I was hoping for the Thorns to pick either Spaanstra or Hocking in that draft. (I didn't know anything about Reyes, who was the actual first pick for the Thorns.) Anyway, I'm happy to have Spaanstra and eager to see what she brings. Hopefully her youth team friendship with Smith will help her fit right in.
Kind of a hard luck story since Henderson’s “A+” from that draft. Stumbled into a KC dumpster fire between the Potter firing and the subsequent disastrous season. Then..? Chawinga. Tough living, soccer.
Well I've heard a litttttle bit of buzz and pretty sure it ain't Lindsey lol
(but also my toxic trait is that I'd absolutely take Horan back for a year. She's obviously not the same player she was, doesn't play a position of need, and she's said some dumb stuff, but she was my favorite Thorn ever and I wouldn't mind her playing out a year here before she totally falls off a cliff)
I've always been a fan of Lindsey Horan. I think playing for the Thorns burned her out a bit, having to play box-to-box attacking midfield and defending midfield for 90 minutes every game. She was 4th in goals at Lyon last season. She'd improve the Thorns if she came back next season, and wouldn't have to work as hard either.
Well what's the tea, then (or where can I find out about it)?...
I loved Horan when she was here, for sure. Also one of my favorite players to watch. Dunno what circumstances would have to occur where she'd only come here for a year, but sure, nice to have additional players in the midfield. Would I take her starting over Jessie? I dunno...prob not? Def not over Hina. Also not sure I wanna see her in the 10 so honestly I have no idea where I'd wanna see her, except on the bench as a Coffey or Fleming sub. If that and for cheap? Sure!
That is a very specific niche scenario I'm asking for though lol that I doubt think would have any chance of happening..
I may have done a little poking around with some folks I generally try not to bother just cause it's been so quiet, but we shall see :)
And yes there's virtually no scenario where Horan coming back would make sense, but it will bum me out to see whatever version of her turns up in SD in 12 months.
I think it was just something that Janine wanted because she was finding the distance from her partner on the east coast difficult, and she wanted a move that puts her closer. She's close with Carm Moscato, so she still has some Canadian connection there, and she's valuable for a young team who may need more leadership. But yeah, Turner has looked really good and I've been so confused why she hasn't played as much...
Lol, yeah wtf man...shipping away two young and very good prospects for two already known older players who have already hit their ceiling is...odd.
I'll take it! Turner has looked really good in her short minutes...
I wonder if this means they won't still be looking for a big name winger to partner with Soph/Weaver? We just signed 2 very young wingers...hope this doesn't mean they're done.
Yeah the CB pool will need to be recruited heavily. We need some serious hitters there (prob 2 big hits with one very clear experienced #1 to pair with Obaze)
Gotcha! Well, overall, that makes the trade even better. We get a shot at having a RW that doesn't kill every single play that comes her way and she gets to be closer to where she wants to be.
I didn’t really know Spaanstra, so I’m encouraged by the analysis here. I’d love to get a big name signing but maybe that waits until the offseason. Beckie and Fleming have yet to impress at the club level, despite their pedigree, but at least they have competition from Hina, Linnehan, and Moultrie. We still need to improve out center forward depth. We also need to improve at centerback. Becky should probably retire or no longer be a starter, but I’m not convinced any of the others are the best we can do for starters. I’m not confident in our defensive midfield depth behind Coffey either.
Also I like the Spaanstra deal. With Weaver, Spaanstra, Beckie and Linnehan. Soph will have some quick and dangerous running mates. Plus this will allow Izzy to play where she is most effective.
Smith posted a picture of the two of them as children on her instagram yesterday, so she appears to be excited.....and a happy Soph is always a win in my book lol
I would love to see us employ a high press on a regular basis as our forward group seems ideal to play this. Just need some speed on the backline in case the press is broken.
