Orlando Pride Vs Portland Thorns: Mark Skinner has work to do

The Orlando Pride’s 2019 season started off with a 2-0 loss against the Portland Thorns. Mark Skinner and his players have a lot of work to do.

The Orlando Pride fell short of the mark in a disappointing first game of the 2019 season, losing 2-0 to the Portland Thorns in NWSL action on Sunday evening. This was the third time in four years these two teams kicked off the season against one another.

Caitlin Foord opened up the scoring for the Thorns just before the half-time whistle with a chip over keeper Ashlyn Harris, before Tobin Heath added a second just minutes after the restart. That was enough to secure the victory.

It was Foord’s first goal in her NWSL career. The goal was created by Christine Sinclair’s sublime through ball into the stride of Heath, who drew in two defenders before letting off a backheel pass for the oncoming Foord. Foord later returned the favor, a driven cross teeing up Heath for the second of the game.

Though the Pride had a couple of chances of their own, it was the Thorns who looked the better side. The Thorns outshot the pride 22-15 and 8-2 with shots on goal. With only two shots troubling 2018 NWSL Goalkeeper of the Year Adrianna Franch, it was a long night for the host side.

Ashlyn Harris, meanwhile, came up huge in the first game of the season for the Pride, making six saves, a few on Lindsay Horan who posed a threat from distance on several occasions.

Portland continued their offensive onslaught with 17 crosses and seven corner kicks. On the defensive end, the Pride did a decent job as they soaked up plenty of pressure from their opponents and thankfully so. Had they not done so, the score could have been much worse. Their issues, though, came further up the pitch.

New Head Coach Mark Skinner’s 4-4-2 formation had a tough time in the middle of the park and bringing attackers Marta and Alex Morgan into the game. With a disconnect in the midfield, it took time for the two attackers up front to get chances and test Franch. Though the Pride held the ball more, their possession was far from fruitful. With 53% possession and 59 more passes, the high press from the Thorns stunted the Pride’s ability to progress forward.

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Coach Skinner made use of all three of his substitutes but only one made a solid contribution to the game. Chioma Ubogagu made way for Camila in the 65th minute and the like for like swap added some structure helping others create goal scoring opportunities. But in the end, it was a minimal difference that was futile to the result.

The Orlando Pride were looking for a big turnaround season after finishing in seventh place last year. Orlando ended the 2018 campaign with a -7 goal difference, winning just eight of their 24 matches. The Thorns, on the other hand, were seeking to build on their success of last season, having finished in second place behind the North Carolina Courage. And they established that success with another good performance and result here.

For Skinner and the Pride, there is plenty of work ahead. After the defeat, Skinner conceded:

"“I think all the things that we looked at doing in preseason we didn’t affect first half. We just didn’t do them. So, we had some words at halftime, we were better second half, but still not good enough. That’s nothing against the players, that’s nothing personal, that’s not me telling the players they aren’t good enough. That’s me saying as a team, as a collective, we were not good enough in that game. Hence the reason why we lost.” -Coach Skinner on the loss"

Even with Marta and Morgan, 2018 FIFA Best Women’s Player and 2018 Women’s USA Player of the Year respectively, there is much improvement to be made upon. This was a poor start to 2019 for the Orlando Pride, and it might well get worse next week.