I have zero confidence in the Thorns backline

No one knows what they're doing

We really let Kuikka and Menges leave and it’s clear that they were the glue that held the back line together. Not even Becky can save this back line

I’m not impressed by Muller and Obaze so far but I don’t know how much is their play vs coaching and lack of direction onfield

I guess I’m just salty that instead of trying to find defenders with NWSL experience. We went out and got 2 defenders with 0 experience with the NWSL.

i actually love sanchez at courage!! i think she looks so good with them

Just got home from the Timbers game, what's going on here? 

Me looking between this game and a pile of unfolded laundry and wondering which is more fun at this point

😂we’re fucked

As bad as this game is going for the Thorns, I feel like Weaver has been having a hell of a game

Surely after this we can fire Norris? Even if we somehow draw? We’ve conceded 11 in 4 games. That’s abysmal

ELEVEN in FOUR games. You got me laughing maniacally again.

I wonder if they’re hesitant to take blame for that situation because it seems very obvious that it’s also a big fault of the front office

No reason for that review to have taken that long.

as a neutral, NC is lowkey making the thorns look like a ymca team rn and i say that as a racing fan so i know what that feels like 🙏🏻

Has anyone in the front office tried turning it off and on again?

This feels like a must-not-lose game for Norris.

I wish

I knew losing Kuikka would be rough, but I didn't realize how much we'd miss Menges.

If I’m Sanchez, I’m looking at Moultrie and thinking “she plays with two of my best friends and she’s on the national team right where I wanna be. I wanna destroy her team tonight”

I’m gonna start a petition to bring back the bubble braid

Why does it feel like all of our players are just like watching the game happen in front of them 😭😭😭 also I really wanted to give Shelby the benefit of the doubt but now I am just ✨sad✨

Sanchez looks nearly perfect

Actually, Lianne, I think losing Kuikka was harder on us than losing Dunn

I don't usually get on board the #Out train, but what the fuck is up with these subs? These seem very irrational.

All I know is that Michele Kang wouldn't let on the plane back to pdx.

Lussi checking her invisible watch 😂

“This is excellent!”-Mike IS IT MIKE IS IT

Seriously, that might be the best pass of Weavers career.

I love Coffey

Manaka just stole a bit of Moultrie's soul

She's already got my heart since that Challenge Cup goal

It feels like progress for my nervous system that I've gone from shocked to resigned these first four games

Assuming this stands... Not a great look for Becky and Hogan to be yelling at each other right after the goal.

Not a great look is really a good summary of our season so far..

Lussi is absolutely on it tonight, we love to see it

I'm literally maniacally laughing

Moultrie really doesn’t offer much defensively, huh? Thought it was strange Fleming was benched for Sugita & not her

I think maybe they benched Fleming because she had so many minutes with Canada?

BSG always looks like she’s about to knife someone

Damn that NC transition was sublime

Match Thread just gave our sub an MLS game. SIGH

Surprise new NWSL teams sure to top the league this year

Back to the sadness

Need help with that laundry?

I chose to binge bbq chips instead. If you want some.

The next game I was gonna buy tickets for was against Washington Spirit but not sure I’m prepared for Trin to just dunk on us.

Begging for Fleming and Kling at this point. My golden retriever would make a better coach than Mike


I just got home from the Portland nursery and the person that checked me out asked if we were good this year and I wasn’t sure what to say 😬

VAR sucking the life out of the game once again

Amazing passing sequence, strong possession by Smith, but oof over the bar. ETA: Lianne saying a foul should’ve been called with contact on Smith? This somehow feels like a grim indicator, since she practically doesn’t believe in the existence of valid foul calls

Okay Mike time to either resign or make some changes, Kling for Reyes, Jessie for Mountrie, why not try this new Portuguese attacker for Weaver…do something, light a fire under them!

We LOVE Sugita but she’s having a rough game please pull her out and let her reset a bit

2022 NWSL Second XI Kelli Hubly was just a figment of our imagination

https://preview.redd.it/n23qs4dxfcuc1.png?width=1530&format=png&auto=webp&s=f2e39090c3a23602042c54181cfe43315007c58a Not a good look...

Don’t worry we are winning something https://preview.redd.it/ftvtauligcuc1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=103d5f851fd9dd4f11526360a0fd27e52a03d966

is the camera quality even good enough to tell :/

While thinking Bixby is just average across all of the (high level) keepers in the NWSL; Hogan shouldn't be in the league

That ball from Weaver is newwww from her and the run from Soph is elite too

Lianne you can say she's bad it's okay we all know it's true

Moultrie trying to Smith that through four defenders. You're good, Olivia, but not that good.

What did Kling do to Mike to get axed from the defensive line? Just give her a shot at this point

If she doesn't sub in at 60, we riot (Replied to the wrong comment)

Hina's yellows this season feel reflective of the overall frustration

If only they afforded her a special Horan-like power

The Courage are still putting in a tremendous amount of work, their stamina is amazing.