It's funny cause they do press pretty regularly (around 4th most in the league by ppda/high turnovers forced), but it doesn't tend to work quiteeee as well with Sinc instead of Weaver lol
Without knowing the full details - in a season where we are not going to win the Shield and might not even have a home playoff game, I would rather they have a holistic approach rather than go all in
She's not super tall, but watching her highlights, she's at least not afraid to use her head...and seems much more adept at it than Weaver, who prob has 6" on her!
Couple of the video clips showed her scoring with headers. Don’t know how representative they are for her as a means of scoring, but it looked like she knew what she was doing. We can hope!
There was a stretch where the Thorns' best aerial threat was Sonnett. Of course the problem with having a defender be your best with her head is they aren't a run-of-play threat. Who was our last real aerial threat...younger Sinc?
Looks like that there are no major aerial threats in the whole ass league. Balcer has 12 header goals over the last 3 seasons, but the next person down that list has 7. That's like 2 per season for the best in the league that aren't Balcer.
But more than what we can say for any of our current attackers, who are either allergic (Soph), or bad (Weaver) lol. D'Aquila...maybe. But she also can't even hit the broad side of a barn with her foot lol. Dias seems crazy enough to put her head onto anything, but still not saying much...
I mean you can find clips of most forwards scoring headers at some point in their career- Izzy's college tape is littered with them, Weaver put a number of em in at WSU, and even Linnehan scored a few at Penn State. Hell, Soph's first pro goal was an awesome header, but she's now pretty allergic, as you say lol.
Anyhoo, it's nice Spaanstra has 2-3 headers on her goal reel, but that ain't her game at all.
No, def not a *strength* lol, just nice to know she isn't actively afraid to use her head....even Weaver looks hesitant still (even while being actively bad lol.)
Is she naturally left-footed? Gotta say, would be super nice to have a left-footed winger who can play on both sides, because it's like having two players in one depending on what side they're on. I was the same way, but just with my right foot. On the right side I'd play more as a wide winger that would cross from the touch line, but on the left (my preferred side), I'd play more inverted and would cut in to shoot (or pass) on my right. She looks to have similar characteristics that I recognize...nice to have considering Weaver is very much only LW, and Beckie seems very much only RW. Linnehan seems to be able to do both, though I haven't figured out if she has a stronger side yet...
Happy to have her...watching her college highlights, she looks just naturally talented. When players can make goals/passes/runs look simple, I think it's a good sign. From Vlatko's words, it sounded like she wanted to go...
Nah she's a righty who prefers to play on the left, but seems pretty two-footed.
I'm happy with it! Cheap swing on a player with real pedigree at a position of need, still could see one more signing in the summer and if not, there's plenty of time to improve further in the offseason. My only worry is that Linnehan's minutes get cut instead of Dias', but we'll find out soon enough.
Nice. Yeah, guess I just saw that Gotham goal, and it just looked effortless with her left. It was an identical goal to those I'd score of the left wing, just with my right foot. That she can invert on the right side and score with her left is pretty impressive. It was quite hard for me to hit a similar goal on the right side with my left foot...though I was a bit more right-footed than I was left.
Just by virtue of being purely a winger, I imagine she'll be taking minutes from our wingers, Linnehan included. I doubt we see anymore time with Dias or D'Aquila on the wings...that seemed more out of necessity because our depth was nonexistent. I'm guessing both Spaanstra and Linnehan will be getting more minutes until Weaver is back fully healthy, and then all 3 (w/Beckie) will be competing for the RW spot and then the other 2 will be good backups for at least 30 mins each game. At least, that's for this season.
If Beckie is still planning on leaving and we acquire a top winger, it could be the start to a really good young attack. D'Aquila still seems odd gal out, but I also think she'll do better A) getting minutes in her position, and B) having better service from better wingers. She's gotta work on finishing though. Still wonder if it might do her well to get a loan this season at, say, USL Spokane, to build some more minutes...but is she our first backup 9? Second? Third? We may need her, but if they're gonna play Dias or Sinc ahead of her this season, then they should def send her on loan where she'll get close to 90 every week. Probably any USL team would be pumped to get a backup 9 from this league.
