In the last power rankings before Decision Day, only two teams have secured a postseason berth and eight teams are still trying to clinch a playoff spot. October 15 can't come soon enough.
Yeah, I'm just honestly hoping some other team with better defense knocks out SD before we have to play them. Casey Stoney is probably the coach who knows above all how to exploit Norris' consistently poor defensive tactics, and I think we've struggled against SD because of that. In a pre(post?)-game chat with Stoney after they won up here a few weeks ago, she mentioned how one of her main goals was to exploit Portland's high fullbacks. Norris never adjusted, and his subs were horrendous. And if you think about the recent Reign and Gotham games that we won, our FB's were still getting high (maybe one hung back slightly), but neither Reign or Gotham even tried to capitalize on it- Gotham because Amoros doesn't play that way, and Reign because they are old and mostly slow. Yes, our defense has looked better and I credit that too, but I think their jobs were made easier because of the above, in those two games I mentioned.
Anyways...against AC? Well, I worry about that because they DO have fast wingers that they actually use (Thompson, Emslie, Camberros, and Endo just from memory...) and I don't see Norris changing anything now. There were times during Gotham when we only had Becky and Menges as a back two, and there would be a transition and Kuikka and/or Kling were never gonna make it back if Amoros would've just let Midge or Lynn run. We got pretty lucky, imo. Esp if Vignola is back for AC, they'll try to get vertical quickly, and Portland had struggled against those types of teams....I'm not overly worried, but I'm not NOT worried...
They’ve actually played SD really well this year and last up until two weeks ago. I kinda think they just struggled without Soph against a tactically well drilled side. SD only created 0.5 xG, so it’s not like they did much and their attacking personnel is pretty subpar. I do agree that the Norris-Stoney matchup scares me in a playoff setting....but you usually gotta beat a good team in the final!
(I think Washington still scares me a little more as a finals opponent because of their speed/talent up front and their press, but margins are thin... and the Thorns still have to win a playoff game first anyhow!)
xG total in all the games is 7.5 - 3.2. Even in just the league games it's 2.1 to .7. They're a hard team to break down but I'd rather face a team bunkering that doesn't carry a significant counter-attacking threat than the opposite, especially if Smith is back to anywhere close to her best.
Yeah, and Washington I'd say is the team that has actually played the Thorns the best at home. They totally controlled that game in June; the difference is Soph went supernova mode and Trinity Rodman can't reach that level yet.
Mmmm...I'm not as sure that Gotham was a failure on Amoros so much as a more comprehensive defensive outing from Portland. Look at Kling's heat map (well, not as such, but look at her passing and defensive action plot); she's MUCH further back that Norris typically plays her. Kuikka is further forward only in the first half.
But the whole squad worked their tails off defensively, from Betfort on back, and that's what they're going to have to do in LA.
I'm never confident with Norris; I think he's a one-trick pony and other gaffers have figured that out. But he HAS made minor adjustments like going to the double pivot when he needs more sturdiness in back. So maybe he will be less reckless in LA...
Had a very brief chat with Kozal and watched Marcel play with another very energetic non-Thorns baby for a while lol...and yes, I am going- Very nervous to enter BMO in 90 degrees (seriously, F LA) or whatever they call it these days. Hopefully they change it up from last year in Gotham.
Apparently they practiced this morning, but yeah...kinda surprised they didn’t leave yesterday too.
Toward the later end of me living in southern CA (maybe 10 yrs ago now), it was generally always mildly warm (like 70s for a Californian) on Christmas, which is actually bizarre (esp after living elsewhere.) Though, I'm from a high desert so our lows were colder than Portland for several months. I definitely prefer seasons....though the "rain" season here IS a bit too long for my taste...
Anyways, I hope they can come out high energy tomorrow! Even though it's a short travel, doing it the day before a huge game seems more detrimental than beneficial. We need all the help we can get for those road games lol. Give a double finger salute to AC for us!
Will do! Sat across the aisle from Coffey while in my Coffey jersey and she seemed a lil surprised someone had her name on the back of the kit lol. Fairly certain my “good luck y’all” will inspire them to victory tomorrow.
Speaking of which, today will be a very strange day, because it will be our first encounter with La Destructrice in the NWSL wearing an opponent's kit.
Agree about Lund, Girma for defender, and the swonger, but I think Kerolin will take MVP unless Smith does something amazing in her limited minutes tomorrow. Because Smith's been out, recency bias will favor Kerolin, who really has been amazing this year.
Agree. I'd put Kerolin above Smith for MVP because of Smith's injury and because Kerolin has had a lot less help there. She lost Debinha and Ordonez this year. Smith? Didn't lose anybody.
