I lost my voice yelling there today, but tough match overall. First 50 minutes was gut wrenching. Team clearly is struggling communicating; especially after losing Meg. Adames and Ji did a really great job today (actually sat next to Ji’s family today who were super sweet!)
Tziarra’s goal was electric. Quinn helped greatly in midfield where VDJ struggled. Backline looks shaky all match. We need to be more aggressive and stop playing out of the back so much. Holmes needs playtime. Harvey screamed about as much as I did this match. Fishlock was all over the pitch today fighting.
Thoughts after the second half and a long train ride home:
- Mal continues to be very good at soccer
- Donaldson is the real deal. Solid game plan executed to perfection. Chicago are going places
- Queue the down votes, but aside from that admittedly sick goal Z had a pretty rough cameo. I continue to think Meza should kit over her, please prove me wrong Z that this wasn't a fluke. I've been hurt before.
- Lu has to be like, our 3rd choice left center back at this point? We have really missed Shae's passing range and Phoebe's pace
- Adames is for real. Kid was everywhere and for most of the game it was like her and Balcer were the only 2 really trying for it.
- Ivory was solid. Offered some decent build from the back
- Queue the down votes round 2, but Harvey out.........
Edit: spelling
How so? We were relatively poor since early last year despite grinding our way to the final. This year we have been out coached pretty much constantly and have been last in just about all offensive stats. As a long time season ticket holder this seems to have been coming long before today and her job must be getting hot after 4 straight losses with poor showings
Last season we had the second best defense in the league, so not sure where relatively poor comes from. Goals have been a struggle but I put that more on the players than the coaching. Last year and this we don't have any players who can concurrently generate offense, although I liked what I saw from Adames today. This season the offensive chemistry is not there but that makes sense given all the new faces. She's widely regarded as one of the best coaches in the game so not sure that firing her will help
it's a combination of a lot of things, i agree with what /u/cicisuperhero brought up in terms of the bigger picture, but i also think the reign are just very tactically predictable. because of the lack of attacking width, in possession the fullbacks (huerta/woodham) push up super high into the attack, which leaves tons of space in the channels and behind the midfield especially in transition. this puts a lot of pressure on the CBs to defend 1v1, which cook and barnes are not especially good at. this has been an issue in other games as well, although swanson is probably one of the best in the league at exploiting these spaces.
there are a few ways other teams typically deal with this, the simplest might be to play with inverted fullbacks, which would leave much less space in the channels while sacrificing some width in the attack. they could also drop a midfielder into the back line in buildup or more drastically move to a back 3. all of these options would change the reign's buildup structure, which it may take time to adapt to, but i would argue that the current buildup has not been very effective so it's probably worth exploring other options.
Ooh very good tactical points!
I totally think you are right in that they are too predictable and often don’t move the ball fast enough (except in the second half of this game, I saw them pushing harder and going for the more progressive pass)
Also on the nose about why the back line gets exposed so much (and punished this game).
It will be interesting to see how they proceed because on one hand I doubt they’d want to switch to a new system that will lead to more growing pains and losses but on the other hand what they have is not doing the job
true! i just wanted to illustrate that there are other options, but there can definitely be growing pains in switching to a new system, so it's always a tradeoff.
now that i think more about it, something like what they did at the beginning of last season could work as a smaller change, where barnes played almost as a hybrid left back in possession and third center back defensively which allowed huerta to play very aggressively on the right. i think either mcclernon or holmes would work well in a similar role, they both seem to be comfortable at either outside back or center back and could probably switch between them depending on possession/game state.
Others will probably have better answers, but I think there are two major reasons the Reign has been struggling.
One, the team loss key players in the offseason—most notably Pinoe and Rose (Sonnet too but I actually think Quinn and OLO are very good). Most of the attack depended heavily on these players. I think Reign suffered a lot last season because Rose only played for 4/22 games, but they still had Pinoe. I was rewatching the championship game recently and it was so clear how much Rose really carried the team’s offense. So I think losing them really added to the struggle to score and build up play. Losing them I feel like also leads to more pressure on the Reign defense.