Watching some college vids of hers and she's definitely one of those players who played a lot in gloves lol. Must be a winger thing...I did often when I was younger as well haha.
The gloves, earwarmer headband, and short sleeves winger aesthetic in the cold practically guarantees elite performances. I'm predicting many goals in October.
Always how you could tell if your FB was about to go through it in youth/college days lol. I did the gloves and the rolled sleeves...which sounds counterintuitive, but I was very small and the jerseys were very *not* small lol so I often rolled (or even tied) them because they inhibited my runs.
Am only 15 min in and it's all UNC, UCLA barely touching the ball and Sentnor pretty much having her way.
ETA Rewatching not much different from seeing it in real time. Epic match between two supremely talented and well-managed teams, one coach in her first year and the other having coached since approximately the 19th century.
Turner looks like a player anybody would be lucky to have. She gets the equalizer on a powerful header (set piece) and nearly the game-winner on another, one reviewed and found lacking the final four millimeters across.
And then there's Avery Patterson who scored two dazzling headers for UNC, both at the upper end of the difficulty scale. A load for the Bruins all night, to the point of drawing intentional fouls just to stop. And what happened to her? Drafted 19th by [sigh] Houston.
Occurs to me coach can simply say, "Alexa, give us a goal" and send her in.
Alas, just as likely to result in "Hmmm... I couldn't find that" or "OK, you have a cold."
Spouse has knock-down arguments with Siri, who has recently taken to responding "That's not very nice."
One is amused.
I was hoping for the Thorns to pick either Spaanstra or Hocking in that draft. (I didn't know anything about Reyes, who was the actual first pick for the Thorns.) Anyway, I'm happy to have Spaanstra and eager to see what she brings. Hopefully her youth team friendship with Smith will help her fit right in.
Kind of a hard luck story since Henderson’s “A+” from that draft. Stumbled into a KC dumpster fire between the Potter firing and the subsequent disastrous season. Then..? Chawinga. Tough living, soccer.
Also, she's a great value for "I'd like to buy a vowel" if the Wheel of Fortune puzzle happens to be "Alexa Spaanstra."
Add a Staab and pretty soon you've got Finland.
How is Spaanstra's Finnishing?
https://x.com/Phuocerman/status/1825668444374929599
Phuocbomb
I feel special now! Thank you for that!
Love it. Let's hope it's another good move. My knee-jerk reaction with this FO is tension lol, so hoping to feel good about the next move.
(so long as this isn't Horan lol)
Well I've heard a litttttle bit of buzz and pretty sure it ain't Lindsey lol
(but also my toxic trait is that I'd absolutely take Horan back for a year. She's obviously not the same player she was, doesn't play a position of need, and she's said some dumb stuff, but she was my favorite Thorn ever and I wouldn't mind her playing out a year here before she totally falls off a cliff)
I've always been a fan of Lindsey Horan. I think playing for the Thorns burned her out a bit, having to play box-to-box attacking midfield and defending midfield for 90 minutes every game. She was 4th in goals at Lyon last season. She'd improve the Thorns if she came back next season, and wouldn't have to work as hard either.
Well what's the tea, then (or where can I find out about it)?...
I loved Horan when she was here, for sure. Also one of my favorite players to watch. Dunno what circumstances would have to occur where she'd only come here for a year, but sure, nice to have additional players in the midfield. Would I take her starting over Jessie? I dunno...prob not? Def not over Hina. Also not sure I wanna see her in the 10 so honestly I have no idea where I'd wanna see her, except on the bench as a Coffey or Fleming sub. If that and for cheap? Sure!
That is a very specific niche scenario I'm asking for though lol that I doubt think would have any chance of happening..
I may have done a little poking around with some folks I generally try not to bother just cause it's been so quiet, but we shall see :)
And yes there's virtually no scenario where Horan coming back would make sense, but it will bum me out to see whatever version of her turns up in SD in 12 months.
