Time for my weekly dose of vaguely frustrated enthusiasm:
No matter how poor the Thorns look, the Reign, Spirit, Wave, and the rest of the league show an equal level of seemingly disqualifying issues on a weekly basis. I promise. I’ve watched a TON of non-thorns NWSL this year; much more than in years past. Every team has flaws that we wo…
Time for my weekly dose of vaguely frustrated enthusiasm:
No matter how poor the Thorns look, the Reign, Spirit, Wave, and the rest of the league show an equal level of seemingly disqualifying issues on a weekly basis. I promise. I’ve watched a TON of non-thorns NWSL this year; much more than in years past. Every team has flaws that we would look at as season-enders if we were all fans of that team. Just this week alone, the Spirit should have lost to the Current at home and avoided it by the skin of their teeth. The Wave lost to ACFC at home. The Reign had a woman advantage for 50 minutes in Houston and couldn’t get three points. I PROMISE that there is not one other NWSL team that has consistently looked better than Portland.
The main issue with this team is that they SHOULD be better. That’s what’s frustrating. They should be 5-10 points clear, and they’re not. They’re not because of the ownership situation. They’re not because of subpar coaching. They’re not because their talent isn’t playing to the potential.
And yet, it’s still a very fun team to watch:
- Morgan Weaver has been outstanding. Like, shockingly good. She’s expanded her skillset in ways that I really didn’t expect after watching her for three years.
- Sam Coffey is an absolute joy of both soccer player and human. Rapidly becoming one of my favorite Thorns of all time.
- Sophia Smith is freakin awesome. Pro athletes of her caliber RARELY come through Portland, and we shouldn’t take it for granted
Bring on the Spirit Friday, and let’s hope we see a repeat of last year (minus the last game shield collapse)!
Watching Weaver this year has been an absolute joy. She used to put her head down and run straight at goal. Not now; now she's looking, looking, looking for the perfect setup pass, while still taking the occasional shot to keep her defenders honest. Such a huge step up for her. She still has the physical gifts but now she's getting soccer smarts too.
This has been a wonderful year for the league in terms of depth and competitiveness. In terms of quality of football? Er...not so much.
For the first time, I find myself disinclined to argue with Eurosnobs when they claim the quality of play in their unbalanced, one- or two-team* leagues is superior to the NWSL. Right now, that's simply true, at least about the FAWSL, Primera División de la Liga, and Division 1 Féminine (and probably the WE League).
Ironically, in terms of individual player quality, the US can hold its own with anyone (which wasn't always the case: initially, we won World Cups more on the basis of depth and superior athleticism/conditioning). But right now, the quality of team play is really inconsistent.
I would say that the top 3-4 in the WSL are better than their NWSL equivalents. The midtable teams? It's a toss-up. The bottom 3-4 in the NWSL are definitely better than the bottom 3-4 in the WSL.
I concur. The NWSL is still the deepest league in first-division WoSo. But in most past seasons, I'd have gladly matched the league's best sides against any in the world and be confident of a close match. That's just not the case right now. I wouldn't like any NWSL side's chances against Barca, OL, Chelsea, Urawa, etc.
Or perhaps it's more accurate to say I wouldn't want to bet money on those chances. If playing well, a top NWSL side would be fully competitive against anyone out there. It's just that this year we can't count on any of the teams playing anywhere near their potential in a given match.
I’m kind of where Aiden is; the overall quality difference is pulled up by the bottom dwellers here. I don’t think we have any equivalent of the Readings or Issy or St. Etienne.
Frankly it seems peculiar that form isn’t holding for the top of the NWSL table this season. It’s not like there’s too few players; every season a bunch of the top 100 NCAA players go undrafted. Add in overseas signings…it seems very odd that the level of play has nosedived suddenly after a very small expansion last year. Hmmm…
Agreed...thus my initial mention of depth and competitiveness. I also don't have a solid take on why the level of (team) play seems to have fallen off sharply this season. Even the leading teams at mid-season have that preseason inconsistency in their play.
Time for my weekly dose of vaguely frustrated enthusiasm:
No matter how poor the Thorns look, the Reign, Spirit, Wave, and the rest of the league show an equal level of seemingly disqualifying issues on a weekly basis. I promise. I’ve watched a TON of non-thorns NWSL this year; much more than in years past. Every team has flaws that we would look at as season-enders if we were all fans of that team. Just this week alone, the Spirit should have lost to the Current at home and avoided it by the skin of their teeth. The Wave lost to ACFC at home. The Reign had a woman advantage for 50 minutes in Houston and couldn’t get three points. I PROMISE that there is not one other NWSL team that has consistently looked better than Portland.
The main issue with this team is that they SHOULD be better. That’s what’s frustrating. They should be 5-10 points clear, and they’re not. They’re not because of the ownership situation. They’re not because of subpar coaching. They’re not because their talent isn’t playing to the potential.
And yet, it’s still a very fun team to watch:
- Morgan Weaver has been outstanding. Like, shockingly good. She’s expanded her skillset in ways that I really didn’t expect after watching her for three years.
- Sam Coffey is an absolute joy of both soccer player and human. Rapidly becoming one of my favorite Thorns of all time.
- Sophia Smith is freakin awesome. Pro athletes of her caliber RARELY come through Portland, and we shouldn’t take it for granted
Bring on the Spirit Friday, and let’s hope we see a repeat of last year (minus the last game shield collapse)!
Weaver has been consistently good. Highest fotmob rating in the match.
https://www.fotmob.com/match/4119444/matchfacts/chicago-red-stars-vs-portland-thorns
Watching Weaver this year has been an absolute joy. She used to put her head down and run straight at goal. Not now; now she's looking, looking, looking for the perfect setup pass, while still taking the occasional shot to keep her defenders honest. Such a huge step up for her. She still has the physical gifts but now she's getting soccer smarts too.
This has been a wonderful year for the league in terms of depth and competitiveness. In terms of quality of football? Er...not so much.
For the first time, I find myself disinclined to argue with Eurosnobs when they claim the quality of play in their unbalanced, one- or two-team* leagues is superior to the NWSL. Right now, that's simply true, at least about the FAWSL, Primera División de la Liga, and Division 1 Féminine (and probably the WE League).
Ironically, in terms of individual player quality, the US can hold its own with anyone (which wasn't always the case: initially, we won World Cups more on the basis of depth and superior athleticism/conditioning). But right now, the quality of team play is really inconsistent.
* Okay, 3 or 4 teams in FAWSL, 3 in WE League.
I would say that the top 3-4 in the WSL are better than their NWSL equivalents. The midtable teams? It's a toss-up. The bottom 3-4 in the NWSL are definitely better than the bottom 3-4 in the WSL.
I concur. The NWSL is still the deepest league in first-division WoSo. But in most past seasons, I'd have gladly matched the league's best sides against any in the world and be confident of a close match. That's just not the case right now. I wouldn't like any NWSL side's chances against Barca, OL, Chelsea, Urawa, etc.
Or perhaps it's more accurate to say I wouldn't want to bet money on those chances. If playing well, a top NWSL side would be fully competitive against anyone out there. It's just that this year we can't count on any of the teams playing anywhere near their potential in a given match.
I’m kind of where Aiden is; the overall quality difference is pulled up by the bottom dwellers here. I don’t think we have any equivalent of the Readings or Issy or St. Etienne.
Frankly it seems peculiar that form isn’t holding for the top of the NWSL table this season. It’s not like there’s too few players; every season a bunch of the top 100 NCAA players go undrafted. Add in overseas signings…it seems very odd that the level of play has nosedived suddenly after a very small expansion last year. Hmmm…
Agreed...thus my initial mention of depth and competitiveness. I also don't have a solid take on why the level of (team) play seems to have fallen off sharply this season. Even the leading teams at mid-season have that preseason inconsistency in their play.