Summer Cup conclusions

I was thrilled when I learned we were having an NWSL x Liga MX Femenil crossover, the second we’ll have this year.

Both leagues benefit when this happens. In the case of NWSL, it’s good for the players to face opponents with different styles and also give their fans a different end product. To add more, usually, coaches use these cross-overs as opportunities to give minutes to the bench players.

In the case of Liga MX Femenil, it helps the teams and players to grow. It also helps the league to make its fan base develop. And when talking about both leagues, it provides an opportunity for rivalries to be born which is always important to make the sport grow and, of course, it’s fun and makes games more interesting.

Summer Cup

When I took a look at the Thorns’ group I thought “Cool, this is a winnable group.” Seattle and Utah are at the bottom of the table while Tijuana was the weakest of all the six Mexican teams going to the US to compete. What is more, they just started their season and so they haven’t had the time to oil yet.

Therefore, the result Portland got against Las Perrísimas shocked no one although that match showed us that some of our forwards need to work on their finishing and be more clinical. Some of them missed sitters and of course, they are allowed to miss goals but if they do so against weaker opponents in what was considered a meaningless cup, what are they going to do against tougher opponents when matters?

Against Utah, the Thorns didn’t have an answer to Jimmy Coenraets’s team game plan. Granted, the opponent was playing with 90% of their starters if not more but knowing the quality of Portland’s bench they should’ve done more. Certainly, it was worrisome to see Reyna Reyes struggling so much in that left wing.

But it wasn’t just Reyes but the team as a whole had a problem controlling Utah’s speed. We can see in the capture above the huge spaces between the defenders and Reyes pointing out to where Marie Müller and/or Meghan Klingenberg should’ve been. The fact that they didn’t get back to their defensive positions in time, made things too easy for Utah.

And this is the kind of thing I never want to see from the Thorns:

It is ok to correct some positional stuff on the field but this looks more like pointing fingers at each other. Despite the loss, that day the Thorns had Olivia Moultrie back — and mind you, she scored a banger — and Lauren Kozal showed her quality. I already said it but I will say it again: she reminded me of Bella Bixby’s early days and the younger keeper showed she has Nadine Angerer’s quality seal.

Against Seattle, it was a different story. Sadly, both Cascadia’s teams are not going through their best season this year but the Reign is having it much worse. Portland’s win wasn’t flashy but it didn’t matter in the end. They won against their rivals, yes. They’ve got a win in the last game of the group, yes. Nonetheless, the loss against the Royals did enough damage and Portland finished second in the group, ending their Summer Cup run.

Winning mentality

Top teams in NWSL never gave cups much importance and understandably so. However, for a club like Portland, the bare minimum should be to do well at the group stage. What is more, Portland has always had this winning mentality that makes them want to win it all, including cups. That is what made them win the Challenge Cup in 2021 in the first place.

So, what was Portland’s goal in the Summer Cup? Apparently, it was just to participate. You might argue that ‘participate’ could involve many things, among them giving minutes to the bench/young players. And that is great. I want to see how deep our bench is, and how those players perform without the help of the starters, if they can show that special something every thorn has.

We have rarely seen that this season and more so when we think about the backup keepers. The Thorns became the laughingstock of the league for signing six goalkeepers when every team has three at most. The thing is, before this cup none of the other keepers got any minutes. Hence, the smart thing to do was to put any of those five backup keepers in goal in the Summer Cup games. And that’s what coach Rob Gale did… for two games out of three.

Seeing Shelby Hogan back in goal in the third match against Seattle was a real headscratcher. Granted, it was a Cascadia Rivalry game but if the goal was to give minutes to the bench players and losing to Utah was acceptable – I didn’t see the coach give much importance to it – then, why put Hogan as a starter?