Do ya approve? Which position? Domestic or int'l? Depth or starter?
Will take any info you can give w/out asking for a name. :)
https://x.com/theolloydhughes/status/1826337361611145674
YOOOOOO this is very cool! Someone go hunt down my pre-draft comments cause she was my fave attacking prospect!
(wtf is wrong with Louisville man holy shit hahaha)
That is BIZARRE! Why on earth would Louisville have done that?!
Seems like a great addition for the Thorns- a young, tall, athletic, scoring threat who can actually be an aerial target!
Still, a little too good to be true unless there's something else going on behind the scenes, no?
I think it was just something that Janine wanted because she was finding the distance from her partner on the east coast difficult, and she wanted a move that puts her closer. She's close with Carm Moscato, so she still has some Canadian connection there, and she's valuable for a young team who may need more leadership. But yeah, Turner has looked really good and I've been so confused why she hasn't played as much...
Lol, yeah wtf man...shipping away two young and very good prospects for two already known older players who have already hit their ceiling is...odd.
I'll take it! Turner has looked really good in her short minutes...
I wonder if this means they won't still be looking for a big name winger to partner with Soph/Weaver? We just signed 2 very young wingers...hope this doesn't mean they're done.
love young obvious starter at CB. One injury away from being a serious weak link.
Yeah the CB pool will need to be recruited heavily. We need some serious hitters there (prob 2 big hits with one very clear experienced #1 to pair with Obaze)
I would guess they're done this summer, yes. I'd guess the offseason attacking plan depends on what they see out of Turner.
Woah! Did not see that coming.
https://www.squaddepth.com/sources-louisville-trades-reilyn-turner-for-janine-beckie-with-portland/
Didn't we acquire Beckie's rights from Loovull? (yes, we did)
Isn't there some reason why Beckie might want to be closer to the Southeast? I seem to remember reading that.
But yeah, that's a big change here in Southern BC.
My question is: Can Turner play alongside Smith and Weaver or is she the future if we lose Smith?
She was a very similar prospect to Weaver. Big, strong, fast. Kind of a wide-forward type. Has played mostly on the wing for Louisville.
No, her partner literally just opened up shop in Portland.
Her partner's business in in Miami, but I think they do various camps in multiple cities. This was def a move at her request...
Gotcha! Well, overall, that makes the trade even better. We get a shot at having a RW that doesn't kill every single play that comes her way and she gets to be closer to where she wants to be.
Indeed...Turner is a baller, too. Higher ceiling than Janine imo and has already scored 4 goals as a rookie in like 700 minutes. And she's 5'9"!
She's also scheduled to do a camp in Portland this upcoming weekend.
Sophia Smith to Alexa Spaanstra goal from U17 days:
https://youtu.be/Co-kdC97NrQ?si=mhVcW6IHMZU-lEcJ
I didn’t really know Spaanstra, so I’m encouraged by the analysis here. I’d love to get a big name signing but maybe that waits until the offseason. Beckie and Fleming have yet to impress at the club level, despite their pedigree, but at least they have competition from Hina, Linnehan, and Moultrie. We still need to improve out center forward depth. We also need to improve at centerback. Becky should probably retire or no longer be a starter, but I’m not convinced any of the others are the best we can do for starters. I’m not confident in our defensive midfield depth behind Coffey either.
OT Gotta love how quickly Lynn broke her gold medal.
https://x.com/WomensGameMIB/status/1822654914994036893?utm_source=the-womens-game.beehiiv.com&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=uswnt-back-to-world-1&_bhlid=5cee8fd0a397257fed0f188d22a26614d56af55c
Also I like the Spaanstra deal. With Weaver, Spaanstra, Beckie and Linnehan. Soph will have some quick and dangerous running mates. Plus this will allow Izzy to play where she is most effective.
Smith posted a picture of the two of them as children on her instagram yesterday, so she appears to be excited.....and a happy Soph is always a win in my book lol
I would love to see us employ a high press on a regular basis as our forward group seems ideal to play this. Just need some speed on the backline in case the press is broken.
It's funny cause they do press pretty regularly (around 4th most in the league by ppda/high turnovers forced), but it doesn't tend to work quiteeee as well with Sinc instead of Weaver lol
Right? It can't hurt and among those pieces, the "magic" communications and flow could emerge. Morgan and Soph have it; Soph and Mallory have it.
Now that it looks like the Thorns have plenty of youthful energy and talent in the attack, it is time for Sinclair to retire.
Does anybody know if she's a "Hitchhikers Guide" fan? Because the answer is 42.
Thanks for all the fish!
Without knowing the full details - in a season where we are not going to win the Shield and might not even have a home playoff game, I would rather they have a holistic approach rather than go all in
Looks like a good pickup. And what a treat to have some one on the front line who can score with headers.
Are headers a strength of hers? 'Cause she's listed at 5'5".
She's not super tall, but watching her highlights, she's at least not afraid to use her head...and seems much more adept at it than Weaver, who prob has 6" on her!
Couple of the video clips showed her scoring with headers. Don’t know how representative they are for her as a means of scoring, but it looked like she knew what she was doing. We can hope!
I'll take it since we literally have no one who is an aerial threat.
There was a stretch where the Thorns' best aerial threat was Sonnett. Of course the problem with having a defender be your best with her head is they aren't a run-of-play threat. Who was our last real aerial threat...younger Sinc?
Horan was pretty excellent as well.
Horan was amazing at getting free for headers on set pieces. She's still pretty good at that.
Looks like that there are no major aerial threats in the whole ass league. Balcer has 12 header goals over the last 3 seasons, but the next person down that list has 7. That's like 2 per season for the best in the league that aren't Balcer.
https://x.com/OptaJack/status/1825636771775893985
Yep, the UV reel shows her scoring with her noggin, "the lost skill."
Dribbles through traffic, passes when her lane closes, sensing she has field vision and can contribute in several ways.
Strength, absolutely not- She's a 5'5 winger. Can she score a wide open header? Yes.
But more than what we can say for any of our current attackers, who are either allergic (Soph), or bad (Weaver) lol. D'Aquila...maybe. But she also can't even hit the broad side of a barn with her foot lol. Dias seems crazy enough to put her head onto anything, but still not saying much...
I mean you can find clips of most forwards scoring headers at some point in their career- Izzy's college tape is littered with them, Weaver put a number of em in at WSU, and even Linnehan scored a few at Penn State. Hell, Soph's first pro goal was an awesome header, but she's now pretty allergic, as you say lol.
Anyhoo, it's nice Spaanstra has 2-3 headers on her goal reel, but that ain't her game at all.
Soph's header assist to Rodman in the Olympics was kind of awkward but got the job done.
I swear that was only the second time I've ever seen her use her head (the first being her first pro goal lol.)
No, def not a *strength* lol, just nice to know she isn't actively afraid to use her head....even Weaver looks hesitant still (even while being actively bad lol.)
Nice bit of skill here from her on this goal (although, very bad defense lol):
https://youtu.be/l5zinMHph58?si=zOKhnWBYCGcEsOm2
Here's the mirror image the week after against Gotham: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4q3VTR_d8_o
And this was last week, for the few of us who did not tune into the Current vs. Mamelodi Sundowns friendly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GO3RrQR2iRo
Is she naturally left-footed? Gotta say, would be super nice to have a left-footed winger who can play on both sides, because it's like having two players in one depending on what side they're on. I was the same way, but just with my right foot. On the right side I'd play more as a wide winger that would cross from the touch line, but on the left (my preferred side), I'd play more inverted and would cut in to shoot (or pass) on my right. She looks to have similar characteristics that I recognize...nice to have considering Weaver is very much only LW, and Beckie seems very much only RW. Linnehan seems to be able to do both, though I haven't figured out if she has a stronger side yet...
