-wise). Bring in a player who looked gassed from the moment she lumbered onto the field. That's some quality coaching, that is!
I agree the heat and the humidity were big factors. I have only seen the highlights, but even when Rocky scored the players seemed wasted. There didn't seem to be the joy and exuberance. Plus for Sophia, who is on her way to joint the Nationals, looking at Houston's heat and humidity, Koroleva reffing and Chapman defending, I can imagine this game looked like a giant pothole, dangerous, but you have to get by, but certainly being a lot more cautious.
Our die hard fans care more about club than country, but these players know that the World Cup and Olympics will be their biggest audience. Alex Morgan didn't get zillions of Twitter followers from playing for Portland and Orlando. The injuries to Swanson, Mead, Miedema and maybe even Macario make it clear that an ill timed injury now would wreck a lot of dreams. I think we are going to see a lot less aggressive play from those that have a ticket to Aus/NZ in the month of May.
Hot take: switch to a 4-4-2 w coffee, Moultrie, Dunn and Hina in MF. Weaver and Smith up top. Moultrie and Hina can track back or push forward. Young legs is the answer!
I'm no coach, but it seems like new coaching 101 would be to look at the squad you have, circle the best 13-14 players on your roster, decide which line each of them plays best on, and then create a formation based on the best 11 of those players, with the subs in mind. Like I mentioned above...we have a glut of starting international quality midfielders. So...go with a 4 player midfield! We are super light on quality F's, and one of the decent prospects (D'Aquila) would likely thrive better in that formation than further on the wing. Seems obvious.
The backline, well, that's a problem....but this problem has been bottlenecked for a few years coming. Kuikka is a good young starting RB (when the coaching is there, and the rest of the backline doesn't look like a trash fire.) Otherwise, Menges has been injured for 84 years, Nally is not to be used until a 4th CB sub is needed late in a game, Hubly has always been quite inconsistent and def not a backline leader, Becky is an int'l in the twilight of her career, and Kling is just hanging on. We've needed quality acquisitions at CB and LB for a while now, we should've been better prepared than to rely on a rookie (who looks shaky to me, still.) McGrady has had injury issues her entire career. They need to recruit an experienced, but young backline general CB for longterm. I know, harder than it sounds...but, we're likely spending a lot on two Canadians in particular who would free up a lot of room for an acquisition like that.
Absolutely would do that in a heartbeat. We could use an 8 like Horan right now, but if Norris would just freakin' play Rodriguez (or Hina, or Moultrie) and let her gel with Sam and Dunn, I would be totally fine giving her up for a super skilled young defender. In fact, I've said it multiple times in the past that we should be doing that. We don't need 7 int'l quality midfielders! (Yes, 7- Coffey, Rocky, Horan, Dunn, Sinc, Sugita, Moultrie.) Play midfielders in their actual positions, get a high-quality (or two!) long-term defender for Horan before her stock drops, and look toward the future. I'd say CB is the absolute target until we know a little bit more about Reyes. She was heralded as a likely long-term starter at LB for the Mexican Nats, but I haven't really seen that quality skillset yet. Also, the cap space that will be available when Sinc retires will probably allow for a high quality player. Same goes for Sauerbrunn, but I don't wanna see her go anywhere until we have a solid option to succeed her! Watching OL Reign look old and tired every time they play on the road, and I'd love to see our team get younger, sooner!
The thing is, we're getting almost no news here about what is happening at OL but it's all pretty much out in the open over there. If Thorns, Horan, and Lindsey's agent wanted the info out there right now, it would be out there. So I do suspect that they're working on a way for her to remain in Europe, if not with OL.
While I realize this is, in part, a former CB talking, I think a true "backline general" center-half is one of the hardest positions in soccer to fill, maybe only after left fullback. I sure wasn't one of them (actually pretty good at game-reading and traffic directing, and I had the "big, strong, reasonably fast" thing...but my basic footy skills were every bit as comedy-tier as you'd expect from an American of my old-as-dirt generation!). The Thorns have been fortunate enough to have had three (Buehler, Menges, Sauerbrunn), but while we still have two of them, neither are on form or even available. I'm happy with the ever-improving Hubly as one half of the CB pair, but I can't see her ever becoming that backline general. I don't mean this to sound as bad as it probably comes across, but she just doesn't have the right (by which I mean rapid-processing, mostly) mind for it.
I'm not expecting much from the current FO/coaching crew in terms of player acquisition.
Oh absolutely agree with you. I think Hubly is an acceptable CB passenger, but we have always needed someone else in that driver seat.
Would love to have a few of the Canadian defenders rather than any of the offense honestly. KK, can we get Jayde Riviere? Kadeisha Buchanan? Ashley Lawrence? THESE are the Canadian players that I'd love to see. Positions of need.
BTW, ACFCNFT have got to be the unluckiest team in the league, hands down (no pun intended). How many times have they found ways to lose or draw-lose at the death? It's already been a bunch. And speaking of bunch, they collected a bunch of bananas last night - 5, count them, 5 yellow cards!
Not a fan of the way handballs are called. Too many PK's resulting from calls that have no impact on goal scoring opportunities. Light as a feather grazes, unintended bounces, etc. Players aiming their shots at defenders hoping they hit their arms is bad football. Intentional? I think some may use it as a tactic. Doubt anyone would fess up to it though. I wish handling calls would only happen when absolute intent to disrupt play is evident. Not the case too often.
I don't mind calling it on unintentional contact that does in fact disrupt the play, but on trivial touches? Yeah, that's silly and I agree that it tempts attackers to aim for the arms. That is indeed bad football.
What's frustrating is that 1) yes, not a hot take - given this roster it makes perfect sense, and 2) Norris pretty much said before the start of the season that he's gonna ride or die with the 4-3-3, so he doesn't see it that way.
Not a hot take here! That would've been my lineup to start, and I think multiple people here would agree to something very similar. If Dunn won't play RW (she's also been good at the 10), then adjust to the players and strengths we have. We have a glut of experienced starting midfielders and no natural starting RW. It makes the most sense to me, and we could use the defensive stability. Soph does better as well when she's not stranded on an island an expected to create magic by herself because Weaver and the "RW" are dropping so far back. Would also consider Rocky in that mix since she's the only natural 8 we have and puts a bit of steel in the spine.
I am coming to accept that this is a team, and club, in serious flux.
The roster has many players who are not contributing much, if anything at all, for various reasons -- too young, too old, too green, too injured, too misfitting, too something.
The club is for sale. The coach, the staff, the GM, all are on one-year deals.
And, all teams in all sports have their ups and downs. True greatness is rare. There is a lot of talent here, but I do not get the sense that this is a great team.
Finally, last night I became convinced that this team would greatly benefit from Lindsey Horan's return.
In a weird way last season might have been the worst possible outcome for this roster.
We knew there was a lot of issues with depth in 2022. Porter, Provenzano, Nally, Beckman...none of them looked particularly ready for prime time. Not "tire-fire" awful...but not particularly starting-quality great.
Plus...Sinc.
But...then the club won it all.
Hard to stan a complete rebuild of a defending champion team. Plus the sale. So...no real work trying to figure out how to upgrade the roster.
I don't see this as any "less great" than 2022's side...and that's kind of the thing. That group played a monster game against San Diego and then ran into a KC whose troubles had been papered over until the Final. I think the problems were there, then, but a combination of good luck, good play, and Smith having a monster season, kept that from being obvious...
And ANY team would benefit from Horan in the XI. Whether that's realistic to plan on? I'm very much unsure.
Agree ... but a tough balancing act. It is difficult to argue with success and trophies. Teams that are almost there who tinker too much may keep themselves from ever breaking through to win a trophy. Teams that are still able to paper over the weaknesses and win are revered, but at some point the paper gets wet and it falls apart.
Overall, the Thorns are an amazing club and have been excellent since this league started 11 years ago. Not only have they been consistently good, very good or great on the field, lets face it - the fans carried the league for a long time and have made it last 11 years, to a point where expansion sides can finally carry some of that weight too and grow the league (because 1200 people showing up at a HS stadium in Chicago or KC or W. NY or Boston certainly wasn't doing it). That churn is normal for long term stable leagues ... so I don't want to make too big of a deal over it, but that Portland always brings out 10-20k fans while the rest of the league could only pull 25-50% of that on a good night says a lot for the club.
Definitely a team in flux with some really good pieces who just might be able to put things together for another run again in a few months ... but realistically probably an early playoff knock out with some focused rebuilding to do in order to be at the top again.
Not sure I want Horan back. Another log in the midfield logjam. Would Sinc sit if Horan came back? Nope. Would Dunn sit if Horan came back? Doubtful. Someone guarantee our teenage phenom wouldn’t say .”.I’m done with this” then, yea, bring Horan back. (Though I think it’s a moot point. I don’t see her returning for any number of reasons.)
And wins from Gotham and Washington will drop Portland to forth which, frankly, is better than they deserve given how they've been playing since KC away.
I think the problem is that we're seeing that the bench isn't that deep this season. Nally has been a trainwreck, Reyes underwhelming, Porter is...Porter. Agree I'd like to see more of Moultrie, Rodriguez, D'Aquila...and I'd like to see Dunn given a look at RW and Hina in midfield.
We're also seeing some pretty appalling organization and discipline in back, and the coordination between the midfield and backline was poor.
Bottom line? The individual issues seem less of a problem than the team/coaching ones. Which means it's on Norris and his staff to deal with.
Coincidence that both Dash goals came almost right after we made substitutions? Did we not reorganize quickly enough and they exploited that? Our defensive is disastrously disorganized without Sauerbrunn. I really thought we had enough veterans that we wouldn't be so dependent on her but here we are. Agree that this seems like a coaching problem. We know Nally can be better. Reyes is a rookie so I'm giving her time. She's shown enough promise to warrant some optimism but throwing her into the fire might not be the best strategy. I'd also rather see Dunn on a wing and Hina in midfield. At least Sinclair came off the bench today but it might have worked better if we'd had a lead at that point.
Sadly, the backline organization problems predated ‘Brunn’s injury, so I’m not convinced it’s her loss or that if she returns next week they’ll go away. I think it’s coaching. I think a LOT of this is coaching, and a solution if there is to be one has to come from coaching.
I'm seeing little evidence that there IS coaching.
I'm not (just) being snarky here: the team plays like a collection of talented players who just met a day or so ago. There is very little cohesion on either side of the ball. The early signs of good understanding between some player pairs (Smith/Morgan, Dunn/Sugita, etc.) even seem to have disappeared. There's clearly a poor understanding of optimal positioning for multiple players (Hina's the best example, but not the only one). Bixby continues to make Goalkeeper 101 mistakes like continually leaving too much room at the near post. The list of problems likely attributable to bad coaching goes on...
Our biggest single issue, imo, is that the back line communication isn't there. Last night, of course, the two backline "generals" 'Brunn and Menges weren't out there, and that's a recipe for no direction in the back unless Bixby provides it. Nally is, well...Nally, and Hubly's not a quick thinker. The fullbacks are often positioned too far upfield in our attacking system to be calling defensive assignments. Bella seems caught up in her own issues; I didn't notice her barking directions. This is a recipe for missed marks.
But as you say, it's not a single issue that's caused the team to look so dire for several games now. The problems start at the top. If we had an owner that still had reason to give a shit and a GM that was concerned with anything beyond pasting a smiley face over everything, Norris would be staring a sacking in the face if a major turnaround isn't immediate. We have a chance to restore some confidence against a truly terrible Red Stars team next weekend. If this isn't a do or die situation for Norris, I don't know what is.
What's frustrating is that the sideline is aswarm with coaches; IIRC they hired Vytas specifically to coach the backline. But, no, it doesn't show.
Just finished screening the first half, and the backline - under virtually no pressure until well after the half hour - was scrambling to find marks and stay with them once the pressure appeared.
Kuikka headed a cross directly to Sanchez in the 15th minute. Salmon torched Kling and Nally but shot directly at Bixby in the 39th, then a minute later (in perhaps the most embarassing sequence in the half) Salmon beat Hubly three times running before crossing to Sophie Schmidt who forced a corner.
Nally made the Big Errors. But the defending was already looking sketchy before halftime and, as we know, imploded after the restart.
I'm really not seeing the need to put Dunn on the right, and I'm not sure it's an issue. She's the joint top scorer this season and one of the things that's working, I think. And she's a lot more two-way than people give her credit for, I think. But I ultimately don't really care that much - two from Dunn, Hina, Moultrie, and Rocky central, and one of Moultrie, Hina, or Dunn wide.
Moving Dunn makes space in midfield to try Hina-Moultrie-Rodriguez, tho. Sugita hasn’t done much at RW, and I’d like to see if she can add value if she moves more centrally. It’s not for Dunn, who seems fine wherever she plays up front.
I assume you mean Hina-Rodriguez/Moultrie-Coffey? I don't think Hina has done a lot on the right, no, but I also think the right #8 has a specific role at getting behind and unless it's Moultrie playing there (and so you're choosing either Rocky or Hina) you're going to lose something because neither Hina nor Rocky are as good at those late runs as Dunn.
Might be time to consider going to a 4-2-3-1 or diamond, too, so, yes.
As David says, Sugita was making those sorts of runs in 2022, has this season, and I'm sure she can cntinue. What she lacks is the pace Dunn has this season, which would seem to make Dunn the better option wide.
If there's a way to get them both on the pitch I'd like to see Norris try that. But he said before the season started that he's wedded to the 4-3-3, so...
I just can’t help think it’s time to shake things up, try some different ideas. Bench Sinc! But then look at some ways to provide some better control of the pitch in midfield…
Hina makes late runs, usually to the far post and often unmarked, all the time. The problem is that she seems invisible to Weaver and (to a lesser degree) Smith and Kling.
Hard to say since she isn't played there. I don't see why not, though, given that she tends to try and be where the play dictates she should be. I'm not as worried about relative lack of pace with a player who _thinks_ faster than most and thus starts her (slower) run quickly. The end result is that they're where then need to be, often as soon as a pacier (but slower-thinking) player might be.
Sincy was like this for much of her career: not super-quick by any means, but would have taken two or three strides before a lesser player started to move. Sadly, those days are gone (she still thinks quickly, but just can't get there).
It's a little like rooting for the Cowboys because they're playing somebody you need to lose, but this season, at this moment, go [choke] Courage! Plus I can't not love Lussi.
That's one nice thing about not following gridiron football enough to even _have_ a preferred team: I'm free to hate the Cowboys regardless of who they're playing.
Hate to say it, but I really like the way the Courage play...it's pretty soccer. They are well coached, young, and fit. Love seeing a team that is constantly hyped on social media like OL Reign be put in their place by a team that gets almost no oxygen from the league. Also just like seeing Ol Reign lose. I bet Lussi reveled in that goal against Ol Reign just a little bit more, as well.
Stats from half: 269 passes for NC. 102 for OL Reign. 69% vs. 31% possession. Yikes!
Ol Reign look poor. It's like the Thorns...enough individual talent to put the hammer down on poor teams, but better teams are really exposing them. I think Emily Sonnet and the 4231 Harvey is employing has been off all season.
Ugh, I hate watching games reffed by Koroleva. She just lets too much fouling happen and it makes for an ugly game.
And what was with letting Alozie remain on the field in second-half stoppage time after the trainers came out for her? Not that I think it would have made a difference - the Thorns didn't have enough quality on the field to score at that point, even 11-vs-10.
This happened in North Carolina too. O'Sullivan went down for a lengthy period with trainers. Then never went off to be waived back on? Is this a new change to the rules?
