I know not everyone has a favorable view of our FO, but MAN did they hit on Müller. This is a genuinely *absurd* ball! It looked great from my birds eye view vantage point in the ET, but seeing the ground level (especially how she motions towards Linnehan just before she plays the pass) makes it look even better. Great timing on the run from Payton as well.
The jury is still out on KK for me. She got big hits with Müller and possibly Obaze; Linnehan looks good but may never be first string, and ditto for Payne. She re-signed Smith for two years, which was essential. I've been pretty unhappy with KK's own-goals (drafting Sydny Nasello, losing Kuikka for nothing, pissing off Dunn, re-upping Gale mid-season for no reason) and her apparent over-valuing of Canadian players. But this is the first year when she's had solid financial backing (we assume), and I want to see what she can do with it - beginning now. I hope we start being a serious trophy contender again.
You can't leave out SIX keepers and FOUR strikers when one of those strikers is Sophia Smith so the other three strikers really don't matter much. This means not only are we thin at other positions, but we also doing much in the way of development. Bringing back Sinc as a player was a mistake, IMO. Overpaid for Fleming and Beckie, IMO. Getting nothing for Kuikka was bad asset management at the very least. Also didn't get much for Rocky and Yaz and we miss what they brought to the team. Reyes looks like a backup. I know some of these are going back to the previous offseason, but still...
On re-upping Gale for no reason: that was my take too at the time, but I see it a little differently now. I'm not saying the re-up was the only way to do this, but Gale's coaching is different since dropping the interim tag. I think he saw himself as a caretaker, sort of maintaining Norris's team, sticking with Norris's formation and tactics. Now we see him being experimental and audacious; he's working on making the Thorns his team. And so far it's promising. I know there will be ups and downs, and I have no idea whether Gale will be around for a long time or not, but he has shown a willingness to try things and to adjust when they're not working that just wasn't there with Norris. And he seems to recognize the players as people with their own knowledge and vision to contribute, not just as chess pieces for him to move around the board.
As you said, the jury's still out, on both Leblanc and Gale, so I'm ready to wait (not too long) and see. This month should tell us something, and the offseason and preseason should tell us a lot. Meanwhile, I'm confident it's going to be interesting.
My question would be, why would Gale WANT to do things that way?
Norris "formation and tactics" got him canned. If Gale wanted to be more than a caretaker what more logical choice could he make than be more "experimental and audacious" in the same sort of situation that Norris work was graded F?
I mean...I have NO idea, and I don't think I will until the regulars return and we see how the squad looks between then and the end of the season.
But it seems like a REAL odd choice to sit on your hands because the sign on his door was one thing and then let his tactical freak flag fly when it changed. Why not do that to convince his boss TO change the sign?
My thought would be that maybe he's been more loosey-goosey because these aren't "real" games or his "real" roster. I think we won't know until late August...I'd love to believe that under that goofy Ken exterior lies the cunning mind and ruthless drive to win of an Alex Ferguson! But I'll believe it when I see it in results...
He did say in one of the pressers that if he had had the team in preseason they would’ve had multiple systems and looks that they were comfortable with. This is like a second preseason, basically.
I think he's a loyal guy, and my only thought, or feeling rather, is that he might have felt that loyalty required it. It doesn't make sense, but it kind of jibes with the stuff he said in the early pressers: "The tactics are fine." And the feeling that he still regarded it as "Mike's team".
He's obviously not an experienced coach, but we'll soon get a sense of whether he has the makings of a good coach.
At this point I'm torn between Girma and Rodman for MVP, but I've got Dunn for most pleasant surprise, and Horan for most disappointing or underperforming.
MVP: Girma. We've given up all of two goals (and one of those was a meaningless stoppage-time one), and Girma is a main reason why.
Most pleasant surprise: Rodman. She's risen to a new level this tournament. Dunn is a close second, but it's a bit less surprising because we knew, from 5-10 years ago, that she had it in her. Actually maybe Emma Hayes should win this, because the team has turned around surprisingly fast since she took over two months ago and before that when she was still at Chelsea but presumably working closely with Kilgore.
