This article is way too kind to the shambolic football (phrase borrowed from our friends across the pond) Thorns are, and have been playing. Rob Gale, nice man, as a coach he doesn't have the chops. How was he the result of a "global search?" We are wasting talented players right now.
There doesn't seem to have been a global search. He was basically gifted the job because he was already on the pay role. And to move him from interim to head coach after a half-dozen good games was absurd.
Nothing will be done, nor should it, until the end of the season. Maybe they should silently sign a better coach from Europe who currently doesn't have a gig, but they should hold off on the news until after the season and then say goodbye to Gale.
Are "they" the Bhathals? I'm wondering - with no evidence to back it up - if they've been focused on bringing the WNBA to Portland and not on the Thorns roster and staff...
Shoutout Phuoc for asking this question! Brought the numbers and everything!
And, though *it's his job* to get this balance figured out, frankly not the worst answer from Gale. It's absolutely true that it feels like the Hina/Müller/Moultrie/Fleming group is playing with a different pace and intent than the Smith/Payne/Reyes/Spaanstra group and I would agree that's where the gap is communication is right now. Half the team thinks they should be slowing it down and looking for gaps, the other half thinks it needs to be pace pace pace every time they get the ball. We saw that a TON last night where Hina or Moultrie pulled the ball back in transition while Soph and Payne sprinted the opposite direction.
And that's what you work on in training! That's where you run that sequence over and over again until your forwards KNOW when and where that pass is coming, and the midfield knows when and where that forward is going to run. That's kind of "Coaching 101".
I agree that Gale's answer shows that he's seeing the problem...but it just leads me back to wondering "WTF are you doing on the practice field?" because it's obviously not "getting the squad on the same sheet of music.
And if the Bhathals are already trying to land a WNBA expansion franchise, they're not focusing all their energy on building the Thorns into a top-flight NWSL club.
Sarah Lowdon vibes are seeping up around the park.
I mean, flopsweat all around if they have 2X coaching changes in a single season but what message do the players get from doing nothing further? "Stick around, next year will be GREAT. Did you know there's no draft?"
"Rob Gale won his first six matches as Thorns boss, but it has won just two matches since that streak way back on May 17. It also hasn't scored multiple goals in a game since, creating real doubts about the direction of the team, and a 3-1 home loss to Bay over the weekend didn't help."
Thank gawd someone is saying so. So many fluff stories generally about his hair or his outifts or his Kenergy(TM), if we get coverage at all. Usually they all just say "they have Christine Sinclair, the greatest goalscorer ever!!" without any real criticism of the questionable decisions happening from the FO and the coaching staff.
I appreciate your comments Wilder. You are generally more positive than most, but last night it was hard to be positive. I am what they call a Lurker and Liker. I read everything and like what agrees with what I saw or is new information I haven’t seen. I feel like most of the posters know a lot more than I do, so I only post if I can’t hold back a view. And being somewhat positive isn't always terrible because a lot of the fans love the players no matter how bad the performance is.
Yes, Spaanstra I think was impressive and I was impressed with Hina as usual. I also agree playing Moultrie on the wing was not a good idea. What I miss about Weaver is even when she was missing sitters; she is such a good defender. Like Lynn Williams, an attacker who prides herself in pitching in on defense. Moultrie on the other hand is not an aggressive defender and against a team whose attackers play all over the field and were winning the ball from all over the field, well the whole team needs to be playing defense. Also, I would have started the game with Payne and Müller: two fast fullbacks; then bring in Reyes to spell Marie when, as she seems to do, tires in the second half.
I am not in the camp of “off with all their heads” but that was a hard not to have those feelings last night. I like the acquisition of Spaanstra and Turner, but I think the front office could have been even way more ambitious.
Anyway, keep up the good work, even when writing about a disaster like last night is hard and knowing the fans are really mad.
Here's some more info from college woso guru Henderson (take as you will), just for folks (like me) who had no idea who she was:
"19 - HOU - Sophie Hirst - MF (DMC) - Harvard
Value - A-
Fit - A-
Love this pick. Hirst was one of the best DMCs in this class and has a lot of upside given she's a year behind from Ivy League not playing in 2020. Dash need center mids, so this was smart."
Also, here's some stats from her college years. Like to see an 84% passing percentage (best in the draft class for a DM) for a college DM. Looks like she was also more dribbly than a lot of other players in her position:
This is probably an unpopular statement, but Hina was more productive at the forward position she played last year than she has been this year at the 8. Some flashes of good play, but she has not impacted the game the same IMO.
