Category: Analysis

SheBelieves Preview: Turmoil to Triumph for England?

Posted on by RJ Allen

2017 was an interesting year for the Lionesses, with turmoil off of the pitch, but success on it.

Euro 2017

The year started off with La Manga friendlies and SheBelieves Cup. Against France, England took the lead, but conceded two late on to lose. The next game, though, was one of a couple of highlights that the Lionesses can look back at in that year. England beat the US just moments from time, with Ellen White scoring the decisive goal. In a major tournament year, that was quite a moment and looked to maybe indicate future form for the final match. Unfortunately, they then narrowly lost to Germany to come third.

England then went on an unbeaten run in four friendlies leading up to the European Championship. These fixtures were in between a shortened season for the WSL, as it looked to transition to a winter schedule. They drew 1-1 to Italy, and won comfortably 4-0 against Switzerland, while Denmark were narrowly beaten 2-1. In their final home game before the Euros, they beat Austria 3-0.

It looked to be shaping up like a great Euro tournament for England, and it started off in the best possible way. England vs. Scotland, a matchup that was the first-ever fixture for both in November 1972, was expected to be a close game. Instead, England showed just why they are one of the best teams in Europe—and the world—by thrashing Scotland 6-0. They followed it up with a 2-0 win against Spain and a 2-1 win against Portugal to top their group.

In the semifinals, they met France yet again, beating them for the first time in 43 years, with Jodie Taylor getting the only goal of the game and Karen Bardsley having to be subbed off due to injury. She had played on for 14 minutes despite having fractured her fibula in a collision. England’s journey in the Euros came to an end after a 3-0 loss to the Netherlands, the eventual champions.

Controversy off the pitch

Before the Euros, however, there had been rumors that a player would speak out against Mark Sampson. Although this didn’t materialize before then, it did come to light after the Euros. It emerged that Sampson and another member of staff had made racist remarks against Eniola Aluko and another player back in 2015. Aluko, an 11-year veteran with 102 caps for England, was dropped not long after reporting this, for what was termed “un-Lioness behavior.”

Two other players, Drew Spence and Anita Asante, also dropped out of the picture amidst additional allegations of racist remarks against Sampson. The manager was sacked a month later, not due to these allegations, but over inappropriate and unacceptable behavior with female players back when he was Bristol Academy manager in 2014. This raised questions about the FA’s safeguarding procedures, as Sampson had passed a 2015 assessment. It also exposed failings at the FA after being questioned at a parliamentary committee hearing. All of this sent shockwaves through women’s football and possibly put some candidates off of the England job.

The fallout

Mo Marley took temporary charge of the Lionesses to steady the ship and help the Lionesses through World Cup qualification. She has temporarily become the number two to new England manager Phil Neville, whose appointment to the manager’s job came as quite a shock due to limited managerial experience, past sexist remarks, and hardly any connections to women’s football—although he did have a long and successful playing career. Neville hadn’t been interviewed for the job, it emerged, but talks went well between him and the FA.

He will also be joined on the coaching staff by Casey Stoney, who has recently retired from playing football. The experience of playing in the game and of course winning could be the edge that the Lionesses need for future success.

Roster notes

With a fresh start and a new manager, this could be an interesting year for the Lionesses. The SheBelieves Cup comes at a good time for all to assess the current squad, which will include a couple of uncapped players, does against some of the best in the world.

Fran Kirby is the England player to watch in this tournament. Kirby missed SheBelieves last year due to a serious knee injury, and also went on to suffer an ankle injury when trying to make her comeback. It was a horrible year for a striker who was crucial to both club and country, but impressively, Kirby has come back stronger, fitter, and better than before. She’s been in fine form this season as the top scorer at Chelsea, with 15 goals in 20 appearances in all competitions so far. She also can link up with others, and unselfishly assist a teammate when she sees that someone else has a better goalscoring opportunity. If she is linked up with Jodie Taylor, Toni Duggan, or both in attack for England, we could see a fair amount of goals from all three.

In terms of the rest of the roster, there are a fair amount of regulars and some new faces. With injuries coming into play and with some possibly having future qualifiers and a cup final on their mind, we’ve seen some change recently. Steph Houghton, who plays for Manchester City, was injured in the 0-0 draw with Chelsea and despite being announced in the squad, has now withdrawn. Jordan Nobbs, who is vice captain, has withdrawn to along with teammate Leah Williamson (who was only going to train with the squad). Karen Carney is the final of the 4 to withdraw having suffered issues with her ankle. Karen Carney has been replaced in the squad with Houston Dash’s Rachel Daly who has appeared in the squad before.

However, there are others who can step into their roles. With Karen Bardsley making the bench for Manchester City recently, the no.1 may not be no.1 this tournament after suffering a bad injury in the same game as Houghton. Siobhan Chamberlain has had to replace Karen Bardsley before, and puts in a great shift and saves for club and country. She’s the number one at Liverpool, so has had some good game time already this season. Carly Telford can also step up. She’s not the starter at Chelsea, but she’s an assured shot-stopper whenever called upon. As for Houghton, not having your captain on the field may not be a good thing and the vice captain being out too isn’t ideal. As a result, Lucy Bronze has been given the captain’s armband and it will be an interesting experience for her against top opposition if called upon.

With such withdrawals, a few new names have been called up. Gabby George is one of them. The 21-year-old, who plays at Everton, was on the roster for the La Manga friendlies, and might get her debut in this tournament. She also made history last year as Everton’s first full-time female professional footballer. Hannah Blundell is someone whose name has been floating around the England squad for a while. She’s steadily been putting in great performances for Chelsea, and is quite pacy too. Millie Bright is Blundell’s teammate at Chelsea, and has become a regular for the national team. One of three young City players to be amongst the squad is Keira Walsh. Manchester City like to develop young players and Walsh is one of them. While she’s yet to make her debut for the senior side, she has gone through the age groups and is still eligible for them. Abbie McManus and Georgia Stanway are the other two with teammate Ellie Roebuck going in place of Leah Williamson to train with the squad.

The Lionesses now have the confidence they may have lacked in the past, as they know they can beat all the teams in this tournament, and go in as the top team in Europe according to UEFA rankings. This could well be England’s year at SheBelieves.

England Schedule

March 1: vs. France, 4 pm ET/1 pm PT (ESPN3)
March 4: vs. Germany, 3 pm ET/12 pm PT (ESPN3)
March 7: vs. USA, 7 pm ET/4 pm PT (ESPNews)

The Schedule Has Landed: NWSL Releases Schedule for 2018

Posted on by RJ Allen

The NWSL has dropped the hottest release of 2018, the schedule.

The NWSL has given us the full schedule as well as the details on the NWSL Game of the Week teams. Both Jenn Hildreth and Aly Wagner will be back to call all 20 of the NWSL Game of the Week games. They will still be on Lifetime and the pregame still starts at 3:30 p.m. ET, 3:50 p.m. ET kickoff time, but having Hildreth and Wagner takes some sting out of the less than ideal start time. Dalen Cuff will be back to host the 20 minute pregame show.

The NWSL is once again trying out using the go90 app for US based fans. Fans from outside the US, or fans inside of it with a VPN, can watch via the NWSL app and NWSLsoccer.com.

The NWSL Game of the Week

Taking a look at the games that Lifetime and the NWSL have picked our for the NWSL Game of the Week, we note a few things.

