Category: NWSL

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NWSL Soccer Thorns

Takeaways: Portland Thorns 0, NJ/NY Gotham 1

Photo by Kris Lattimore.

There’s no disputing that 2024 is a new era for the Portland Thorns. The club is under new ownership, majorly switched up their backline, have partnered with lesbian icon FLETCHER, and, on Sunday, lost their first ever home opener to reigning NWSL champions NJ/NY Gotham FC.

If one of those seems like it’s not like the others, it’s because it’s not: the Thorns are on something of an unprecedented losing streak, having failed to take a point out of their last four matches (unfortunately, a club record) across all competitions going back to last season.

Record aside, Sunday’s match looked to be a marked improvement on Portland’s season-opening 5-4 defeat in Kansas City. The Thorns looked more locked in, were making a collective effort to win balls (even if they struggled then use that possession to build out of pressure), and were ultimately denied from the scoreboard by two offside calls on two highlight-worthy Sophia Smith goals and a handful of brilliant saves from Gotham’s backline and goalkeeper Cassie Miller.

“I don’t think I could have asked for any more in terms of trying to win the game,” Thorns head coach Mike Norris said. “I’m not sure we could have done more without coming away with one or three points.”

The defense thing

Naturally, when a team concedes five goals in a game—as the Thorns did against the Kansas City Current last week—their defense is going to be something of a focus in the next one.

It also wasn’t shocking to see the changes Norris opted to make in Portland’s backline, with Becky Sauerbrunn replacing Isabella Obaze and Reyna Reyes stepping in for Nicole Payne in the Thorns starting XI. (Sauerbrunn and Reyes had both been limited in their minutes the week prior, as both were returning from national team duty and reintegrating with their club team.) And the changes, to Norris’ credit, left the team looking noticeably more settled in defense.

“This week, we really focused on team defending,” Sauerbrunn said. “When the people in front of you are really putting a shift in, it makes it a lot more obvious and easy for the backline to know where they need to be.”

Not a small portion of that can be credited to Sauerbrunn. Portland had looked to be missing her leadership against the Current—an issue amplified by the team playing a goalkeeper with relatively limited NWSL minutes and three of their four defenders making their league debuts.

“She just oozes confidence in terms of what she gives off and the belief and confidence that she has in other players,” Norris said of Sauerbrunn. And that mindset spreads to the players around her: “When you’ve got somebody with Becky’s experience in the backline, I think the leadership, the communication part, I think it just helps to bring the best out of other people as well.”

Fortunately, that best in others came out, with the Thorns showing a commitment to win one-on-one battles—not just in defense, but across the field—that had been missing last game.

“Eyes are on the backline,” Sam Coffey said, “but it starts with our No. 9, it starts with our frontline […] just making sure we are being our most front-footed, aggressive selves all over the field, and I think we did a much better job of that tonight.”

Photo by Kelsey Baker.
Did things just not go Portland’s way?

The thing is: Gotham definitely got lucky with Smith being offside on both her disallowed goals. The other thing is: Portland’s attack wasn’t nearly as fluid as we know it can be.

The Thorns did generate a fair number of chances—15 shots for 1.24 expected goals to Gotham’s nine shots and 0.72 expected goals—and were unlucky with the Smith offside calls and a couple shots that sailed just wide, but they also bypassed building possession through working through the midfield, a method that has traditionally helped Portland maintain control of a game’s tempo and find their moments to break down their opposition’s defense. Instead, the Thorns tried to use their width to move the ball up the flanks. It’s a decision that’s not unfounded given the skill of Reyes, Marie Müller, Morgan Weaver, and Janine Beckie, but Portland thrives on being a team that can hurt their opponent in so many ways, and confining their attack to the flanks limits those options.

And it’s not that the Thorns didn’t look good in the moments they attacked through the midfield: Jesse Fleming sent a beautiful through ball to Smith toward the end of the first half, and Hina Sugita added a new energy to Portland’s offense when she subbed on for Fleming in the 78th minute.

“She came on, she had an impact,” Norris said of Hina, “and that’s all you can ask from anybody coming off the bench.”

Hina’s presence on the field added another wrinkle to the Thorns going forward, and her connection with Smith added a fluidity that was lacking from portions of Portland’s attacking game.

I know it’s early in the year, and Norris is still figuring out his starting lineup for the season, but I’m honestly surprised to see a player of her skill sitting on Portland’s bench for the first 75 minutes of the game—especially in a match that could have used her flare.

When do we start asking about Norris?

We’re two weeks into the season, and Portland is the only team to lose their first two games and sits in last place. (The San Diego Wave could match that opening run, but they’ve only played one regular season match this year.) The Thorns, as mentioned above, have also lost their first ever home opener and are on their longest losing streak across all competitions in club history.

I think a number of factors are responsible for that—new ownership and offseason defensive upheaval among them—but I also think we have to start asking questions about Norris if the results continue.

Fortunately, we’re not there quite yet; Norris seems like a coach who has the respect of his players, and he has time to turn things around.

I’m sorry, I don’t really know Dune, but the people seemed to like this Tweet

Categories
NWSL Soccer Thorns

Takeaways: KC Current 5, Portland Thorns 4

Photo by Kris Lattimore

When the Portland Thorns lost Emily Menges, Crystal Dunn, Rocky Rodríguez, and Natalia Kuikka during the offseason, there were plenty of jokes that the Thorns were going to win every game 4-3 in 2024. In 2023, the Thorns allowed the third most goals in the NWSL, behind only the floundering Chicago Red Stars and Kansas City Current. Despite that, they still ended with the best goal differential amongst all teams, establishing the precedent for a high-scoring front line and leaky defense. Add the fact that the Thorns started three brand-new-to-the-NWSL defenders on Saturday’s opening game against Kansas City, and the 5-4 scoreline was to be expected. 

