Cuba, CONCACAF, and the Future of Women’s Soccer

Posted on by RJ Allen

Cuba exit World Cup Qualifying having scored zero goals and conceded 29. Their performance shows what’s wrong, and what’s right, about women’s soccer in CONCACAF.

Cuba entered this month’s CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying tournament well aware of the uphill battle they’d be facing. They are currently ranked 88th in the world, and have never been higher than 84th. They were placed in a group with Canada (ranked 5th), Costa Rica (34th), and Jamaica (64th), after managing to qualify for the final round by narrowly scraping past Bermuda in the Caribbean Zone qualifiers. But those numbers don’t even really tell the tale. The Jamaican team has taken a major step forward, bolstered by support from the Bob Marley Foundation and Alacran Foundation, and is quickly moving up the ranks—made clear by their defeat of Costa Rica to secure a place in the semifinals.

Cuba, meanwhile, hadn’t played in three years since the start of this year’s campaign, which means significant portion of their roster had never played a single international game before this year. Nor do they have a meaningful domestic league in which to hone their skills during these significant gaps. And given Cuba’s isolated status, it would be quite difficult for players to play internationally, even for those few with sufficient talent to potentially make the case.

Following his team’s 12-0 loss to Canada last week, Reniel Bonora Peñalver said that most of his players participate primarily in grassroots soccer programs, but have very little opportunity for development. Most teams in those leagues draw primarily from those in their late teens or early 20s, but without any further pathway forward, few players are willing to stick with the regimen. That leaves a very small and constantly rotating pool of available players. Given the need to constantly disassemble and reassemble, it’s virtually impossible to develop a coherent style or set of habits. It’s not surprise, then, that Cuba were severely outclassed when facing teams with even a modest chance to coordinate and develop.

For Bonora Peñalver, the lesson of that match was clear: “Canada is on another level.” He didn’t say this as a complaint, simply as an obvious statement of fact. But he was also optimistic about what his team and country. would take from the experience: “We need to change the structure of our preparation for these tournaments. We need more competition and matches in preparation, more opportunities to develop quality players.”

The question, as always, is whether the Cuban federation lives up to that goal. But they should. Not just because every federation should support their team, though of course they should. But also because this Cuba team brought incredible passion and energy to a tournament where they knew they were going to get blown out. Compare their matches to the ones from Group A, where the US ran roughshod over opposition that seemed utterly resigned to their fate, and the difference is night and day. Cuba was even more lost, but remained committed and energetic for every minute of the competition.

Even more, Cuba was notable for actually trying to play soccer. Despite the enormous gap in preparation and ability, Cuba never once tried to set the sort of deep block defense that is so common in these CONCACAF competitions. After an incredibly shaky first half against Costa Rica, when they looked a bit like a deer in the headlights, they played with style, attempting aggressive dribbles, and pushing forward quickly whenever they got the chance. It didn’t work very well, given the gulf in talent. But that’s what made it even more impressive. This was a team that came to play and came to learn, and which had no fear of looking silly in the process.

I asked Bonora Peñalver about this commitment to playing an open game, and his response was as honest as it was interesting. In effect he said that the gap was so large that nothing they did tactically had any real chance of succeeding. But packing it in deep and just trying to hold on wouldn’t do anything to help them improve. So it was better to focus on the sort of aggressive counterattacking style that will eventually constitute their best approach, once they’ve evened out the quality gap enough to have a realistic shot of winning games against decent teams. That was refreshing to hear, and matched very well with the performances I saw on the pitch.

This is a team that showed up to play. Even if the overall gap in quality made it impossible for them to seriously challenge their opposition, they didn’t shy away from the job. And there were glimpses here and there of what this team could be. Rachel Pelaez showed more quality on the ball than anyone else in the group outside of Canada, dancing around tackles like it was nothing. Her panache in possession was a joy to watch, even if there was never quite enough going on around her to make it stick. María Isabel Pérez exhibited a silky first touch, and a keen eye for openings in the defensive line. She rarely had teammates available on the other side of those throughballs, but they were impressive nonetheless.

