Thorns FC: The Thrill of Doing Business

Well. It was three points.

I won’t pretend that the match against the Denver expansion club here was a thing of beauty and a joy forever.

It was rough, for one thing. Physical. Center referee Nabil Bensalah let a bunch of hacking go unpunished, which was lucky for several players but especially Jessie Fleming, whose 9th minute stomp on Janine Sonis sure looked red-worthy to me.

Between the hacking, and players complaining about hacking, and then both sides saying “fuckit” and giving up the very idea of buildup and just going direct to Route One and then a bunch of the resulting chances going wide, or over the crossbar, or hitting woodwork, or being hoofed frantically clear by scrambling defenders, the match never really generated any sort of flow or style.

Oh, it was entertaining enough if you like that “physical-end-to-end” sort of thing. And a win. So, fine.

But Denver without Lindsey Heaps is kind of like Portland when Sophia Wilson’s day is going like this:

They’re just not the same clubs, so I’m not entirely certain that this win is the reverse of Portland’s thrashing in Colorado, or an oddball sort of one-off that might not say anything about the relative worth of the two systems.

But it was a win. I’ll always take that.

After the match Denver’s head coach Nick Cushing is supposed to have described the Thorns’ play by saying; “They don’t really move. They sit, wait for the turnover, and give it to a world class #9.”, and that’s not unfair, though he might have added Pietra Tordin to his “striker to whom Portland shoves the ball up to have a crack after sitting around waiting for a turnover” list.

That said, Cushing’s mob got damn lucky that the world class #9 wasn’t exactly having a world class #9-type afternoon. Here’s Carlisle-sensi’s “xG map”:

That’s pretty revealing. About 2/5ths of Portland’s “good/great” potential goals are just two of Wilson’s four misses; wide right in the 24th minute, off the far post in the 81st (which in my notes I have as the 78th, but whatev’). That doesn’t even include her weak 5th minute dribbler, another break from a turnover snuffed out by swarming defense in the 33rd without a shot, and a hard shot wide left in the 63rd minute. Most of these were on breakaways,too; Wilson running onto a long lob or through-ball, or a Denver turnover.

Denver? The Summit’s problem wasn’t so much missing the goalmouth as actually getting shots off. Yazmeen Ryan missed wide right in the 6th minute, Brazier went over the bar three minutes later…then nothing until the 34th minute (Ryan miss wide right)…then nothing again until the 61st (Flint from the 18, blocked), and then this, in the 68th minute:

Oof. Yazmeen Ryan drove into the heart of the Portland 18 and whacked a hard, low cross with Melissa Kössler – who’d been a nuisance all afternoon – tear-assing towards the back post. The cross gets to Kossler? Tap-in, 1-1.

Jayden Perry threw her body at the ball and whaled it back out wide, where Wilson hoofed it over the byline.

That was as close as Denver came. Oh, sure; Ryan headed barely wide in the 71st minute, and Sonis belted well over the bar in the 86th. But the match was more or less over by that point.

So a win. Which is good. And a clean sheet. Which is really good. Sit, wait, turnover, Wilson goal? Fine. Works for me.

I’d say let’s take that and move forward.

Short Passes

Here’s Sofascore’s “momentum” plot:

We’re back to…what was it Cushing said? “They sit, wait for the turnover, then counterattack”? Okay, yep, fair enough. Portland with only 37% possession, completed 77% of only 290 passes as Denver was completing 81% of 480.

It worked because Wilson buried one of her chances and Denver – which is to say, largely Sonis, Kossler, and Ryan – missed all of their two shots on frame.

Here’s the passing plots, starting with Portland.

What Carlisle-sensei said.

Here’s Denver:

Also what sensei said. Yep. That worked. It sure wasn’t pretty, but “pretty” isn’t the idea. Points are, and that sit-wait-turnover-Wilson stuff got ’em.

Turnover and over.