Most disappointing: None. It really feels like everyone is clicking (see "Emma Hayes" above!). I've liked Horan for the most part; yes she's given up possession a lot, but it was usually in service of trying to make an attack happen, and on the plus side it feels like she has really helped set the "never relax" tone for the team late in games. It probably helped that I didn't get to watch the Japan game. Actually I am slightly disappointed in Coffey, for her dumb second yellow. Learn from this, Sam!
Seattle is shockingly bad. 2013 bad. I've never seen a Harvey team look this adrift since then (and she didn't have roster input that season). I don't enjoy her style, but it's usually competent in a sort of ugly way. This is a hot mess.
I keep thinking of what Soph said before the WC. Said she'd like to sit between Sanchez and Girma on the plane. If she needed to get something off her mind, Ashley would be the perfect sounding board. If she needed to relax, Naomi was the calm voice of reason.
I guess so! I don't know if I've ever seen a more collected major player on the NT.
To add a little more re: just how good Müller's been- I posted a version of one of these about three months ago when I was playing around with data vis stuff, but here's another now that we're 60% through the season: Progressive Carries per 90 on the X-axis, Tackles + Interceptions per 90 on the Y-axis.
If there's an argument for her NOT being the best FB in the league this season, I'd like to see it. Crazy player!
To repeat my comment in the gamethread, it was really good to see Gale's three different attempts to mitigate the shitty attacking and minimal midfield options over the international break. Recognizing the need to get Müller --the most technical non-Hina Thorn-- on the ball ball more to support the midfield and choosing to invert her is the exact kind of proactive tactical move I want to see out of him.....and was also the move that literally lead to the only goal of the game tonight. Not anointing him a tactical genius by any means, but having his team shift between a back three and four in-game is, at the very least, a positive sign.
Other than that, I thought Linnehan was excellent mostly just by virtue of her directness and pace, Dias was atrocious (please don't bring her back), and Sheva was surprisingly good. It's really noticeable who the the first team players are (Hina, Müller, Moultrie) and who aren't/shouldn't be (Dias, Izzy, McKenzie, Hubly) just by the speed of the decisions being made. So many extra touches from Dias, Izzy, and Hubly tonight led to attacks fizzling out, missed runs, or offside calls. This team needs a pacy winger at minimum, and I hope we get one in the next week or two.
I thought Moultrie had a meh night, but giving her a pass considering she’s just coming back, new formation, ect… otherwise agree. Was surprised to see Sheva was kinda everywhere. Coughed up the ball a bit but cleaned up a lot and generally connected well also. She’d be good to keep around for fill-in midfield roles. Seems like she’s played everywhere now…Dias and Izzy have me generally banging my head against the wall, but with Izzy I can see her aerial threats are there at least. Happy to get a roster spot and an international spot back and say so long to Dias. We need 1-2 more heavy hitters in the attack. Every team is fillin’ up on attackers. We need to jump into that pool also, on top of really needing a top CB as well.
How scared are you that we might end up with AMC or Raso again lol…I just need them to be signed elsewhere asap please!
Dias seems like a player you bring on late to close out a game where she just constantly hacks the other team to waste time. That's her only identifiable skill (at this level) that I can see. She's pretty good at it, but you don't really need that type of a player, either; in fact, better off without.
Ana-Maria Crnogorčević (Sorry you asked?) She had some gaudy stats playing for the Swiss National Team, probably racked up against Kazakhstan and Liechtenstein, because she was not an NWSL scorer. Also the Thorns played her out of position - we needed a striker, so that was where she played, even though she wasn't. Seemed like a very nice person, but a mediocre soccer player for many clubs, in several positions.
Yeah Moultrie wasn’t great but she was also playing striker….which is obviously not where she should be. She had a a bunch of moments where she picked her head up and realized there was nobody in front of her. Izzy, as usual, played out of position to accommodate Dias for some reason which just continues to piss me off at this point.
And yes, I am a bit worried that we’ll end up with one of those two, though it wouldn’t make a ton of sense based on the profile of player we’ve seen this version of the FO go after. Raso would be disappointing, AMC an outright disaster.
