Nick Cushing on Denver Summit's Finishing Crisis

Katie: Welcome back to the 5280 pitch Women's Soccer at Altitude. I'm Kate Hansen. And here's the thing about this stretch of the season. Denver is playing in its busiest week of the year this week. Three games in seven days, all at Centennial Stadium. And the first one out the gate was a draw that honestly it should have been two points better. We were the better team, 1-1 against Boston, a team sitting, well, now they're sitting just one spot below us in the table. that Denver has, well, on paper, no reason to be needing a penalty shot to just get a draw from the game. and here's the thing about today's episode. I'm not gonna walk you through the whole match minute by minute. You know the shape of it by now. You were either there watching it or you were watching it on ESPN. or If you missed the game on ESPN, I'm sure you've seen the highlight. Which we will talk about that a little bit. But I'm gonna give you the two-sentence version. Boston's keeper, Casey Murphy, launches a long ball in the 34th minute. Sammy Smith runs onto it, gets behind it, slots it, five-hole right past Abby Smith. 1-0 against the run of play off basically the only chance Boston created in the first half. Denver spends the rest of the match trying to find an answer, and It doesn't get one until that 72nd minute when Janine Saunis stepped up and buries a penalty to make it 1-1. And that's how it stayed. Now I want to bring Saunas into this early because she gave a presser right after the match up lines up almost exactly with what the stat sheet says. And I think hearing it from a player who was actually out there dominating the game and still walked away frustrated tells you something that the numbers from this game can't. I thought for large periods of the game we really dominated, but when that doesn't result in scoring goals, you you leave a team like that in a game and they score a goal in transition. I think in the first half they were in our box maybe two or three times and two of those were big opportunities, whereas we're in their box seventeen, eighteen times and we're not putting the ball in the back of the net. So It's frustrating to create that much. but the positive of that is when we stick to what we do well and we keep it simple and don't get tired of doing the small things, we're successful. So look, you know, at this point where it's August, we have to start to turn the screw if we really want to make a push to be in the place that we want to. you know, that's two games in a row where we walk away looking at the game thinking we should have taken more points. Two games in a row. Washington the week before, and then Boston on Sunday. 17, 18 times in the box the first half alone. It it actually undersells what the final opta numbers from the match showed for the full ninety. There was 38 touches inside Boston's box by the final whistle. Nine shots from inside the box. One goal. Her gut sense in the moment and the box score afterwards tell the exact same story. The Denver Summit had total control and then almost nothing to show for it. And she wasn't hiding what this means for the team either. you gotta give credit where credit's due for saves made, but we are in positions that we absolutely need to score tonight. And so I know, you know, there's a lot of people on our team that are gonna go away and watch this game and be frustrated, myself included, and I think that's just being a winner and being a competitor. you can't leave opportunities on the table in this league. It's far too close from team to team. So yeah, I mean, look, we need to score more goals. That's you can't shy away from the reality of that. that is the co-captain of the Denver Summit just saying it out loud. And I I really appreciate that about Janine is that she will say it. There's no spin, no we'll take the point and move on. Just we should have scored more. And everybody in that locker room knows it. That's a team that's frustrated, that wants more out of themselves and as a club. We did have the opportunity to talk to Janine about that goal because Sonis had a specific read on it that's that's really worth hearing before I move on off of the Boston match entirely. when when a goalkeeper with that kind of range gets the ball in her hands, you just gotta get in her face. You gotta make it tough for her to get the ball off. margins are small in this league. You switch off for a couple of seconds, that's from front to back. You know, our our front players need to get in front of the ball and switch on and as a back line we need to know that that the threat is there from a delivery perspective and a pace perspective. So it's a frustrating goal to give up considering how much we limited them from a opportunity perspective. That's fair, right? Murphy's long ball found space because Denver, by every account, including the person who was on the field for it, switched off for a matter of seconds. Murphy read the play perfectly, and she played a perfect ball that caught Denver Summit sleeping. And unfortunately, we paid the price for it. That's I don't know if I should say fun fact, but it is a fact that that's just the fourth time in NWSL history that a goalkeeper has had an assist on a goal. So congrats to Murphy, just kinda sucks it was against us. and one of the things about this that's so frustrating is that entire first half was played in their half of the field. The one time the ball goes the other way, it goes fast and it goes in. I don't think I don't think that that is the story of Denver's season. I think that the story here that I want to dive into in today's episode. Is what happened with the other 37 of those 38 touches inside of the box. So let's talk about who's actually scoring goals for the Denver Summit because I did some digging and I if for those of you that are wondering, I built my own LLM model, which is an AI tool. And it helps me with a lot of the stats and digging. It makes things go a lot faster. So when I do some digging, I have my handy dandy robot that helps me with all of my