To me, the defining moment of Cuba’s qualifying tournament was in the 89th minute of their final game. They were trailing 9-0, and had been outscored 29-0 over the course of the whole tournament. But their heads were still high, and as soon as they gained possession, they raced down the field looking for one final chance to put in a shot on goal. When the ball bounded loose in the corner, they chased it relentlessly. It was all to no avail, in the end, but that’s precisely the point. This is the spirit of a true competitor, and it deserves to be rewarded with more support. These players demonstrated the will, commitment, and desire to get better. They deserve the resources that will help make it happen.

We Are Lucky to Have Christine Sinclair

Posted on by RJ Allen

Yesterday was a big day for Christine Sinclair. In the morning, France Football magazine released their shortlist for the inaugural women’s Ballon d’Or award, and Sinclair’s name was included. This shouldn’t be especially notable, given Sinclair’s quality we would expect these sort of accolades to pile up almost unnoticed at this point. And yet, despite a long career as one of the very best in the world, Sinclair’s performances have all too often gone unrecognized. For the world’s second-leading scorer of all time, individual awards have been few and far between.

And speaking of that record, Sinclair also got the chance to narrow the gap between first and second later in the evening, notching one of Canada’s twelve goals in their rout of Cuba in the CONCACAF Women’s Championship. And she probably could have had more if she hadn’t passed up any number of scoring opportunities on the night in favor of passing to a teammate. But when asked after the game, she was exactly as calm as we’ve all come to expect: “put me in that position again and I’ll pass the ball every single time.”

And that’s the curious wonder of Christine Sinclair. She really is that unselfish, that motivated to simply do whatever is best for the team, that relaxed. It’s a stark contrast to most of history’s other great goal-scorers, most of whom crave the ball and the shot. Sinclair simply doesn’t have that kind of motivation. She’ll score plenty, of course, because she’s a clinical finisher and world class in her ability to find those tiny gaps needed to unleash a shot. But you never get the sense that she’s aching to score. 

Chances are that Sinclair doesn’t win the Ballon d’Or this year, and that will be fair. While she’s had yet another stellar season, the likes of Sam Kerr and Pernille Harder have done even better. Still, it’s worth taking a moment to reflect on Sinclair’s performance, and celebrate the recognition that the nomination provides.

When asked about the award, Sinclair was as self-effacing as ever, saying “you look at the players on that list and it’s just an honor to be mentioned alongside of them.” It’s true that the list is filled with world-class players. But given Sinclair’s incredible career, it’s probably just as fair to say that it’s an honor for everyone on that list to get mentioned along with her.

The View from the Sideline: USWNT vs Mexico

Posted on by RJ Allen

Lora Charles was on hand to capture the USWNT vs Mexico as both teams try to qualify for France 2019. 

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4 Winners and 2 Losers from the 2018 NWSL Final

Posted on by RJ Allen

This was a fitting end to an unbelievable season for North Carolina, in a city that has set the gold standard for the future of the game. North Carolina came away 3-0 winners, but there was plenty more to this game than just the final result. Here are four winners and two losers from the game.

Winner: North Carolina Courage

This was a fitting end to an outrageous year from the Courage. After a regular season which destroyed the record books, if anything North Carolina did better in the postseason. Two resounding victories over their closest competition staked their claim as not merely the best team in 2018, but arguably as the best in the history of US women’s professional soccer. This is a squad without weaknesses, who can threaten from any angle, who will close down every play, win every second, third, and fourth ball, and simply make it impossible for the opposition to do anything according to plan. On a day when the Courage didn’t get any particularly outstanding performances from their ‘stars’ (Dunn, Williams, and Mewis—all of whom played well, but did not show anything out of the normal), it made no difference. Because they could rely on Denise O’Sullivan, Jaelene Hinkle, and Jess McDonald to blow off the doors. This is a team with no weaknesses and dozens of strengths, and if there were ever any doubts, they were put permanently to rest today.