Here’s how things are going;

Opponent – Venue (Result)	Turnovers
Washington – Away (W)	26
Seattle – Home (W)	11
San Diego – Away (L)	29
Kansas City – Home (W)	23
North Carolina – Away (D)	25
Angel City – Away (W)	22
San Diego – Home (W)	17
Chicago – Away (W)	32
Louisville – Away (L)	25
Angel City – Home (D)	No data
Bay FC – Home (W)	33
Kansas City – Away (L)	29
Utah – Home (D)	23
Louisville – Home (W)	21
Seattle – Away (L)	33
Denver – Away (L)	33
Gotham – Home (D)	23
Utah – Away (L)	17
Boston – Away (W)	17
Orlando – Home (W)	24
Denver – Home (W)	19

Better, and it sure didn’t hurt that Denver was a fucking shitshow, losing 25. Worse in the first half (15 turnovers) while Portland was fairly consistently tidy, from 9 to 10 after the break. So why not “wait for a turnover” when your squad was handing them out like yummy candy, Coach?

Wilson was the Biggest Loser with five, another indicator of a frustrating day for the world class #9. Arnold hucked away four, usually while being pressed (the Summit clearly figured out that her distribution, never her strength, was worse under pressure). Vignola coughed up three.

Vignola’s 61st minute giveaway was scary; directly to Sheehan in front of the Thorns’ goal. The Thorns backline tucked in, stayed in front of the ball, and Flint’s shot was blocked away, so no harm done.

Press!

Twentieth match tracking the press. I counted either a 1) turnover (either from a tackle-for-loss or a mishit forced pass), or a 2) forced retreat or drop-pass that killed off a progressive action, as a pressing “win”.

Cushing’s game plan was “press high, press hard”. I counted a total of 87 Denver presses. Forty-six (25 wins (54.3%) but with only 5 ball-winning presses) before halftime, 41 (30 wins (73.1%) and 12 takeaways) afterwards. Portland pressed 60 times, 40 (20 wins (50%) and also only 5 takeaways) before the break falling to only 20 presses (12 wins (60%) and 2 takeaways) after.

Match time	Denver presses (wins)(%)	Thorns presses (wins)(%)
0-45+2′	46(25) (54.3%)	40(20) (50%)
45-90+2′	41(30) (73.1%)	20(12) (60%)
Match Total	87(55) (63.2%)	60(32) (53.3%)

My thoughts:
1) Denver’s high press surely contributed to the paucity of Portland’s attack. Their inability to turn the ball over from that surely contributed to the barrenness of Denver’s attack.
2) Portland pressed in the first half, but largely with just the “Wilson up, everyone else back” thing they do, which resulted in the usual result; if Wilson couldn’t stick the tackle, once rounded there were big spaces in the midfield that let Denver break lines all the way into Portland’s final third.
3) But once there in front of Portland’s goal a combination of swarming defense and shockingly poor finishing ensured that Denver didn’t get shit out of that, so – as we’ve heard mentioned – the “we have Wilson and you don’t” made the difference in the match.

Here’s the running tally:

Match (Result)	Opponent Press (Success)	Thorns Press (Success)
Washington Away (W)	40(27) (67.5%)	69(41) (59.4%)
Seattle Home (W)	61(30) (49.1%)	35(20) (57.1%)
San Diego Away (L)	33(22) (66.6%)	88(40) (45.4%)
Kansas City Home (W)	26(15) (57.6%)	43(23) (53.4%)
North Carolina Away (D)	35(22) (62.8%)	56(26) (46.4%)
Angel City Away (W)	52(37) (71.1%)	61(32) (52.4%)
San Diego Home (W)	45(71) (63.3%)	45(80) (56.2%)
Chicago Away (W)	68(34) (50%)	97(51) (52.2%)
Louisville Away (L)	101(70) (69.5%)	62(35) (56.4%)
Angel City Home (D)	No data	No data
Bay FC Home (W)	59(34) (57.6%)	59(37) (62.7%)
Kansas City Away (L)	52(29) (55.7%)	34(20) (58.8%)
Utah Home (D)	99(55) (55.5%)	60(31) (51.6%)
Louisville Home (W)	55(31) (56.3%)	28(13) (46.4%)
Seattle Away (L)	67(46) (68.6%)	66(35) (53.0%)
Denver Away (L)	46(24) (52.1%)	53(27) (50.9%)
Gotham Home (D)	60(32) (53.3%)	58(86) (67.4%)
Utah Away (L)	86(61) (70.9%)	70(38) (54.2%)
Boston Away (W)	84(55) (65.4%)	83(44) (53%)
Orlando Home (w)	94(57) (60.6%)	87(55 (63.2%)
Denver Home (W)	87(55) (63.2%)	60(32) (53.3%)

Corner Kicks

Three. Two long, one short, two in the first half, one in the second.

