The Portland Thorns faced off against Gotham FC in their home opener at Providence Park. Just like the 2023 semifinal, they fell at home to the defending champs.
I think I feel mostly positive despite the whole two-losses-to-start-the-season thing. They completely outplayed Gotham (similarly to the semi tbqh): Reyes and Müller were both straight-up awesome (especially Reyna who legitimately bullied Crystal Dunn into being taken off the field), Becky was really good, Coffey was a beast in the second half, and the team looked generally more cohesive. Still issues to work out (sorry Kelli, but as a longtime defender of yours, it's time for Obaze; Hogan has the Bixby yips; still need to play through the midfield more), but a real encouraging performance overall after last week.
BUT.... I can't quite appreciate the improvement because of the constantly-looming Soph contract spectre. It's a real bummer! It sucks! She's easily the most electric soccer player that's every played for a Portland franchise, and this might be the last year she's here. And that makes enjoying the little things during a potential transition year and watching the team game to game much harder to do. I imagine that's how much of y'all feel too.
Seeing it in person tonight, I’m always worried my impressions of the match are off base. Thought Reyes was just ok, but Muller looked really good. Defensively we looked much tighter in our half of the field. They got one really good look and buried it. We do the same, we win 3-1.
Saw some decent combination play in the 2nd half, but still not enough. I know she was off, but that Sophia strike live was WORLD CLASS. I do think her contract hangs over everything. I too, was happy overall with the team performance, but Norris has lost the plot with Sinc. It’s ridiculous.
Müller was awesome- She's better technically/going forward in addition to playing well defensively, so she stood out more than Reyes and probably got a better player rating from the stat sites.....but Reyna completely locked up both Purce and Dunn. I think she only got beat once the whole match.
Yeah, thinking back I don’t remember her getting beat much at all. I think I was more fixated on her poor passes and derpy moments on offense. Probably should give her the credit for the D and ease up on my offensive expectations. I do love her toughness and want to see her lock down a starting fullback spot.
A one year extension... not to be a downer but I would not be shocked if this means she leaves next offseason or the one after for a fee. It's something you see in the men's game occasionally, where a player will sign a an extension a year or two before they plan to leave so that the club can enjoy a transfer fee. I hope I'm wrong.
Sorry sorry! Ultimately, this is unequivocally good news: either outcome is better than her leaving out of contract. I am excited about this extension and I am hopeful that she will be a career thorn!
I think it can also give the Bhathals some runway to prove their vision. If they make good on some of the off-field stuff she could be enticed to stay. This contract, to me, at least signifies that she's interested in their vision thus far, and is kinda like "prove it." I love it. It'll push the club to make some radical changes where needed and will only make the club that much better and more desirable. For now though, let's just enjoy!
Edit: just noticed this is what everyone said below me lol. So yes, I agree there haha.
I think it's more of a "I want to be here and I like our direction, but you still gotta prove it" deal, hence the player option. She's not going to mess with her own ambitions to do the club a favor.
Yeah, and this is just an extension, which means her old contract amount is still in place, correct? But if it's only for a year, that would seem to mean she'll be getting the same amount she got in her first 3 years, but now in 1 year..so kinda like 3x her first yearly contract? New amounts only come with a new contract? All of this is where I tend to get confused re: contracts and business stuff lol.
Well we don't know any of the details cause the NWSL has little to no transparency re: contracts, but yes, her current contract is still in place unless she negotiated a raise for this year as part of the extension. Then the "highest annual contract value" will kick in next season.
I guess my point is that the deals you reference are typically not made in the last year of a player's contract, are usually with small clubs who have promised the player they'd be moved to a bigger club, and that if she wanted to go elsewhere, it would be downright stupid of her to sign even a one-year extension just for the sake of it given her pending free agency. Her quotes in the Linehan article don't seem to indicate that's the case, especially the one about Europe.
Really, it's the player option that indicates to me that she wants to be here, but also wants to see execution of whatever plan KK/ownership sold to her. I.e, "you can keep me here on the same contract, but I gotta see progress!"
She's the MVP and we're a small market! That's how it's always gonna be! Portland hasn't ever (I don't think I'd put Walton/Dame/Drexler/Valeri in the same tier as her tbh) had an athlete at this level relative to the rest of the league, so it's v cool we get to enjoy it even if it's just for two more years.
She's locked up for this season and next and has the player option. I imagine the player option was important so she can move if it makes sense for her, personally. I'm fine with it. This isn't hanging over this season anymore and we have two shots to win with her. Let's make the most of it!
Plus, it's smart on her part. She can keep the pressure on the club to keep building around her. Any further down the road than that, she loses her leverage over the FO.
I thought we played well, but sometimes this game is cruel. Last week, abysmal, but scored 4 goals. This week, a lot better, but couldn't find the back of the net. If they play like they did yesterday, the wins will come.
Norris has maybe a month to figure this out, though. This team is too good and with Smiths' contract on the line, we can't have a manager who is still learning on the job.
Anyone else have heart palpitations when Beckie was on the floor with the trainer tending to her knee?
She returned to play and I presume is okay today (yes?) but it was looking like the soccer gods were being awfully cruel, for a moment.
ETA home jerseys looked good on my teevee machine (lots of weave detail I do not catch on the web) and related, ESPN paid for a proper # of cameras, making it a quality broadcast. Still working on content, however.
Yes, immediately. She sat and started feeling the front of her knee and I started saying "oh no oh no oohhhn nooo" even while the play continued lol...
The coach is now complaining about the scheduling of the Gold Cup at the beginning of the season and that he now has three players injured. But damn coach you have a key player go down twice before you remove her.
There is a lot of talk about protecting the players, but that Canada USA game was dangerous and in this game Midge should have been pulled the first time she went down. I saw Eli Carpenter go down with a non contact knees problem in a Lyon game. The staff seem to see no problem then less than 5 minutes later she was down with a SEI. The players deserve better.
Was anyone else really underwhelmed by Gotham? They're supposed to be this super team and they pulled off a smash and grab. Just boring stuff: pass, pass, pass, lose the ball, tactical foul, pass, pass, pass, lose the ball, timewaste. Awful.
They're definitely not the same team without Maitane and Williams, but yeah they're a funny group because they could be a really good transition team with Purce and Williams (and Lavelle if she's ever healthy) but they usually just play keep ball. Amoros also played a double pivot today with Sonnett and Martin, whereas they usually like to play one six.
Dunn on the wing was also weird. She looked way out of shape and has none of her speed left, even compared to last season. Reyes had her way with her physically the whole game.
Honestly she really did. I wasn't fully onboard with people saying she looked cooked for the Thorns last season, but man....seeing Reyna just bully her for 60 minutes was slightly jarring! She'd try to turn and accelerate down the line and just had nothing.
