Portland got a win against NC Courage at Providence Park. No. 1 and 2 battled for 90 minutes with the home team being down a woman from minute 16 on Sunday night.
I thought Norris got it right in his postgame presser; every player stepped up her game and played her heart out. Whatever you think of Norris's tactics (and I thought he got them right in this game) this team's culture proved itself robust and cohesive. I'm suddenly feeling more confident about the remainder of the season (and the playoffs). I know, NC wasn't even close to its best self, but this game will provide a boost that will help a lot in the tough stretch ahead. The Thorns have always thrived on adversity, and this group seems to be no exception.
Nally. Only partly kidding. She had a tough job to do, coming in cold to help keep the Courgettes scoreless over the next 75 minutes.
Bixby, quite possibly. She had the kinds of saves last night I've been waiting to see from her. She came out decisively and got down quickly.
The midfield, of course.
Betfort and Weaver too. Betfort for the moment of brilliance, Weaver for playing the entire field all match long, and electrifying with her connection with Soph.
Even Kling and Kuikka. Better from both of them than we've been seeing for a while.
The whole midfield? It's like a parent picking a favorite child (parents really do have a favorite, they just can't say}. I just thought they did wonderfully. Liv is up for league POTW honors so go with the teenager.
I still want to know how many kilometers Sam covers every match. She's Roy Kent-everywhere.
Betfort, if only because her play up front, including the goal, have to happen to put us in the position to eventually win it. She was pressing hard, holding up balls well, and then has a moment of sheer brilliance on the goal.
Sam Coffey was the player of the match for me. But you can argue there wasn't a single player of the match, as everyone stepped up when Hubly was sent off. Moultre, Nalley, Menges, Betfort, Weaver and Smith all have claims to the PotM. It was a great effort by everyone!
The only moment at which I can say "I saw it coming" was when Smith subbed on, but that's only because of how the Thorns were playing and I knew Smith would be determined to get a goal. But it was just as likely that that wouldn't happen, or that they wouldn't be able to hold the lead if they got it.
What I sure as hell did NOT see happening was Betfort's gorgeous goal off Moultrie's equally gorgeous pass which brought them to level in the 41st, after all the crazy stuff that happened 25 minutes earlier.
Soph really wanted that second one. If she'd been a little less committed to getting a second goal, I think we would have scored at least another one because there were plenty of opportunities where a pass would have been a smarter choice.
I totally agree on this. I have seen Smith working to find teammates more this year, and while the results aren't really there (too often the pass hits a defensive player) she seems to be trying to make it happen. I believe its going to come, but its got to be a change for a player whose likely has been the best option where ever she has played.
Up 2-1 last night and Soph tried to thread a pass in the box to someone coming down the right...can't remember who, and it hit a defenders leg. If it slips through, we were in on goal and probably up 3-1. In the past, I'm not sure she even tries that ball. She is figuring it out right in front of us. She's gonna be the best player in the world in a year or two, I have no doubt.
It was Moultrie who was going to be able to dribble into the empty net if that pass found her. And it was close - like a couple inches. Who is the best player in the world now, in your opinion, if not Smith?
Last season does she make that pass to Weaver or try and thread it in herself? I think the second. And Weaver, left-footing it back to Soph perfectly. Murphy was frozen.
Well, she has five assists on the season (tied for second in the NWSL, after Coffey with six) so I think it's already coming. She said after the game that she hadn't been scoring so she was hungry for goals. Hopefully she will quickly settle back into the scoring *and* assisting machine that she was earlier in the season.
Yeah I think the issue is less her willingness to pass, and more that she’s just not a very good passer technically at the moment. I want someone of her ability to have a little bit of tunnel vision, but I would like to see her technique improve when she does make the pass....particularly on through balls.
I’ve now seen the highlights of the Thorns’ match. Correct call on the red card. Definitely a DOGSO after some really sloppy play. Ironically, if the penalty had stood there couldn’t have been a red card. Betford looks dialed in and ready to be a real contributor but what an assist by young Moultrie. Just brilliant. Wonderful two on two playing by both Smith and Weaver. All I could think about when I saw Smith tap that in was that she could have been doing that for the national team at the World Cup if Andonovski hadn’t marooned her on the left touchline. It was a superb win for the Thorns.
Now that was an entertaining game of football! Watching Hubly make a dumb mistake, dig the hole deeper, then deeper still - I thought "here we go again". But what determination. The team never hung their heads and they never really appeared to be short-handed.
Norris made the correct substitution and Nally did well. In fact, his subs were timely throughout. My WOTM was Moultrie - a total Energizer bunny and doing good, positive work all night long. Coffey was a close second - if her laser had only found the side netting we could have coasted home.
I am not sure why it took the VAR three minutes and an on-field review to determine that Lussi's shot went in. I am not even clear why the AR didn't call it live - I was shocked it wasn't given and asked my seatmate if I'd missed a foul call. So the referee crew had some issues, but they got it right in the end each time and I felt like the run-of-play reffing was good. There was never a doubt that Hubly earned her early departure.
I'm not sure what to think of North Carolina. They were missing some key pieces and if the Courage have a real weakness it's their lack of depth across the board. But still, they could have bunkered to ride Lussi's free kick to a win. It seemed to me that the idea never crossed their mind. They smelled blood and probably wanted to win 5-0. So they pushed high and got punished. Even at 1-1, you'd think they might have tried to go home with a point. Of course, I am happy they didn't. People have talked about Nehas as a potential USWNT candidate, but his apparent lack of pragmatism might suggest not.
