Why are Washington Spirit and Gotham playing in Chester PA, which is suburban Philly and just across from South Jersey? Subaru Park is closer to Atlantic City than it is DC, and it's absolutely nowhere close to NYC.
Today helped get the stench of yesterday out of my system. Impressive play from USWNT even with Horan having an off day. Rodman really impressed me today.
Also, it looks a lot like Canada will advance to the Olympic quarterfinals despite the drone-spying 6 point deduction. If they beat Colombia, they'll have 3 points, tied with Brazil (who will lose to Spain) but with a better goal difference. That will make Canada one of the two best third-place teams.
Wild how quickly Hayes has figured out how to get the Mal-Soph-Trin frontline firing- Rodman in particular was absolutely spectacular today. Germany played a weirdly high line, but the USWNT's ability to possess and still find space to exploit is something they haven't been able to do with this particular group of players. Thorns-like central midfield depth behind Sam and Horan tho, so that's a concern going forward.
Meanwhile, for anyone who had an eye on the Canada game, Fleming was wotm-level great today and the fight/general resilience from Canada overall was pretty damn impressive.
Looks like Zambia, Nigeria, Canada, and New Zealand will be going home. Goal by Jessie to level things with France, but equalizing ain't enough. And, seriously, Zambia, WTF?
That Swanson goal off her shot is exactly why you player her centrally too. That's the most Thorns version of Smith goal I think I've seen the U.S score: Overpowers the defender with her back to goal and then fires while being grabbed.
Knock on effect of the Davidson injury is that there's no backup six on the roster. Krueger could theoretically play CB and shift Sonnett into the six, but Sam has to be REALLY careful here. If it's still 3-1 in the 70th minute, I'd take her off.
Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good. Nice brace, Soph.
Poor Berger. Not only was that a ridiculously bad spin off the bounce, but her teammate landed on her and smashed her on the back of the head when she was down on the ground as she watched the ball go into the netting. Soccer is cruel.
Probably Renard or someone with some size because Girma's one semi-weakness is her height, though I personally prefer Leah Williamson or Mapi Leon as players.
Renard of 5-10 years ago, sure. Now, at 34? She's simply lost too much pace. But yeah, Girma's 5'6" and Williamson's only an inch taller (although I don't personally think height's a huge problem for either one). I'd probably take Moeka Minami over Williamson, though: same height, so that's a wash, a couple years younger, and better technically.
Is it just my imagination or are there problems with the pitch? I've seen several players for Australia and Zambia slip when completely unmarked, either trying to go forward or change direction.
As well as the Ministry of Transportation (Buses, Throwing Under Division). I'll be very interested to see how Herdman and the misogynists of Canada Soccer come out of this.
The Nadeshiko haven't been playing anywhere near the level they were at WWC23, although they kept it close v Spain. Brazil are a very good side, but Japan shouldn't _need_ last minute heroics to beat them. They did look more connected and purposeful than they did in the opener. Barring a let-down v Nigeria, they should be into the knockouts...where hopefully they can capture some of last year's magic.
But day-um, Momoko Tanikawa's golazo game winner was Puskas contender stuff. One-timed it with venom into the upper 90 from well over 30 yards out. Wow.
Smith and Swanson kinda grew up together in Colorado, and I gather they're pretty good buddies. Not that that precludes some amount of rivalry, but I see genuine joy when either of them sees the other succeed. Rodman isn't as close, but I don't see much of a rivalry with her either. And everyone seemed very happy for Williams today to boot. It's a good scene.
$0.02 Smith-Swanson a harmonious combo while Rodman seems primarily about Rodman. Not to say she can't "do assists" but has a tendency to do fancy things 1:1 or 1:2 in lieu of passing out of traffic.
Sure, but not only is Rodman a winger while Smith and Mal are strikers, it's also borne out pretty well in the stats-
Expected Assists over the past four seasons played: Rodman (18.4) Swanson (13.4) Smith (11).
To be clear, I don't think any of them are "selfish" and ALL of them are prone to dribbling down a rabbit hole or two on occasion. Soph and Mal are both better players overall imo. But Rodman's biggest strengths are her creation for others and work off the ball while Soph and Mal are goalscorers.
I see everyone’s predictably spiraling with “ohoho SEE Gale sucks!” takes, but it’s really hard for me to get to worked up about this. Not sure what a coach is supposed to do with one healthy center midfielder and zero healthy wingers. He had to play freakin Sheva and a left back in the middle tonight. The thing that worked best against Tijuana (Kling and Muller inverting) wasn’t even an option tonight.
For me it’s pretty much the tyranny of low expectations. The situation going in was knowing the Utah is largely unaffected by the OG (a rare plus for poor roster building) while Portland is reduced to playing deep depth and reserves.
The obvious coaching response would be to figure out the best way to field that makeshift roster and tactics to reduce the risk of conceding early. Play a defensive set and counter, try and disrupt Utah until your injured game-changers like Moultrie could come in.
But Ken isn’t the kind of guy who can do that. I don’t think he has either the technical or tactical cleverness. He’s a cheerful replacement-level coach. Not awful, but not someone who’s going to work and get you that edge when you’re playing so close to the margins as the current squad is. Give him a stacked roster, or an opponent as bad as Tijuana and he might do fine (tho the earlier Utah draw suggests not all the time!). But put him where he needs to do actual coaching, and you could get a hot mess like this one.
He is what he is. The question is, do we want that?
I don't know that playing a low block against Utah from minute one is the way to go. I know for SURE people would have complained about it in the game thread. "Why can't we keep the ball" yada yada.
I think ultimately, you're probably right that Gale isn't ever going to be an elite coach and as I've said, I am not at all fan of the process it took to get to him. I guess what I'm saying is that this current roster -- because of a pretty shitty combo of international absences, key injuries, and general roster shallowness-- is not a good gauge of his coaching abilities and that hammering him after every loss is kinda dumb. In fact, he HAS adapted to his squad with the 3-4-3. I struggle to do the whole "oh he coulda shoulda done this/that/the other thing when he's missing Smith, Weaver, Moultrie, Beckie, Linnehan, Coffey, and Obaze from an already pretty unbalanced, age-polarized, and shallow roster. Tyranny of low expectations sure, but the truth is that I don't think elite coach x is doing a whole lot better. This is just is not a very good team in its current state, and IS one with big holes.
So, now it's on KK to get him the pieces to show whether he can be an upper-third manager. If she does that and he doesn't perform, I'll grab a pitchfork for him. If she doesn't do that, I'll grab a pitchfork for her.
