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.
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.
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.