The new Utah Royals will be hosting five games, a league high. The Portland Thorns, Orlando Pride and the Washington Spirit will each host three times, while the Chicago Red Stars and the North Carolina Courage each host twice. The Houston Dash and Sky Blue FC each host once. The Seattle Reign will not host at all.

While only hosting two of the NWSL Game of the Week games at home, the Chicago Red Stars will feature in six of the games as the away side. The Orlando Pride are the away side five times, three times for the Seattle Reign, twice each for the North Carolina Courage and the Portland Thorns FC, and only once for the Utah Royals FC and the Houston Dash. Sky Blue will not be the away team on any of the NWSL Game of the Week games.

NWSL Game of the Week Schedule

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 The Full Schedule

Moving on to take a look at the full 108 game NWSL schedule there are a few things to note here too. 

Out of the 108 total games, 74 are played after 7 p.m. ET. Many of the Utah, Seattle, Portland home games are played in the 9 p.m. ET and 11 p.m. ET time frame to keep the effects of the heat down.

31 of the games will be held during the week, Wednesday the most popular with 20, 10 games will be on Fridays while a single game is held on a Tuesday.

Every team will be playing a home and an away match against each team. They will also have a second home game against four teams plus go on the road for four matches to make up the 24 game schedule.

Chicago will be playing their second home matches against: The Houston Dash, the Orlando Pride, the Portland Thorns and Sky Blue FC.

Houston will be playing their second home matches against: the North Carolina Courage, the Portland Thorns, The Utah Royals FC and The Washington Spirit.

North Carolina will be playing their second home matches against: the Chicago Red Stars, the Portland Thorns, The Utah Royals FC and The Washington Spirit.

Orlando will be playing their second home matches against: the Houston Dash, the North Carolina Courage, the Seattle Reign and Sky Blue FC.

Portland will be playing their second home matches against: the Orlando Pride, the Seattle Reign, Sky Blue FC and the Utah Royals.

Seattle will be playing their second home matches against: the Chicago Red Stars, the Houston Dash, the North Carolina Courage and the Washington Spirit.

Sky Blue will be playing their second home matches against: the Houston Dash, the North Carolina Courage, the Seattle Reign and the Utah Royals.

Utah will be playing their second home matches against: the Chicago Red Stars, the Orlando Pride, the Seattle Reign FC and the Washington Spirit.

Washington will be playing their second home matches against: the Chicago Red Stars, the Orlando Pride, the Portland Thorns and Sky Blue FC.

The match ups for the last weekend? No Washington Spirit the final weekend because of the odd number of teams. 

Friday, September 7, 2018 @ 10:30 PM – Portland Thorns FC vs Seattle Reign FC @ Providence Park

Saturday, September 8, 2018 @ 12:00 PM Sky Blue FC vs Orlando Pride @ Yurcak Field

Saturday, September 8, 2018 @ 3:30 PM – Utah Royals FC vs Chicago Red Stars @ Rio Tinto Stadium

Saturday, September 8, 2018 @ 7:00 PM – North Carolina Courage vs Houston Dash @ Sahlen’s Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park

The Full NWSL Schedule

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SheBelieves Preview: Germany Look to Recover From a Rotten 2017

Posted on by RJ Allen

One year ago, Germany was flying high. They arrived at the 2017 SheBelieves Cup as the Olympic champions, and one of the favorites to win the upcoming Euro championship. The six-time consecutive champions knew that this title defense would be more difficult than some in the past, but they certainly wouldn’t have anticipated being knocked out in the quarterfinals by Denmark. Then, their humiliation was compounded by a loss to Iceland in October, breaking a 26-match unbeaten run in World Cup qualifying.

These tough results notwithstanding, Germany remain one of the world’s best teams—as made clear in their final match of 2017, a 4-0 thumping of France. The question is: which version will turn up at SheBelieves? Will we get a return of the smooth-passing team that looked so dominant for much of 2015 and 2016, or the more hesitant group that struggled their way through matches last year?

This tournament will be an important bellwether for several of the competitors—with England looking to assess the results of their new manager and France looking to rekindle the optimism that led them to victory here last year—but maybe none more so than Germany. Coach Steffi Jones had her contract renewed after the failure in last year’s Euros and remains on track to manage all the way through the 2019 World Cup. But another bad result here might be enough to force a change.

After all, on sheer talent, this is a squad that has every reason to be planning to win the World Cup next summer. They’re young (the average age is 25, with only two players over 30), but experienced beyond their years. Now is the time for Jones to show that she can get them working together to produce the results they expect.

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A lot of that will depend on their talismanic #10, Dzsenifer Marozsán. She has been the heart of the German team since the retirement of Célia Šašić in 2015, with her field vision and mobility giving her the ability to affect every aspect of the game. While her primary duty is to serve as the playmaking fulcrum around which everyone else moves, she also has a wicked shot from distance, and is more than capable of crashing into the box to follow up on the attack.

Led by Marozsán, the midfield is probably Germany’s strongest line, with important additional support from Sara Däbritz. She’s been a mainstay in the squad for years—and is one of the main reasons Germany took home the gold in Rio in 2016—but at just 23 is still primed for a serious breakout. Where Marozsán is the mercurial genius, Däbritz is a highly technical player, with a refined game based on control and execution.

The midfield is rounded out with an excellent backing cast, including young talents like Linda Dallmann and Lina Magull, versatile players who can help keep the midfield engine running. Dallmann, in particular, has looked excellent over the past year, and promises to be a mainstay in the German team. Another interesting name is Tabea Kemme, who has previously played as a defender, but whose recent switch into the attack for Turbine Potsdam has produced excellent results. She should bring a lot of attacking verve on the wing. They’ll also be glad to see the return of veteran Lena Goeßling, who has come back to the squad after some conflicts with the coach pushed her off the team last year.

Unlike some of the other teams at the tournament, Germany does not rely on a single dominant striker, instead utilizing a range of solid players with different skills. First among those equals, though, is Alexandra Popp, who has averaged a goal every two games for her country. They’ll also feature Svenja Huth, who has been in great form with Turbine Potsdam and brings some creativity to the front line, as well as Mandy Islacker—a late arrival to the German team (not earning her first cap until she was 27) who is making up for lost time.

The biggest questions for Germany come from the backline. There should be two certainties: Leonie Maier at right back and Babett Peter in the central defense. But apart from those two, the next-most-capped players are Verena Faißt and Anna Blässe (with just 34 and 24 appearances respectively)—both useful support players but neither a likely starter at the next big tournament. Many of the big questions for them this tournament, therefore, revolve around the defense. In particular: what are the long-term plans at center back? And who can step up at left back (assuming that Kemme sticks in the midfield)?

Germany finished second at this tournament last year, despite not playing especially well in any of their games. That proved a harbinger of the struggles that followed over the rest of the year. Will there be more of the same malaise this time around? Or will Jones finally put her own stamp on the team, and bring them through this transitional period?

Germany Schedule

March 1: vs. USA, 7 pm ET/4 pm PT (ESPN2)
March 4: vs. England, 3 pm ET/12 pm PT (ESPN3)
March 7: vs. France, 4 pm ET/1 pm PT (ESPN3)

 

The End of the Breakers: How Did It Come to This?

Posted on by RJ Allen

The Boston Breakers have been a part of professional women’s soccer in this country for as long as professional women’s soccer has been a thing. Losing them is a terrible thing for the fans who have spent so much time and energy with them, and who will now never get to see the team they were building grow into something more. It’s terrible for the league, which will always face understandable growing pains but ought to be beyond this sort of thing. It’s terrible for the players, who have just had jobs, livelihoods, and any sense of security ripped out from underneath them.

