Rose City Red Card
The unfiltered Portland Thorns podcast. Marissa bleeds rose. Alan is from Seattle, which makes things interesting. Match breakdowns, hot takes, and one rant per episode.
Adults only. Bring a drink.
Rose City Red Card
August 2, 2026: F*ck a Six, We Need Center Backs
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Utah 5, Portland 1. We recorded two hours after the whistle, Marissa on a mic at her parents' place in Las Vegas, and the argument she has been making for five straight episodes died on air. All season it has been the hole Sam Coffey left at the six. Somewhere in the second half she texted Alan "we need center backs. fuck a 6," and most of this episode is her working out why she changed her mind and then defending the new version for twenty minutes. Portland scored inside the first minute and lost by four. Utah were playing their third game in eight days. Portland had been off for nine. Also in here: the back four that changes almost every week, why Marissa thinks Mackenzie Arnold is carrying blame that isn't hers, what the money is actually for, and why all of it comes back to Sophia Wilson's contract. Adults only. Bring a drink.
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:14 Utah 5, Portland 1 — and it wasn't the road
02:47 Their third game in eight days, and we still fell apart
06:00 "Fuck a six. We need centerbacks."
08:49 The new coach, and five goals
10:35 The FIFA share sale that got scrapped
11:03 The table: sixth, and it flatters us
12:34 Mackenzie Arnold, and a back line that changes every week
14:31 The money is there
18:00 The window, and Soph
21:51 It isn't Arnold's fault
24:39 Klingenberg honored, and Sonnett's season
27:54 Back at Providence Park on the 15th
Takeaways:
- Utah Royals 5-1 Portland Thorns, August 2, at America First Field. Sophia Wilson scored inside the first minute. Delzer got two, then Mozingo, Palacios, and a Kate Del Fava header from a corner on 89. Portland had conceded 20 in the previous 17 matches.
- All season Marissa has said the problem is the hole Sam Coffey left at the six. Mid-match she texted Alan "we need center backs. fuck a 6." Most of this episode is her taking that apart.
- Utah were playing their third match in eight days. Portland had nine days off and scored in the first minute.
- The back four changes almost every week. Marissa puts Mackenzie Arnold's dip in form down to that rather than to the goalkeeper.
- Portland are sixth on 28 points from 18, goal difference +3. They went into the night two behind Utah and came out five behind. North Carolina, Angel City and Seattle all sit below them with games in hand.
- Sophia Wilson is a free agent after this season and still unsigned. The window shuts September 7.
- Portland have the same salary cap as Gotham. The money, the facility and the ownership are all there. No center back has been signed.
- Emily Sonnett ruptured her patellar tendon and is out for the season.
- Meghan Klingenberg is honored at Providence Park on August 15, the first game the two of us watch together in the building.
Next week is Boston away, our last remote recording. Then August 15, back in person.
Welcome to Rose City Red Card, your Portland Thorns podcast. I am Alan, and I'm here with Marissa, and today was not a good day. We led after only 34 seconds into the game, we scored, and then we lost by four. I've been thinking about this for two hours, trying to figure out how we could possibly make that make sense. but I can't do it. Marissa?
Marissa:It's, I try to be the most positive person in the room, but this is Thorns on the road. This is kind of what we do. We score fast and we lose the score. We lost to the Utah Royals August 2nd, 2026. This is the third worst loss that the thorns have ever, ever had. in our existence as a club. We all saw it coming. We all saw it coming. We know we need defense. We all know that we need defense. Our full backs are slow and that's okay. As long as we have some solid centerbacks and we don't. Even if we tried to have a solid centerback group, we change the lineup and the defense every fucking time. Every game, the defensive lineup is different. And I don't know. It sucks. This is fucking hard. A 2-1 loss, 3-1 loss, a 4-1 loss is that's hard, but a 5-1 loss is crazy. We are a middle. I would like to suggest that we were at top of the table team. And the scoreboard says that we are a middle table, and I'll take that. We did not show up like a middle-table team today. We, lost 5 to 1. And that's kind of crazy.