Another case in point to stay ahead of the aging curve, especially for a player where speed is a big part of their game. Now if we can just have a sit-down with Norris about Sinc...
There was a play when Sanderson (local favourite that she is) dryly quipped that Dunn had lost an aerial dual and I though what, against a Providence pigeon?
Speaking of Sanderson, she did three games this weekend (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday). I know she was on-site in Orlando on Friday, but did they really fly her to three different parts of the country in three days or was she in studio?
A pair of rockets Miller has no chance unless they are hit directly at her. Of course, Soph obliged. Two other goals negated by offsides. Tough day at the office. I’d be going ballistic too.
Yeah Miller wasn't at fault for either but also didn't make any particularly awesome saves. I would have liked Sinc to bury her header, but it was a tough angle and all Miller had to do to save it was get near post so I don't really blame Sinc.....but still.
Moultrie had a few classic top of the box efforts that were unusually tame as well.
So my point in raising this was simply to note that we didn't have to go into 2024 with a relatively untested #2 as our new #1 followed by two more untested keepers, all to be led by a new GK coach.
Gotham already had its preferred #1 (Smith) and a perfectly serviceable #2/#3 (Betos) ready to re-sign) when they decided to trade in expansion Haught, who is definitely a step above Hogan as a #2 and clearly able to perform as a #1, and then went out and acquired a veteran #2... a veteran #2 who can step in and be a #1 as needed and who has done well against us.
It wasn't really to debate whether or not Miller had a great game, or merely a good one, or whether we didn't test her enough yesterday.
It was to point out that our FO could have been more aggressive in meeting our immediate GK needs.
Because, right now, if Hogan gets hurt, draws a red, or is shaky, we're down to Kozal and Asman.
Yeah Cassie Miller was a restricted FA, meaning that KC let her go.
There’s no way that she would’ve come here though…the same people who I know about through Kuikka are also very close to Miller and would’ve convinced her to stay away with all the drama happening with Natu.
So here's the weird thing. I re-read the Equalizer's reporting of the Miller deal today: "In exchange, (Gotham) sent $70,000 in allocation money and a $30,000 intraleague transfer fee to the Current. Miller, who was an unrestricted free agent, signed a one-year deal to facilitate the trade."
Yeah, I think this was Miller and the Current kinda doing each other favors. Current re-signed her (bc she was a restricted FA and they could’ve), but I think also wanted to part with her and said they’d let her go for a price. The woman I spoke to mentioned a little bit about it but I can’t remember the details. It was a weird deal, but smart. Kk could’ve done the same if Natu actually wanted to leave, but wanted to get something for her…(she didn’t wanna leave AND we still lost her for nothing lol.)
That leaves Fleming on the bench. I think she'll become a starter soon enough, but she hasn't gelled with the team yet nor gotten used to the NWSL. As soon as any of the attackers gets injured she'll be starting, and maybe sooner. Ditto for Hubly and centerback injuries.
That said, I understand why Fleming is starting ahead of Sugita. Part of it is because Fleming is our big-ticket off-season acquisition, part of it is to get her integrated next to Coffey, and part of it probably because she can be used as more of an all-around midfielder while Sugita can be used as more of a creative and attacking spark. Right now, though, I don't see the wisdom of playing Sugita so little.
I also understand why Hubly is still starting, but I am ready to give Obaze more opportunity to win the position.
Finally, I'm ready to see some more youth and speed in the attack... which isn't hard to do when a 40-year-old is currently one of your attackers.
Yeah, I think there's no universe where Jessie will be benched, fortunately or unfortunately depending on your feelings for her....considering the leaders of this club. Bev would be on the phone ASAP asking KK "WTF" if Jessie wasn't getting consistent starting minutes at the 8, esp before they go into a huge tournament where they're the defending champs. One of the reasons Jessie said she came here was specifically because she wanted to NOT be moved all around positionally as a utility player, and was excited to get good reps in the same position that she'll play with Canada. And I don't even think KK would let her be benched in the first place. Certainly not after 2 games. They STILL have a hard time not putting Sinc on the field...Maybe Jessie underperforming is what'll get us a new coach, if that continues lol. But again, it's been....2 games. With everyone healthy, I imagine Jessie is in-pen at the 8 going forward for a long long time, barring something truly horrific happening with her play (hoping that monkey paw doesn't curl with my saying that...)
I think Moultrie is likely expecting more time finally, after Sinc fading back...so then you have Sugita as odd-player out. Not sure Moultrie signs a 3 year deal if she didn't have some guarantees...Sugita didn't play the 10 last year (or ever here), and has now seemingly been replaced by Janine Beckie at RW so far. Personally would like to see a Coffey/Fleming/Sugita midfield with Beckie on the wing. Or, if Beckie has reverted to her mean, maybe Moultrie at the 10 with Sugita at inverted RW (since she's familiar.) But I think the positional battle needs to be between Beckie and Moultrie, and let that dictate where you START Sugita. I do prefer not constantly swapping the midfield out, though, so once we choose a starting midfield, we gotta kinda stick to it for the sake of having cohesion....
I don't think she can dictate a ton or write lineups of course, but I think it's naive to believe she wouldn't have any conversations with KK to get her minutes. (I know for a fact Leon was brought to Portland on loan purely to get her minutes for Canada before the WC and players were not happy about it.) Beckie was pretty poor here in season 1 and did start for the first half of the season, but she wasn't contributing really anything at all and Yaz Ryan was just flat out-playing her. It would've been real odd to keep playing her with such an obvious improvement on the bench. Maybe Beckie had one assist, but didn't score at all, and those aren't the stats needed for a starting forward. With Jessie (the new captain), I think it's a little different. She is (imo), just a better overall player, a big marquee signing, and we don't have an 8 who would even challenge for her spot, so it would take a lot for her to not be starting.
It's worth pointing out that for the first part of Beckie's season 1, Rhian was playing her at outside back. Beckie is not an OB and had predictably poor performances in that role.
One downside of having NT players is that the starting trio of Moultrie, Fleming, and Coffey had extremely limited time together in pre-season before the Gold Cup started.
I think moultrie is a better 8, covered way more ground then Fleming last game, more physical and from two games a better distributor. That leaves the 10 for sugita. for now we may have been fleeced by Chelsea, she wasn't playing there for a reason.
Um, wow ok. I'm not inventing anything. I actually know this to be true...it's possible she didn't get minutes because it caused conflict within the team, that part I don't know. But I DO know she was brought in purely for that reason and it pissed the team off (whether it worked out or not minutes-wise.) Obv Sinc is retired now and Bev has no bearing on her...I didn't say she has any input on Sinc.