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The league certainly did not plan for things to go this way. The winter was spent in negotiations to bring in a new owner, only to see that plan fall through, inspiring the recent bout of scrambling. Apparently, the decision was finally made to give up hope and accept defeat. That judgment cannot have been undertaken lightly, and presumably represents a sense of serious concern about whether Boston’s setup could be sustained in anything close to its current form.

The team was, after all, apparently drifting further and further away from the rest of the league on the financial side. Their home ground was expensive and below league standards, the costs of operating in Boston are significant, and it’s not clear that there was any viable path to profitability, even in the long term. In a world increasingly defined by a split between ‘big’ and ‘small’ teams, Boston looked increasingly like an outlier. Eventually, something was going to have to give.

But there is a huge difference between a managed relocation—undertaken during the offseason with plenty of time to smooth out the effects—and abrupt closure less than a month before preseason was scheduled to begin.

As it stands, Boston is shuttering its doors a mere week after participating in the draft. In many ways, that’s the most heartbreaking part of the whole mess. To hold out the promise of a new career, only to yank it away the following week, feels particularly cruel. And then there are the other players, who have suddenly been cut adrift. Will the league step in to expand roster sizes and disperse these players across the other nine teams? Will they simply become free agents, desperately searching for a European club who will take them before the transfer window closes next week? To force these questions onto players at this point in the year is unconscionable.

Faced with all this, one can’t help but wonder who is to blame. That’s a difficult subject, and we certainly need to exercise some caution. Situations like these are often far more complex than it seems from the outside, and it’s important to remember just how little we actually know so far. Moreover, while the natural inclination is to look for villains, it’s also important to remember that no one wanted this, and that no solution was going to be a perfect one. Everyone involved was likely wary of creating a moral hazard—incentivizing financially risky behavior by providing bailouts—or taking on responsibilities that could ultimately sink the league as a whole. We certainly have had experience with other professional leagues sagging under the weight of commitments that couldn’t be matched. Those are legitimate concerns, and as more details emerge, it’s possible that we will find out why some of the obvious stopgap measures weren’t taken.

All that said, it’s not so early that we can’t draw at least a few initial conclusions.

First and foremost, while this was obviously not the preferred solution for the league, it’s a massive indictment of their ability to successfully manage a known problem and avoid the worst result. Why did the negotiations break down? What were the sticking points? Why did they drag on so long—to the point where a failure to reach a deal would make pursuing other options impossible? Why weren’t secondary choices cultivated? Was there any consideration of a single-year stopgap alternative? Could the league not cobble together the funds to cover a final year and enable an orderly transition in October? Who ultimately was in charge of these decisions? Amanda Duffy is the league’s Managing Director of Operations, and presumably the buck stops with her. But would things have been any different if the league had a genuine Commissioner? There may be good answers to all these questions, or there may not be. But it is certainly fair to expect answers. Perhaps not immediately, but at some point.

Second, there should be serious and probing questions asked of US Soccer. As an organization, they are sitting on well north of $100 million dollars. While no one expects them to invest all of that money into the league, it would take a very small percentage to inject a little stability. Obviously, US Soccer is in a state of flux at the moment, with new elections coming down the pike. But that is hardly an excuse. If anything, it ought to clarify the situation more. As an institution, US Soccer claims to value women’s soccer, and claims to care about the league. Why weren’t those words backed up by action here?

Some might also wonder whether A+E (not just an investor, but an active partner with the league) might have done more. This is a company with a total estimated value of well over $20 billion. Obviously, no one expects them to throw good money after bad, but it’s not difficult to make the case that losing Boston right now will do enough long-term harm that it would be well worth paying a smaller upfront cost to keep them afloat. One of the big selling points of bringing in a big player like A+E was supposed to be that they would have liquid capital available to smooth over situations like this. Why didn’t that make a difference?

Again, I don’t ask these questions in order to suggest that there was any single obvious solution, or to suggest that any particular actor was entirely responsible. While US Soccer and the league have a lot to answer for, we shouldn’t necessarily assume the very worst. That said, neither should we assume the best. This is a bad situation, and it’s important to hold those decision-makers who brought us to this point responsible, if only to help prevent another similar crisis from happening the next time around.

Tonight, my heart goes out to the Boston Breakers family. You deserved better.

Sky Blue’s 2018 Forecast? Cloudy with a Chance of Blue Skies

Posted on by RJ Allen

The 2018 NWSL draft is in the books.

Sky Blue walked away with 5 picks.

Michaela Abam, the listed forward, midfielder, defender out of West Virginia University; Imani Dorsey a forward, midfielder out of Duke University; Kiana Palacios a forward, midfielder from UC Irvine; Amandine Pierre-Louis a defender out of West Virginia University; and not to be without a Rutgers player they picked Casey Murphy, the goalkeeper.

While each of the players drafted are a talented bunch who each could make an impact in different ways for the club, the team left the draft with only one defender taken. Sky Blue might have been wise to bring in a Taylor Isom or a Indigo Gibson to help out the backline along withPierre-Louis. But we can’t really talk about the draft in the bubble. Sky Blue’s mega trade, announced in the middle of the first round and slowly leaked out over the next day, changes the team more than who they drafted.

In short, Sky Blue send Sam Kerr and Nikki Stanton to Chicago, Chicago sent Christen Press to Houston and Houston sent, along with Jen Hoy from Chicago, Carli Lloyd and Janine Beckie to Sky Blue.

It is the type of trade that changes the league without tipping too far the balance of it. Christen Press is a world class forward and now replaced in Chicago with Sam Kerr. Carli Lloyd was the face of the Dash marketing now replaced by Christen Press. Sam Kerr was the star power on the Sky Blue roster now replaced by New Jersey’s own Carli Lloyd.

Breaking down the Sky Blue off season so far is a needed step in understanding where they will be two months from now.

So let’s dig in.

The Trades Heard Around WoSo

Christie Pearce, Kelley O’Hara and Sam Kerr all sported the captain’s armband in 2017. Pearce, the former near decade USWNT captain, left the team before the end of the season due to accumulated injuries leaving O’Hara and Kerr to fill the position for the rest of the year.

And their leadership seemed to have a positive influence on the team. They looked ready to step up as 2018 came into focus. Now they, along with veterans Nikki Stanton and Taylor Lytle, wear different crests.

Losing O’Hara and Lytle for Shea Groom and Christina Gibbons was a needed exchange for the club. It brought in two players that can help in a few different ways. Groom can score and Gibbons is as flexible a player as can be hoped for, though her talents shine the most in midfield.

The Kerr and Stanton trade that brings in Lloyd, the likely next captain, Beckie and Hoy may be a harder pill for some to choke down.

In Kerr they are losing a player who many call the best forward in the world. In Stanton a force in the midfield who cleaned up after her teammates. In return they get the already mentioned Lloyd, Janine Beckie, a Canadian international who should be allocated and give them a bit more cap room, and Jen Hoy who went to Princeton and can be a nice depth option in the one area of the field they need less depth than farther back on the pitch.

But they did manage to get something for Kerr. If she had skipped the NWSL for France they would have been left with nothing but memories.