One of the strangest moments in NBA history came when the owners of the Boston Celtics and Buffalo Braves swapped franchises, so that the then-Boston owner could have a team which he would be free to relocate to San Diego.
He of course knew that there was no chance the NBA Board of Governors would allow him to move the Celtics out of Boston to San Diego.
But Buffalo? No one was going to stop him from doing that... so said NBA lawyer David Stern, who came up with the idea.
Indeed, the Governors almost unanimously approved the franchise swap.
What this also meant, beyond swapping franchises, was swapping rosters and coaches almost entirely in order to preserve continuity.
Could we see something similar happen in the NWSL, with Kang swapping the Spirit for OL Reign, so that she can be an owner in OL and an NWSL owner without having to sever the relationship between OL and OL Reign?
There's been a lot of talk here about Sinclair's continued starts, and her disastrous substitution into the Houston game, as being a sort of Canadian conspiracy to keep her in good form for the World Cup, or to kowtow to Sinc's wishes to keep playing.
It seems much more likely to me that
(a) Mike Norris, KK LeBlanc, Sinclair herself, and everyone else wants to win every game they possibly can.
(b) These people all have strong connections to Canadian soccer, where Sincy is an absolute *legend*, the GOAT of WoSo, an Officer of the Order of Canada, yada yada.
(c) They see her ineffectiveness now as a slight, temporary dip, something she'll move past - rather than the age-has-caught-to-her view that we fans have.
(d) With regard to (c), one of the challenges of coaching is deciding when a player's poor form is temporary and when it's the start of a long-term downward trend. (Remember a few years back when Kling wasn't playing well and we all thought she was washed? Yeah, I thought that too.) And it has to be doubly hard when you're a new coach dealing with a legend.
(e) Norris is new as a head coach, meaning he sometimes has to lean on the older hands around him for advice and support - especially on a team as high-profile as the Thorns. If the whole culture around the Thorns management is "Sinc is the GOAT!", it's going to take a LOT of evidence for him to see it differently.
(f) Mind you, that evidence is mounting with every game, but counter-evidence like Sinc's energetic, effective first few games this season will go a long way towards staving off any real reckoning with Sinc's ineffectiveness.
I'm reminded of Napoleon's saying, "Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence." In this case the incompetence, namely not seeing how much Sinc has declined, arises from the Canadian culture of Sinclair-as-legend, her now-rare flashes of brilliance, and the low self-confidence of a brand new head coach on a high-profile team. It doesn't take malice, or a conspiracy.
That's why I'm kind of despairing about this. If Sinclair was an absolute tire fire it'd be one thing. She's not, tho, she's just lost too much pace and endurance to get involved effectively. When she can - when she has time to get in position or ahead of the play - she can still contribute.
But overall she's so far from truly starting-quality now that when she's in the team has to play - at best - 10.5-to-11.
I just don't think that's enough evidence to convince her friends and partisans to ease her to the bench.
Sinc is basically either hanging out between the blue lines in the neutral zone or locating just on the offensive side of it and occasionally skating into the slot as a trailer.
Sometimes Sinc does get really close to the goal, but mostly she's staying toward the back of the slot or just inside the offensive blue line.
It's not a terrible idea or terrible use of her skills, but the resultant strain on the defense is evident, she doesn't fore-check hardly at all, and she doesn't have the wheels to rush the goal for a one-timer or a put-back.
Mostly agree here, but still would put Gotham in tier 3 or 4 honestly. I think they look better than last year (low bar), but I still am not super impressed. Passing is sloppy, and Lynn has been their only hope. I think the schedule has been favorable and they’ll start to drop a bit as the season goes on…
Ol Reign looked really poor tonight also, maybe for the 3rd or 4th time this season, so hard to read that one. I’d prob throw them in with Thorns, SD, and NC. NC looked really really solid for an entire 90, and I think Spirit looked decent vs AC, although, that should’ve ended a tie. AC has had some bad luck and I actually think are starting to look better. SD is still hot and cold, and with a very different midfield it’s hard to know what you’re gonna get. KC continues to look really bad. No players looked good tonight, not even Debinha. Orlando looks a little bit better but still kinda meh. Houston also looked meh to me aside from a few lucky plays, but, well the Thorns were beat by ‘em.
In "actually able to score goals when it counts" news, Riko Ueki of Tokyo Verdy Beleza put five past Elfen Saitama yesterday in WE League competition. FIVE.
BBC had the teevee broadcast locked down (for me anyway) and I settled for listening on the radio. United outplayed Chelsea in the first half but they were keeping Harder on the bench until after halftime. That tipped things. Now she's off to Deutschland with another ring. Nice sendoff.
Evidently NWSL Sam Kerr was not yet peak Sam Kerr, something to ponder with wonderment. What might the Matildas look like this summer?
United remains flawless against Chelsea, notching zero wins in club history.
I want Kerr to catch Miedema for the FAWSL goal-scoring record. Then she will have been the career goals leader in *three different leagues*. Contemplate that. In fact, if she caught Miedema and then returned to Australia to knock in a handful more, she could be the career scoring leader in three leagues *simultaneously*.
It's a warmup for NCAA championships for some, last chance meet to qualify for NCAAs for others. My kid's there in that second category. Coincidentally, the NCAA West round will be in our fair city at the end of the month.
No team in a salary capped league has great depth. The way to win in the NWSL is by maximizing your starters and supplementing with the bench as the game demands be it via injury or tactical. Norris' mixing and matching at seemingly random is the opposite of that. I cannot understand leaving Sugita on the bench the whole night and clearly the subbing in of Sinclair to the midfield was disastrous. All control was lost as soon as she came in instead of Sugita. Madness. The Canadian mafia has an agenda and I don't believe winning the game is at the top of that list.
Agreed. But a big part of that is your depth has to be a small dropoff, not a cliff. Right now players like Betfort and Nally are looking decidedly cliff-like…
Bottom line is this team not only needs to win against Chicago but needs to win convincingly against a team that has been atrocious. They had an iffy run to start off last season--winning 2 from 7, including just 2 of 5 home games. But fail to pick it up against a team torpedoing to the bottom, and there should be alarm bells so loud even the national media will pick up on it
And it’s worth remembering that this team has a history doing this. In 2022 after abandoning the 3-5-2 and looking up the squad dropped two in a row, losing badly to NCC and SDW before turning it back around.
The 2017 squad went thru a nine-game midseason slump.
The 2013 team backed into the playoffs, going 3-4-4 over their last eleven games.
But those squads managed to turn things around before the wheels came off. When they didn’t, as they didn’t in 2015? They were toast.
So, yeah. For its own self-respect this squad needs a thumping win over Chicago.
This team reminds me a lot of 2015 Thorns. A group of talented individuals that are not playing like one unit. Also, like 2015, a complete lack of preparation for fielding a decent team during the world cup absences.
In short, Portland has been poor defensively in individual moments. The Thorns’ expected goals against average (xGA) of 7.6 is the second-best in the NWSL, but they’ve given up 10 goals this season, eight of which were conceded in the last three games.
It is no coincidence that this defensive skid coincides with the absence of central defender Becky Sauerbrunn due to a foot injury. Emily Menges filled in for Sauerbrunn in the 3-3 home draw against Angel City on April 29, and again in the 3-3 away draw against the North Carolina Courage on May 6. Friday brought change, with Meaghan Nally starting at center back alongside Kelli Hubly.
Portland is particularly feeling the loss of Sauerbrunn’s guidance and decision-making in central areas, and the Thorns will need to contend with her absence throughout the summer as well, when she is expected to join the United States for the World Cup. The Thorns will also lose most of their midfield to international duty.
Yes, the number of regular-season games during the World Cup window is limited, with mostly Challenge Cup games scheduled for late July and early August. Still, the Thorns will face significant depth issues during that time, and recent defensive hiccups are not setting them up to manage the summer period from the top. They need better performances defensively from everyone in their back five — defenders and goalkeeper Bella Bixby included.
