New Women's Pro League!

Not the most exciting game.  It would have been nice to have a few folks to chat with.

With you in spirit. Commentators yesterday may be the worst I've ever heard. The one bloke just kept being wrong about Thorns players. He said Karina had won it all with the U.S. national team, he called Foxhoven on a play in the first half when she was on the bench, and was pretty much an all-around idiot. You don't have to be a Thorns fan to tell the difference between Kerr and Sinclair, for example. They are very different size, shape, hairstyle, profile ... Whatever! I could understand someone confusing Williamson and Marshall who look similar from a distance, but most of the rest of the team are easy to tell from one another.

I am in KC visiting my brother and family. We have tickets to the Thorns game this afternoon (although my brother's family thinks they are going to the KC game). It will be interesting to seem them play live on the road. I just hope they play to win and not just to draw!

I'm flying up to Portland on the 4th, and attending Thorns/Breakers on the 6th. It'll be good to take in some new scenery and be in one of America's great soccer atmospheres.

Just sucks you guys are having this heat wave we are having here in San Diego. Ah, well, we're tough. The team's tough. We'll be cool.

Need that three points, though, please!

Nacional Tijuana wrote:I'm flying up to Portland on the 4th, and attending Thorns/Breakers on the 6th. It'll be good to take in some new scenery and be in one of America's great soccer atmospheres.

Just sucks you guys are having this heat wave we are having here in San Diego. Ah, well, we're tough. The team's tough. We'll be cool.

Need that three points, though, please!

Let's hope they play better than at KC.

UPSoccerFanatic wrote:Let's hope they play better than at KC.

Hmm, I note the Thorns lost 2-0 again; did they play any better?

No goals in three games  ....anyone have a theory why?

DoubleDipper wrote:

UPSoccerFanatic wrote:Let's hope they play better than at KC.

Hmm, I note the Thorns lost 2-0 again; did they play any better?

No goals in three games  ....anyone have a theory why?

They stunk up the place tonight, so no, they aren't playing better.


Beuhler just played herself out of a National team starting slot. Nikki Washington needs to sit a while, as does Ali Long if she doesn't start running back on defense. ( she is supposed to be the holding mid, I have heard). I wonder how it feels to have over 12K people watch you put out no effort.


The rest of the team looks like a pickup team that has never been coached. They have no clue how to attack the final third.


The Keybank club is the only saving grace right now, nice IPA's and single malts.

Geezer hit on a lot of the issues. The final third is lacking with a questionable midfield presence. It's a bit of a head scratcher as it's been there for the entire season. The couple of games I've watched Morgan and Sinc seem to be playing in the same space,with everyone trying to get the ball into the middle of the field. The wings havent' been overly productive, so opponents can pack it in. The midfield support to pull things back out isn't always there either.

I think there's enough talent on the team and have to put a lot of it on Paltrow-Cone.

I haven't heard any update on Tobin Heath joining the team. That would help the midfield creativity, but may not be the midfield dominating presence needed to shore up the defense.

I agree that most of the blame needs to start with Parlow......and really for the life of me I don't understand why she doesn't start the 3 Pilots every match!!! They know each other so well and bring so much energy to the pitch!!! Is this a carry over from the old Anson days where a rivalry is clouding reason???????

Thanks for the update Geezer. She's a fun player to watch. Look forward to seeing her on the field.

Maybe she changed her mind. No actual video or interview appeared on the site.

PurpleGeezer wrote:Maybe she changed her mind. No actual video or interview appeared on the site.

http://www.portlandtimbers.com/video/2013/07/09/thorns-training-2013-tobin-heath-arrives-portland

Thanks. For some reason I missed that this morning

I did not get to see the Thorns draw with Chicago, but did see the highlights on the news. It appears their defense let them down. Comments from anyone that watched or attended the match?

Yes, the defense was very porous. They lacked quickness and organization. It is very late in the season for those to still be issues.

They did get cheated on one of the goals when the scorer was clearly offside. The lines person on the west side of the field was reluctant to raise her flag all game.

On a more positive note it was great to see Christine up front and Dani at mid. That coupled with Heath's dynamic play in the middle really made for a more potent offense than we have seen all season.

A_Fan thanks for the update. Let's hope they can finish strong and do well in the playoffs.

First goal. Defender loses ball on edge of area. Poor decision making.
Second goal. Possible offside.
Third goal. Head the ball away from the goal and to the side not down in the area. Poor defending.

Added to which Morgan, Sinclair and Heath all missed the target with clear chances in second half. Could/should have been 6-0.

Not a good day for a couple of the starts. Heath cut down Chalupny from behind early in the game. Chalupny left with a injury to her ankle. The more I look at it the more I think Heath is lucky she only got cautioned for it.

In the second half Morgan is running down a ball, pushes down the defender, gets called for the foul, then boots the ball away for a stupid and deserved yellow. I know she's a great player and all, but she doesn't thrill me the way Sinc and Shim (yep, a Bronco) have.

I think the coaching was abysmal. The Thorns were up two goals and still throwing everyone forward trying to score more goals, with no serious attempt at game management. That seems to me a coaching problem.

It is not the first time this season that Morgan shown poor judgement on a play. She seems to think she deserves special dispensation from the officials because she draws so much defensive attention. She needs to suck it up and show some class.

I'm afraid she is drinking the same Kool-Aid as a number of the casual fans...that she is the best player on the pitch.

When Christine gives you a ball, it invariably gets there. She always looks to pass first. Morgan should take advantage of the daily tutorial.

I don’t usually comment in advance of a Thorns game, but two items this week may be of interest to Pilots and Thorns fans:

(1) Tonight (Wed) former UP stars Sophie Schmidt and Kendall Johnson bring their Sky Blue team to Portland in what could be a “must win” game for the Thorns.

Portland (9-4-4, 31 points) and Sky Blue (9-5-4, 31 points) are tied for second place in the standings, but Sky Blue currently owns the tiebreaker with a better head-to-head record (1-0-1) against the Thorns in the season series. The Thorns must win tonight's game to have a chance to win the tiebreaker scenario if the two teams finish the season tied in the standings.

(2) The Thorns will host first-place Kansas City Sunday at 5:30 on national television….the game will be broadcast by the Fox Soccer Channel….401 and 800 (HD) on Comcast in the Portland area.

That was a much better performance tonight. Portland gave up an own goal off a deflected free kick, then came back for a 3-1 win.

Alex Morgan tied it with a nice 1 v 1 goal, then Mana Shim got the second by putting away a saved shot, and Allie Long scored a goal of the year candidate with a spectacular shot from distance into the top corner.

Unlike Sunday, taking the lead seemed to energize the team. Instead of sitting back they kept going until the end and it paid off.

Agreed!  ....a much better performance than we've seen of late.....you had to love the way they kept pushing forward.

Ha-ha, it wasn't until the second half that I happened to notice my neighbor, Tina Ellertson, sitting on the Thorns bench.  Afterwards I asked if she was thinking of signing, and she said she, "Already had."

Apparently yesterday was the final day NWSL teams could add players for this season.....and when Coach Cone called on Monday saying how much the team needed depth in the backline, Tina felt that with only a month to go in the season, the timing was right.