Just curious --and this is a question for everyone-- did you expect all the issues to be fixed overnight? 2+ years of lame duck ownership and no new acquisitions as a result? This stuff takes time, and even then there are no guarantees. There are at least four other teams in this league who have gotten a head start and have had their owners say the same "best team in the world" stuff.
Thorns fans are starting to remind me of Yankees fans in all the worst ways.
-Inability to connect more than two passes in sequence
Which seems to have been SOP the first half.
2nd half much better but why play 45 minutes of surrenderball and then search for a ladder to climb out of the trench it dug? I don't get it, presuming there's an "it" to get.
Seattle feeling giddy about Wednesday now and who can blame them?
No, I didn't expect all the issues to be fixed overnight. But at this point I'm not sure I even know what all the problems are, and I didn't go into this season thinking we had all these problems.
I think the positional issues --particularly on the wing-- were pretty clear at the start of the year after they focused on the defense in the offseason. Same with the depth issues. There's some deadweight clearing to do, and how I feel going into next season is going to hinge on how good of a job they do at getting rid of the deadweight and replacing it.
That’s kinda my point, tho. If you know your roster is full of dross, why try a formation and player assignments that expose your weaknesses MORE?
That’s where I think this exposes Ken here. His 3-4-3 romped against the awful Xolos, but this called for something less forward…and he just hit repeat.
Not letting LeBlanc off the hook. But he isn’t really helping…
I think he played a formation that made sense given his lack of midfield and attacking options, and it didn't work. He had to shift Kling inside to compensate for OWK's absence and Reyes had to play CB for literally the second time in her Thorns career because Obaze wasn't fit. Hubly had a bad game. There's literally not enough midfielders available for a functional 4-3-3. I suppose he could have a played a 4-4-2 or something, but I don't think that solves the core issue either.
Was anyone saying "Oh maybe he should switch to a 4-back because Utah is dangerous" before the game? Cause I didn't see it! If they had played the 4-back and the result had been the same, I'm sure I'd see "why didn't he stay with what worked?" I hate hind-sighting formation decisions. Sometimes the other team plays better and you just get beat!
how about not play such a dank formation and make better personnel decisions for those spots. For f***s sake utah is the worst team in the league. Two of their goals came from players who were on our bench so it's not like we were playing against a top squad out there. I for one thought Gale hire a joke. Squalor soccer and horrible fashion sense.
I'll cop to getting my hopes up after last weekend.
I didn't go into the TJ match thinking we'd destroy them, but we did. And that made me think that because we were playing in the worst group (which we are), and had built such an absurdly high GD, that we could win all three matches in the group and advance to the semifinal.
I also put too much stock in the first weekend's matches overall. I thought more teams would be eliminated after the second weekend than now looks like will be the case.
I found myself feeling enthusiastic about this quirky little Summer Cup and thought maybe we would have something to look forward to in a season that I think is going to end on the road, in the quarterfinals, in a not-particularly-competitive fashion.
But... I'm still not sold on Gale as a permanent HC, and I do think we got outworked and outrun by Utah, now two times in a row. The previous Utah game was really grim, but this one was even worse. And I'm feeling pretty crappy about that.
Well it’s also like where tf is our MIA GM getting him some NTRP’s to fill holes like every other team does?
This is just a continuation of an ongoing problem…so many folks playing out of position and/or in a new formation certainly doesn’t help. It still looked like garbage, though (which was pretty predictable for me.)
Maybe with so many young’s and deep benchers he should just stick to the basics rather than complicating the hell outta things half way through the season. It’s just gonna look even messier when he inevitably goes back to a 4 back…
It’s good we’re really seeing players, though. We need to know exactly what we have and what we need…
Last I checked no team had more than 3 NTRPs, so we're not an outlier there. I think Gale is right to be giving the deep bench some real minutes, and hopefully that will help in deciding who we try to develop and who we let go. Cuz we better be clearing out a few roster spots for the incoming quality players, right? We can't both use the Summer Cup to evaluate our bench and always play the best 11 available..
Also, I was happy to hear that Gale wanted to try out a variety of formations rather than stick to Norris's tactics. Well, now is the time for that.
I have to admit, though, that I don't want to lose to Seattle even more than I didn't want to lose to Utah. But if that's what it takes to build the team we want, I guess I can stand it.
We haven’t had a backup 6 since last season. Seems like it should’ve been a target for a NTRP because it was an obvious hole. Weaver has been injured for months now. Fill those holes temporarily so we can properly asses our deep bench folks in their actual positions is all I’m saying. Izzy and/or Ana on the wing, Kling in the 6, Sheva playing mostly defensive midfield, OWK playing in the pivot next to Hina…we’re not even evaluating folks in their actual positions. OWK is the only asterisk there because she did play some def mid in college. But she shined as a 10. Mallie McKenzie on the wing…good! OWK when in the 10…good! New GKs…good! It’s not all bad.
OWK might end up being a #6 professionally, by the way. It's not like Sam Coffey was a 6 in college, that was a conversion. In general I'd rather we see if we have a player who is good with certain qualities who can transition to a position rather than having a backup 6 who we know isn't good like Taylor Porter
Nah, NRIs aren’t a solution. The solution is having better players.
Y’all can’t have it both ways! I’m not sure how good a a manager Gale is, but I’m sure as hell that he’s not a miracle worker! This is currently a team both ravaged by injuries literally everywhere *and* in what’s functionally a rebuild. There’s gonna be a bunch of rough nights and that’s just the reality of the situation.
Not a solution obv…but folks would be able to play in more natural positions if we had viable NTRP’s where we had holes. That way players can get reps in natural positions so that it’s seamless when players come back from Olympics. Throwing this kinda wrench in things is really gonna make for a rocky integration later imo. I’m still allowed to call a shit sandwich a shit sandwich though! Lol. We have multiple problems requiring multiple solutions, now…not freaking out but not optimistic really either.
Starting some random off the street over Izzy or Dias ain’t really the solution tho. I suppose he could have started Valdez, but what does that really do? I’m not sure a viable starting NTRP is really a thing and it’s not really intended to be one tbh.
Now, if Linnehan could stay healthy and he still started Dias/Sinc/Izzy, you’ll see me complain. I just think the dude’s hands are pretty tied the way things are at the moment and there needs to be a little nuance instead of defaulting to crisis mode whenever there’s a bad performance. He’s trying some stuff- some of it’s working some of it isn’t…but it’s a hard spot to be in.