Phuoc not many comments here as I think most people are focused on the Thorns last game. If they win, they have the Shield and then after that everything is gravy. I hope Norris goes with the same lineup as he used for Gotham and hope Soph can see some minutes. She looked tentative, but even at 70 or 80% she draws a crowd.
I don’t think the Reign deserve to be anywhere near the top 5. Chicago might be the only team in the league that I’d rather play if the Thorns absolutely needed three points at the moment, though I’d still be worried about a playoff matchup just because of the rivalry juice. Just a remarkably impotent roster lacking creative coaching and devoid of real difference makers without Lavelle.
Also curious to hear who y’all want to see in the semis of the teams still in the playoff hunt. I’d go Houston, Angel City, Seattle, Orlando, Louisville, Gotham, North Carolina, Washington.
In this league where literally anyone can beat anyone over any given 90 minutes, the only safe matchup is a bye. Thorns have seemed as inconsistent as they are talented,, so fingers crossed for an "up" day on match day.
Well yes, but “everything’s random” is no fun to discuss, especially since we already have the bye. There are also better and worse matchups for the Thorns.
This should be fun: LA lookin’ to be 89 on Sunday. Our Thorns have bombed basically all away games in warm climates, so, we’ll see if they can overcome that. No Sinc start, please!
Also, news is that Vignola and Haracic are off the IR and fully healthy for minutes Sunday.
Hah, that’s fun! Looks like AC is mostly healthy…I’m really hoping Soph’s not just 30mins healthy, but, at least 30min actually fit enough to contribute. Regardless, another good opportunity to get her minutes before playoffs.
I’m kinda surprised they haven’t gotten there sooner than the day before a huge game. Ideally they’d have gone yesterday so they could acclimate to grass and also get a training in before game day (while not having a traveling day the day before.) It’s 80 in LA, it looks like, very different than Portland currently…
Did you say hello, or, are you going to the game?!
Yeah, humidity matters, at least to a point. In the 85-105F range, relative humidity makes a HUGE difference. I've experienced 102F countless times (I grew up in Phoenix...), but by far the most miserable I've ever been at that temp was in Tokyo in 2018...because it was also over 90% humidity.
Now 120F+...that's another matter. It's most always pretty dry at that temperature...but it doesn't really matter that much. It's like when you open the oven to check on a batch of cookies: it just pours over you like a wave.
Oh yeah, I’m from the Mojave Desert. I used to play tournaments in 100-115 degree weather. A typical summer. I got second degree burns on my hands and arms when I was a teen because I had been on an antibiotic during a tournament and had a very bad photosensitive reaction… Dry heat is def different though, indeed. A club team went to Hawaii for a tournament, and it was like running underwater. We were fit, but not Hawaii fit. LA heat is just gross. It mixes with the smog and it just feels like it’s entering your pores, and leaving a film on your skin… it’s so gross.
The NWSL Championship broadcast starts at 5PM, but does anybody have any idea when actual kickoff will be? Anybody remember how this went last year? I'm assuming they'll have at least a 30-minute pregame show.
Gonna be a race to see if the game concludes before I have to leave for language school over here! 6AM start to the broadcast, which fortunately is on DAZN.
I'm working the Portland shinsa (kendo promotion test) today, which is supposed to end at 4:00, so I'll have to sneak looks at my phone. What I get for not learning not to volunteer in 20 years of Army time...
The CBS window is always tight. I would expect it to start near 5:00 PM that is 8:00 east coast time they aren't going to want to got past 10 or 11 if we get an extra 30.
Looking at the old stumptown footy it was another 5:00 PM kickoff with equalizer Twitter post of Smith's goal at 5:20. So I would expect a close to 5:07 kickoff.
IIRC last year's final started nominally at 5:00 Pacific, and kickoff wasn't too much later, maybe between 5:10 and 5:15. I watched on Paramount+. There may have been a pregame show on CBS or CBS Sports earlier, but if so I didn't see it.
Yeah, I'm just honestly hoping some other team with better defense knocks out SD before we have to play them. Casey Stoney is probably the coach who knows above all how to exploit Norris' consistently poor defensive tactics, and I think we've struggled against SD because of that. In a pre(post?)-game chat with Stoney after they won up here a few weeks ago, she mentioned how one of her main goals was to exploit Portland's high fullbacks. Norris never adjusted, and his subs were horrendous. And if you think about the recent Reign and Gotham games that we won, our FB's were still getting high (maybe one hung back slightly), but neither Reign or Gotham even tried to capitalize on it- Gotham because Amoros doesn't play that way, and Reign because they are old and mostly slow. Yes, our defense has looked better and I credit that too, but I think their jobs were made easier because of the above, in those two games I mentioned.