Yeah, that also...forgot to mention she was being played out of position. I feel bad for Izzy...I agree she should've gotten all of these cup minutes in the 9 to see how she does with some consistency. But man, even against the worst of opposition (Xolos), her finishing is terrible terrible. And it hasn't just been that game. Not sure what to make of her really...I feel like aerial balls are her main threat and we just don't really play that way. Thorns haven't had any aerial threats since Horan and I think I read somewhere that we have one of the least # of crosses into the box of any team.
Anyways it's the 1st and I believe the NWSL transfer window is open today, so hopefully we hear about some news soon!
Not defending her finishing which has been mostly pretty horrendous, but it's worth mentioning again that finishing is generally not a sticky stat at all and that she's probably been putting a lot of pressure on herself when she does get the rare opportunity up top. The metrics on her are really, REALLY good, and we know she CAN finish because she did so for four years in college at a high level.
True, but I'd like if she got some real time to bed in at her natural position instead of giving her minutes to a 40 year old and freakin Ana Dias. I'd be a lot more willing to label her a bust if she had 1000 minutes at striker under her belt instead of 100.
People complain about the Thorns missing on college draft prospects and then blame players like Izzy for not living up to expectations when the team fails to develop them properly. They drafted an out and out nine in the first round and she's played maybe 15% of her (very limited) minutes there.
Yeah she definitely hasn't had the consistency at this level to work out her spacing, runs, speed of play, get the nerves out, and just general match fitness...I do feel for her. She doesn't get the benefit of the doubt because she hasn't earned it, but she hasn't earned it yet because she's not really been given a lot of chance. It's like when you're applying for an entry level job but one of the requirements of said job is the experience of said job....but it's like how do I get the damn job if I don't have experience? Somewhere, someone's gotta give you the chance to build the experience....
I really wish we had more wingers available for this cup so she could really get a good run-out because I still am just left with the same questions as before. 3 games wouldn't have been a huge data set, but it would've been nice to see how she improved throughout. I was a winger (as well as a 9 sometimes) and I know how hard it is to just come on cold (even if you're playing in your correct position) and expect to have your shots land. You just need to be given real game minutes to get that muscle memory back on track. Playing cold-ish AND out of position? Well, I think only the elite forwards are really gonna look good under those circumstances. It's kinda why I'm fine keeping her around....but man she's really gonna have to put in some offseason work with her finishing...especially with her feet, because we play with the ball on the ground a lot more than in the air. We're not ever gonna get an elite 9 who is fine being a #2, but we do need one who can still be dangerous and score goals. I don't know anything about Ella Stevens in college, but she was like a middle of the draft pick I think...and she's put things together well after being hit or miss in Chicago. Obv the coaching and talent surrounding her is very different, but would be fine with someone with her talent level behind Soph.
The thing about Izzy --and the reason I didn't *love* the pick at the time-- was how limited she is. She's not going to impact the game positively very often if she's played out of position because she's not super skilled, she's not super fast, and she's not a creator. She's not someone like Ella Stevens who has always been a skilled and cerebral a player and is versatile for those reasons. She's a pure poacher with some holdup skills who gets into the right positions to get goals better than just about anyone (which is what the metrics show) who hasn't finished well in extremely limited minutes.
My main point is: I think the finishing woes are a bit of a red herring because finishing is like 75% confidence. There's a good backup striker in there, but there's no point in having her around if you're not going to play to what she's good at.
That gap becomes even more noticeable with so many of the first team players being absent. It’s one thing to essentially be covered by better players (and that’s frankly what all teams have to do) but it was really stark today because the back was essentially the first choice back five, plus Hina, and then it was…very much the B team.
And Dias, yeah. Weird process to get her. Incredibly weird that they never look to play her wide, ultimately I would rather you give Izzy these minutes and play her through the middle because there might be something more there, even if it’s not starter quality. Like, Izzy might have enough about her and her game to be backup in this league quality; I’ve seen enough to know Dias isn’t.