This is the precarious time of the NWSL season when teams start to drift. The grind of the season sets in alongside the summer heat, and momentum feels like it can either carry a team forward, into the Shield race, or pin it down below the playoff line. Portland has mostly only ever known the former option as a franchise.
Now, the Thorns are facing some unfamiliar adversity.
“We’re in a bit of a run where we seem to be lacking confidence, lacking belief,” Thorns head coach Mike Norris said. “So, yeah, I think it’s how I take that and start to work on how to build more belief and confidence in the players.”
The good news
Goal-scoring remains abundant for Portland, as it was last year. The Thorns’ 18 goals scored in seven matches is six more than the next-closest team, and there have been some beautiful team tallies that suggest cohesion and confidence are not lacking on that side of the ball.
There was the second equalizer against North Carolina earlier this month when Meghan Klingenberg got forward in a one-touch sequence, Sophia Smith backheeled a through ball, and Crystal Dunn finished the play. Against Angel City, the Thorns strung together 18 passes over a 60-second period before Morgan Weaver finished the final pass to put Portland ahead, 2-1.
Dunn and Smith have four goals each this season, and Olivia Moultrie continues to produce game-changing moments, including the assist to Weaver on the aforementioned play. As was the case last year, scoring is not a problem for the Thorns.
Norris suggested on Friday that being better (“cleaner”) on the ball would help solve some individual defensive errors.
Up next is a trap game: a home match against the last-place Chicago Red Stars, who have conceded 11 goals in a four-game winless skid. The Red Stars are reeling, and the Thorns are better player for player. It’s a game Portland should and must win, but that means little in the NWSL.
Portland’s loss on Friday broke a 57-game unbeaten streak for the team when leading at halftime (all competitions), per Opta, a record that stretched back to 2017.
Framed like that, it’s easy enough to view Friday as a fluke, and that might be best for the psyche of the Thorns internally, even if the preceding draws add evidence to the concerns. This isn’t so much a personnel issue for Portland as it is a time for self-reflection and course correction.
In the NWSL, sometimes the month of May is just about getting by.
I like Kassouf, but I think he kind of glides past a couple of things here.
I won't keep beating this drum, but I think not having Sauerbrunn's "guidance" is overrated as an issue. For one thing, Menges has a crap-ton of guidance; her issues are physical, her brain isn't injured. The backline has been struggling with organization with and without Sauerbrunn; it's a coaching issue, I think, more than not having a particular centerback. 'Brunn is a GOOD centerback, and the club is better when she's there. But from what I've seen so far the coaching staff is the one that needs to step in.
And scoring IS a problem when you can't score when you need to. Houston has been the hoodoo team; outscored 3-2 over two games, 1 point, but we've yet to face Washington or Seattle or Gotham, all of whom have better GA that we do.
Self-reflection is fine. But smart coaching is better, and I hope Norris is in Einstein-level altitude this week. We need a massive beatdown of Chicago.
As a natural contrarian, I'll assert the impact of Becky's absence is now strongly correlated with the three consecutive poor defensive performances. The other metrics inform us to a point, while one cannot easily measure leadership.
We'll confirm or refute once she returns. In the meantime, somebody aim an extinguisher at the dumpster and let fly.
I appreciate Brunn’s quality, but I’ll stand behind the belief that 1) Menges did the same job here for years, and as well or better, and she’s still here. She led this defense to titles before and seems perfectly capable of doing that now, and 2) the backline has had issues with these kinds of derps for a while WITH ‘Brunn. Shipping three at Gotham to lose last year’s Shield? Starting off the semi by giving Korneick the easiest of free headers?
Brunn has to help, absolutely! But I think this runs deeper and wider than one centerback. It’s Bixby’s confidence. It’s roster construction. It’s defensive coaching.
Here’s why I keep banging this drum: because I think it’s too easy to make this about Sauerbrunn.
It’s like the midfield; yes, Sinc’s a problem. No, she’s not THE problem.
I think there’s a danger to reducing this to “swap in Sauerbrunn and swap out Sinc! That’ll fix it!” I think this is no different than early-season Wilkinson and her addiction to the three-back. It needs to be fixed at the team level. Does that involve getting ‘Brunn back in and Sinc out? Oh very yes! But it involves bigger roster and tactic decisions and I’d hate to see Norris let off the hook for doing those.
Menges isn't yet fully back from injury. Since she was hurt and left the match May 21 of last year, she subbed in once Aug 24 then this year, subbed in once, started twice and subbed out each time, 164 minutes total playing time in '23 regular season.
Peak Emily is very good, Nats-worthy even despite the perpetual snub. But at present she's working her way back to starter, having not logged 90 minutes for a full year.
Houston handled the heat and humidity better than we did. After pressing hard early on, we just ran out of gas at around 35' and never really got our mojo back.
That, plus having too many bench players out there at the end when we needed a goal. I mean, we had Nally, Porter, D'Aquila, and Reyes playing while Hina Freaking Sugita was watching from the bench. (Mind you, Reyes and D'Aquila have potential to be really good, but clearly aren't there yet.) I understand the need to get some of those players some minutes, but not all of them at once when the game is balanced on a knife edge. Bad substitutions, Mr. Norris.
+1. Seemed like a tale of two games--Thorns organized, dangerous and on the front foot for the first half hour, then regression to Brownian motion for the last sixty.
When the response to sluggishness is bringing Sinc off the bench, maybe rethink the whole scheme.
I ‘ve noticed the same thing. Around 30-35 minutes the focus seems to go away, freelancing sort of creeps in. A pass that tactics might dictate isn’t attempted. Instead something more creative, but more risky, is tried. Hubly (and not to single out just Hubly)will dish to the wings and once in a while to a midfielder at the start. But a half hour in, she goes over the top and a turnover results. That turnover in and of itself is not so bad, it just makes it that much harder to establish a flow or keep a flow going. Again, Hubly by far is not the only culprit here, IMO.
xG track shows the eye don't lie.
https://twitter.com/arielle_dror/status/1657448164679622656?cxt=HHwWgIDRleCUuIAuAAAA
Look at the passing, too. Everything goes to the wings. Smith is stranded.
I also think that’s indicative of Smith just losing balls left and right. We won’t see any passing metrics to Soph if a pass is never actually completed. She never quite gained/or straight up never got possession (due to poor receiving choices on her part) most of the time a pass was attempted to her.
Once Norris saw that Soph was well marked and having an off game, he should’ve brought in D’Aquila to throw a wrench in the opponent’s game plan and go with a different tactic and different type of player. There were lots of balls being sprayed into the box, but Weaver and Soph are dire with their heads. Would’ve been nice to see a true 9 with aerial ability in there. I should say though, D’Aquila did have a nice lateral run into the center to lay off a point blank pass that Sinclair then missed. Would’ve liked to see her take the shot there, but it was a great pass and nice vision from her.
That's right, Norris: bench the player who grew up in Kitakyushu (not so very different from Houston, climate-wise). Bring in a player who looked gassed from the moment she lumbered onto the field. That's some quality coaching, that is!
Also did Coffey and Weaver look toasted before they were subbed off? I didn't notice it, but maybe I missed it.
Dunn was clearly in worse shape than either of them.
I agree the heat and the humidity were big factors. I have only seen the highlights, but even when Rocky scored the players seemed wasted. There didn't seem to be the joy and exuberance. Plus for Sophia, who is on her way to joint the Nationals, looking at Houston's heat and humidity, Koroleva reffing and Chapman defending, I can imagine this game looked like a giant pothole, dangerous, but you have to get by, but certainly being a lot more cautious.
Our die hard fans care more about club than country, but these players know that the World Cup and Olympics will be their biggest audience. Alex Morgan didn't get zillions of Twitter followers from playing for Portland and Orlando. The injuries to Swanson, Mead, Miedema and maybe even Macario make it clear that an ill timed injury now would wreck a lot of dreams. I think we are going to see a lot less aggressive play from those that have a ticket to Aus/NZ in the month of May.
