So her last club (Everton) was the “best of the worst” for GA; 36. That’s not BHA (63GA) but it’s twenty more than the legitimate contenders like MC who shipped 15-16.
No idea what role she played there, but hopefully she’s at least decent (international? Should be!) and will provide some value; given Brunn’s age and free agency, Menges’ fragility, and Hubly’s form I’d consider this a worthwhile addition.
Headed goals. Now who'd want to add that to the toolkit? Good to see a highlights tape.
"Rickey, go mark Kornieck!"
ETA, since we don't know if Becky will play next year it seems she could either be a slot-filler should that happen, or if Becky stays then competition for Hubly's slot. I'd ponder Menges but that's too many moving parts for my small brain.
On paper, she’s exactly what the Thorns needed in the long term. Good job KK . I suppose the team could have limped thru this season and waited til after expansion, but maybe the signing means the team knows something more about the CB’s for next year, or Sauerbruuns injury, than we do.
Yeah, my first thought was…why now? And then, what does this mean for our current CB’s (or Kuikka.) Menges and Sauerbrunn are free agents, but I highly doubt they’d go elsewhere. Moreso, either could retire and I wouldn’t be surprised. With how Menges has improved since her injury, that would be a bummer. I also thought this could signal that Hubly may not be protected in the expansion draft and has the possibility to get picked up elsewhere. The contract for the rest of 2023 (with an option) is pretty weird. Rikke is currently with Denmark int’l team and is still waiting for be allowed to even play here. By the time she gets integrated there could only be 1 or 2 regular season games left, and even then that’s not a lot of time to get properly integrated. Are we basing picking up her option for ‘24 off of a couple games? Are we not confident in her enough to at least sign her for 2024? Couldn’t find much, but apparently her contract just wasn’t picked back up by Everton? Wonder why we wouldn’t just sign her after the expansion draft, when she’d be another person to now protect?
Love that she’s 5’11. Hope she’s a CB solution and not a FB solution. I’ve gotta go watch some clips!
Had a little bit of time this evening, so I did a little amateur scouting on Sevecke: I watched the WC game she played at CB and the Everton vs. City match. My main takeaways:
- She’s very much a ball-playing CB. Likes to get her head up and find a pass. Good at breaking lines when pressed.
- She played as the central CB in Everton’s 3-back. Excellent at finding out balls and directing the back line.
- Reads the game very well. Has a Menges-like ability to read where passes are going and intercept.
- Not very physical- Had a lot of trouble with Bunny Shaw’s strength and speed in the City game.
- Not super strong aerially despite her height (tho she did score against City!)
- Def a natural CB. Didn't do much at all at RB for Denmark.
Her FB Ref profile matches the eye-test. Relative to other CBs, she’s clearly strongest in the on-ball areas (passes attempted, completion percentage, progressive passes etc) and weakest in the more physical elements (tackles won, aerials won, blocks). Here is her FB Ref page along with Hubly, Menges, and Becky (It won't let me post the overlapping comparison, but you can do that yourself if so inclined).
SO....today is the 21st, meaning that today is the last day to take options on upcoming free-agents. It’s also (I assume) the last day where the Thorns are the only team who can discuss contracts with upcoming free-agents currently under contract.
Portland has three free-agents (Sinc, Menges, Dunn), and one player with a club option for 2024 (Moultrie). So, starting tomorrow, free agents can begin negotiations with other teams, meaning that without an extension announcement TODAY, those three become free agents. It doesn’t seem like any announcements are forthcoming, so it looks like we’re heading towards a few months of Dunn (and Menges) speculation.
We also haven’t heard that the club is picking up Moultrie’s option yet, but I think that has happened after the season in the past for players that aren’t FA-eligible. I’d hope they’d extend her too, but we’ll see.
Same listing, more info. Interesting that Chicago has all these FAs and new ownership coming in. Swanson, Davidson, Krueger, Boyd, Matthews, Roccaro, Nagasato, Sharples, St Georges are all unrestricted, and Stevens is restricted. 10 is a lot!
Official: Portland Thorns Sign Danish International Defender Rikke Sevecke
Okay smart soccer people, ya'll said we needed to sign a defender. How are we feeling?
(By total random coincidence I just special ordered a new bass guitar from Denmark this morning!)
Thanks for the pronunciation guide, but even after listening to it a few times I still can't pronounce her first name. It think it's RAYkuh SEV-I-kuh?
Thinking this is preparation for a retirement or a loss of player in expansion...
Like the height (5’11”)
So her last club (Everton) was the “best of the worst” for GA; 36. That’s not BHA (63GA) but it’s twenty more than the legitimate contenders like MC who shipped 15-16.
No idea what role she played there, but hopefully she’s at least decent (international? Should be!) and will provide some value; given Brunn’s age and free agency, Menges’ fragility, and Hubly’s form I’d consider this a worthwhile addition.
