How would you like to be Seattle right now, 13 points and 13 goals off the lead after 6 games, and haven't won since Week 1?
Seattle had a brutal offseason, losing so many good players (Rapinoe, Lavelle, Sonnett, Hiatt, Bennett), but the coaching staff is virtually in tact (save for GK coach) and they did bring in some good additions (Jam…
How would you like to be Seattle right now, 13 points and 13 goals off the lead after 6 games, and haven't won since Week 1?
Seattle had a brutal offseason, losing so many good players (Rapinoe, Lavelle, Sonnett, Hiatt, Bennett), but the coaching staff is virtually in tact (save for GK coach) and they did bring in some good additions (James, Ji, Woodham).
After playing for the championship, to lose 5 straight in your first 6 matches? Any rumblings of a coaching change, perhaps? I mean, might it be time for a new voice, a new energy, a new look at things? Or is this just a case where you can't polish a turd?
I said this to a Reign fan who was absolutely clowning the Thorns on the twit after we lost our 3rd....Reign fans shouldn't get too high because we can get a new coach, but y'all can't do anything about your roster right now. I'd much rather be on the Portland side of this one. That's the major difference, and I don't see them getting a ton better this season.
Difference is that the Thorns' issue was never talent related (which was part of the reason it was so frustrating). The Reign are also old as hell and don't have a way to dig themselves out of this hole without a major roster overhaul.
If you were to make a combined Thorns/Reign 11:
GK: Dickey (I guess?)
Def: Huerta, Cook, Sauerbrunn, Müller
Mid: Coffey, Hina, Ji (I'd personally put Fleming and maybe Moultrie ahead of Ji who hasn't been very good since Week 2, but I'll throw them a bone)
FW: Weaver, Smith, Beckie (there's an argument for Huitema, but I'm not gonna be the one who makes it)
I think some coaches in this league have proven that you can overperform your roster, which the Reign are going to need to do because they don't have much. So yeah, Harvey is gonna have to learn how to polish a turn. But she's always been kind of a one-trick pony, and that trick is ineffective when the defense you now have (+GK) is no longer elite, and your midfield and best attacking player is now retired or gone. I would've thought she'd change her tune this season without those advantages, but she doesn't really seem to even be playing to her team's only advantages (which are Balcer/Huitema) aerial goals. I predicted Seattle being one of the worst teams in the league this season, so it can't be that surprising to other folks either.
I think it would take the moving of mountains for Harvey to be fired from that club because she's become a cult figure there, especially when they've likely been hamstrung in their offseason due to their sale STILL not being complete. Had the Thorns had more players leave in the offseason, we could've been in similar dire straits...I think she'd do better with a better roster obv, but the roster construction has backed them into a corner for playing a very specific style and needing very specific player profiles. And even then, it's low-scoring w/ stout defense, and a heap of luck...
Good points. I wonder if Reign will spend heavily once the later transfer window opens up. Do they have the cap space? (This assumes someone at NWSL HQ is paying attention to cap space, which is not at all clear.) Do Reign know what they need besides "everything"?
Tbh, I'd be more pissed if I was a Gotham fan. Spent all the moneys, got all the toys, and riding on 5 pts. Seattle at least can blame it on not having a FO and losing talent.
I'm pretty sure Gotham will sort things out and start rising up the table to near the top. *How soon* they do that is a question, but not to me *whether* it will happen.
I'm not Harvey's biggest fan, but getting them to that final last season was part NWSL playoff BS, part playoff Rose Lavelle, and part Harvey keeping them stable. The talent deficit on that roster is DIRE.
But yeah! I've been banging on about about their lack of talent for over a year now and they did absolutely nothing outside of Ji --who is good, but also 33 and past her best-- this offseason to make their team better after losing two of their most important players to Gotham. James actively isn't good, Woodham is a fine mid-tier wingback, and they never signed a striker. They're quite literally the least talented team in the league outside of Utah (and honestly it's close) which is crazyyy.
How would you like to be Seattle right now, 13 points and 13 goals off the lead after 6 games, and haven't won since Week 1?
Seattle had a brutal offseason, losing so many good players (Rapinoe, Lavelle, Sonnett, Hiatt, Bennett), but the coaching staff is virtually in tact (save for GK coach) and they did bring in some good additions (James, Ji, Woodham).
