Update 2/18: Looks like we gained a fullback. Details below.
We walked through this season’s opponents.
We’re not getting a preseason… (other than the ridiculous “Coachella Valley Invitational“, which always makes me think of this):
(Which, for those of you unfortunate enough to have missed it, is from the 1953 Warner Bros. short Bully for Bugs. The wascally wabbit has made a “wrong toin at Albakoikie” en route to the Coachella Valley and the Great Carrot Festival therein.)
…so I’m not going to be able to write about that (we’re not even getting a stream if the Timbers are any example; they’ve already played twice and we’ve seen jack shit).
(And let me say for the record that not streaming preseason games is a gross violation of “Marketing 101”. How hard is one camera? We don’t need commentary. Just leave the mike on so we can hear the players. Will only the hardcore watch? Sure! But that’s how you generate word of mouth, people! C’mon! This shouldn’t be that hard!)
There’s no coverage of Thorns training (other than the club Twitter and Instagram so pictures, fine, but no context) so I can’t write about that.
What else is there? We’ve still got a month until Opening Day!
Help me out.
Anything you’d like to discuss? Topics for disputation? What can I bring here that you’d like?
Update: this morning the club announced receiving the loan of Nigerian international Nicole Payne from Paris St. Germain.
That’s good; we still need a starting RB.
I can’t find much of anything about her, though.
She played for West Virginia University for three years before transferring to USC to graduate in 2022. Went undrafted and signed with PSG last year. Her Wikipedia page has her with four appearances for PSG instead of the two at FBRef, but she was clearly pretty far down the depth chart there.
In her only PSG start (January 20) she played at RB, so that’s good…but the opponent (Bordeaux) went down 8-1, so she might have started because the regular RB had earned a rest while her club played a tomato can. So hard to make much from that.
With Nigeria she played two matches in 2021 (both as a late sub). In 2022 she played five matches including a start (at LB) against Canada in April (0-1 loss). That’s her only full 90.
Her last appearance was as a substitute in the friendlies against the USWNT in September ’22. She wasn’t included on the World Cup squad, or any of the Super Falcons fixtures in ’23.
So she looks like a sort of second-tier international and PSG reserve, and as such her paper trail is thin. How she’ll do here? We’ll just have to wait and see. Hopefully she fills the hole left by the loss of Kuikka, though, so…
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Any speculation of how the league will grow when two more teams are added in the next expansion? Adding 4 more games seems like a lot with the current amount of injuries although I suppose they could lengthen the season. An East and West division with 8 teams each? Play your own division twice and the other once? Or do they roll with one division and just do an unbalanced schedule?
My guess is divisions. Don’t see a point to just piling on games; once there’s sixteen teams it seems easy enough to split the league.
But this IS the NWSL, so…
I would prefer two divisions set up like you mentioned. To me two of the biggest disadvantages of NWSL to players from elsewhere are Turf and long road trips. Australia is big too, but aside from Perth, it is an east coast league. Adelaide isn’t that far from the east coast teams. Having a east and west coast league would cut down on travel some. Also a longer season does not seem to be the direction to roll.
I saw that Horan apologized for her comments, not just a mea culpa, but a mea maxima culpa. I didn’t take to much umbrage from what she said because I felt it was pretty true and applied to me as well. But it was definitely not diplomatic and an apology was in order.
So, in order:
1) Turf, at least for the short- and probably the medium-term is an unsolveable problem. Too many clubs share pitches with other sports, especially football, that are hard on grass, and have too much use for grass to withstand. Grass requires continual maintenance, and many venues don’t want the expense. It comes down to money, frankly, and until soccer in general and WoSo in particular generates the kind of revenue that the two other outdoor pro sports generate it’s not in position to dictate terms to the other two, who are just fine with the carpet.
2) I’d argue that the real issue with travel is ALSO money. If NWSL clubs could charter flights it wouldn’t be such a grind to make transcontinental trips. The incredible suckage of commercial air travel is what makes those trips so awful, not the trip itself. But, again, that won’t change until the revenues do.
Horan has been a pro long enough to know better, regardless of the truth or not of what she said. The apology is purely pro forma to preserve her marketability, so it’s pretty “meh” to me.
What did hit me was her getting all up in people for slagging off on the Nats’ WC exit. Well, la-di-dah, little missy? You live by the ad campaign, you die by the ad campaign, and the USWNT has relied on those stupid casual fans for decades (if the US WC fanbase is all that where’s the gate in Houston and Seattle, eh?) by hyping up the silverware. If that’s your plan, then guess what? You’re gonna get stick when you fail to deliver the goods. Little late and lots naive to conclude that these clueless randos you’ve stirred up are clueless, eh?
So, whatever. It’ll be forgotten by the time we get the hype for the SBC here this month…
I think Horan is learning on the job, the “job” being captain. As a leader, you need to be careful in what you choose to talk about – and choosing to talk about the fanbase’s ignorance, correct or not, wasn’t the best choice. Hopefully this is a good lesson for her.
You’d think that would have been kind of “no, duh”, but I don’t have a good sense of Horan as a person (I don’t listen to a lot of interviews or much about the players as people in general) and she may be the sort of person who would shoot her mouth of without thinking. And, no, as a leader you don’t have that luxury.