Loser: Portland Thorns

This one is relative. Portland lost the game, but not because they played especially poorly. They came in with a game plan, and while it wasn’t executed flawlessly, neither was it badly botched. They looked to move the ball quickly forward, forcing North Carolina to collapse on the point of attack, thus creating space above that line for their more creative players to work. The problem is that they just couldn’t do enough to make the pinpoint long passes that were necessary to instigate the plan. As a result, they struggled to create scoring opportunities. And given the relentless Carolina assault, a few half chances were never going to be enough.  All that said, this really wasn’t a bad performance from Portland. They played well. Just not well enough.

Winner: Jess McDonald

I will admit that I voted for a different Courage player as my MVP, but could not possibly argue with McDonald getting the nod. She scored twice, helped create plenty more chances, and was virtually unplayable for much of the day. With better finishing, she might have had four or five. Her dribbling was exceptional, including several moves in Portland’s box where her dance through a sea of Portland tackles almost seemed choreographed. And her contributions weren’t limited to the offensive side, with some of high pressure doing plenty to disrupt Portland’s possession. McDonald has long been one of the league’s most underrated players, and this game is merely one more in a sea of outstanding performances.

Loser: The Portland fullbacks

Ellie Carpenter will have many big games ahead of her, but this is one that she’ll probably want to forget. She struggled to get involved in the attack, sending plenty of errant passes that resulted in Carolina interceptions, and similarly struggled to contain the Courage left-sided attack. Meanwhile, on the far side, Megan Klingenberg was more involved in the attack, and helped keep Carolina slightly more contained down that flank, but also had something well below her best game. Given the range of their possible attack, Portland desperately needed its wide players to bring their A game. Without consistent threats from their fullbacks, they were stretched too thin, and unable to cover the vacancies into which the Courage players pounced.

Winner: Jaelene Hinkle

Every time she touched the ball, the stadium filled with a chorus of boos, but none of that seemed to phase Jaelene Hinkle, who turned in an inch-perfect performance, sending in crosses on a dime, and bottling up Portland’s right-side attack with ease. Hinkle is one of the keys to North Carolina’s dominance—being able to slot in one of the league’s best creative players at left back exponentially increases the defensive obligations of the opposing side, and that was on clear display today. Without anyone forcing her back, she effectively deputized as a left winger, running rampant up and down the sidelines. I voted for her as player of the match. I have no interest in supporting Hinkle’s politics, but she played a whale of a game.

Winner: The City of Portland

At this point, we’ve run out of superlatives to describe the experience in Portland, and everything feels like a cliché. But when language isn’t up to the task, clichés are all we have left. This game gave me goosebumps, and left me more than a little choked up. The atmosphere at this game was electric—the sort of thing you expect from sports with decades, or centuries, of history. The seats were packed with a sea of red. The crowd was engaged, passionate, and ready to watch a game for the ages. While they didn’t get the result they wanted, the support never wavered. And as the Thorns players circled the stadium clapping their fans after the final whistle, they were greeted with thunderous cheers. It was one of the most powerful moments I’ve ever witnessed in sports. This the future, and it’s up to the rest of us to live up to standards that Portland has set.

Three Questions Before the NWSL Final

Posted on by RJ Allen

We have finally made it to the very last day of the 2018 NWSL season. We have weathered the summer thunderstorms, the midday heat, the head scratching trades, the coaching kerfuffles and all the other furtastic things that come with your typical season.

And we’re right back to the same place we were on the very last day of the 2017 NWSL season. The Portland Thorns and the North Carolina Courage are playing a game for all the marbles.

There are a lot of questions we just don’t know yet surrounding this match. Will the Thorns become the first team to three stars? Will North Carolina win a title after two years of regular season league dominance? Will the ref remember to take the cards out of their pocket this year if needed?

Before we all sit down to watch the NWSL championship match, I have a few other questions rattling around in my brain.

1) How will playing in Portland affect the game?