Alan:And the simple story for this is, you know, we win at home. We don't win on the road. We, you know, this shows it once again. But it's not that simple. Utah, this is their third match in nine days. And we had those nine days off. So, yeah, we're, you know, we're not at home playing in our own stadium. But, we're getting a lot more rest than Utah's had.
Marissa:And we still just fell apart. It makes it worse. This was their third game inside of eight days. And we hadn't played in nine days. And I'm sorry. I love the thorns. I'm so positive that we have such a great team. But this was such a letdown. It was such a letdown, especially for the players. I can't even imagine what they're feeling, 5-1. You know, like that's, that's a lot.
Alan:That is a lot. And it just kept coming.
Marissa:It just, it just kept coming. It just, it just kept coming. And the first half, the first 20 minutes of the first half, so let's say, like 25 minutes out of 90 minutes today, we did really well. We didn't get stretched. Our Tordin and Flem and Moultrie were such great midfielders serving the ball up. They were tracking back. And then we just fell apart.
Alan:Um, we, you were talking about how great we were looking, uh, in that first half, uh, those, you know, before the hydration break. I blamed the hydration break.
Marissa:Oh, no. Oh, yeah.
Alan:We saw that it was, it was a hundred degrees out there. I mean, that's, that's the kind of match where you need the hydration break. But it threw off our game. Um, as soon as we came back from that, it all fell apart.
Marissa:Yeah. No, absolutely. It, and like you said, it, it's a good, it's a good excuse, but it actually is a good excuse. Like, it throws off the rhythm of the game. Like, you have to, there's already so much stop and starts of the game, you know, between penalties, throw-ins, this or that. But this actually stalls the game. And God damn, they scored within like 20, I don't know what, you're going to have to pull it up, Brooke. But like, they scored within like a minute after the hydration break. And they just, that was it. That was it. We didn't have an answer. We can blame Soph for missing a shot on. an open goal shot. That doesn't matter. She's, what is she supposed to do? Is she supposed to score five goals now? Sorry, I'm getting ahead of the curve. I'm just upset.
Alan:No.
Marissa:It was, it was hard.
Alan:It was real hard to watch.
Marissa:It was really hard to watch. Like, and we're, we're better than this. We are a team of solid players. Players that play for their national team all around the world. And our defense is just, they should be worried coming into work tomorrow. I'm sorry. I love my thorns. I love them. I support them. I believe when we can't believe. Like after that third goal, I was like, we got 20 minutes left. There's plenty of time. Thorns. We got this. And it just wasn't enough. And it wasn't. We need the, we have the money. Sorry. Sorry.
Alan:No.
Marissa:I'm just. We have the money. We have the money. We need to get. solid centerbacks. We don't need somebody that's going to be their best in two years. We need somebody now. We're the fucking thorns. Like, we're not some bottom of the table team. We are a winning team. The owners, they need to pay attention.
Alan:And that brings us into our next segment coming off of a text from you earlier in the day. So you texted me earlier, we need centerbacks. Fuck a six. we need to send her back. We've been talking about this in previous episodes. You know, we've talked about where our weaknesses where our weaknesses lie. That Sam Coffey-shaped hole that we've had. But, you know, this showed it even more. Everything in the middle of the field just fell apart.
Marissa:Yeah. So let's talk about what a six is actually on the field. A six is the defensive midfielder. They are the back of the midfield. Whether you play a, I don't know how many midfielders you have, but the six is your defensive midfielder. It is the person on top of your centerback, it controls the game. And I think coffee was just so fucking good last year that she didn't make our defense look as bad as it looks. Because our defense hasn't changed. It's the same bullshit. She was holding them together. She was holding it together. She was just good enough. That it didn't make our defense look as bad. And I don't, we don't need a six any, we don't need a six. We, we have beautiful midfielders. I don't even know if we need that strong of a defensive. We don't need a six as, we don't need a strong six if we have a strong defense. I, I know that that that sounds crazy and that sounds weird. And also I'm not an analyst. Me and Alan are drinking and hanging out and talking shit. But. If we want to move forward and we want to have strength in numbers from behind, then we need strong centerbacks. Fuck a six, we need strong centerbacks. We have the fucking money. We're the fucking Portland thorns. Yeah, we're not fucking New York and we can't claim all these really fancy players that Gotham gets, which is congratulations to Gotham. But we're the fucking thorns. We are one of the... We talked about it last week.