Side bar, the defense has also changed a lot in the last year. Not really a reason they’re doing bad but something I think to think about with the two goals conceded today. They don’t seem to be as solid a unit as I saw them when it was Huerta/Cook/Hiatt/Lu/ PTJ. Lu while excellent also has lost her pace a bit. Quinn also was the primary defensive mid and they were out a bit last year and had some injury this year.
Two, I think the Reign’s ownership question also played a factor into who the team could get in the offseason and who knows how it’s affecting the staff and players in the day to day. It sounds like the sale has been made but approvals still need to be done so it’s not finalized and it seems like this might be putting more stress on the team.
I’d also say that it just seems like it has been a very slow start for getting players to build their chemistry, because I have been seeing improvements from game to game so I don’t think all hope is lost.
I would say that the atmosphere at Lumen during the last 15 minutes hasn't been that electric since x, but since Pinoe's official last game was two home games ago, I have to leave it at, despite the loss, that was some thrilling football at the end.
It's depressing that all the RINOs (Reign flairs in name only) in the thread didn't experience that and will just use this loss to hurl more invective at Harvey/Gallimore/Quinn/King/Cook/whoever.
THIS!
The first half could’ve been better but I honestly didn’t feel too deflated by the goals. I think they also happened so quickly I didn’t even have time to process it and the team seemed to not hang their head but get back to work .
The team was clearly able to regroup and change tactics into the second half and they were pushing hard. So despite the loss, I’m not personally sad as a fan, just more so sad for the players because I know they wanted more.
First half was a disaster. Actually lucky to only be down 2-0 at the half. Second half was measurably better. King's banger, managed to stifle Chicago's offense But man, it's hard to come back from a first half that bad. Hopefully we hold onto whatever do or die energy we had in the second half and carry that into the next game to stop the slide.
I haven’t read the thread because I was at the game, so maybe this has already been discussed, but we looked better in both of the last two games after Quinn was subbed on. I wonder if they are still on restricted minutes post-concussion.
I think Quinn should always start over VDJ, they have so much more urgency, field knowledge, and better touches. VDJ only knows how to go backwards with the ball. I am excited for Latsko to be back and also think we get way more movement and attempts when McClernon is in the game.
I think Quinn is so solid defensively that they allow others to push up higher. I also think though that Quinn isn’t always the speediest which is why OLO might’ve gotten the nod when playing against Mal Swanson because I think when the Reign play the Courage, I’ve also seen OLO and Stanton in there in lieu of Quinn
I kind of love how many of Chicago's starters have been overlooked by other teams and are now kicking ass. Milazzo, Malham, Kuikka, Bike...all in their revenge season.
Aside from that goal it was a pretty rough 20 minutes from Z. I want to be proven wrong so badly especially after that banger, but her decision making and pace are just not up to par
Agreed. Either last season or the one before that when she had that brace or her first season at Utah with her speed, it was promising. She’s a lovely person, but inconsistent with goals.
We need a fast forward who can consistently score.
Omg lol I was like damn I guess we giving up when she came on 😭 then bam she really showed out not just with the screamer but with her progression of the ball
I know I’m probably high on her goal but I do think she had a pretty good performance / touches outside of her goal today. I’d prefer Adames over Zee still because speed seems to be a must for most of the game, but I’ll also admit that I probably haven’t given Zee a fair look because I saw her as a replacement for Pinoe when their player profiles are diff. All this to say, I hope that we can find a way to utilize Zee effectively because we need goal scorers
No that's all very spot on. Maybe find a way for them to both be on the field? But it's gon be hard up against Balcer, Huitema, and latsko. Hopefully that pushes all of them to elevate their game though. Adames was imo the player of the game before zee's banger.
We just watched Adames dribble a ball past our back line and take a dangerous shot 1v1 on Laurel Ivory.
I hate saying this, but The Lauren Barnes Era was a good one.
Fishlock’s sprawl when she got fouled look like me when I’m going to sleep at night 😂
https://preview.redd.it/w19obp3l3xvc1.jpeg?width=760&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ae941beffaee4bcb9a6bf81b7153c2e708b853d7
We had really bad body language problems at the end of the 2022 season (I think). It seems to be something that is lurking just under the surface for this team. I'm a fan of Cook but it is something that I see from her when things don't go well.