Headed goals. Now who'd want to add that to the toolkit? Good to see a highlights tape.
"Rickey, go mark Kornieck!"
ETA, since we don't know if Becky will play next year it seems she could either be a slot-filler should that happen, or if Becky stays then competition for Hubly's slot. I'd ponder Menges but that's too many moving parts for my small brain.
On paper, she’s exactly what the Thorns needed in the long term. Good job KK . I suppose the team could have limped thru this season and waited til after expansion, but maybe the signing means the team knows something more about the CB’s for next year, or Sauerbruuns injury, than we do.
Yeah, my first thought was…why now? And then, what does this mean for our current CB’s (or Kuikka.) Menges and Sauerbrunn are free agents, but I highly doubt they’d go elsewhere. Moreso, either could retire and I wouldn’t be surprised. With how Menges has improved since her injury, that would be a bummer. I also thought this could signal that Hubly may not be protected in the expansion draft and has the possibility to get picked up elsewhere. The contract for the rest of 2023 (with an option) is pretty weird. Rikke is currently with Denmark int’l team and is still waiting for be allowed to even play here. By the time she gets integrated there could only be 1 or 2 regular season games left, and even then that’s not a lot of time to get properly integrated. Are we basing picking up her option for ‘24 off of a couple games? Are we not confident in her enough to at least sign her for 2024? Couldn’t find much, but apparently her contract just wasn’t picked back up by Everton? Wonder why we wouldn’t just sign her after the expansion draft, when she’d be another person to now protect?
Love that she’s 5’11. Hope she’s a CB solution and not a FB solution. I’ve gotta go watch some clips!
What are the chances that she's been hearing Thorns stories for a while? Dr. Nadim, ya know.
Had a little bit of time this evening, so I did a little amateur scouting on Sevecke: I watched the WC game she played at CB and the Everton vs. City match. My main takeaways:
- She’s very much a ball-playing CB. Likes to get her head up and find a pass. Good at breaking lines when pressed.
- She played as the central CB in Everton’s 3-back. Excellent at finding out balls and directing the back line.
- Reads the game very well. Has a Menges-like ability to read where passes are going and intercept.
- Not very physical- Had a lot of trouble with Bunny Shaw’s strength and speed in the City game.
- Not super strong aerially despite her height (tho she did score against City!)
- Def a natural CB. Didn't do much at all at RB for Denmark.
Her FB Ref profile matches the eye-test. Relative to other CBs, she’s clearly strongest in the on-ball areas (passes attempted, completion percentage, progressive passes etc) and weakest in the more physical elements (tackles won, aerials won, blocks). Here is her FB Ref page along with Hubly, Menges, and Becky (It won't let me post the overlapping comparison, but you can do that yourself if so inclined).
https://fbref.com/en/players/2fff97d6/Rikke-Seveckev
https://fbref.com/en/players/bc03c54d/Kelli-Hubly
https://fbref.com/en/players/acbf23b6/Emily-Menges
https://fbref.com/en/players/d2612e86/Becky-Sauerbrunn
SO....today is the 21st, meaning that today is the last day to take options on upcoming free-agents. It’s also (I assume) the last day where the Thorns are the only team who can discuss contracts with upcoming free-agents currently under contract.
Portland has three free-agents (Sinc, Menges, Dunn), and one player with a club option for 2024 (Moultrie). So, starting tomorrow, free agents can begin negotiations with other teams, meaning that without an extension announcement TODAY, those three become free agents. It doesn’t seem like any announcements are forthcoming, so it looks like we’re heading towards a few months of Dunn (and Menges) speculation.
We also haven’t heard that the club is picking up Moultrie’s option yet, but I think that has happened after the season in the past for players that aren’t FA-eligible. I’d hope they’d extend her too, but we’ll see.
NWSL competition calendar: https://www.nwslsoccer.com/documents/2023/3/20/Exhibit_B_Competition_Calendar_2023.pdf
https://x.com/ThornsFC/status/1705251421694869772?s=20
First domino falls!
https://www.nwslsoccer.com/news/2024-nwsl-free-agents
FINALLYY
Unrestricted: Dunn, Kling, Becky, Sinc, McGrady, Vasconcelos (option)
Restricted: Kuikka, Porter
So, presumably no Dunn (or Becky) extension.
https://equalizersoccer.com/2023/09/22/nwsl-2023-24-free-agents-list/
Same listing, more info. Interesting that Chicago has all these FAs and new ownership coming in. Swanson, Davidson, Krueger, Boyd, Matthews, Roccaro, Nagasato, Sharples, St Georges are all unrestricted, and Stevens is restricted. 10 is a lot!
Any truth to the rumor that "Sevecke" is how the Danes pronounce and spell ceviche?