Dud
The Thorns come out of the summer break with a shocking low-energy effort against Gotham FC
Game #17: Gotham FC 2 - Thorns 0
8 wins - 3 draws - 6 losses
27 points | 5th place
I’ll admit: previously, I had my doubts about Gotham FC coach Juan Carlos Amorós, who has received widespread praise for his tactical and strategic skill as a coach. But I have no choice to be on board after this one, where Gotham FC held a 1-0 lead for the majority of the game, and made it feel like a three- or four-goal advantage.
Gotham has allowed only 13 goals on defense all season. (Normally, that would be a dominant league-best, but the Orlando Pride are just a bit better, with only 12 goals allowed.) That low number isn’t just coming on the strength of their defensive line. It was clear that Amorós has unified his entire team to pursue and win the ball back as a single, wolfpack-like unit. When Portland had the ball, I noticed that all Gotham players angled themselves to help use the sideline as an extra defender. That slowly constricted the Thorns’ space, until winning the ball back was basically inevitable:
To my surprise, the full-game stats don’t even really show that Gotham had a huge advantage in stats like possession, or interceptions, or pass completions. In the flow of the game, however, the Thorns were really just trying to out-run this, well, tactically masterful team — instead of getting into their own offensive rhythm.
Let’s contrast Gotham’s unified defensive effort with this incredibly passive moment from the Thorns’ own defense. The defense is on its heels, and each Gotham player has ample time to maneuver around a single Thorn before safely dropping off the next pass. The end result is old friend Yazmeen Ryan easily sending home a shot from long distance:
So, yes: both Sophia Smith and Sam Coffey were in street clothes for this one, getting a well-deserved break after their Olympic campaign. But: Gotham held Olympians Crystal Dunn and Lynn Williams out of this game as well, so the absences pretty much balanced themselves out. What was so concerning about this game is that the Thorns were as well-rested as they’ll be, coming out of the summer break, the playoff implications here were huge — and the team played with no urgency whatsoever.
The NWSL’s brand-new playoff format for 2024 will feature the top eight seeds making the postseason, with the top four teams hosting a first-round game. Going into this game, Gotham FC was the fourth seed, and Portland was the fifth seed — right on the brink of hosting privileges. This game represented a huge opportunity for the Thorns to start to grab back home field advantage for that first round playoff game. With this comprehensive loss, these teams are still in the same places in the standings, but now a huge points gap has opened up: Gotham FC has 34 points, while the Thorns have 27. There are only nine regular season games to go, and Portland will need to rip off a dominant hot streak to have a shot at hosting a playoff game. Really, that hot streak needed to start now, and it felt odd that a team with so many veterans just clearly did not arrive at this game mentally ready to win.
Going back to last year’s playoff defeat, Gotham has now shut out the Thorns in three straight games.
Debut city
After Portland’s busy summer transfer window, three different players made their Thorns debut in this one:
Alexa Spaanstra (wearing #77) got the start at left forward, and played 77 minutes. She got off three shots, although none of them were on-target. While nothing explosive happened, let’s also concede that Spaanstra has gotten whipped all around the country this month, with her trade to Portland still only a few days old.
Reilyn Turner (wearing #66) came off the bench at center forward, playing 35 minutes. Turner and Olivia Moultrie were clearly the two Thorns playing with the most urgency, and split the team’s three shots on target between them. Turner’s looming presence also nearly caused a Gotham own-goal during the opponent’s one slip-up across 90 minutes of action. Turner’s size, skill, and aggressiveness in the center of the field should be a really dynamic pairing when Smith is playing on the wing.
Mallie Mackenzie (wearing #29) got 13 minutes off the bench, off the strength of her positive performances in the Summer Cup. Unfortunately, by this point, both teams were just jogging it out to the end whistle. But, honestly, not the worst time to make a debut and slowly get integrated into the team.
Dias out
On Monday, the team announced that they transferred forward Ana Dias to a team in Mexico (Tigres UANL) in exchange for a transfer fee. All told for Dias across her few months with the Thorns: 10 games, including two starts, 236 total minutes, and one goal (in Portland’s 2-0 road win over Houston).
At first I was surprised by this move, because I had really enjoyed Dias’ physicality and tenacity in the goal mouth. However, GM Karina LeBlanc and the Thorns front office might have been looking at this stat: despite playing centrally, only one of Dias’ 13 total shots was on-target. That’s an extremely low percentage. Also, Dias was not just a regular starter but a premiere goalscorer for her previous team, in Russia, and may have simply wanted an opportunity with more playing time. This would be Dias’ third country of residence in the last 12 months, in addition to traveling across Europe to play for her native Portugal — what a whirlwind.
Up next
Game #18: Bay FC at Portland Thorns
Friday, August 30, 7 pm
Live broadcast: Amazon Prime
Bay FC sits at 10th place in the league, and their solid offense is struggling to keep up against the league’s worst defense, with 30 goals allowed. That’s honestly a pretty successful expansion season, especially with the team also putting up elite attendance numbers. But: Bay FC’s focus is absolutely in 2025 and beyond, and the Thorns need to overwhelm them quickly, get goals on the board, and get all three points here. One of the key decisions that coach Rob Gale faces is: does he put new goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold in for her Thorns debut, or does he stick with Shelby Hogan, as he did against Gotham.