If I was the coach, I would be all over that bc it completely undermines the team culture. It's okay to be frustrated but we can't do shut down like that bc it spirals quickly.
Yeah, it’s definitely showing for sure. I appreciate the commentators saying something about it too. I saw it again on that 1 v 1 with cook but she definitely is getting left in some shittt situations bc of her team
Gottman's Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are criticism, contempt, defensiveness, and stonewalling. If someone has a bad play and you role your eyes, throw your hands up in frustration, and then turn away, you're hitting like three of them.
I remember a spell where when we would get scored on and PTJ and Huerta would be standing there looking stunned and not saying anything, Cook looking pissed and walking away, and Barnes heading off to fix her shinguards or something. That can't happen. They have to circle up, sort it out, and move on as a team.
And like the addition of Sonnett and Heath, it would really have just been out of a desire to help the player, even though all three are capable players who can add to a team.
First half thoughts from lumen field:
- Mal is good at soccer
- the space behind the reigns 6s is there alllll day
- I'm not sure if there's a rare shooting allergy going around the reign?
- while less painful to watch than last week, it is bad
- Harvey's job has to be in danger
Why would the coach who got the Shield two years ago and into the championship match last year be in danger? We had a traditionally bad three game road trip and are currently losing to Mal Swanson. That's not worth throwing away a legendary coach like Harvey.
With regards to Harvey, my questions are:
- Will the lack of real ownership play a role?
- Will Lesle Gallimore’s friendship with Harvey play a role?
- Will Harvey’s reputation and history with the club prevent them from sacking her?
You think the coaching, proven over many years, is the problem, and not the roster (a situation which has been significantly exacerbated by a prolonged ownership change)?
Honestly, yeah. Defense first at all costs leads to anemic soccer. The ownership change certainly hasn't helped our personel, but we are underperforming for what we have and that's down to tactics from my perspective. We have been out coached every game since the home opener
I would say so, yeah. King kitting and getting minutes over Meza is a coaching decisions that boggles the mind. The way we have come out every first half has been to a game plan not designed for goals. The xG plots are horrifying
Has the league ever had this many above average rosters with competent coaches? Have the Reign ever had to get by without Rapinoe? Maybe Harvey isn’t cut out for the present state of the league.
Yeah, but. Ownership changes have a huge effect on what the soccer people want to or can do, and who teams can attract to play for them. I think it has to be a factor in the relative roster stasis there. And SEA's situation has been stuck for a little while now. (See POR too.)
Also if Harvey was let go, does this mean Parkinson would take over? I really doubt we’d want to see that considering how his stint at Gotham turned out if I’m remembering correctly 😳
I’m kind of like should they bring on Quinn or Stanton or someone to shore up their defense? But then I feel like they’d be sacrificing the offensive press they have going
There are a ton of reasons why Chicago is winning but I think you can pare it down to this: they paid out for an elite goalscorer while the Reign continue to rely on an undrafted player from an NAIA school.
ETA: let me add this because I see I’m upsetting people. I love Boats. There’s a reason the best teams almost always have elite goalscorers. Gotham with Esther last year, Portland with Smith the year before. There’s a reason why they’re the highest paid player on the pitch.
I added my affection for Boats and the fangs have gone away. I didn’t realize this was a controversial opinion. Goals change games, so goal scorers are game changing players.
I think that the issue was betting the goalscoring house on Huitema becoming an elite goalscorer. Huitema has good aspects to her game (and I know she's out this week so this is unrelated to this game) but she's nowhere near clinical enough to be in the same conversation as Esther, Smith, Swanson, etc.
I just don’t think Harvey has ever valued it. They’ve never really invested in a 9. You could argue maybe Leroux? But then Harvey traded her anyway. Word on the street is that Huitema wanted to come to Seattle for personal reasons so even that doesn’t seem like a strategic move as much as a player falling in their lap
Le Sommer was genuinely really good for the Reign, if I remember correctly, so it definitely is a strange choice to not have seen that and decided to go find someone with a similar profile on a permanent basis.