Dias was bad and based on this year. The level of threat seemed to crater the moment Linnehan went out
While I think Hina played at the highest level during the six game winning streak, I wonder if she was a tad more dangerous offensively with the way she was used last year. Maybe it’s just perception?
Yeah IIRC her coach was giving his players injections, presumably of a steroid or something. Foxhoven wanted to know what was in the needle and no one would tell her, but the coach insisted she get it anyway. Whew.
Well, Hayes did her absolute best to fuck that up over the course of the last two matches, but thank the lord for Trinity Rodman.
- Amazing levels of stamina and workrate from Soph and Rodman given Hayes is running them into the ground. Rodman doubters in the mudddd.
- Girma is the best CB in the world.
- Dunn WOTM for me. Excellent defensively and dropped a dime of an assist on that diagonal to Rodman.
- No exaggeration, Horan played one of the worst games from a central midfielder I think I've ever seen. Albert got a lot of schtick and hardly played a forward pass all match, but I thought she was mostly fine. A lot of the problems blamed on her came about because Horan was just chilling up top doing nothing but giving the ball away and getting in the way of the front three. That said, v glad they got this and will get Coffey back Tuesday.
I hope Horan is providing good leadership, because she's simply not earning her keep in terms of play.
Worried about Fox.
And yes, Hayes has difficult work ahead of her, with Rodman, Sonnett, and Albert sitting on yellows, Davidson out, Fox possibly out, Shaw apparently not ready to play/contribute, Horan not playing well, Williams probably not 100%, Lavelle getting banged up, and the war of attrition of long minutes and tired legs.
Yellows are wiped, so fortunately no worries there. Hopefully Fox is OK, and I sure hope they can figure out a way to get that front three ready to go for Tuesday. Stick em in a hyperbaric chamber for three days or something.
I think I muttered "For God's sake, play it forward!" at least a dozen times. Since the transfer, I'm increasingly relieved we aren't seeing that in the Thorns' matches.
I know not everyone has a favorable view of our FO, but MAN did they hit on Müller. This is a genuinely *absurd* ball! It looked great from my birds eye view vantage point in the ET, but seeing the ground level (especially how she motions towards Linnehan just before she plays the pass) makes it look even better. Great timing on the run from Payton as well.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/p0oqaU3cu_o
Dime with 11 cents change back.
We had a German fan visit here after the pickup to comment on how fortunate Thorns were to acquire Muller. Was he ever right.
Maybe the biggest surprise was how quickly she blended with the squad, even while they played in utter chaos the first part of the season.
The jury is still out on KK for me. She got big hits with Müller and possibly Obaze; Linnehan looks good but may never be first string, and ditto for Payne. She re-signed Smith for two years, which was essential. I've been pretty unhappy with KK's own-goals (drafting Sydny Nasello, losing Kuikka for nothing, pissing off Dunn, re-upping Gale mid-season for no reason) and her apparent over-valuing of Canadian players. But this is the first year when she's had solid financial backing (we assume), and I want to see what she can do with it - beginning now. I hope we start being a serious trophy contender again.
You can't leave out SIX keepers and FOUR strikers when one of those strikers is Sophia Smith so the other three strikers really don't matter much. This means not only are we thin at other positions, but we also doing much in the way of development. Bringing back Sinc as a player was a mistake, IMO. Overpaid for Fleming and Beckie, IMO. Getting nothing for Kuikka was bad asset management at the very least. Also didn't get much for Rocky and Yaz and we miss what they brought to the team. Reyes looks like a backup. I know some of these are going back to the previous offseason, but still...
On re-upping Gale for no reason: that was my take too at the time, but I see it a little differently now. I'm not saying the re-up was the only way to do this, but Gale's coaching is different since dropping the interim tag. I think he saw himself as a caretaker, sort of maintaining Norris's team, sticking with Norris's formation and tactics. Now we see him being experimental and audacious; he's working on making the Thorns his team. And so far it's promising. I know there will be ups and downs, and I have no idea whether Gale will be around for a long time or not, but he has shown a willingness to try things and to adjust when they're not working that just wasn't there with Norris. And he seems to recognize the players as people with their own knowledge and vision to contribute, not just as chess pieces for him to move around the board.