Not at all; it's an accurate representation of her season to date. Not so much because she's a forward but because she 1) is a clever attacker who 2) played regularly in a well-defined role. Now? The Gale midfield is a formless mess of people running around aimlessly. Her decline reflects that as much or more than the move back from winger.
It’s not just the midfield. The team is tactically not using space. To me, it’s obvious that Fleming is our best defensive 8. Play Hina at the 10 and put some separation between the two. I’m generally ok with a 4-4-2, but not the version that Gale plays
Can we run a Kickstarter to get Jane Campbell out of Houston?
Don't even mean bulking up Thorns' scant strategic keeper reserve, I just mean get her some place where she doesn't feel responsible for each loss because she's on a team that scores no goals (okay, 1 in the last 7).
Again last night vs. Utah, in front of 5,000--or so it's claimed, looked closer to 500 actually showed to swelter in the petroleum-infused Gulf night.
What I saw was a bunch of women all wearing the same uniform, but not playing on the same team. The Thorns need a coach, and the players deserve a coach.
What surprised me was Payne’s PMR. Yes, Hina was WOTM, but wow Payne had a pretty good game. She is raw, but like height, you can’t coach that kind of speed and she is improving rapidly. And Yes! the midfield was a mess even with Hina, Sam, Jessie and Moultrie, all individually good players.
Thanks for the pictures and illustration of a typical Reyes play that resulted in the ridiculous second goal. Reyes makes me nuts with the sloppy defending all season long.
I've always believed that soccer games are won or lost in the mid-field. If the mid-field is uncoordinated as it seemed in this match, the end result should be expected.
You also read in the text, I hope, that Reyes' individual error on that play was A problem, but that Ken's failure to adjust to BFC throwing everyone but the kitchen sink up her flank was THE problem in that game.
And, also, the ridiculous amount of ballwatching and other defensive issues like marking space. Reyes didn't have a great game but nobody in Doritos orange did outside of Sugita and Payne.
So the midfield was a mess...but so was most everything else, up to coaching. This was a comprehensive failure.
Neither met the eye test. Both crowds seemed to number in the 100s although it's possible Houston folks slinked out of camera range in that enormous cavern they play at.
Have never learned if it's tickets sold or actual gate count.
It's tickets sold across the league. The smart Houston fan has a seat in the south stand, which is shaded for afternoon or evening games. The primary TV angle doesn't show much of that side. So there could be more folks than it appears on the tube.
This is a problem in a lot of places with low-ish attendance: the viewing angle that's good for the TV camera is also good for the spectators. So the camera tends not to see the spectators and it looks on TV like the place is empty. If the stadium is full, then people sit everywhere and the camera does see them.
Always amused by the parks that mix seat colors so empty sections can look occupied to the untrained eye/720P teevee sets.
Really Big facilities open discrete sections and the lower section directly across from the broadcast booth is a top priority. e.g., Reign's official capacity at Lumen is 10,000, opening more sections for big matches, their record being 34k, while the soccer record there is 69k.
5k there like the Reign had once this season must feel like being lost in an urban wilderness. Helloooooooo.
Surprised at that....seemed pretty full. Seems like while other markets are growing, we're either staying the same or retracting. I thought we used to get at least 20k most games, like 5 years ago....
Yo excuse me what? 350K +10% future fee for PENELOPE HOCKING? That's insane! Someone's gonna have to tell Bay that Alexa Spaanstra just went for 40K lmao.
Hocking is based on a projection and frankly has shown more than Turner or Spaanstra at this point though I do like what I’ve seen from Alexa the past two games.
I’m curious to see what they do with KK after the season. While the support staff and her have appeared to hit on a the free agent signings they’ve made, the overall structure of the team is missing a star. Even though losing Weaver has been a huge blow, I think KK is the person who likely pays for the poor performance this season.
Eh, Hocking's scored a few more times, but they're the same age and I'd classify them as pretty similar level of talents. Hocking also plays(ed) for the worse team and has gotten more opportunity as a result. Per 90 stats are nearly identical. Certainly not worth 9X Spaanstra lmao.
Hocking: 7G/2A in 2159 minutes, 0.31 GA/90.
Spaanstra: 3G/2A in 1279 minutes, 0.35 GA/90
Players that have smaller transfer fees in the last two years (acknowledging that fees are rising like crazy): Pernille Harder, Lindsey Horan, Lauren James, Mia Fishel, Temwa Chawinga, Mary Fowler, Jessie Fleming, Asisat Oshoala, Kyra Cooney-Cross, and Geyse Ferreira.....and there are plenty more!