research. Because I am a one-woman show. I do have Mariah who helps out But for the most part, right now I am a one-woman show with my my handy-dandy LLM robot that assists me in research digging. But I went in, I did some research Because we haven't had that strong threat on offense for the Denver Summit. Like Barbara Banda, like Chewinga, like Sophia Wilson. We don't have any of that for the Denver Summit. At least it doesn't feel like it yet. So I went and I did some digging. And the number one goal scorer for the Denver Summit is Janine Sanis. She has seven goals on the season. Now I know. Three of them have come from a PK, but still goes in the back of the net. But A defender leading your team and scoring. That can happen. It's usually a set piece specialist, somebody who knows how to take penalties, somebody who gets forward on corners, fine. But I wanted to know how unusual this is across the rest of the league because my gut told me that this was a little bit rarer than it sounds. So I went in and I checked all of the 16 teams. Every single leading scorer, every position. And here's what I found. Twelve teams in the NWSL are led in scoring by a forward. Three are led by a midfielder. And that includes our next opponent, North Carolina, who Denver plays on Wednesday. Ashley Sanchez is having a career year and sits second in the in the entire league in goals. We're now up to fifteen. So out of sixteen teams, that leaves exactly one team in this entire league who is led in scoring by a defender. That's Denver, Janine Saunis. She is the only defender in the NWSL leading it outright with seven goals, good enough to sit sixth in the entire golden boot race, ahead of players whose actual job it is to score goals. And I want you all just to sit with that for a second because I don't think that it's the compliment it sounds like at first listen. genuinely, congratulations. I gotta give credit to Janine Saunas Converting from the penalty spot takes nerve, it takes practice, and she's earned every bit of the best 11 nod that she got back in May. But when your best goal scoring threat plays defense, that's not a strength for a team. That's an admission. It means the players whose entire job it is to put the ball in the net aren't doing it. And Denver has had thirty eight touches inside of an opponent's box. In multiple matches now. The last time was against Portland. So what does Nick Cushing think the problem is actually? On Sunday after the game, the question was asked and Cushing didn't dodge it. A chance and an opportunity has to have a shot at the end of it. So if the ball goes in the box but there's no shot or no header, no chance on the goal from us, it doesn't count. On 93 minutes we cross the ball into the box, he's right in the middle of the goal, four yards out, nobody on the end of it, no number nine across the front, nobody trying to have the desire to get in and go win the game for Denver Summit. Three seconds later we defend the corner. is not the trait of a winning team. Right there, that's it. Nobody on the end of it. it's about as direct of a diagnosis as you're going to get from a head coach in a post-game presser. He's naming the exact thing I just walked you all through with the stat sheet. And it's the exact same thing that Sonas was already telling reporters in her own presser just a few minutes earlier. Just from a different angle. there's chances that are being created. And nobody is finishing them. Now before I move on. I wanna play one more piece of Sunday's postgame press conference from Nick Cushing, because I I think it sets everything up for what comes next. Yeah, listen, I'm not going to come here and be negative towards the players because my players have pushed and pushed and pushed and pushed and pushed and pushed and pushed to get the win, right? I think we were such a record 38 times in their box, same as the Portland game. I'm used to winning How many times did he say pushed there? And I'm if you're counting, I he said five times. And I don't think that that's an accident either. That's a coach choosing his words to protect a group that's clearly working hard and not getting rewarded for it. But notice, even in his most protective moment, he still brings up the same number that I keep coming back to. 38 touches in the box. He knows exactly what the problem is. The question is what he's doing about it. And that's where Monday's practice audio got really interesting. So I went to training on Monday wanting to know what are the Denver Summit doing about the finishing? What are they going to do to get those results? Because we're in the box, we're there, we're just not capitalizing on the moment. In the postgame presser, Nick Cushing said, MK, Melissa Custler, and Olivia Thomas are competing for that number nine shirt. That sounded like to me, okay, something's going to get decided in training this week. Something gets resolved ahead of Wednesday. So I headed on over to the practice on Monday and I asked him directly, what does either of them need to show you to win that number nine job outright? I don't think we've got any time to see anything in in the sense of practice. I think as a coaching team we're looking for the solution. And I think it's pretty normal in in a long season that you get dips in performance. I think we can see that. I think, you know, we've got a young developing number nine. Maybe we look for a different solution in the sense of how we try to create goals, see if we can free up a number nine to try and I think it's you know, I I think we get one goal. I th I think the situation changes. I've been here before with number nine. So I I don't really need to see any more. I see a lot of hunger and a lot of ambition, a lot of enthusiasm, we just gotta keep moving forwards. That is not a coach treating this as an open competition decided by training reps. That is a coach telling me he's already made his peace with the answer. And the answer is patience. He's been here before with a young number nine in his words, and his read is that one goal is going to change