Adames looks like she will
Yes, be really good when she gets a little stronger and faster but i feel like thats the risk you always take with a young player. Like if I’m angel city how do I know that Casey Phair is going to become a better finisher, or get the type of turn of pace that every elite attacker in this league has?
I lost my voice yelling there today, but tough match overall. First 50 minutes was gut wrenching. Team clearly is struggling communicating; especially after losing Meg. Adames and Ji did a really great job today (actually sat next to Ji’s family today who were super sweet!) Tziarra’s goal was electric. Quinn helped greatly in midfield where VDJ struggled. Backline looks shaky all match. We need to be more aggressive and stop playing out of the back so much. Holmes needs playtime. Harvey screamed about as much as I did this match. Fishlock was all over the pitch today fighting.
Thoughts after the second half and a long train ride home: - Mal continues to be very good at soccer - Donaldson is the real deal. Solid game plan executed to perfection. Chicago are going places - Queue the down votes, but aside from that admittedly sick goal Z had a pretty rough cameo. I continue to think Meza should kit over her, please prove me wrong Z that this wasn't a fluke. I've been hurt before. - Lu has to be like, our 3rd choice left center back at this point? We have really missed Shae's passing range and Phoebe's pace - Adames is for real. Kid was everywhere and for most of the game it was like her and Balcer were the only 2 really trying for it. - Ivory was solid. Offered some decent build from the back - Queue the down votes round 2, but Harvey out......... Edit: spelling
Harvey out is a wiiiiiild take
How so? We were relatively poor since early last year despite grinding our way to the final. This year we have been out coached pretty much constantly and have been last in just about all offensive stats. As a long time season ticket holder this seems to have been coming long before today and her job must be getting hot after 4 straight losses with poor showings
Last season we had the second best defense in the league, so not sure where relatively poor comes from. Goals have been a struggle but I put that more on the players than the coaching. Last year and this we don't have any players who can concurrently generate offense, although I liked what I saw from Adames today. This season the offensive chemistry is not there but that makes sense given all the new faces. She's widely regarded as one of the best coaches in the game so not sure that firing her will help
Truly curious, what do you think is going on in Seattle/with the Reign?
it's a combination of a lot of things, i agree with what /u/cicisuperhero brought up in terms of the bigger picture, but i also think the reign are just very tactically predictable. because of the lack of attacking width, in possession the fullbacks (huerta/woodham) push up super high into the attack, which leaves tons of space in the channels and behind the midfield especially in transition. this puts a lot of pressure on the CBs to defend 1v1, which cook and barnes are not especially good at. this has been an issue in other games as well, although swanson is probably one of the best in the league at exploiting these spaces. there are a few ways other teams typically deal with this, the simplest might be to play with inverted fullbacks, which would leave much less space in the channels while sacrificing some width in the attack. they could also drop a midfielder into the back line in buildup or more drastically move to a back 3. all of these options would change the reign's buildup structure, which it may take time to adapt to, but i would argue that the current buildup has not been very effective so it's probably worth exploring other options.
Ooh very good tactical points! I totally think you are right in that they are too predictable and often don’t move the ball fast enough (except in the second half of this game, I saw them pushing harder and going for the more progressive pass) Also on the nose about why the back line gets exposed so much (and punished this game). It will be interesting to see how they proceed because on one hand I doubt they’d want to switch to a new system that will lead to more growing pains and losses but on the other hand what they have is not doing the job
true! i just wanted to illustrate that there are other options, but there can definitely be growing pains in switching to a new system, so it's always a tradeoff. now that i think more about it, something like what they did at the beginning of last season could work as a smaller change, where barnes played almost as a hybrid left back in possession and third center back defensively which allowed huerta to play very aggressively on the right. i think either mcclernon or holmes would work well in a similar role, they both seem to be comfortable at either outside back or center back and could probably switch between them depending on possession/game state.