After what Bay did with their last transfer fee, I think it’s safe to say that no team is worried about cap implications (which is a point you’ve made on other posts). Hocking is going to be a solid acquisition even if they overpaid. The question is what’s the impact to their roster? I’m still unclear of that
Tru dat, but Spaanstra for $40k was an absolute steal. Somewhere around the average of these two numbers ($100-200k) seems more appropriate for either of them.
This article is way too kind to the shambolic football (phrase borrowed from our friends across the pond) Thorns are, and have been playing. Rob Gale, nice man, as a coach he doesn't have the chops. How was he the result of a "global search?" We are wasting talented players right now.
There doesn't seem to have been a global search. He was basically gifted the job because he was already on the pay role. And to move him from interim to head coach after a half-dozen good games was absurd.
Kenergy drove off the same cliff Norrisball did July 1, 2023.
What can be done given it's September as of tomorrow?
Nothing will be done, nor should it, until the end of the season. Maybe they should silently sign a better coach from Europe who currently doesn't have a gig, but they should hold off on the news until after the season and then say goodbye to Gale.
Should be doing that concurrently along with finding another GM immediately.
GM should be first to go honestly, and then the new GM can help with the coaching search.
This.
Are "they" the Bhathals? I'm wondering - with no evidence to back it up - if they've been focused on bringing the WNBA to Portland and not on the Thorns roster and staff...
Global search in Airplane Mode, yes.
https://x.com/Phuocerman/status/1829927129632608542
Shoutout Phuoc for asking this question! Brought the numbers and everything!
And, though *it's his job* to get this balance figured out, frankly not the worst answer from Gale. It's absolutely true that it feels like the Hina/Müller/Moultrie/Fleming group is playing with a different pace and intent than the Smith/Payne/Reyes/Spaanstra group and I would agree that's where the gap is communication is right now. Half the team thinks they should be slowing it down and looking for gaps, the other half thinks it needs to be pace pace pace every time they get the ball. We saw that a TON last night where Hina or Moultrie pulled the ball back in transition while Soph and Payne sprinted the opposite direction.
And that's what you work on in training! That's where you run that sequence over and over again until your forwards KNOW when and where that pass is coming, and the midfield knows when and where that forward is going to run. That's kind of "Coaching 101".
I agree that Gale's answer shows that he's seeing the problem...but it just leads me back to wondering "WTF are you doing on the practice field?" because it's obviously not "getting the squad on the same sheet of music.
Amen!
What's that flushing sound?
This season.
And if the Bhathals are already trying to land a WNBA expansion franchise, they're not focusing all their energy on building the Thorns into a top-flight NWSL club.
That's what I'm thinking, it is starting to dawn on me that this might be another ownership that doesn't give a f**** about soccer?
Not a great first impression from the new ownership. Kang would have cleaned house by now. They don't walk the walk.
Sarah Lowdon vibes are seeping up around the park.
I mean, flopsweat all around if they have 2X coaching changes in a single season but what message do the players get from doing nothing further? "Stick around, next year will be GREAT. Did you know there's no draft?"
Talk about a lot of phone calls being made.
Any truth to the rumor that Karina had it set on "airplane mode" when she conducted that "global search" for a permanent head coach?
It's time the "global search" be called what it really was: A big, fat lie. I don't like be lied to and I don't trust anyone who does afterwards.
The corporate unlimited plan with Cricket seems to be paying off.
But I LOVE Ryan Reynolds! He's a Canadian we can all get behind, right?
https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/41095865/nwsl-power-rankings-anyone-stop-orlando-pride
"Rob Gale won his first six matches as Thorns boss, but it has won just two matches since that streak way back on May 17. It also hasn't scored multiple goals in a game since, creating real doubts about the direction of the team, and a 3-1 home loss to Bay over the weekend didn't help."
Thank gawd someone is saying so. So many fluff stories generally about his hair or his outifts or his Kenergy(TM), if we get coverage at all. Usually they all just say "they have Christine Sinclair, the greatest goalscorer ever!!" without any real criticism of the questionable decisions happening from the FO and the coaching staff.
tl:dr? “Comprehensive coaching failure”. XI + “tactics” + positioning + subs? Anything Ken did right? Not really.
"Anything Ken did right?"
Nice wardrobe choices!
He didn’t even wear a suit!
Perhaps its time to clean out the top floor: GM, Assistant GM/Scouting Master/Talent Assessor, and Head(temp) Coach.
