A Thorns column about formations and statistics. A numbers up situation is colloquial language for a phase of play where one team has more players than another on a specific part of the field.
If you love someone, give them space
In training last week, Portland Thorns head coach Mark Parsons gave us reporters a heads up as to the fact that the team was going to be more open to changing the gameday XI and how they might line up. Part of this is due to the competition for spots in the squad with players fighting every day to prove themselves ready to step up and perform in this period, but he also dropped a hint that there might be a rethink about the way the team is set up as a whole.