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Soccer Thorns

Statement from the Rose City Review on Paul Riley

Credit: Matthew Wolfe

On Thursday, The Athletic reported that former Thorns head coach Paul Riley sexually abused and coerced multiple players during his tenures with multiple professional women’s soccer teams—including his time in Portland. Sinead Farrelly and Mana Shim brought these reports to the attention of front offices, commissioners, and other league officials, but by no means are they the only survivors of Riley’s abuse.

Although Riley has been fired, NWSL commissioner Lisa Baird and general counsel Lisa Levine have resigned, and SafeSport—a questionable place to turn—is now investigating the allegations against Riley, we, at the Rose City Review, find lack of transparency and action until this point to be unacceptable.

It’s not enough for coaches and managers to apologize for hiring known abusers, as OL Reign owner Bill Predmore apologized for hiring former head coach Farid Benstiti in a press conference on Friday. “Getting it wrong” is not an excuse when there are known, credible accusations against a man. The systems of complacency within the NWSL run deep. We’ve seen them play out time and time again this year, with the terminations of Riley, Benstiti, and Richie Burke. And we’ve seen that same lack of transparency around the firing of Christy Holly, Alyse LaHue, and Tom Torres.

And it’s not enough for Riley to resign when the people who covered up his abuse remain in power. According to The Athletic’s report, Thorns owner Merritt Paulson and general manager Gavin Wilkinson released Riley from the club after investigating Shim’s allegations against him, but neither the club nor the league publicly acknowledged those accusations or that there had been an investigation. Despite knowing that Riley was a sexual abuser, Paulson, Wilkinson, and the NWSL let the league hire Riley for another job, placing him in yet another position of power.

We believe the Thorns’s statement on the report does not adequately address the harm the club has caused—nor does it outline a plan to keep players safe in the future. Merritt Paulson’s open letter, while outlining positive steps forward for the club, does little to acknowledge the complicit behavior of the Thorns’ front office. The “North Star” that he references as what is best for the players and techinical will need to involve the removal of Gavin Wilkinson to create a more safe and open environment. 

We support Mana Shim, Sinead Farelly, Kaiya McCollough, and everyone else who has come forward about abuse—publicly or privately.

We stand with the NWSL Players Association and their three demands. We commend the NWSLPA for the work they’re doing to push better league conditions and create avenues through which players can report abuse, but that work should have never fallen on them. 

The steps outlined in Paulson’s letter are positive, and we will be following up to ensure that he follows through on them. But we believe that the club’s current plan is not enough. We feel it is unacceptable that Gavin Wilkinson remains the club GM, given his role in covering up Riley’s abuse. We are calling for his removal from the Thorns and Timbers organization.

You can donate to the NWSLPA via PayPal.

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Soccer Thorns

Takeaways: Thorns 1, Red Stars 2

Credit: Nikita Taparia

The Thorns fell to Chicago on Saturday night in a disappointing 2–1 road loss. It was the two teams’ second and final meeting this NWSL season, and had a very different tone to it than the 5–0 thrashing courtesy of the Thorns to start the season. 

There aren’t many words to describe the game besides “un-Thorns-like.” From the whistle, the Thorns seemed to lack pace and the drive to press, and the momentum of the first half was firmly in favor of the Red Stars. The Thorns opened the scoring, but they did so against the run of play, and the instantaneous response from Chicago was emblematic, so let’s break that down.

It’s rare for Bella Bixby to make a major fumble that leads to a goal, but she made several against Chicago. Right before the above still, Bixby had come off her line to collect a cross, but spilled it out of her hands. However, because there were no Thorns following the players making runs into the box, Chicago was able to shoot on an open net. The Thorns outnumbered the Red Stars five to three in the box, and should have been first to the ball. 

While it’s important for the defense to be confident in their keeper and listen when they call for the ball (which may or may not have happened—the broadcast was as silent as a golf broadcast), they also need to be covering the open spaces. Inside the box, I would argue that it is much more important to mark a player than it is to mark space, and by not doing this Chicago was able to score an easy tying goal. 

In the post-match press conference, Crystal Dunn, Christine Sinclair, and Mark Parsons all had similar sentiments about how the speed Chicago equalized with was a “cardinal sin” and reflected how the half had been going for the team. 

Dunn said “the equalizer took the momentum out of us, and it was hard to find it again. We came out of the second half looking to give it everything we had.” 

Unfortunately, the Thorns weren’t able to find their rhythm in the second half either. Parsons said that he was “frustrated with the way the team played, both individually and collectively,” saying that coming back from an international break where six players and the head coach were on international duty made it hard to quickly find connections, especially when the first game back was away from home. 