Missing a critical player (Kerolin) is huge, but I just didn't see the team that played so well when the international players were gone. It is really telling that the Thorns went down a player and managed to outplay the opposition. You can tell the confidence is high because we did it without relying on our best players. Smith only gets 20+ minutes, no Dunn or Sugita.
If this is NCC, then we should see them drop over the next few games because they just weren't very good.
Re: NCC- I’d be raging if my team bunkered up a woman, even up a goal on the road, and especially with the Thorns backline. I don’t think that’s lack of pragmatism because it’s actually *more* pragmatic to look press home your advantage rather than to sit and let the team with 10 gain confidence. It is, however, poor execution.
Watching the replay, I think the Thorns just straight up outplayed them before and after the red. Rocky and Coffey held shape really well, and, ya know, we had Smith to bring on and they didn’t have Kerolin. A Boade/Ratcliffe/Pickett/Lussi frontline isn’t exactly one with a ton of ability to break down a defense. Wingate certainly caused issues when she came on and should have scored.
"A Boade/Ratcliffe/Pickett/Lussi frontline isn’t exactly one with a ton of ability to break down a defense."
You sorta make my point about pragmatism. "Bunker" was a bad choice of words by me. If you can't realistically expect your team to be good in the attack, then play defense and counterattack when you get the chance. I wouldn't be raging if the Thorns rode out a 1-0 road win during the Challenge Cup, when we were the weaker team.
I am not saying they would have won. Smith might have come in and torn them apart anyway. But realistically it seemed like their best shot for a result.
For the most part, other NWSL results this weekend went our way. Reign lost, the Spirit had a draw (late - they almost lost but Ashley Sanchez worked some magic), and Gotham lost. The latter meant that the Wave won, but they're farther back so overall it was a good result for us.
This Lussi moment I remember well - "The National Women's Soccer League has suspended Portland Thorns forward Tyler Lussi for three games and fined the 22-year-old an undisclosed amount for violent conduct in last Saturday's game against the Chicago Red Stars."
Did it right in front of Sinclair and Ertz too! That's pretty nervy for a rookie. Didn't even get booked during the match. It was only because of DISCO review that she got the big suspension.
That's exactly how I felt when she WAS a Thorn. "This could be really great!" (www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Kfu-yQfXag&t=200s) or else "Wow she runs a lot for not much end product."
In any case, the effort she put into her games was never in doubt. So I still like watching her.
Alas, as I was not in the stands choking alongside y'all my most exciting match ending ever seen live remains Lussi's wondergoal against Orlando.
Given last night's outcome I do not begrudge Tyler's success after being shunted around and last year, even assigned to play defense. She's a darn good baller.
In the 2017 draft the Thorns picked Rachel Hill in the second round and Tyler Lussi in the third round and traded Hill to I think Orlando for the rights to select Savannah Jordan. She was supposed to be a high first round pick but said she was going to play in Europe. After some time in Scotland and with the Thorns and Houston she no longer plays in the NWSL. Meanwhile, both Hill and Lussi are established journeyman players; good enough for a couple of goals a year. Good on both of them.
re. The Betfort goal. On still-further review, it was the sort of intelligent passing all too rare:
Bixby passes to a not-covered Porter, who passes perfectly to Kuikka, who also passes perfectly to Moultrie, who instantly chips over an NCC player to Betfort in stride, who does half a dozen things in two seconds and scores.
Team football at its best, and it never happens if NCC with an extra player to fiddle with assigns somebody to harass Bixby.
I've been hard on Betfort, but she is really steping up her play. I'll eat my crow and hope that she continues to develop into a player the Thorns can count on as solid depth. He touch on the pass from Moultre was amazing!
Agreed about the excellent passing on Betfort's goal, but a minor correction for "it never happens if NCC ... assigns somebody to harass Bixby": I'm pretty sure it was a free kick that Bix took to start the sequence, so NC didn't have the option of harassing her.
She's been here since 2017, when she was 22; she's now 29.
She barely played in 2017 and was a spot starter in 2019, but for most of the time she's been here she's been a starter and seen a lot of minutes.
She's played 72 regular season matches (starting 62) and 25 cup & fall series matches (starting all 25).
That's 97 matches, 87 starting, not even including pre-season, post-season, and WICC appearances.
My point: Hubs always had the occasional brainfart, but the problems I am seeing this year are lack of effort. With as long as she's been doing this, the kinds of things she's done this year shouldn't be happening. I've gotta wonder what's going on.
She was a starter at forward at Kentucky as a Freshman, recording 6 goals (including 3 game-winners) and 3 assists. She started 15 matches and appeared in 22.
The following year, almost immediately they moved her to Right Outside Back. She started 18 matches and appeared in 22. 1 goal, 2 assists.
As a Junior, she lost her starting spot, starting in 7 of 21 appearances. 3 goals, 2 assists.
Then she transferred to DePaul to finish up, where they allowed her to go back to Forward as well as Midfield. She started in all 18 appearances. 1 goal, 5 assists.
Hubs was one of the nation's top collegiate recruits and was a member of USWNT U-15s, U-17s, and U-18s.
Note to the next national team coach... play Smith central with a wing partner good at doing wing things, let her run at defenders putting them on the backfoot... and you should do better than the guy who despite not technically losing a game, only conceding once, with xG of 9 and with still one of the most talented rosters in the world, somehow still managed to win only 1 game in 4. Even Mike gets that much.
Thorns are the antidote to losing IQ points watching the Timbers. Complete the sale already, Paulson, because this team achieves despite you.