This is extremely not anything against Canadians (like at all!) and "xenophobic" is quite an escalation and inflammatory accusation to throw around! I want our best players out there, period. I literally don't care where they're from or how old they are, if they're the best option to start? I've been hoping KK gets Jayde Riviere because I really like her, and I'd take Olivia Smith too.
You are very much misinterpreting my comment about Jessie also. I'm saying there's no 8 on the Thorns roster good enough to challenge Jessie for a starting spot because we just don't have anyone who plays that position, and anyone else playing there would also be playing out of position. Literally not saying anything negative about Jessie there...in fact, the opposite, because no one on our roster is better fit for that position than her. I think she'll be the long-term 8 for this team! I'm not sure where the miscommunication is there...or what you're talking about with her passport? I'm quite confused because I'm not saying anything negative about Jessie at all and you have thrown out some pretty inflammatory accusations.
I'm going to cover this in more detail in my recap, but I wish people would use a bit of context and nuance when posting these types of graphics- Namely, Portland doesn't look to play through Soph like, say, the Courage do with whoever happens to be playing striker, or the Spirit do with Hatch. They look to get her the ball in space, so pass maps naturally aren't going to show unsuccessful passes forward or second balls she wins. The Thorns have plenty of flaws, but getting Soph involved ain't one of them. They hunt her 1v1s almost to a fault.
So far, the biggest difference in the 2024 Thorns v. 2023 is Weaver's lack of...anything. She isn't crossing, defending, or shooting like years past. Without her as a threat, opponents can be 100% on Smith all the time everywhere. Maybe it's time for Linnehan, or OWK, or even Fleming, on the wing if Weaver doesn't step up soon. In 2023 we had the same mediocre coaching, the same big doses of Sincy at the wrong times, the same scary goalkeeping. But at least we had Weaver contending for the Golden Boot.
At halftime, from my arm chair, I said to my buddy that I hope they replace Weaver with Sugita at half. Weaver remains the Energizer Bunny but I think she's reached her ceiling as a player. As soon as she loses any of her pace at all she'll be a benchwarmer.
With the caveat that I know nothing about soccer tactics, I think we rely on Soph too much. We'll often pass it to her when she's being triple teamed, while one of our midfielders is wide open and even in a scoring position. Can she befuddle defenders and score? Yeah, she can and does. But more often than not, she weaves through one or two of them, and then loses the ball.
That's why, I hate to say it, but I'm less scared of losing Soph than most other Thorns fans are. I'd rather have a cohesive team with lots of goal scorers and a rock solid defense than a a Smith ball feeding machine.
Don't get me wrong, she's by far the most valuable player on our team, but we can, and have, won Championships without her.
"We'll often pass it to her when she's being triple teamed, while one of our midfielders is wide open and even in a scoring position.... That's why I'm less scared of losing Soph than most other Thorns fans are."
Yes, but. The reason that midfielder is wide open is *because of* Smith - because it makes sense for the opposition to put two, or even three, players on her. Without Smith the opposing defense can spread out, mark zones better, mark other players better. Whether or not she's on the ball, the other team has to give her their attention.
That's a perfectly fair take, and I imagine a not totally uncommon one. But also, the Thorns have been the best offensive team in the NWSL by every conceivable metric for two years by a country mile, in large part of because of how they cater the attack to Smith's strengths. Sometimes it's good just to put your best player in ideal positions to succeed. You can have a good defense and a cohesive team while still getting your best player the ball where she thrives, we just haven't seen it because Norris ain't it.
They also HAVE had lots of different goal scorers- They've had at least three other players with 5+ goals in each of the last three years, which no other NWSL team can come close to saying.
The original analysis isn’t even worth the key strokes it took to make it. I have lots of issues with Norris. Getting the ball to Smith isn’t one of them
This kind of sucks. We thoroughly out play them and the narrative because of a mistimed run and Hubly leaving an incredible player unmarked is different than it should be
Circling back to how good the FBs were -- they both had legitimately really, really good games-- but focusing on Marie:
THAT was the exact Müller performance that I saw watching her Freiburg games and then in the UP friendly. She got on the ball a ton and beat her winger to the ball defensively 4-5 times. Still a little iffy on her 1v1 defending against the Purces of the world, but the player we saw yesterday is a top 3 left back in the league imo, and more importantly, a *significant* upgrade on Kling.
Also- For this week's recap I'm going to do ACFC-Orlando, Portland-Gotham, and Utah-NCC. Leaning towards Reign-Spirit for the 4th, but any suggestions are welcome!
I thought Marie was excellent! Really really good game, it was one of the few positives I took out of this. She was quick getting forward and had some nice crosses in, great at anticipating passes, great with her head, good awareness, good with her feet, and kept a lock on Dunn and Purce. Really encouraged by that performance, and I do like her and Becky on that side together. I know you were confident in her from her Freiburg days, and I saw it yesterday. I do agree that her 1v1 defending is an area for growth...
Reyna was really good defensively also. She can still be a little derpy at times, though, I'd love for her to improve her awareness and passing. Hubly is the weak link...CB still should be underlined, bolded, circled, highlighted for position of greatest need.
Reign/Chicago might be interesting. Love to dissect a Reign L, and would love to know what Chicago has unlocked this season (besides Pugh and a new backline.) Spirit/Bay would be interesting too, though. I'm curious what changes Spirit made to make them perform better than last week...I know Rodman is a huge part, but is she all of it? Also more spotlight on Bethune. I thought she was poppin' up into good spaces more this game, where I thought she was invisible the first game. Anyways, I'm undecided there and didn't offer any help with decision-making lol...
100% chance he'll be here next week, 80% chance he'll be here after that even if they lose. I don't think y'all quite appreciate how big a decision it would be for the Bhathals to fire a coach three games in! It almost never happens, and when it did --KC last season-- it was controversial!
(Again, this is not a comment on whether he deserves to remain coach, just on the optics and logistics of what a firing this early would signify)
If the Bhathals are gonna run the Thorns like a tech company, I think we'll have other issues lol
But mostly, they don't strike me as the reactive type, so unless they have a planned replacement I don't really see it happening this soon. Could be wrong though!
The best lineup, formation, and style of play for the Portland Thorns can vary depending on factors such as the available players, opponents, and coaching strategies. However, a commonly effective lineup for the Thorns has been a 4-3-3 formation with a balanced mix of attacking and defensive players.