At half, the Thorns made three subs, but this triple change may have ended up hindering the connections even more by removing two midfielders and one defender, the areas where the Thorns were struggling most with possession. Let’s take a look at the second goal the Red Stars scored that night. 

In this (very poor) screenshot, you can see the Chicago player (Rachel Hill) is closer to the goal than the Thorns player (Meghan Klingenberg?), allowing her to easily get the header that results in the point. Even though there are far more white shirts than black ones on the screen, what really matters is backtracking fast enough to get goalside. 

The buildup came from a cross that the Red Stars were able to get off with relatively little pressure. The lack of shutting down space was a common trend for the Thorns throughout the game. Normally the team with the strongest midfield, the Thorns were outplayed and exploited, and were unable to gain the momentum the second half. 

One thing that is curious is that even though the Thorns walked away feeling disappointed in their outcome and performance, the stats show a different story. They had 59% possession and 396 accurate passes, 150 more than the Red Stars made. The Thorns’ accuracy was also 79% compared to Chicago’s 71%. So, what went wrong? 

The Thorns’ identity, which they have been cultivating all season, relies on a high press and building up out of the back, neither of which they were able to accurately employ during the game. The two midfielders who played 90 minutes, Dunn and Angela Salem, actually had more touches than they did against North Carolina, but like possession, that’s another statistic that yielded little in the way of results. Unable to be playmakers, the midfield was dimmed and couldn’t connect the backline and the forwards. 

When the tactical numbers are still high, questions of mentality begin to arise. Here, Parsons says that the team was having a hard time mentally, as they were “unable to find a way when things weren’t going as planned.” 

Despite the unexpected outcome, the Thorns are optimistic going forward, knowing they have a full week of training with the entire team ahead of them. The time at home and together can only benefit the team both mentally and physically, as they find time to recharge and reconnect with one another on the field. 

After the game, Sinc speculated that the team bus catching on fire last week may have been a bad omen. Hopefully this week is fire-free.

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Soccer Thorns

Takeaways: Thorns 1, Courage 0

Credit: Nikita Taparia

The Thorns recorded their first ever win away against the Courage on Sunday. The game was touted as a “top of the table clash,” and Kelli Hubly said afterward that “rivalry between the Courage and the Thorns might be bigger than that against the Reign” because both teams have won multiple NWSL titles. Despite the 1-0 scoreline and the Thorns’s 2-0 loss in Cary earlier this year, Portland dictated the tempo from the beginning and dominated in shots, possession, and passing. 

The Courage didn’t look as threatening as they have previously this season—they were unbeaten in their last seven games—and weren’t able to get many shots off. While this could be attributed to internal issues and player turnover on the team, the Thorns’s midfield have to get credit for effectively pressing and shutting down North Carolina’s box midfield.

In the above image (Thorns are moving left to right), it’s easy to see how much space the diamond midfield had. Angela Salem has the ball in the center of the pitch, and she has several easy passes to choose between. There are four Courage players within about a 10-yard radius, all of whom are behind the play. She chooses to play it forward to Crystal Dunn, who holds the ball and feeds it through for Sophia Smith to go 1v1 on goal. 

Due to the fact that the Thorns can never seem to have all their forwards healthy at the same time, Christine Sinclair has transitioned into playing the No. 9 striker role since she returned from the Olympics. This switch allows Crystal Dunn to slide forward play the No. 10 center attacking mid, where she’s been more successful than she was in the deeper midfield positions in the diamond. Here, she is able to be a playmaker. With 50 touches and 76% passing accuracy, Dunn was an effective link between Sinclair and Smith up top and the midfield. The combination of those lines allowed the Thorns to outshoot the Courage 23-11. 

In this image (Thorns are moving right to left), you can see Portland’s midfield holding their wider shape—as they did throughout the game—and consistently beating out the Courage’s. Lindsey Horan (bottom middle) plays the ball centrally, and Rocky Rodríguez is able to easily receive it. Due to the high press and wide shape, Rodríguez has several options to keep the ball moving around North Carolina. 

The strength and consistency of the midfield against North Carolina is an example of the “Thorns mentality”—a phrase that players and coach Mark Parsons have repeated throughout the season. After the game, Parsons said they “want to be constantly improving and playing as a team because that will push [the team] towards [their] best.” He shouted out Dunn and Salem as two players who exemplified that mindset. As the last third of the seasons approaches, the Thorns will look to build on the consistency and success they have begun to expect. 