That’s what really stood out to me with the Nats being gone, you can tell Murph/Daquila/Betfort/etc have the coaching to work the same with Weaver, but beyond that they don’t have Smith’s talent level Weaver and Smith have fantastic chemistry together, there’s a great mental connection where they both seem to instinctively know what the other is doing and how to compliment one another
The battle for the semifinals in Paris is going to be some great football. The obvious contenders for that final four are Spain, England, Japan, and the US. But this world Cup showed us how much deeper the gam e is on an international level. Just qualifying for the small Olympic field isn't easy.
Did not see that coming. At all. Down a goal and down a player early in the first half, we'd be very lucky, I thought, if we could pull one back and then manage to hang on for a draw. Even that seemed unlikely, since NC had enough possession that we were surely going to tire in defense and give up another goal, if not several more. A win?! Not even in my dreams!
I was happily surprised how good the Thorns looked against a team that was at the top of the league. Despite going down a player, I never really felt that NCC was able to exploit the advantage. It goes to show how much the International players impact the game, and really we only had Sinclair and Smith for 20 mins each, and Rocky for a real shift (60+ minutes).
I was really disappointed in Paramount+, as the announcers seems to talk up the Courage once they had a player advantage, and then only started talking about the Thorns once they took the lead. And the lost feed was a real problem.
I just started trying to review the stream and...holy hell. I've seen Paramount's stream go sideways before but that was an utter shitshow. It's unuseable for me; jumps from a blink at 6 minutes to another in the 14th, then to the 37th through 41st and from there right into the second half. That's ridiculous, and infuriating.
The "lost feed" issue happens every match and repeatedly. The platform is terrible and hurts growth of NWSL, which has never responded to my emailed complaints. The problems have persisted throughout the season. How can every other streaming platform figure this out? Hope Paramount+ gets minus-ed.
The absence of Kerolin's creativity was huge. We would not have won this game if she had been playing. You could kind of see the NC players get the ball and think, "Okay what do I do with it now?"
I wonder what NC will do if the Kerolin-to-Europe rumors prove true.
A lot of (mostly justifiably) harsh criticism for Kelli in this thread. I’d tone it back just a little: She has never been the all-NWSL CB talent she looked like for portions of last season (which is why I thought a healthy Menges would take her place at the start of the season) but she’s a very solid, B-level starter who’s error-prone tendencies have been accentuated by the total lack of a defensive midfield, FBs playing ridiculously high, and her all-world CB partner missing most of the season through injury.
Frankly, there’s not a lot of second CBs in the league I’d take over her, which, though it might speak more to the NWSL’s general lack of high quality defenders, makes her a totally fine option. I do think they need to go find a top class CB, but I think there’s a reason(s) she’s looked particularly poor this season compared to last.
OK, YOU can tone it back a bit. Me, I have the tone I want on this one. =)
You'll recall I was an early defender of Betfort and kept pointing out that I liked what I was seeing in small minutes here and there. So, I'm not exactly uncharitable or willing to see potential.
Hubly has not been giving full effort out there for some time. It's visible, and it's been hurting the team. It would be helpful to know why.
If she;'s no longer growing here, or she's no longer feeling the challenge, or there's something else going on, then it's time to face that. She's 29 years old and has north of 85 starts for the Thorns in all competitions. She's a veteran, and it's time to play like it match after match.
Everybody has brainfarts, everybody makes mistakes. I'm seeing lack of effort too often this season. That's very concerning, and it's why I say the Thorns will leave her unprotected in expansion.
I don’t agree that she hasn’t been giving full effort. That’s a subjective view that’s extremely challenging for fans to see and evaluate (especially with CBs) and is too often used as shorthand for “she’s just not playing very well so she must be playing lazy.” She’s played damn near every minute she’s been available for two years! If she’s not getting to places on the field she’s used to, I find it much more likely she’s gassed mentally and physically from covering for the right fullback that spends most of her time in the opposition’s half, two midfielders that don’t feel like they have to defend, and keeper there’s a good chance she doesn’t trust. That’s a nearly impossible job, and I mostly blame Norris for the lack of stability it’s caused.
I don’t say this to entirely excuse her poor play-- she, like the entire defense, has been pretty bad all year for a variety of reasons and I’ve certainly been vocal about her issues-- but a team already VERY short on competent defenders would be stupid to expose one that has been in the top 10-20ish percent of NWSL CBs. Like I said before the season, I’d prefer she’s the team’s third CB, not the second next season.....but I think it’s unfair and misguided to want her gone entirely.
The big issue I’m seeing is the after having improved notably after 2019 Hubly has regressed this season to the player she was before; prone to big - as in “match-losing” - errors.
She couldn’t break the starting rotation because of that; even while Sonnett would brainfart and Menges got injured Hubly just couldn’t be trusted to put in a solid 90 minutes week in and week out.
Of the 14 players with three or more assists, *six* are Thorns:
6 assists - Coffey
5 assists - Smith
4 assists - Weaver and two non-Thorns
3 assists - Kling, Moultrie, Sugita, and six non-Thorns
No other team has more than two players on the list. We sure score a lot, and help each other out while doing it.
----------------
Fun factoids: The 24 goals assisted by those 6 players above is more goals than any other team has *total*. And Coffey's 6 assists is as many as the entire Houston team.
Not to be too much of a record-scratch here, but think about how much Hubs's latest miscues cost her teammates.
Not only did they have to dig out from 1 goal and 1 player down, but Sinc had to sub off after 22 minutes. Kids, you never want to do that to your captain, especially not the GOAT.
Then, everybody else had to carry the load for her over the next 75 minutes on a night with hazardous air quality.