And: Sinc is gone after this season. At least he have that!
That’s not what I mean. I mean, if we know we don’t have a damn backup 6 in preseason…pick one up for the cup! KC just picked up Allie Long as an NTRP…what position does she play again? Katie Stengel was a NTRP last summer! The Spirit just signed a player from the USLSL until the end of the cup only. We could’ve tried to get Katie Duong back for the cup. Our GM fails to think outside the box consistently and it’s frustrating. It feels lazy considering how thin we are, and it was the same last summer.
The 6 is just one example…Getting a slightly more serviceable winger than a rando college student from Grand Canyon University would allow Izzy to play the 9. Keep Mallie McKenzie on another wing like she’s been playing. Ana Dias can still be a sub for Izzy, I don’t really need to see much more from her anyways. The reason Sinc has to play is because of our holes elsewhere…and so it shifts folks out of position. There was just more that could be done on her end imo, considering we’ve had multiple injuries for a while now and the Olympics have also been known about.
Although I think the 3 back is not a good system for our personnel, I get trying stuff. It’s just that he did too much here at once, imo. And it’s def compounded by our personnel/roster issue. So, as I’ve always said, it’s on the GM and the coach. I think KK could’ve done more for this window, and I think Gale could be still doing better with what he has. Speaking for myself, I think it’s ok for me to say so.
It’s incredible how short sighted your perspective is. I agree a 6 would be a great addition but totally disagree about the other NTRP. In her limited action, she’s showed she has a huge upside. Great vision, attacks VERY well, and could be a big diamond in the rough. You’re like most of he NWSL GM’s in that they only look at power five kids. I totally stupid perspective Tons of kids out there from mid majors, can make an impact in the NWSL. It’s old world thinking.
Look at Izzy… Look at all the minutes that she’s had and what she’s been able to do this season, especially in the summer cup? Because she’s from SC doesn’t mean squat when you can’t finish. Lastly, the summer cup is for experimentation as none of this means anything in the grand picture and hopefully you see that. It would be interesting to see what this formation would look like with all of the starters back
You just made my point tho. If the issue is that we don’t have the players, how is it Gale’s fault? He’s playing the back three because the only line we have semi-full availability in is the back line! It’s a smart, adaptive move!
Everyone is free to fan as they wish, but the relentless world-is-ending negativity around here after every loss as the team going through a rebuild/reconstruction is incredibly grating. The Thorns are NOT the only team having issues- Two NWSL teams lost to Liga MX teams yesterday. Stuff happens.
What’s more valuable: someone getting a rep in a position where they’re 5th choice or Mallie McKenzie playing two different positions over the course of two games
I think it’s more valuable to have a backup 6 so that we don’t have to have Kling playing out of position (terribly) and also having another serviceable winger so that we don’t have to trot 150 year old Sinc out at the 9 because it’s the only position she can be put where she’s the smallest liability. Then we can actually play Izzy in her position, because she’s not a winger. Then also maybe Marissa Sheva would be playing in the 10 which is also her natural position…not a defensive mid.
There were so many holes that we had to shift multiple players out of position…on top of a new formation. Our CB’s are not good fits for a 3 back as well. So, predictably the whole looked like a dumpster fire. Just asking for a coach (and GM) to at least do their best with what they have and I still don’t think that’s happening. It’s a shit sandwich anyway ya eat it, though! This team’s backend is pretty bad. It’s ok to both acknowledge that this is a rebuilding period but also be frustrated by it.
I also just don’t really see the point in bringing in a bunch of NTRP to have them start. They’re not going to be here for that long, so what’s the point in investing significant playing time? While Kling hasn’t been great in midfield it’s not an entirely new idea. Mark was doing it in 2021!
Amen. The longer KK is the GM the more dumb things she will do that will make the Thorns even worse. 6 goalkeepers and 4 strikers (a position where the backup almost doesn't matter) means this team will always be thin this season and almost no meaningful development will occur.
People keep talking about rebuilding but I don't think it needed to be if good decisions were made. Players like Kuikka, Ryan and Rocky are still kicking ass and what did we get for them exactly? The #5 pick (which turned into Reyes who looks like a backup), OWK, and some allocation money? Yeesh.
If you got too high on last week’s win, that’s on you. Sorry. This is the same rebuilding team it’s been all year, except now it’s also missing 80% of its best 11. It’s not going to look good every night. Utah isn’t good, but they’re still at full strength playing a familiar system.
Last thing: If we’re gonna yell and scream about the roster construction, we can’t also yell and scream when the manager can’t work magic with a bunch of kids and olds.
I didn't watch a single minute but I saw the lineup:
this team has an imbalance of quality and numbers. I'd rather we figure some things out now in games that ultimately don't really matter so the head coach can tell the GM we need x in this position.
Last year a concern on this board was that players like Natalie Beckman and Gabby Provenzano weren't playing. This year I think everyone is getting a look-in
At halftime, Betfort said they've been doing two-a-days and a lot of running/conditioning.
It was clear from the get-go which team was more fit.
Not only are we relatively slow and, in places, old, but we also got outworked due to fitness.
It's hard to talk players in their late-30s and early-40s into two-a-days, but I definitely think we could stand to improve our conditioning so that we can handle opponents who will try to outrun us.
Gale has said in previous pressers that he gives the team 3 days off, iirc. Sure shows. You may make the locker room happy but you sure won’t win a lot.
Game was so bad. The first half was kind of a result of bad decisions. You start a gk that has never played before when you’re playing a new formation. Three in the back is always trouble especially when we are limited on CB’s in theory it could work but it didn’t. The goals weren’t Kozal fault but if you’re starting someone who hasn’t played why not play with 4 to have more protection . The midfield was not good in the beginning. Messy midfield passes no cohesion and no one really wanted to defend. Utah made one pass and it would put the 3 CB’s under tremendous pressure . And our Front three didn’t really do anything to help offensively or defensively. I really hope he doesn’t try to do this during the regular season. We need reinforcements asap. Especially goal scorers
Good thing we've spent two draft picks in the last two years and two signings this year on goalkeepers instead of defenders, midfielders, and forwards that can actually play.
So that was both embarrassing and boring. My opinion of Gale was never high and it's getting lower all the time. In 2025, even Rob Gale will not be able to start Sinclair anymore. But he'll still be the coach and somehow the Thorns will prefer to play slow, negative football.
I know this tourney is funky as hell and doesn't really count for anything, and that it's a chance to try out new formations and get a look at players who haven't seen the pitch much, but...
