Not particularly. Got the post in the second half, came close with a header. I didn’t think Weaver helped make as much space for her or serve her as much as I’d hoped.
I mean…D’Aquila was pretty awful Wednesday, so better than that. Just not enough; to play like Brazil you need Smiths, not D’Aqulas, but that’s all we have…
Not particularly. Got the post in the second half, came close with a header. I didn’t think Weaver helped make as much space for her or serve her as much as I’d hoped.
I mean…D’Aquila was pretty awful Wednesday, so better than that. Just not enough; to play like Brazil you need Smiths, not D’Aqulas, but that’s all we have…
Space was absolutely an issue: When Weaver had the ball, more often than not, she'd dribble to the center...and no one else who was forward (Aquila, Vasconcelos, Moultrie...anyone) would vacate space and flare to the posts or into empty space. So every defender - and there were a lot of them as KC parked the bus after that pk - was there, clogging every shooting lane.
Lots of crosses into the box...but with the box that crowded, that was always going to be iffy, even when tall Betfort was subbed in. No one with Soph or Hina's dribbling skill to try to take the ball into the 18 and seek a pk (not that that walking incompetence of a ref would have called it...).
For the second match running, our veteran LB, who I think everyone was counting on to be a dependable rock to shore things up, committed an error that produced the winning opposition goal. Kling's quality of play has fallen off sharply this season, and it's more a matter of lapses of concentration and judgement than anything physical. I'm becoming more certain than ever that there are behind-the-scenes issues with this team, and one ramification might be Kling's head isn't in the right place.
Honestly, last night was a clinic on how to lose to a genuinely bad opponent.
IDK if Kling has an underlying knock, or if mother time has entered the discussion, but she's had a big falloff in the last month, to the point of being pulled/benched. Layered with the loss of Becky it seems to be making defense on that side very vulnerable, such that Morgan finds herself drifting all the way downfield to help cleanup on defense.
I recall during the Chicago match noting that St. Georges had outrun Kling while dribbling; well, she did the same thing to Po(!) last night so I'm no longer knocking Kling on her inability to keep up. Holy crap, she's a burner.
That shocks me w/ Po. Po's still probably at least as fast if you just had them sprint from a dead stop, but is also still VERY capable of being wrong-footed.
I did a triple take. It was later in the match so tired legs and all, but I took it as indicating how very fast St. Georges is with the ball, because Po is a hellova yardstick.
Or, maybe I had heatstroke.
ETA Must commend Chicago for playing like they really wanted that game. Also, biggest home crowd I can recall seeing in Bridgeview. (6k? big for them.)
Weaver is someone I'll be watching in the replay. It seemed to me watching live that she was doing something she hadn't been with the regulars - turning inside the way you mention.
Typical Weaver-before; sprint to the byline, look inside for a target to cross in to. Weaver-last-night; sprint to the edge of the 18, cut back inside, try and find a teammate in the crowd she'd helped create by dragging her defenders with her.
Not sure if it was pure instinct, or whether they'd been doing that in training, or what. but - as you also pointed out - it sure as hell didn't work.
Yeah, I remember commenting to my partner about this during the game...she wasn't going to the byline because the times she did, she had literally no runners. No one on the back post, no one trying to run onto a pass, nothing, she was the highest F in the final third....It's no wonder she was cutting back inside and trying to do it herself. The couple times she did pass, I remember thinking she should've shot instead.
She got to the byline a few times in the first half. There just weren’t a lot of players making runs, and not the run that Smith makes. There was the good chance that Izzy completely fucked.
I’d be really tempted to play Weaver centrally, honestly. It gives the thorns an important component of their play back - the early ball to the striker.
Weaver could definitely be the speed 9 that fits in this system. I would love to see the team play a 2 forward front instead of the 4-3-3. Izzy as the aerial threat and Weaver as the speed threat. Put more numbers in midfield and allow Sam and Liv to come forward. Play a double pivot to help Porter a bit more.
Both of Izzy's main chances came when the Thorns had stretched KC out with long balls and she took advantage of that space to, well, almost do something. Mostly the long balls were fruitless but those two stood out. Izzy was totally incapable of creating space for herself otherwise.
I don't know if that's in her skillset...but my understanding is that in college she played as a fox-in-the-box, a true poacher. A player like that shouldn't need a ton of space; that kind of comes with the job. But she hasn't shown any real ability to create even the SMALL space a poacher needs - control the ball and get a step on her defender to shoot. She seems to have touch problems that lead to her getting stripped, instead.