Here's a hypothetical lineup:
Formation: 4-3-3
Goalkeeper:
- Adrianna Franch
Defenders:
- Meghan Klingenberg (Left-back)
- Becky Sauerbrunn (Center-back)
- Emily Menges (Center-back)
- Crystal Dunn (Right-back)
Midfielders:
- Lindsey Horan (Central midfielder)
- Angela Salem (Defensive midfielder)
- Rocky Rodríguez (Attacking midfielder)
Forwards:
- Sophia Smith (Left forward)
- Christine Sinclair (Striker)
- Tobin Heath (Right forward)
Style of play:
The Thorns typically play an attacking style of football, focusing on possession-based build-up play from the back, quick transitions, and utilizing the width of the field with overlapping full-backs. They often look to exploit the opposition's defense with intricate passing combinations and dynamic movement off the ball. Additionally, the Thorns are known for their high pressing and intense defensive pressure to win the ball back quickly and create scoring opportunities. Overall, their style emphasizes creativity, teamwork, and relentless determination.
Consecutive home losses and opening the season with three? Dire would not begin to describe his position.
KK finagled Fleming and gets massive kudos for that, even if she's not gelling yet (see topic 1) and more impressive to me so far is MÜeller (extra oomph on the umlaut), who is gem from an unexpected source. Does that mean her jerb is safe? Will not second-guess the new owners here.
Outplayed Gotham. Got mugged by Gotham. Got beaten by Gotham due to one defensive lapse. Got held off the scoreboard by the ref. Even the weather was reminiscent.
held off the euroscavengers for another year. all this bs about women's soccer in Europe being better is malarky. The US has four WWC championships, which equals those from all of europe. One in Norway, two in Germany and one in Spain. NONE IN FRANCE IN MS. HORAN!!! Europe is not any better than here. Because there is no salary cap and you can play on a team of superstars against a bunch of second teamers does not make the league better, I would argue it makes it worse.
Right, it's hardly a long-term commitment, but she also would have little incentive to do that even *if* she (and I'm not saying that she does) wanted to stay for life. As I've posted elsewhere, they (KK, Bhathals) have clearly done enough to convince her that the direction is sound, now they gotta execute. But crucially, this buys them some time and (most importantly!) buys us fans some peace of mind if this year continues to go poorly.
Okay, how about Twila Kilgore for our head coach? She's done a good job while keeping the USWNT seat warm for Emma Hayes. She's been head coach for UC Davis, the US U-19s, and now the US senior team, as well as an assistant various places including the Dash. I imagine she'd be hard to pry away from the national team, but it might be possible. We all grumble a lot, but Portland is still a top-tier WoSo destination, and I imagine she wants career advancement in the form of more head-coaching experience.
Over Norris? I'd take her, for sure. That's a low bar lol, but hers is a great breadth of experience for a club to have. I'm curious what her style would look like without being instructed by either Vltako or Emma, but she could be good because she'll have worked with Emma, knows her system, and knows what it takes to keep getting call-ups to the USWNT. She knows many of the Portland players as well, and has familiarity with those not even on the USWNT, purely because she has to watch NWSL games. Valuable for current players, but also for young USWNT-ers and could make Portland a destination purely for that reason. Portland HAS to build advantage where they can, especially with the San Diego's, LA's, and Bay's in the league. I've thought about this prior, and pondered her as well...she's from the west coast. I think she's probably gonna want to stick around and absorb as much as she can with Emma as coach, but maybe she'll be interested in a year or two. Don't think we have that long though, lol. If I were the Bhathals, I'd be asking those questions early just to put a bug in her ear about it. Maybe she'd be ok to leave after the Olympics, but I kinda doubt it...
Can we get a counter started in the top corner of STF for Norris' record?
4 W's in the last 16(!)
4th straight L in a row
Here's a good one: It's been 281 days since the Thorns have won 2 in a row. (It's also been this many days since they've won on the road- that terribly nervy Bixby Chicago game they barely escaped.)
As Yogi Berra once said, "It's getting late early."
Even as we're in the midst of getting younger, this team has to win now. If we head into the international break with 1 point or 0 points, I don't like Norris's chances to return in April.
Man, real mixed-bag of emotions after that one!
I think I feel mostly positive despite the whole two-losses-to-start-the-season thing. They completely outplayed Gotham (similarly to the semi tbqh): Reyes and Müller were both straight-up awesome (especially Reyna who legitimately bullied Crystal Dunn into being taken off the field), Becky was really good, Coffey was a beast in the second half, and the team looked generally more cohesive. Still issues to work out (sorry Kelli, but as a longtime defender of yours, it's time for Obaze; Hogan has the Bixby yips; still need to play through the midfield more), but a real encouraging performance overall after last week.
BUT.... I can't quite appreciate the improvement because of the constantly-looming Soph contract spectre. It's a real bummer! It sucks! She's easily the most electric soccer player that's every played for a Portland franchise, and this might be the last year she's here. And that makes enjoying the little things during a potential transition year and watching the team game to game much harder to do. I imagine that's how much of y'all feel too.
Seeing it in person tonight, I’m always worried my impressions of the match are off base. Thought Reyes was just ok, but Muller looked really good. Defensively we looked much tighter in our half of the field. They got one really good look and buried it. We do the same, we win 3-1.
Saw some decent combination play in the 2nd half, but still not enough. I know she was off, but that Sophia strike live was WORLD CLASS. I do think her contract hangs over everything. I too, was happy overall with the team performance, but Norris has lost the plot with Sinc. It’s ridiculous.
Müller was awesome- She's better technically/going forward in addition to playing well defensively, so she stood out more than Reyes and probably got a better player rating from the stat sites.....but Reyna completely locked up both Purce and Dunn. I think she only got beat once the whole match.
Yeah, thinking back I don’t remember her getting beat much at all. I think I was more fixated on her poor passes and derpy moments on offense. Probably should give her the credit for the D and ease up on my offensive expectations. I do love her toughness and want to see her lock down a starting fullback spot.
Purce got by Reyes once and got a shot off which Hogan saved. Solid game overall though.
Purce broke Muller's ankles in the 1st half too. As in, down on the turf inside the box, Purce wide open, Becky having to close out hard on her.
FOTMOB has Muller top in the match.
https://www.fotmob.com/matches/njny-gotham-fc-vs-portland-thorns/2gzkmkg4#4414174
Yeah, and they also rate Hubly higher than Sauerbrunn. Did I miss something?
Stat-site player ratings are mostly pointless, so no you didn't lol
And Soph ranked so low. Not making much sense.
OMGOMGOMG IS THAT A SOPH CONTRACT EXTENSION VIDEO!?!!?!
Edit: OMG I THINK SO!!!
OH FUCK YES IT IS
Soph quote “I don’t believe that every player needs to go to Europe to become who they’re supposed to be. I don’t believe that narrative.”
WHOA!!!
And a little needle to Horan!
YESSSSS!!!