She also displayed high-level ref-challenging after the right call. "What? Who, me? That?" Yes, Kelli. And then did it again when shown the red.
And it all started with the kind of way-too-casual play that she's been doing for some time now. Last night it was a heavy touch and a sloppy tackle. In recent weeks it's been lackadaisical passing or not hustling to win a ball or cover a mark that's hers.
For a player who worked so hard to earn a spot with the club, then earn regular minutes, then earn a starting spot (albeit due to injuries of others too), it's frustrating to see Hubs not making the effort to play better.
Maybe this will be a wake-up call for her, or maybe she needs to sit for a while.
Said it before but most of the backline needs to be rebuilt. Klingenberg and Hubly are no longer up to snuff. Saurbrunn won't be staying much longer. Menges has been racked by injuries and just doesn't have her same snap out there. I still like Kuikka but wonder when she'll answer the European siren.
I am so done with Hubly. I've been a big supporter and have really enjoyed watching her go from bench warmer to starter, but this year she's really flat-lined. It seems like in the past she's always gotten a bit better each year, which has made up for the occasional brain farts. But this year she hasn't gotten any better, and her mistakes seem to have increased. Probably time to move on. As others have said, the Thorns are going to need to rebuild nearly the entire backline soon (hopefully Reyes is one step there).
Hubly has four yellows on the season so far, meaning that she was one away from an accumulation suspension. She will have to serve the red card suspension which is one game. But does this red card count toward accumulation? The NWSL Competition Rules online do not mention reds at all. If it counts toward accumulation, Hubs will be out for two games in a row. Otherwise, I can't see Hubly going the rest of the season without another yellow, so another suspension will eventually be coming.
With 7 matches to go in the season, Hubly picked up a straight red to miss almost all of last match and the next match. When she returns, there will be 5 matches to go. If she picks up another yellow, then she'll miss another match before the season ends.
Maybe missing all or nearly all of 3 out of 7 down the stretch, for disciplinary reasons. Solid.
I can't remember if card accumulation resets at the play-offs. Which means that depending on if/when another yellow comes, she could be missing a play-off game. Let's hope Becky gets healthy and regaining minutes soon.
Great read and breakdown. This super-slo mo video shot from the endline clears up the understandable confusion over the Betfort goal @ second 13. I can't adequately describe it other than she contorts her foot sideways to shoot from the outside face, I presume to better direct the ball. The temptation to murder it (and miss) must be strong.
From Moultrie's chip to Betfort's collection and flick forward, safely out of reach of the hapless defender, to catching the ball before a different defender does, then shooting is as nice a sequence as I'll probably watch all year (and ignores the Porter and Kuikka roles). If it were an NFL reception the completion probability would be a couple percent--Wilson-to-Lockett stuff.
Thanks for the link - it clarifies a great play. It looks to me like Betfort sliced under the ball right-to-left to put a reverse bend on it. I'm not sure if it made any difference at that close range, but a really skillful, and calm, shot in any case.
Thanks for that John. Good insights as always. I'd thought Moultrie had a good game but a +25 PMR is exceptional, even amidst a huge team-wide effort.
I've been thinking about Bixby's game, and you're a former GK so maybe you have some thoughts on this. As you pointed out, Bixby had several good stops in this game, especially the 58th-minute stoning of Wingate on a breakaway and the 88th-minute touch away from the onrushing attackers. But I've also been thinking that she could have done better on Lussi's goal. The shot wasn't very far away from where she stood in the center and she even moved to her left to where the ball went in, but then she just sort of waved at it as it skimmed the bottom of the crossbar and went in. Wasn't that an eminently savable shot? Jumping has never been her strong suit, but I think her jump there was an especially poor one.
From the post: "After she looked slow and gawky on the Lussi goal I panicked a bit."
So...yes, I think Bixby could have done better with that free. She more than made up for it - and it WAS a good shot from 18 yards out - but IMO that was not a good moment from Bix...
ABell4 did a deep internet dive to find a copy of the international stream of this game. It's very twitchy, with lots of pauses in the feed, and it has commentary in Spanish, which will only help a fraction of us (alas not including me). It's still infinitely better than what we're getting from Paramount+, which is nothing:
This is a tough question, but who was your player of the match?
Moultrie was POTM for me. She was playing good balls all match. Coffey and Rocky were awesome too.
I thought Norris got it right in his postgame presser; every player stepped up her game and played her heart out. Whatever you think of Norris's tactics (and I thought he got them right in this game) this team's culture proved itself robust and cohesive. I'm suddenly feeling more confident about the remainder of the season (and the playoffs). I know, NC wasn't even close to its best self, but this game will provide a boost that will help a lot in the tough stretch ahead. The Thorns have always thrived on adversity, and this group seems to be no exception.
Nally. Only partly kidding. She had a tough job to do, coming in cold to help keep the Courgettes scoreless over the next 75 minutes.
Bixby, quite possibly. She had the kinds of saves last night I've been waiting to see from her. She came out decisively and got down quickly.
The midfield, of course.
Betfort and Weaver too. Betfort for the moment of brilliance, Weaver for playing the entire field all match long, and electrifying with her connection with Soph.
Even Kling and Kuikka. Better from both of them than we've been seeing for a while.
The whole midfield? It's like a parent picking a favorite child (parents really do have a favorite, they just can't say}. I just thought they did wonderfully. Liv is up for league POTW honors so go with the teenager.
I still want to know how many kilometers Sam covers every match. She's Roy Kent-everywhere.
She's here! She's there! She's every fucking where COF - FEEE! COF- FEEE!