everything for both of for both of these players, whether it's Melissa or Olivia. It's going to change everything because the confidence unlocks and then the finishing follows. He's waiting. And I go back and forth on this because part of me respects it. We're an expansion team. We're the this is an entirely new group of team members coming together. Long seasons have dips and panicking your way through lineup changes. Cushing's got real pedigree here. as a coach, he's been at Manchester City. A championship in New York, he's seen young strikers find their level before. Maybe he's right that the goal is coming. I sure hope he's right that the goal is coming, and everybody needs to hold their nerve. But here's my honest problem with it. Patience is a strategy for a team that is creating and coming up a little short. Denver isn't coming up a little short. It's hard here being a Denver sports fan because we're y we we love winning, right? That look at what Sean Payton has done with the Broncos and turning them around, you know, in his short time here. Look at the avalanche. It's they're expected to be in the playoffs. Same with the Nuggets. Denver fans wanna win. We have that hunger for championship teams. But we're new and we've gotta find our stride. But we're running out of time. And from where I'm sitting, watching a defender s outscore every forward on the roster, I wanna see a little bit more urgency from the rest of the team. Now, since Sonis is actually scoring from the penalty spot, I wanted to know how she thinks about that role because I think it's something bigger about where this team is right now. And Janine isn't just taking penalties, she's carrying the weight of a finishing problem that isn't supposed to be hers to carry. It means a lot to me that the team has faith that I'll put the ball in the back of the net when we draw penalties. You know, you don't you don't get penalties when people aren't trying to create in the box. And I thought Tosh and Lindsay both made an incredible run on my cross. And when you do those kinds of things, you put defenders in a tough position. So yeah, I mean I I'm I'm glad that I'm contributing in that way, but selfishly I would rather win than score a goal. So yeah, I think it's I'm I'm happy with the season I'm having. I think this is the most consistent season I've had, but at the end of the day, I'd trade it all in to be, you know, up in in the top four. I'd trade it all in to be in the top four. Keep that in your back pocket because I'm gonna be coming back to it at the end of this episode. But the part of that quote that I want you to sit on, you don't get penalties when people aren't trying to create in the box. She's crediting the team's overall pressure for setting up her chances from the spot, and she specifically called out Tosh Flint and Lindsay Heaps for their runs that won this PK. That is an unfortunate loop that this team is stuck in. Create, create, create, create. And when it finally pays off, it pays off through one position that isn't supposed to be leading the goal column. Let's shift gears for a second, because I feel like I've been kind of doom and gloom. But it's it's frustrating to see this team dominating all the stats, winning the possession, controlling the ball, having those opportunities, and then not putting the ball in the back of the net. And it's not just frustrating for fans. The team is ex extremely frustrated too. And you could see it, you could feel it in the post-game press conference, after the game on Sunday. On Monday, after everyone had had a good night's sleep, I could see more optimism for the next half of the season. But the second half of the season is here. We're running out of time. Speaking of second half of the season, we did get a fun addition to the roster for the second half of the season. Denver signed Gemma Bonner on August first. And if that name, if you're not familiar with her, if it doesn't mean much to you, well, it doesn't mean it much to you yet. It will mean something to you very, very soon because For a team that is searching for answers, the back line just got a huge reinforcement. so Gemma Bonner is the all-time appearance leader at Liverpool. captained that club to back-to-back league titles. She spent four years under Cushing at Manchester City. she won FA Cups there. And now she's walking into a center back room that already includes Kaylee Kurtz, Ava Gaetino, and Meg Bodie. And We had the chance to talk about Gemma after practice on Monday and what she brings to this roster She's a winner. I the the opportunity to bring her here was one that I was really keen to do. She finished with Liverpool at end of last year. She's captained Liverpool for a very long time. She won trophies there, back-to-back titles. She won with me in Manchester City. Real leadership. Another really impressive mentality for the group, somebody that's gonna help our younger players, somebody that's gonna put demands and expectation on our senior players, but also will help us when needed. She'll compete for the to play as a central defender with Kaylee and Ava and Meg. A really good addition at this stage of the season to to push us on and push the character and personality of the team. Push the character and the personality of the team. That is a very specific thing to say about a midseason signing. And I don't think it's an accident. This is a locker room that just watched. their defensive line get caught and have to pay for it. This is a team that's is seeing their number one scorer on the team be a defender. The Denver Summit are bringing in a proven winner, not primarily to fix a tactical hole, but to raise the standard in the room. I'll be really curious about whether she's ready for minutes on Wednesday or whether this is more of a end of August story. Either way, she's on the team now. It's something to be excited about, And I think this is really important for a young Denver Summit team about setting the tone as this season continues to get harder. Nick Cushing said after practice on Monday that For us to finish top of