Time	Taker	Short/Long?	Result
36′	Castellanos	Long	Sailed out to the top of the 18 where a Denver head cleared out to Nijstad; her shot was blocked out for a Portland corner.
40′	Castellanos	Short	…to Wilson, who crossed into the scrum. Denver cleared, the ball was recycled and eventually Lyles shot right at Asman.
55′	Castellanos	Long	Into the six, which Asman came out to take easily.

Enh. Kind of nothing much. Again, I often wonder 1) who “coaches” the squad on setpieces, and 2) why whoever-they-are doesn’t have at least a handful of set plays, something a bit more crafty than “huck it into the crowd and see what happens”. That works if you have a tall (or athletic, leaping) target – Sonnett and then-Horan used to be two of the most commonly targeted in Parsons’ time – but nobody on the current squad seems to want that role.

I’ll be curious to run the post-season analysis on corners, because it feels like this season’s squad doesn’t often threaten from them. I’ve been mistaken about that before, though. We’ll see.

Player Ratings and Comments

Wilson (+10/-5 : +9/-4 : +19/-9) Is it me, or is Sophia Wilson showing some edgy signs of frustration?

She’s still busting her ass both attacking and forechecking (and defending in her own 18-yard-box, forchrissakes…) but she’s taking poor shots she wouldn’t have before, holding and dribbling when she has open teammates, shanking all over the place…well?

I’m not particularly worried. Yet. But “we have Wilson and you don’t” is a hell of a huge load on Wilson. Yes, she can carry that load. But, as the old song says, young girls, they do get weary, wearing that same old satin #9 dress and being asked to carry the whole fucking squad, too. C’mon, coach, try a little tenderness. Help a sister out.

Tordin (+8/-3 : +7/-3 : +15/-6) Sort of the same song in a minor key. The Tordin-Wilson Connection is soccer magic, but, again…when your only tool is a hammer your opponents are going to bring a Counter-Hammer Defense to the match and force them to slam themselves against it. These two are so good that even then they’ll win you games like this, but…damn. That’s a hell of a big ask.

Castellanos (64′ – +5/-0 : +3/-0 : +8/-0) Friend of the Rivet Barcasiempre really wanted the weekend before last to be the Return of Queen Deyna; On the apology post their comment read: “Deyna’s improvement in the second half and her improved play against Denver are eye opening. We knew she was talented, but a lot of the time she has looked like a practice cone left on the field. If she can keep this up until the end of the season, she might stay on, or at least have a more favorable landing somewhere else.”

Well…I hate to be little Debbie Downer, but. The reign of Reina Deyna was, as we’ve sadly so often seen before, fairly brief. Castellanos had a bright start to this match. But after picking up four of her five pluses in the opening quarter hour she slid out of the match again. Nothing awful, still out there hustling, but just nowhere in evidence. It wasn’t like her teammates were lighting up the pitch, mind! But by the half hour Castellanos was a nearly-invisible blur. A touch here. A press there. But repeating the last-twenty-minutes-against-Orlando-magic? Nope.

Same after the break. Showed some nice skills in the first five or six minutes after halftime then quietly slipped into invisibility until coming off just after the hour.

And that’s been the Castellanos Story, here and elsewhere, since her college heroics and the two great seasons in Madrid. Brief bursts of quality light followed by long stretches of dull gray darkness.

I’d love to believe she still has that explosion of talent in there somewhere.

But she’s 27. Players at that age are, almost invariably, in their prime. That sudden flowering of soccer, that big step up? That’s almost always something that’s either already happened…or it never will.

There’s something infinitely saddening about the thought that you are the best you’ll ever be at 27. But sport is a cruel living, and the miracles that a tiny handful of players such as Christine Sinclair work on the inexorable wearing grind of time don’t make that any less true for those of us lesser mortals.

McKenzie (26′ – +1/-1) Fresh legs to see out the match, so, that’s fine.

Lyles (72′ – +4/-1 : +1/-1 : +5/-1) I see the same problem here I sometimes see in Tordin and typically saw in Turner, Spaanstra, and/or Padelski. All of them appear to be at least modestly (or, in Tordin’s case, exceptionally) talented forwards. Unfortunately they also seem to have very close, or overlapping, center-forward type talents, which, in case that’s slipped our minds, is also what we have in our “world class #9”.