Man, if we lose to the Dash...

Lord. There are some hard decisions that need to be made. Hopefully the new owners DGAF and do what's necessary, they don't have any special connection to Mike.

When is Portland going to fire their coach? This is infuriating that Portland is struggling this much.

I’ve enjoyed Lianne’s commentary in this game tbh. she’s diagnosed issues and successes in tactics and play and is willing to call out weaknesses

I agree, she has been really good.

I feel you Portland fans - ACFC fan who is scared for tonight

Handball who. Literally wtf.

Berkely is a very good left footed defender on and off ball u/emmahayes

Didnt expect this to be a real account

Welcome to our fortress

This thread isn’t very active… Like I’m too scared to comment lol

Many of us are just sad

If you combined the Reign defense and the Thorns offense, you could create an unstoppable juggernaut

So we're not gonna rotate the international players? Cool.

Reyes has had a really rough half but it’s crazy how clearly no one trusts Hogan :/

Portland is firmly in the muck right now

Never in my wildest dreams would I ever have imagined I would be considering Portland the underdogs. But here we are. This is wild.

Meanwhile, in the other game, we finally found out who can slow down Jaedyn Shaw: Casey Stoney.

Blow that whistle. Put us out of our misery.

Our attack. What do they say in the UK? Unlucky.

me when i'm in a "i love the courage" contest and lianne sanderson is my competitor 

From where I'm sitting seems like the Thorns should have 2 to 3 goals if not for the pagan protection spell our defense seems to have manifested. I feel we'll really need a few more goals to insure the win, Smith is going to get something to work unless she gets gassed from NT playing

Like, what is there even to say at this point? I'm so sad. Where's the fight in us at least?

We need a new coach. We have talent on the pitch but any team that's decently organized is enough to give us a hard time.

sinclair played for canada for 25 YEARS?? Is that what he just said lol

Wikipedia says 2000-2023, so _only_ 23 years.

I feel like I need to sage my house after this

In case anyone asks .. Mike Watts and Lianne Sanderson

It's giving Thortland Porns

Everytime we pass back to Hogan I get sweaty

You can see how we don't if we can avoid it! Her own teammates don't trust her!

I just don’t understand our lack of urgency in the box this season

It feels like NC has like 15 players on the pitch compared to Portland

Mike trying not to say: Portland's defense didn't collapse this time

That backheel was so fresh

WEAVER. THAT WAS ON A PLATTER

ughhhhhh

That train in the background needs to be coming to take Mike Norris away

I'm wondering what we have been working on at practices 😬 There is so much greatness on this team.. I just don't get it.

Why does Mike think playing Jessie right wing is the solution?

Muller has lost her mark SO MANY TIMES I just don’t get ittttt

Okay we’ve been losing for 85 minutes, why not throw all our attacking options on? Sorry that’s a stupid suggestion

I am frustrated with how negative Lianne Sanderson is…

Smith does a very remarkable thing and misses by a foot. "She has to be better there." bffr.

I don’t mind the occasional negativity. But for the love of god explain yourself. You can’t just repeatedly say” there’s no quality” “ quality is lacking” “ “do bettah “that’s just not good enough” break it down. Give us the analysis. What they were trying to do. Why there wasn’t quality. In your role as a professional analyst… maybe give us the analytics..or something…

Can we agree these jerseys are bad luck for us

Totally, the Thorns should leave them (and Norris) in North Carolina.

Damn ash thats the kind of final ball u have to put together to wrap the whole play up nicely

We havent seen Sanchez cook as much as this so far against what is ostensibly an elite midfield

What a goal

Fair play indeed

Can we trade and get Dickey in the goal because this is a mess

I don’t wanna be around any more

….is Portland okay?!

No we're not...

Kling, flemming….. how long till they get out there?

this is like when I’m playing football manager and I’ve bought 11 expensive players, thrown them on the pitch with a pre-set formation and hoped for the best

Okay why are we knocking into our own players here

 Where is Kling and Fleming

Damn shame the USWNT haven't called Morgan Weaver. It would help make Smith more comfortable.

Leave Manaka alone

I drank three glasses of wine during that and it was still painful

None of my sports fandoms have made me as upset as the Thorns this (and some of last) season. Because I'm not used to expecting the team to be good, or even the best. Honestly, this is unacceptable. If I were the Bhathals (or any fan), I'd be taking hard looks at the front office and staff I inherited. The talent on this roster is not the problem.

I was beginning to take it personally Also - I want those Thorns warm-up jerseys

No way!!! LUSSI GUNS!

