As it so happens, today I got a chance to find out, during an open practice “fan event”, and the results were…interesting.
Remember that this season the question of “why do the Thorns play like they do?” (specifically in what looks like a slow, indirect-approach “attack” that features 1) lots of drop and lateral passes spiked with long lobs, and 2) what looks less like integrated/interplay and more like collective freelancing, lots of “hero-ball” in which one or two attackers – Olivia Moultrie, mostly/recently – make goals happen) has come up over and over at this joint.
So I wanted a look at what was happening down at 18th and Morrison today because I was immensely curious about what Coach Gale DID in training.
Assuming that the event wasn’t purely for the groundlings, it might at least provide some insight into what the squad did in practice to make it do what it does on matchday.
I filed in the south gate along with the little group of fans (seventy? Maybe a hundred? We didn’t anywhere near fill up the east side “club section”, so my guess is less than two hundred) and bagged a seat along the upper rail, dutifully put my phone away as instructed (after snapping one shot of the empty pitch) and waited with my notebook for the practice.
Here’s my notes:
10:30: Gates open. Handful of staff people setting up near the locker doors on the west side (orange outfits?) (N.B. later it was clear that they were in Lorax costumes, Halloween, got it). Balls, pinnies, a couple of yellow inflatable player-cones down by the south goal.
10:40: Players filter out, hang around west touchline by doors chatting and stretching. Lone keeper coach wanders down to south goal. No other staff.
10:49-10:50: Three keepers break off to south end for stretching with coaches. Field players still hanging out over by doors until a bit later when captains leading start group stretching.
11:00: Coaches Gale and Vytas emerge, come over to east stand to smile and wave to the fans. Field players now organized by assistant coach (N.B. – this turned out to be Adam Day, the “first assistant”, who in fact ran most of the practice) into footwork drills. Keepers under keeper AC (Felgate) now in south goal doing reaction/handling/footwork drills.
Gale and Vytas have a fun little kickabout in the center circle, using another of the assistants (or one of the trainers?) as a post.
11:05: Field players take a break then filter back out in groups. Several clumps doing ball tricks or playing keepy-uppy. Down near the NW corner Sam Coffey is doing footwork/cariocas by herself, the only player on a fairly chilly day wearing a fitted tank-top/muscle tee.
11:12: First whistle from Day, sets up paired groups of three for dribbling, then passing drills. Gale down at the south end watching keepers still at it.
11:20: Field players grab pinnies, set up small-sided futsal in the center circle; four minutes, then new teams. Very much like the pre-match one-touch small games. Overall about three sets in fifteen minutes. Lots of hustle, but the expected chaos, so hard to glean much. Nobody really stands out one way or the other. Gale has drifted back over to the field player work.
11:35: Game over, lineup along touchline for crossfield run (looks like maybe 80% speed? Over and back but then six players do an extra lap – slowest of the group?) then pair up for individual 15-20 yard passes.
11:40: All field players in as Day sets up half-field full sided game in center of pitch, three minigoals at either end. Ball in play out of back every time there’s a “goal kick” or “throw”, but just changes direction if there’s a turnover. Any minigoal is an option.
Two roughly ten-minutes halves. Lost track of possessions during first half, but kept count during second:
Total possessions (both “sides”) – about 17
Goals – 4
Long balls – 3 or 4
Through balls – 1
Over/underlaps – 0
Lots of loose touches. One player who stood out was Deyna Castellanos, who had two really pretty diagonal passes, including one “assist” and a goal.
12:00: Now everyone in so Day can talk to full squad. Sets up next drill:
Half-field set play attacks at south goal; five/six on four/five plus keeper. Looks like three variations:
Option 1: Wide attack where outside back commits forward, attacker runs in behind to take diagonal pass, or runs down touchline and crosses in,
Option 2: Wide attack where outside back stays home, attacker runs down touchline and crosses in,
Option 3: High ball into to holdup forward to flick or knock down.
At least one nice overlap and goal. Fair number of chances from crosses, though most of the flicks/knockdowns don’t work. Again, nobody really stands out, pretty loosey-goosey.
12:25: Breakdown to pairs of players attacking south goal – one runs wide, crosses in to the other, keeper has to either come out or stay on. Fairly random; couple of nice chances, couple of moonshots.
AC (Lowdon?) working at the north end with two youngish-looking (academy?) players doing 1v1 touch-and-shoot drill.
12:30: Practice over. Gale and Agoos Q&A. Mostly vibey stuff, tho Agoos w obvious answers to “Will Wilson re-sign?” (“We hope so! We’re working on it!”) and “What happened with Hina?” (translation from coachspeak – she came to us wanting out, and we did what we could, but couldn’t convince her to stay). Unsurprisingly mostly softball questions, but that’s pretty much expected.
Thoughts:
One thing that really jumped out at me was the relative lack of interchanging-/interplaying-attacking motion. Effectively no runs off defenders’ shoulders, very few through balls, very few overlapping/underlapping runs. So, yes; if this is how they usually train, then the squad plays the way they do because that’s how they train.
I also see why Gale sees/saw Castellanos the way he does. She’s a “player who looks good in training”.
My guess is that there was an afternoon session that likely included more matchday-oriented work, including (maybe?) a Houston-modeled scout team. Obviously that isn’t something the technical staff wanted to show to an outside eye. So this wasn’t all there was. But this was instructive, and worthwhile in it’s own way.
Now Houston on Sunday, and then the playoffs, with the opponent – and venue – very likely decided by Sunday’s results.
Any thoughts yourselves, on this, on Houston, on the playoffs?
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Thanks for the info on the show practice! I think it answers the question about Castellanos being a standout in practice, but for whatever reason doesn’t show in game situations. She isn’t the first to have that problem, and many coaches have had no idea how to unlock the talent in a game situation. It also tracks what you have been saying all year long, that the team practices like it plays. Not a ringing endorsement for the quality of play we should expect next year.
I think I’m going to set aside the critical comments until the season is over, as its time to enjoy the remaining games from here on out. In my opinion, the team finished where the talent suggested it should, as I thought the team should be a top-4 team in the NWSL (even with the injuries). They certainly didn’t take the path I thought they would, but ending up as the #3 team is an achievement. At this point, all they need to do is win the next game, which they certainly can do.
I am in a similar place. At the beginning of the season I thought they would certainly be in the playoffs and might even be one of the best four teams, but definitely not the best. My feeling was coaching was the biggest obstacle to achieving that goal. As the season progressed, the injuries mounted and the team seemed to play in a very disorganized way. I began to think getting in the final eight would almost be a miracle. But they did it! And now I think what the team lacks in talent and organization they make up for it in grit and character. The Coach has to get some credit for that.
At the end of the season Moultrie is maturing before our eyes and Castellanos showed this weekend the talent that we could see in brief glimpses, but never showed up fully realized during the season. This weekend she even showed some defensive effort. I have been concerned that her mind just wasn’t here in Portland and perhaps worried about family at home and now with what is going on with ICE and with this countries attitude toward Venezuela, she might not totally have her head in the game. But I have watched an interview with Sam Mewis recently and her post match interview after the Houston game and she seems relaxed and sanguine about her performance. I wish the best for her and if we are lucky that game may start a hot streak for her. With Liv on a hot streak, Jessie starting to connect and score things are looking promising. Then if MA gets healthy, well this is a dangerous team!
BELIEVE!