Some may say it’s because once Macca Arnold comes, she’ll be the undisputable starter and therefore, they want Hogan to be match-ready in case something happens to her. Nonetheless, that doesn't make much sense. Shelby has had more than half of a season to be ready and one more game in a “meaningless” cup won’t change that. If those three games in that cup were all the backup keepers had, then why not use them more? If the goal never was to win it, then why care about the third game at all? If you have six goalkeepers, use them! Goalkeepers are not Pokémons, you don’t have to collect them all just because.

Those decisions tell me that the coaching staff doesn’t have their priorities straight and they don’t even know what their goals for this year are. 

Speaking of, what are Portland’s goals this season? Because so far, the team has been all over the place. The only thing that is clear at least when Sophia Smith is on the field, is that the plan is to pass the ball to her to see what she can do.

Another thing they might want to get is a playoff spot. The Shield is unattainable by now. Fifth place is bad when you think about the Shield race and more so when 11 points separate them from the top spot. The two top teams are too strong and by now, they’re playing in their own league.

Roster problems and the scouting department

With 10 games left to finish the season, Portland doesn’t look near ready to win the playoffs, starting from the no.1 position. It’s August and they don’t have a definite roster or a clear starting XI. With six goalkeepers in it, of course, we can expect trades in the following months. I hate to see players leave — Meaghan Nally you will be missed — but the team shouldn’t finish the season with six goalkeepers in a roster of 26.

The question is: Who is the club going to bring in? So far the only signee that has been convincing enough is Marie Müller. The German has certainly owned that left-wing and has become a worthy heiress of Kling. Of course, no one can send precise crosses like the former USWNT defender, but she has done well so far.

And when we think about the latest sign… well, there are at least two reasons why that wasn’t the smartest move. For the first reason, take a look at Orlando Pride. Coach Seb Hines has built a strong roster but it is known that their Achilles heel is their starting goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse. She has made some progress but still has to improve in different areas. We cannot stress enough the importance of a world-class goalkeeper, she can be the difference in a championship game. However, Orlando has a strong defense and even a stronger attack and therefore, they don’t have to worry much about not having the safest hands in goal.

If Portland would had made the right moves regarding defense and the attack in the off-season, they wouldn’t have to worry about goalkeeping in the middle of the year.

The other reason is the quality of the goalkeeper. The Matildas reached their peak performance around 2019 but after that, they have seen a decrease in their quality, individually and as a team. The Olympic Games are proof of that, especially the game against Zambia. They have an almost nonexistent defense and the younger players haven’t been able to develop as expected. As a result, it shocked no one that Australia finished its Olympic run as the second team with the most goals against (10) only behind Zambia.

You might say Arnold’s defense was Swiss cheese but you cannot put all those 10 goals just on them. You can see this exemplified usually when weaker teams have played the USWNT or any other stronger team in the past. Panamanian Yenith Bailey, Jamaican Sydney Schneider, Chilean Tiane Endeler, among other goalkeepers have had Swiss cheese defenses but were outstanding stopping ball after ball.

In the case of Arnold, she showed a lack of commanding voice and if Portland is looking for a seasoned goalkeeper who can put its young defense in order, well the Olympics showed she might not be that kind of keeper. Her positioning was also questionable and indecision plagued some of her performances. The Matildas have to be grateful Zambia’s defense was just as bad — or worse — otherwise, they would’ve suffered an embarrassing defeat.

I don’t want to say Arnold is all bad. The international experience is something very valuable and that is something none of the other five goalkeepers have. She is good at stopping PKs and is above average in the shot-stopping department and catching crosses. Her passing is also good. However, her PSxG-GA is not good meaning she does not possess an above-average ability to stop shots and that luck is not usually on her side — and we know how important luck is for a keeper.

So, what kind of roster is Portland building for this year or the next? What kind of message is the club sending with this signing? If she’s the future starting goalkeeper, we cannot be that positive about them signing world-class players and therefore, we can expect a good roster but not one that will put them at the top of the table.

Bench players

During the starters' absences, Portland’s bench has always stepped up. Players have always taken this opportunity to show what they can do, to make the coaches’ job harder when choosing starting XIs. 