I would not be surprised if we're once again looking for a permanent HC at the end of 2024, sometime in 2025, or at the end of 2025.
As ABell4 pointed out, the subs didn’t really help that much back of the frontline. Midfield still coughed up turnovers and got run over, backline was still crap. Moultrie struck a sweet golazo and should have had another on a giveaway but couldn’t turn on the ball quickly enough.
And won’t work even moreso against teams not at the bottom of the table lol…
Gotta scrap the back 3 with the personnel we have currently. We do not have 3 elite CB’s. We don’t even have 1. And when the 6 is slow as molasses as well…you’re just asking for what we got. Nice experiment to generate more in the attack, but all he’s done is destabilize our backline and midfield again to a severe degree…so much so that the benefit of possibly having more numbers in attack is kinda moot because we got overrun and couldn’t even keep the ball long enough to create.
If he wants to keep a 3 back, maybe try a 352 instead…or just go back to a 4. We have Gotham as our first league game back…maybe we should be focused on a consistent formation first so that folks aren’t lost when the nats come back.
I get saving Liv for the 2nd half given she hasn't played for a few weeks, but I would have liked to have seen those second half subs start, if only for their hunger, motivation, and ability to run a forty in under ten seconds.
They got better especially after Obaze replaced Saurbrunn. That third goal was bad luck. However, even after the savvy veterans came out team speed was still an issue. Leblanc's team building skills don't impress me.
Maybe a little, but the shape was just not right imo. So so much space on the outside for really mediocre Utah wingers to thrive in. Against better teams we will be destroyed… and with Kling in the 6? Just brutal decision-making for our personnel.
Our other option should’ve been KK getting another 6 to play temporarily next to Hina until the nats come home. KC just picked up Allie Long (guess what position she plays?) The Spirit just got a temp player from the USLSL until the cup is over…there are solutions that our GM is not exploring and it’s frustrating.
Okay, so. Remember the comment last week about how I “didn’t want to speculate too much” about the good flow, passing, and movement we saw because of the poor opponent?
Apparently I was STILL speculating too much. Because tonight - against the worst team in the league! - our flow was nonexistent, our passing utter crap, our movement glacial, and our defending appalling. That was comprehensively rubbish.
Sorry. I underestimated how really bad Tijuana was.
Yeah I was the pessimist who honestly thought we’d lose if we did the 3 back against anyone else. We will never have that amount of time we had, even against the bottom of the table. Kling and Sinc can only be used in those cases. TJ was really really really bad. Utah and Seattle will blow them out also and then it’ll make sense to everyone else how we went 5-0. It really should’ve been like 9-0 also.
Why are Washington Spirit and Gotham playing in Chester PA, which is suburban Philly and just across from South Jersey? Subaru Park is closer to Atlantic City than it is DC, and it's absolutely nowhere close to NYC.
Scheduling conflicts at Audi is what I heard.
Club TJ up on Seattle. WTF.
Today helped get the stench of yesterday out of my system. Impressive play from USWNT even with Horan having an off day. Rodman really impressed me today.
Also, it looks a lot like Canada will advance to the Olympic quarterfinals despite the drone-spying 6 point deduction. If they beat Colombia, they'll have 3 points, tied with Brazil (who will lose to Spain) but with a better goal difference. That will make Canada one of the two best third-place teams.
Fox had a banger of a game too. And then there's that Smith player....
Wild how quickly Hayes has figured out how to get the Mal-Soph-Trin frontline firing- Rodman in particular was absolutely spectacular today. Germany played a weirdly high line, but the USWNT's ability to possess and still find space to exploit is something they haven't been able to do with this particular group of players. Thorns-like central midfield depth behind Sam and Horan tho, so that's a concern going forward.
Meanwhile, for anyone who had an eye on the Canada game, Fleming was wotm-level great today and the fight/general resilience from Canada overall was pretty damn impressive.
Holy cow. Canada at the absolute death! Gilles at 90+12. Wow!!!
Lovely finish by Williams. Just that split second of patience and beautiful placement.
I'm so happy for her.
Looks like Zambia, Nigeria, Canada, and New Zealand will be going home. Goal by Jessie to level things with France, but equalizing ain't enough. And, seriously, Zambia, WTF?
Maybe not over Canada quite yet.
Unbelievable, huh?
I wasn't expecting that.
How's that for resilience and determination?!?!?
Truly a statement that it's not about the coaches or the administration, and that they don't need any "extra help" to get it done.
I have no idea how this game is not tied at this point. What an exciting game.
Lavelle has done some killer defensive work tracking back in support of Sam and Horan.
Soph killin’ it in this tournament so far and I love to see it. Involved in or scored in every US goal in the tourney so far. So happy for her…
That Swanson goal off her shot is exactly why you player her centrally too. That's the most Thorns version of Smith goal I think I've seen the U.S score: Overpowers the defender with her back to goal and then fires while being grabbed.
Germany's coach and Larry Bird have never been seen in the same place at the same time. Suspicious!
If only he was taller :)
Knock on effect of the Davidson injury is that there's no backup six on the roster. Krueger could theoretically play CB and shift Sonnett into the six, but Sam has to be REALLY careful here. If it's still 3-1 in the 70th minute, I'd take her off.
What a half! Let's do that again!
Yeah, I would not have predicted this scoreline after Matchday 1.
Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good. Nice brace, Soph.
Poor Berger. Not only was that a ridiculously bad spin off the bounce, but her teammate landed on her and smashed her on the back of the head when she was down on the ground as she watched the ball go into the netting. Soccer is cruel.
Pretty sure Girma is the best CB in the world right now and I don't think that's a hot take- Can anyone think of a better one?
Not Hubly?
It's close, slight edge to Girma tho since I don't wanna be too biased.
So, who would be your ideal pairing with Girma - any CB in the world?
Probably Renard or someone with some size because Girma's one semi-weakness is her height, though I personally prefer Leah Williamson or Mapi Leon as players.
Renard of 5-10 years ago, sure. Now, at 34? She's simply lost too much pace. But yeah, Girma's 5'6" and Williamson's only an inch taller (although I don't personally think height's a huge problem for either one). I'd probably take Moeka Minami over Williamson, though: same height, so that's a wash, a couple years younger, and better technically.
Rauch getting absolutely murdered by Rodman on the Germany left so far.
(Also Sam's gotta chill, she's been on the borderline of a second yellow a few times)
Soph's goal was gorgeous, and truly a team goal - huge props to Rodman and Swanson.