A one year extension... not to be a downer but I would not be shocked if this means she leaves next offseason or the one after for a fee. It's something you see in the men's game occasionally, where a player will sign a an extension a year or two before they plan to leave so that the club can enjoy a transfer fee. I hope I'm wrong.
guys we can't be doomposting when Soph literally commits to being here next season omg
Sorry sorry! Ultimately, this is unequivocally good news: either outcome is better than her leaving out of contract. I am excited about this extension and I am hopeful that she will be a career thorn!
I think it can also give the Bhathals some runway to prove their vision. If they make good on some of the off-field stuff she could be enticed to stay. This contract, to me, at least signifies that she's interested in their vision thus far, and is kinda like "prove it." I love it. It'll push the club to make some radical changes where needed and will only make the club that much better and more desirable. For now though, let's just enjoy!
Edit: just noticed this is what everyone said below me lol. So yes, I agree there haha.
I think it's more of a "I want to be here and I like our direction, but you still gotta prove it" deal, hence the player option. She's not going to mess with her own ambitions to do the club a favor.
Yeah, and this is just an extension, which means her old contract amount is still in place, correct? But if it's only for a year, that would seem to mean she'll be getting the same amount she got in her first 3 years, but now in 1 year..so kinda like 3x her first yearly contract? New amounts only come with a new contract? All of this is where I tend to get confused re: contracts and business stuff lol.
Well we don't know any of the details cause the NWSL has little to no transparency re: contracts, but yes, her current contract is still in place unless she negotiated a raise for this year as part of the extension. Then the "highest annual contract value" will kick in next season.
I hope you're right! I don't think it would be messing with her ambitions, which may include being the first million dollar player.
I guess my point is that the deals you reference are typically not made in the last year of a player's contract, are usually with small clubs who have promised the player they'd be moved to a bigger club, and that if she wanted to go elsewhere, it would be downright stupid of her to sign even a one-year extension just for the sake of it given her pending free agency. Her quotes in the Linehan article don't seem to indicate that's the case, especially the one about Europe.
Really, it's the player option that indicates to me that she wants to be here, but also wants to see execution of whatever plan KK/ownership sold to her. I.e, "you can keep me here on the same contract, but I gotta see progress!"
Yeah that makes sense! I honestly might not worry about her leaving until she retires a Thorn.
She's the MVP and we're a small market! That's how it's always gonna be! Portland hasn't ever (I don't think I'd put Walton/Dame/Drexler/Valeri in the same tier as her tbh) had an athlete at this level relative to the rest of the league, so it's v cool we get to enjoy it even if it's just for two more years.
She's locked up for this season and next and has the player option. I imagine the player option was important so she can move if it makes sense for her, personally. I'm fine with it. This isn't hanging over this season anymore and we have two shots to win with her. Let's make the most of it!
Plus, it's smart on her part. She can keep the pressure on the club to keep building around her. Any further down the road than that, she loses her leverage over the FO.
I thought we played well, but sometimes this game is cruel. Last week, abysmal, but scored 4 goals. This week, a lot better, but couldn't find the back of the net. If they play like they did yesterday, the wins will come.
Norris has maybe a month to figure this out, though. This team is too good and with Smiths' contract on the line, we can't have a manager who is still learning on the job.
Anyone else have heart palpitations when Beckie was on the floor with the trainer tending to her knee?
She returned to play and I presume is okay today (yes?) but it was looking like the soccer gods were being awfully cruel, for a moment.
ETA home jerseys looked good on my teevee machine (lots of weave detail I do not catch on the web) and related, ESPN paid for a proper # of cameras, making it a quality broadcast. Still working on content, however.
Yes, my heart stopped. Beckie!!!
And on that note, has anyone heard how serious Midge's injury/s were? By my count she went down three times, and had medical staff for at least two.
I think she at least sprained a ligament in her knee for sure, but no news yet.
I can't believe he kept throwing her out there....
Yes, immediately. She sat and started feeling the front of her knee and I started saying "oh no oh no oohhhn nooo" even while the play continued lol...
The coach is now complaining about the scheduling of the Gold Cup at the beginning of the season and that he now has three players injured. But damn coach you have a key player go down twice before you remove her.
There is a lot of talk about protecting the players, but that Canada USA game was dangerous and in this game Midge should have been pulled the first time she went down. I saw Eli Carpenter go down with a non contact knees problem in a Lyon game. The staff seem to see no problem then less than 5 minutes later she was down with a SEI. The players deserve better.
Was anyone else really underwhelmed by Gotham? They're supposed to be this super team and they pulled off a smash and grab. Just boring stuff: pass, pass, pass, lose the ball, tactical foul, pass, pass, pass, lose the ball, timewaste. Awful.
They're definitely not the same team without Maitane and Williams, but yeah they're a funny group because they could be a really good transition team with Purce and Williams (and Lavelle if she's ever healthy) but they usually just play keep ball. Amoros also played a double pivot today with Sonnett and Martin, whereas they usually like to play one six.
Dunn on the wing was also weird. She looked way out of shape and has none of her speed left, even compared to last season. Reyes had her way with her physically the whole game.
Dunn looks kinda... done.
Honestly she really did. I wasn't fully onboard with people saying she looked cooked for the Thorns last season, but man....seeing Reyna just bully her for 60 minutes was slightly jarring! She'd try to turn and accelerate down the line and just had nothing.
Will be surprised if she's on the Olympics squad. What's her role versus, say, Fox?
Another case in point to stay ahead of the aging curve, especially for a player where speed is a big part of their game. Now if we can just have a sit-down with Norris about Sinc...
There was a play when Sanderson (local favourite that she is) dryly quipped that Dunn had lost an aerial dual and I though what, against a Providence pigeon?
As compared to Providence Pidgin, which is what I assume Norris is speaking during his pressers.
Speaking of Sanderson, she did three games this weekend (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday). I know she was on-site in Orlando on Friday, but did they really fly her to three different parts of the country in three days or was she in studio?
Same as last year. It worked then, it worked now. Cynical as hell, but it worked.
I'd love to have Nighswonger and Esther, tho.
One more spicy take and then I'm done...
Cassie Miller made some big saves today; Gotham beat us, 1-0.
Cassie Miller was in goal when Chicago beat us in 2021 semifinals, 2-0.
Cassie Miller was in goal when KC came here and beat us last year, 1-0.
Cassie Miller was available this offseason. Her deal with Gotham was announced on January 23. Bella announced her pregnancy on Xitter on January 13.
tbf, most of our shots were straight at Miller. I was behind almost all of them in the second half.
A pair of rockets Miller has no chance unless they are hit directly at her. Of course, Soph obliged. Two other goals negated by offsides. Tough day at the office. I’d be going ballistic too.