As you said, the jury's still out, on both Leblanc and Gale, so I'm ready to wait (not too long) and see. This month should tell us something, and the offseason and preseason should tell us a lot. Meanwhile, I'm confident it's going to be interesting.
My question would be, why would Gale WANT to do things that way?
Norris "formation and tactics" got him canned. If Gale wanted to be more than a caretaker what more logical choice could he make than be more "experimental and audacious" in the same sort of situation that Norris work was graded F?
I mean...I have NO idea, and I don't think I will until the regulars return and we see how the squad looks between then and the end of the season.
But it seems like a REAL odd choice to sit on your hands because the sign on his door was one thing and then let his tactical freak flag fly when it changed. Why not do that to convince his boss TO change the sign?
My thought would be that maybe he's been more loosey-goosey because these aren't "real" games or his "real" roster. I think we won't know until late August...I'd love to believe that under that goofy Ken exterior lies the cunning mind and ruthless drive to win of an Alex Ferguson! But I'll believe it when I see it in results...
He did say in one of the pressers that if he had had the team in preseason they would’ve had multiple systems and looks that they were comfortable with. This is like a second preseason, basically.
Or a belated first preseason, since so many of the players were away.
I think he's a loyal guy, and my only thought, or feeling rather, is that he might have felt that loyalty required it. It doesn't make sense, but it kind of jibes with the stuff he said in the early pressers: "The tactics are fine." And the feeling that he still regarded it as "Mike's team".
He's obviously not an experienced coach, but we'll soon get a sense of whether he has the makings of a good coach.
From my perspective, Muller is a direct replacement for Kuikka. We fretted about it, but she’s been a significant upgrade
Nasello was a terrible optics pick, but look at the picks after her. The COVID draft basically decimated that draft.
OK, as we roll into the Olympics semifinals...
Who have been your USWNT
MVP?
Most pleasant surprise?
Most disappointing or underperforming?
At this point I'm torn between Girma and Rodman for MVP, but I've got Dunn for most pleasant surprise, and Horan for most disappointing or underperforming.
MVP: Girma. We've given up all of two goals (and one of those was a meaningless stoppage-time one), and Girma is a main reason why.
Most pleasant surprise: Rodman. She's risen to a new level this tournament. Dunn is a close second, but it's a bit less surprising because we knew, from 5-10 years ago, that she had it in her. Actually maybe Emma Hayes should win this, because the team has turned around surprisingly fast since she took over two months ago and before that when she was still at Chelsea but presumably working closely with Kilgore.
Most disappointing: None. It really feels like everyone is clicking (see "Emma Hayes" above!). I've liked Horan for the most part; yes she's given up possession a lot, but it was usually in service of trying to make an attack happen, and on the plus side it feels like she has really helped set the "never relax" tone for the team late in games. It probably helped that I didn't get to watch the Japan game. Actually I am slightly disappointed in Coffey, for her dumb second yellow. Learn from this, Sam!
During the first half, Sauerbrunn had a coachy looking clipboard and was comparing notes with Gale and some of the assistants.
Is she officially in a coaching program?
This is a great question. I will find out.
Fishlock does this kind of stuff with Harvey.
I want confirmation of whether Harvey was wearing jorts on the pitch last night.
Wonder if she's been fitted for a cooler?
Hopefully not a Harvey Cooler of Sadness.
Seattle is shockingly bad. 2013 bad. I've never seen a Harvey team look this adrift since then (and she didn't have roster input that season). I don't enjoy her style, but it's usually competent in a sort of ugly way. This is a hot mess.
SSSSSSSSOOOOOOOOPPPPPPPPHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SOPH-ucking clutch! SOPH-ucking money! SOPH-ucking baller!
Lol. It's the new "Tobin 'f-ing' Heath." Parsons would be proud.
Hayes calls Girma "best I've ever seen." No disagreement.
Sophia Smith: "Need a goal against Germany? I'm your girl!"
Three so far this tournament.
I'm just cackling at Girma man. Every decision, every tackle, every pass.....just flawless.