Anyways...against AC? Well, I worry about that because they DO have fast wingers that they actually use (Thompson, Emslie, Camberros, and Endo just from memory...) and I don't see Norris changing anything now. There were times during Gotham when we only had Becky and Menges as a back two, and there would be a transition and Kuikka and/or Kling were never gonna make it back if Amoros would've just let Midge or Lynn run. We got pretty lucky, imo. Esp if Vignola is back for AC, they'll try to get vertical quickly, and Portland had struggled against those types of teams....I'm not overly worried, but I'm not NOT worried...
They’ve actually played SD really well this year and last up until two weeks ago. I kinda think they just struggled without Soph against a tactically well drilled side. SD only created 0.5 xG, so it’s not like they did much and their attacking personnel is pretty subpar. I do agree that the Norris-Stoney matchup scares me in a playoff setting....but you usually gotta beat a good team in the final!
(I think Washington still scares me a little more as a finals opponent because of their speed/talent up front and their press, but margins are thin... and the Thorns still have to win a playoff game first anyhow!)
xG total in all the games is 7.5 - 3.2. Even in just the league games it's 2.1 to .7. They're a hard team to break down but I'd rather face a team bunkering that doesn't carry a significant counter-attacking threat than the opposite, especially if Smith is back to anywhere close to her best.
Yeah, and Washington I'd say is the team that has actually played the Thorns the best at home. They totally controlled that game in June; the difference is Soph went supernova mode and Trinity Rodman can't reach that level yet.
Mmmm...I'm not as sure that Gotham was a failure on Amoros so much as a more comprehensive defensive outing from Portland. Look at Kling's heat map (well, not as such, but look at her passing and defensive action plot); she's MUCH further back that Norris typically plays her. Kuikka is further forward only in the first half.
But the whole squad worked their tails off defensively, from Betfort on back, and that's what they're going to have to do in LA.
I'm never confident with Norris; I think he's a one-trick pony and other gaffers have figured that out. But he HAS made minor adjustments like going to the double pivot when he needs more sturdiness in back. So maybe he will be less reckless in LA...
Had a very brief chat with Kozal and watched Marcel play with another very energetic non-Thorns baby for a while lol...and yes, I am going- Very nervous to enter BMO in 90 degrees (seriously, F LA) or whatever they call it these days. Hopefully they change it up from last year in Gotham.
Apparently they practiced this morning, but yeah...kinda surprised they didn’t leave yesterday too.
Toward the later end of me living in southern CA (maybe 10 yrs ago now), it was generally always mildly warm (like 70s for a Californian) on Christmas, which is actually bizarre (esp after living elsewhere.) Though, I'm from a high desert so our lows were colder than Portland for several months. I definitely prefer seasons....though the "rain" season here IS a bit too long for my taste...
Anyways, I hope they can come out high energy tomorrow! Even though it's a short travel, doing it the day before a huge game seems more detrimental than beneficial. We need all the help we can get for those road games lol. Give a double finger salute to AC for us!
Will do! Sat across the aisle from Coffey while in my Coffey jersey and she seemed a lil surprised someone had her name on the back of the kit lol. Fairly certain my “good luck y’all” will inspire them to victory tomorrow.
We love a humble destroyer!
Speaking of which, today will be a very strange day, because it will be our first encounter with La Destructrice in the NWSL wearing an opponent's kit.
Henderson weighs in on NWSL forthcoming player awards:
Smith repeats as MVP but Kerolin and Weaver merit a shot.
Defender: Girma, but feels the field is "wide open."
Keeper: Lund
Rookie: Nighswonger
Agree about Lund, Girma for defender, and the swonger, but I think Kerolin will take MVP unless Smith does something amazing in her limited minutes tomorrow. Because Smith's been out, recency bias will favor Kerolin, who really has been amazing this year.
Agree. I'd put Kerolin above Smith for MVP because of Smith's injury and because Kerolin has had a lot less help there. She lost Debinha and Ordonez this year. Smith? Didn't lose anybody.
I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that if SD win the shield, it's Girma as MVP.
Phuoc not many comments here as I think most people are focused on the Thorns last game. If they win, they have the Shield and then after that everything is gravy. I hope Norris goes with the same lineup as he used for Gotham and hope Soph can see some minutes. She looked tentative, but even at 70 or 80% she draws a crowd.
No worries at all! Lots of content being published all week :)
I honestly would love to curse to be broken this year. It's been such a weird year, Shield and Championship could be the same team.
