PORTLAND, Ore. – Six players are off on international duty, another will join them soon, and for Portland Thorns FC head coach Mark Parsons, three players will miss the rest of the NWSL season with injuries. Yet in eight days, his team has to be ready to play their fiercest rivals, with the chance to host a playoff game in the balance.
Welcome to the reality of first-division women’s soccer in the United States, one where an international break falls directly before the end of the season. Once U.S. internationals Adrianna Franch, Tobin Heath, Lindsey Horan and Emily Sonnettreturn, next week – along with Brazil’s Andressinha (set to depart soon), Switzerland’s Ana Crnogorčević and Canada’s Christine Sinclair – Parsons will have close to his full team together. But that reunion is not slated to happen until 48 hours before Sept. 7’s kickoff against second-place Seattle Reign FC.
Home-field advantage in the playoffs’ first round may be in the balance, but for both the Thorns, only one practice session will be possible to prepare for the most important game of their 2018 regular season.
“It’s really hard,” Parsons conceded, drawing parallels to the last set of absences teams had to endure at the end-of-July Tournament of Nations.
“We learned big lessons,” then, he admitted. “We didn’t nail it …Those lessons will be used this time.”
This time, the stakes are higher. Win, and Portland not only hosts the Reign in the NWSL playoffs’ first round but, because this year’s league NWSL Championship will be at Providence Park, the Thorns will have home-field advantage throughout the postseason. Lose, and the team could fall to as low as fourth place, with trips to Cary, North Carolina, and Seattle both possible.
It’s a terrible time to have six starters away from the team, and with Meg Morris (hip), Hayley Raso (back) and Katherine Reynolds (knee) sidelined with injuries, the Thorns will endure the next week’s training with just over half of their squad available.
“One huge benefit is the game is one we all dream about,” Parsons said, asked about the task of preparing for Sept. 7. “Sharing information in a 24-hour time span is the biggest challenge. Motivation, getting the recovery, the things that we’ll do to help them physically and mentally, all those (the team will do), but the information to prepare the individual in the team? It’s the biggest challenge."
It’s also a challenge for the players who, Parsons notes, have been pushed to their physical limits juggling a compacted NWSL schedule and the demands of their international jobs.
“All these players, across the whole league, are probably hanging on by a thread, right now,” he said. “If a player who played Tournament of Nations played all the league games, then played all the friendlies and then came back and played (on Sept. 7), I’m just taking a guess, but that would be 11, 12 games in eight, nine weeks. That is [very] crazy. So, they’re hanging on by threads.”
Hanging on by threads, but also having their focus tested. Players may always have some deference for the opportunity to represent their countries, but during this international break, many will be asked to take part in low-leverage friendlies, with the United States scheduled to face a Chile team that’s ranked 39th in the world. For the U.S.’ Thorns talents, it may be difficult not to look to the future.
“My assumption, my guess would be there’s a bit of rotation,” Parsons offered, alluding to the difference in importance between the Tournament of Nations and the coming Chile matches. “They’re friendlies. Try and tell Seattle or Thorns players not to think about Seattle v. Thorns? You’re crazy. Of course, it’s on their minds. “
Parsons speaks from experience, when it comes to knowing players’ priorities. Since he took over the Washington Spirit in the middle of the 2013 season, the Thorns boss has had to manage these dueling commitments, with U.S. internationals Ashlyn Harris and Ali Krieger regulars during his time on the East Coast.
In Portland, though, the magnitude of the absences is on another scale. The effect in Washington, according to Parsons, was “minimal impact.” In the Rose City, the club has to develop a more considered approach.
“We had two good staff meetings about that, now,” Parsons said, of this week’s absences. “We learned lessons, last time. We feel very confident that we have a good plan that can give us a good chance.
“And the simple version is, keep it freaking simple. To get too complicated would be a bit naïve, here. Yep, we feel good.”
Feel good not only about the way they can manage this challenge but also the challenge itself.
“The last few games have given us an opportunity for an unbelievable game on the seventh and the potential for more unbelievable games,” he said. “It’s exciting times.”