The trade leaves Sky Blue in much the same position as they were in before they made it. They have a large group of attacking options ranging from NT quality to role player, but as soon as you look at the defense you can see how threadbare the lineup is in talent.

It is not as though this team could not put together a back four. Skroski, Freeman, Stott and Gibbons or Mills would make a passable backline. It’s the issue of having little to no depth past that point. Erin Simon runs hot and cold, Doni Richardson is a reserve player at best and all their draft picks would need the time of conversion to be able to take up the position. Barring a trade of 3 or 4 players for another starting level defender or two. In short, I worry about the depth of the backline.

The Carli Lloyd Effect

I’m not sure if it’s possible to speak of Carli Lloyd in neutral terms.

On one hand she scored the winning goal in both the 2008 and 2012 Olympic goal medal games. She had a hat trick in the 2015 Women’s World Cup in the first 16 minutes complete with a half field shot that stunned the world. She has shown up time and time again in big moments when all eyes are on her. She is the reason so many USWNT players have gold medals at home after all.

On the other she is best remembered over the last year or two as often a cause of formational change on both of the teams she finds herself on. She is no longer the first choice number 10 that she tried so hard to be for so many years. She is sometimes viewed as someone who is best left on the bench until two thirds of the game have finished. She blocks people on Twitter for seemingly mentioning her name, media included.

She is both the player who has managed 15 games with 7 goals and 3 assists on just 1200 total minutes in the last 2 seasons and the player who can fire a shot from 30 yards out that no one can stop seemingly at will. She is both a player who has a work ethic that is legendary for how she will not stop training nor does she slack off in her desire to be the best she can be, and someone who will block media on Twitter.

So where does that leave us in 2018 when Lloyd is heading home to New Jersey after a career away from it?

Should Sky Blue fans rejoice that the home town girl is back to lead them to the post season? Should they jeer and criticize the team for trading away a player that scored 17 goals in 2017 in Sam Kerr to end up with Lloyd in return?

Personally? I think they should wait. They and we all need to see what 2018 Lloyd looks like. They should hope that after two years of starts and stops she’s ready to take on the world and show that the two World Player of the Year trophies at home were given on merit and not name recognition.

So Let’s Talk About The Roster

We can talk about who Carli Lloyd is as a player or who might appear in the captain’s armband all we want, but at the end of the day it’s the 18 to 20 players that make the roster that matter.

My projected roster if nothing changes is more straight forward than I would have guessed before looking at the options. Breaking them down section by section it becomes pretty clear getting under the 20 player limit might be harder than expected.

Goalkeeping

Starter: Kailen Sheridan
Backup: Caroline Casey
Overseas: Casey Murphy

With the reports that Casey Murphy, has signed in France the team is left deciding between Kailen Sheridan and Caroline Casey as they were in 2017.

It will come to little surprise to anyone that Kailen Sheridan will be the likely starter for the team. The Canadian international is young, green at times but has the greater upside between the two.

Defenders:

Defenders kept: Christina Gibbons, Kayla Mills, Mandy Freeman, Rebekah Stott, Erica Skroski, Erin Simon

Let’s see preseason: Amandine Pierre-Louis

Likely out: Cassidy Benintentem, Domi Richardson

Sky Blue’s defense was thin last year and it remains thin in 2018, albeit in different ways than the year before.

Gibbons is a better midfielder than defender but she will likely be needed on the wing more than the midfield. Mills is an unpolished defender at times but if she can pull her talents together in her second year in the league might be a true blessing for the team. Freeman showed a lot of promise before being injured in 2017. While she had some rookie moments she does look to be a net positive for the team. Stott is a truly great centerback that Sky Blue received in a trade, along with Katie Johnson, for giving up the rights to Caitlin Foord. Skroski is a better centerback than outside back but her ability to play both might be the biggest blessing for head coach Reddy as she readys her lineups each week. Simon can be a nice late game sub on the outside even if her speed can at times be an issue.

Benintentem and Richardson are both likely not making a 20 person roster. The team might try to keep them around for practice purposes but there are just not enough open spots on the roster.

The Attack

Attackers: Thaisa, Daphne Corboz, Sarah Killion, Raquel Rodriguez, Jen Hoy, Shea Groom, Carli Lloyd, Katie Johnson, Maya Hayes, Janine Beckie
Let’s see preseason: Madison Tiernan , McKenzie Meehan, Michaela Abam, Imani Dorsey, Kiana Palacios

The one area Sky Blue is blessed in is attacking talent. They have strong center midfielders, wide players, and center forwards. They have up and coming players, international talent, they have a little bit of everything. I would break them down the way I did the defenders but neither of us have that kind of time.

The 16 attacking players listed above are frankly just too much. There are too many of the same kinds of players, too much talent for the 6 attacking spots in a starting 11.

The bottom line is that Sky Blue needs to make a trade. If they are able to package say 3 of their young talented attackers for a starting level outside back. Otherwise they will be cutting deep into the players newly drafted and likely from those drafted the year before and still coming up short on defense.

This attack will score. They have midfielders who can get the ball down field and forwards who can score. Say what you want about Lloyd but she is good at finding space outside the box and letting off a shot most other players would not try.

So, What Does It All Mean?

Sky Blue has added a new head coach, Denise Reddy, they have traded away fan favorites, they have changed the make up of the team in fundamental ways.

And on paper they look nearly identical in all but player names.

They are still a team with a depth of attacking talent. They are still a team with major defensive questions. They are still a team with a pair of young goalkeepers who are growing in to their gloves.

If the right trades are made, and so far the trading under Reddy has been a solid B, to bring in at least one more starting defender and offload some of the redundant attacking talent?

They have a shot at landing on Cloud 9 at the end of the season with a trophy in hand.

A Move Across the Pond: The NWSL vs. European Leagues

Posted on by RJ Allen

It’s that time of year again–the offseason. It’s a time when the shape of our teams are changing as players and coaches move around. Some will stay in the NWSL, content to stay where they are or potentially switching clubs. But others will consider a move across the pond– such as U.S Women’s National Team midfielder Morgan Brian, who recently signed a two-year contract for Olympique Lyonnais in France. A player’s decision to leave their league is never a simple one. Players give up something when they leave the NWSL– but European leagues also have a lot to offer.

One of the biggest benefits players gain from moving to Europe is the opportunity to play in Champion’s League. In general, European teams often play more frequently and in multiple competitions. But Champions League is something special. It gives players an opportunity to challenge clubs from other countries and really test their skills against some of the best clubs in the world. It’s something that many players dream of competing in, and it can have a very strong emotional appeal to players.

But while Champions League may be a particularly competitive competition, many of the European domestic leagues are not. In leagues such as the FA WSL and Division 1 Feminine, there are usually one or two clubs that dominate. They have the money to invest in their team and buy the best players around the world, while many of the teams around them do not. This often builds great rosters, but it also leads to mismatched opponents. For example, in their last five league matches, Lyon has scored 24 goals and allowed none. With the exception of their match against PSG, they won each of those matches by four or more goals. In fact, Lyon has only allowed two goals in the whole season as of January 1st.

By contrast, the NWSL is a much more competitive league. Every week is a fight, and blow out scores that are common for Lyon are much rarer in the NWSL. The biggest margin of difference in the NWSL is five goals, and even that is an unlikely occurrence. This stems partially from salary caps, which restrain the teams with the most money from simply buying the best players. Limiting the number of international players on each roster also helps keep the league balanced.