I don’t think the Reign deserve to be anywhere near the top 5. Chicago might be the only team in the league that I’d rather play if the Thorns absolutely needed three points at the moment, though I’d still be worried about a playoff matchup just because of the rivalry juice. Just a remarkably impotent roster lacking creative coaching and devoid of real difference makers without Lavelle.
Also curious to hear who y’all want to see in the semis of the teams still in the playoff hunt. I’d go Houston, Angel City, Seattle, Orlando, Louisville, Gotham, North Carolina, Washington.
Yes, OL Reign is too high especially with their goal scoring issues.
I think they like their chances at home against anyone, but Houston and ACFC seem to be giving them the most trouble this year.
In this league where literally anyone can beat anyone over any given 90 minutes, the only safe matchup is a bye. Thorns have seemed as inconsistent as they are talented,, so fingers crossed for an "up" day on match day.
Well yes, but “everything’s random” is no fun to discuss, especially since we already have the bye. There are also better and worse matchups for the Thorns.
This should be fun: LA lookin’ to be 89 on Sunday. Our Thorns have bombed basically all away games in warm climates, so, we’ll see if they can overcome that. No Sinc start, please!
Also, news is that Vignola and Haracic are off the IR and fully healthy for minutes Sunday.
Thorns are all on my flight to LA in an hour, so that outweighs the heat factor imo. Confirmed Soph’s knee *looks* ready for a hat trick tomorrow ;)
(Marcel’s a TSA pre-check kid for anyone curious)
Hah, that’s fun! Looks like AC is mostly healthy…I’m really hoping Soph’s not just 30mins healthy, but, at least 30min actually fit enough to contribute. Regardless, another good opportunity to get her minutes before playoffs.
I’m kinda surprised they haven’t gotten there sooner than the day before a huge game. Ideally they’d have gone yesterday so they could acclimate to grass and also get a training in before game day (while not having a traveling day the day before.) It’s 80 in LA, it looks like, very different than Portland currently…
Did you say hello, or, are you going to the game?!
Idk why it posted above, but yes I am going! Very excited/nervous for the game and it was cool to see all the players in a different environment
They're a wilty bunch, could be a factor.
TBF, with our hothouse flowers it's not just the heat; it's the humidity.
It was 83 during the Gotham match and they did just fine. That's because it wasn't also 83% humidity.
So long as LA doesn't become Lake Kissimmee, we should be OK.
Yeah, humidity matters, at least to a point. In the 85-105F range, relative humidity makes a HUGE difference. I've experienced 102F countless times (I grew up in Phoenix...), but by far the most miserable I've ever been at that temp was in Tokyo in 2018...because it was also over 90% humidity.
Now 120F+...that's another matter. It's most always pretty dry at that temperature...but it doesn't really matter that much. It's like when you open the oven to check on a batch of cookies: it just pours over you like a wave.
Oh yeah, I’m from the Mojave Desert. I used to play tournaments in 100-115 degree weather. A typical summer. I got second degree burns on my hands and arms when I was a teen because I had been on an antibiotic during a tournament and had a very bad photosensitive reaction… Dry heat is def different though, indeed. A club team went to Hawaii for a tournament, and it was like running underwater. We were fit, but not Hawaii fit. LA heat is just gross. It mixes with the smog and it just feels like it’s entering your pores, and leaving a film on your skin… it’s so gross.
Yep, Orlando and Dallas in summer are the only two places I've considered hell, and both were 90+ temperature and high humidity.
The NWSL Championship broadcast starts at 5PM, but does anybody have any idea when actual kickoff will be? Anybody remember how this went last year? I'm assuming they'll have at least a 30-minute pregame show.
My media event schedule says 5pm so should start about 5-10 minutes after that.
Gonna be a race to see if the game concludes before I have to leave for language school over here! 6AM start to the broadcast, which fortunately is on DAZN.
I'm working the Portland shinsa (kendo promotion test) today, which is supposed to end at 4:00, so I'll have to sneak looks at my phone. What I get for not learning not to volunteer in 20 years of Army time...
The CBS window is always tight. I would expect it to start near 5:00 PM that is 8:00 east coast time they aren't going to want to got past 10 or 11 if we get an extra 30.
Looking at the old stumptown footy it was another 5:00 PM kickoff with equalizer Twitter post of Smith's goal at 5:20. So I would expect a close to 5:07 kickoff.
IIRC last year's final started nominally at 5:00 Pacific, and kickoff wasn't too much later, maybe between 5:10 and 5:15. I watched on Paramount+. There may have been a pregame show on CBS or CBS Sports earlier, but if so I didn't see it.