The club has always prided itself in having a deep bench and rightly so. That is until this year. You might argue that the problem started last season but that roster still had some of Rhian Wilkinson’s magic. However, this year that fairy dust might be over. Since the beginning of the season, the starters have had problems to look competitive and that has translated to the bench.

Granted, some of them have been victims of the game plans or tactics but if international players such as Ana Dias or Nicole Payne couldn’t make a name for themselves in this club let alone the league yet, what can we expect from the rest of the players or the rookies?

GM problems

Former Canadian international Karina LeBlanc arrived in Portland in 2021. The Thorns organization was under the microscope and former owner Merritt Paulson appointed her in an effort to appease the fans after they demanded change due to the former GM being involved in an abuse scandal.

Back then, the coach was Mark Parsons and since the man had been in Portland since 2016, he knew his way around the club. Nothing changed much that year and he did well helping the club — and LeBlanc — to choose his successor. Former coach Rhian Wilkinson had an outstanding first — and only — year in Portland helping to win the Championship. However, since that year a trend started.

At first, it was all laughs when almost every new talent signed by the club was Canadian but then it started to be the norm. So much so that the club signed Adriana Leon, the most headscratcher sign in the LeBlanc era. The forward didn’t do much for the team and she was gone faster than you can say “Canada.”

It’s all good if LeBlanc wants to sign the entire Canadian roster that went to the 2024 Olympics but I do have to ask: when it started to be ok to sign any player, disregarding the club’s culture? What happened to the times when the Thorns would sign international players that actually mattered? Do you remember the time they signed Amandine Henry and the huge impact she made not only on the team but on the league? Back then the French midfielder was the best 6 in the world.

But forget about her. Do you remember Ashleigh Sykes, a relatively unknown Aussie who also made a big impact on the team inside and outside the field because she was the right player according to the Thorns’ culture? Having that example in mind, ask yourself: has any of the new Thorns had such an impact since they arrived? So, when did it become more important the number of signings instead of signing the right players?

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying this year's signings don’t have quality but I do wonder if they were the right signings or if the coaches have what it takes to get the best out of them.

Understandably, other teams in the league might seem more appealing to top talents now but at the same time, it looks as if the times when Portland was the place to go are gone. An example of this is the appointment of Rob Gale as the full-time head coach. According to the club, once Mike Norris was removed from the position, they started an “international search”, a search that only lasted three months, mind you, until they announced they decided to appoint Gale for good.

The timing wasn’t good. Why did they appoint Gale passed the middle of the season? If the man was already the interim coach, why hurry? If they had waited they would’ve had a bigger sample of what he can actually do and then make a conscious decision. What kind of “international search” can be conducted in only three months? Unless there weren’t good enough coaches interested or there were but the club wasn’t willing to pay what they asked for.

Can LeBlanc and Rob Gale build a true competitive team? With the proof we have so far, the future doesn’t look very promising. As a matter of fact, the club’s ambition looks for the very first time in their history very so short-sighted. Not even in 2014, when the team didn’t qualify for the playoffs for the first and only time in their history, the team’s future looked so uncertain.

It will be up to the owners and not just the GM to get Portland back to its right place after all they’re one of the winningest clubs in the NWSL and it should be if not the place to go but at least one of the places to go nowadays.

Building just a new training facility won’t make the cut. Other clubs such as Racing Louisville, Kansas City, Angel City, among others, are doing that and more for their teams. If the new owners are for real they need to do their utmost to put the Portland Thorns back among the contenders, a reputation they have had for their entire existence until 2024.

That won’t be easy but they need to start step by step, starting from the GM and finishing with the players. They also need to get their goals and priorities straight and for that, they need a clear pathway to reach them. What do they want for this year, realistically speaking? And for the next? Rob Gale will need to know his roster and each of the players very well, know what they’re capable of, their strengths and weaknesses so he can use them for the good of the team.