Another appeal of moving to European leagues is 12-month contracts. Ella Masar McLeod talked about this issue when she left the Houston Dash to join FC Rosengard with her wife, Erin McLeod. She noted that the 6-month contracts and lower salary paid by the NWSL can make it difficult for players to make ends meet. Many NWSL players go to the Australian W-League in the offseason, offsetting the problem a bit. But the W-League doesn’t pay a high salary and players often aren’t taking home a lot of money.

Some players may also want to go to Europe to learn a different style of play. Some say the game in the United States is much more physical, while the game in Europe is much more technical. There aren’t many European players that play in the NWSL or vice versa. So when a player does make the swap, it allows them to learn from a whole new group of people. Staying close to home has it’s advantages too– especially when it comes to the national team players who want to stay on Jill Ellis’s radar. Going to Europe separates American players from everything going on at home– sometimes that is good and sometimes it’s not, depending on what point a player is at in their career.

Overall, there are many pros and cons to going to Europe vs. staying in the NWSL. The pay is often better in Europe, there are more leagues to compete in, and players get the opportunity to experiment with their style of play. But there are benefits to staying in the NWSL too– such as staying on the national team radar and playing in a more competitive league. Ultimately, it is up to each individual player to make their own decisions and different things will be right for different people. But don’t be surprised if we see more stars make the hop across the pond this offseason.

No One Gets in Hope Solo’s Way Like Hope Solo

Posted on by RJ Allen

When Hope Solo announced that she would be running for USSF president, two thoughts crossed my mind:

1) If anyone can turn a conversation in the direction they want, it’s Solo.

2) This will either go a long way toward rehabilitating the public’s opinion of Solo, or it will be the final nail in the public coffin of the greatest goalkeeper to have played the game.

After a month of Candidate Solo, it’s starting to become clear that the only person able to get in Hope Solo’s way, with seemingly ruthless effect, is Hope Solo.

Over the past few years, no one else has had so much success at tarnishing the image of the longtime WNT goalkeeper as Solo herself. At every opportunity, she makes the worst possible choices, as if listening to pundits drown her long legacy in endless hot takes about her character instead of her record and stats was her goal all along. When faced with what seems to be a clear and sensible path of action, she inevitably takes a hard left and veers off toward self-annihilation. And in her case? Taking the road less traveled has made all the difference over the past few years, as the world has watched her suspended from play in 2015 and then terminated from the WNT in 2016. 

Now, in her campaign, Solo continues to wreak havoc on her own ambitions.

There’s the interview she gave on the “Why I’m Not” podcast, which did not help her candidacy. At all. This is an interview where Solo manages to move seamlessly between important points about the future of American football with personal attacks on a former teammate, overly boastful sentiments on a second former teammate who is still teammates with the first.

Instead of making a case for Hope Solo as USSF Pressident, she ends up making herself look petty in the process. Once again, Solo falls victim to her fatal flaw–saying the absolute wrong thing at the absolute wrong time.

The tone taken in this interview is more akin to someone trying to get their name back in the press after a retirement in order to sell a book or shirt or tickets to a speaking tour than it is fitting someone who is running for USSF President. And while this interview was recorded before Solo officially threw her hat in the ring, she had to know it would come out after she had. Whether she ran or not.

Even if the host of the podcast was less than optimal in his line of questions and his own tone, Solo had a chance here to speak about platform ideas and details about how she would go about fixing the mess she sees USSF to be. Even if this was taped before she declared herself for the job, she could have framed the issues for her audience and given some thoughts on how to correct them. That would have gone a long way to show she has been thinking about the issues in detail.

Every interview when you are running for elected office, even before you are officially on the ballot, is a chance to talk about your platform and to make your case for why you are the best person for the job. Why someone should vote for you to do the thankless work and shoulder the enormous responsibility.

And when this opportunity came to Solo’s door, she faltered. 

But the podcast is not Solo’s biggest problem. A bad interview where she sounds more like a ex-player with a bone to pick than a natural choice for president is one thing.

No, the biggest problem with Solo’s candidacy is that she is unprepared, maybe even simply unwilling, to reign in her lesser angels. She seems almost hellbent on not only tarnishing her own own legacy but quiet possibly hurting the causes that she has spent years trying to champion.

I had hoped when Solo declared she was running for USSF President that she would somehow figure out how to control the part of her brain that seems to really enjoy putting her foot in her mouth. I thought maybe she would use a little bit of the relentless drive to be the best on the pitch to tighten up and to run the kind of campaign that would be willing to talk about overlooked issues.

But the campaign she’s running feels half baked at the best of times and utterly underwhelming at others. The rhetoric has been more vintage Solo than someone trying to be the President of USSF.

While not the singular authority on a candidate, their website should give some clue to the issues they care about and some vague idea of how they want to attack the issues they have identified.

Solo’s is both effective in the opening story about how her parents didn’t have the money to allow her to play in the Olympic Development Program but sparse of any real information beyond that.

Her section on women’s soccer for example gives little to no details about her thought process and what she plans to do if elected:

Become The Global Leader in Equality and Women’s Issues 

  • Achieve Equal Pay for the USWNT and all women in the USSF workplace
  • Push for the inclusion of women at all levels of the USSF executive and organizational hierarchy
  • Eliminate sexism and discrimination

While the push for more women in USSF is something that everyone should be on board for the details are left to our collective imagination. She also leaves out the league she played in for four years.

If the disappointment in Solo as a candidate was limited to an interview given before she was officially running, that would be one matter. But Solo hasn’t been the force for changing the conversation toward women’s soccer among candidates. Nor she has yet to put out any real plans or details about what she would like to accomplish if elected. She did take the US Soccer Athletes Council survey and gave her thoughts on questions they submitted to all candidates. Though details still are scant there. 

The one issue she has beaten the drum for over the last half decade is the better treatment of women athletes and upgraded standards for them. And yet when she has the biggest platform she could, she gives us a platform of 33 words, no details of how to achieve any of them, and more reasons to think she doesn’t have the understanding of how others perceive her.

When Solo entered the race, I was excited. I thought she could bring attention to an area of the race for USSF president that felt like it was being overlooked and given platitudes over substantial debate. A month later and I feel all the air has gone out of the room in terms of that excitement. I’ve made no bones about my feelings of her place in soccer’s landscape I still believe she is a first ballot hall of famer, the greatest goalkeeper in women’s soccer history. I don’t know if believing that Solo would be a force for changing narratives when she entered the race was foolish or idealistic. But with about a month left before the votes are cast it looks like Solo hasn’t learned how to get out of her own way off the pitch in order to be the force of good she often looks like she is trying to be.

Hope Solo is the only person that can get in Hope Solo’s way. She looks to be showing us one more time she’s as good at that as she is at goalkeeping. 

Where do the USSF Presidential Candidates Stand on Women’s Soccer?

Posted on by RJ Allen

Note: After this piece was published the US Soccer Athlete Council posted surveys taken by each of the candidates. Some of the answers touch on women’s soccer more deeply than their campaign sites. Their answers can be found here.

The race for the next USSF president has been about men’s soccer. The fate of the USMNT has been at the front and center of the race since the team failed to qualify for the 2018 Men’s World Cup. 

But the USSF president is not president of men’s soccer in the US. They aren’t MLS’s commissioner able to change the league to a different time table nor able to bend the league to their will on the issue of pro/rel or pay. 

No, the role of the president of USSF is part public face, part chairperson of the board, and part handling of unique challenges that they face while in the role. Their duties, official or not, do not include directly overseeing any one league. And when they have tried in the past to meddle, usually the outcry is deafening. 

Of the current crop of candidates for USSF President – Paul Caligiuri, Kathy Carter, Carlos Cordeiro, Steve Gans, Kyle Martino, Hope Solo, Michael Winograd, and Eric Wynalda – there are clearly those who have thought deeply about the issues facing women’s soccer. The platforms and websites through which they are disseminated show a split in just how much stock each candidate puts in needing a strong women’s soccer platform. 

A few notes before I break down each platform. I could not find a campaign website for Paul Caligiuri. While I could find a website for Eric Wynalda there was no platform I could find listed, just some links to interviews and a large bio page. 

Paul Caligiuri – Former MNT player – No website found

I could not find a website or a full platform for Paul Caligiuri but I was able to find an open letter he wrote to USSF detailing his concern over the voting disparities between MLS and NWSL. He also brings up the lack of an NWSL commissioner at the end of the letter. 

The points brought up by Caligiuri are important ones. The lack of the NWSL commissioner has boggled the minds of most of the NWSL media for the better part of the time the league has been without one. Adding to that the voting disparity that he brings up solidifies a strong message of support for women’s soccer in the country.

Without a full platform to look at, it is hard to know what Caligiuri sees overall as a vision for USSF. But the points outlined here are some of the stronger views a candidate has come out with. 

Kathy Carter – President of Soccer United Marketing – Website Here

No one who votes for USSF President would be voting for Kathy Carter as a candidate to bring mass change to US Soccer. She is running as and is best viewed in the context of the “keep the ship steady, fix in small amounts what needs to be fixed, and let the system that is in place work as it has been” candidate.

What worries me most as I look at Carter’s platform and website is the shockingly sparse focus on women’s soccer. Going so far as to call the the 2026 FIFA World Cup “the most important event on the planet” along the way without mentioning the USWNT. She speaks to how important it would be to elect the first female president of USSF while doing shockingly little to show an understanding of any women’s soccer related issues.

The closest she gets is mentioning the USWNT at the start of her open letter.

And then again in 2011. The U.S. Women’s National Team – down 2-1 to Brazil, in the 122nd minute. Is it over? The call – “Rapinoe gets the cross in… Abby Wambach has saved the USA!!!”

Carlos Cordeiro – USSF Vice President – Website Here

After Caligiuri and Carter it is a refreshing change of pace to look at Cordeiro’s platform.

Not only does he have a platform that is comprehensive, he has a section titled “Develop World-Class National Teams” that focuses as much, maybe even a bit more, on the USWNT as it does on the USMNT.

Develop World-Class National Teams

The strength of our Women’s National Team and the new talent coming up the ranks of both the men’s and women’s programs show that U.S. Soccer can deliver excellence.  But disappointing results at several levels—including the heartbreaking failures of the Women’s National Team to win a medal in the Rio Olympics and the Men’s National Team to qualify for the 2018 World Cup—have revealed real problems that need to be addressed.

It’s time to Aim Higher. To make sure that our women can defend their World Cup championship in 2019, ensure that our men return to the World Cup in 2022 and that both our men’s and women’s teams achieve the highest level of excellence in 2026 and 2027 and beyond—Mission 26/27—we must align all levels of U.S. Soccer operations.  Specifically, we must:

  • Invest more resources in player development and world-class coaches, training facilities and infrastructure consistent with the highest competition, as well as provide additional support for all National Team athletes—male and female, Youth, Paralympians and Futsal, beach soccer, Power, deaf and amputee athletes;
  • Create a new Technical Department—run by new General Managers for our Men’s and Women’s programs and reporting to the CEO of U.S. Soccer—responsible for recruiting, selecting and managing all National Team coaches so that soccer experts run soccer operations;
  • Increase resources and investment in the women’s program—including working toward equal pay—so that our women have the best technical and training support, are no longer forced to play on artificial turf and have greater representation at all levels of Federation decision-making, because supporting our women’s teams is not charity; women deserve to be treated equally and investing in our women’s teams is one of the best ways to grow the sport; and,
  • Compete and excel on our home soil by winning our bids to co-host the Men’s World Cup with Canada and Mexico in 2026 and host the Women’s World Cup in 2027.

The section on investment reads like the answers to 100 pieces written about the inequalities the USWNT faces. Artificial turf has long been an issue that the USWNT has fought against playing on and has long been forced to keep playing on. By very clearly stating that the USWNT is “not charity,” he is going to win over some women’s soccer fans on the spot.

The only area Cordeiro doesn’t venture in to is the NWSL. While that is not so much a strike against him, he will need to have some thoughts on the young league if he is to become USSF President.

Steve Gans – Lawyer – Website Here

Gans lays out a laundry list of issues he has with the current USSF president, Sunil Gulati, including a shot about the bad PR created;

Mismanaging the Women’s National Team pay equity issue, creating much bad will, and U.S. Soccer wound-up on 60 Minutes in a bad light;

Gans goes on to, in his Reform section, call for an review of much of the USWNT structure, and a desire to “make even the working conditions” between the two national teams.

I will immediately make even the working conditions for Women’s National Team players. The WNT will thereafter play on artificial turf only as rarely as does the Men’s National Team, and will in all other ways enjoy equal working conditions. A task force made up of key personnel in the soccer community will be formed to address the disparities in the women’s game. This would include: WNT training and facility needs, compensation review and recommendations at the WNT level, Director of Coaching and other coaching opportunities at the national youth team level and competitive club level, issues specific to the girls (youth) and women’s game, and the funding of the NWSL and how U.S. Soccer can better support it. There will be specific NWSL focus on how we can increase the chance for girls to aspire to an actual career as a soccer player or coach.

Gans seems to say more or less the right things here, but he seems to leave out the NWSL and women’s soccer when talking earlier in his platform. 

A soccer nation cannot be great and fully successful if it does not have a robust professional league and professional landscape. I will throw great support behind our professional soccer leagues. I will meet individually with each of the pro leagues, including MLS, NASL, and USL, in an effort to find common ground, and areas of mutual cooperation. 

Leaving the NWSL out of this section says more, to me at least, than a section later under Reform. 

Kyle Martino – Former MNT player – Website Here

Details are sparse on this site. While I do commend Martino for setting the bar higher for the women than the men when coming to his personal bar as president,

As players, coaches, and fans, we deserve better than this, and I will stake my presidency on my ability to deliver. Our challenge is to maintain the Womens’ team’s tradition of success while turning around the Men’s team’s recent struggles.  If our Men’s National Team fails to qualify for the 2022 World Cup, I will do the right thing and step aside. (I will do the same if we miss the quarterfinals in 2026.) Likewise for the Women, but with a higher standard: the semifinal round in all international tournaments from 2023 on. 

I do not get a sense reading his platform, or the interviews he linked to, that his ideas on women’s soccer are fully baked yet. He speaks a lot, as do many candidates, without understanding the issues women’s soccer faces. To him, as many, it seems secondary at times.

To be fair he does state that his “Progress Plan” will come in the following weeks. When this plan comes out I will update with any women’s soccer detailing.

Hope Solo – Former USWNT player – Website Here

Hope Solo is an incredibly difficult candidate to talk about in terms of women’s soccer.