Betfort, if only because her play up front, including the goal, have to happen to put us in the position to eventually win it. She was pressing hard, holding up balls well, and then has a moment of sheer brilliance on the goal.
Betfort. That backheel flick and the goal placement was chef's kiss.
And that run. She kept running, fully expecting that ball from Moultrie over the top and didn't hesitate on the flick. Nicely done.
Sam Coffey was the player of the match for me. But you can argue there wasn't a single player of the match, as everyone stepped up when Hubly was sent off. Moultre, Nalley, Menges, Betfort, Weaver and Smith all have claims to the PotM. It was a great effort by everyone!
The only moment at which I can say "I saw it coming" was when Smith subbed on, but that's only because of how the Thorns were playing and I knew Smith would be determined to get a goal. But it was just as likely that that wouldn't happen, or that they wouldn't be able to hold the lead if they got it.
What I sure as hell did NOT see happening was Betfort's gorgeous goal off Moultrie's equally gorgeous pass which brought them to level in the 41st, after all the crazy stuff that happened 25 minutes earlier.
Soph really wanted that second one. If she'd been a little less committed to getting a second goal, I think we would have scored at least another one because there were plenty of opportunities where a pass would have been a smarter choice.
Agree. This continues to be one of the primary areas for her to work on.
It's where Kerr still has an edge on Smith. But give Soph time.
I totally agree on this. I have seen Smith working to find teammates more this year, and while the results aren't really there (too often the pass hits a defensive player) she seems to be trying to make it happen. I believe its going to come, but its got to be a change for a player whose likely has been the best option where ever she has played.
Up 2-1 last night and Soph tried to thread a pass in the box to someone coming down the right...can't remember who, and it hit a defenders leg. If it slips through, we were in on goal and probably up 3-1. In the past, I'm not sure she even tries that ball. She is figuring it out right in front of us. She's gonna be the best player in the world in a year or two, I have no doubt.
It was Moultrie who was going to be able to dribble into the empty net if that pass found her. And it was close - like a couple inches. Who is the best player in the world now, in your opinion, if not Smith?
Last season does she make that pass to Weaver or try and thread it in herself? I think the second. And Weaver, left-footing it back to Soph perfectly. Murphy was frozen.
Well, she has five assists on the season (tied for second in the NWSL, after Coffey with six) so I think it's already coming. She said after the game that she hadn't been scoring so she was hungry for goals. Hopefully she will quickly settle back into the scoring *and* assisting machine that she was earlier in the season.
Yeah I think the issue is less her willingness to pass, and more that she’s just not a very good passer technically at the moment. I want someone of her ability to have a little bit of tunnel vision, but I would like to see her technique improve when she does make the pass....particularly on through balls.
I’ve now seen the highlights of the Thorns’ match. Correct call on the red card. Definitely a DOGSO after some really sloppy play. Ironically, if the penalty had stood there couldn’t have been a red card. Betford looks dialed in and ready to be a real contributor but what an assist by young Moultrie. Just brilliant. Wonderful two on two playing by both Smith and Weaver. All I could think about when I saw Smith tap that in was that she could have been doing that for the national team at the World Cup if Andonovski hadn’t marooned her on the left touchline. It was a superb win for the Thorns.
Now that was an entertaining game of football! Watching Hubly make a dumb mistake, dig the hole deeper, then deeper still - I thought "here we go again". But what determination. The team never hung their heads and they never really appeared to be short-handed.
Norris made the correct substitution and Nally did well. In fact, his subs were timely throughout. My WOTM was Moultrie - a total Energizer bunny and doing good, positive work all night long. Coffey was a close second - if her laser had only found the side netting we could have coasted home.
I am not sure why it took the VAR three minutes and an on-field review to determine that Lussi's shot went in. I am not even clear why the AR didn't call it live - I was shocked it wasn't given and asked my seatmate if I'd missed a foul call. So the referee crew had some issues, but they got it right in the end each time and I felt like the run-of-play reffing was good. There was never a doubt that Hubly earned her early departure.
I'm not sure what to think of North Carolina. They were missing some key pieces and if the Courage have a real weakness it's their lack of depth across the board. But still, they could have bunkered to ride Lussi's free kick to a win. It seemed to me that the idea never crossed their mind. They smelled blood and probably wanted to win 5-0. So they pushed high and got punished. Even at 1-1, you'd think they might have tried to go home with a point. Of course, I am happy they didn't. People have talked about Nehas as a potential USWNT candidate, but his apparent lack of pragmatism might suggest not.
One stat about NCC: 1 win over the top 6 of the table in regular season play (0 on the road).
Missing a critical player (Kerolin) is huge, but I just didn't see the team that played so well when the international players were gone. It is really telling that the Thorns went down a player and managed to outplay the opposition. You can tell the confidence is high because we did it without relying on our best players. Smith only gets 20+ minutes, no Dunn or Sugita.
If this is NCC, then we should see them drop over the next few games because they just weren't very good.
Re: NCC- I’d be raging if my team bunkered up a woman, even up a goal on the road, and especially with the Thorns backline. I don’t think that’s lack of pragmatism because it’s actually *more* pragmatic to look press home your advantage rather than to sit and let the team with 10 gain confidence. It is, however, poor execution.
Watching the replay, I think the Thorns just straight up outplayed them before and after the red. Rocky and Coffey held shape really well, and, ya know, we had Smith to bring on and they didn’t have Kerolin. A Boade/Ratcliffe/Pickett/Lussi frontline isn’t exactly one with a ton of ability to break down a defense. Wingate certainly caused issues when she came on and should have scored.