Meanwhile, Swanson's finish is because of Smith's strike.
Bhathals, why don't we just trade for Mal and Trinity?
Attention attention NWSL Sophia Smith has hit the international stage
Horan is off so far
More than off tbh, she's been TERRIBLE lol
YAS Soph!
SOPHHHHH from Rodmannnn
Accidentally stepping on someone's foot inside the 18 leads to a PK. God, soccer is a cruel sport.
5-5.
Is it just my imagination or are there problems with the pitch? I've seen several players for Australia and Zambia slip when completely unmarked, either trying to go forward or change direction.
Only backline worse than Australia's might be Zambia's.
First side to 11 wins?
Meanwhile, this just in from Canada:
https://www.npr.org/2024/07/28/g-s1-13956/canada-government-funding-olympic-soccer-drone-spy
https://www.sportsnet.ca/soccer/article/canadian-womens-soccer-coach-bev-priestman-apologizes-for-drone-spying-scandal/
https://x.com/MeaghenJohnson/status/1817608738380910915
Fingerprints of The Ministry of Too Little, Too Late all over these missives.
As well as the Ministry of Transportation (Buses, Throwing Under Division). I'll be very interested to see how Herdman and the misogynists of Canada Soccer come out of this.
At this moment, it looks a lot like Spain, France, Germany, USWNT, Colombia, Brazil, Japan, and Zambia will advance to the knockout round.
Australia's utter crap and Canada's 6-point penalization have taken out a lot of suspense.
The Nadeshiko haven't been playing anywhere near the level they were at WWC23, although they kept it close v Spain. Brazil are a very good side, but Japan shouldn't _need_ last minute heroics to beat them. They did look more connected and purposeful than they did in the opener. Barring a let-down v Nigeria, they should be into the knockouts...where hopefully they can capture some of last year's magic.
But day-um, Momoko Tanikawa's golazo game winner was Puskas contender stuff. One-timed it with venom into the upper 90 from well over 30 yards out. Wow.
Banda with the 1st half hattie!
And the jailer man and Sailor Sam
Were searching everyone
For Banda on the run
Banda on the run
(shows self out)
Goodness gracious Australia are bad!
AWFUL!
Arnold's gonna come to Portland and think Kelli Hubly's the best defender in the world after playing behind this Aussie backline
And we're gonna receive Fleming and Beckie in whatever mindset they bring back too.
How can a backline with Ellie Carpenter be that bad? Dunno, but they are.
Ellie had elite recovery pace before the ACL so positioning wasn’t an huge issue.
She doesn’t have that anymore
JAPAN!!!!
Bummer Tanikawa already got snatched up by Bayern or I'd be clamoring for Hina to use her connections.
(she's also on loan at Rosenborg, which is Obaze's old club)
Late handball in Japan v Brazil. Definitely is, but how brutal.
https://x.com/weeping_wiIIoww/status/1817310348984058335
Korbin is apparently Hayes’ little baby and I really hope it doesn’t hurt the nats!
OT: USWNT
What do you think the competitive relationship is like between Swanson, Smith, and Rodman?
I HOPE it's all about "We just want to win, and we don't care who scores."
I SUSPECT there's a little bit of rivalry and pecking-order stuff there.
Smith and Swanson kinda grew up together in Colorado, and I gather they're pretty good buddies. Not that that precludes some amount of rivalry, but I see genuine joy when either of them sees the other succeed. Rodman isn't as close, but I don't see much of a rivalry with her either. And everyone seemed very happy for Williams today to boot. It's a good scene.
$0.02 Smith-Swanson a harmonious combo while Rodman seems primarily about Rodman. Not to say she can't "do assists" but has a tendency to do fancy things 1:1 or 1:2 in lieu of passing out of traffic.
Rodman's COMFORTABLY the least selfish and best creator of the trio.
Rodman plays like a wing. Smith and Swanson are both natural 9s.
Exactly
We def have different optometrists. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
Sure, but not only is Rodman a winger while Smith and Mal are strikers, it's also borne out pretty well in the stats-
Expected Assists over the past four seasons played: Rodman (18.4) Swanson (13.4) Smith (11).
To be clear, I don't think any of them are "selfish" and ALL of them are prone to dribbling down a rabbit hole or two on occasion. Soph and Mal are both better players overall imo. But Rodman's biggest strengths are her creation for others and work off the ball while Soph and Mal are goalscorers.
I think Smith and Swanson think alike. Having Rodman as a wild card seems like a good thing to me.
They aren't easy to scheme against for any opponent. Can't just load one defensive side, for starters.
As lousy as tonight was, I want to remember our olds this way:
https://www.instagram.com/thornsfc/p/C2QhMlivwbS/?img_index=1
https://x.com/sincy12/status/1586567596446568448
https://equalizersoccer.com/2024/07/27/canada-faces-two-must-win-games-as-fifa-announces-sanctions-drone-spying-olympics/
I see everyone’s predictably spiraling with “ohoho SEE Gale sucks!” takes, but it’s really hard for me to get to worked up about this. Not sure what a coach is supposed to do with one healthy center midfielder and zero healthy wingers. He had to play freakin Sheva and a left back in the middle tonight. The thing that worked best against Tijuana (Kling and Muller inverting) wasn’t even an option tonight.
Seriously. Someone, please enlighten me.
For me it’s pretty much the tyranny of low expectations. The situation going in was knowing the Utah is largely unaffected by the OG (a rare plus for poor roster building) while Portland is reduced to playing deep depth and reserves.
The obvious coaching response would be to figure out the best way to field that makeshift roster and tactics to reduce the risk of conceding early. Play a defensive set and counter, try and disrupt Utah until your injured game-changers like Moultrie could come in.
But Ken isn’t the kind of guy who can do that. I don’t think he has either the technical or tactical cleverness. He’s a cheerful replacement-level coach. Not awful, but not someone who’s going to work and get you that edge when you’re playing so close to the margins as the current squad is. Give him a stacked roster, or an opponent as bad as Tijuana and he might do fine (tho the earlier Utah draw suggests not all the time!). But put him where he needs to do actual coaching, and you could get a hot mess like this one.
He is what he is. The question is, do we want that?
I don't know that playing a low block against Utah from minute one is the way to go. I know for SURE people would have complained about it in the game thread. "Why can't we keep the ball" yada yada.