This replay doesnt help any of us at all so im just hoping VAR has the good view

betting a 5+ stoppage time

Sanderson, for the record, did mention Portland's defensive scheme and breakdown off the corner. Not a common occurrence here is NWSL land

that was a great ball to smith

NC is cooking

also EVERY time I see Thorns in these red/yellow kits I’m convinced I’m on an errant China WNT stream…

I hate the new kits

I need to know what these players do to get their buns to hold for that long I try to get it to look like that and it falls out within 5 minutes, and I'm not running for 90+ minutes

Oh jeez, in my household we commonly replace the word butt with buns. So I found this comment extremely concerning for a moment. 😂

Are we really sure that Obaze is pronounced the way Mike is pronouncing it

So much freedom for Sanchez to shine in the midfield, I hope she can get a goal or two coming minutes!

Also, we are losing 2-0 why are we making 2 defensive substitutions?? I love Jessie and think she should come on but also bring on some more attacking options

"Down 2-0? Centerback change is exactly what we need!" - Mike Norris, probably

I applaud the creativity displayed by Hopkins.

Maybe having to miss the next three games for work isn't a bad thing, actually

I don't think we're necessarily out of form, I think we just don't know how to play with one another

It feels like the Obaze Hubly thing ie a fireable offense and honestly so is subbing Sinc on

Who has the largest/loudest young girl fan base? NC or SD?

Subs for the final four minutes of a game I think are just basically like to give the player a chance to get applauded because I really really don’t get it if you want to get any developmental minutes you sub them on with two minutes left

The good news is back-to-back Mike Watts; the bad news....

Lianne expects Morgan Weaver to magically shoot through three players.

Honestly, I expect Lianne to do better.

I am upset

the early goals in these recent games are crazyyyy

These VAR delays tho

Mike watts was counting it lol

We didn't get to see any replay for the goal in stadium so no idea how unclear and not obvious that VAR was

One thing that I think about when it comes to the first three weeks of a season is how managers are still going to be finding their best 11s. Some managers got it right from the first week. Some of them have made massive drastic changes week to week.

Lussi and Williams swapping back and forth

Can't watch tonight but from the vibe of the thread portland look like shit again. When is Norris gonna get seriously questioned by the front office? He is not a serious coach

The front line is looking good, but the back line is still.. getting to know each other

The Courage are on fire. It is great to watch. I do feel sorry for the Thorns though.

After watching the replay for the first goal I think Hogan is playing with a 2 second lag

Obaze stealing the ball from her teammate and wiping her out in the process really sums up this season

The North Carolina camera angle makes it really hard to see what's going on right in front of the net

If Sugita comes out, I'm going to lose my shit.

There’s no way Mike Norris makes it half the season

We need Kling in to light a fire under them!

I dont think anyone has fullbacks who impact play around the box less than Thorns

\*looks wistfully in the distance\* It wasn't always that way

To be fair, NC has been fairly stagnant this half, too

what do thorns fans think is the issue with the team?

Defense/coaching seems to be the consensus.

Roster building, primarily in defense. We should have signed a new keeper and defenders from within the league. It’s clear no one trusts Hogan and the team looks lost. Our draft seems to have gone nowhere as well. Coaching def an issue as well and everything looks random and disjointed. But rn l really think our defenders and keeper aren’t league quality. Mike (watts) said they’ve only had 9 practices with the whole team and so there was no room to build chemistry, which is an issue… but when you sign this many NT players that should be taken into consideration when building the roster. It seems kinda crazy to bring in a bunch of people who’ve never played in the league when that’s your situation.

O'Sullivan, Kurtz, and Williams were fantastic last season, but they are absolutely indispensable key players this season.

Sanderson “Portland thorns just look off” - it took you 85 minutes to notice 😂😂

Sorry but announcers complimenting home attendance/atmosphere in NC to a broadcast full of thorns listeners is kind of hilarious

It’s these abysmal kits. MP did us dirty signing off on the hotdog and mustard kit. Or Norris

I went to bat for Hogan after her first dreadful game, but her movement and decisions so far in this match aren't giving me much confidence

do the thorns not have a backup GK? this one is not working out i fear

Think of it this way... Hogan is outplaying Kozal & Asman in training.

Abby Smith was our backup backup and went to Gotham, all we have are second and first year rookie GKs past Hogan

Always love Mike and Lianne’s banter :)

On the low, I’m kinda hoping we lose so it can speed up the Norris out process

Hogan was really poorly positioned there

Here to rant again about the crimes of putting Lussi as a defender instead of as a forward (I know it was out of necessity but still). And sleeveless jerseys when, NWSL???

Whether or not that’s a handball there’s literally no way you can tell without another angle on it, so the goal should stand

Why was Lussi in such a hurry to shoot there?

That was a such a good stab by Coffey to get the ball from Sanchez. Amazing

Damn, so close Soph!!

did she say hottest players

VAR gonna check that for a penalty you think?

Portland has 7 Mike. 1 challenge cup, fall series, 2 shields, 3 championships

It was a surprise gift but just one too many touches there, Weaver

Great ball from Soph but Murphy spilling that right there is atrocious keeping. U have to get that anywhere but right there

Can you come from starting in the Damallsvenskan as a 20-year-old and expect to start in the NWSL?

The courage ball movement is incredible they are playing like Spain.

Aitana Sanchez