Sophia Smith, tied for most goal on the Thorns with Charley, has been an example of the Thorns’ mentality. Staying with the Thorns all summer has been the ideal opportunity to get consistent minutes, and I don’t think I can say enough good things about Smith’s recent form. Against North Carolina, she had eight shots, a mere three fewer than the entire Courage team, with five on target. Probability says that if you shoot enough, one is bound to go in, but that statement cheapens Smith’s goal. Sinclair played a perfectly-weighted ball over the top, and Smith slipped between the two Courage center backs to go to goal. Seeing that Murphy was off her line, Smith knew she couldn’t take unnecessary touches, or Murphy would get the ball. 

In this still, right before Smith struck the ball, Smith’s body is facing toward the left hand side of the goal. However, she doesn’t go there. Reading the keeper well, Smith strikes the ball with the outside of her right foot, sending it to the near post and catching Murphy off-balance.

Smith leads the entire league in shots, and while she isn’t consistent yet on her conversion rates, her ability to read the game and control her body allows her to score at crucial moments. Goals like the one in Sunday’s game are not an accident or a statistic probability; they are well-intentioned. As Smith continues to grow into the league, she will become even more lethal. 

Also of note, it was good to see Tyler Lussi back on the field after so long out! Hopefully Simone Charley can come back soon because the Thorns’s front line will truly be frightening with all forwards fit.

Portland now heads off on international break, with the six players called up by their national teams joined by Mark Parsons as he officially begins coaching the Dutch National Team.

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Soccer Thorns

Takeaways: Thorns 2, Gotham 1

Credit: Matthew Wolfe

In what Mark Parsons called the “toughest game of [their] intense five-game streak,” the Thorns came away with all three points against Gotham FC last night. Last night’s game was the fourth meeting of the Thorns and Gotham this year, and marked their second win (the other two were ties).  

Fresh off their ICC win, the Thorns marketed the game as the  homecoming of their Olympians. It was bittersweet to not see AD Franch welcomed back to Providence Park alongside Crystal Dunn, Lindsey Horan, Becky Sauerbrunn, and Christine Sinclair, but that’s business. Parsons wasted no time in slotting the Olympians back into the starting XI, even if that meant deploying them in different positions from their usual. Sinc played the attacking No. 9 instead of her normal distributing role as the No. 10, where Dunn played instead.

To the eye, the Thorns dominated the first half, attacking relentlessly. The numbers told a somewhat different story. While the Thorns did outshoot Gotham 15–1 with seven shots on target, they were only able to score once in the run of play. Postgame, Parsons said he was disappointed that they hadn’t put more of their many opportunities. The lack of goals resulted from misplaced or overshot passes in the final third, where players took one too many touches or played the ball behind a player who was open on goal.

And despite their overall dominance, there were moments where the team looked a little disjointed. Their passing accuracy was only 75%, and they completed 200 passes, 100 less than Gotham did. With more time back, I expect these numbers to rise, but it will be difficult to find the cohesion the Thorns experienced during the Olympic window with victory tours and national team camps expected to take players out. 

Horan, in her first 90-minute appearance for the Thorns since the July 11th game against Gotham, put in a solid shift. She did have a few noticeable mistakes, like early in the first half, when she received the ball unmarked at the top of the 18 and passed it behind Sophia Smith instead of opting to shoot, sending the ball out of play. However, Horan ended the match with the most touches (68), and an above-average passing accuracy of 80%. That she did so well statistically despite struggling to find teammates at certain moments points to how much more dominant this midfield can be when all the Olympians are fully reintegrated.

While individual players may have been off their rhythms at times, the team as a whole knew their job and were successful in keeping a high press. Parsons spoke about how during the Olympic window the Thorns kept their integrity and didn’t change how they played just because half their starters were gone. Gotham started the match in a 3-5-2, attempting to clog the midfield lanes, but the Thorns’ high press was able to overwhelm their formation.

As you can see on the passing map below, Smith, Dunn, and Sinc all pressed high, and were able to find themselves in 1v1 situations with the Gotham defenders.

Credit: Antonio Maza

Rocky Rodríguez and Angela Salem were able to find them with balls over the top, bypassing the overcrowded midfield, which is where many of the Thorns’ shots came from.

The passing map also shows how crucial Salem was as the No. 6. In 65 minutes, she had two key passes and was 100% on accurate long balls, making 28 completed passes. Her distribution helped to connect the back line to the forwards and work the ball around Gotham, exploiting the available space. Salem is a true No. 6, the deepest midfielder, and was replaced by Moultrie, who is still finding her footing and which position she’s most comfortable in. Without a dedicated holding midfielder, the midfield lost its shape, causing most of the play to go through Horan on the left side. 

This shift forced Yazmeen Ryan to drop back, not able to press nearly as high as Sophia had. These subtle changes resulted in a significant decrease in shots taken, with only five in the second half, and led to “poor buildup, pressing, and fatigue” as Parsons said postgame. The Thorns’ 40.8% possession shows that although they’re dangerous, last night didn’t quite represent their full potential, and they continue to lose focus as games reach the 70th minute.  

Sophia Smith deserves a shoutout, too. In the half she played, she was  one of the most dangerous players on the pitch. Parsons said that her not making the Olympic roster, while heartbreaking, was ultimately one of the best things for her as a Thorn, as it provided the consistency she needs to grow. With 100% passing accuracy and three shots on target, she was lethal up top, slicing apart Gotham’s back line and beating players on the dribble, including Erika Skroski, whose ankles she destroyed to get her goal.

Postgame, Smith said she has been working on her off-ball runs, and that work is showing results. As she gets more time to grow (she is only 21, as the commentators never fail to remind us), she will develop into one of the most lethal threats in the league. 

The Thorns go again against the Reign on Saturday, and while there isn’t much time to prepare, hopefully the rhythm and connection between the Olympic players and the team will grow, leading to a game that is equally dominant to the eye and on paper. 

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ICC Soccer Thorns

WICC Preview: FC Barcelona and Olympique Lyonnais

Ana-Maria Crnogorčević will make her return to Providence Park with Barcelona. Photo by Kris Lattimore.
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Soccer Thorns

Takeaways: Thorns 1, Pride 1

Photo by Nikita Taparia

The Thorns extended their unbeaten streak with a hard-fought 1–1 tie against the Orlando Pride yesterday evening, thanks to Simone Charley’s fourth headed goal of the season. The Thorns beat the Pride 2–1 just a few weeks ago, but that was before then-coach Marc Skinner abruptly left for Manchester United. The Pride they played tonight, under interim head coach Becky Burleigh, was more physical and harder to break down, but the Thorns were able to dig deep and find a point on the road. 

At the outset, the Thorns appeared tight and disjointed. Despite only two changes to the starting eleven from the previous week—with Natalia Kuikka getting the start over Christen Westphal and Marissa Everett stepping in for an injured Celeste Boureille—the team struggled to find a rhythm in the early minutes. That was a departure from previous games, where they’ve started on the front foot: the Thorns have scored 11 times in the first 15 minutes this season, a league record.

Last night was a different story: defensively, the Thorns trailed in the first half, winning 43% of their duels. And it was the Pride who found the back of the net early with a header from Jodie Taylor in the 13th minute. The Pride’s initial run of momentum came off of a 4-v-1 battle against Sophia Smith at the top of the 18, where Smith was offered no support or options to get the momentum on Portland’s side.

After the break, though, the Thorns turned things around. In the postgame presser, Charley and Meghan Klingenberg both framed that change as a shift to “Thorns Soccer,” which refers to the core principles that the team follows. Basically, the players hold each other accountable, focus on process over results, and play the same way regardless of who’s on the field. This consistency allows for them build momentum through a game, to where they can score with ease and class.

And that’s what happened: Charley, who is absolutely on fire, recorded her fifth goal of the season off a free kick by Klingenberg that looked straight off of the training ground. Although the goal didn’t come until the 78 minute, the Thorns had been building for a goal throughout the second half. They recorded three shots on target (up from just one in the first half) and only allowed the Pride four shots total, which is much more typical of the Thorns’ dominant, offense-focused style. 

After the game, the players talked about their first-half struggle in finding a rhythm and acting on what the other team was presenting them with. “Somebody is always going to be open, and we need to find that opportunity,” said Kling after the match. She added that once the Thorns are able to find open spaces in game and make adjustments on the fly, they’ll be “scary good.”

Watching that first-to-second-half shift, it’s clear that the Thorns are more than capable of making necessary tactical adjustments and executing plans, and it’s more of a matter of finding the confidence to adjust on the fly, rather than being too shaken to act without having to wait for a break to discuss what to do. 

The Thorns Soccer that Charley and Kling discussed in the post-game conference was also present on an individual level. Parsons cited that nine players were out for this match, but that those absences showed the depth of the team culture, as players went a full 90 and didn’t relent.

