Mostly liked what I saw from Gale in these three matches. Three different set-ups to try to mitigate the supreme lack of front line ability he has available while trying different things. The decision to invert Müller --the only technically adept non-Hina Thorn in the 11-- as a third CM to get her on the ball as much as possible was smart and literally lead to the only goal in the game. We haven't seen many proactive tactical moves from Thorns coaches lately, so that was certainly a plus.
Now go sign a winger. You see what happens when you have someone like Linnehan to stretch the back line. It's good. Go get another of those. And thank god the Sinc retirement countdown is another month further along.
Agreed. Müller was a smart move to try and replace Coffey and allow Hina to push further up in possession. Much smarter than playing Kling there as a central midfielder. I hope it’s something they continue to work on though there are some issues in transition with it.
But I thought this was a structurally good performance, just lacking quality higher up the pitch.
Not to minimize the ownership issues…but Harvey’s squads have never been this barren since her first season when she had no control over the roster. This is worse than I’ve ever seen from her.
It appears the new Utah coach is a big upgrade over ARod. They are in a pretty deep hole on the regular season table, but I expect they will move up a bit. He has a young team and nowhere near the talent of Bay City, but I think the guy can coach and motivate.
I thought Linnehan was player of the match so of course she got benched when they absolutely, positively needed a goal to bring in Queen Victoria. Sugita did what she could but she's only one player. Glad they are done.
Gotta keep that GD above Utah’s if we want a chance, and we’re only one up on them right now. Gotta get more goals cause I imagine they’ll put a few more past TJ.
So……I’m kinda a fan of Gale copy-catting the inverted FB hybrid back 3/4 to get Muller on the ball more. I’d love to see this when the full team is healthy because this version of the roster isn’t quite capable of playing this style the way it needs to.
And, as ever: Find ways to keep Payton healthy and on the field. She makes stuff happen.
Putting me to sleep lol. Both teams just turning and passing back over and over. Intrigued by the formation but still don’t think we have the right personnel in the back for it. Reyes stresses me out lol…and Hubly lol.
I know this is curmudgeonly and I get why people like it, but every time LeBlanc does her pregame walkaround I want to ask “why aren’t you out signing players? And no, not more keepers!”
We say it every time she walks around and other folks in my section chime in too lol. “Sign some players!”, or, “Do your job!” Seemingly, other folks agree…
Interesting XI. Hogan back in goal. Looks like four in back -Reyes-Hubly-Obaze-Muller. From there…ummm. Hina-san in midfield alongside…Sheva and McKenzie? D’Aquila-Dias-Linnehan upfront.
Dunno about that back four. Midfield and frontline look promising. But the execution has to be better than last weekend. Those fast runners need to run to OPEN space…
I mean Becky instead of Hubly makes it the first choice back four. Much more concerned about the midfield, but I don’t really care overall. Just excited to watch the kids without Sinc.
Mostly liked what I saw from Gale in these three matches. Three different set-ups to try to mitigate the supreme lack of front line ability he has available while trying different things. The decision to invert Müller --the only technically adept non-Hina Thorn in the 11-- as a third CM to get her on the ball as much as possible was smart and literally lead to the only goal in the game. We haven't seen many proactive tactical moves from Thorns coaches lately, so that was certainly a plus.
Now go sign a winger. You see what happens when you have someone like Linnehan to stretch the back line. It's good. Go get another of those. And thank god the Sinc retirement countdown is another month further along.
Agreed. Müller was a smart move to try and replace Coffey and allow Hina to push further up in possession. Much smarter than playing Kling there as a central midfielder. I hope it’s something they continue to work on though there are some issues in transition with it.
But I thought this was a structurally good performance, just lacking quality higher up the pitch.
Yeah Müller and Obaze got their wires crossed a few times in transition, including the play that lead to Hogan's 1v1 save on Latsko in the first half.
Boy howdy how awful are the Reign, tho? I’m always happy to beat them when they’re down, but…ouch. Not sure I’ve seen them like this since 2013.
They've had a nomadic couple of years but I expect more from a Laura Harvey team.