Hot take: switch to a 4-4-2 w coffee, Moultrie, Dunn and Hina in MF. Weaver and Smith up top. Moultrie and Hina can track back or push forward. Young legs is the answer!
The problem with that lineup is that it makes perfect, obvious sense. And that's just not how post-MarPar Thorns do lineups, my friend! /headdesk
I'm no coach, but it seems like new coaching 101 would be to look at the squad you have, circle the best 13-14 players on your roster, decide which line each of them plays best on, and then create a formation based on the best 11 of those players, with the subs in mind. Like I mentioned above...we have a glut of starting international quality midfielders. So...go with a 4 player midfield! We are super light on quality F's, and one of the decent prospects (D'Aquila) would likely thrive better in that formation than further on the wing. Seems obvious.
The backline, well, that's a problem....but this problem has been bottlenecked for a few years coming. Kuikka is a good young starting RB (when the coaching is there, and the rest of the backline doesn't look like a trash fire.) Otherwise, Menges has been injured for 84 years, Nally is not to be used until a 4th CB sub is needed late in a game, Hubly has always been quite inconsistent and def not a backline leader, Becky is an int'l in the twilight of her career, and Kling is just hanging on. We've needed quality acquisitions at CB and LB for a while now, we should've been better prepared than to rely on a rookie (who looks shaky to me, still.) McGrady has had injury issues her entire career. They need to recruit an experienced, but young backline general CB for longterm. I know, harder than it sounds...but, we're likely spending a lot on two Canadians in particular who would free up a lot of room for an acquisition like that.
Trade Horan rights for, oh, I don’t know, a Girma or a Fox?
Absolutely would do that in a heartbeat. We could use an 8 like Horan right now, but if Norris would just freakin' play Rodriguez (or Hina, or Moultrie) and let her gel with Sam and Dunn, I would be totally fine giving her up for a super skilled young defender. In fact, I've said it multiple times in the past that we should be doing that. We don't need 7 int'l quality midfielders! (Yes, 7- Coffey, Rocky, Horan, Dunn, Sinc, Sugita, Moultrie.) Play midfielders in their actual positions, get a high-quality (or two!) long-term defender for Horan before her stock drops, and look toward the future. I'd say CB is the absolute target until we know a little bit more about Reyes. She was heralded as a likely long-term starter at LB for the Mexican Nats, but I haven't really seen that quality skillset yet. Also, the cap space that will be available when Sinc retires will probably allow for a high quality player. Same goes for Sauerbrunn, but I don't wanna see her go anywhere until we have a solid option to succeed her! Watching OL Reign look old and tired every time they play on the road, and I'd love to see our team get younger, sooner!
"I would be totally fine giving her up for a super skilled young defender."
I wonder if AS Roma would swap her for Moeka Minami? 24yrs old, 5'7", 34 caps for the JWNT and usually in their preferred 11...
The thing is, we're getting almost no news here about what is happening at OL but it's all pretty much out in the open over there. If Thorns, Horan, and Lindsey's agent wanted the info out there right now, it would be out there. So I do suspect that they're working on a way for her to remain in Europe, if not with OL.
While I realize this is, in part, a former CB talking, I think a true "backline general" center-half is one of the hardest positions in soccer to fill, maybe only after left fullback. I sure wasn't one of them (actually pretty good at game-reading and traffic directing, and I had the "big, strong, reasonably fast" thing...but my basic footy skills were every bit as comedy-tier as you'd expect from an American of my old-as-dirt generation!). The Thorns have been fortunate enough to have had three (Buehler, Menges, Sauerbrunn), but while we still have two of them, neither are on form or even available. I'm happy with the ever-improving Hubly as one half of the CB pair, but I can't see her ever becoming that backline general. I don't mean this to sound as bad as it probably comes across, but she just doesn't have the right (by which I mean rapid-processing, mostly) mind for it.
I'm not expecting much from the current FO/coaching crew in terms of player acquisition.
Oh absolutely agree with you. I think Hubly is an acceptable CB passenger, but we have always needed someone else in that driver seat.
Would love to have a few of the Canadian defenders rather than any of the offense honestly. KK, can we get Jayde Riviere? Kadeisha Buchanan? Ashley Lawrence? THESE are the Canadian players that I'd love to see. Positions of need.
I miss MarPar.
You mean Mark David Richard Parsons?
So thankful NWSL site uses full names.
BTW, ACFCNFT have got to be the unluckiest team in the league, hands down (no pun intended). How many times have they found ways to lose or draw-lose at the death? It's already been a bunch. And speaking of bunch, they collected a bunch of bananas last night - 5, count them, 5 yellow cards!
Not a fan of the way handballs are called. Too many PK's resulting from calls that have no impact on goal scoring opportunities. Light as a feather grazes, unintended bounces, etc. Players aiming their shots at defenders hoping they hit their arms is bad football. Intentional? I think some may use it as a tactic. Doubt anyone would fess up to it though. I wish handling calls would only happen when absolute intent to disrupt play is evident. Not the case too often.
I don't mind calling it on unintentional contact that does in fact disrupt the play, but on trivial touches? Yeah, that's silly and I agree that it tempts attackers to aim for the arms. That is indeed bad football.
What's frustrating is that 1) yes, not a hot take - given this roster it makes perfect sense, and 2) Norris pretty much said before the start of the season that he's gonna ride or die with the 4-3-3, so he doesn't see it that way.
Not a hot take here! That would've been my lineup to start, and I think multiple people here would agree to something very similar. If Dunn won't play RW (she's also been good at the 10), then adjust to the players and strengths we have. We have a glut of experienced starting midfielders and no natural starting RW. It makes the most sense to me, and we could use the defensive stability. Soph does better as well when she's not stranded on an island an expected to create magic by herself because Weaver and the "RW" are dropping so far back. Would also consider Rocky in that mix since she's the only natural 8 we have and puts a bit of steel in the spine.
I am coming to accept that this is a team, and club, in serious flux.
The roster has many players who are not contributing much, if anything at all, for various reasons -- too young, too old, too green, too injured, too misfitting, too something.
The club is for sale. The coach, the staff, the GM, all are on one-year deals.
And, all teams in all sports have their ups and downs. True greatness is rare. There is a lot of talent here, but I do not get the sense that this is a great team.
Finally, last night I became convinced that this team would greatly benefit from Lindsey Horan's return.
In a weird way last season might have been the worst possible outcome for this roster.
We knew there was a lot of issues with depth in 2022. Porter, Provenzano, Nally, Beckman...none of them looked particularly ready for prime time. Not "tire-fire" awful...but not particularly starting-quality great.
Plus...Sinc.
But...then the club won it all.
Hard to stan a complete rebuild of a defending champion team. Plus the sale. So...no real work trying to figure out how to upgrade the roster.
I don't see this as any "less great" than 2022's side...and that's kind of the thing. That group played a monster game against San Diego and then ran into a KC whose troubles had been papered over until the Final. I think the problems were there, then, but a combination of good luck, good play, and Smith having a monster season, kept that from being obvious...
And ANY team would benefit from Horan in the XI. Whether that's realistic to plan on? I'm very much unsure.
Agree ... but a tough balancing act. It is difficult to argue with success and trophies. Teams that are almost there who tinker too much may keep themselves from ever breaking through to win a trophy. Teams that are still able to paper over the weaknesses and win are revered, but at some point the paper gets wet and it falls apart.
Overall, the Thorns are an amazing club and have been excellent since this league started 11 years ago. Not only have they been consistently good, very good or great on the field, lets face it - the fans carried the league for a long time and have made it last 11 years, to a point where expansion sides can finally carry some of that weight too and grow the league (because 1200 people showing up at a HS stadium in Chicago or KC or W. NY or Boston certainly wasn't doing it). That churn is normal for long term stable leagues ... so I don't want to make too big of a deal over it, but that Portland always brings out 10-20k fans while the rest of the league could only pull 25-50% of that on a good night says a lot for the club.