Soph's buried her two hard chances (both offsides) and put her two easiest right at Miller. I guess that's just how it goes sometimes!
I only fault Miller on the first one, as she came out hard on Soph but Soph got past her.
Sinclair's header wasn't *that* bad, and Miller stopped that too.
Yeah Miller wasn't at fault for either but also didn't make any particularly awesome saves. I would have liked Sinc to bury her header, but it was a tough angle and all Miller had to do to save it was get near post so I don't really blame Sinc.....but still.
Moultrie had a few classic top of the box efforts that were unusually tame as well.
Didn't O'Hara bail Miller out one on-target shot?
So my point in raising this was simply to note that we didn't have to go into 2024 with a relatively untested #2 as our new #1 followed by two more untested keepers, all to be led by a new GK coach.
Gotham already had its preferred #1 (Smith) and a perfectly serviceable #2/#3 (Betos) ready to re-sign) when they decided to trade in expansion Haught, who is definitely a step above Hogan as a #2 and clearly able to perform as a #1, and then went out and acquired a veteran #2... a veteran #2 who can step in and be a #1 as needed and who has done well against us.
It wasn't really to debate whether or not Miller had a great game, or merely a good one, or whether we didn't test her enough yesterday.
It was to point out that our FO could have been more aggressive in meeting our immediate GK needs.
Because, right now, if Hogan gets hurt, draws a red, or is shaky, we're down to Kozal and Asman.
Yeah Cassie Miller was a restricted FA, meaning that KC let her go.
There’s no way that she would’ve come here though…the same people who I know about through Kuikka are also very close to Miller and would’ve convinced her to stay away with all the drama happening with Natu.
So here's the weird thing. I re-read the Equalizer's reporting of the Miller deal today: "In exchange, (Gotham) sent $70,000 in allocation money and a $30,000 intraleague transfer fee to the Current. Miller, who was an unrestricted free agent, signed a one-year deal to facilitate the trade."
Yeah, I think this was Miller and the Current kinda doing each other favors. Current re-signed her (bc she was a restricted FA and they could’ve), but I think also wanted to part with her and said they’d let her go for a price. The woman I spoke to mentioned a little bit about it but I can’t remember the details. It was a weird deal, but smart. Kk could’ve done the same if Natu actually wanted to leave, but wanted to get something for her…(she didn’t wanna leave AND we still lost her for nothing lol.)
When I read that bit about Miller yesterday, I found myself thinking the exact same thing.
Let's play "Second Guess The Gaffer!"
The setup: Assume fully healthy, fully available roster as going into start of season, with no minutes restrictions.
The questions:
- Who makes your matchday 18?
- Who makes your starting XI?
- Who do you utilize during the 3 substitution windows -- and when and for whom?
Starting XI:
Hogan
Müller - Obaze - Sauerbrunn - Reyes
Sugita - Coffey - Moultrie
Beckie - Smith - Weaver
That leaves Fleming on the bench. I think she'll become a starter soon enough, but she hasn't gelled with the team yet nor gotten used to the NWSL. As soon as any of the attackers gets injured she'll be starting, and maybe sooner. Ditto for Hubly and centerback injuries.
Gotta run but I'm just gonna say let's have more Hina and less Sincy.
Here's my attempt to answer my own questions:
Matchday 18:
(GK) Hogan, Kozal
(D) Reyes, Obaze, Sauerbruun, Müller, Klingeberg, Payne, Hubly
(M) Moultrie, Coffey, Sugita, Fleming, Sinclair
(F) Weaver, Smith, Beckie, Linnehan
Starting XI:
(GK) Hogan
(D) Reyes, Obaze, Sauerbruun, Müller
(M) Moultrie, Coffey, Sugita
(F) Weaver, Smith, Beckie
Substitution Windows (as needed):
(D) Hubly (Obaze or Sauerbruun)
(M) Fleming (Sugita), Sinclair (Moultrie)
(F) Linnehan (Beckie), Payne (Reyes)
That said, I understand why Fleming is starting ahead of Sugita. Part of it is because Fleming is our big-ticket off-season acquisition, part of it is to get her integrated next to Coffey, and part of it probably because she can be used as more of an all-around midfielder while Sugita can be used as more of a creative and attacking spark. Right now, though, I don't see the wisdom of playing Sugita so little.
I also understand why Hubly is still starting, but I am ready to give Obaze more opportunity to win the position.
Finally, I'm ready to see some more youth and speed in the attack... which isn't hard to do when a 40-year-old is currently one of your attackers.
Yeah, I think there's no universe where Jessie will be benched, fortunately or unfortunately depending on your feelings for her....considering the leaders of this club. Bev would be on the phone ASAP asking KK "WTF" if Jessie wasn't getting consistent starting minutes at the 8, esp before they go into a huge tournament where they're the defending champs. One of the reasons Jessie said she came here was specifically because she wanted to NOT be moved all around positionally as a utility player, and was excited to get good reps in the same position that she'll play with Canada. And I don't even think KK would let her be benched in the first place. Certainly not after 2 games. They STILL have a hard time not putting Sinc on the field...Maybe Jessie underperforming is what'll get us a new coach, if that continues lol. But again, it's been....2 games. With everyone healthy, I imagine Jessie is in-pen at the 8 going forward for a long long time, barring something truly horrific happening with her play (hoping that monkey paw doesn't curl with my saying that...)
I think Moultrie is likely expecting more time finally, after Sinc fading back...so then you have Sugita as odd-player out. Not sure Moultrie signs a 3 year deal if she didn't have some guarantees...Sugita didn't play the 10 last year (or ever here), and has now seemingly been replaced by Janine Beckie at RW so far. Personally would like to see a Coffey/Fleming/Sugita midfield with Beckie on the wing. Or, if Beckie has reverted to her mean, maybe Moultrie at the 10 with Sugita at inverted RW (since she's familiar.) But I think the positional battle needs to be between Beckie and Moultrie, and let that dictate where you START Sugita. I do prefer not constantly swapping the midfield out, though, so once we choose a starting midfield, we gotta kinda stick to it for the sake of having cohesion....
I don't think she can dictate a ton or write lineups of course, but I think it's naive to believe she wouldn't have any conversations with KK to get her minutes. (I know for a fact Leon was brought to Portland on loan purely to get her minutes for Canada before the WC and players were not happy about it.) Beckie was pretty poor here in season 1 and did start for the first half of the season, but she wasn't contributing really anything at all and Yaz Ryan was just flat out-playing her. It would've been real odd to keep playing her with such an obvious improvement on the bench. Maybe Beckie had one assist, but didn't score at all, and those aren't the stats needed for a starting forward. With Jessie (the new captain), I think it's a little different. She is (imo), just a better overall player, a big marquee signing, and we don't have an 8 who would even challenge for her spot, so it would take a lot for her to not be starting.