Yeah, she's clarified for me that she's USWNT MVP. She's so steady it's hard to see how spectacular she is.
I keep thinking of what Soph said before the WC. Said she'd like to sit between Sanchez and Girma on the plane. If she needed to get something off her mind, Ashley would be the perfect sounding board. If she needed to relax, Naomi was the calm voice of reason.
I guess so! I don't know if I've ever seen a more collected major player on the NT.
My WOTM so clutch and clean!
But Soph we love you too!
Not sure I’ve seen her put a foot wrong once in either the Olympics or the WC. She is just incredible.
To add a little more re: just how good Müller's been- I posted a version of one of these about three months ago when I was playing around with data vis stuff, but here's another now that we're 60% through the season: Progressive Carries per 90 on the X-axis, Tackles + Interceptions per 90 on the Y-axis.
If there's an argument for her NOT being the best FB in the league this season, I'd like to see it. Crazy player!
https://www.imghippo.com/i/vtbnC1722555011.png
"Get you a gal who can do both"...we did!
To repeat my comment in the gamethread, it was really good to see Gale's three different attempts to mitigate the shitty attacking and minimal midfield options over the international break. Recognizing the need to get Müller --the most technical non-Hina Thorn-- on the ball ball more to support the midfield and choosing to invert her is the exact kind of proactive tactical move I want to see out of him.....and was also the move that literally lead to the only goal of the game tonight. Not anointing him a tactical genius by any means, but having his team shift between a back three and four in-game is, at the very least, a positive sign.
Other than that, I thought Linnehan was excellent mostly just by virtue of her directness and pace, Dias was atrocious (please don't bring her back), and Sheva was surprisingly good. It's really noticeable who the the first team players are (Hina, Müller, Moultrie) and who aren't/shouldn't be (Dias, Izzy, McKenzie, Hubly) just by the speed of the decisions being made. So many extra touches from Dias, Izzy, and Hubly tonight led to attacks fizzling out, missed runs, or offside calls. This team needs a pacy winger at minimum, and I hope we get one in the next week or two.
I thought Moultrie had a meh night, but giving her a pass considering she’s just coming back, new formation, ect… otherwise agree. Was surprised to see Sheva was kinda everywhere. Coughed up the ball a bit but cleaned up a lot and generally connected well also. She’d be good to keep around for fill-in midfield roles. Seems like she’s played everywhere now…Dias and Izzy have me generally banging my head against the wall, but with Izzy I can see her aerial threats are there at least. Happy to get a roster spot and an international spot back and say so long to Dias. We need 1-2 more heavy hitters in the attack. Every team is fillin’ up on attackers. We need to jump into that pool also, on top of really needing a top CB as well.
How scared are you that we might end up with AMC or Raso again lol…I just need them to be signed elsewhere asap please!
I would take Raso.
No AMC please.
no to both
Dias seems like a player you bring on late to close out a game where she just constantly hacks the other team to waste time. That's her only identifiable skill (at this level) that I can see. She's pretty good at it, but you don't really need that type of a player, either; in fact, better off without.
For us newbies, who is AMC?
Ana-Maria Crnogorčević (Sorry you asked?) She had some gaudy stats playing for the Swiss National Team, probably racked up against Kazakhstan and Liechtenstein, because she was not an NWSL scorer. Also the Thorns played her out of position - we needed a striker, so that was where she played, even though she wasn't. Seemed like a very nice person, but a mediocre soccer player for many clubs, in several positions.
...and this is why I hope she goes to Seattle or Angel City lol (I've heard both.) The schadenfreude that will be felt...
Harvey did tease another signing yesterday, so......fingers crossed!
She might fit right in.
Yeah Moultrie wasn’t great but she was also playing striker….which is obviously not where she should be. She had a a bunch of moments where she picked her head up and realized there was nobody in front of her. Izzy, as usual, played out of position to accommodate Dias for some reason which just continues to piss me off at this point.
And yes, I am a bit worried that we’ll end up with one of those two, though it wouldn’t make a ton of sense based on the profile of player we’ve seen this version of the FO go after. Raso would be disappointing, AMC an outright disaster.