The North Carolina Courage won the league around the 4th of July. At that point it was pretty clear no one was going to catch up and they weren’t slowing down to make it easy on them anyway. But the Courage have to go for their title playing no home games in the playoffs due to a hurricane ravaging the Carolina coastline.

If the final were taking place in any other venue then we might not be talking so much about it. But Providence Park is a huge home field advantage for the Portland Thorns. Watching how the Courage react to being in a hostile environment is going to be interesting. Not having McCall Zerboni adds to the question of how the team will respond.

Will they feed off of the energy of the fans even if most won’t be supporting them? Will playing the semi there aid in their preparation? Will it turn into another 4-1 Courage victory like the team had there on May 30th?

The Thorns are going to have a more comfortable time at home. But will it give them the edge to beat the Courage? 

2) Who will be the hero of the game?

Will Tobin Heath show off just why she is so electric on the ball and win the game for the Thorns? Will it be 2018 NWSL MVP Lindsey Horan who is somehow open on yet another set piece to use her head to put the ball in the back of the net? Will it be Lynn Williams showing off why she was 2016 MVP? Or 2015 MVP Crystal Dunn making some magic?

There are players on both sides of this match with the skill and the talent to take their teams on their backs and score. There are players on both rosters with the talent to have a major defensive block to save a game winning goal too. Every centerback in this match made the Best XI or Second XI this year. 

If the ref controls the game and keeps both teams from becoming overly physical, as the final from 2017 was, this could be one of the best showcases for women’s soccer we have in 2018.

3) Will Jaelene Hinkle be booed all game and how will she handle it when she is?

Jaelene Hinkle has been the best outside back in the NWSL for two seasons while at the same time being out spoken in her active non support for LGBT persons.

During the North Carolina semi against the Chicago Red Stars, every time Hinkle had the ball, she was met with boos for the 4,000 or so fans in attendance. And it visibly rattled her. The final is a predicted sell out. Meaning about 4 times that amount of people will be in attendance for the final and presumably a fair number will boo.

From a soccer perspective how Hinkle handles this will likely make or break the game for North Carolina. She is a force on both sides of the ball for the team and they need her to be on her A game today.

For a non soccer perspective it seems that Hinkle is doing very little to think about her perspective and the harm is costs others if her comments to Stephanie Yang in her latest piece for Dirty South Soccer-  Jaelene Hinkle is aware of your boos, but doesn’t want to think about them – are any indication.

I don’t know what the “solution” to the Jaelene Hinkle saga in the NWSL is, or if there even is one. Personally I have undergone a change from “well she has a right to her wrong opinion” over the last year or so to a much less tolerant position on her unrepentant bigotry. Ideas like the ones she gave to the 700 Club hurt people. They feed into the notion that pushes LGBT persons to the brink, and often over it, every day. I hope one day Hinkle understands that. I am just sorry it took me so long to. 

The NWSL final will be played on Saturday, September 22, at 4:30 p.m. ET. If you’re in the US you can watch it on Lifetime. If you’re an international you can watch on the NWSL website.

Semifinal Preview: North Carolina Courage host Chicago Red Stars … in Portland

Posted on by RJ Allen

On Saturday, the Portland Thorns defeated the Seattle Reign to advance to their second consecutive NWSL Final. The defending NWSL Champions now await the winner of tonight’s contest between the Chicago Red Stars and the North Carolina Courage.

If Chicago advances, it will be the first time Rory Dames gets his team to the championship match. If the North Carolina Courage win, it will be the third consecutive season Paul Riley leads his team (Western New York, 2016 & North Carolina, 2017) all the way to the title game. These two teams have history, so Tuesday night in Portland is guaranteed to be fireworks!

Setting the scene

Last year, Dames and his squad  figured out Riley and the Courage in all three of head-to-heads.  This season, the teams played to a pair of draws, with a Courage win sandwiched between. Of course, the history of the series matters little in a winner or go home semifinal, especially since the back-to-back shield winners will not have home field advantage.