the table, it's it's gonna be really hard to do. But If we can finish the season strong and make the playoffs, it's almost certain that we are going to be the team that nobody wants to face. I think you start the season with the aim of winning a shield and you get to this point and you gotta be realistic, right? We're probably not gonna win the shield now. but what we can be is the team going into the playoffs that nobody wants to play. And I think if you're to ask Washington Spirit last week, I don't think they wanna play us even at their ground in the first round of playoffs. And that's what we've got to harness, right? Instead of I think in the European model we're we're sort of out of any race of winning anything, whereas in the salary cap model in a in the US League and NWSL in MLS haven't really lost anything other than the ability to win the regular season. We've got to make sure that we continue to take the positives, try and fix the small areas that we need to be better at. And come October, November, that we're we're we're better than we are now. I wanna believe that. But being the team nobody wants to play requires being a team that can put teams away. And right now, Denver's proven it can dominate a match without ever actually deciding it. Sonna said it herself. She'd trade in the whole individual season for a spot in the top four. There's your headline, folks. The best goal scoring threat on this roster doesn't want the job. She wants the forwards to take it back from her. And until they do, this stays a team that controls games instead of winning them. So here's what I'm watching for on Wednesday, eight o'clock Centennial Stadium. It'll be on CBS Sports Net. It is the first time we have ever faced the North Carolina courage. So here's the thing, first thing I'm watching. Number one, does the finishing problem follow them? Or does patience start paying off? The courage arrive after a five nothing demolition of Orlando, Which means they are not walking in cold and they are walking in confident and ready to keep that momentum going. Second thing I'm thinking about is Ashley Sanchez. she is the courageous midfielder who is leading her team in scoring. She has ten goals on the season, second in the entire league, only behind Barbara Banda, who whoever is tracking her in the midfield, Which is most likely gonna be Devin Lynch, they're gonna have the toughest individual assignment on the field And how Denver handles a team that's actually converting its chances is basically a live test of everything I just spent this whole episode talking about. So if Courage makes four or five trips into Denver's box and score twice, And Denver makes twice that many trips and scores once. That is a whole episode playing out in ninety minutes in real time on Denver's own field at Centennial Stadium. And the last thing I'm gonna be watching in this game. Who gets the starting nod at the nine at the striker position? So Cushing said he doesn't need to see any more from either MK or Olivia in training. Patience is the plan. Wednesday's home game against a team that's playing very well right now, is going to be a test for this team. A three game week is a real t a real test and challenge to this team. you know, for the Sunday game, I I had Denver winning two one. We just were one goal away from getting that that prediction right. Two one was my prediction. I really wish that we could win w could have won the the duels of the expansion teams on the our first season here, but we came away with the draw, which we still got one point, but it's not moving us any higher in the table. We gotta start winning games. I think that. The Denver Summit win it on Wednesday. And I understand how hard it could be right now because again, like I just said, NC Courage is a hot team. They're feeling good. They are coming off five goals against Orlando. They have everything going swinging in their favor. But like Janine Sonna said, we have to make Denver a fortress that no team wants to come into. I think it's getting there. I think that we have a very strong supporter section. I think that the altitude is always going to be in our favor. Lindsay Heaps is going to find her footing in this team and start being that weapon for us. Maybe Wednesday is the game that she gets her first goal. for the Denver summit. But for us to make that second half climb, we have to win this game. This is a must win game, in my opinion. We have to win this midweek game. So, how do we do it? I think that we do get someone from the from the forward position scoring a goal for us. I'd love to see Lindsay get that first goal. I'm gonna stand by and say a two one win for the Denver Summit over the NC Courage. I think that we have a strong chance of doing it. And I gotta tell you you can tell, you can feel it. The summit are hungry. They want to win, they are expecting more from themselves. And a draw is not acceptable to that locker room, especially after the dominating performances that they've been putting out on the field. Wednesday's the perfect time to flip the script. Eight o'clock, Centennial Stadium, North Carolina Courage. And this one matters in a way that's very easy to undersell. Denver's at 11th. Now is a great time to continue trying to flip that table. We gave Washington a run for their money. Let's start upsetting some of those top-of-the-table teams and show them that when playoffs come, Denver is a team that they don't want to face. That's it for this week's episode. We'll see you after the Wednesday game. And be sure to follow the 5280 pitch on all the socials on Instagram, threads, Facebook, you name it. I am there. I do try and post a lot of threads pre-match. So if you are away, be sure to head over to Threads and see some written content about what is coming up in the match. And if you want to show the podcast some support, be sure to head over to our merch store. I do have some great new designs that I just released last week. People on the newsletter list did get to see those new pieces first. 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