The only thing worse than taking forever to make a VAR call is taking forever to make a VAR call and getting it wrong. There was no conclusive evidence that ball touched Smith, but the primary camera view from behind the goal showed that the ball's direction and spin did NOT change. I have no issue with pulling one back for handball - them's the rules. But there has to be indisputable evidence that the arm was struck - and there was none.
In our house, we have come to the conclusion that the VAR process has become perverted into a search for minutiae instead of a method for preventing obvious errors. There needs to be a refresher for the VAR's on the "clear and obvious" part of the rule. Having a time limit, perhaps 30 seconds, would help. Not sure after 30 seconds? It must not have been obvious. Suspicious about offside but don't have time to look at all the angles? Have the center ref take a look. Someday, maybe an AI app will draw those lines in a heartbeat.
At least this time it didn't cost points (although who know what that goal difference may mean in October?)
Sinc is acting as the equivalent of a playmaking center in hockey, kinda like what Steve Nash did in hoops. It's working for Smith, and it appears to be working for Sinc and Fleming given their long partnership (what, 120+ matches?). The one for whom I'm not sure it's working is Weaver (and, of course, Moultrie). I don't know how it would go to move Beckie into Sinclair's spot, or to move Smith centrally again and put Beckie out wide. But I will say this... this is the best run of form I've seen from Beckie, and I'm not sure whether it's connected to the role she's playing. My hunch is yes.
I think Weaver’s struggles are more based on a lack of integration with Reyes who isn’t nearly the distributor Kling is, but is the better overall player by a pretty wide margin.
I do think moving more of the distribution to the midfielders instead of the fullbacks will help there. Coffey and Fleming both have good long balls which can open up Weavet in space even if Reyes doesn’t have that skill set in her toolbox
The thing with Weaver is that (from what I can tell) she still has a high work rate. We aren't seeing the goals or the offensive chaos she has brought in the past, but I'm with you on the switch of Kling to Reyes. I think the last two matches are showing that the midfield is starting to play much better, and if teams start to focus on Smith as the scoring threat Weaver should get the opportunities. Lets hope she starts to produce, because we are going to need her.
One of our losses (so many to choose from) had momentary excitement when brunette with ponytail smartly dispossessed somebody in our back third. Who? Had to track the little Lego figure back upfield for awhile to learn it had been Morgan.
I do think the ball hit Smith's forarm, but I also felt she had her arms tucked into her body. She wasn't making her body bigger, nor did she really impact the play. I think the VAR reversal was a bad call. I do think they missed the call against Reyes, so perhaps it ends up as a wash.
That's the weird thing about the rule- if you see it hit her arm then the goal is no good period. Body positioning is irrelevant, not does it have to be handled on the actual shot. Imagine she has her back to the play, the ball grazes her elbow, and two passes later we score - no goal. It's a harsh rule, but FIFA don't want another Hand of God. Of course, we are really debating if VAR saw actual evidence of contact - that's a different issue.
Yes, that's exactly it. If the ball touched Smith's arm then no goal. One of the camera angles showed what looked to me like definite contact, so I think it was the right call. Which is too bad, since it was quite a strike by Beckie. I'm happy it didn't matter in the end. (Well, unless we tie for the Shield on points and lose it on a goal difference of 1! But KC is looking very much like the Shield will be a non-issue for the Thorns.)
Sigh, I'm back to not understanding the handball rule. I thought that if you had your arms tucked into the body it wasn't a handball. Intent doesn't matter, but positioning did. But perhaps they changed the rule (again) just to keep me off balance.
Naw - you are correct for a regular handball call on a DEFENDER. One that could be a penalty if in the box, or otherwise a free kick. It could also apply to an ATTACKER if it was deliberate. There was one last week where the attacker used her hand to keep the ball from going into touch. This can be a yellow or red card if really blatant.
Beckie's case is an extension of the rule that applies specifically to the BUILDUP to a goal when there is ball-hand contact by the ATTACKING team. There is no foul or penalty involved. Any contact wipes out the goal regardless of intent or positioning.
This is wondrous: Obaze looks like she's getting better every match. She's better at stopping attacks, more comfortable, just more and more solid. I hope it keeps up because we'll have struck gold.
No, they're not *back* back, but they certainly appear to be back to competency. Some credit to Gale for that, though I hope any hot streak they may or may not go on doesn't fool the org into thinking that he's the dude. That said, the shape is undeniably better with Hina regista-ing, all three midfielders look like they're playing with real confidence, and Obaze is a definite upgrade on Hubly. Not perfect, but that was probably the cleanest win since Seattle at home last fall. Chicago's been really good this season, and the Thorns never let them fall into their shape.
And ultimately, when you have this version of Sophia Smith......competence is gonna be enough more often that not.
The memes that have been created already are amazing lol. I love them all.
The Spirit are gonna be a real good test for our backline as well. BFC have looked pretty rough, and if Oshoala is out (she looked in pain when she came off) that would certainly benefit us. I know Kundananji is dangerous, but I don't think she's been getting the service needed to be as dangerous as she could be. I also don't think Castellanos has been that great! I'm not yet overconfident with the Thorns though, because there is still some shaky points for us. But at least it has looked better each game.
Hey, the Thorns have quietly scored more goals than any team except KC. Of course it would be be better if they'd allowed fewer goals, but at least they're into positive goal differential territory now.
We've also quietly moved up to 7th place, a playoff position. Well I'm not sure it's all that quiet, given that everyone and their sister will see Smith's goals on socials.
Another NWSL season, another Thorns victory over Chicago. That makes 15 of them, versus 2 for Chicago, along with 10 draws. I don't know why we do so well against them, but there it is. Well, for a number of years we were clearly a better team, but they've been good too, what with Sam Kerr and Mallory Swanson and all. You'd think that by chance there would be a few more wins on their side of the ledger by now, but we've just been Chicago's kryptonite. Keep it up, Thorns!
Chicago's "D Short, D Johnston" = maiden names of Casey Krueger and Julie Ertz, yes? You're right about loaded rosters! No less than ELEVEN of the fourteen Thorns who played that game have been called up by their national teams, and Chicago had a whole lot of national-team players too.
Another thing: I'm psyched we finally got a shutout. Yes it involved luck, what with balls hitting our woodwork at least three times, but luck is part of every game and it's gone against us in other games. Our defense has been improving for at least a couple of games, and it's nice to have acknowledgement of that in the form of a clean sheet. It should be good for Hogan's confidence too, especially since she made a couple of good saves to help it happen.
But it wasn't just Hogan. We shut down Swanson so well that after I started watching the game, a few minutes after kickoff so I missed the lineups, I thought for 15-20 minutes (!) that Swanson must have picked up a knock and was missing the game. They finally showed a closeup of her and it became clear that she had NOTHING going this game. It was a good example of the saying "The sign of a good defense is that the opposing attack 'has a bad day' ".
Well, they're playing better than they did over most of the first 4 matches, but that wouldn't be hard to do. What I see is a lot more activity and connection between the players, no matter who is out there, but that's also come against one really weak opponent and another that looked pretty weak today. And, it's still Sophia filling the nets for us. We're now 6 matches in and Weaver and Fleming are not yet looking like what we should expect from them. We won't know much more about this group until it starts playing against quality opponents again. When we did, we lost -- KC, NC, and Gotham (who are definitely better than their start of the season indicates).
Fleming seems not to have integrated well yet...not really on the same page in the attack. Given what she _can_ do, I'm still reasonably confident that will improve. I think her understanding with Hina, particularly in defense, is already pretty good.
Weaver has always been a bit of a "peaks and valleys" player, and she's in a bit of a valley in terms of offensive play so far this season. But her high work rate on both sides of the ball remains. Saw a lot of her on the right today...reserving judgement on that. As coaches make mid-season adjustments to try and deal with Soph (yeah, good luck with that...), Morgan's going to have to be ready to step it up as is Hina, who in particular has the speed of thought to recognize when and _where_ Soph is pulling the defense apart and act quickly enough to take advantage.