Not to minimize the ownership issues…but Harvey’s squads have never been this barren since her first season when she had no control over the roster. This is worse than I’ve ever seen from her.
Congrats to Utah. Goals from Betfort, Monaghan, Mozingo, and Sentnor. That's a good sign for them.
It appears the new Utah coach is a big upgrade over ARod. They are in a pretty deep hole on the regular season table, but I expect they will move up a bit. He has a young team and nowhere near the talent of Bay City, but I think the guy can coach and motivate.
Yep, happy for them that they’ll get a meaningful match next week too. Should be cool.
(Are they sure to advance tho?)
No. They’re on six, like us. Need the same help we do.
Yep, the breakdown I listed before. But they put themselves in position for the help.
Would have been nice to advance and get another international break match, but I’m OK with a win against Seattle and a month off too.
I thought Linnehan was player of the match so of course she got benched when they absolutely, positively needed a goal to bring in Queen Victoria. Sugita did what she could but she's only one player. Glad they are done.
She’s clearly not 90 minutes fit, fwiw.
Yeah that could be.
Well, always refreshing to beat Seattle.
Utah winning 5-1 in the 97th, tho
Hero ball without the hero.
Ugh, Sinclair for Linnehan. That'll take a few mph out of this game.
Thorns need another goal or a TJ goal to advance as it stands.
Thorns are just friggin awful getting the ball out of the back. They really need a keeper who can distribute or at least kick it past halfway.
I’d honestly rather have sinc in the game rn Dias is crap
And Sinc is a good presence on defense, heading balls into the box etc.
3-1 Utah, and counting. Only 1 goal ahead of them. But they're not really our biggest problem. I broke it down below:
NC are on 7 points, and only 4 teams advance - regardless of winning group.
Angel City and KC are already on 6, Gotham are on 5, and Loovull are on 4.
So...
Portland need to win, AND
They would need two of the following to occur:
Gotham to lose or lose in a draw
Loovull not to win in regulation
Angel City to lose in regulation
KC to lose in regulation
I won't even bother with the GD issue.
4-1 now.
I think they need another goal now? Is the third tiebreak head to head?
They need TJ to step up.
Dunno.
Looks like Becky and Moultrie coming on at half.
Gotta keep that GD above Utah’s if we want a chance, and we’re only one up on them right now. Gotta get more goals cause I imagine they’ll put a few more past TJ.
(Though honestly not playing an extra midweek game late in the season wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world)
Well at least we’re beating Seattle! They’ve got most of their team available except the 2 Canadians and man, they’re terrible.
47.5 minutes of dross with a Linnehan gem embedded in it.
I’m always happy to beat Seattle. I just would like to enjoy the process more than this..
So……I’m kinda a fan of Gale copy-catting the inverted FB hybrid back 3/4 to get Muller on the ball more. I’d love to see this when the full team is healthy because this version of the roster isn’t quite capable of playing this style the way it needs to.
And, as ever: Find ways to keep Payton healthy and on the field. She makes stuff happen.
Betfort "from distance"! Utah leading TJ 2-1.
Nice goal by Linnehan. Keeper leaned the wrong direction.
Intelligent finishing got everyone going the wrong way.
Indeed. That was nifty.
Hooboy...
One of tonight's broadcasters, Jamie Watson, is a disaster.... despite the resume (https://jamiewatsonsports.com/about/)
If I'm not mistaken, Watson referred to Quinn as "her" a couple of times.
AND...
Waxed nostalgic for the days of Abby Wambach scoring on headers and said, and I quote, "If you do it right, it doesn't hurt."
Ummm... hurting is not the issue, concussions and concussion safety are.
I guess Watson never saw this incident, when Wambach took skin staples to the head and STAYED IN THE MATCH: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dULeJpGnKc and https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/1214892/2019/10/24/heather-oreilly-my-perfect-player-there-was-blood-pouring-from-wambachs-head-so-they-stapled-it-there-on-the-field/
Solorzano scored early once again. Any chance of poaching her from Xolos?
I’m trying to think of a word other than boring to describe this game but they all sound mean spirited.