Alan:We don't, we have the same amount of money that Gotham has. The salary cap, you know, they're just using it better than we are. We have all these holes and we're just not filling them.
Marissa:Yeah. So we need to figure something out. It's almost two full seasons now. People are blaming the coach and I kind of miss our interim coach, Sarah Lowdon, but we don't want to blame it on our new coach. It's one year and a coach needs more than one season to actually figure it out with a team. We get that. It takes more time to learn how everybody works together. But it was extremely visceral to see when our interim coach left and the new coach took over. Five goals. Five goals. What are you doing, Vilahamn? What are you doing? That's as many goals as we've, after three, you're like, let's do a low walk.
Alan:A quarter of the goals we've given up already. This season, we gave up 20 goals, and then we did five more today.
Marissa:Five goals. Do you? I remember. And, you know, like, I'm not a hater. Like, honestly, Utah is, I've said this before, but like, Utah is the prime example of trust the process. They've been shitty for two years, and at the end of last year, they got really good. They figured it out. And now Utah's here in our faces, not just figuring it out, but some girl is putting, she scored five goals. They scored five goals. And so she's putting chapstick on. They're laughing. They're having a good time. Fuck them. Also, they fucking deserve it. They deserve it. They, 5-1 against the thorns, against the Portland thorns.
Alan:Okay, so what do we need to do?
Marissa:You said we need a centerback? We need centerbacks. We didn't see Perry. Okay, so, okay, so let's talk about it. One sorry. Yeah, no worries.
Alan:It's trying to fix some things at the moment as well. We lost transcription, which means that we've lost Brooke as well. So you look that up. So I didn't write out.
Marissa:our defense, but I wrote down our midfielders. Thanks, Brooke. Sorry, girl.
Alan:You're like Rose Lavelle or Emily Sonnett.
Marissa:You could do no wrong. Also, did you, okay, so did you hear about Emily Sonnett sheets like a patella, which is even worse. Yeah. Also, it's crazy because nothing really happened because it's over. But literally, like the takeover of a nonprofit organization, which is supposed to be FIFA, was trying to sell shares to Trump's son. in-law's brother. That's literally what was happening. And UEFA, I don't know if you, Europe is made up of one more 50 countries, and they all were like, no, like, it got shut down. So this game has us left in sixth place, which, you know, it doesn't sound that bad, but
Alan:it's kind of a, it shows up well. We went in two behind Utah, and we came out four. five behind Utah. And we've played less games than some of the other teams. We have the points, but it's only because we've played less teams. We're not sitting well.
Marissa:No, we're not sitting well at all. Thank God we have games at home. I don't know what to say. We go from tying the best team in the league with Gotham to losing to Utah 5-1. I just, I just, I don't know, like, we're not, we like to say the Providence Park is a 12th man on the field, but like, we're not on the field. How much can us screaming and crying and Chan and our chance really do that much? You know, like, um, apparently it does something. I mean it, and also it does, because, because these girls are familiar. They have a late night game. They go into the same spot they're used to. It's, you know, they're more used to it. But, God damn, girls, like, five to one is five to one.
Alan:Does sleeping your own bed really mean that much?
Marissa:Yeah, right? Like, how uncomfortable is it?
Alan:Out of first.