Definitely a team in flux with some really good pieces who just might be able to put things together for another run again in a few months ... but realistically probably an early playoff knock out with some focused rebuilding to do in order to be at the top again.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1657425049459073024
Horan witnesses the end of the Chief OLigarche
Not sure I want Horan back. Another log in the midfield logjam. Would Sinc sit if Horan came back? Nope. Would Dunn sit if Horan came back? Doubtful. Someone guarantee our teenage phenom wouldn’t say .”.I’m done with this” then, yea, bring Horan back. (Though I think it’s a moot point. I don’t see her returning for any number of reasons.)
And wins from Gotham and Washington will drop Portland to forth which, frankly, is better than they deserve given how they've been playing since KC away.
I think the problem is that we're seeing that the bench isn't that deep this season. Nally has been a trainwreck, Reyes underwhelming, Porter is...Porter. Agree I'd like to see more of Moultrie, Rodriguez, D'Aquila...and I'd like to see Dunn given a look at RW and Hina in midfield.
We're also seeing some pretty appalling organization and discipline in back, and the coordination between the midfield and backline was poor.
Bottom line? The individual issues seem less of a problem than the team/coaching ones. Which means it's on Norris and his staff to deal with.
Can they?
Coincidence that both Dash goals came almost right after we made substitutions? Did we not reorganize quickly enough and they exploited that? Our defensive is disastrously disorganized without Sauerbrunn. I really thought we had enough veterans that we wouldn't be so dependent on her but here we are. Agree that this seems like a coaching problem. We know Nally can be better. Reyes is a rookie so I'm giving her time. She's shown enough promise to warrant some optimism but throwing her into the fire might not be the best strategy. I'd also rather see Dunn on a wing and Hina in midfield. At least Sinclair came off the bench today but it might have worked better if we'd had a lead at that point.
Sadly, the backline organization problems predated ‘Brunn’s injury, so I’m not convinced it’s her loss or that if she returns next week they’ll go away. I think it’s coaching. I think a LOT of this is coaching, and a solution if there is to be one has to come from coaching.
I'm seeing little evidence that there IS coaching.
I'm not (just) being snarky here: the team plays like a collection of talented players who just met a day or so ago. There is very little cohesion on either side of the ball. The early signs of good understanding between some player pairs (Smith/Morgan, Dunn/Sugita, etc.) even seem to have disappeared. There's clearly a poor understanding of optimal positioning for multiple players (Hina's the best example, but not the only one). Bixby continues to make Goalkeeper 101 mistakes like continually leaving too much room at the near post. The list of problems likely attributable to bad coaching goes on...
Our biggest single issue, imo, is that the back line communication isn't there. Last night, of course, the two backline "generals" 'Brunn and Menges weren't out there, and that's a recipe for no direction in the back unless Bixby provides it. Nally is, well...Nally, and Hubly's not a quick thinker. The fullbacks are often positioned too far upfield in our attacking system to be calling defensive assignments. Bella seems caught up in her own issues; I didn't notice her barking directions. This is a recipe for missed marks.
But as you say, it's not a single issue that's caused the team to look so dire for several games now. The problems start at the top. If we had an owner that still had reason to give a shit and a GM that was concerned with anything beyond pasting a smiley face over everything, Norris would be staring a sacking in the face if a major turnaround isn't immediate. We have a chance to restore some confidence against a truly terrible Red Stars team next weekend. If this isn't a do or die situation for Norris, I don't know what is.
What's frustrating is that the sideline is aswarm with coaches; IIRC they hired Vytas specifically to coach the backline. But, no, it doesn't show.
Just finished screening the first half, and the backline - under virtually no pressure until well after the half hour - was scrambling to find marks and stay with them once the pressure appeared.
Kuikka headed a cross directly to Sanchez in the 15th minute. Salmon torched Kling and Nally but shot directly at Bixby in the 39th, then a minute later (in perhaps the most embarassing sequence in the half) Salmon beat Hubly three times running before crossing to Sophie Schmidt who forced a corner.
Nally made the Big Errors. But the defending was already looking sketchy before halftime and, as we know, imploded after the restart.
Brutal.
I'm really not seeing the need to put Dunn on the right, and I'm not sure it's an issue. She's the joint top scorer this season and one of the things that's working, I think. And she's a lot more two-way than people give her credit for, I think. But I ultimately don't really care that much - two from Dunn, Hina, Moultrie, and Rocky central, and one of Moultrie, Hina, or Dunn wide.
Moving Dunn makes space in midfield to try Hina-Moultrie-Rodriguez, tho. Sugita hasn’t done much at RW, and I’d like to see if she can add value if she moves more centrally. It’s not for Dunn, who seems fine wherever she plays up front.
I assume you mean Hina-Rodriguez/Moultrie-Coffey? I don't think Hina has done a lot on the right, no, but I also think the right #8 has a specific role at getting behind and unless it's Moultrie playing there (and so you're choosing either Rocky or Hina) you're going to lose something because neither Hina nor Rocky are as good at those late runs as Dunn.
Might be time to consider going to a 4-2-3-1 or diamond, too, so, yes.
As David says, Sugita was making those sorts of runs in 2022, has this season, and I'm sure she can cntinue. What she lacks is the pace Dunn has this season, which would seem to make Dunn the better option wide.
If there's a way to get them both on the pitch I'd like to see Norris try that. But he said before the season started that he's wedded to the 4-3-3, so...
If you're going to 4231 you're dropping Rocky next to Coffey. That could make some sense, sure, from a point of stability.
Agreed. Those two alongside each other would afford far better protection for our faltering back line.
I just can’t help think it’s time to shake things up, try some different ideas. Bench Sinc! But then look at some ways to provide some better control of the pitch in midfield…
Hina makes late runs, usually to the far post and often unmarked, all the time. The problem is that she seems invisible to Weaver and (to a lesser degree) Smith and Kling.
From the right, sure. Does she from the #10?
Hard to say since she isn't played there. I don't see why not, though, given that she tends to try and be where the play dictates she should be. I'm not as worried about relative lack of pace with a player who _thinks_ faster than most and thus starts her (slower) run quickly. The end result is that they're where then need to be, often as soon as a pacier (but slower-thinking) player might be.
Sincy was like this for much of her career: not super-quick by any means, but would have taken two or three strides before a lesser player started to move. Sadly, those days are gone (she still thinks quickly, but just can't get there).
Our girl Tyler Lussi puttin' one down on OL Reign, who are just lookin' a bit ragged with NC's pressing and passing.
Fun game so far...think I'm pullin' for NC here, I enjoy watching OL Reign on the back foot honestly....
It's a little like rooting for the Cowboys because they're playing somebody you need to lose, but this season, at this moment, go [choke] Courage! Plus I can't not love Lussi.
That's one nice thing about not following gridiron football enough to even _have_ a preferred team: I'm free to hate the Cowboys regardless of who they're playing.
Hate to say it, but I really like the way the Courage play...it's pretty soccer. They are well coached, young, and fit. Love seeing a team that is constantly hyped on social media like OL Reign be put in their place by a team that gets almost no oxygen from the league. Also just like seeing Ol Reign lose. I bet Lussi reveled in that goal against Ol Reign just a little bit more, as well.
Stats from half: 269 passes for NC. 102 for OL Reign. 69% vs. 31% possession. Yikes!
Ol Reign look poor. It's like the Thorns...enough individual talent to put the hammer down on poor teams, but better teams are really exposing them. I think Emily Sonnet and the 4231 Harvey is employing has been off all season.
Ugh, I hate watching games reffed by Koroleva. She just lets too much fouling happen and it makes for an ugly game.
And what was with letting Alozie remain on the field in second-half stoppage time after the trainers came out for her? Not that I think it would have made a difference - the Thorns didn't have enough quality on the field to score at that point, even 11-vs-10.
This happened in North Carolina too. O'Sullivan went down for a lengthy period with trainers. Then never went off to be waived back on? Is this a new change to the rules?
I think the rule now is that when the player who commits the foul gets a yellow, the injured player doesn't have to come off after receiving treatment
OT: "Kang Spotted in Lyon as Washington Remain Mum"
We all know how that turned out the last time...
https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/villains/images/5/5e/Kang-kodos.png/
One of the strangest moments in NBA history came when the owners of the Boston Celtics and Buffalo Braves swapped franchises, so that the then-Boston owner could have a team which he would be free to relocate to San Diego.
He of course knew that there was no chance the NBA Board of Governors would allow him to move the Celtics out of Boston to San Diego.
But Buffalo? No one was going to stop him from doing that... so said NBA lawyer David Stern, who came up with the idea.
Indeed, the Governors almost unanimously approved the franchise swap.
What this also meant, beyond swapping franchises, was swapping rosters and coaches almost entirely in order to preserve continuity.
https://celticswire.usatoday.com/lists/nba-boston-celtics-cebraves-swap/
Could we see something similar happen in the NWSL, with Kang swapping the Spirit for OL Reign, so that she can be an owner in OL and an NWSL owner without having to sever the relationship between OL and OL Reign?
There's been a lot of talk here about Sinclair's continued starts, and her disastrous substitution into the Houston game, as being a sort of Canadian conspiracy to keep her in good form for the World Cup, or to kowtow to Sinc's wishes to keep playing.
It seems much more likely to me that
(a) Mike Norris, KK LeBlanc, Sinclair herself, and everyone else wants to win every game they possibly can.
(b) These people all have strong connections to Canadian soccer, where Sincy is an absolute *legend*, the GOAT of WoSo, an Officer of the Order of Canada, yada yada.
(c) They see her ineffectiveness now as a slight, temporary dip, something she'll move past - rather than the age-has-caught-to-her view that we fans have.
(d) With regard to (c), one of the challenges of coaching is deciding when a player's poor form is temporary and when it's the start of a long-term downward trend. (Remember a few years back when Kling wasn't playing well and we all thought she was washed? Yeah, I thought that too.) And it has to be doubly hard when you're a new coach dealing with a legend.
(e) Norris is new as a head coach, meaning he sometimes has to lean on the older hands around him for advice and support - especially on a team as high-profile as the Thorns. If the whole culture around the Thorns management is "Sinc is the GOAT!", it's going to take a LOT of evidence for him to see it differently.
(f) Mind you, that evidence is mounting with every game, but counter-evidence like Sinc's energetic, effective first few games this season will go a long way towards staving off any real reckoning with Sinc's ineffectiveness.
I'm reminded of Napoleon's saying, "Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence." In this case the incompetence, namely not seeing how much Sinc has declined, arises from the Canadian culture of Sinclair-as-legend, her now-rare flashes of brilliance, and the low self-confidence of a brand new head coach on a high-profile team. It doesn't take malice, or a conspiracy.
That's why I'm kind of despairing about this. If Sinclair was an absolute tire fire it'd be one thing. She's not, tho, she's just lost too much pace and endurance to get involved effectively. When she can - when she has time to get in position or ahead of the play - she can still contribute.
But overall she's so far from truly starting-quality now that when she's in the team has to play - at best - 10.5-to-11.
I just don't think that's enough evidence to convince her friends and partisans to ease her to the bench.
Not an absolute tire fire, no. But a Canadian Tire fire? Yeah.
To torture a hockey analogy here... https://www.rookieroad.com/ice-hockey/the-rink/slot/
Sinc is basically either hanging out between the blue lines in the neutral zone or locating just on the offensive side of it and occasionally skating into the slot as a trailer.
Sometimes Sinc does get really close to the goal, but mostly she's staying toward the back of the slot or just inside the offensive blue line.
It's not a terrible idea or terrible use of her skills, but the resultant strain on the defense is evident, she doesn't fore-check hardly at all, and she doesn't have the wheels to rush the goal for a one-timer or a put-back.
Where's Ogie Oglethorpe when you need him?
Yeah, I think this is probably right. Especially part E. It's not just that his bosses think it--it's that the players probably do too.
Premature Diamond Power Rankings -- You Are Your Results Edition
Tier 1: Washington
Tier 2: PSWoSoT, Gotham
Tier 3: SD, NC, Portland
Tier 4: ACFCNFT, Houston, Louisville
Tier 5: Orlando, KC
Tier 6: Chicago
If I were Camille Ashton, I'd be updating my resume. Maybe there's an opportunity in the WWEUFC.
If I were AD Franch, I'd be thinking this is probably the end in KC.
And, if I were Matt Potter, I'd feel bad for my players from last year but I'd be LMFAO.
Mostly agree here, but still would put Gotham in tier 3 or 4 honestly. I think they look better than last year (low bar), but I still am not super impressed. Passing is sloppy, and Lynn has been their only hope. I think the schedule has been favorable and they’ll start to drop a bit as the season goes on…
Ol Reign looked really poor tonight also, maybe for the 3rd or 4th time this season, so hard to read that one. I’d prob throw them in with Thorns, SD, and NC. NC looked really really solid for an entire 90, and I think Spirit looked decent vs AC, although, that should’ve ended a tie. AC has had some bad luck and I actually think are starting to look better. SD is still hot and cold, and with a very different midfield it’s hard to know what you’re gonna get. KC continues to look really bad. No players looked good tonight, not even Debinha. Orlando looks a little bit better but still kinda meh. Houston also looked meh to me aside from a few lucky plays, but, well the Thorns were beat by ‘em.
If this year is any indication, things are gonna be wacky in 2024 after two more expansion teams enter.
I'm still not sold on Gotham, but I am *really* not happy with what I am seeing from Portland, so I have to drop them down further.
In "actually able to score goals when it counts" news, Riko Ueki of Tokyo Verdy Beleza put five past Elfen Saitama yesterday in WE League competition. FIVE.
Sam Kerr does Sam Kerr and Chelsea makes it three FA Cups in a row.
https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/65564608
BBC had the teevee broadcast locked down (for me anyway) and I settled for listening on the radio. United outplayed Chelsea in the first half but they were keeping Harder on the bench until after halftime. That tipped things. Now she's off to Deutschland with another ring. Nice sendoff.
Evidently NWSL Sam Kerr was not yet peak Sam Kerr, something to ponder with wonderment. What might the Matildas look like this summer?
United remains flawless against Chelsea, notching zero wins in club history.
77k attended today. Well done.
I think Kerr has gone from incredible scorer to incredible all-around player. And yes, this could be the Matildas' time.
I want Kerr to catch Miedema for the FAWSL goal-scoring record. Then she will have been the career goals leader in *three different leagues*. Contemplate that. In fact, if she caught Miedema and then returned to Australia to knock in a handful more, she could be the career scoring leader in three leagues *simultaneously*.
Her world, we just are allowed to share it.
Sports programming note, Area Edition: Portland Distance Carnival happening this afternoon and evening at Lewis and Clark College stadium.
https://live.athletictiming.net/meets/25402
It's a warmup for NCAA championships for some, last chance meet to qualify for NCAAs for others. My kid's there in that second category. Coincidentally, the NCAA West round will be in our fair city at the end of the month.
No team in a salary capped league has great depth. The way to win in the NWSL is by maximizing your starters and supplementing with the bench as the game demands be it via injury or tactical. Norris' mixing and matching at seemingly random is the opposite of that. I cannot understand leaving Sugita on the bench the whole night and clearly the subbing in of Sinclair to the midfield was disastrous. All control was lost as soon as she came in instead of Sugita. Madness. The Canadian mafia has an agenda and I don't believe winning the game is at the top of that list.