Putting the goals aside, when rewatching the game with a clearer mind and less emotions, there isn’t reason to pull the panic alarm on the Thorns’ season—yet. In an effort to be less of a pessimist this season, here are some positives to take away from the Thorns’ 2024 season debut:

1. The didn’t roll over and die after conceding early and in quick succession

I’m sure we all remember the horrific 5-1 loss to Angel City to close out the 2023 season and watch the shield slip from the Thorns’ grasp. While the Thorns now hold the cursed record of being the first team to allow five goals in back-to-back regular season games, the two performances couldn’t be more different. The worrying trend last season was that once the Thorns went behind, it would lead to the opposition scoring again, rather than the Thorns fighting back to end on top. Although they didn’t manage to complete their comeback against Kansas City to salvage a point, they did manage to come back from being 1-5 down to end the game 4-5.  

The individual efforts of Janine Beckie and Sophia Smith can’t be discounted in the comeback. Both players scored braces and led by example, quickly grabbing the ball out of the net and pushing the Current to restart quickly. It is this type of attitude that I want to continue over the course of the season. Postgame, both Beckie and Thorns head coach Mike Norris talked about the team’s halftime changes, with Beckie saying that there are a lot of “what ifs” in a game, and that they needed to keep going “one goal at a time”—exactly what the team did.  

2. Janine Beckie did the impossible: came from from a long-term ACL injury better than she was before

Beckie returned to the field 366 days after her initial ACL injury at Providence Park (we were still in the beginning of preseason this time last year!), and now she has the unique distinction of being more in-form than she was before the injury. While it may be premature to predict her play for the rest of the season based on 45 minutes of game time, Beckie looked the sharpest player on the field. Her two goals were outstanding, and showed a marked improvement on her accuracy and finesse. Assuming she will only grow stronger and more fit over the next several months, she will become a real threat. In the 2022 season, Beckie played 19 games and only recorded two assists. She has already exponentially increased her output. 

3. Plenty of time for the team to gel; this is going to be the longest regular season yet

With only three preseason games, one open to the public and two behind closed doors, the Thorns had very little time to play together in a game-like environment. Add the fact that six players were gone for a month at the Women’s Gold Cup, and makes sense why it looked like the Thorns had never met one another in the first half of play. Postgame, Norris said he is slowly working on reintegrating the players that had been absent for the majority of preseason, and the balance of including these Gold Cup players and those who weren’t on international duty was off. The biggest coaching fumble came on the decision of who to start on the back line. Kelli Hubly was the only returning player, and has historically been more of a follower than a leader, often being paired as second to Menges or Becky Sauerbrunn. She had a big ask on Saturday to lead the line, and unfortunately she did not pass the test. Alongside her was Isabella Obaze, Marie Müeller, and Nicole Payne, all of whom made their NWSL debuts. Of the debutantes, Obaze impressed me most, collecting an assist and completing 41 of 43 passes. Her long balls and passes into the final third were enticing, and with more time to train with Sauerbruun, she could become a formidable center back. 

The largest omission to the starting back line was Reyna Reyes. She is coming off a very strong rookie campaign, where she moved into a starting role over club legend Meghan Klingenberg, and has a commanding presence on the field. Alongside brand-new players, Reyes could have helped to anchor and guide the team from the back. Despite being at the Gold Cup with Mexico, Reyes’ familiarity with Noris’ tactics and game plan would have been a huge asset. She came on in the final 15 minutes and was immediately a difference maker, winning tackles and aerial duels, alongside making four recoveries—rate better than Hubly’s three over the course of the entire ninety minutes. 

With 26 regular season games, there is more wiggle room for dropped points, and dropping them early is okay, so long as we see continued growth over the course of the season. If the Thorns are still looking this disjointed next month, then alarm bells can be raised. 

4. New goalkeeper coach—can he teach the Thorns’ goalkeeper union how to improve their distribution? 

Nadine Angerer stepped away from the coaching staff in the offseason, and the Thorns brought in Australian Jordan Franken in her stead. He formerly coached the Australian Women U-23 and U-20 teams, as well as Melbourne City in the A-League. Having only been in Portland since the beginning of March, it’s fair to say that he hasn’t had much time to work with any of Portland’s keepers. However, the best keeper of the weekend, Lysianne Proulx for Bay FC, who made a whopping eight saves in her league debut, credits Franken as “instrumental in her development.” If Proulx is a marker for the type of style and play that Franken teaches, I am excited to see how much Shelby Hogan et al. can grow under his tutelage. 

To put it bluntly, Hogan did not have a good game on Saturday. With Bella Bixby out pregnant and Lauren Kozal and Kat Asman yet to make their NWSL debuts, Hogan is the defacto Thorns No. 1 for the start of the season. While I haven’t been able to attend training to see how Asman and Kozal are fairing against Hogan, I think it is the right call to play Hogan ahead of them, simply because there is so much change at the back for the Thorns. Hogan’s, albeit minimal, NWSL experience can help settle a nervy defense. In her appearances last season, including the start in the Thorns’ sole playoff game, Hogan’s weakness has always been her distribution. She is a good shot-stopper and a penalty kick god, but she isn’t good with her feet. Against KC, she only completed 13 of 21 passes and 6 of 13 long balls. For a team that wants to build out of the back and through their midfield, a successful buildup needs to start with a quality distribution from the keeper. The Current’s first goal came directly off of a major error by Hogan, who passed the ball straight to Debinha. These types of errors cannot happen by a starting level keeper in the NWSL. 