Yeah, that also...forgot to mention she was being played out of position. I feel bad for Izzy...I agree she should've gotten all of these cup minutes in the 9 to see how she does with some consistency. But man, even against the worst of opposition (Xolos), her finishing is terrible terrible. And it hasn't just been that game. Not sure what to make of her really...I feel like aerial balls are her main threat and we just don't really play that way. Thorns haven't had any aerial threats since Horan and I think I read somewhere that we have one of the least # of crosses into the box of any team.
Anyways it's the 1st and I believe the NWSL transfer window is open today, so hopefully we hear about some news soon!
Not defending her finishing which has been mostly pretty horrendous, but it's worth mentioning again that finishing is generally not a sticky stat at all and that she's probably been putting a lot of pressure on herself when she does get the rare opportunity up top. The metrics on her are really, REALLY good, and we know she CAN finish because she did so for four years in college at a high level.
Worth noting that the “college star doesn’t step up to the pros” is a trope for a reason…
True, but I'd like if she got some real time to bed in at her natural position instead of giving her minutes to a 40 year old and freakin Ana Dias. I'd be a lot more willing to label her a bust if she had 1000 minutes at striker under her belt instead of 100.
People complain about the Thorns missing on college draft prospects and then blame players like Izzy for not living up to expectations when the team fails to develop them properly. They drafted an out and out nine in the first round and she's played maybe 15% of her (very limited) minutes there.
Yeah she definitely hasn't had the consistency at this level to work out her spacing, runs, speed of play, get the nerves out, and just general match fitness...I do feel for her. She doesn't get the benefit of the doubt because she hasn't earned it, but she hasn't earned it yet because she's not really been given a lot of chance. It's like when you're applying for an entry level job but one of the requirements of said job is the experience of said job....but it's like how do I get the damn job if I don't have experience? Somewhere, someone's gotta give you the chance to build the experience....
I really wish we had more wingers available for this cup so she could really get a good run-out because I still am just left with the same questions as before. 3 games wouldn't have been a huge data set, but it would've been nice to see how she improved throughout. I was a winger (as well as a 9 sometimes) and I know how hard it is to just come on cold (even if you're playing in your correct position) and expect to have your shots land. You just need to be given real game minutes to get that muscle memory back on track. Playing cold-ish AND out of position? Well, I think only the elite forwards are really gonna look good under those circumstances. It's kinda why I'm fine keeping her around....but man she's really gonna have to put in some offseason work with her finishing...especially with her feet, because we play with the ball on the ground a lot more than in the air. We're not ever gonna get an elite 9 who is fine being a #2, but we do need one who can still be dangerous and score goals. I don't know anything about Ella Stevens in college, but she was like a middle of the draft pick I think...and she's put things together well after being hit or miss in Chicago. Obv the coaching and talent surrounding her is very different, but would be fine with someone with her talent level behind Soph.
The thing about Izzy --and the reason I didn't *love* the pick at the time-- was how limited she is. She's not going to impact the game positively very often if she's played out of position because she's not super skilled, she's not super fast, and she's not a creator. She's not someone like Ella Stevens who has always been a skilled and cerebral a player and is versatile for those reasons. She's a pure poacher with some holdup skills who gets into the right positions to get goals better than just about anyone (which is what the metrics show) who hasn't finished well in extremely limited minutes.
My main point is: I think the finishing woes are a bit of a red herring because finishing is like 75% confidence. There's a good backup striker in there, but there's no point in having her around if you're not going to play to what she's good at.
Re: first team and non first team players
That gap becomes even more noticeable with so many of the first team players being absent. It’s one thing to essentially be covered by better players (and that’s frankly what all teams have to do) but it was really stark today because the back was essentially the first choice back five, plus Hina, and then it was…very much the B team.
And Dias, yeah. Weird process to get her. Incredibly weird that they never look to play her wide, ultimately I would rather you give Izzy these minutes and play her through the middle because there might be something more there, even if it’s not starter quality. Like, Izzy might have enough about her and her game to be backup in this league quality; I’ve seen enough to know Dias isn’t.