Agreed. But a big part of that is your depth has to be a small dropoff, not a cliff. Right now players like Betfort and Nally are looking decidedly cliff-like…
I did like Canadian Mafiosa Leon's energy and quick goal/not goal. I'd like to see more of her out there, frankly, just don't know instead of who?
Bottom line is this team not only needs to win against Chicago but needs to win convincingly against a team that has been atrocious. They had an iffy run to start off last season--winning 2 from 7, including just 2 of 5 home games. But fail to pick it up against a team torpedoing to the bottom, and there should be alarm bells so loud even the national media will pick up on it
Just thinking that.
And it’s worth remembering that this team has a history doing this. In 2022 after abandoning the 3-5-2 and looking up the squad dropped two in a row, losing badly to NCC and SDW before turning it back around.
The 2017 squad went thru a nine-game midseason slump.
The 2013 team backed into the playoffs, going 3-4-4 over their last eleven games.
But those squads managed to turn things around before the wheels came off. When they didn’t, as they didn’t in 2015? They were toast.
So, yeah. For its own self-respect this squad needs a thumping win over Chicago.
This team reminds me a lot of 2015 Thorns. A group of talented individuals that are not playing like one unit. Also, like 2015, a complete lack of preparation for fielding a decent team during the world cup absences.
From the Kassoufsayer...
What’s gone wrong?
In short, Portland has been poor defensively in individual moments. The Thorns’ expected goals against average (xGA) of 7.6 is the second-best in the NWSL, but they’ve given up 10 goals this season, eight of which were conceded in the last three games.
It is no coincidence that this defensive skid coincides with the absence of central defender Becky Sauerbrunn due to a foot injury. Emily Menges filled in for Sauerbrunn in the 3-3 home draw against Angel City on April 29, and again in the 3-3 away draw against the North Carolina Courage on May 6. Friday brought change, with Meaghan Nally starting at center back alongside Kelli Hubly.
Portland is particularly feeling the loss of Sauerbrunn’s guidance and decision-making in central areas, and the Thorns will need to contend with her absence throughout the summer as well, when she is expected to join the United States for the World Cup. The Thorns will also lose most of their midfield to international duty.
Yes, the number of regular-season games during the World Cup window is limited, with mostly Challenge Cup games scheduled for late July and early August. Still, the Thorns will face significant depth issues during that time, and recent defensive hiccups are not setting them up to manage the summer period from the top. They need better performances defensively from everyone in their back five — defenders and goalkeeper Bella Bixby included.
This is the precarious time of the NWSL season when teams start to drift. The grind of the season sets in alongside the summer heat, and momentum feels like it can either carry a team forward, into the Shield race, or pin it down below the playoff line. Portland has mostly only ever known the former option as a franchise.
Now, the Thorns are facing some unfamiliar adversity.
“We’re in a bit of a run where we seem to be lacking confidence, lacking belief,” Thorns head coach Mike Norris said. “So, yeah, I think it’s how I take that and start to work on how to build more belief and confidence in the players.”
The good news
Goal-scoring remains abundant for Portland, as it was last year. The Thorns’ 18 goals scored in seven matches is six more than the next-closest team, and there have been some beautiful team tallies that suggest cohesion and confidence are not lacking on that side of the ball.
There was the second equalizer against North Carolina earlier this month when Meghan Klingenberg got forward in a one-touch sequence, Sophia Smith backheeled a through ball, and Crystal Dunn finished the play. Against Angel City, the Thorns strung together 18 passes over a 60-second period before Morgan Weaver finished the final pass to put Portland ahead, 2-1.
Dunn and Smith have four goals each this season, and Olivia Moultrie continues to produce game-changing moments, including the assist to Weaver on the aforementioned play. As was the case last year, scoring is not a problem for the Thorns.
Norris suggested on Friday that being better (“cleaner”) on the ball would help solve some individual defensive errors.
Up next is a trap game: a home match against the last-place Chicago Red Stars, who have conceded 11 goals in a four-game winless skid. The Red Stars are reeling, and the Thorns are better player for player. It’s a game Portland should and must win, but that means little in the NWSL.
Portland’s loss on Friday broke a 57-game unbeaten streak for the team when leading at halftime (all competitions), per Opta, a record that stretched back to 2017.
Framed like that, it’s easy enough to view Friday as a fluke, and that might be best for the psyche of the Thorns internally, even if the preceding draws add evidence to the concerns. This isn’t so much a personnel issue for Portland as it is a time for self-reflection and course correction.
In the NWSL, sometimes the month of May is just about getting by.
I like Kassouf, but I think he kind of glides past a couple of things here.
I won't keep beating this drum, but I think not having Sauerbrunn's "guidance" is overrated as an issue. For one thing, Menges has a crap-ton of guidance; her issues are physical, her brain isn't injured. The backline has been struggling with organization with and without Sauerbrunn; it's a coaching issue, I think, more than not having a particular centerback. 'Brunn is a GOOD centerback, and the club is better when she's there. But from what I've seen so far the coaching staff is the one that needs to step in.
And scoring IS a problem when you can't score when you need to. Houston has been the hoodoo team; outscored 3-2 over two games, 1 point, but we've yet to face Washington or Seattle or Gotham, all of whom have better GA that we do.
Self-reflection is fine. But smart coaching is better, and I hope Norris is in Einstein-level altitude this week. We need a massive beatdown of Chicago.
As a natural contrarian, I'll assert the impact of Becky's absence is now strongly correlated with the three consecutive poor defensive performances. The other metrics inform us to a point, while one cannot easily measure leadership.
We'll confirm or refute once she returns. In the meantime, somebody aim an extinguisher at the dumpster and let fly.
I appreciate Brunn’s quality, but I’ll stand behind the belief that 1) Menges did the same job here for years, and as well or better, and she’s still here. She led this defense to titles before and seems perfectly capable of doing that now, and 2) the backline has had issues with these kinds of derps for a while WITH ‘Brunn. Shipping three at Gotham to lose last year’s Shield? Starting off the semi by giving Korneick the easiest of free headers?
Brunn has to help, absolutely! But I think this runs deeper and wider than one centerback. It’s Bixby’s confidence. It’s roster construction. It’s defensive coaching.
Here’s why I keep banging this drum: because I think it’s too easy to make this about Sauerbrunn.
It’s like the midfield; yes, Sinc’s a problem. No, she’s not THE problem.
I think there’s a danger to reducing this to “swap in Sauerbrunn and swap out Sinc! That’ll fix it!” I think this is no different than early-season Wilkinson and her addiction to the three-back. It needs to be fixed at the team level. Does that involve getting ‘Brunn back in and Sinc out? Oh very yes! But it involves bigger roster and tactic decisions and I’d hate to see Norris let off the hook for doing those.
Menges isn't yet fully back from injury. Since she was hurt and left the match May 21 of last year, she subbed in once Aug 24 then this year, subbed in once, started twice and subbed out each time, 164 minutes total playing time in '23 regular season.
Peak Emily is very good, Nats-worthy even despite the perpetual snub. But at present she's working her way back to starter, having not logged 90 minutes for a full year.
OT: Apparently you CAN stop the music...
Back in 1980, Village People starred in a thoroughly unmemorable movie called "Can't Stop the Music."
More memorable, however, was the film reviewer who asked "Couldn't SOMEONE have stopped the music?" and then sidestepped the whole mess.
And when I say "mess," I mean Caitlyn Jenner 40+ years ago, Steve Guttenberg, and Valerie Perrine starring alongside said People.
Well, looks like the answer is, yes, Village People themselves CAN stop the music. They're stopping Trump from using their music.
What's the possible relevance here? Well, Village People did perform at Civic Stadium, on July 1 1995.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/village-people-finally-tell-trump-stop-using-our-music
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Providence_Park#Concerts
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Can%27t_Stop_the_Music