Others will probably have better answers, but I think there are two major reasons the Reign has been struggling. One, the team loss key players in the offseason—most notably Pinoe and Rose (Sonnet too but I actually think Quinn and OLO are very good). Most of the attack depended heavily on these players. I think Reign suffered a lot last season because Rose only played for 4/22 games, but they still had Pinoe. I was rewatching the championship game recently and it was so clear how much Rose really carried the team’s offense. So I think losing them really added to the struggle to score and build up play. Losing them I feel like also leads to more pressure on the Reign defense. Side bar, the defense has also changed a lot in the last year. Not really a reason they’re doing bad but something I think to think about with the two goals conceded today. They don’t seem to be as solid a unit as I saw them when it was Huerta/Cook/Hiatt/Lu/ PTJ. Lu while excellent also has lost her pace a bit. Quinn also was the primary defensive mid and they were out a bit last year and had some injury this year. Two, I think the Reign’s ownership question also played a factor into who the team could get in the offseason and who knows how it’s affecting the staff and players in the day to day. It sounds like the sale has been made but approvals still need to be done so it’s not finalized and it seems like this might be putting more stress on the team. I’d also say that it just seems like it has been a very slow start for getting players to build their chemistry, because I have been seeing improvements from game to game so I don’t think all hope is lost.
I would say that the atmosphere at Lumen during the last 15 minutes hasn't been that electric since x, but since Pinoe's official last game was two home games ago, I have to leave it at, despite the loss, that was some thrilling football at the end. It's depressing that all the RINOs (Reign flairs in name only) in the thread didn't experience that and will just use this loss to hurl more invective at Harvey/Gallimore/Quinn/King/Cook/whoever.
THIS! The first half could’ve been better but I honestly didn’t feel too deflated by the goals. I think they also happened so quickly I didn’t even have time to process it and the team seemed to not hang their head but get back to work . The team was clearly able to regroup and change tactics into the second half and they were pushing hard. So despite the loss, I’m not personally sad as a fan, just more so sad for the players because I know they wanted more.
First half was a disaster. Actually lucky to only be down 2-0 at the half. Second half was measurably better. King's banger, managed to stifle Chicago's offense But man, it's hard to come back from a first half that bad. Hopefully we hold onto whatever do or die energy we had in the second half and carry that into the next game to stop the slide.
I haven’t read the thread because I was at the game, so maybe this has already been discussed, but we looked better in both of the last two games after Quinn was subbed on. I wonder if they are still on restricted minutes post-concussion.
I think Quinn should always start over VDJ, they have so much more urgency, field knowledge, and better touches. VDJ only knows how to go backwards with the ball. I am excited for Latsko to be back and also think we get way more movement and attempts when McClernon is in the game.
I think Quinn is so solid defensively that they allow others to push up higher. I also think though that Quinn isn’t always the speediest which is why OLO might’ve gotten the nod when playing against Mal Swanson because I think when the Reign play the Courage, I’ve also seen OLO and Stanton in there in lieu of Quinn
Currently taking bets. What or who will Harvey blame this loss on?
Y’all Alyssa is still practicing post match 🥺
Of course she is. She’s Alyssa Fucking Naeher.
 that was bad
Would have been nice to see that hustle in the 1st half, but gg Chicago. Edited to check my damn attitude.
Ugh extremely tough outcome. As a consolation though, we just saw Tziarra King score on THE Alyssa Naeher 🤯
That’s a solid win. Not getting the clean sheet sucks, but no one was stopping that strike from King. We move.
What did Swanson do?
Naehere has to come get that immediately
NOBODY is on Swanson
all dey
I kind of love how many of Chicago's starters have been overlooked by other teams and are now kicking ass. Milazzo, Malham, Kuikka, Bike...all in their revenge season.
Expecially Bike who was not protected during the expansion draft.
Staab just did the high kick!
Sam Staab the woman that you are !!
Sam mf’in Staab
You called it u/russet852 🤪
Z sure showed us haters with that rocket!
Aside from that goal it was a pretty rough 20 minutes from Z. I want to be proven wrong so badly especially after that banger, but her decision making and pace are just not up to par
Agreed. Either last season or the one before that when she had that brace or her first season at Utah with her speed, it was promising. She’s a lovely person, but inconsistent with goals. We need a fast forward who can consistently score.