She's a definitely a true 9 which is why I'm a bit surprised they aren't delivering more crosses into the box to find her or Hannah's headers more often. Reyna in front line also has that aerial ability.
The adjustment period from college is also very drastic and tough too. Reyna mentioned that it was something she had to get used to with more playing time/trainings, so may be the case for Izzy too who has gotten way less PT.
The Thorns hucked in 31 crosses. I counted 27 as "attacking" passes but listed only 7 as finding a Thorn at the end. So they're "trying" crosses, but not "delivering" them. Not sure if it's lack of training or a general lack of skills.
Worth also noting that this group turned over the ball 27 times over 90+ minutes. That's after 18 turnovers in the Orlando loss and the Chicago grind-out-win, and only 10 in the good match against Washington.
So there's a fairly significant drop-off in individual skills going on here, as well as the organizational and team play issues.
Yeah, she's very much more a Morgan or Hatch-type 9. We just don't play that way, and Norris is hapless to adapt and make tweaks to benefit the players we have here. He's just shoving the newbs into the same mold he uses when the Nats are here.
But, I also think it's kinda ridiculous that D'Aquila hasn't played at all or has only gotten garbage minutes all season (or preseason), CC or league games, and def not at the 9. She should've been getting more time at the 9 in the CC games or the games we were already winning 4-0. Reyes was ROUGH the first several games she had, and is now playing much better. D'Aquila should've been given more if she was expected to play such a large role this window. Just, more poor planning from the coach/FO imo.
Yeah the comp with Ashley Hatch is the most accurate, imo. I think they got better doing it this game, but they're all too used to delivering low crosses into Dunn and Smith. Even with the tough results, glad Izzy and the others are getting the necessary games, it will help the team the long run.
For me the lack of runs in the box was a problem the entire game and was a key reason the vast majority of our shots ended up being from distance. And as already noted the box was usually full of defenders and the long balls had little chance of getting through.
Not particularly. Got the post in the second half, came close with a header. I didn’t think Weaver helped make as much space for her or serve her as much as I’d hoped.
I mean…D’Aquila was pretty awful Wednesday, so better than that. Just not enough; to play like Brazil you need Smiths, not D’Aqulas, but that’s all we have…
Space was absolutely an issue: When Weaver had the ball, more often than not, she'd dribble to the center...and no one else who was forward (Aquila, Vasconcelos, Moultrie...anyone) would vacate space and flare to the posts or into empty space. So every defender - and there were a lot of them as KC parked the bus after that pk - was there, clogging every shooting lane.
Lots of crosses into the box...but with the box that crowded, that was always going to be iffy, even when tall Betfort was subbed in. No one with Soph or Hina's dribbling skill to try to take the ball into the 18 and seek a pk (not that that walking incompetence of a ref would have called it...).
For the second match running, our veteran LB, who I think everyone was counting on to be a dependable rock to shore things up, committed an error that produced the winning opposition goal. Kling's quality of play has fallen off sharply this season, and it's more a matter of lapses of concentration and judgement than anything physical. I'm becoming more certain than ever that there are behind-the-scenes issues with this team, and one ramification might be Kling's head isn't in the right place.
Honestly, last night was a clinic on how to lose to a genuinely bad opponent.
IDK if Kling has an underlying knock, or if mother time has entered the discussion, but she's had a big falloff in the last month, to the point of being pulled/benched. Layered with the loss of Becky it seems to be making defense on that side very vulnerable, such that Morgan finds herself drifting all the way downfield to help cleanup on defense.
I recall during the Chicago match noting that St. Georges had outrun Kling while dribbling; well, she did the same thing to Po(!) last night so I'm no longer knocking Kling on her inability to keep up. Holy crap, she's a burner.
That shocks me w/ Po. Po's still probably at least as fast if you just had them sprint from a dead stop, but is also still VERY capable of being wrong-footed.
I did a triple take. It was later in the match so tired legs and all, but I took it as indicating how very fast St. Georges is with the ball, because Po is a hellova yardstick.
Or, maybe I had heatstroke.
ETA Must commend Chicago for playing like they really wanted that game. Also, biggest home crowd I can recall seeing in Bridgeview. (6k? big for them.)