Tonight’s match was originally scheduled for Sunday at Sahlen Stadium in Cary, North Carolina. However, the threat of Hurricane Florence forced a venue change. Both teams will face-off for a spot in the final in Portland, home of the defending champs, and the site of their 2-1 victory over Seattle on Saturday.

Sam Kerr & Company

If Chicago intends to advance, it will need a huge game from Australian striker and two-time Golden Boot winner, Sam Kerr. Of the 38 goals this season, Kerr has scored 16.  The next highest total belongs to Alyssa Mautz (five), followed by Yuki Nagasato (Four).  No other Chicago player has scored more than two goals on the season. Defensively, the Red Stars have let up 28 goals this season. Starting keeper Alyssa Naeher has seven clean sheets in 22 starts with Chicago.

There is no getting around the fact that Kerr is the main target—for Chicago to feed and North Carolina to stop. Despite having no NWSL playoff experience, she is up to the task. “I think as forward we kind of struggle with … if you don’t score you don’t have a good game.  I’ve tried to learn over the last few years that it’s not necessarily the case.” Her skill and ignorance to the pang of defeat in the past several years may work to her teams advantage.  Yet, so too may the vivid memory of the past. 

Veterans like Naeher and defender Julie Ertz carry in spades. Both remember the sting of the 89th minute goal by Denise O’Sullivan which deflected off Ertz and beyond the react of her teammate for club and country.

The year before, Francisca Ordega broke a 1-1 draw in the 11th minute to send the Washington Spirit to the final against the Western New York Flash (now the NC Courage).  Western NY went on to win the final in penalty kicks.  For 10 players on the North Carolina roster, this is their third-straight finals appearance, adding crucial playoff experience to an already dominant team. 

Nevertheless, Dames and his squad are ready to turn the pages of history in their favor. “You want to be the best, you’ve got to beat the best,” Red Stars head coach told the media last week. “North Carolina is the tip of the sword. So we’re excited to see what we can do against them.”

The Greatest NWSL Team Ever?

Sure, the above could be a statement, but will anything short of a title diminish the legacy of this North Carolina team? No NWSL team has had a better record, ever! At 17-1-6 this season, the Courage hold the league record in wins, fewest losses, most points (57), lowest goals against average (.71), and largest goal differential (+36).

Where Chicago has one out-of-this-world offensive threat in Kerr, the Courage have multiple scorers. To begin, 2016 Golden Boot winner Lynn Williams has 14 goals and 5 assists for North Carolina in 21 games played. She and Jessica McDonald, the team leader in assists (8) are known as the “Twin Towers”.  They stand at 5’7″ and 6’0″, respectively and offer a perfect balance of speed, size, and physicality to keep defenders on their toes.

The smaller but equally as dangerous (Tiny Terrors?) Debinha and Crystal Dunn each have eight goals for the Courage this season. At 5’2″ and 5’1″, respectively, the pair are devilishly fast and powerful. The formula has worked for the Courage as of late, but will be enough to bring home the second title in three years?

Well, first there is Chicago. Defensively, the Courage roster contains the league leader in minutes played (Abby Erceg) and assists (Jessica McDonald). The Courage also have four players and head coach Paul Riley  nominated for end-of-season awards.  The Courage will however be without the services of MVP Candidate McCall Zerbroni, who suffered a broken elbow while with the U.S National Team.

Unfortunately, injuries are nothing new for North Carolina this season. Between injuries and national team duties, the Courage have manipulated their starting XI multiple times. No doubt, they are hoping the growing pains from earlier in the season will allow them to take the uncertainties of the postseason in stride. “We’ve been pretty consistent I think what’s important for us. We haven’t really had a downturn during the season where we’ve been struggling and lost our form,” said Riley on last week’s media call. 

“Due to that, I think we like our chances.”

You can catch the second semifinals game between the North Carolina Courage and the Chicago Red Stars live on ESPNews at 9:00 p.m ET.

 

Route Two Soccer: My 2018 NWSL awards ballot

Posted on by RJ Allen

It’s time for some end of the year votes. Here’s my take on who should win the big awards.