Five goalkeepers.
A "worldwide search" resulting in elevating an assistant.
Fair odds of not making the playoffs at the current level of performance.
Will it take dropping attendance numbers to get the attention of ownership?
Or maybe they are more interested in basketball.
The apathy from the ownership has made me rethink my season tickets
And this would support the team how?
I appreciate your comments Wilder. You are generally more positive than most, but last night it was hard to be positive. I am what they call a Lurker and Liker. I read everything and like what agrees with what I saw or is new information I haven’t seen. I feel like most of the posters know a lot more than I do, so I only post if I can’t hold back a view. And being somewhat positive isn't always terrible because a lot of the fans love the players no matter how bad the performance is.
Yes, Spaanstra I think was impressive and I was impressed with Hina as usual. I also agree playing Moultrie on the wing was not a good idea. What I miss about Weaver is even when she was missing sitters; she is such a good defender. Like Lynn Williams, an attacker who prides herself in pitching in on defense. Moultrie on the other hand is not an aggressive defender and against a team whose attackers play all over the field and were winning the ball from all over the field, well the whole team needs to be playing defense. Also, I would have started the game with Payne and Müller: two fast fullbacks; then bring in Reyes to spell Marie when, as she seems to do, tires in the second half.
I am not in the camp of “off with all their heads” but that was a hard not to have those feelings last night. I like the acquisition of Spaanstra and Turner, but I think the front office could have been even way more ambitious.
Anyway, keep up the good work, even when writing about a disaster like last night is hard and knowing the fans are really mad.
Here's some more info from college woso guru Henderson (take as you will), just for folks (like me) who had no idea who she was:
"19 - HOU - Sophie Hirst - MF (DMC) - Harvard
Value - A-
Fit - A-
Love this pick. Hirst was one of the best DMCs in this class and has a lot of upside given she's a year behind from Ivy League not playing in 2020. Dash need center mids, so this was smart."
Also, here's some stats from her college years. Like to see an 84% passing percentage (best in the draft class for a DM) for a college DM. Looks like she was also more dribbly than a lot of other players in her position:
https://x.com/chris_awk/status/1529316150580023298
So backup for Sam then, maybe?
I would like to see Hina moved back to attacking mid. Maybe she can play next to Sam in a double pivot. We need Hina to help create goals please.
This is probably an unpopular statement, but Hina was more productive at the forward position she played last year than she has been this year at the 8. Some flashes of good play, but she has not impacted the game the same IMO.
Not at all; it's an accurate representation of her season to date. Not so much because she's a forward but because she 1) is a clever attacker who 2) played regularly in a well-defined role. Now? The Gale midfield is a formless mess of people running around aimlessly. Her decline reflects that as much or more than the move back from winger.
It’s not just the midfield. The team is tactically not using space. To me, it’s obvious that Fleming is our best defensive 8. Play Hina at the 10 and put some separation between the two. I’m generally ok with a 4-4-2, but not the version that Gale plays
Can we run a Kickstarter to get Jane Campbell out of Houston?
Don't even mean bulking up Thorns' scant strategic keeper reserve, I just mean get her some place where she doesn't feel responsible for each loss because she's on a team that scores no goals (okay, 1 in the last 7).
Again last night vs. Utah, in front of 5,000--or so it's claimed, looked closer to 500 actually showed to swelter in the petroleum-infused Gulf night.
We think we have problems.
I would get rid of/trade all of our keepers for 1 Jane Campbell.
Points for coining the phrase "strategic keeper reserve."
What I saw was a bunch of women all wearing the same uniform, but not playing on the same team. The Thorns need a coach, and the players deserve a coach.
Match report up: https://rivetingpdx.com/2024/09/03/thorns-fc-bad-to-worse/
What surprised me was Payne’s PMR. Yes, Hina was WOTM, but wow Payne had a pretty good game. She is raw, but like height, you can’t coach that kind of speed and she is improving rapidly. And Yes! the midfield was a mess even with Hina, Sam, Jessie and Moultrie, all individually good players.
Our vaudevillian cane blogger got his passing charts up; go look at the mess in midfield. It's brutal,
That passing chart made the midfield look like the Bermuda Triangle, but instead of boats and planes, it possession that disappeared.
More like the Sunset Highway at 405: everyfuckingbody jammed together going nowhere.
Thanks for the pictures and illustration of a typical Reyes play that resulted in the ridiculous second goal. Reyes makes me nuts with the sloppy defending all season long.