Dias was bad and based on this year. The level of threat seemed to crater the moment Linnehan went out
While I think Hina played at the highest level during the six game winning streak, I wonder if she was a tad more dangerous offensively with the way she was used last year. Maybe it’s just perception?
How bad is the Russian league where Dias can score 36 goals in 70 appearances? Rhetorical question.
With all due respect to Yakov Smirnoff, "In Russian Women's Soccer, goal scores you."
Read the Dani Foxhoven chapter of "Under the Lights..." about her time in Russia. Horrific. It's like Mafia Soccer League, it's that bad...
Yeah IIRC her coach was giving his players injections, presumably of a steroid or something. Foxhoven wanted to know what was in the needle and no one would tell her, but the coach insisted she get it anyway. Whew.
All sorts of other sketchy shit, too, with pay problems, and the skeevy mafia types that hung around the club. Pretty spooky.
The biggest problem with Linnehan is she has been injured a lot. She looks sturdy and she is fast and strong, but I wished she could stay healthy.
Yeah I thought Sheva played well and when Sam is back she is a respectable backup.
And Gale has shown way more tactical flexibility than Norris and even Wilkenson.
This is adorable on several levels--Trin and Alyssa
https://x.com/GalPalSports/status/1821167457429536812?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet
Jordan is Jumpman
Naeher is Jumping Starfish
Is it just me, or have Spain become less impressive as the Olympics have worn on?
Frickin' Colombia poised over "Do you believe on miracles?" territory.
Seems to coincide with the coaching change. Wonder if she's really doing anything that much different, since she was the assistant prior...
They are really shaky defensively.
But just like that, Spain levels in second half injury time. Well-worked goal and sloppy in back from Las Cafeteras...
Late 2nd half Colombian players' decision tree:
You have the ball and are surrounded by three Spain players, do you
1. pass to a teammate given several are open?
2. dribble out of it yourself?
#2 all the way, baby.
Was that the Caicedo one? She's so fun to watch....
Shockingly poor in possession needing the equalizer, so...
Fatigue? Pretty compressed schedule.
Well, Hayes did her absolute best to fuck that up over the course of the last two matches, but thank the lord for Trinity Rodman.
- Amazing levels of stamina and workrate from Soph and Rodman given Hayes is running them into the ground. Rodman doubters in the mudddd.
- Girma is the best CB in the world.
- Dunn WOTM for me. Excellent defensively and dropped a dime of an assist on that diagonal to Rodman.
- No exaggeration, Horan played one of the worst games from a central midfielder I think I've ever seen. Albert got a lot of schtick and hardly played a forward pass all match, but I thought she was mostly fine. A lot of the problems blamed on her came about because Horan was just chilling up top doing nothing but giving the ball away and getting in the way of the front three. That said, v glad they got this and will get Coffey back Tuesday.
I hope Horan is providing good leadership, because she's simply not earning her keep in terms of play.
Worried about Fox.
And yes, Hayes has difficult work ahead of her, with Rodman, Sonnett, and Albert sitting on yellows, Davidson out, Fox possibly out, Shaw apparently not ready to play/contribute, Horan not playing well, Williams probably not 100%, Lavelle getting banged up, and the war of attrition of long minutes and tired legs.
Yellows are wiped, so fortunately no worries there. Hopefully Fox is OK, and I sure hope they can figure out a way to get that front three ready to go for Tuesday. Stick em in a hyperbaric chamber for three days or something.
I think I muttered "For God's sake, play it forward!" at least a dozen times. Since the transfer, I'm increasingly relieved we aren't seeing that in the Thorns' matches.
Fun fact, Seattle scored a total of zero goals across three matches against Portland, including two games against the Thorns B-team lol.
Hard-hitting stats that we love
Beating Seattle? Good. Always good.
Playing the way we played? Ugh. Yeah, that wasn't much fun.
I get the why...but I'm glad we won't have to see that again.
Um, why is Debinha no longer playing for Brazil? Apparently Sam Mewis shares my confusion over this decision.