"A Boade/Ratcliffe/Pickett/Lussi frontline isn’t exactly one with a ton of ability to break down a defense."
You sorta make my point about pragmatism. "Bunker" was a bad choice of words by me. If you can't realistically expect your team to be good in the attack, then play defense and counterattack when you get the chance. I wouldn't be raging if the Thorns rode out a 1-0 road win during the Challenge Cup, when we were the weaker team.
I am not saying they would have won. Smith might have come in and torn them apart anyway. But realistically it seemed like their best shot for a result.
I can see a solid rationale for NC trying to run up the score on a short-handed Thorns: to eat away at our gaudy goal differential. Best laid plans...
For the most part, other NWSL results this weekend went our way. Reign lost, the Spirit had a draw (late - they almost lost but Ashley Sanchez worked some magic), and Gotham lost. The latter meant that the Wave won, but they're farther back so overall it was a good result for us.
Oh yeah, NC lost too. 😀
Sometimes I miss Tyler Lussi being a Thorn and sometimes I really don't. Discuss.
This Lussi moment I remember well - "The National Women's Soccer League has suspended Portland Thorns forward Tyler Lussi for three games and fined the 22-year-old an undisclosed amount for violent conduct in last Saturday's game against the Chicago Red Stars."
Wow, I don't remember that! What happened?!
Here it is:
https://equalizersoccer.com/2017/08/16/wednesday-roundup-ponytail-pull-draws-3-game-ban-for-tyler-lussi/
Did it right in front of Sinclair and Ertz too! That's pretty nervy for a rookie. Didn't even get booked during the match. It was only because of DISCO review that she got the big suspension.
Lol. Lussi lussi lussi....
Lussi, Splain that if you can
Although she had some clutch goals as a thorn and pretty good with getting her headers on frame.
Pulled Colaprico's hair bringing her down then stepping on her wrist.
That's exactly how I felt when she WAS a Thorn. "This could be really great!" (www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Kfu-yQfXag&t=200s) or else "Wow she runs a lot for not much end product."
In any case, the effort she put into her games was never in doubt. So I still like watching her.
Alas, as I was not in the stands choking alongside y'all my most exciting match ending ever seen live remains Lussi's wondergoal against Orlando.
Given last night's outcome I do not begrudge Tyler's success after being shunted around and last year, even assigned to play defense. She's a darn good baller.
In the 2017 draft the Thorns picked Rachel Hill in the second round and Tyler Lussi in the third round and traded Hill to I think Orlando for the rights to select Savannah Jordan. She was supposed to be a high first round pick but said she was going to play in Europe. After some time in Scotland and with the Thorns and Houston she no longer plays in the NWSL. Meanwhile, both Hill and Lussi are established journeyman players; good enough for a couple of goals a year. Good on both of them.
re. The Betfort goal. On still-further review, it was the sort of intelligent passing all too rare:
Bixby passes to a not-covered Porter, who passes perfectly to Kuikka, who also passes perfectly to Moultrie, who instantly chips over an NCC player to Betfort in stride, who does half a dozen things in two seconds and scores.
Team football at its best, and it never happens if NCC with an extra player to fiddle with assigns somebody to harass Bixby.
100%
That sequence was beautiful.
Betfort's play the past few months is incredible, but also well-deserved. Someone who has had 3 coaches in 3 seasons and just works so dang hard.
I think Izzy D'Aquila will get there too.
I've been hard on Betfort, but she is really steping up her play. I'll eat my crow and hope that she continues to develop into a player the Thorns can count on as solid depth. He touch on the pass from Moultre was amazing!
Agreed about the excellent passing on Betfort's goal, but a minor correction for "it never happens if NCC ... assigns somebody to harass Bixby": I'm pretty sure it was a free kick that Bix took to start the sequence, so NC didn't have the option of harassing her.
Just looked up Hubs's info on FBRef.
She's been here since 2017, when she was 22; she's now 29.
She barely played in 2017 and was a spot starter in 2019, but for most of the time she's been here she's been a starter and seen a lot of minutes.
She's played 72 regular season matches (starting 62) and 25 cup & fall series matches (starting all 25).
That's 97 matches, 87 starting, not even including pre-season, post-season, and WICC appearances.
My point: Hubs always had the occasional brainfart, but the problems I am seeing this year are lack of effort. With as long as she's been doing this, the kinds of things she's done this year shouldn't be happening. I've gotta wonder what's going on.
I just reviewed her collegiate info.
She was a starter at forward at Kentucky as a Freshman, recording 6 goals (including 3 game-winners) and 3 assists. She started 15 matches and appeared in 22.
The following year, almost immediately they moved her to Right Outside Back. She started 18 matches and appeared in 22. 1 goal, 2 assists.
As a Junior, she lost her starting spot, starting in 7 of 21 appearances. 3 goals, 2 assists.
Then she transferred to DePaul to finish up, where they allowed her to go back to Forward as well as Midfield. She started in all 18 appearances. 1 goal, 5 assists.
Hubs was one of the nation's top collegiate recruits and was a member of USWNT U-15s, U-17s, and U-18s.
Top collegiate recruits? How can that be….I thought she went undrafted and we picked her up after?
I took that to mean she was heavily recruited and highly regarded by colleges as she came out of high school.
Oh yeah that makes sense. A bit of a fall to be a top recruit going into college, and then to go undrafted into the pros....