MVP

  1. Crystal Dunn
  2. Lindsey Horan
  3. McCall Zerboni
  4. Megan Rapinoe
  5. Sam Kerr

It’s the most wide-open field the league has ever seen this year. To my eyes, there are a half dozen serious candidates, with plenty of others where you could make a plausible case. That’s a reflection of the depth in the league, as well as the fact that a lot of potential candidates ended up missing time. I predict that Kerr will win—the Golden Boot winner has never failed to win the MVP, after all—and won’t really be upset if it happens. Despite missing a quarter of the season, she really is just that good.

Still, I have her toward the bottom of my shortlist, behind some players that I think provided a bit more all-around value. Dunn faded a bit in the back half of the season, dropping from ‘impossibly great’ to ‘very good,’ but I’m going to stick with her as my MVP. Compare this year’s NC to last year, and you can see the difference that Dunn makes. Without her, they were a powerful, dominant team—one of the best in the league. With her, they were superhuman, producing the best season that any team has ever managed in the NWSL, arguably the best single season from a women’s professional soccer team…like, ever.

Meanwhile, Lindsey Horan excels at literally everything, making her the linchpin of Portland’s attack and defense. McCall Zerboni does the dirty work that helps make North Carolina so unplayable, while also contributing plenty to the attack. Rapinoe might have been my #1 pick if she’d been able to play the whole season. When she’s at full strength, she’s the most impactful player in the league. It’s truly astonishing how much she’s been able to expand her game. So that’s five excellent choices, and it would be wonderful to see any of them win.

Rookie of the Year

  1. Linda Motlhalo
  2. Savannah McCaskill
  3. Imani Dorsey

This was not a strong year for rookies, to put it mildly. That’s partly a function of league contraction, which left far fewer opportunities than usual. It’s also a function of some big name rookies simply having down years. Andi Sullivan, for example, was a consensus #1 pick, one of the biggest talents to emerge from college in recent years. And she may yet come good, maybe as soon as next year. But at the moment, the performances haven’t been there.

By comparison, Linda Motlhalo was no one’s tip for the award back in March, but ended up lapping the field by a huge margin. She’s nowhere close to a star, and had plenty of bad moments, especially at the start of the season. But she played almost 2000 minutes, playing a critical role in binding together the surprisingly solid Houston midfield all year. And there’s a lot of value in simply showing up and being average. When you compare that to the rest of the rookie class, it becomes even more clear.

I have McCaskill second, despite more than a few anonymous performances over the season. It wasn’t the year we were all hoping for, but she provided some real drive in the Sky Blue attack that often sputtered without her. The same goes for Dorsey, whose arrival midway through the season gave the New Jersey side pace and precision they desperately needed. You could also put Veronica Latsko in the mix, who made a similar sort of impact in limited minutes for the Dash.

Goalkeeper of the Year

  1. Lydia Williams
  2. Adrianna Franch
  3. ????

The only real question here is Williams vs. Franch. I have no idea who belongs in third place, but I know they’re a country mile behind these top two. I went with Williams, who I think played a huge role in organizing that wonderful Seattle defense, but would have no problem with someone choosing Franch. Even with both missing significant time, I think the top two slots are locked down pretty easily here.

If you forced me to pick a #3, I guess I’d go with Alyssa Naeher, whose worrying loss of form compared to her peak of a couple years ago continued in 2018. But even with the occasional mishap, she’s still a solid keeper who turned in a decent year. I did consider Aubrey Bledsoe, but I just see too many mistakes there. She had a good season, and deserves credit for breaking the saves record. But that’s mostly a function of her defense letting in a ton of shots.

Defender of the Year

  1. Abby Erceg
  2. Jaelene Hinkle
  3. Becky Sauerbrunn

It’s always hard to know what to do with individual North Carolina players. Given how stacked the whole team is, it’s going to be easier for every specific player to shine. So I’m open to persuasion here. But Erceg was absolutely immense this year, doing plenty to maximize the value of their system: ranging into space to close down plays before they became dangerous, holding off one-on-one challenges, and winning tons of aerial challenges. Just a rock solid year from top to bottom.