On one hand her disagreements with USSF have left more than just a bad taste in people’s mouths, not to mention her legal difficulties. On the other hand she is the only candidate I have any confidence could name 20 non USWNT-paid NWSL players.

Solo’s credentials in women’s soccer are written more in World Cup and Olympic medals, of being a pro women’s soccer player, than they are detailed on her website. She is the only candidate in the bunch to play as a USWNT player and a pro women’s soccer player. And yet her platform on her site is simple, if not maddeningly so.

Become The Global Leader in Equality and Women’s Issues

• Achieve Equal Pay for the USWNT and all women in the USSF workplace

• Push for the inclusion of women at all levels of the USSF executive and organizational hierarchy

• Eliminate sexism and discrimination

Before Solo was running for USSF president, back during her playing days in the NWSL, she penned a blog post about the ways the league needed to be fixed that fits in nicely with what candidate Solo has said. But we’ve yet to see details of how she might achieve any of her stated goals.

Michael Winograd – Former College Soccer Player, Lawyer – Website Here

Winograd’s statement on women’s soccer is strongly worded.

Equal Treatment for Women’s Soccer

Women’s soccer must be treated equally. Full stop. Forcing the US Women’s National Team to play on substandard fields, travel under sub-standard conditions, or accept lower pay is absolutely unacceptable. Arguments to the contrary based on revenue flow are not only factually misleading, but they ignore and contradict the mission and spirit of US Soccer. What’s more, the budgetary increase necessary to provide equality is only a fraction of the current total spend on our National Teams.

I have to give Winograd credit for slapping down a common trope used to discredit the women’s side, “Arguments to the contrary based on revenue flow are not only factually misleading, but they ignore and contradict the mission and spirit of US Soccer.” Here he does show an admirable willingness to target a commonly used argument from men’s soccer fans.

Winograd, like others, does ignore the NWSL but with only 3 points to his platform it is maybe more understandable.

Eric Wynalda – Former MNT Player – Website Here

Wynalda’s website is styled more about him personally than what he plans to do for USSF and those under its umbrella.

There is an “About Eric” tab at the top but no where on the site is even the barest platform for any soccer, let alone women’s.

He has a series of videos up, one of which he does talk about women’s soccer, that spends 1:50 on the subject.

After reading all of the candidates platforms and doing my best to get a sense of what each would do in terms of women’s soccer, I believe a few things are true.

1) The candidates for USSF President do more or less agree on the aspects of women’s soccer that need to be addressed, which I think most reasonable women’s soccer supporters would agree with as issues.

2) Nearly every candidate talks about soccer and then women’s soccer in a way that makes their rhetoric around equality a little less believable.

3) Ideas and simple statements are a lot easier to put up than details. Details mean others can hold those details over your head later on after all.

4) NWSL who? Nearly everyone has forgotten to at least mention the pro league.

5) It feels like they all got the same answer to a question asked by their sports science teacher and each changed the answer to it a little to make sure they didn’t get failed for turning in the same work.

With 8 people in the race for USSF president, some legit contenders and some fringe candidates there to try to shake up the system, it will be a very interesting few weeks until the election.

It seems that each candidate has a unique challenge when it comes to women’s soccer and the election.

Solo has the women’s soccer experience, but it’s unknown if she can get out of her own way enough to get elected, or if she would excel at the job if she were. Wynalda seems more interested in selling how good of an interview he is than running for the job.  Carter speaks about the power of electing a woman without speaking about the power of women’s soccer on top of the SUM connection.  Cordeiro’s platform is well done but he doesn’t tend to get spoken about in the same breath as some of the others.  Caligiuri, Gans, Martino, and Winograd all have gaps or rather short statements on women’s soccer in their platforms.

I hope each candidate will put out more details, or any in some cases, about their vision for the future of women’s soccer in the US. There is work to be done even with all the success that the women have had in the past.

While the USMNT not making the Men’s World Cup in Russia this summer is an issue that must be addressed, it can’t suck all the air out of the room less the whole house of cards comes down around our ears.

Route Two Soccer – A Good Trade for Sky Blue

Posted on by RJ Allen

In the first big NWSL blockbuster deal of the offseason, Sky Blue traded away one of their key players. It will be hard to imagine the New Jersey side without Kelley O’Hara, who has been a bulwark of the team’s structure, formation, and identity since the founding of the league. However, while it’s obviously never a good thing to lose a world-class player, this was a good deal for Sky Blue, which should help them compete not just in 2017, but for years to come.

The key difficulty with replacing a player like O’Hara is her versatility and adaptability. From her hybrid wingback position last year, she covered almost the entire right flank, offering pace and precision in the attack, wide possession in the midfield, and defensive coverage at the back. There is probably no single player in the league who can fill all those responsibilities. However, this deal does a very good job of covering that gap with two players, and in doing so provides critical depth.

Shea Groom is very good and should be even better at Sky Blue

Shea Groom is already among the league’s best players, a fact which has gone slightly unrecognized due to FCKC’s broader struggles, and her role as a supporting forward rather than a pure goal-scorer. But look at the work she did playing behind Sydney Leroux, and then imagine that same inventiveness, aggression, and movement being leveraged by the world’s best player. Groom was already a very good player, but the chance to play off Sam Kerr for an entire year could be what it takes to launch her up to the next level. Her game is based on inventive movement into space, insightful passing, and sheer relentless aggression. Those qualities will fit perfectly into the Sky Blue attack. With Kerr as the focal point, Groom will be free to pull strings from behind and then burst into unlocked spaces.

This is something that Sky Blue desperately missed in 2017, with O’Hara offering some support, and players like Maya Hayes often making critical contributions as well. But O’Hara’s defensive responsibilities kept her too deep to sustain useful wide possession on a regular basis, and the other forward options were too inconsistent. Groom should fill that space, and free up everyone else to focus more on their own positional responsibilities as well.

That is an important, underlooked feature of this deal. Obviously, Sky Blue’s problem in 2017 wasn’t in the attack (they were among the league leaders in goal scored), but rather the defense. However, those things are connected. Their attack was strong, but often extremely chaotic. They scored by throwing numbers forward, trying to get the ball to Kerr, and hoping for the best. Bringing in a player like Groom – who offers inventiveness, skill in possession, and the potential to form a unified strike force with Kerr – could enable a far more coherent team structure. If so, it will significantly bolster the defense, rendering them less susceptible to being ripped apart in transition.

Christina Gibbons will make a big difference

Bringing in Christina Gibbons should also help on that front. She offers the sort of smooth possession and creative passing from deep positions that Sky Blue was desperately missing last year. Her skill on the ball, and her off-the-charts passing IQ, could be critical to a smoother game.

The big question with Gibbons is her best position. She started last season at left back, before moving to the central midfield halfway through the season. The transition was generally successfully, if not a perfect fit. The problem is that she simply isn’t as fast or as physical as you’d like from a modern attacking fullback, while also not (yet) showing the positional acumen you’d like in a central midfielder. Those are not huge liabilities, and even without being a perfect fit in either role she remains an extremely good player. But if she is able to settle into one role, and learn to compensate more effectively for her modest limitations, she could be a truly excellent player.

If the team is willing to think a little outside the box, there are a lot of options here. For example, while Sky Blue is already possessed of some solid midfield depth, a 3-5-2 setup might be able to leverage their strengths and manage some of their weaknesses. Adding a third body to the backline could stabilize the defense, and give Gibbons a bit more freedom to play a more expansive role upfield, without needing to use her exclusively in the already-clogged central midfield positions. This is just one idea. Surely, there are plenty of other options.