It's worth pointing out that for the first part of Beckie's season 1, Rhian was playing her at outside back. Beckie is not an OB and had predictably poor performances in that role.
One downside of having NT players is that the starting trio of Moultrie, Fleming, and Coffey had extremely limited time together in pre-season before the Gold Cup started.
I think moultrie is a better 8, covered way more ground then Fleming last game, more physical and from two games a better distributor. That leaves the 10 for sugita. for now we may have been fleeced by Chelsea, she wasn't playing there for a reason.
Um, wow ok. I'm not inventing anything. I actually know this to be true...it's possible she didn't get minutes because it caused conflict within the team, that part I don't know. But I DO know she was brought in purely for that reason and it pissed the team off (whether it worked out or not minutes-wise.) Obv Sinc is retired now and Bev has no bearing on her...I didn't say she has any input on Sinc.
This is extremely not anything against Canadians (like at all!) and "xenophobic" is quite an escalation and inflammatory accusation to throw around! I want our best players out there, period. I literally don't care where they're from or how old they are, if they're the best option to start? I've been hoping KK gets Jayde Riviere because I really like her, and I'd take Olivia Smith too.
You are very much misinterpreting my comment about Jessie also. I'm saying there's no 8 on the Thorns roster good enough to challenge Jessie for a starting spot because we just don't have anyone who plays that position, and anyone else playing there would also be playing out of position. Literally not saying anything negative about Jessie there...in fact, the opposite, because no one on our roster is better fit for that position than her. I think she'll be the long-term 8 for this team! I'm not sure where the miscommunication is there...or what you're talking about with her passport? I'm quite confused because I'm not saying anything negative about Jessie at all and you have thrown out some pretty inflammatory accusations.
Ohh, this is fun. Will have to come back to this...
https://x.com/xOwnGoals/status/1772051167968890993?s=20
I'm going to cover this in more detail in my recap, but I wish people would use a bit of context and nuance when posting these types of graphics- Namely, Portland doesn't look to play through Soph like, say, the Courage do with whoever happens to be playing striker, or the Spirit do with Hatch. They look to get her the ball in space, so pass maps naturally aren't going to show unsuccessful passes forward or second balls she wins. The Thorns have plenty of flaws, but getting Soph involved ain't one of them. They hunt her 1v1s almost to a fault.
So far, the biggest difference in the 2024 Thorns v. 2023 is Weaver's lack of...anything. She isn't crossing, defending, or shooting like years past. Without her as a threat, opponents can be 100% on Smith all the time everywhere. Maybe it's time for Linnehan, or OWK, or even Fleming, on the wing if Weaver doesn't step up soon. In 2023 we had the same mediocre coaching, the same big doses of Sincy at the wrong times, the same scary goalkeeping. But at least we had Weaver contending for the Golden Boot.
At halftime, from my arm chair, I said to my buddy that I hope they replace Weaver with Sugita at half. Weaver remains the Energizer Bunny but I think she's reached her ceiling as a player. As soon as she loses any of her pace at all she'll be a benchwarmer.
Yeah, she's been invisible.
With the caveat that I know nothing about soccer tactics, I think we rely on Soph too much. We'll often pass it to her when she's being triple teamed, while one of our midfielders is wide open and even in a scoring position. Can she befuddle defenders and score? Yeah, she can and does. But more often than not, she weaves through one or two of them, and then loses the ball.
That's why, I hate to say it, but I'm less scared of losing Soph than most other Thorns fans are. I'd rather have a cohesive team with lots of goal scorers and a rock solid defense than a a Smith ball feeding machine.
Don't get me wrong, she's by far the most valuable player on our team, but we can, and have, won Championships without her.
"We'll often pass it to her when she's being triple teamed, while one of our midfielders is wide open and even in a scoring position.... That's why I'm less scared of losing Soph than most other Thorns fans are."
Yes, but. The reason that midfielder is wide open is *because of* Smith - because it makes sense for the opposition to put two, or even three, players on her. Without Smith the opposing defense can spread out, mark zones better, mark other players better. Whether or not she's on the ball, the other team has to give her their attention.
Okay. That makes sense. Good point.
That's a perfectly fair take, and I imagine a not totally uncommon one. But also, the Thorns have been the best offensive team in the NWSL by every conceivable metric for two years by a country mile, in large part of because of how they cater the attack to Smith's strengths. Sometimes it's good just to put your best player in ideal positions to succeed. You can have a good defense and a cohesive team while still getting your best player the ball where she thrives, we just haven't seen it because Norris ain't it.
They also HAVE had lots of different goal scorers- They've had at least three other players with 5+ goals in each of the last three years, which no other NWSL team can come close to saying.
Yes! And it's because we have lots of goal scorers AND Smith that we've won championships.
And it's why, even though our detractors on twitter may be having a week of knocking us down a peg, I still have pretty high hopes for the season.
The original analysis isn’t even worth the key strokes it took to make it. I have lots of issues with Norris. Getting the ball to Smith isn’t one of them
This kind of sucks. We thoroughly out play them and the narrative because of a mistimed run and Hubly leaving an incredible player unmarked is different than it should be
And very much like last November's match.
I didn’t think we outplayed them for the first 60 minutes on last November’s match. Once they brought Sugita and Kuilka in, we did.
Circling back to how good the FBs were -- they both had legitimately really, really good games-- but focusing on Marie:
THAT was the exact Müller performance that I saw watching her Freiburg games and then in the UP friendly. She got on the ball a ton and beat her winger to the ball defensively 4-5 times. Still a little iffy on her 1v1 defending against the Purces of the world, but the player we saw yesterday is a top 3 left back in the league imo, and more importantly, a *significant* upgrade on Kling.
Also- For this week's recap I'm going to do ACFC-Orlando, Portland-Gotham, and Utah-NCC. Leaning towards Reign-Spirit for the 4th, but any suggestions are welcome!
I thought Marie was excellent! Really really good game, it was one of the few positives I took out of this. She was quick getting forward and had some nice crosses in, great at anticipating passes, great with her head, good awareness, good with her feet, and kept a lock on Dunn and Purce. Really encouraged by that performance, and I do like her and Becky on that side together. I know you were confident in her from her Freiburg days, and I saw it yesterday. I do agree that her 1v1 defending is an area for growth...
Reyna was really good defensively also. She can still be a little derpy at times, though, I'd love for her to improve her awareness and passing. Hubly is the weak link...CB still should be underlined, bolded, circled, highlighted for position of greatest need.