After playing for the championship, to lose 5 straight in your first 6 matches? Any rumblings of a coaching change, perhaps? I mean, might it be time for a new voice, a new energy, a new look at things? Or is this just a case where you can't polish a turd?
And with Laura Harvey departing to coach USWNT, huge leadership vacuum...wait.
Two weeks ago both PNW teams looked dire. One has plugged the holes, and now pumping out the bilges. The other, still leaking, cap'n.
I said this to a Reign fan who was absolutely clowning the Thorns on the twit after we lost our 3rd....Reign fans shouldn't get too high because we can get a new coach, but y'all can't do anything about your roster right now. I'd much rather be on the Portland side of this one. That's the major difference, and I don't see them getting a ton better this season.
Reign fans should start attending Reign games imo.
(Also their GM should stop yammering and start signing good players under the age of 30)
It could be an interesting evening, come May 11.
Wondering if the Reign can weather the Storm. Maybe the Mariners can pitch in? Best get Kraken.
Also, GO... SeaHAWKS!!!
The Sounds awful...
Difference is that the Thorns' issue was never talent related (which was part of the reason it was so frustrating). The Reign are also old as hell and don't have a way to dig themselves out of this hole without a major roster overhaul.
If you were to make a combined Thorns/Reign 11:
GK: Dickey (I guess?)
Def: Huerta, Cook, Sauerbrunn, Müller
Mid: Coffey, Hina, Ji (I'd personally put Fleming and maybe Moultrie ahead of Ji who hasn't been very good since Week 2, but I'll throw them a bone)
FW: Weaver, Smith, Beckie (there's an argument for Huitema, but I'm not gonna be the one who makes it)
I think some coaches in this league have proven that you can overperform your roster, which the Reign are going to need to do because they don't have much. So yeah, Harvey is gonna have to learn how to polish a turn. But she's always been kind of a one-trick pony, and that trick is ineffective when the defense you now have (+GK) is no longer elite, and your midfield and best attacking player is now retired or gone. I would've thought she'd change her tune this season without those advantages, but she doesn't really seem to even be playing to her team's only advantages (which are Balcer/Huitema) aerial goals. I predicted Seattle being one of the worst teams in the league this season, so it can't be that surprising to other folks either.
I think it would take the moving of mountains for Harvey to be fired from that club because she's become a cult figure there, especially when they've likely been hamstrung in their offseason due to their sale STILL not being complete. Had the Thorns had more players leave in the offseason, we could've been in similar dire straits...I think she'd do better with a better roster obv, but the roster construction has backed them into a corner for playing a very specific style and needing very specific player profiles. And even then, it's low-scoring w/ stout defense, and a heap of luck...
Good points. I wonder if Reign will spend heavily once the later transfer window opens up. Do they have the cap space? (This assumes someone at NWSL HQ is paying attention to cap space, which is not at all clear.) Do Reign know what they need besides "everything"?
Tbh, I'd be more pissed if I was a Gotham fan. Spent all the moneys, got all the toys, and riding on 5 pts. Seattle at least can blame it on not having a FO and losing talent.
I'm pretty sure Gotham will sort things out and start rising up the table to near the top. *How soon* they do that is a question, but not to me *whether* it will happen.
Were James, Ji, and Woodham good additions?
Fair. Was trying to be kind. It's a challenge I'm working through. The self-medication helps a bit.
I suppose the more accurate thing to say is that Ji has had her moments, and James and Woodham have been Welsh additions.
Ji was a great player but is 33.
Two years after Shield, and the very next season after a championship appearance, Seattle in 14th at the nearly 1/4 mark.
https://equalizersoccer.com/2024/04/29/lauletta-two-years-after-shield-reign-sit-14th-on-nwsl-table/
I'm not Harvey's biggest fan, but getting them to that final last season was part NWSL playoff BS, part playoff Rose Lavelle, and part Harvey keeping them stable. The talent deficit on that roster is DIRE.
But yeah! I've been banging on about about their lack of talent for over a year now and they did absolutely nothing outside of Ji --who is good, but also 33 and past her best-- this offseason to make their team better after losing two of their most important players to Gotham. James actively isn't good, Woodham is a fine mid-tier wingback, and they never signed a striker. They're quite literally the least talented team in the league outside of Utah (and honestly it's close) which is crazyyy.