The other piece of the deal – the swap in draft picks – is not likely to have major immediate consequences, but does give Sky Blue some additional options. Their biggest needs are: 1) a pure defensive midfielder, 2) depth in defense, and 3) wingers. Unfortunately, the pickings in those areas are somewhat slim. But with two consecutive picks, they may now be able to spend one on filling those gaps, while using the other on a better player, even if she doesn’t necessarily fit a particular need.

Losing O’Hara is tough, but this deal is a good one

In the end, Sky Blue have done a superb job managing the loss of a club talisman. O’Hara provided on all three lines, and no single player could have replaced her. But the combination of Groom and Gibbons gives them a reasonably close approximation of O’Hara’s contributions, while also adding significantly to the club’s depth. Last year, they often felt like the Sam and Kelley show, with everyone else just trying to the boat from sinking. Under those conditions, trading out one world-class player for two good-to-great players makes a lot of sense. Particularly when those two players are young, and have enormous breakout potential.

Any trade which gives up a player as good as Kelley O’Hara will be tough to swallow. And by itself, this is probably only a lateral move for 2017. It doesn’t fix the core problem of the defense, and it actually magnifies the problem of relative inexperience in the team. Still, by adding several players of great quality, it does a lot to improve the team’s chances in the long term. And if one or both of Groom and Gibbons take that next step forward, we might just look back on this as a key moment in Sky Blue’s transition from a solid mid-table team to a title contender.

That doesn’t make it a bad trade for Utah, especially given Laura Harvey’s noted skill at using the international market to bolster her team. And there is still plenty of time for other big moves (with the rumored return of Caitlin Foord very much in the mix) to complicate the picture. But this is certainly a strong start to the Reddy era at Sky Blue.

Who May Tom Sermanni be Looking to Lure to Orlando?

Posted on by RJ Allen

The National Women’s Soccer League off-season is in full swing, and it’s been lit. While teams around the league have hired a new manager, rebranded, or re-signed players for the next season, things on the Orlando Pride side have been fairly quiet. The team has several players using the off-season as an opportunity to play overseas. Monica is playing in Spain while Aubrey Bledsoe, Steph Catley, Rachel Hill, Alanna Kennedy, and Toni Pressley are down in Australia.

However, it’s not just six members of the roster crossing the globe–or as I like to say “Where in the World is Tom Sermanni?”–because the gaffer for the Pride has been racking up some frequent flyer miles scouting for players to bring to the City Beautiful. Here is the list of matches Sermanni took in while he was in the United Kingdom according to his Twitter account:

October 29: Man City vs Birmingham City

November 4: Chelsea vs Bristol City

November 8: Chelsea vs FC Rosengard

November 11: Liverpool Ladies vs Birmingham City

November 12: Chelsea vs Reading Women FC

A quick observation shows the Orlando Pride manager went to three Chelsea matches and two matches for Birmingham City which more likely means some of the players on those rosters were his intended scouting targets. Nonetheless, there’s always a chance a player on an opposite side played well enough to catch Coach Sermanni’s eye and make his shortlist.

Let me save you time, fair readers, by saying Crystal Dunn is not on this list. Also, let’s quickly recap the Pride’s international roster spots which currently for 2018 will be five spots. As of this writing, those positions will be filled by Marta, Monica, Camila, Catley, and Kennedy. The decision the club will have to decide is if Camila will be placed on the season-ending injury list as she recovers from her knee injury she suffered the last match of the season against the North Carolina Courage. By placing her on that list, the league would allow roster relief where Orlando could bring in an international replacement player since Camila is an international player. Additionally, with Steph Catley and Alanna Kennedy out of contract, it’s not a guarantee both players will decide to return to Orlando. Sermanni places great value on international spots, and it’s also not beyond the realm of possibility if Orlando ends up trading for another international spot.

On predictions sure to be wrong, I once again don on my soothsayer’s hat and present a list of potential players Coach Sermanni could have been scouting.

Meaghan Sargeant: Birmingham City  –  Defender

The 23-year-old defender has been playing for Birmingham City since 2014. Known for her versatility, she can play across the backline as well as in the defensive midfield. The Sheffield native has represented England most recently at the U-23 level. During her match against Manchester City, she was wide on the right side of the pitch, but after going down one player, Sargeant moved to a center back position. On the second match Sermanni witnessed against Liverpool, her role was predominantly as a center back. She played the full 90 both times and has been a regular on the starting XI. Her last contract with the club was signed February 2016.

Drew Spence: Chelsea Ladies – Midfielder

Veteran midfielder Drew Spence displayed her skills while Sermanni was observing for two matches. Known for her passing ability in the midfield, she could become the facilitator in the Orlando offense, yet working on her improved defensive capability would allow Spence to distribute the ball from the backline. Her physicality could be exactly what the Pride could use to counter other teams efforts to slow the Orlando attack. Turning 25 this year, Spence signed a one-year contract this past September allowing her to stay with Chelsea, a team she’s been with since 2008. On the international stage, Spence has limited appearances with England’s senior team.

Bethany England: Liverpool Ladies – Midfielder

Beth England arrived this season to Liverpool via a season-long loan from Chelsea. Prior to being shipped to Liverpool, the 23-year-old from Barnsley, England had signed a contract extension which runs to 2019. England is an attacking midfielder who could potentially fit into the role vacated by Camila as she heals from her knee injury. She has represented her national team at the U-19 and U-23 sides.   

Ella Masar McLeod: FC Rosengård – Defender

Ella Masar McLeod is no stranger to the NWSL. She last played for the Houston Dash in 2015, and as a proven veteran who knows the league could certainly be appealing to Coach Sermanni. An added twist for Masar is her desire to play for the Canadian national team alongside her spouse Canadian goalkeeper Erin McLeod. Unlike most players, the opportunity to return to the league for both players ideally in the same city is going to factor into any decision Masar will make. As for interest from the Pride, Ella Masar McLeod would add an experienced fullback who can also join the potent Orlando attack. Additionally, she played with Marta and could integrate into the squad.

Hayley Ladd: Birmingham City – Midfielder

Another option from the Birmingham City side for the Pride is 24-year-old defensive midfielder from Wales. Ladd joined Birmingham City from Bristol City this past September where she signed a two-year deal. Even though she’s a defensive-minded player, Ladd also is not afraid to join the attack at times, having scored once this WSL 1 season. Recently for her national team, she scored the match-winning goal against Kazakhstan from a free kick during the latest round of Women’s World Cup 2019 qualifying in November. If Tom Sermanni could work out a way to get Ladd in Orlando, she could be the physical presence the Pride are looking to add for the next season.  

Rachel Furness: Reading FC – Midfielder

Current North Ireland Player of the Year, Rachel Furness, could step into the Orlando Pride midfield to reinforce the spine of the squad. Furness, 29, has the talent to replace Camila while she is in recovery. Furness is a key part of the offense creating opportunities for herself as well as for her attacking teammates. Her contract with Reading runs through June 2018, but perhaps if Sermanni can work his magic she could find herself wearing purple in NWSL.

Prior to the end of the regular season, Tom Sermanni stated he would be focusing on finding international talent to bring over to strengthen the Orlando Pride for the upcoming season. He may not succeed in recruiting from the trip to the U.K., but the club and the coach were very much serious in being ambitious even with the limited amount of international roster spots.