Marissa:Yeah. And something is, something's up with Mackenzie Arnold. She hasn't looked the same since we got back from break. She's looking a little slow. She's looking not confident. And that's what we needed. Last year when she joined us, she was not. great. And she's the Australian national team's goalkeeper. She's brought them into quarterfinals. She's brought them to the Asian Cup finals. She's fucking fantastic. But with us, it's, she just doesn't have the confidence. And like as much as, you know, like, being a solid player is great, you need confidence. Especially as a goalkeeper, am I going to come out? Am I, like, being confident with your black line? And that's also something we can get into. Alan is because our back line changes every single game. The back, like, it's every single game. And whether that's because of injuries or suspensions, because of cards, it's every game, our backline is different. And these girls need to work together. If you look at any of the top teams, they have the same starting lineup every single time. Washington Spirit, Tara Rudd, Esme Morgan. Like, you know, like, they, like, everybody has their same. spots and we just don't have that. And it's...
Alan:So what's the direction we go? Do we need the consistency or do we need to make changes?
Marissa:We need to make changes. I, I, we're not going to, it's not like a rebuild year because we have all these fantastic fucking players for the next couple years. We have Flem, Tordin, and Moultrie for the next two years at least. That's such a solid start. We need centerbacks. We need to put our money where our fucking mouth is. Like, these owners, they have this new, like, training facility open. They own the fucking Portland Fire, which is Portland's new WNBA team. We have, they have all these things, but, like, the thorns are losing. We just lost five to one. That doesn't happen. Something needs to happen. We have the money. We have the, we have the cap space and the allocation money, because we learned that those are two different things. But, like, we have the space. And, we're not in New York City. We're not, you're not going to live in New York City on a high rise, but we're not, no offense, but not Sandy, Utah. We're not Louisville. We're not in the middle of fucking nowhere. You know, like, we can pull that kind of, God, we've had some of the greatest women's football players that America's ever played in, that's played for our club. Why can't we go back to that? We have the resources. We just, steps off soapbox.
Alan:We just need to.
Marissa:to put those resources to use and really have it all come together. It could be worse. We could be Chicago. Chicago literally has Mallory Swanson, who's one of the best forwards in the world, and she's literally sitting on one of the worst teams in the world. Chicago, they're in Chicago. Sports town. You would think that their owners want to spend money to get people in, but some owners are cheap, you know, like, so, so we were talking about the cap space and all that stuff, the, the hip rule last time. And they took, they take votes all this, they take votes amongst like the owners and stuff like that. And there was like a 10 to 16 vote, Brooke, you're going to have to pull this up. But there was a vote amongst which owners wanted to get rid of the salary cap and which owners didn't. And that's like, the salary cap is, you're not, this isn't a football team. This isn't the Raiders. This is women's football. You're going to spend a couple million dollars. It's going to bring in so much money to you. You just have to care or like pay attention to it. And I feel like I don't, I'm not comparing our front of house to Chicago's or anything like that because Chicago women's football and women's basketball. You guys are a fucking poverty franchise. You guys are fucking doing no, none of those ladies service out there, no offense. But anybody that can hear this at that pays such a women's football or basketball knows that you guys are not doing anything for your women out there. But the thorns need to show up. Pay it. People show up. Tickets. We show up. It's not like no one's going to show up to these games. It's not like no one's going to buy merch. It's not like you're going to lose season ticket holders. Pay the money.
Alan:Well, maybe that's it. Maybe we're used to playing in a stadium where people do show up. And looking at that match today, that stadium not only was smaller than ours, but it was empty. There was, granted, it was 100 degrees out there and, you know, those seats were in the sun. But there was no one there. It was a whole different environment to play in.
Marissa:Mm-hmm. Yeah. So if these girls can't play in silence somewhere, I just don't know. I just don't know. Also, I'm not a professional athlete. Like, I, like, I can't give too, I can't hate too much on their athletic ability, but like, we just were on our heels. The defense, It was, it was hard. And like I said before, we're not just pushing for a playoff spot. We're not just pushing for wins. Soph is a free agent after this season. She will get to go wherever she wants. Any team in this league would pay whatever she asks. And if we don't show the fuck up and prove that the thorns are strong and then we can beat a game that, a team that is playoff contention or finals contention every season, then she's going to be gone. And we can't hate her for that. She's one of the best, she's literally one of the best forwards in the world. Like, she's with Alessia Russo. She's with these, these amazing players. And if we can't show up, like, what do we expect her to do? Like, I want Soph to do great things. I want her to push yourself. I want her to be the best player that she can be. obviously I wanted to be that with the thorns, but if we can't show up and they're not going to spend the money for that, then why would she stay? Sorry, steps off soapbox.