The other major error that Hogan repeated was hesitating and reacting too late. Poor defense—allowing the Current’s forwards to easily slice through to goal—aside, KC’s second and third goal were the result of Hogan coming out early but stopping around the PK mark, which allowed an open angle for the Current to shoot from. If she is going to come out and be aggressive, she needs to commit to it. Otherwise, she should stay on her line to give herself the best shot at stopping the shot. Maybe it was nerves, but we have seen Hogan be aggressive in the box, and her confidence needs to be brought back up to where it was. 

5. New ownership means we can finally leave the holding pattern that the Thorns have been in since MarPar left

Prior to this most recent offseason, the Thorns had not made a non-Canadian major signing since Hina Sugita in January 2022, which Mark Parsons and Merritt Paulson can take most of the credit for. Around the league, teams have seen an influx of international talent join their rosters, while the Thorns have been looking in from the outside. With the Bhathal family officially owners, the Thorns have begun their new era, and with it comes new recruits. There are still three international spots open on the roster; with the European season wrapping up shortly, I am keeping my eyes open for another elite striker, as well as a seasoned center-back to join the team. 

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NWSL Soccer Thorns

Once a Thorn, Always a Thorn

Photo: Matthew Wolfe
Photo: Matthew Wolfe
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Categories
NWSL Soccer Thorns

The End of an Era: Thorns 0, Gotham 1

Photo by Matthew Wolfe.

You can’t give me back what you’ve taken

But you can give me something that’s almost as good

—The Mountain Goats “Getting Into Knives”

Despite finishing second overall in a very close NWSL season, the Portland Thorns had been on a downward trajectory since the World Cup in August. Following a 4-2 win at home against Washington Spirit in July, the Thorns went 4-7-2 in all competitions. Most notably for the high-scoring Thorns, however, is that in their last five games (semi-final included), Portland only scored two goals while allowing eight. There are a host of reasons for why the team never seemed to regain composure after the World Cup break, but they boil down to two things: a roster that isn’t as deep as its best 11 players and a complete absence of tactics. 

After a brutal 1-5 loss to Angel City—which lost the NWSL shield for Portland—the Thorns had to wait three weeks to play their next game. In that time, Hina Sugita went to Uzbekistan, Natalia Kuikka went to Finland, Cristine Sinclair to Canada, and Olivia Moultrie, Sophia Smith, Becky Sauerbrunn, Sam Coffey, and Crystal Dunn went across the United States. That’s the majority of the Thorns’ starting XI across the entire season gone during the preparation for their single most important game, without considering the extra minutes on legs and time zone changes that went along with international duty. For players like Smith, the break was a chance to build back up game minutes, but for players like Moultrie and Coffey, who either did not see the field or played limited minutes, it was more of an extended training away from the Thorns. That wasn’t ideal for a player as crucial as Coffey for a team that had been leaking goals left and right. 

The international break also factored into the XI eleven for the semifinal game against New Jersey/New York Gotham FC. The two outfield changes from the Angel City game were Kuikka and Hina, who were replaced by Reyna Reyes and Rocky Rodríguez, respectively. Hina has probably been the Thorns’ most consistent player all season behind Sam Coffey, and being able to bring her off the bench is an asset; perhaps if she had started the game as she had the last time the Thorns faced Gotham, the game could have been wrapped up in 90 minutes. Reyes, on the other hand, played her way into the starting XI—and deservedly so—but perhaps starting Kuikka and Reyes against the fast front line of Gotham would have been more effective. 

The biggest change of the night, however, was Shelby Hogan’s selection over Bella Bixby. In probably the boldest move of his tenure, head coach Mike Norris gave Hogan her second regular season start in the team’s biggest game. He said postgame that the change was performance-based, which is a valid assessment of Bixby’s recent form. As much as I love and appreciate Bella Bixby’s personality and vulnerability as a player, I think getting benched in such a crucial moment is what she needs in order to reset herself. None of that takes away the fact that Hogan is an excellent keeper, the lone goal she let in was borderline-unstoppable for any keeper, and she is capable of being a first-choice keeper. Hogan ended the night with two saves, but she was not very busy over the course of the 120 minutes. 

Statistically, the game was a stalemate. The Thorns ended with 0.62 xG and 11 total shots to Gotham’s 0.50 xG and 13 total shots. Gotham had 20 fouls (four yellow cards) while the Thorns had 18 (one yellow). Both teams had four corners. On paper, there was little separation between the two sides. The game was won and lost on the sidelines, with coaching, and with the bench. 

Over the course of those 120 minutes, Norris only made two impactful subs: Hina and Kuikka at the 60th minute for Rodríguez and Meghan Klingenberg. Smith, whose longest stretch of minutes since she got injured in August was 45 minutes for the USWNT, played the entire game, despite looking visibly fatigued and not as effective as she could have been. Morgan Weaver, who had tape around her left knee, also looked as though she was nursing an injury, as her speed, finesse, and power were absent along the left flank. Dunn has been dealing with an ankle injury for many weeks now, as well. 

The Thorns are consistently talked about as having one of the deepest rosters in the NWSL, but a more accurate statement is that their best 11 players are among the best in the league, if not world. The drop off in quality once these eleven are subbed off or injured is quite noticeable. For example, in the 116’ Hannah Betfort, Christine Sinclair, and Michele Vasconcelos came on for Weaver, Moultrie, and Dunn. Sinclair aside, Vasconcelos and Betfort have seen sporadic minutes over the course of the season to varying levels of productivity. While they are decent players—and could really shine at a mid-table team—there is a vast canyon between them and Weaver and Smith, who they typically come on for. By not having any serious game changers available off the bench, Norris had his hands tied when his game plan was not working and he had no good options to try something new. 

While it is important that the core of the championship winning team (i.e. the same players that both former head coach Rhian Wilkinson and Norris used in their XIs) came back for the 2023 season, there was no recruitment outside of the college draft to try and bolster the depth of the team and challenge these top players for starting spots. Once Janine Beckie, one of the better additions over the past two years, went down with an ACL tear in preseason and no signing was made to replace her, the writing was on the wall that there was going to be little to no investment into the team this year. Reyes is probably the best addition to the team, as seen by her nod on Sunday. But other than her, the new recruits hardly featured. Izzy D’Aquilla got minutes at the beginning of the season, but her time waned significantly as it became clear she was having a hard time adjusting to NWSL play from college. Adriana Leon, a weird fluke of a loan most likely to help her build minutes for Canada before the World Cup, barely saw the field, and Rikke Seveke has not made a gameday roster since her signing. It’s hard to attract top talent to Portland when an impending sale has been looming over the club for nearly a year, the team is led by an inexperienced head coach, and the squad plays and practices solely on turf. Ultimately, the lack of competition for roster spots among players cost the Thorns the chance to challenge for the title again, because there was no adequate depth when players went down with injury or hit a run of bad form. 

It’s anyone’s guess as to when the Instagram post goes up saying that the Thorns wish Norris all the best and “thank him for his contributions as head coach,” but it is inevitable. From his announcement, where everyone was “Excited to get the season started 🙂 #RoseEmoji,” it was clear that the organization was in a holding pattern for the 2023 season. Postgame, Sauerbrunn said that the sale was expected to clear by the end of the year, and until that time, there probably won’t be anymore movement within the squad. However, waiting for the sale to be officially processed and to hire a new head coach leaves very little time to talk to free agents and prospective international players and convince them to join the new and improved Thorns. Until that happens, Portland is not going to be seen as a top soccer destination, which will seriously threaten their chances of building the squad depth that they need to win consistently next season. 

I feel as though every week I talk about Norris’ lack of tactics, so I won’t bear repeating myself again. For a first-time head coach, he relied on his star players, and for the most part that worked out well for him. I think with more experience, he could be decent. But the Thorns aren’t the team to learn to be great with; you already need to be great in order to get the job. I can only ask that the next head coach is able to actively switch tactics and game plans when something isn’t working instead of continuing to force a square peg into a round hole. 

It’s been a frustrating year to cover the Thorns, not due in any part to the players on the team. It’s been frustrating to see the players in press conferences take responsibility for bad tactics and leadership when in reality they’ve had little guidance. It’s been frustrating to watch the investment, marketing, and adequate training grounds flatline for a team that has set standards in the NWSL since 2013. And, of course, it’s been frustrating to watch Sam Coffey sit on the sidelines of so many USWNT games. I can only hope that this holding pattern that the team has been in since 2021 is over soon, that they can get an owner who puts their money where their mouth is, invests in the team, and attracts top players and coaches from across the world. Women’s soccer is exploding globally, and I fear that this offseason is crucial to make sure that the Thorns don’t fall behind even further. 

But, it’s also been a great year to cover the Thorns. Hannah Betfort had a breakout year, Reyna Reyes showed that she’s the future of the Thorns’ defense, Sophia Smith remained in God Mode, and Sam Coffey is such an incredible leader. Whatever happens over the offseason, the players that composed the roster these past two years are special.  

“The people in this locker room will never be the same after this year,” Sauerbrunn said postgame, “and we need to appreciate every single moment that we have together.” I think she’s right, and I hope that we have shown that we do appreciate the players, even when their organization repeatedly lets them down. 

There’s gonna come a day when you’ll feel better

You’ll rise up free and easy on that day

And float from branch to branch, lighter than the air

Just when that day is coming, who can say? Who can say?

— The Mountain Goats “Up The Wolves”

Categories
NWSL Soccer Thorns

Takeaways: Thorns 1, Angel City 5

Photo by Kris Lattimore

If I had a nickel for every time the Portland Thorns had a meltdown on the last day of the regular season that caused them to lose the shield, I’d have two nickels. Which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it happened twice. 

The Thorns suffered their worst beat of the season, and in recent memory, on the final day of the season in a horrible 5-1 loss to Angel City away from home. Going into the final day, the Thorns were in the driver’s seat, needing a win to secure the shield for the second time in three years—and to knock Angel City out of the postseason. Instead, everything went horribly wrong on the day. 

There aren’t any excuses for the way the Thorns played on Sunday afternoon. They had eight total shots (a season low), 0.68 expected goals from those shots, and generally looked lackluster on the field. Portland had more possession, more passes, and a higher passing accuracy than ACFC, but they couldn’t threaten Los Angeles’ goal. 

All season, the Thorns have been a tactical mystery. Head coach Mike Norris stuck with the majority of the same players starting and coming off the bench, with changes only coming through player injuries or international absences. There was an overall lack of adjustment when teams were able to break down the Thorns’ 4-4-2 and high press, and perhaps too heavy of a reliance on Sophia Smith’s godlike skills. But, even without a competent coach, the Thorns’ roster was stronger and much more capable of pulling off a win than Angel City’s, and they should have had the shield easily wrapped up. 

Meghan Klingenberg summed it up perfectly postgame, when she said, “The part that kills me is that we did this last year. You’re supposed to learn from moments that happen to you and your team in big games.”

Or like Sam Coffey said, “disappointed doesn’t cut it, or it’s not even the right word. I think I’m in shock.”

I, too, am in shock because on the whole, ACFC was not playing exceptional soccer (besides the Sydney Leroux bicycle kick). The other four of their goals came from egregious lapses in focus from the Thorns’ backline and keeper, which allowed Angel City to get free looks on goal. 

In the buildup to Angel City’s first goal, we can see two Thorns players (green marks) putting pressure on Leroux (pink circle). Neither one looking at M.A. Vignola (pink underline), who is looking for the through ball. Due to Natalia Kuikka and Emily Menges’ proximity to Leroux, Vignola can easily enter the box with a slipped pass and take on Bella Bixby one-on-one. That’s exactly what she does. 

Ignoring the horrible color grading of the broadcast, you can see where Vignola is a complete step ahead of Kuikka and in on goal. Bixby is standing in the middle of the six-yard box, watching the play. You can call it an exceptional shot, or you can call it a major goalkeeping error, but the bottom line is that Bixby gets beaten where a keeper should never be beaten: their near post. Both Kuikka getting burned on the outside and Bixby being beaten at the near post are simple positioning and concentration errors that should not happen for a team and players of the Thorns’ caliber. Unfortunately, these aren’t the only times they happened over those 90 minutes. 

Angel City’s third goal was almost an identical play on the same side of the pitch. In the shadows of the left side of the above image, Crystal Dunn is putting pressure on an ACFC player, who is able to get off a pass to an overlapping runner. Even if Dunn is an outstanding left back, she cannot physically mark two players at once. Once again, Kuikka (green circle) is not properly tracking her winger (pink circle), who suddenly finds themself in acres of space to pick out their final pass. 

The Angel City player doesn’t make the best choice and passes it right into traffic in the six-yard box, where it looks like they are covered both by Bixby and Kelli Hubly at the near post. So, how does this play end in a goal? Honestly, I have no idea. Maybe it would have been a weird fluke, but when it’s the third goal given up in one game in the same manner, it speaks more to a positional or structural error for the backline.

It does not seem as though the back four players are on the same page in terms of which opponents and what spaces they are supposed to be marking. Additionally, by having a starting midfield of Coffey, Christine Sinclair, Dunn, and Olivia Moultrie, Norris has essentially limited the number of players on the field, as Sinc and Moultrie do not track back as much as Dunn does. Without the double pivot of Coffey and Rocky Rodríguez, the central areas of the field are much more exposed. This forces Kuikka and Kling to pinch inwards more than they normally do, giving ACFC’s wingers acres of space. When going up against a team like Angel City—who, in their previous game, only listed two (2) defenders on their team sheet—you know that they are going to want to run at backlines the entire game. A reasonable choice would be to provide additional cover there in the form of the Coffey-Rodríguez double pivot. Instead, Norris chose to start Sinclair in a must-win game against a team full of young players. 

Angel City’s fifth (!!!!!!) goal came nearly immediately after Hina Sugita pulled one back for the Thorns. Once again, it came up the Thorns’ right side, attacking Kuikka, who had not been subbed out yet. Four players collapse around Alyssa Thompson at the edge of the 18-yard box, with Kuikka (green square) alone in the middle. Jun Endo (pink circle) is unmarked at the edge of the 18, squarely in front of goal. Thompson makes the pass in front of Kuikka, who cannot recover in time, and suddenly Angel City had regained their four-goal cushion. 

Thankfully, the game ended soon after that, and we didn’t have to watch the Thorns breakdown any further. Portland has struggled all season with consistency and stability in their games, and if there was ever a time to fix that problem it would be right now. They are guaranteed one more game—at Providence Park, no less—to show the world that they are a high-performing team who deserved to get the coveted bye into the semifinal rounds. But right now, they look like a team that doesn’t even deserve to be in the playoffs. 

Categories
NWSL Soccer Thorns

Takeaways: Thorns 0, Wave 2

Photo by Kris Lattimore

It seemed as though the Thorns were picking up momentum headed down the final stretch of games coming off of a very positive 2-0 beating of OL Reign, but all that momentum sputtered to a halt in their Saturday night home defeat to the San Diego Wave this past weekend. All season the Thorns have been unable to string together three wins in a row across all competitions, which is puzzling due to the calibre of players on the team and the strong culture that the Thorns have been building over the past two years. 

Forgive me if I sound like a broken record, but I think that the lack of consistent success comes from head coach Mike Norris being too reliant on certain players and formations as opposed to adapting his deep roster to the specific tactics of the team that they’re playing. On paper, the Thorns are an incredibly dominant team. Against San Diego they had 1.10 expected goals to the Wave’s 0.53 from 15 total shots. Portland had a staggering nine corners and eleven additional crosses into the box. However, none of this attacking firepower was able to translate into a goal. 

Photo by Kris Lattimore

I may be biased because I voted for Morgan Weaver as the SPOTY, but it frequently felt as though Weaver was playing hero ball, trying to shoot from absurd angles and hoping that something would slip by Sheridan. Unfortunately, none of her team-leading five shots were on target. The lack of systemic breakdown of San Diego’s very strong defense meant that all of the Thorns’ closest chances came off of rebounds or parries by Sheirdan, which were few and far between. 

Oftentimes a team’s best eleven players on the team overall are the eleven in the starting lineup. However, because the Thorns have more than eleven starting-calibre players on their roster they have more freedom than most teams. Despite this, Norris heavily favours playing the same players in the same positions game after game. 

Looking at the breakdown of regular season minutes, the thing that stands out to me the most is the vast spread between the total minutes played for different players. Sam Coffey and Weaver are the only two players to have started and plate in every game, with Natalia Kuikka, Bella Bixby, Kelli Hubly, Meghan Klingenberg, and Crystal Dunn have started and played in over 90% of the games. That right there is seven out of eleven players consistently getting time together on the pitch, and should theoretically lead to a large amount of chemistry and consistency across games. So, why hasn’t that been the case? 

Of the 23 players who have earned regular season minutes this year, 10 of them have played over 1000 out of 1780 (56%) minutes. Nine players have less than 500 (28%) total minutes. Using Sam Coffey’s 1780 minutes as the highest number, 12 players have played more than 50% of the Thorns total regular season minutes, 890. These players are Bella, Kling, Natu, Kelly, Menges, Coffey, Sinc, Moultire, Hina, Dunn, Sophia Smith, and Morgan Weaver, which coincidentally is the lineup that Norris uses most weeks. Of course, injuries to players like Rocky and Becky Sauerbrunn affected their available minutes, as Norris has shown in the past two games that if they are available they will start. 

Players like Reyna Reyes and Michele Vasconcelos have earned not-insignificant minutes this year, but have largely gotten them coming off the bench, Reyes typically for Kling and Vasconcelos for Weaver. To go back to the game against the Wave, while Kling was an excellent service provider, she got burned on the wing by Rachel Hill and Jaedyn Shaw multiple times. Instead of recognizing this mismatch in the first half, where the Wave scored both of their goals, Norris decided to wait until the 74th minute to sub Reyes in, but took out Kuikka, not Kling, allowing the mismatch to continue. While Kling has much more experience and is an excellent defender, Norris cannot keep her in the game on principle, and instead must adjust his personnel to the game that is being played at that very moment. Maybe if Reyes had gone in at the half she would have been able to use her speed and dribbling skills to open up the left wing and systematically play Weaver in on goal. 

Post game, Norris said, “At halftime we addressed some things. We addressed the energy. We structurally changed a couple of things,” and I would like to argue against this idea. 

While technically the Thorns didn’t concede any more goals in the second half, they didn’t look any close to scoring any themselves. There were no formation or personnel changes at the half— it was as though Norris was instead relying on the individual brilliance of the players on the field in order to try and forge a comeback. Unfortunately, even in a league as competitive and chaotic as the NWSL, good tactics will always win out over the individual. 

Credit Arielle Dror

Looking at the passing network of the game, it’s clear that the Thorns heavily relied on the left side of the pitch. However, against a team as defensively sound as the Wave, if one path up the field is being consistently blocked, it’s probably time to try a different way, either more direct up the middle or up the right flank, as opposed to sending in the same passes for Weaver to try her luck on. Adding a player like Moultrie on the field as a ten would be a great idea. Her visionary passes through backline are one of her strongest assets and should have been used as a way for Betfort and her speed or Weaver and her runs to get behind the backline. Unfortunately Moultrie didn’t get enough time on the pitch to showcase her brilliance. 

Photo by Kris Lattimore

The Thorns have one more home game before the playoffs begin, and it’s probably too late in the season to expect a sudden change of tactics from Norris, who has been so stubborn all season, but I do hope that next year the new coach uses the full depth of the Thorns’ roster. 

 

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NWSL Soccer Thorns

Who is Rikke Sevecke?

Photo: Thorns FC/ Craig Mitchelldyer
September 16 2023; Portland, OR, USA; Rilke Sevecke poses for a portrait at Providence Park. Photo: Fletcher Wold-Portland Timbers
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NWSL Soccer Thorns

Endings and Beginnings: F— Seattle

Photo by Riya Patel.

It felt as though the vintage Portland Thorns were back in action Saturday night, as they soundly defeated OL Reign in front of a sold-out Providence Park. It was the last time that the complete trio of Megan Rapinoe, Jess Fishlock, and Lu Barnes would face Christine Sinclair in Portland—which undoubtedly helped increase attendance numbers and added a sentimental tenor to the entire game. All four players reassured the crowd that during those 90 minutes the teams were fighting for more than just three points in a tight end of season table; they were fighting for the pride of their cities. 

It was the first time since the inaugural 2013 season that Portland managed to take both home and away wins against Seattle in the regular season, and their first home win of the rivalry since 2018. Hopefully, such a solid beating of a longtime and fierce rival will propel the Thorns to end the season, helping them pick up their first three consecutive wins since 2019, as well. 

Last week at a league-wide press conference, NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman confirmed that the Thorns were on track to being sold by the end of the calendar year and that Merritt Paulson no longer sits on the Board of Governors. (Portland’s representative is currently Portland Timbers and Thorns CEO Heather Davis.) The process of the sale has taken far too long, but the confirmation that the team will in fact get a new owner (and hopefully new grass practice facility) makes me feel as though the Thorns can start to redefine themselves and their relationship to the city after a few dark years. 

I find it hard to grasp the simultaneous nature of beginnings and endings, and this game represented both. The Thorns that I grew up with from 2013 through 2019 were different from the Thorns post-2020. Of course, the coaching and personnel changes are part of the natural course of a professional team, but since 2020, it has felt as though there is a disconnect between the team and its fans, largely brought upon by poor leadership decisions that have directly perpetuated and covered up abuse. Being free from the shadows of Paulson will allow the team to get their spot in the sun that they deserve. 

Endings

Saturday’s game was the last time that Rapinoe played in Providence Park. Even though she is one of the Thorns’ biggest villains, it seems remiss to not talk about her.  Of  course, a rivalry game is about more than one player (and we will still have to deal with Fishlock next year…), but Pinoe seems to embody what it means to really love what you do and who you play for.

“We’re definitely two different types of people,” Sinclair said of Rapinoe postgame. “But what she’s done for the game, I think she’s helped inspire an entire generation of young soccer fans. And I fully support anyone that wants to grow women’s football, women’s sports. I’m gonna miss playing against her. This rivalry is gonna miss having her. I think our fans are gonna miss booing her.” 

Pinoe has always made soccer fun. Even when I’m watching the USWNT play the most mediocre Vlatko-ball I’ve ever seen in the middle of the night, I know that as soon as Pinoe subs on she will liven things up and add flair and fun. I think that element of fun is something that has been missing from the Thorns’ culture for the past few years. The Thorns love emphasizing their mentality of winning and success, but sometimes I’m afraid that they’ve lost sight of the love of the game.

But then I see Pinoe hamming it up to the North End after scoring a goal or Morgan Weaver pretending to be one of those inflatable car-sale balloons, and I realize that these players do still have fun. Going forward, I want to see more of that: fun celebrations and laughing on the pitch and putting on a show. I want to thank Pinoe and the OGs for always having fun on the pitch, because it makes me have a lot more fun watching. 

I also know how hard it is to remember why you are doing something when people, in particular your employers, are cruel or unhelpful. I sincerely hope that the sale of the team and dissociation from Paulson will fill the North End again and start selling out Providence Park. Even at 3:30 a.m. from my bed in Dublin, Ireland, I could see the influence that the city can have on a game.     

Beginnings
Photo by Riya Patel.

With every ending comes a new beginning. Morgan Weaver came alive as the new embodiment of the “F— Seattle” sentiment that is so necessary for a good rivalry. In a weird parallel with Pinoe, Weaver grew up in Washington but now plays for the rival state. Postgame, when asked about her celebration where she pointed enthusiastically at the Thorns badge on her jersey, she said, “I’m from Tacoma, but I’m just gonna show them where I love, and I love Portland, and I love being here and I love being on this team. So, I just had to let them know Portland’s where it’s at.”

Weaver has really come to life on the field this year. Her past seasons in Portland have by no means been lackluster—she has probably scored the most clutch game-winning goals for the team since she landed with the club in 2020—but she often falls into Sophia Smith’s shadow, being drafted second to her and playing alongside her. On Saturday, Weaver scored her 10th goal in all competitions this season off an incredibly well-struck volley straight back across goal. Her confidence in front of goal has skyrocketed, and it has made her a much more complete striker. 

But what makes Weaver such a dangerous player is her dynamism. She had seven recoveries, the fourth most on the team, and also had the most shots on the team at four. Her involvement at both ends of the pitch is part of her core identity as a player. The fact that Weaver has been able to sustain this level of play throughout the season (she has played the third most minutes on the team) while consistently improving her awareness and skill shows how high her ceiling is. Luckily, she’s signed through 2025, and I can’t wait to see how much more she can grow. 

Like Tobin Heath said in her podcast, “Portland being the best every year, that’s tradition.” And even with some traditions ending, the Thorns will always have players who embody the city and its weirdness and propel the team to greatness—just like Weaver showed everybody this weekend. 

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NWSL Soccer Thorns

Takeaways: OL Reign 0, Thorns 0

Photo by Matthew Wolfe.

The Northwest Derby turned another chapter Sunday as the Portland Thorns—who were already eliminated from contention in the Challenge Cup—took on OL Reign up in the Emerald City. It was a battle of defenses, resulting in a 0-0 draw that left Thorns fans breathing a sigh of relief.

Heading into the match, it would be understandable to expect head coach Mike Norris to throw in the towel on a match like this, rest all starters, and just get some minutes for the deeper bench. It would also be understandable for someone to look at the schedule and Portland’s recent results and say, “This is a team desperate for a win; we need to start whoever is available.” 

In the end, the Thorns split the difference, starting Shelby Hogan and Izzy D’Aquila in place of Bella Bixby and Morgan Weaver. A veteran-heavy backline left Reyna Reyes, who’s shown significant growth in form this season watching from the sidelines, as Meaghan Nally came in as a defensive sub for Emily Menges late in the second half. 

Watching this match as a fan of the team would not have been easy, I will concede that.

Fortunately, I was able to don my “media” cap for this one and set my emotions aside as I watched OL Reign dominate on the attacking action on pitch. The Thorns struggled to get into the attacking third in the first half, as their passes continued to get picked off through the midfield. Without Weaver in the starting lineup, the team lacked the burst-speed to get behind the backline and play over the top, as well. With the exception of a few half-chances, the Thorns never looked particularly dangerous offensively in this match, and with Weaver only seeing roughly 15 minutes, including stoppage, the chances just never materialized. Fortunately, the Thorns defense and Hogan played a solid match, keeping the score 0-0 and giving Hogan a well-deserved shutout. Given Challenge Cup stakes for either team, to escape Seattle with a point is a victory for Portland and a disappointment for OL. That is always something Riveters can hang their hat on.

Planning ahead

All-in-all, I got the message: We want to be competitive, but we want to get our depth players some minutes before the international players return as well. Players need match minutes to develop. 

I recognize that many may disagree. Players come to play, and they always (or should always) give 100%. I won’t ever imply that players take games off, but sports psychology is a finicky field. Playing in front of a crowd, the adrenaline of competing against another team, and the ability to match the intensity, skill, and focus of an experienced opponent whose goal is to pulverize you, is not easily replicated in practice. Additionally, some teams perform better when their backs are against a wall; must-win games can bring out another level in a team and their players. But why does this matter though when we are getting several of our international stars back within the next couple weeks? (Editor’s note: I’m still mad that Japan isn’t advancing past the quarterfinals, but it’s nice that all our World Cup players should be on their way back to Portland in the near future.)

It is hard for me to criticize USWNT head coach Vlatko Andonovski for his lack of rotation of the during World Cup, only to turn around and also criticize Norris for giving minutes to rotational players instead of regular starters—especially in a Challenge Cup match that wouldn’t realistically change our standings in either the league or the Challenge Cup race. 

That doesn’t mean this was a meaningless match. You always want to field a competitive team, especially in a derby, if for nothing else than for team psyche and routine. However, the chance for players like D’Aquila and Taylor Porter to get extended minutes is an opportunity the Thorns hope will pay dividends in late September and early October. With the Challenge Cup now a mid-season tournament, players are playing far more minutes each week than they are accustomed to. International players have had to add their duties to their country, and the resulting additional travel, on top of these extra games when they are with their club. It’s a lot of minutes on the body. 

As the season winds down, teams are looking to make a push for playoff positioning. The intensity is going to rise, and the minutes will be harder and more physical, players’ bodies are going to take longer to recover, and the fear of injuries will intensify. As the season goes on, having these rotational players ready to plug in will be extremely important. Developing their game mentality and their physical abilities to compete at the NWSL level will be a risk that should see benefits throughout the remainder of this season—and hopefully into the playoffs.

Robbing Peter to pay Paul

It is a unique perspective to watch a match from the press box, one you don’t get on camera or from the stands. As I watched OL continue to drop ball after ball over the Thorns’ outside backs, as Kelli Hubly and Menges did their best to rotate and take away angles, I realized how much the midfield still needs tweaking on the defensive end. 

Having attacking outside backs like Meghan Klingenberg and Natalia Kuikka leaves the defense in a constant state of transition. It felt, for much of this match, that the midfield needed to support the backline by getting back defensively. Too many times the Regin’s counterattack left the Thorns scrambling. 

This didn’t seem like a practical skill issue as much as a situational awareness issue. 

Players appeared to be clambering to put out fires they hadn’t anticipated. 

The Thorns have a midfield of players who excel at maintaining possession with the ball at their feet, but outside of Sam Coffey, it seemed the Reign defense was too often picking off the ball, resulting in Seattle counterattacks. When that happened, it became a mad dash to stop the bleeding. And fortunately, the Thorns had the skill and physical attributes to do so. 

Going back to my previous takeaway, this is something that can be practiced in training, but is a skill that takes match minutes to really become proficient at. It’s a mental preparation of visualizing possible outcomes, including the movement of opposing players positioned around the pitch, and how to respond. Veteran players have experienced nearly every outcome, have learned from their mistakes, and tend to be able to react with lower levels of stress and put themselves in less vulnerable positions. This is one reason why getting those minutes to rotational players in matches like this, will be better for the team down the road. 

That said, practicing visualization outside of matches will have practical applications for mental preparedness during in-match scenarios. Similar mental preparation tactics are deployed across occupations that face high-stress and volatile situations, such as emergency responders. In the moment, our brains don’t recognize the difference between, “Oh no, this is a life threatening situation,” and, “Oh no, I made a mistake that may give up a goal.” We all lack the ability to differentiate the value of those when our brains kick in the cortisol, but mental preparation helps us preemptively adjust in relation to changing conditions such as defensive positioning. 

With outside defenders moving so far up the pitch into the attack, the midfield needs to prepare themselves better mentally to react on the defensive end.

There’s speed, and then there’s speed

In case anyone was wondering, Sophia Smith, Hina Sugita, Weaver, Rocky Rodríguez, and Crystal Dunn are really, really fast. Their presence has the ability to change the offensive look of this team. The Thorns struggled to drive the offense past the Reign’s defensive midfield through the feet of Coffey. Hannah Betfort is a fast player, and can outrun much of the team in a baseline-to-baseline sprint, but the aforementioned players would win handily in a sprint from baseline to the top of the keeper box. Tziarra King had this for OL, which is another reason they were able to play over the top so easily against Portland. Without that quick burst of speed, the Thorns lacked the ability to play over the top, and struggled to get footholds offensively. OL Reign were able to dedicate their defensive resources to keeping play near the centerline of the pitch and to disrupting passing lanes. 

None of this is an indictment of the talent or skill of Betfort or D’Aquila. The Thorns don’t lack for talent, but the talent needs to be complimentary within the system, and the system didn’t adjust to fit Betfort and D’Aquilla. They’re just currently not the type of forwards who create the extra foot of separation needed to put a defense on their heels and cause chaos for an opponent’s backline, like Smith and Weaver are. 

There are ways for them to develop positioning tactics, like we’ve seen from Christine Sinclair or Lindsey Horan, that would make them more effective and impactful in the roles they play.

But the main takeaway is that without the dual speed of Smith and Weaver, or Weaver and Hina Sugita, the Thorns just aren’t getting behind enemy lines and become largely one-dimensional offensively. This has become glaringly obvious in the team’s recent run of play. Hopefully, the change of roles for D’Aquila and Betfort upon the return of Portland’s World Cup players allows them to be more effective within their minutes—and allows the team to be more effective at supporting their skill sets.

What next?

The World Cup misfortunes of Canada, Costa Rica, USWNT, and now Japan will hopefully breathe life back into a stagnant Thorns offense in the coming weeks. With the return of Rodríguez, Smith, and Dunn, the Thorns will get injections of speed and energy (not to mention the reigning NWSL MVP, who is statistically on pace to be in contention to repeat the title). One of my favorite aspects of Sinclair this year has been her defensive tenacity on turnovers between the goal and centerline, often getting the ball back before it can be played forward, if not disrupting the play and slowing the counter. The Thorns still sit comfortably in second place in the NWSL standings, with a majority of the NWSL matches during the World Cup being of the Challenge Cup variety, and not impacting league standings. 

They return home on Sunday, Aug. 20 for a match against the North Carolina Courage. Whether or not international players will be available for that match remains to be released, but an eventual return is inevitable, and tentatively on the horizon for some. In the meantime, the Thorns will continue to watch the film and grow from these opportunities. 

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NWSL Soccer Thorns

On Mindset and Motherhood

Photo by Kris Lattimore.
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