If you’re scratching your head at yesterday’s news that the Thorns have transferred Ellie Carpenter to Olympique Lyonnais, you’re not alone. Carpenter was one of the best outside backs in the league, famously matching up well in one-on-one situations against world-class offensive players like Megan Rapinoe. She also had something you can’t teach, something the rest of Portland’s back line—especially with Emily Sonnett having been swapped out for the 35-year-old Becky Sauerbrunn—is largely lacking: speed.
That’s of special concern when we look at the first matchup on the schedule in Utah: the North Carolina fucking Courage.
If starting the Challenge Cup against the back-to-back shield and championship winners wasn’t tough enough, the tournament format may make matters even harder. The Thorns tend to start slow and improve throughout the season; they don’t have time for that in Utah. They have to figure out how to win right away, and with an unproven offense, defense will be key. So who will shore up Portland’s back line in Carpenter’s absence? Let’s get into the Xs and Os and take a look at a few ways this defense could line up.
Gabby Seiler
Gabby Seiler seems as likely an option as any at right back. She’s been stymied by major injuries twice now, once before she’d reported to the team as a rookie, and then last year when she tore her ACL, but in the minutes she has gotten, she’s shown she can play at just about any defensive position. I’d argue she’s best employed as a No. 6, but with Parsons saying he wants to line Rocky Rodríguez up alongside Lindsey Horan as dual No. 8s, there isn’t room for her in a three-woman midfield. Seiler may not be as fast as Carpenter, but she had a 66.9% success rate in duels last season, better than Carpenter’s 42.9%, and she has both the physicality and the brains to stand up to the league’s toughest players.
Madison Pogarch
Madison Pogarch only played a handful of minutes in 2019, so she’s something of an unknown quantity. I do know the coaching staff is high on her, and that she’s fast and hard-working. I also remember watching her in preseason in 2019 and thinking, “wow!” Since that tournament wasn’t streamed, I have no way of confirming that memory. I’d say she’s a solid back-up option for Seiler.
Don’t Defend
Back in 2014, Paul Riley’s Thorns team team had a certain mystical quality where they were simultaneously good and bad, and also neither, at any time. This was a team that could beat the eventual champions 7–1 one week and then lose to Boston the next. It was high-concept soccer, where the concept was that it doesn’t matter how many goals you concede as long as you score one more than that.
Riley has grown as a coach since then. He still plays an extremely attacking style, but North Carolina’s defense has also been the stingiest in the league the past two seasons. So here’s my idea: since the Courage offense is all but unstoppable, why bother trying? Instead, Parsons could take a page from Riley’s own playbook and focus all the energy on breaking down that defense and scoring more goals than the opposition. That could look something like this:
The strength of this lineup starts with its front line of Sophia Smith, Tyler Lussi, Simone Charley, Morgan Weaver, Meghan Klingenberg, and Marissa Everett. All four strikers are fast; some are also technical and/or physical. Kling will play in her normal role, minus the defending part. Everett is an unproven quantity, but any other player on the roster runs the risk of being too defensive in that position. Tobin Heath, Rodríguez, Christine Sinclair, and Lindsey Horan will all both feed the forward line and make overlapping runs themselves.
Emily Menges is the goalkeeper, but will be tasked with covering the whole defensive half of the field as well as she can—as well as scoring, if possible. Let’s win this thing 15–14.
Human Pyramid
The spiritual opposite of the “don’t defend” strategy is the human pyramid. I’ve looked, and as far as I can tell there’s no rule against this.
I’m not envisioning a true human pyramid, but here’s the concept: build a wall on the goal line, then have the remaining players sit on the shoulders of the players in the wall. Where’s the ball going to go?
AD Franch can play in front of the player stack. Every time she catches the ball, she wastes as much time as possible, then kicks it as far away as she can. The concept here, obviously, is to play for a 0–0 draw, but it’s not hard to imagine the Courage getting so sick of this that at some point, the shoulder-sitters, with their fully rested legs, can rush the other goal and sneak one in.
Tobin Heath
She’s had to do it before. Why not this time?