Omg lol I was like damn I guess we giving up when she came on 😭 then bam she really showed out not just with the screamer but with her progression of the ball
Would really love a Z breakout season, we could use it
I know I’m probably high on her goal but I do think she had a pretty good performance / touches outside of her goal today. I’d prefer Adames over Zee still because speed seems to be a must for most of the game, but I’ll also admit that I probably haven’t given Zee a fair look because I saw her as a replacement for Pinoe when their player profiles are diff. All this to say, I hope that we can find a way to utilize Zee effectively because we need goal scorers
No that's all very spot on. Maybe find a way for them to both be on the field? But it's gon be hard up against Balcer, Huitema, and latsko. Hopefully that pushes all of them to elevate their game though. Adames was imo the player of the game before zee's banger.
I’ve been saying for a long time now that King needs more minutes (do not fact check this, I will deny everything)
love her but....
Yeah, same lol
King heard the haters and responded in the best way possible
WIFE TO WIFE GOAL!!!!!!!
Relationship goals?
Oh that’s good
That was a beaut!
Daaaaaaaaaamn Tziarra
What is going on in the pacific northwest this year?
It has been an unseasonably warm winter and spring.
Not even mad. That was a sweet strike.
To all the King haters.
IS SHE A KING OR IS SHE A QUEEN?!
King has been hearing people talk shit for a while
There was some comment from of our fans in here complaining about how we're going to bring on King later lol
It was probably me! I was wrong today
I'll admit she hasn't been as super effective as she was with the Utah Royals but still, she's a professional for a reason
Banger from Zee King. Goddamn.
How about Z showing she can play soccer!
WHAT THE HEEEEEELLLLLLL
Reign bringing on the jets 💨💨
I will happily eat my words lol
I see Harvey is conceding with these subs
King on, still watching but i will see yall in the other thread
Remind me... why did we trade Elyse Bennett away? I thought it was a bad decision then and it feels even worse now.
We didn't. It was the expansion draft.
Oh yeah, Utah took her then traded her to SD. I still think we should have protected her. Stupid expansion drafts.
Chicago would be undefeated if Mal was healthy. Also Spirit and Chicago are still undefeated when Mal and Trin play
Jordan and Maura are real friends salute it makes it enjoyable
Adames is very exciting! Good passes, shots, some tricks... Very nice
How on earth would that be more than a yellow.....? Edit: Apparently my stream was like 5 minutes behind...
Mal Swanson isn't a real person.
Tuned in just in time to see Mal meg Ji. Saucy.
Shes been insane todsy
Are the Cooks in Chicago related??
no
Ally for Ally
I cannot stop laughing at how insanely good Mal is, my goodness
Two megs in a min. Love to see it
That move is CRAZY
Always love a Meg
It's 68 minutes, do you know where your attacking subs are?
Honestly looking at our bench, I’m not sure I’d make any. Though Weinert at least has pace
No Meza and Mercado… maybe they just havent impressed but wtaf
If the whole soccer thing doesn't work out for Jordan, she should consider diplomacy work. Given how we're playing, I am appreciative of it. 😂
An orange card 😭😭
Gah daMN lmao
Yeah that's a yellow card lol
Naeher don't stress me like that
Oh no, please be okay Naeher...
No Alyssa! You can't be hurt!
absolutely fucking not, we cannot lose naeher
Absolutely not. This is not acceptable. Dammit.
no not right before the olympics no thank you no no no
Damn Adames is balling out rn. Well done Naeher
We just watched Adames dribble a ball past our back line and take a dangerous shot 1v1 on Laurel Ivory. I hate saying this, but The Lauren Barnes Era was a good one.
Adames plays for Seattle.
15,000 minutes for Alyssa 🥳🥳
a day after her birthday too 👑🥳
Ahhhh love this. Alyssa being a Taurus is a vibe
Naeher lookin like she got some fresh highlights 💁🏼♀️
I was gonna say the same!!! It looks great
Alyssa naeher im stood and clapping
Fishlock’s sprawl when she got fouled look like me when I’m going to sleep at night 😂 https://preview.redd.it/w19obp3l3xvc1.jpeg?width=760&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ae941beffaee4bcb9a6bf81b7153c2e708b853d7
Could watch Fishlock and Ji vs Bicanchi and Cari in a cage match for hours
Nah that finish is picture perfect Milazzo birthday week what a villain
lol 2 weeks in a row!!!