Happy to have her...watching her college highlights, she looks just naturally talented. When players can make goals/passes/runs look simple, I think it's a good sign. From Vlatko's words, it sounded like she wanted to go...
Nah she's a righty who prefers to play on the left, but seems pretty two-footed.
I'm happy with it! Cheap swing on a player with real pedigree at a position of need, still could see one more signing in the summer and if not, there's plenty of time to improve further in the offseason. My only worry is that Linnehan's minutes get cut instead of Dias', but we'll find out soon enough.
Nice. Yeah, guess I just saw that Gotham goal, and it just looked effortless with her left. It was an identical goal to those I'd score of the left wing, just with my right foot. That she can invert on the right side and score with her left is pretty impressive. It was quite hard for me to hit a similar goal on the right side with my left foot...though I was a bit more right-footed than I was left.
Just by virtue of being purely a winger, I imagine she'll be taking minutes from our wingers, Linnehan included. I doubt we see anymore time with Dias or D'Aquila on the wings...that seemed more out of necessity because our depth was nonexistent. I'm guessing both Spaanstra and Linnehan will be getting more minutes until Weaver is back fully healthy, and then all 3 (w/Beckie) will be competing for the RW spot and then the other 2 will be good backups for at least 30 mins each game. At least, that's for this season.
If Beckie is still planning on leaving and we acquire a top winger, it could be the start to a really good young attack. D'Aquila still seems odd gal out, but I also think she'll do better A) getting minutes in her position, and B) having better service from better wingers. She's gotta work on finishing though. Still wonder if it might do her well to get a loan this season at, say, USL Spokane, to build some more minutes...but is she our first backup 9? Second? Third? We may need her, but if they're gonna play Dias or Sinc ahead of her this season, then they should def send her on loan where she'll get close to 90 every week. Probably any USL team would be pumped to get a backup 9 from this league.
But wait! Don’t we need another keeper? 🥸
How does she look in gloves?
you must be kidding.
(shows self out)
🤣
Watching some college vids of hers and she's definitely one of those players who played a lot in gloves lol. Must be a winger thing...I did often when I was younger as well haha.
The gloves, earwarmer headband, and short sleeves winger aesthetic in the cold practically guarantees elite performances. I'm predicting many goals in October.
Always how you could tell if your FB was about to go through it in youth/college days lol. I did the gloves and the rolled sleeves...which sounds counterintuitive, but I was very small and the jerseys were very *not* small lol so I often rolled (or even tied) them because they inhibited my runs.
Anyone with college ball knowledge remember what Turner played at UCLA?
She's played more wide for Lou, but was just wondering if she's always been that, or if she played a 9 in college....
I'm watching the '22 Cup final and they have her in the middle of a front 3, or dropping to a 5 mid with just her on top.
https://youtu.be/mCl0W_Skj8s?si=o2x1A-Vpz0E7rJAD
Am only 15 min in and it's all UNC, UCLA barely touching the ball and Sentnor pretty much having her way.
ETA Rewatching not much different from seeing it in real time. Epic match between two supremely talented and well-managed teams, one coach in her first year and the other having coached since approximately the 19th century.
Turner looks like a player anybody would be lucky to have. She gets the equalizer on a powerful header (set piece) and nearly the game-winner on another, one reviewed and found lacking the final four millimeters across.
And then there's Avery Patterson who scored two dazzling headers for UNC, both at the upper end of the difficulty scale. A load for the Bruins all night, to the point of drawing intentional fouls just to stop. And what happened to her? Drafted 19th by [sigh] Houston.
Ikeda leaving the Nadeshiko... Good thing we did a global search and hired Rob Gale.
https://x.com/jfa_nadeshiko/status/1826154790973485401
have to be honest here - I don't think Ikeda has been very good given the talent at his disposal.
I also don’t think he speaks a word of English does he? Or am I thinking of someone else lol
I don't speak a word of Japanese, so I can't ask him.
Easy: Yoo-hoo, gaijin here. Konnichiwa, coach-person!