I've always believed that soccer games are won or lost in the mid-field. If the mid-field is uncoordinated as it seemed in this match, the end result should be expected.
You also read in the text, I hope, that Reyes' individual error on that play was A problem, but that Ken's failure to adjust to BFC throwing everyone but the kitchen sink up her flank was THE problem in that game.
And, also, the ridiculous amount of ballwatching and other defensive issues like marking space. Reyes didn't have a great game but nobody in Doritos orange did outside of Sugita and Payne.
So the midfield was a mess...but so was most everything else, up to coaching. This was a comprehensive failure.
So, Seattle can score all of a sudden and Utah are no longer the worst team in the league.
Attendance in Houston: 5171
Attendance in Loovull: 5011
Anyone else suspect fudging the attendance by trying to pick number combos that sound legitimate?
I just love seeing a LOU SEA fixture. It makes me ask "Where are Fred and Ethel?"
Neither met the eye test. Both crowds seemed to number in the 100s although it's possible Houston folks slinked out of camera range in that enormous cavern they play at.
Have never learned if it's tickets sold or actual gate count.
It's tickets sold across the league. The smart Houston fan has a seat in the south stand, which is shaded for afternoon or evening games. The primary TV angle doesn't show much of that side. So there could be more folks than it appears on the tube.
This is a problem in a lot of places with low-ish attendance: the viewing angle that's good for the TV camera is also good for the spectators. So the camera tends not to see the spectators and it looks on TV like the place is empty. If the stadium is full, then people sit everywhere and the camera does see them.
Always amused by the parks that mix seat colors so empty sections can look occupied to the untrained eye/720P teevee sets.
Really Big facilities open discrete sections and the lower section directly across from the broadcast booth is a top priority. e.g., Reign's official capacity at Lumen is 10,000, opening more sections for big matches, their record being 34k, while the soccer record there is 69k.
5k there like the Reign had once this season must feel like being lost in an urban wilderness. Helloooooooo.
Honestly watching this Orlando-Gotham game the attendance is just disappointing, these are good sides! It’s a fun match! People should be there!
Lol...
What was the attendance at the Thorns game, did you see that announced?
18,018 per NWSL summary.
Surprised at that....seemed pretty full. Seems like while other markets are growing, we're either staying the same or retracting. I thought we used to get at least 20k most games, like 5 years ago....
Strange symmetry to that one 18 0 18
Yep. And 18,081 could have made it a kind of palindrome.
https://x.com/chicagoredstars/status/1829972430061781309
Yo excuse me what? 350K +10% future fee for PENELOPE HOCKING? That's insane! Someone's gonna have to tell Bay that Alexa Spaanstra just went for 40K lmao.
Desperation? That'd be my guess.
Hocking is based on a projection and frankly has shown more than Turner or Spaanstra at this point though I do like what I’ve seen from Alexa the past two games.
I’m curious to see what they do with KK after the season. While the support staff and her have appeared to hit on a the free agent signings they’ve made, the overall structure of the team is missing a star. Even though losing Weaver has been a huge blow, I think KK is the person who likely pays for the poor performance this season.
Eh, Hocking's scored a few more times, but they're the same age and I'd classify them as pretty similar level of talents. Hocking also plays(ed) for the worse team and has gotten more opportunity as a result. Per 90 stats are nearly identical. Certainly not worth 9X Spaanstra lmao.
Hocking: 7G/2A in 2159 minutes, 0.31 GA/90.
Spaanstra: 3G/2A in 1279 minutes, 0.35 GA/90
Players that have smaller transfer fees in the last two years (acknowledging that fees are rising like crazy): Pernille Harder, Lindsey Horan, Lauren James, Mia Fishel, Temwa Chawinga, Mary Fowler, Jessie Fleming, Asisat Oshoala, Kyra Cooney-Cross, and Geyse Ferreira.....and there are plenty more!
After what Bay did with their last transfer fee, I think it’s safe to say that no team is worried about cap implications (which is a point you’ve made on other posts). Hocking is going to be a solid acquisition even if they overpaid. The question is what’s the impact to their roster? I’m still unclear of that
Tru dat, but Spaanstra for $40k was an absolute steal. Somewhere around the average of these two numbers ($100-200k) seems more appropriate for either of them.
Wait, I forgot Hocking has a computer science degree--they got their IT person along with a striker.
To be fair, Spaanstra is a pending FA. Granted, she shouldn’t be hard to sign
She’s a fine player, but yeah insane FO work from BFC honestly lmao.