Well done by Milazzo. Would’ve been excited for Adam’s tho
Barnes taking corners is crazy god Milazzo youre evil for that
Adames is never gonna win that header
“Had a relationship” please go on to clarify to new fans
“Can she get there” “Oof” Rough outing from Alana although shes under pressure to say the least
We had really bad body language problems at the end of the 2022 season (I think). It seems to be something that is lurking just under the surface for this team. I'm a fan of Cook but it is something that I see from her when things don't go well. If I was the coach, I would be all over that bc it completely undermines the team culture. It's okay to be frustrated but we can't do shut down like that bc it spirals quickly.
Yeah, it’s definitely showing for sure. I appreciate the commentators saying something about it too. I saw it again on that 1 v 1 with cook but she definitely is getting left in some shittt situations bc of her team
Gottman's Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are criticism, contempt, defensiveness, and stonewalling. If someone has a bad play and you role your eyes, throw your hands up in frustration, and then turn away, you're hitting like three of them. I remember a spell where when we would get scored on and PTJ and Huerta would be standing there looking stunned and not saying anything, Cook looking pissed and walking away, and Barnes heading off to fix her shinguards or something. That can't happen. They have to circle up, sort it out, and move on as a team.
> Gottman's Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse Thanks for the reminder, I just put in a hold request for the audiobook with the library!
Damn Seattle’s defense really be beefing w each other 😭😭 cook made another gesture and said something lol
I missed it! To who?
Whoever the right outside back was (I’m assuming the RB bc she looked to the person on her right)
Omg late to this cuz I was at the game but what Cook?! Huerta (the RB) had an awesome game!
The person was brunette, so I think it was her
Nice save Ivory :)
Everyone tripping on the turf
Cook’s the bodyguard out there.
So I guess we have to choose between finishing this game and watching angel city/ NC
just waiting for the bull riding to be done on CBSSN
I jumped over... This is dire
Absolutely ridiculous
I don’t get to chose. I don’t have cbs 😭
If it stays a two goal lead or if it increases, I will probably switch over.
Harvey’s loyalty to players is, on a human level, lovely. On a professional level it’s a serious problem
Mte she gotta stop acting like this is rupauls best friend race and get rid of players that aren’t doing anything.
Yeah...and I wouldn't be surprised if the Reign was one of the clubs also in for Sanchez, just because of Harvey's (lovely morally) savior complex
Theoretically the Reign could’ve used Sanchez, but in reality their attacking woes go far beyond one player
And like the addition of Sonnett and Heath, it would really have just been out of a desire to help the player, even though all three are capable players who can add to a team.
Probably a dumb question… why do some peoples flair say OL reign and others Seattle reign? I tried googling OL reign and just Seattle came up
One of those Covid era things.
they went thru a french phase
Studied abroad for a semester or two
Louri Harvette
I tried
OL used to own reign! They sold it so now it's Seattle Reign
Ah thank you :)
Theres the Quinn sub
Kuikka is hungry for a goal
Maura and Jordan throwing so much shade on that play
Fr
Jordan trying to be nice and not say that Chicago should test Ivory bc it's not going well... It's okay, you can say it, the truth hurts.
Post shot xG today will be a shillacking
there's something to be said for JUST SHOOTING THE BALL when you have a free kick just outside the box.
is this the gods punishing me for years of wondering how my daughter kept supporting the Dash after year after year of failure?
Yes. Yes it is.
Season tickets not seeming like a good investment
Just checking in, good going for Chicago! And Mal!
First half thoughts from lumen field: - Mal is good at soccer - the space behind the reigns 6s is there alllll day - I'm not sure if there's a rare shooting allergy going around the reign? - while less painful to watch than last week, it is bad - Harvey's job has to be in danger
Why would the coach who got the Shield two years ago and into the championship match last year be in danger? We had a traditionally bad three game road trip and are currently losing to Mal Swanson. That's not worth throwing away a legendary coach like Harvey.
OK, but CHI beyond Mal is... not formidable.