Alan:That was fantastic. Well, that brings us back to one of the texts that you sent me tonight, quoting you,
Marissa:was it the naked? Alan, I figured I'd leave that one out. Put it in.
Alan:She said, Alan, if we don't get a better defense, Soph could leave. And that's the key here is, you know, like you said, she's a free agent at the end of this. We have not signed her yet. What's happening? Are we going to be able to keep her?
Marissa:So.
Alan:With the way we're falling apart, is she going to want to leave?
Marissa:We drafted her. This is the only team that she's ever played for. We have that on us. She's comfortable here. But if we keep losing and not even like, not even like, losing in like a natural way, like, there's nothing that's going to fill a Sam Coffey hole. Sam Coffey could be on any of the teams in the NWSL, and she left, and it would leave a hole. She is special. She is a starter. So the Women's Super League, the WSL, Man City is the best team in that league, and she is a starter. She is one of the best team. is in the world. It's going to leave a fucking hole. But the hole that she left, I'm deciding and I figuring out is not in the midfield. Our midfield is fine. The hole is in the defense. And that's what's happening. And yeah, that's it. Sorry, Alan. So is it Arnold that we need to look at?
Alan:Hey, I'm back.
Marissa:I came in part of as you were doing that.
Alan:And I was like, oh, she's getting content. I will just listen.
Marissa:I felt like I was like on a diary. I'm just, also the way that I'm holding this mic, I feel like, talk to me, you know. Sorry.
Alan:No, they're so good. Like, you can, like, they are the classic mic. Like, they are exactly that.
Marissa:It is so, it's, I'm holding it. I'm not even, like, sitting it down. Like, I'm sitting in the living room. And, yeah. Also, the reason we couldn't record before is because my parents are into true blood and I couldn't be in the house. So. it's not as, my mom also was just like, well, let's start where Eric takes his shirt off. And then I was Googling when Eric takes his shirt off in true blood. So that's like literally the last thing I googled. Family time. Now your Google is polluted forever.
Alan:So.
Marissa:Yeah, I know. I know. I know.
Alan:Is Arnold the one we need to look at then?
Marissa:No, no, no, no. Because it's not Arnold's fault. She's not, she's going through something, but it needs to go through 10 other people before it gets to her. Like the goalie's job, like, yeah, she made some great saves today. But also, she wasn't, if our defense was better and marked players in the box, she wouldn't have to make these crazy fast moves with her feet or something like that. Like, I think I want, I miss Bella. I think Bella Bixby is our best goalie, abs of fucking Lutley, but she's injured again. so she's not going to be our goalie. So we're with Mackenzie Arnold, which is fantastic. Mackenzie Arnold's fine. But should we get Mackenzie Arnold a hacky sack? Should we get her like some foot like thing so she can learn to play with her feet? I don't know. Love you, girl, but like you need to warm up better. I don't know. You need to do some more sprints before the game. Something needs to change because, girl, you've been looking like do-do. After that break. is she just five goals five goals got past her that's just five goals so many right and so like in hockey if i if if if like you the goal that gets pulled then they pull you because they're like damn that sucks mentally and they pull you they literally pull you after five goals in hockey they pull you and we're not we're not we're not racing louisville we're not boston we're the fucking portland thorns and we lost to a team five one we gotham the best team in the fucking league by a mile we tied them to two two and we played really well but we were at home and we just couldn't bring that that energy tonight and yeah like i it's not going to i hope it happens fast and it's we have until september when is when is the trading window end september something um well anyways the trading thing ends this time the trading window ends and we still have a bunch of time we need to figure it out like i'm sorry like even these lower teams boston chicago sam stab they these lower teams have good defenders why don't we fucking poach them i'm done i don't give a fuck let's post these fucking girls Plum play for the Portland thorns make a bunch of money live in a cool city don't live in family first Utah even though they just be the players we need we need we need these these great players we need to get them here we do sorry i was just hitting my wig pen because i'm depressed keep that in keep that in i will keep that in uh some good news uh Meghan Klingenberg is being honored So Meghan Kling, we are celebrating, yeah, we're celebrating her. That's the game that I get back. We're going to be back home for, I'm going to be home for that. That we'll be there. So, cool.