With all the scoring she's doing, it's tempting to want Beckie in the starting 11...but then again, the strategy of having her come on at 60-70 and handing tired defenders a huge problem seems to be working. Ain't broke, don't fix...and all that.
What needed to be better early against better teams was the defensive understanding and execution. So far, so good on the progress there, but I think there's work still to be done. But some of that work is largely a matter of having this new back four play more minutes together. I like what I'm seeing so far.
The P+ website doesn't show tonight's game; the next live NWSL game they have on the schedule is Dash vs Current on Sunday. The next Thorns game they show isn't until June 16. On the CBSSN website I tried clicking on the "Sign in with P+" link but soon got turned down. Hopefully NWSL+ will have a replay of tonight's game after a couple of days.
(Also, any guesses on the goal difference in Dash vs. Current? It being an away game for KC could limit the damage to, say, just 4 goals.)
Speaking of Bay FC, Emily Menges did not have a good game last time out. First she got spun by Makenzy Doniak for SD's first goal, then Jaedyn Shaw beat her to the ball for their second. Ouch.
I hope we score a lot against Bay FC but not against Menges.
Pondered taking Runner Girl to the San Jose Airport to watch Bay-Thorns, but instead she's got a school awards dinner so it's the other side of the Bay for us, instead. Pity, even if the drive home would have been murder.
Next year I guess, since I don't foresee them meeting in the playoffs.
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.
Well damn, I thought Louisville was gonna complete the smash-and-grab in NJ with 5 mins left in overtime, but instead they Louisville'd and allowed one back like 30 seconds later for the draw. Lavelle will be a problem on that team if she can stay healthy....
Generally I’d agree, but Gotham is a much better team with a much higher ceiling so whenever a mid-table over-performing team takes points from a better one, I think it’s actually better in the long term. Also I just like seeing Gotham lose because of how arrogant everyone around that team is…but yes generally we need draws right now to rise in the standings.
The only thing worse than taking forever to make a VAR call is taking forever to make a VAR call and getting it wrong. There was no conclusive evidence that ball touched Smith, but the primary camera view from behind the goal showed that the ball's direction and spin did NOT change. I have no issue with pulling one back for handball - them's the rules. But there has to be indisputable evidence that the arm was struck - and there was none.
In our house, we have come to the conclusion that the VAR process has become perverted into a search for minutiae instead of a method for preventing obvious errors. There needs to be a refresher for the VAR's on the "clear and obvious" part of the rule. Having a time limit, perhaps 30 seconds, would help. Not sure after 30 seconds? It must not have been obvious. Suspicious about offside but don't have time to look at all the angles? Have the center ref take a look. Someday, maybe an AI app will draw those lines in a heartbeat.
At least this time it didn't cost points (although who know what that goal difference may mean in October?)
I thought Chicago had a legitimate shot at earning a penalty on Reyes' defensive hand ball in the box that he let go after VAR checked it.
I think that's what makes this VAR decision so bad regarding Beckie's disallowed goal.
I was dead sure that Reyes was going to get called for a handball and penalty on that play. I still don't know why we got away with it.
Agree on all points.
It seemed more than anything a homer call, reversing what was a fatal strike against Red Stars and done so under the most dubious of cases.
Rotation not affected; path not affected. Yes, Soph was RIGHT THERE so she must have done something, yeah? Baloney.
It does not take away the fact we have seen several times now: Beckie is a deadly striker--quick, decisive, accurate. Maybe start her?
Sinc is acting as the equivalent of a playmaking center in hockey, kinda like what Steve Nash did in hoops. It's working for Smith, and it appears to be working for Sinc and Fleming given their long partnership (what, 120+ matches?). The one for whom I'm not sure it's working is Weaver (and, of course, Moultrie). I don't know how it would go to move Beckie into Sinclair's spot, or to move Smith centrally again and put Beckie out wide. But I will say this... this is the best run of form I've seen from Beckie, and I'm not sure whether it's connected to the role she's playing. My hunch is yes.
I think Weaver’s struggles are more based on a lack of integration with Reyes who isn’t nearly the distributor Kling is, but is the better overall player by a pretty wide margin.
I do think moving more of the distribution to the midfielders instead of the fullbacks will help there. Coffey and Fleming both have good long balls which can open up Weavet in space even if Reyes doesn’t have that skill set in her toolbox
The thing with Weaver is that (from what I can tell) she still has a high work rate. We aren't seeing the goals or the offensive chaos she has brought in the past, but I'm with you on the switch of Kling to Reyes. I think the last two matches are showing that the midfield is starting to play much better, and if teams start to focus on Smith as the scoring threat Weaver should get the opportunities. Lets hope she starts to produce, because we are going to need her.
One of our losses (so many to choose from) had momentary excitement when brunette with ponytail smartly dispossessed somebody in our back third. Who? Had to track the little Lego figure back upfield for awhile to learn it had been Morgan.
Doing a lot of work out there, indeed.
I think that's true too. We're blessed with young, fast, aggressive fullbacks, and our mids are adept at distributing.
I do think the ball hit Smith's forarm, but I also felt she had her arms tucked into her body. She wasn't making her body bigger, nor did she really impact the play. I think the VAR reversal was a bad call. I do think they missed the call against Reyes, so perhaps it ends up as a wash.
That's the weird thing about the rule- if you see it hit her arm then the goal is no good period. Body positioning is irrelevant, not does it have to be handled on the actual shot. Imagine she has her back to the play, the ball grazes her elbow, and two passes later we score - no goal. It's a harsh rule, but FIFA don't want another Hand of God. Of course, we are really debating if VAR saw actual evidence of contact - that's a different issue.
Yes, that's exactly it. If the ball touched Smith's arm then no goal. One of the camera angles showed what looked to me like definite contact, so I think it was the right call. Which is too bad, since it was quite a strike by Beckie. I'm happy it didn't matter in the end. (Well, unless we tie for the Shield on points and lose it on a goal difference of 1! But KC is looking very much like the Shield will be a non-issue for the Thorns.)
Sigh, I'm back to not understanding the handball rule. I thought that if you had your arms tucked into the body it wasn't a handball. Intent doesn't matter, but positioning did. But perhaps they changed the rule (again) just to keep me off balance.
Naw - you are correct for a regular handball call on a DEFENDER. One that could be a penalty if in the box, or otherwise a free kick. It could also apply to an ATTACKER if it was deliberate. There was one last week where the attacker used her hand to keep the ball from going into touch. This can be a yellow or red card if really blatant.
Beckie's case is an extension of the rule that applies specifically to the BUILDUP to a goal when there is ball-hand contact by the ATTACKING team. There is no foul or penalty involved. Any contact wipes out the goal regardless of intent or positioning.
Thanks for the clarification. That is a clear explanation, and one I needed.
This is wondrous: Obaze looks like she's getting better every match. She's better at stopping attacks, more comfortable, just more and more solid. I hope it keeps up because we'll have struck gold.
No, they're not *back* back, but they certainly appear to be back to competency. Some credit to Gale for that, though I hope any hot streak they may or may not go on doesn't fool the org into thinking that he's the dude. That said, the shape is undeniably better with Hina regista-ing, all three midfielders look like they're playing with real confidence, and Obaze is a definite upgrade on Hubly. Not perfect, but that was probably the cleanest win since Seattle at home last fall. Chicago's been really good this season, and the Thorns never let them fall into their shape.
And ultimately, when you have this version of Sophia Smith......competence is gonna be enough more often that not.
Also: LMAO https://x.com/IONNWSL/status/1784400960799818167. I'll be spamming the "sorry that was so disrespectful" gif every time she scores, so sorry in advance.
I would be over the moon if the crowd started yelling "Sorry! That was so disrespectful!" every time Soph scores.
I don't sit in the North end, but I will absolutely make a design for a sign of that screenshot and quote for someone to print lol
Can you get Smith's picture on it? Not sure how hard that is to make into a sign.
The memes that have been created already are amazing lol. I love them all.
The Spirit are gonna be a real good test for our backline as well. BFC have looked pretty rough, and if Oshoala is out (she looked in pain when she came off) that would certainly benefit us. I know Kundananji is dangerous, but I don't think she's been getting the service needed to be as dangerous as she could be. I also don't think Castellanos has been that great! I'm not yet overconfident with the Thorns though, because there is still some shaky points for us. But at least it has looked better each game.
One of the things that struck me was the interaction between Smith’s and Coffey’s families after the championship run.
I loved that she wanted to be part of the team picture and the fact that she apologized afterward.
Hey, the Thorns have quietly scored more goals than any team except KC. Of course it would be be better if they'd allowed fewer goals, but at least they're into positive goal differential territory now.
We've also quietly moved up to 7th place, a playoff position. Well I'm not sure it's all that quiet, given that everyone and their sister will see Smith's goals on socials.
I think we're now down under 2 GA per match.
Another NWSL season, another Thorns victory over Chicago. That makes 15 of them, versus 2 for Chicago, along with 10 draws. I don't know why we do so well against them, but there it is. Well, for a number of years we were clearly a better team, but they've been good too, what with Sam Kerr and Mallory Swanson and all. You'd think that by chance there would be a few more wins on their side of the ledger by now, but we've just been Chicago's kryptonite. Keep it up, Thorns!
Our first Thorns match was home vs. Chicago, a 2-0 win after a 1-1 tie away, earlier in the year (2016). The rosters were both LOADED.
POR: GK Betos, D Reynolds, D Sonnett, D Menges, D Klingenberg, M Henry (Brynjarsdottir, 70), M Horan, M Long, M Heath, F Nadim (Weber, 79), F Sinclair © (Raso, 85)
CHI: GK Naeher, D Short (Naughton, 81), D Johnston, D Johnson, D Gilliland, M DiBernardo, M Colaprico, M Mautz (Hoy, 71), M Da Costa (Comeau, 62), F Press ©, F Huerta
Whatever the kryptonite, keep it in the toolkit.
Chicago's "D Short, D Johnston" = maiden names of Casey Krueger and Julie Ertz, yes? You're right about loaded rosters! No less than ELEVEN of the fourteen Thorns who played that game have been called up by their national teams, and Chicago had a whole lot of national-team players too.
Right you are. Found a match shot with both, plus bonus Allie Long.
https://live.staticflickr.com/7319/28016122966_4e2c2ea2eb_k.jpg
We were hooked on Thorns, NWSL, Providence, the whole thing after just this one match.
Another thing: I'm psyched we finally got a shutout. Yes it involved luck, what with balls hitting our woodwork at least three times, but luck is part of every game and it's gone against us in other games. Our defense has been improving for at least a couple of games, and it's nice to have acknowledgement of that in the form of a clean sheet. It should be good for Hogan's confidence too, especially since she made a couple of good saves to help it happen.
But it wasn't just Hogan. We shut down Swanson so well that after I started watching the game, a few minutes after kickoff so I missed the lineups, I thought for 15-20 minutes (!) that Swanson must have picked up a knock and was missing the game. They finally showed a closeup of her and it became clear that she had NOTHING going this game. It was a good example of the saying "The sign of a good defense is that the opposing attack 'has a bad day' ".
The Thorns play Bay City Wednesday, May 1 away at PayPal Park, not Providence Park.
Please tell me their supporters are called the Rollers!
If Gotham beats Loovull today we remain tied with them @ 7 points? Two weeks ago I'd have laughed at the thought.
Gotham's collapse reminds me of Spirit the year after they won the league. Dreadful.
Correction - next game is AWAY @ Bay FC, May 1.
Well, they're playing better than they did over most of the first 4 matches, but that wouldn't be hard to do. What I see is a lot more activity and connection between the players, no matter who is out there, but that's also come against one really weak opponent and another that looked pretty weak today. And, it's still Sophia filling the nets for us. We're now 6 matches in and Weaver and Fleming are not yet looking like what we should expect from them. We won't know much more about this group until it starts playing against quality opponents again. When we did, we lost -- KC, NC, and Gotham (who are definitely better than their start of the season indicates).
Fleming seems not to have integrated well yet...not really on the same page in the attack. Given what she _can_ do, I'm still reasonably confident that will improve. I think her understanding with Hina, particularly in defense, is already pretty good.
Weaver has always been a bit of a "peaks and valleys" player, and she's in a bit of a valley in terms of offensive play so far this season. But her high work rate on both sides of the ball remains. Saw a lot of her on the right today...reserving judgement on that. As coaches make mid-season adjustments to try and deal with Soph (yeah, good luck with that...), Morgan's going to have to be ready to step it up as is Hina, who in particular has the speed of thought to recognize when and _where_ Soph is pulling the defense apart and act quickly enough to take advantage.
With all the scoring she's doing, it's tempting to want Beckie in the starting 11...but then again, the strategy of having her come on at 60-70 and handing tired defenders a huge problem seems to be working. Ain't broke, don't fix...and all that.
What needed to be better early against better teams was the defensive understanding and execution. So far, so good on the progress there, but I think there's work still to be done. But some of that work is largely a matter of having this new back four play more minutes together. I like what I'm seeing so far.
Agreed. That's where I'm landing on Beckie right now too. She's able to use up all of her speed in that concentrated window, and it's working.
So, is tonight's match really only on CBSSN -- Streaming Media's answer to the Witness Protection Program?
Am I crazy to think it will be on Paramount+?
If you go here: https://www.cbssports.com/watch/nwsl and click on the Thorns game, you get this:
https://www.cbssports.com/watch/nwsl/LET-189693055
Sorta sounds like it's viewable via P+, but they don't want anybody to know that.
I tried this and it looks like it may work. Thanks for doing the legwork.
Fingers crossed.
The P+ website doesn't show tonight's game; the next live NWSL game they have on the schedule is Dash vs Current on Sunday. The next Thorns game they show isn't until June 16. On the CBSSN website I tried clicking on the "Sign in with P+" link but soon got turned down. Hopefully NWSL+ will have a replay of tonight's game after a couple of days.
(Also, any guesses on the goal difference in Dash vs. Current? It being an away game for KC could limit the damage to, say, just 4 goals.)
Speaking of Bay FC, Emily Menges did not have a good game last time out. First she got spun by Makenzy Doniak for SD's first goal, then Jaedyn Shaw beat her to the ball for their second. Ouch.
I hope we score a lot against Bay FC but not against Menges.
Pondered taking Runner Girl to the San Jose Airport to watch Bay-Thorns, but instead she's got a school awards dinner so it's the other side of the Bay for us, instead. Pity, even if the drive home would have been murder.
Next year I guess, since I don't foresee them meeting in the playoffs.
We gotta get Runner Girl and you up here at some point. Trip probably shorter than driving to SJ and back.
Some days they're probably on par.
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.
Well damn, I thought Louisville was gonna complete the smash-and-grab in NJ with 5 mins left in overtime, but instead they Louisville'd and allowed one back like 30 seconds later for the draw. Lavelle will be a problem on that team if she can stay healthy....
Erasing Ludicrous!
As much as I'm rooting against Gotham, draws are very good for the Thorns rn
Generally I’d agree, but Gotham is a much better team with a much higher ceiling so whenever a mid-table over-performing team takes points from a better one, I think it’s actually better in the long term. Also I just like seeing Gotham lose because of how arrogant everyone around that team is…but yes generally we need draws right now to rise in the standings.
We need to remember also that Gotham has a game in hand because of the Challenge Cup. (As does SDW.)
a huge if and I am going with not likely. be surprised if she is healthy above 50 percent of season
With a win we could jump into a tie for 5th with Chicago, who are pretty clearly on their way down.
Gonna be a tough one with Washington Saturday night.