With Portland’s five international players still out, many players have gotten more minutes than they did in the first half of the season, but the tactics that they employ don’t change. Angela Salem, who got deservedly high praise from Parsons postgame, had the second-most touches (77) and the most chances created (5), as well as boasting a 78% passing accuracy. She’s a pivotal player in the midfield, acting as the glue to help facilitate movement forward and maintain possession. Against Orlando, Salem was one of the most successful in exploiting the space that the Pride left open and has made an exceptionally strong case to keep her starting spot on the team, as her visions and consistency are emblematic of the Thorns culture that the team has been cultivating all season. 

Another player it’s impossible not to talk about is Olivia Moultrie, who recorded her second professional start against the Pride and played 82 minutes, nearly double what she played last week. And although she recorded the second fewest touches with 39, her work ethic on the field to recover, pressure, and infiltrate the open space opens up the field for her teammates. Especially in the second half, Moultrie played end to end, making several tackles back in her own 18-yard box, showing that she has the mental fortitude to play with the Thorns. 

As the Thorns head into a busy few weeks, with five games in sixteen days thanks to the Women’s International Champions Cup, it’s crucial that they maintain the momentum they have built during the Olympic period. For this team to succeed, every player has to deeply believe in the “Thorns Soccer” culture that allowed them to get back a point on the road against Orlando.

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Soccer Thorns

Takeaways: Thorns 1, Dash 0

Photo by Nikita Taparia

From the second the whistle blew, the Thorns looked like they were going to dominate the Dash, with Sophia Smith scoring the fastest Thorns goal ever 32 seconds into the match. However, Smith’s goal would be the only one that Portland scored that night, holding the Dash to a 1–0 win on the road.

As a team who has “struggled with scoring,” said Kelli Hubly after the match,” it was really special to score early on the road.” Putting themselves on the board early was a needed confidence boost. However, the Thorns struggled to add to that tally, despite playing a great defensive game. 

Here are a couple of my takeaways from the match:

1. 90-minute defensive mentality

The Thorns were dominant against the Pride last week, holding a 2–0 lead for 93 minutes. Then, in the last minute of stoppage time, they conceded on a strike from outside the box. This week against the Dash, the Thorns immediately worked on correcting their mistakes, remaining committed to defense until the very end of stoppage time.

The Thorns led the Dash on duels won, interceptions, tackles, and aerial duels, spread not just across the defense but the midfield and forwards as well. One area of defense where the Thorns did particularly well was tracking back on wide balls that Houston would attempt to play. By preventing players like Jasmyne Spencer and Makamae Gomera-Stevens from getting crosses or passes off inside the 18-yard box after quick turnovers, the Thorns successfully shut down most of the Dash’s shooting angles, giving Bella Bixby an easy job that night. The cohesion between Natalia Kuikka, Hubly, Emily Menges, and Meghan Klingenberg was evident.

After the match, Rocky Rodríguez spoke about the team’s defensive mentality, saying that they “had a lot to lose” and the Thorns “need to get better at closing out games, especially if [they] are winning.” Those last twenty minutes of the game are crucial to securing three points, and players have to keep working hard even as they are beginning to tire. Parsons’s substitutions, which slotted defensive players like Christen Westphal and Meaghan Nally into the midfield to help overwhelm Houston’s offensive-minded substitutions, worked. The Thorns’ game changers came in and locked down the win, bringing accurate passes and high pressure and holding Houston to only 13 shots. Rodríguez’s statement is true—the Thorns do need to work on closing out games—but they’re already showing improvement from last week. 

2. Defense wins games, but scoring helps too

When Sophia Smith set the new club record for fastest goal, it seemed as though Portland was going to have another performance à la the season opener against Chicago, where they went  up 4–0 in the first half.

Unfortunately, Smith’s goal was the only one for a Thorns side that has struggled to score in recent games. The Thorns have had no problem getting the ball into their attacking third. Last night, they had 50 more accurate passes in their attacking half than the Dash had on them, even without their midfield of international stars. Rodríguez, Angela Salem, and Celeste Boureille link up in the diamond well, and are able to control the ball and distribute to Smith, Simone Charley, and Marissa Everett, but where the Thorns are struggling is getting off that final cross or shot on goal. All players are rising to the occasion of getting more time than they had been seeing prior to the Olympics, and are beginning to find their groove and consistency with this new starting lineup. 

While typically the Thorns outshoot their opponents two to one, against Houston they only registered 14 shots to the Dash’s 13. To the eye, that decrease was clear, with Charley and Smith often taking one too many touches before getting a cross blocked, or a defender crashing on them, neither one of them making an accurate cross on the night. With a team full of talented attackers and a midfield with good rates of distribution and control, there should be more shots on goal. Being able to set themselves up with a wider margin of goals will only complement the Thorns’ defense as they work on closing games without conceding more consistently.