Note to the next national team coach... play Smith central with a wing partner good at doing wing things, let her run at defenders putting them on the backfoot... and you should do better than the guy who despite not technically losing a game, only conceding once, with xG of 9 and with still one of the most talented rosters in the world, somehow still managed to win only 1 game in 4. Even Mike gets that much.
Thorns are the antidote to losing IQ points watching the Timbers. Complete the sale already, Paulson, because this team achieves despite you.
Smith gave Weaver lots of props after the match, how much she enjoys playing alongside of her because of how they work together. Take note, USWNT.
That’s what really stood out to me with the Nats being gone, you can tell Murph/Daquila/Betfort/etc have the coaching to work the same with Weaver, but beyond that they don’t have Smith’s talent level Weaver and Smith have fantastic chemistry together, there’s a great mental connection where they both seem to instinctively know what the other is doing and how to compliment one another
Weaver had no obvious path onto the Nats but has such a mindmeld with Smith I could argue her as a strategic addition.
And lord help me, if Coffey isn't on the Olympics squad I'm going to become a professional stalker.
She will be 100% on that roster. Works too hard and way too talented to ever be denied ever again. Going to be a fun tournament in Paris.
The battle for the semifinals in Paris is going to be some great football. The obvious contenders for that final four are Spain, England, Japan, and the US. But this world Cup showed us how much deeper the gam e is on an international level. Just qualifying for the small Olympic field isn't easy.
Wait, you can get PAID to do that? I just thought it was a hobby.
(we're both going to burn in hell for making those jokes on a WoSo board)
Did not see that coming. At all. Down a goal and down a player early in the first half, we'd be very lucky, I thought, if we could pull one back and then manage to hang on for a draw. Even that seemed unlikely, since NC had enough possession that we were surely going to tire in defense and give up another goal, if not several more. A win?! Not even in my dreams!
I was happily surprised how good the Thorns looked against a team that was at the top of the league. Despite going down a player, I never really felt that NCC was able to exploit the advantage. It goes to show how much the International players impact the game, and really we only had Sinclair and Smith for 20 mins each, and Rocky for a real shift (60+ minutes).
I was really disappointed in Paramount+, as the announcers seems to talk up the Courage once they had a player advantage, and then only started talking about the Thorns once they took the lead. And the lost feed was a real problem.
I just started trying to review the stream and...holy hell. I've seen Paramount's stream go sideways before but that was an utter shitshow. It's unuseable for me; jumps from a blink at 6 minutes to another in the 14th, then to the 37th through 41st and from there right into the second half. That's ridiculous, and infuriating.
The "lost feed" issue happens every match and repeatedly. The platform is terrible and hurts growth of NWSL, which has never responded to my emailed complaints. The problems have persisted throughout the season. How can every other streaming platform figure this out? Hope Paramount+ gets minus-ed.
The absence of Kerolin's creativity was huge. We would not have won this game if she had been playing. You could kind of see the NC players get the ball and think, "Okay what do I do with it now?"
I wonder what NC will do if the Kerolin-to-Europe rumors prove true.
A lot of (mostly justifiably) harsh criticism for Kelli in this thread. I’d tone it back just a little: She has never been the all-NWSL CB talent she looked like for portions of last season (which is why I thought a healthy Menges would take her place at the start of the season) but she’s a very solid, B-level starter who’s error-prone tendencies have been accentuated by the total lack of a defensive midfield, FBs playing ridiculously high, and her all-world CB partner missing most of the season through injury.
Frankly, there’s not a lot of second CBs in the league I’d take over her, which, though it might speak more to the NWSL’s general lack of high quality defenders, makes her a totally fine option. I do think they need to go find a top class CB, but I think there’s a reason(s) she’s looked particularly poor this season compared to last.
OK, YOU can tone it back a bit. Me, I have the tone I want on this one. =)
You'll recall I was an early defender of Betfort and kept pointing out that I liked what I was seeing in small minutes here and there. So, I'm not exactly uncharitable or willing to see potential.
Hubly has not been giving full effort out there for some time. It's visible, and it's been hurting the team. It would be helpful to know why.
If she;'s no longer growing here, or she's no longer feeling the challenge, or there's something else going on, then it's time to face that. She's 29 years old and has north of 85 starts for the Thorns in all competitions. She's a veteran, and it's time to play like it match after match.
Everybody has brainfarts, everybody makes mistakes. I'm seeing lack of effort too often this season. That's very concerning, and it's why I say the Thorns will leave her unprotected in expansion.
I don’t agree that she hasn’t been giving full effort. That’s a subjective view that’s extremely challenging for fans to see and evaluate (especially with CBs) and is too often used as shorthand for “she’s just not playing very well so she must be playing lazy.” She’s played damn near every minute she’s been available for two years! If she’s not getting to places on the field she’s used to, I find it much more likely she’s gassed mentally and physically from covering for the right fullback that spends most of her time in the opposition’s half, two midfielders that don’t feel like they have to defend, and keeper there’s a good chance she doesn’t trust. That’s a nearly impossible job, and I mostly blame Norris for the lack of stability it’s caused.
I don’t say this to entirely excuse her poor play-- she, like the entire defense, has been pretty bad all year for a variety of reasons and I’ve certainly been vocal about her issues-- but a team already VERY short on competent defenders would be stupid to expose one that has been in the top 10-20ish percent of NWSL CBs. Like I said before the season, I’d prefer she’s the team’s third CB, not the second next season.....but I think it’s unfair and misguided to want her gone entirely.
The big issue I’m seeing is the after having improved notably after 2019 Hubly has regressed this season to the player she was before; prone to big - as in “match-losing” - errors.