I think ultimately, you're probably right that Gale isn't ever going to be an elite coach and as I've said, I am not at all fan of the process it took to get to him. I guess what I'm saying is that this current roster -- because of a pretty shitty combo of international absences, key injuries, and general roster shallowness-- is not a good gauge of his coaching abilities and that hammering him after every loss is kinda dumb. In fact, he HAS adapted to his squad with the 3-4-3. I struggle to do the whole "oh he coulda shoulda done this/that/the other thing when he's missing Smith, Weaver, Moultrie, Beckie, Linnehan, Coffey, and Obaze from an already pretty unbalanced, age-polarized, and shallow roster. Tyranny of low expectations sure, but the truth is that I don't think elite coach x is doing a whole lot better. This is just is not a very good team in its current state, and IS one with big holes.
So, now it's on KK to get him the pieces to show whether he can be an upper-third manager. If she does that and he doesn't perform, I'll grab a pitchfork for him. If she doesn't do that, I'll grab a pitchfork for her.
So instead we got the worst of both last night. We couldn't keep the ball for most of the first half AND they put two past us and could have had more.
And... upper-third in a soon-to-be 16-team league isn't what we've been sold.
Just curious --and this is a question for everyone-- did you expect all the issues to be fixed overnight? 2+ years of lame duck ownership and no new acquisitions as a result? This stuff takes time, and even then there are no guarantees. There are at least four other teams in this league who have gotten a head start and have had their owners say the same "best team in the world" stuff.
Thorns fans are starting to remind me of Yankees fans in all the worst ways.
Did not expect:
-Sieve instead of functioning midfield
-Inability to connect more than two passes in sequence
Which seems to have been SOP the first half.
2nd half much better but why play 45 minutes of surrenderball and then search for a ladder to climb out of the trench it dug? I don't get it, presuming there's an "it" to get.
Seattle feeling giddy about Wednesday now and who can blame them?
No, I didn't expect all the issues to be fixed overnight. But at this point I'm not sure I even know what all the problems are, and I didn't go into this season thinking we had all these problems.
I think the positional issues --particularly on the wing-- were pretty clear at the start of the year after they focused on the defense in the offseason. Same with the depth issues. There's some deadweight clearing to do, and how I feel going into next season is going to hinge on how good of a job they do at getting rid of the deadweight and replacing it.
That’s kinda my point, tho. If you know your roster is full of dross, why try a formation and player assignments that expose your weaknesses MORE?
That’s where I think this exposes Ken here. His 3-4-3 romped against the awful Xolos, but this called for something less forward…and he just hit repeat.
Not letting LeBlanc off the hook. But he isn’t really helping…
I think he played a formation that made sense given his lack of midfield and attacking options, and it didn't work. He had to shift Kling inside to compensate for OWK's absence and Reyes had to play CB for literally the second time in her Thorns career because Obaze wasn't fit. Hubly had a bad game. There's literally not enough midfielders available for a functional 4-3-3. I suppose he could have a played a 4-4-2 or something, but I don't think that solves the core issue either.
Was anyone saying "Oh maybe he should switch to a 4-back because Utah is dangerous" before the game? Cause I didn't see it! If they had played the 4-back and the result had been the same, I'm sure I'd see "why didn't he stay with what worked?" I hate hind-sighting formation decisions. Sometimes the other team plays better and you just get beat!
how about not play such a dank formation and make better personnel decisions for those spots. For f***s sake utah is the worst team in the league. Two of their goals came from players who were on our bench so it's not like we were playing against a top squad out there. I for one thought Gale hire a joke. Squalor soccer and horrible fashion sense.
I'll cop to getting my hopes up after last weekend.
I didn't go into the TJ match thinking we'd destroy them, but we did. And that made me think that because we were playing in the worst group (which we are), and had built such an absurdly high GD, that we could win all three matches in the group and advance to the semifinal.
I also put too much stock in the first weekend's matches overall. I thought more teams would be eliminated after the second weekend than now looks like will be the case.
I found myself feeling enthusiastic about this quirky little Summer Cup and thought maybe we would have something to look forward to in a season that I think is going to end on the road, in the quarterfinals, in a not-particularly-competitive fashion.
But... I'm still not sold on Gale as a permanent HC, and I do think we got outworked and outrun by Utah, now two times in a row. The previous Utah game was really grim, but this one was even worse. And I'm feeling pretty crappy about that.
Well it’s also like where tf is our MIA GM getting him some NTRP’s to fill holes like every other team does?
This is just a continuation of an ongoing problem…so many folks playing out of position and/or in a new formation certainly doesn’t help. It still looked like garbage, though (which was pretty predictable for me.)
Maybe with so many young’s and deep benchers he should just stick to the basics rather than complicating the hell outta things half way through the season. It’s just gonna look even messier when he inevitably goes back to a 4 back…
It’s good we’re really seeing players, though. We need to know exactly what we have and what we need…
Last I checked no team had more than 3 NTRPs, so we're not an outlier there. I think Gale is right to be giving the deep bench some real minutes, and hopefully that will help in deciding who we try to develop and who we let go. Cuz we better be clearing out a few roster spots for the incoming quality players, right? We can't both use the Summer Cup to evaluate our bench and always play the best 11 available..
Also, I was happy to hear that Gale wanted to try out a variety of formations rather than stick to Norris's tactics. Well, now is the time for that.
I have to admit, though, that I don't want to lose to Seattle even more than I didn't want to lose to Utah. But if that's what it takes to build the team we want, I guess I can stand it.
We haven’t had a backup 6 since last season. Seems like it should’ve been a target for a NTRP because it was an obvious hole. Weaver has been injured for months now. Fill those holes temporarily so we can properly asses our deep bench folks in their actual positions is all I’m saying. Izzy and/or Ana on the wing, Kling in the 6, Sheva playing mostly defensive midfield, OWK playing in the pivot next to Hina…we’re not even evaluating folks in their actual positions. OWK is the only asterisk there because she did play some def mid in college. But she shined as a 10. Mallie McKenzie on the wing…good! OWK when in the 10…good! New GKs…good! It’s not all bad.
OWK might end up being a #6 professionally, by the way. It's not like Sam Coffey was a 6 in college, that was a conversion. In general I'd rather we see if we have a player who is good with certain qualities who can transition to a position rather than having a backup 6 who we know isn't good like Taylor Porter
Nah, NRIs aren’t a solution. The solution is having better players.
Y’all can’t have it both ways! I’m not sure how good a a manager Gale is, but I’m sure as hell that he’s not a miracle worker! This is currently a team both ravaged by injuries literally everywhere *and* in what’s functionally a rebuild. There’s gonna be a bunch of rough nights and that’s just the reality of the situation.