Regarding the number of games played if the NWSL is stupid enough to follow what the men, at the least the Premier League and internationally, then we will see more and more injuries. In the PL the number of teams decimated by injuries is at an all time high. It’s pure greed plain and simple on the part of ownership and international football organizations which are as corrupt as the NCAA and worse. A number of top managers, Pep, Klopp, others, along with players are saying as much. Too many competitions shortens players careers and dilutes the sport. It would be refreshing, freakin smart and more to see the NWSL leadership carve it’s own path, one can hopel
Well, while must of us slept in this Sunday morning, the Thorns announced the acquisition of Nigerian International (by way of Alabama, West Virginia, and USC…) FB Nicole Payne on a one-year loan from PSG.
Phew, another FB ✔️ Also, applause for the random timing. Teach us to slumber!
So per FBRef Payne has a whopping total of 107 minutes over two matches this season for PSG, so you can see why the loan works for them. For us it gets us a fullback so that works for us, too.
I can’t find much of anything about her, though.
She played for WVU for three years before transferring to USC in 2022. Went undrafted and signed with PSG last year. Her Wikipedia page has her with four appearances for PSG instead of two, but she was clearly pretty far down the depth chart there.
In her start in January she played at RB, so that’s good…but the opponent (Bordeaux) went down 8-1, so she might have started because the regular RB had earned a rest while her club played a tomato can. So hard to make much from that.
With Nigeria she played two matches in 2021 (both as a late sub). In 2022 she played five matches including a start (at LB) against Canada in April (0-1 loss). That’s her only full 90.
Her last appearance was in the friendlies against the USWNT in September ’22. She wasn’t included on the World Cup squad, or any of the Super Falcons fixtures in ’23.
So she looks like a sort of second-tier international and PSG reserve, and as such her paper trail is thin. How she’ll do here? We’ll just have to wait and see…
Payne looks like a depth player to me, the kind every team needs. She’ll get some minutes off the bench, and with the Olympics and FIFA breaks she may even get some starts, so we’ll get to see what kind of player she is.
Would it be wonderful if she improved enough to become a regular starter? Absolutely! (See Hubly, Kelli.) Do I think this is likely? Not at all. But you never know…. Fingers crossed.
I suspect you’re right but hope she’s start-ready or close. The RB hole is something I’d like to close without moving Obaze from CB or Reyes from LB.
Of course, the OTHER hole is behind Sam Coffey at the #6. Could this be part of that plan? Hmmm…
What do you suspect is our best starting 11 & formation? While we know most of the starters, I’m not sure where they’ll be on the pitch: where’s Hina going to be? Will Beckie start? Will we change up our formation given that we had one of the worst performing defenses in the league last season (only Chicago had more goals against and that’s not great company)
How much, if any, will Sinc start? None of us think she should start at all but the opinions that matter are not ours. Hopefully her stepping down from the CWNT will give Norris the clue that she’s a sub, not a starter, now.
Thorns have a couple weeks with multiple games. I’m guessing she starts those midweek matches and then gets a publicized farewell match. I can’t see her getting more than 5 or so starts unless there’s an injury.
Never would be my choice. But, as you say, Norris started her a lot last season and the situation – other than her being another year older – hasn’t really changed.
He has GOT to start Moultrie over Sinc, right? Hoping that was part of selling her on 3 more years.
Well, Livvy got Morgan’s number against the DomRep, so…
I really can’t read Mike Norris’ mind, and I don’t see the players in training, so I’d be kidding you if I could provide any real insight there. Is Payne the best option for starting at RB? Reyes? Beckie? Depends on how they look, both as individuals and with the group.
My guess would be (4-2-3-1, back to front, right-to-left):
Hogan
Payne-Obaze-Sauerbrunn-Reyes
Coffey-Moultrie
Fleming-Sugita-Weaver
Smith
But Norris loves the 4-3-3, so
Hogan
same backline
Fleming-Coffey-Moultrie
Sugita-Smith-Weaver
Dunno what you do with Beckie; depth, perhaps. But I’m really not good at this stuff…
So Sugita as right wing? Probably, but not my fav. I’d like her in a more defensive role. I also think Weaver & Smith up top could be great. I guess we’ll find out in March. Hope he let’s the players have the same lineup more consistent this year
I don’t think we want Sugita as a #8 if she can play either the #10 or as a true winger. But the holding midfield depth…isn’t. So I’m not sure what Norris will do, and preseason is no help this year.
I want all of Moultrie, Fleming, and Sugita as a #10. That can’t happen, so which one plays elsewhere? I suspect we’ll see what we saw last year, which is Sugita pushed wide right in a 4-3-3. I guess that makes it your 4-3-3 above, John, with Coffey #6, Fleming #8, and Moultrie #10. Unfortunately all three of those midfielders (as well as Sugita) may disappear during international breaks, especially the Olympics, at which point we’re really up a creek. I sure hope several of the newcomers work out.
Just re-read yr Thorns defense grades & replace my lazy stats w/yours. Still not awesome