She couldn’t break the starting rotation because of that; even while Sonnett would brainfart and Menges got injured Hubly just couldn’t be trusted to put in a solid 90 minutes week in and week out.
Sadly, she’s reverted to that.
Of the 14 players with three or more assists, *six* are Thorns:
6 assists - Coffey
5 assists - Smith
4 assists - Weaver and two non-Thorns
3 assists - Kling, Moultrie, Sugita, and six non-Thorns
No other team has more than two players on the list. We sure score a lot, and help each other out while doing it.
----------------
Fun factoids: The 24 goals assisted by those 6 players above is more goals than any other team has *total*. And Coffey's 6 assists is as many as the entire Houston team.
Not to be too much of a record-scratch here, but think about how much Hubs's latest miscues cost her teammates.
Not only did they have to dig out from 1 goal and 1 player down, but Sinc had to sub off after 22 minutes. Kids, you never want to do that to your captain, especially not the GOAT.
Then, everybody else had to carry the load for her over the next 75 minutes on a night with hazardous air quality.
She also displayed high-level ref-challenging after the right call. "What? Who, me? That?" Yes, Kelli. And then did it again when shown the red.
And it all started with the kind of way-too-casual play that she's been doing for some time now. Last night it was a heavy touch and a sloppy tackle. In recent weeks it's been lackadaisical passing or not hustling to win a ball or cover a mark that's hers.
For a player who worked so hard to earn a spot with the club, then earn regular minutes, then earn a starting spot (albeit due to injuries of others too), it's frustrating to see Hubs not making the effort to play better.
Maybe this will be a wake-up call for her, or maybe she needs to sit for a while.
She will miss the next match, yes?
Perhaps it's time for Becky's return....
Said it before but most of the backline needs to be rebuilt. Klingenberg and Hubly are no longer up to snuff. Saurbrunn won't be staying much longer. Menges has been racked by injuries and just doesn't have her same snap out there. I still like Kuikka but wonder when she'll answer the European siren.
I am so done with Hubly. I've been a big supporter and have really enjoyed watching her go from bench warmer to starter, but this year she's really flat-lined. It seems like in the past she's always gotten a bit better each year, which has made up for the occasional brain farts. But this year she hasn't gotten any better, and her mistakes seem to have increased. Probably time to move on. As others have said, the Thorns are going to need to rebuild nearly the entire backline soon (hopefully Reyes is one step there).
Hubly has four yellows on the season so far, meaning that she was one away from an accumulation suspension. She will have to serve the red card suspension which is one game. But does this red card count toward accumulation? The NWSL Competition Rules online do not mention reds at all. If it counts toward accumulation, Hubs will be out for two games in a row. Otherwise, I can't see Hubly going the rest of the season without another yellow, so another suspension will eventually be coming.
So, to recap here:
With 7 matches to go in the season, Hubly picked up a straight red to miss almost all of last match and the next match. When she returns, there will be 5 matches to go. If she picks up another yellow, then she'll miss another match before the season ends.
Maybe missing all or nearly all of 3 out of 7 down the stretch, for disciplinary reasons. Solid.
She'll be daisy-fresh!
I can't remember if card accumulation resets at the play-offs. Which means that depending on if/when another yellow comes, she could be missing a play-off game. Let's hope Becky gets healthy and regaining minutes soon.
Iron woman has started to rust. Needs treatment.
For those interested...ABell4 gifted me a working stream, and here's the report for those interested: https://rivetingpdx.com/2023/08/25/thorns-fc-tarjeta-roja/
Great read and breakdown. This super-slo mo video shot from the endline clears up the understandable confusion over the Betfort goal @ second 13. I can't adequately describe it other than she contorts her foot sideways to shoot from the outside face, I presume to better direct the ball. The temptation to murder it (and miss) must be strong.
https://nitter.net/ThornsFC/status/1693761019288727582#m
From Moultrie's chip to Betfort's collection and flick forward, safely out of reach of the hapless defender, to catching the ball before a different defender does, then shooting is as nice a sequence as I'll probably watch all year (and ignores the Porter and Kuikka roles). If it were an NFL reception the completion probability would be a couple percent--Wilson-to-Lockett stuff.
Thanks for the link - it clarifies a great play. It looks to me like Betfort sliced under the ball right-to-left to put a reverse bend on it. I'm not sure if it made any difference at that close range, but a really skillful, and calm, shot in any case.
Thanks for that John. Good insights as always. I'd thought Moultrie had a good game but a +25 PMR is exceptional, even amidst a huge team-wide effort.
I've been thinking about Bixby's game, and you're a former GK so maybe you have some thoughts on this. As you pointed out, Bixby had several good stops in this game, especially the 58th-minute stoning of Wingate on a breakaway and the 88th-minute touch away from the onrushing attackers. But I've also been thinking that she could have done better on Lussi's goal. The shot wasn't very far away from where she stood in the center and she even moved to her left to where the ball went in, but then she just sort of waved at it as it skimmed the bottom of the crossbar and went in. Wasn't that an eminently savable shot? Jumping has never been her strong suit, but I think her jump there was an especially poor one.
From the post: "After she looked slow and gawky on the Lussi goal I panicked a bit."
So...yes, I think Bixby could have done better with that free. She more than made up for it - and it WAS a good shot from 18 yards out - but IMO that was not a good moment from Bix...
ABell4 did a deep internet dive to find a copy of the international stream of this game. It's very twitchy, with lots of pauses in the feed, and it has commentary in Spanish, which will only help a fraction of us (alas not including me). It's still infinitely better than what we're getting from Paramount+, which is nothing:
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1904405001