Not a solution obv…but folks would be able to play in more natural positions if we had viable NTRP’s where we had holes. That way players can get reps in natural positions so that it’s seamless when players come back from Olympics. Throwing this kinda wrench in things is really gonna make for a rocky integration later imo. I’m still allowed to call a shit sandwich a shit sandwich though! Lol. We have multiple problems requiring multiple solutions, now…not freaking out but not optimistic really either.
Who ordered the shit sandwich, extra helping of shit?
Starting some random off the street over Izzy or Dias ain’t really the solution tho. I suppose he could have started Valdez, but what does that really do? I’m not sure a viable starting NTRP is really a thing and it’s not really intended to be one tbh.
Now, if Linnehan could stay healthy and he still started Dias/Sinc/Izzy, you’ll see me complain. I just think the dude’s hands are pretty tied the way things are at the moment and there needs to be a little nuance instead of defaulting to crisis mode whenever there’s a bad performance. He’s trying some stuff- some of it’s working some of it isn’t…but it’s a hard spot to be in.
And: Sinc is gone after this season. At least he have that!
That’s not what I mean. I mean, if we know we don’t have a damn backup 6 in preseason…pick one up for the cup! KC just picked up Allie Long as an NTRP…what position does she play again? Katie Stengel was a NTRP last summer! The Spirit just signed a player from the USLSL until the end of the cup only. We could’ve tried to get Katie Duong back for the cup. Our GM fails to think outside the box consistently and it’s frustrating. It feels lazy considering how thin we are, and it was the same last summer.
The 6 is just one example…Getting a slightly more serviceable winger than a rando college student from Grand Canyon University would allow Izzy to play the 9. Keep Mallie McKenzie on another wing like she’s been playing. Ana Dias can still be a sub for Izzy, I don’t really need to see much more from her anyways. The reason Sinc has to play is because of our holes elsewhere…and so it shifts folks out of position. There was just more that could be done on her end imo, considering we’ve had multiple injuries for a while now and the Olympics have also been known about.
Although I think the 3 back is not a good system for our personnel, I get trying stuff. It’s just that he did too much here at once, imo. And it’s def compounded by our personnel/roster issue. So, as I’ve always said, it’s on the GM and the coach. I think KK could’ve done more for this window, and I think Gale could be still doing better with what he has. Speaking for myself, I think it’s ok for me to say so.
It’s incredible how short sighted your perspective is. I agree a 6 would be a great addition but totally disagree about the other NTRP. In her limited action, she’s showed she has a huge upside. Great vision, attacks VERY well, and could be a big diamond in the rough. You’re like most of he NWSL GM’s in that they only look at power five kids. I totally stupid perspective Tons of kids out there from mid majors, can make an impact in the NWSL. It’s old world thinking.
Look at Izzy… Look at all the minutes that she’s had and what she’s been able to do this season, especially in the summer cup? Because she’s from SC doesn’t mean squat when you can’t finish. Lastly, the summer cup is for experimentation as none of this means anything in the grand picture and hopefully you see that. It would be interesting to see what this formation would look like with all of the starters back
You just made my point tho. If the issue is that we don’t have the players, how is it Gale’s fault? He’s playing the back three because the only line we have semi-full availability in is the back line! It’s a smart, adaptive move!
Everyone is free to fan as they wish, but the relentless world-is-ending negativity around here after every loss as the team going through a rebuild/reconstruction is incredibly grating. The Thorns are NOT the only team having issues- Two NWSL teams lost to Liga MX teams yesterday. Stuff happens.
What’s more valuable: someone getting a rep in a position where they’re 5th choice or Mallie McKenzie playing two different positions over the course of two games
I think it’s more valuable to have a backup 6 so that we don’t have to have Kling playing out of position (terribly) and also having another serviceable winger so that we don’t have to trot 150 year old Sinc out at the 9 because it’s the only position she can be put where she’s the smallest liability. Then we can actually play Izzy in her position, because she’s not a winger. Then also maybe Marissa Sheva would be playing in the 10 which is also her natural position…not a defensive mid.
There were so many holes that we had to shift multiple players out of position…on top of a new formation. Our CB’s are not good fits for a 3 back as well. So, predictably the whole looked like a dumpster fire. Just asking for a coach (and GM) to at least do their best with what they have and I still don’t think that’s happening. It’s a shit sandwich anyway ya eat it, though! This team’s backend is pretty bad. It’s ok to both acknowledge that this is a rebuilding period but also be frustrated by it.
But we did get a NTRP winger lol
I also just don’t really see the point in bringing in a bunch of NTRP to have them start. They’re not going to be here for that long, so what’s the point in investing significant playing time? While Kling hasn’t been great in midfield it’s not an entirely new idea. Mark was doing it in 2021!
Amen. The longer KK is the GM the more dumb things she will do that will make the Thorns even worse. 6 goalkeepers and 4 strikers (a position where the backup almost doesn't matter) means this team will always be thin this season and almost no meaningful development will occur.
People keep talking about rebuilding but I don't think it needed to be if good decisions were made. Players like Kuikka, Ryan and Rocky are still kicking ass and what did we get for them exactly? The #5 pick (which turned into Reyes who looks like a backup), OWK, and some allocation money? Yeesh.
If you got too high on last week’s win, that’s on you. Sorry. This is the same rebuilding team it’s been all year, except now it’s also missing 80% of its best 11. It’s not going to look good every night. Utah isn’t good, but they’re still at full strength playing a familiar system.
Last thing: If we’re gonna yell and scream about the roster construction, we can’t also yell and scream when the manager can’t work magic with a bunch of kids and olds.
And they looked very old and young at times last night. lol
I didn't watch a single minute but I saw the lineup:
this team has an imbalance of quality and numbers. I'd rather we figure some things out now in games that ultimately don't really matter so the head coach can tell the GM we need x in this position.
Last year a concern on this board was that players like Natalie Beckman and Gabby Provenzano weren't playing. This year I think everyone is getting a look-in
“The roster is shallow and has major holes and KK has a ton of work to do”
“Why can’t our manager install a perfectly functioning 3-back missing over half his preferred 11 against a full-strength NWSL side on the road?”
Gotta pick one here!
And before someone says he had most of his defenders available, that wasn’t true in midfield. Kling in midfield isn’t something that really works.
Doesn’t matter what system your defense is or who the players are if the midfield doesn’t function.