Hinkle, meanwhile, was less impressive defensively—though she had a pretty good year there, too—but was outrageously good in the attack. She had the best year from a fullback by leaps and bounds, contributing more key passes than the best creative midfielders. This is not an exaggeration. She literally had more key passes than the best attacking players in the league. Look it up.

I seriously considering going with Megan Oyster as my third pick. She had a wonderful year for Seattle, but I ultimately had to trust my gut, which tells me that Sauerbrunn remains the most intelligent center back in the world. She’s not as dominant in close-quarters defending as she once was, but her anticipation of play is out of this world. And that’s the difference maker for me.

Once again, Emily Menges had a fantastic season, but just missed too much time. If she’d been able to play in 4-5 more games, I’d have her on this list.

Coach of the Year

  1. Paul Riley
  2. Vera Pauw
  3. Vlatko Andonovski

We’re blessed with tons of great choices here. In the end, though, you just can’t argue with what Paul Riley has done with the Courage. It’s the most cohesive and complete team ever assembled in US professional soccer, with every position contributing to the whole. Sure, they’ve got tons of great players. But he deserves a ton of credit for getting the most out of that roster, and helping players like Zerboni, Hinkle, and Lynn Williams develop from solid contributors into world-class talents.

Then there’s Pauw, who took a team that everyone (myself included) had pegged for last place, and kept them in the playoff hunt until the final week of the season. If I sometimes had a hard time understanding why it was working, that might only makes it feel more impressive. I picked Riley at #1, in part because of the culture he’s built over the years. But given the situation in Houston at the start of the season, I’m not sure anyone had a more impressive spring and summer than Pauw.

Finally, Vlatko Andonovski. Seattle looked so good right from the start of the season—and maintained that quality over the whole year—that it became easy to take them for granted. But it’s truly remarkable how seamlessly he was able to step in, right the ship, and produce an absurdly good defensive unit despite an endless parade of injuries and absences.

Team of the Season

Megan Rapinoe – Sam Ker – Rachel Daly

Lindsey Horan – McCall Zerboni – Crystal Dunn

Jaelene Hinkle – Abby Erceg – Becky Sauerbrunn – Theresa Nielsen

Lydia Williams

The toughest call here was my third forward. I went with Rachel Daly, who was a massive difference maker for a Houston team that sometimes struggled to create chances and needed her to be great. But any of the forwards on my Second XI could easily have fit in here.

Second XI

Yuki Nagasoto – Lynn Williams – Tobin Heath

Christine Sinclair – Allie Long – Sophia Huerta

Steph Catley – Megan Oyster – Emily Menges – Arin Gilliland

Adrianna Franch

It was a weak year for fullbacks. Catley was a clear step below her performances in some previous years, while Gilliland blew very hot and cold. But both did enough for me to take them. I almost went with Caprice Dydasco, who had a very nice season in the midst of the mess that was the Spirit season. In the midfield, I thought long and hard about Dani Colaprico, who had another great Colaprico season, and the other NC midfielders, who all could easily have made the list. But ultimately I thought that Long’s contributions as the solid holding player in that Seattle midfield were more significant. I also originally had Amber Brooks as my final center back, but decided that Menges was so good in her limited time that it was enough to overcome a great year from Brooks by a hair.

Finally, I want to note a few players who were outstanding in limited minutes, but simply didn’t play enough to merit consideration on these lists. First is Mallory Pugh, who was the best player in the league for the first 5-6 weeks, but was clearly not at the same level when she returned.

Second, Vanessa DiBernardo, whose return was instrumental in turning Chicago from an underperforming group into a devastatingly effective team.

Third, Sam Mewis, who never seemed to get out of second gear, but still contributed a ton of value in limited time.

Finally, Julie Ertz, whose ability to be one of the best players in the league at multiple positions gave her team some critical flexibility when it came to make trades and re-arranging their options.