Alan:So there was some other bad news that we had missed as we started off. Last week we talked about Sonnett. She was injured in the game against us. No contact injury, but we didn't know what it was at the time. They've now said it was a ruptured patellar tendon, she had surgery done, and she's out for the season. So Sonnett, we hope the best for you. Getting back to there, you know, that's a rough surgery to go through.
Marissa:So hopefully, kind of right now, any injury that happens in our league, the women's Super League, Mexican League, Spanish League, any league, our eyes are on 2027 summer in the World Cup. So any injury that happens, somebody somewhere is clicking their timer and starting to win Sonnett could get back and to when we can get back to World Cup form because Sonnett is our, I'm sorry, Alan, maybe we should say it's a different time, sorry, but Sonnett is our defender for the U.S.A. women's national team. Without her, we will have to fill a hole. and that has already been talked about in the threads, and it's a few names, and we don't want that. Sonnett was our girl. So the time her has started, and we're going to hear about injuries because injuries happen. This is sport, but the countdown has begun. The women's World Cup is next year, and so things, when people get injured, and like Sonnett's patella, people, I'm not a doctor, and I don't think maybe Alan, you might be a doctor, I don't know. but, um, Patella injuries are not as, um, A and B, like a ACL injury. An ACL injury, you get injured, you get the surgery and you have like a certain amount of time. Patella, it's kind of up in the air, which is a lot scarier. Like, everybody was worried. Everybody didn't want to hear ACL, but this is kind of worse because it's, could be six months, could be longer, could be this, could be that. So, um, sorry to drag it out, Alan, but yeah, Sonnett, we're wishing you all the best. We love you. Come, come back to the pitch when you're ready. Um, yeah, that's, we're just sending you good vibes and a lot of love, girl. Take my knees, Sonnett. Take my knees.
Alan:And you and I have something to look forward to. Um, in two weeks.
Marissa:Yeah.
Alan:We are going to actually be at the game at Providence Park. Uh, first. time, uh, the two of us get to watch a game together in person. Um, that'll be a lot of fun. Um, and we'll also be able, we'll be back recording at our usual location. Um, if you heard any technical difficulties earlier in the episode, uh, that's because we are recording remotely at the moment, but we will be back, uh, doing our normal, uh, recording in two weeks, uh, on the 15th.
Marissa:So soon, it's a game back in Providence Park. And that's where we do. well, so. Yeah, it'll be big. We're going to represent Kling. It's going to be big. I'm excited. Alan, I miss you actually a lot. I do miss you a lot, Alan. So I'm excited to get home to Portland.
Alan:We're excited to have you back. Uh, I've become the person that everybody asks, uh, when is Marissa getting
Marissa:back? I haven't seen her around in a while. So, uh, I got that at least, uh, five times last week. So, uh, you are, are missed, uh, in the name. neighborhood. Thank you. I miss you. I miss being in Portland. It was 76 degrees today in Portland and it was 115 in Vegas. So, um, definitely miss being home. Yeah, that's, that's a hot one.
Alan:All right. Well, we will see you all next week. Uh, uh, after the Boston game, uh, our last, uh, remote recording. And, uh, then we'll, we'll see again, uh, August 15th. Uh, uh, when we're recording again.
Marissa:Yeah, yeah. Um, hey, so last thoughts, uh, we lost 5 to 1. We're still a great team. We still deserve some belief from our fans. Um, yeah, no injuries. Fuck Seattle. Go thorns.
Alan:Go thorns.