One last thought about this turkey...
At halftime, Betfort said they've been doing two-a-days and a lot of running/conditioning.
It was clear from the get-go which team was more fit.
Not only are we relatively slow and, in places, old, but we also got outworked due to fitness.
It's hard to talk players in their late-30s and early-40s into two-a-days, but I definitely think we could stand to improve our conditioning so that we can handle opponents who will try to outrun us.
And they're doing it at 4,450 feet in elevation. That's a huge advantage and they are smart to exploit it.
Underappreciated impact and for the away team, has to be a prime consideration picking alignment and assignments.
Now, coming from a coffee-centric locale there is One Weird Trick to use against Decaf City.
They haven’t been doing two a days. They had Monday and Thursday off. Sheesh…
Betfort said they've been doing two-a-days for a few weeks, basically since the new interim HC arrived.
Gale has said in previous pressers that he gives the team 3 days off, iirc. Sure shows. You may make the locker room happy but you sure won’t win a lot.
Game was so bad. The first half was kind of a result of bad decisions. You start a gk that has never played before when you’re playing a new formation. Three in the back is always trouble especially when we are limited on CB’s in theory it could work but it didn’t. The goals weren’t Kozal fault but if you’re starting someone who hasn’t played why not play with 4 to have more protection . The midfield was not good in the beginning. Messy midfield passes no cohesion and no one really wanted to defend. Utah made one pass and it would put the 3 CB’s under tremendous pressure . And our Front three didn’t really do anything to help offensively or defensively. I really hope he doesn’t try to do this during the regular season. We need reinforcements asap. Especially goal scorers
even better go to a 5-4-1 with double 6s. Having kling run as sole 6 made certain they were going yo run down our throats. that malarkey is on Gale
Good thing we've spent two draft picks in the last two years and two signings this year on goalkeepers instead of defenders, midfielders, and forwards that can actually play.
You know what really stinks? I had been looking forward to this all week, hoping that maybe last weekend wasn't a mirage.
Welp. Guess not.
Sinclair will play 90 against Seattle "because it's her last derby" Balcer will get a hat trick before we get a shot on target.
But has Sinc said she is retiring? She might be having so much fun this year that she will decide to go one more year...
So that was both embarrassing and boring. My opinion of Gale was never high and it's getting lower all the time. In 2025, even Rob Gale will not be able to start Sinclair anymore. But he'll still be the coach and somehow the Thorns will prefer to play slow, negative football.
Emborassing? I like it, as it includes "ass" as in "playing like ass."
Ready for all the canned presser excuses.
He will trot out the medical staff and make them say something about the altitude lol
I know this tourney is funky as hell and doesn't really count for anything, and that it's a chance to try out new formations and get a look at players who haven't seen the pitch much, but...
I would not be surprised if we're once again looking for a permanent HC at the end of 2024, sometime in 2025, or at the end of 2025.
Well we know a certain Canadian who will be available in 1 year lmao…
And they come complete with an assistant coach and a video analyst, I'm told.
Batteries not included.
Imagine if Gale had started the team that finished and then brought his savvy veteran leaders in to close it out. If necessary.
As ABell4 pointed out, the subs didn’t really help that much back of the frontline. Midfield still coughed up turnovers and got run over, backline was still crap. Moultrie struck a sweet golazo and should have had another on a giveaway but couldn’t turn on the ball quickly enough.
So better, yeah. But not really enough.
And won’t work even moreso against teams not at the bottom of the table lol…
Gotta scrap the back 3 with the personnel we have currently. We do not have 3 elite CB’s. We don’t even have 1. And when the 6 is slow as molasses as well…you’re just asking for what we got. Nice experiment to generate more in the attack, but all he’s done is destabilize our backline and midfield again to a severe degree…so much so that the benefit of possibly having more numbers in attack is kinda moot because we got overrun and couldn’t even keep the ball long enough to create.
If he wants to keep a 3 back, maybe try a 352 instead…or just go back to a 4. We have Gotham as our first league game back…maybe we should be focused on a consistent formation first so that folks aren’t lost when the nats come back.
Liv was pretty close to getting a hattie in this match.
One and One and One is Three
Well one is kinda close to three, so…
I get saving Liv for the 2nd half given she hasn't played for a few weeks, but I would have liked to have seen those second half subs start, if only for their hunger, motivation, and ability to run a forty in under ten seconds.
The back end of the field has still been horrendous all night, though. Huge red flag with this personnel.
They got better especially after Obaze replaced Saurbrunn. That third goal was bad luck. However, even after the savvy veterans came out team speed was still an issue. Leblanc's team building skills don't impress me.
Maybe a little, but the shape was just not right imo. So so much space on the outside for really mediocre Utah wingers to thrive in. Against better teams we will be destroyed… and with Kling in the 6? Just brutal decision-making for our personnel.
Without OWK, we had no other option to play the 6, did we?
Our other option should’ve been KK getting another 6 to play temporarily next to Hina until the nats come home. KC just picked up Allie Long (guess what position she plays?) The Spirit just got a temp player from the USLSL until the cup is over…there are solutions that our GM is not exploring and it’s frustrating.
Reyes should have started at the 6
Oh, you mean coaching?
Okay, so. Remember the comment last week about how I “didn’t want to speculate too much” about the good flow, passing, and movement we saw because of the poor opponent?
Apparently I was STILL speculating too much. Because tonight - against the worst team in the league! - our flow was nonexistent, our passing utter crap, our movement glacial, and our defending appalling. That was comprehensively rubbish.
Sorry. I underestimated how really bad Tijuana was.
How can one underestimate how really bad Tijuana is?
https://www.tripadvisor.in/ShowTopic-g150776-i761-k188416-o40-Stay_away_from_Tijuana-Tijuana_Baja_California.html
Yeah I was the pessimist who honestly thought we’d lose if we did the 3 back against anyone else. We will never have that amount of time we had, even against the bottom of the table. Kling and Sinc can only be used in those cases. TJ was really really really bad. Utah and Seattle will blow them out also and then it’ll make sense to everyone else how we went 5-0. It really should’ve been like 9-0 also.
Guess that answers the mojo question.
It was left back at the Mojo Dojo Casa House.
Literally another team breaking another franchise record against the Thorns. It’s happened at least 4 times this season lol 😭
Not to mention Paramount+ crashes and freezes "optimizing my playback experience"
Well, your experience watching a spinning wheel was better than what the rest of us had to experience so they weren't lying per se.
Former Thorns are killing us tonight.