Reign/Chicago might be interesting. Love to dissect a Reign L, and would love to know what Chicago has unlocked this season (besides Pugh and a new backline.) Spirit/Bay would be interesting too, though. I'm curious what changes Spirit made to make them perform better than last week...I know Rodman is a huge part, but is she all of it? Also more spotlight on Bethune. I thought she was poppin' up into good spaces more this game, where I thought she was invisible the first game. Anyways, I'm undecided there and didn't offer any help with decision-making lol...
I give Norris a 75% chance of being coach by next weekend. If we lose that game, I’d bring it down to 25%. What are your takes?
I don’t think KK is at risk yet.
100% chance he'll be here next week, 80% chance he'll be here after that even if they lose. I don't think y'all quite appreciate how big a decision it would be for the Bhathals to fire a coach three games in! It almost never happens, and when it did --KC last season-- it was controversial!
(Again, this is not a comment on whether he deserves to remain coach, just on the optics and logistics of what a firing this early would signify)
Maybe not three games in. But if after another month or so things aren't going well... then by mid-season I'd expect to hear some chatter.
Well, in my experience in the tech world, new owners would be *precisely* when the old managers would get fired!
But you may be right. We'll see.
If the Bhathals are gonna run the Thorns like a tech company, I think we'll have other issues lol
But mostly, they don't strike me as the reactive type, so unless they have a planned replacement I don't really see it happening this soon. Could be wrong though!
At this point I'd be happy for ChatGPT to make our coaching decisions.
Hmmmmmmm….
The best lineup, formation, and style of play for the Portland Thorns can vary depending on factors such as the available players, opponents, and coaching strategies. However, a commonly effective lineup for the Thorns has been a 4-3-3 formation with a balanced mix of attacking and defensive players.
Here's a hypothetical lineup:
Formation: 4-3-3
Goalkeeper:
- Adrianna Franch
Defenders:
- Meghan Klingenberg (Left-back)
- Becky Sauerbrunn (Center-back)
- Emily Menges (Center-back)
- Crystal Dunn (Right-back)
Midfielders:
- Lindsey Horan (Central midfielder)
- Angela Salem (Defensive midfielder)
- Rocky Rodríguez (Attacking midfielder)
Forwards:
- Sophia Smith (Left forward)
- Christine Sinclair (Striker)
- Tobin Heath (Right forward)
Style of play:
The Thorns typically play an attacking style of football, focusing on possession-based build-up play from the back, quick transitions, and utilizing the width of the field with overlapping full-backs. They often look to exploit the opposition's defense with intricate passing combinations and dynamic movement off the ball. Additionally, the Thorns are known for their high pressing and intense defensive pressure to win the ball back quickly and create scoring opportunities. Overall, their style emphasizes creativity, teamwork, and relentless determination.
Okay, so Chat GPT is still on team Sinc. I'm surprised it didn't suggest KK as keeper.
Lmaoooo
Consecutive home losses and opening the season with three? Dire would not begin to describe his position.
KK finagled Fleming and gets massive kudos for that, even if she's not gelling yet (see topic 1) and more impressive to me so far is MÜeller (extra oomph on the umlaut), who is gem from an unexpected source. Does that mean her jerb is safe? Will not second-guess the new owners here.
Serious flashbacks to November from this one.
Outplayed Gotham. Got mugged by Gotham. Got beaten by Gotham due to one defensive lapse. Got held off the scoreboard by the ref. Even the weather was reminiscent.
Well, it's a 1 year extension with an option for a 2nd year. Not nothing, but "multiyear extension" is a bit of a stretch.
held off the euroscavengers for another year. all this bs about women's soccer in Europe being better is malarky. The US has four WWC championships, which equals those from all of europe. One in Norway, two in Germany and one in Spain. NONE IN FRANCE IN MS. HORAN!!! Europe is not any better than here. Because there is no salary cap and you can play on a team of superstars against a bunch of second teamers does not make the league better, I would argue it makes it worse.
Right, it's hardly a long-term commitment, but she also would have little incentive to do that even *if* she (and I'm not saying that she does) wanted to stay for life. As I've posted elsewhere, they (KK, Bhathals) have clearly done enough to convince her that the direction is sound, now they gotta execute. But crucially, this buys them some time and (most importantly!) buys us fans some peace of mind if this year continues to go poorly.
That just ensured that I'm renewing for 2025.
Now, maybe Soph can do something about getting the players back into some THORNS kits next year.
https://www.timbers.com/thornsfc/news/sophia-smith-i-m-excited-to-call-portland-home
https://www.timbers.com/thornsfc/news/youngest-nwsl-mvp-sophia-smith-commits-to-portland-with-multi-year-extension
Okay, how about Twila Kilgore for our head coach? She's done a good job while keeping the USWNT seat warm for Emma Hayes. She's been head coach for UC Davis, the US U-19s, and now the US senior team, as well as an assistant various places including the Dash. I imagine she'd be hard to pry away from the national team, but it might be possible. We all grumble a lot, but Portland is still a top-tier WoSo destination, and I imagine she wants career advancement in the form of more head-coaching experience.
Over Norris? I'd take her, for sure. That's a low bar lol, but hers is a great breadth of experience for a club to have. I'm curious what her style would look like without being instructed by either Vltako or Emma, but she could be good because she'll have worked with Emma, knows her system, and knows what it takes to keep getting call-ups to the USWNT. She knows many of the Portland players as well, and has familiarity with those not even on the USWNT, purely because she has to watch NWSL games. Valuable for current players, but also for young USWNT-ers and could make Portland a destination purely for that reason. Portland HAS to build advantage where they can, especially with the San Diego's, LA's, and Bay's in the league. I've thought about this prior, and pondered her as well...she's from the west coast. I think she's probably gonna want to stick around and absorb as much as she can with Emma as coach, but maybe she'll be interested in a year or two. Don't think we have that long though, lol. If I were the Bhathals, I'd be asking those questions early just to put a bug in her ear about it. Maybe she'd be ok to leave after the Olympics, but I kinda doubt it...
Anyone but
Anyone instead of
Coach X would be better than Norris, but don’t know if they’d be good.
That’s basically the sentiment of an NWSL coaching search. :)
Can we get a counter started in the top corner of STF for Norris' record?
4 W's in the last 16(!)
4th straight L in a row
Here's a good one: It's been 281 days since the Thorns have won 2 in a row. (It's also been this many days since they've won on the road- that terribly nervy Bixby Chicago game they barely escaped.)
Sweet Zombie Jesus!
As Yogi Berra once said, "It's getting late early."
Even as we're in the midst of getting younger, this team has to win now. If we head into the international break with 1 point or 0 points, I don't like Norris's chances to return in April.