The work of crafting roles for, or, if that can’t be done, finding trade value in players like this is a huge part of the head coach’s entire job. That, along with tactics and formations and team identity, is what the gaffer is there for.

Okay, now. If Padelski or Lyles is here just to be “Wilson in garbage time”? Fine. Everybody needs squad players and late-match subs. But to play Lyles for over an hour when it was pretty obvious that she was a third wheel to Tordin and Wilson? That smacks of carelessness.

I don’t know if we’re dealing with a “Vilahamn is waiting for Hanks and Weaver full match-fitness to become the attack of his vision” – in which case I’ve got shudders remembering Paul Riley (spit!) waiting for the squad of his vision which never arrived – or a “Vilahamn looks at the forwards and thinks “oh, this is fine”.

In which case I’m gonna fucking need some seriously strong fucking drink.

Nijstad (+8/-0 : +7/-0 : +15/-0) Everybody playing “Route One” and “Line-Breaking Pass” meant that neither midfield had the match by the throat. Both teams went right through, or over, the center of the pitch. What price midfielders, then?

Nobody told Nina Nijstad that. She hustled her butt off pressing and defending, and even got in a nice pass or run, too. Decisive? Nope. Not the way this match was played. But, damn, you go, girl. I’ll always stan for a player who leaves it all on the field, and you did. Well played, stoere meid.

Fleming (+6/-3 : +2/-3 : +8/-6) Sort of “Tordin” to Nijstad’s “Wilson” for this one. Decent match, but the lesser of the two DMs. Fleming gets the big rose for the pass/assist on the Wilson goal (as well as a similar pass to Lyles in the 25th minute) along with her usual hard work, but her defensive numbers aren’t solid; lost 7 of 11 duels on the ground and was rounded five times (Nijstad was a rock – nobody got past her…). That’s not where Fleming looked to be going this season, and I’d love to see that change for the better.

Vignola (+6/-3 : +1-/-2 : +16/-5) After a run of poor form M.A. Vignola really stepped up for this one. Gave Ally Watt and Sheehan everything they asked for and more, plus threw in some decent passing. Both fullbacks crushed this match, but Vignola was more remarkable after her stumbles in the matches in late July. Good to see ya back, M.A.

Perry (+1/-2 : +2/-1 : +3/-3) While the fullbacks were bossing it, the centerbacks? Mmmm…not so much. That said, Perry had two monster clearances; the 68th minute we’ve discussed, and another in the 89th minute when Yuna McCormack drove to the byline and dropped a cross that – luckily – Olivia Thomas couldn’t handle before Perry swept it away. Whew. Thanks, JP. That payed for any awshits last weekend.

Hiatt (+2/-4 : +0/-1 : +2/-5) Same here, only without the day-saving clearances. Flustered under pressure, and prone to getting caught out of position. Got the result, though not so much through her own work, and so lives to fight another day. Still…they’re nerve-wracking, these centerbacks. Not good for my day-drinking problem.

Calzada (+5/-3 : +4/-2 : +9/-5) Had a load to handle with Ryan, and the former Thorn did get the better of her a couple of times. But given the disparity of professional experience? No shame, CC. Solid match.

Arnold (+0/-1 : +1/-2 : +1/-3) Not really tested by Denver shooting, and her minuses are for poor passing (the Summit found early that Arnold could be pressured into booting the ball away or into touch and worked that like one of those lab monkeys pounding the treat bar). Gotham? Gonna be a whoooole ‘nother story.

Coach Vilahamn: As Carlisle-sensei observed after Cushing’s cri de coeur; “If it’s stupid and it works, it’s not stupid.” Winding up and repeatedly throwing Sophia Wilson against the Denver wall until she stuck once? Okay. A bit hard on your striker, but needs must when the table drives.

Plus your defenders kept the clean sheet? Utestående!

Now that your lot has disposed of the upstart Summit they have a whole different, more difficult task.

The top-of-table Gotham Bats.

Tomorrow.

In Jersey.

Got your game face on? Because I suspect y’all gonna need it.

For now, though? Enjoy the win. They’re always good.