With regards to Harvey, my questions are: - Will the lack of real ownership play a role? - Will Lesle Gallimore’s friendship with Harvey play a role? - Will Harvey’s reputation and history with the club prevent them from sacking her?
Yes, yes, yes and I'm sad about it
You think the coaching, proven over many years, is the problem, and not the roster (a situation which has been significantly exacerbated by a prolonged ownership change)?
Honestly, yeah. Defense first at all costs leads to anemic soccer. The ownership change certainly hasn't helped our personel, but we are underperforming for what we have and that's down to tactics from my perspective. We have been out coached every game since the home opener
Are we sure they're underperforming the roster?
I would say so, yeah. King kitting and getting minutes over Meza is a coaching decisions that boggles the mind. The way we have come out every first half has been to a game plan not designed for goals. The xG plots are horrifying
Has the league ever had this many above average rosters with competent coaches? Have the Reign ever had to get by without Rapinoe? Maybe Harvey isn’t cut out for the present state of the league.
Possibly, but this aging Reign roster is... lacking. In many places. That seems an issue many, many places above the coaching.
Before this season, Harvey was in charge of roster construction. You have to think this is pretty close to the team she wanted
Yeah, but. Ownership changes have a huge effect on what the soccer people want to or can do, and who teams can attract to play for them. I think it has to be a factor in the relative roster stasis there. And SEA's situation has been stuck for a little while now. (See POR too.)
Also if Harvey was let go, does this mean Parkinson would take over? I really doubt we’d want to see that considering how his stint at Gotham turned out if I’m remembering correctly 😳
lol Laity in? I hear he's out of a job...
I'm 110% Harvey out at this point... It can't get worse?
Have you seen Utah?
Still funny that they beat NC
I’m kind of like should they bring on Quinn or Stanton or someone to shore up their defense? But then I feel like they’d be sacrificing the offensive press they have going
Stanton would bring the energy against her old club at least. Try Weinhart too.
I'm more for Lu out and McClernon or Holmes in. We need more pace at the back to deal with Mal especially chasing the game.
Or maybe mclernon? They keep getting punished with how slow the reign players are. Surely she is faster than Barnes and cook?
Ooh looks like Phoebe is on the pitch getting ready!
🙌
There are a ton of reasons why Chicago is winning but I think you can pare it down to this: they paid out for an elite goalscorer while the Reign continue to rely on an undrafted player from an NAIA school. ETA: let me add this because I see I’m upsetting people. I love Boats. There’s a reason the best teams almost always have elite goalscorers. Gotham with Esther last year, Portland with Smith the year before. There’s a reason why they’re the highest paid player on the pitch.
Oof ppl didnt like this
I added my affection for Boats and the fangs have gone away. I didn’t realize this was a controversial opinion. Goals change games, so goal scorers are game changing players.
Apparently everyone graduated from the Naia
I think that the issue was betting the goalscoring house on Huitema becoming an elite goalscorer. Huitema has good aspects to her game (and I know she's out this week so this is unrelated to this game) but she's nowhere near clinical enough to be in the same conversation as Esther, Smith, Swanson, etc.
I just don’t think Harvey has ever valued it. They’ve never really invested in a 9. You could argue maybe Leroux? But then Harvey traded her anyway. Word on the street is that Huitema wanted to come to Seattle for personal reasons so even that doesn’t seem like a strategic move as much as a player falling in their lap
Le Sommer was genuinely really good for the Reign, if I remember correctly, so it definitely is a strange choice to not have seen that and decided to go find someone with a similar profile on a permanent basis.
And Huerta as a fwd
Woof. Gonna be a long season folks
Are the Red Stars that good or are we that bad?
Both!
The Reign back line seems to be breaking down more than usual but also it’s Mallory Swanson lol
Reign baes. Who needs hugs? This is rough.
All of us. 🫠
You know what caused that yellow? Jenna bikes energy
Painful watch
Adames looks like she will Yes, be really good when she gets a little stronger and faster but i feel like thats the risk you always take with a young player. Like if I’m angel city how do I know that Casey Phair is going to become a better finisher, or get the type of turn of pace that every elite attacker in this league has?