Turgid. Interrupted briefly by a nice goal from Lineman.
Lineman with the quality finish.
Payton "I am a Linnehan for the County"
Somewhere Glen Campbell is smiling.
That’s good!
Boring is fair. Linnehan’s banger was fun, but it’s been pretty blah otherwise.
Dias and D'Aquila just not good enough. So disappointing.
Underwhelming works.
Gale’s trying some really interesting stuff tonight: 4-4-2 defensively, 3-5-2 offensively. Lots of inversion from Muller, Izzy dropping into support.
I REALLY don't understand what TaboKen is doing tonight.
Why start Hogan?
Why mix up where Reyes, Hubly, and Obaze play in the 3-back backline?
Why not start Moultrie?
Why not start Sinc, in what's probably her last Cascadia Derby here in PDX?
Where is Linnehan? Rumor is Linnehan is on the pitch - the only way I'd know that is a closeup shot of her in the 24th minute.
- They’re playing a 4-back tonight.
- Moultrie isn’t fully fit.
- I’m good with not starting sinc for the third time in a week.
Sure looks to me like Muller didn't get the memo that she's the 4th back. Most of the time it looks like it's just Reyes, Hubs, and Obaze back there.
She’s inverting into central midfield when the thorns have the ball, playing at left back defensively. Kinda what the courage do with their left back.
Makes sense. I came in about 20 minutes into the match, so I hadn't seen her alongside Obaze.
Is that Laura Harvey in jorts?
Getting real tired of Dias already lol
Yeah I’ll be v happy to get a roster spot and an international spot back in the off-season. Really shouldn’t keep her..
Expected more.
Hogan already having to throw herself out there to bail out her backline.
Looking better than the Aussie did today. Apples and oranges I guess
They are having trouble getting the ball out of the back and Reyes' constant spinning and recycling of the ball is a big part of the problem.
Putting me to sleep lol. Both teams just turning and passing back over and over. Intrigued by the formation but still don’t think we have the right personnel in the back for it. Reyes stresses me out lol…and Hubly lol.
Honestly can’t totally figure out what this is, but it looks most like a 4-4-2 to me. Muller inverting to make it a back three going forward.
What do the Thorns need to do to advance?
NC are on 7 points, and only 4 teams advance - regardless of winning group.
Angel City and KC are already on 6, Gotham are on 5, and Loovull are on 4.
So...
Portland need to win, AND
They would need two of the following to occur:
Gotham to lose or lose in a draw
Loovull not to win in regulation
Angel City to lose in regulation
KC to lose in regulation
I won't even bother with the GD issue.
I know this is curmudgeonly and I get why people like it, but every time LeBlanc does her pregame walkaround I want to ask “why aren’t you out signing players? And no, not more keepers!”
We say it every time she walks around and other folks in my section chime in too lol. “Sign some players!”, or, “Do your job!” Seemingly, other folks agree…
I don't just *want* to ask. I've actually said it aloud, from within her earshot.
Interesting XI. Hogan back in goal. Looks like four in back -Reyes-Hubly-Obaze-Muller. From there…ummm. Hina-san in midfield alongside…Sheva and McKenzie? D’Aquila-Dias-Linnehan upfront.
Sinc and ‘Brunn in the 18, so…
To me this looks like the back 3 still. Hubly-Obaze-Reyes. McKenzie and Muller as wingbacks. Hina and Sheva in a midfield two.
Dunno. Lining up like a 4-3-3
But now Muller inverting. Hmm.
Looks like you’re right! That’s a tiny tiny midfield!
Looks like a 4-3-3 to me too. Excited to see this! Athleticism all over the field for once!
Dunno about that back four. Midfield and frontline look promising. But the execution has to be better than last weekend. Those fast runners need to run to OPEN space…
I mean Becky instead of Hubly makes it the first choice back four. Much more concerned about the midfield, but I don’t really care overall. Just excited to watch the kids without Sinc.
Mmmmkay. I don’t trust Hubs. But we’ll see. Hopefully it’ll at least be exciting.
It was not but at least we put a boot on Seattle still. Buh-bye!