Yeah, that seems good for a Chicago team that’s been struggling. Seattle only had 7k or so. Just dreadful attendance, I don’t understand…
I do wonder if Seattle is in part a victim of all its moving to-and-fro?
Weaver is someone I'll be watching in the replay. It seemed to me watching live that she was doing something she hadn't been with the regulars - turning inside the way you mention.
Typical Weaver-before; sprint to the byline, look inside for a target to cross in to. Weaver-last-night; sprint to the edge of the 18, cut back inside, try and find a teammate in the crowd she'd helped create by dragging her defenders with her.
Not sure if it was pure instinct, or whether they'd been doing that in training, or what. but - as you also pointed out - it sure as hell didn't work.
Yeah, I remember commenting to my partner about this during the game...she wasn't going to the byline because the times she did, she had literally no runners. No one on the back post, no one trying to run onto a pass, nothing, she was the highest F in the final third....It's no wonder she was cutting back inside and trying to do it herself. The couple times she did pass, I remember thinking she should've shot instead.
She got to the byline a few times in the first half. There just weren’t a lot of players making runs, and not the run that Smith makes. There was the good chance that Izzy completely fucked.
I’d be really tempted to play Weaver centrally, honestly. It gives the thorns an important component of their play back - the early ball to the striker.
Weaver could definitely be the speed 9 that fits in this system. I would love to see the team play a 2 forward front instead of the 4-3-3. Izzy as the aerial threat and Weaver as the speed threat. Put more numbers in midfield and allow Sam and Liv to come forward. Play a double pivot to help Porter a bit more.
Both of Izzy's main chances came when the Thorns had stretched KC out with long balls and she took advantage of that space to, well, almost do something. Mostly the long balls were fruitless but those two stood out. Izzy was totally incapable of creating space for herself otherwise.
I don't know if that's in her skillset...but my understanding is that in college she played as a fox-in-the-box, a true poacher. A player like that shouldn't need a ton of space; that kind of comes with the job. But she hasn't shown any real ability to create even the SMALL space a poacher needs - control the ball and get a step on her defender to shoot. She seems to have touch problems that lead to her getting stripped, instead.
She's a definitely a true 9 which is why I'm a bit surprised they aren't delivering more crosses into the box to find her or Hannah's headers more often. Reyna in front line also has that aerial ability.
The adjustment period from college is also very drastic and tough too. Reyna mentioned that it was something she had to get used to with more playing time/trainings, so may be the case for Izzy too who has gotten way less PT.
The Thorns hucked in 31 crosses. I counted 27 as "attacking" passes but listed only 7 as finding a Thorn at the end. So they're "trying" crosses, but not "delivering" them. Not sure if it's lack of training or a general lack of skills.
Worth also noting that this group turned over the ball 27 times over 90+ minutes. That's after 18 turnovers in the Orlando loss and the Chicago grind-out-win, and only 10 in the good match against Washington.
So there's a fairly significant drop-off in individual skills going on here, as well as the organizational and team play issues.
Yeah, she's very much more a Morgan or Hatch-type 9. We just don't play that way, and Norris is hapless to adapt and make tweaks to benefit the players we have here. He's just shoving the newbs into the same mold he uses when the Nats are here.
But, I also think it's kinda ridiculous that D'Aquila hasn't played at all or has only gotten garbage minutes all season (or preseason), CC or league games, and def not at the 9. She should've been getting more time at the 9 in the CC games or the games we were already winning 4-0. Reyes was ROUGH the first several games she had, and is now playing much better. D'Aquila should've been given more if she was expected to play such a large role this window. Just, more poor planning from the coach/FO imo.
Yeah the comp with Ashley Hatch is the most accurate, imo. I think they got better doing it this game, but they're all too used to delivering low crosses into Dunn and Smith. Even with the tough results, glad Izzy and the others are getting the necessary games, it will help the team the long run.
When Izzy and Turnbow were on the field together they were a brutal combination to defend; hence, the 11-1-0 season and national title.
Since Kelsey is busy becoming a defender at Spirit, Portland's job is finding her a proper co-conspirator/counterpoint.
She will be worth it.
Kelsey Turnbow is at San Diego, no?
Oh yeah, confusing her with the McKeown experiment at Spirit.
For me the lack of runs in the box was a problem the entire game and was a key reason the vast majority of our shots ended up being from distance. And as already noted the box was usually full of defenders and the long balls had little chance of getting through.