Thorns Training Report: Week 7

Tobin Heath, Meghan Klingenberg, and Mark Parsons spoke with media today after training. Heath largely talked about her involvement with the Thorns Development Academy, announced last week. For fans, though, the bigger Heath news is that she will travel to New Jersey this weekend, and is expected to be available off the bench—though Parsons said she likely won’t play. Heath says she expects to be ready to play by the Thorns’ June 17 home game against Sky Blue, especially given the timing of the two-week international break.

Here are some other takeaways from this afternoon:

• Asked about the length of her injury, Heath said, “My body’s been taking a beating for a while. I don’t think my mom’s surprised.”
• Kling praised her teammates for stepping up to fill in for injured players. “If you look at [Hayley] Raso and her level of play, I’m really impressed and proud of how she’s been running at defenses, making s*** happen.”
• Parsons praised the progression of his midfield triangle, saying, “physically, we ask so much, we ask them to be in so many areas of the field... Amandine’s been doing a great job, it was nice to see her get that goal... She’s been superb, just like Allie Long has been. And Lindsey Horan, who missed four weeks of preseason, she’s now almost had a preseason and a couple of weeks during regular season. She’s getting sharper, she’s getting fitter.”
• Both Kling and Parsons underlined that the team’s evolution is a step-by-step process. “I remember at the beginning, the first two or three games,” Parsons said, “I remember referencing it’s going to be six or seven games until we get going. We’re now around that period, and we’re seeing the results of a lot of dedicated training, dedicated video work from our players.”
• Dagny is expected to play this weekend. Katherine Reynolds, Mana Shim, and Meg Morris are on a longer timeline. As for Morris, Parsons said she was at “85 percent” early in the season, and the staff decided to take a step back. “The structure of her movements... were still causing some challenges, some issues.”

You can watch all three interviews in full below: