Arena Solo and the Gang - the Women's Soccer Thread

The WPS just needs to find someone talented at talking bored Billionaires into spending money. I mean, the NBA owners aren't really doing anything right now. I'll bet someone could talk Dan Gilbert into owning a WPS team.

 

USsoccer.com to stream US vs Sweden Game

As much as I'd like it to be broadcast on TV, I'll take it since this at least means I can catch it.

 

It's better than nothing, that's for sure. It's probably actually easier to watch it online than Versus.

 

My reaction to the game is pretty much: eh.

The Good:
Morgan and Heath made a good combo on the field and Morgan especially created a lot of plays

Lauren Cheney was all around solid

Barnhart played solid in goal and I can't fault her for the one that went in

The Bad:
A-Rod should've gone out sooner. She didn't do anything and when Morgan went in the whole dynamic changed. Not saying Morgan should start necessarily, but I'd like to see her get more playing time

Abby's playing style doesn't seem to work well with this new formation. She was definitely off her game tonight

I was confused by the roster as a whole. The game was a friendly, didn't count for rankings, Sweden only brought 14 of its WC players, they were allowed 6 subs, and came the game at the end of the training camp. So why didn't we see some of the talent called up to the camp? Or more subs? With the exception of Sauerbrunn and Barnhart, the entire roster was just their WC starters.

 

Well this is bad news for the WPS.

Basically, the article says that according to US Soccer's bylaws, all pro leagues are required to have eight teams. The WPS had a one year waver for the last season and are trying to get the waver extended for this season. As of last Sunday, the league had 15 day to secure a 6th team before the waiver would be considered.

If the waiver is not granted, the league will lose it's D1 status and our national team players are going to go find another league to play in.

Bummer.

 

Yeah, that's definitely bad news for the WPS. Having the players of the USWNT (and Canadian team, too) in a DII league would be far from ideal.

 

I almost wonder if the WPS could get away with two regional conferences making up the league. Keep the five teams you have on the East Coast, and establish five other teams in the soccer hotbed that is the pacific northwest. Don't have an games between the conferences until the championship to save money on travel.

 

There's probably some obscure bylaw with US Soccer that would disallow that.


It is a good idea, though. While the WPS is far from perfect, it'd be a shame to see it relegated from DI over something like that.

 

There's been talk about doing something like a West Coast/East Coast league in 2013, but the league needs to survive that long first.

Right now I'm leaning towards linking WPS and MLS. What if they played double headers or something to try and get more people to the women's games?

There's been a couple interesting articles about this situation. Recently, the head of FIFA's Women's Division spoke up for WPS and fans have started writing letters to Ellen DeGeneres and Rachel Maddow to try and get them to sponsor a team, but my favorite response has to be this piece written by NY Flash midfielder Yael Averbuch.

I think she really highlights how special and unique this league is among US pro sports. As someone said in the comments, how many other pro athletes walk over to you to personally thank you for coming to the game and then sign your gear?

 

So,WPS is saved for another year. Looks like there will be a sixth team added in CT and with all this talk of "expanding to other markets" I'm hoping we see a west coast division in 2013.

Also, Wambach won the AP Female Athlete of the Year award, making her the first soccer player to ever win.

I think it was Solo who said it after the WWC, that "losing the WC has done more for our sport than winning the Olympics ever did" and it certainly looks true. 6 months after they lost and people still remember it enough to award Wambach Athlete of the Year. Makes me slightly optimistic for the future of the sport.

 

I'm glad that the WPS will be around for at least another year and seems to be aggressively seeking new markets.


Have you seen where any former magicJack players have signed? Free agency started in early November, but Wikipedia's team and player pages haven't been updated since then.


Congrats to Abby!

 

I haven't heard anything about where magicjack players are signing. If there really is going to be a team in CT this year, maybe everyone's waiting for that to be finalized before making any announcements?

I do know the draft is set for Jan 13th. The #1 picks over the last three years were Morgan, Heath, and Rodriguez, so I'm interested to see who goes first this year.

 

I suppose that's possible. I've tried searching on the WPS website, but they don't have anything mentioned.

Do you have any guesses for who the top pick will be?

 

Atlanta's got the first pick and I think I read that they were looking to pick up a forward and a keeper this season. I'd imagine they'd try and get either Solo or Loyden, since they're both on the Free Agents list. So for #1 draft pick, I guess I'm going with Sydney Leroux.

 

So lots of news on the women's soccer front, both WPS and WNT, in the last week or so.

First off, the WPS draft happened and I actually called the first pick correctly, with UCLA forward Sydney Leroux being chosen by the Atlanta Beat. Atlanta's also been buying a bunch of free agents as well, picking up both Lauren Cheney and Amy LeP, so I'm expecting to see The Beat come out of the basement this season. Here's a complete run down of who was drafted.

Next, the national team finished off their training cap and headed to Vancouver for Olympic Qualifiers. The roster is pretty much what you'd expect, third string keeper Lloyden was dropped as was mid-fielder Stephanie Cox. The surprising thing was that Leroux got picked up. I wasn't expecting any new players to be added, but I'm kinda excited to see what the next generation looks like. After the Olympics I fully expect Rampone, Mitts, and Boxx to retire from the national scene at least, and maybe Lindsey as well. Solo and Wambach have maybe 1 more WC in them, so it's good to start getting some new blood in the mix.

Olympic Qualifiers start Thursday, though the US won't play til Friday. Matches are being broadcast on Universal Sports and Telemundo, or you can register at CONCACAF.com at watch them online.

Also, some guy was shot and killed at the hotel the USWNT was staying in last night.

Finally, back on the domestic front, Dan Borislow and MajicJack are no longer out for the count. From what I can tell, MajicJack will not officially be part of WPS but will play 7 exhibition games against the other teams. This will probably interest free agent National Team Players who don't want to commit to a whole season. (Wambach's already made some vague comments about not being sure if she's up for coming straight from the Olympics to WPS, Rapinoe likes to go play in Australia, and who knows what Solo really thinks about the whole thing--when WPS was in danger of folding and the other national team players all released statements in support of it, Hope's comment was "If someone fails to meet the requirements for graduating, do you still give him a diploma?") Also, the other teams probably couldn't afford them.

I'm split on the MajicJack thing and not even because I think Borislow is a jerk. On the one hand, I think this model works out really well for this year as it's an Olympic year and that's gonna totally screw with the league anyway. On the other hand, I don't see this helping efforts to expand the league next year when your most marketable players are all on an exhibition team.

 

I doubled checked to make the CONCACAF website made the bookmarks page when I got my new computer a few months ago. It's all ready to go for Thursday night. I also have another reason to give my cable provider about why they should offer Universal Sports in their packages.

I'm not exactly sure what I think of the new magicJack situation. I don't see it lasting past the fall of 2012. Like you said, you can't promote your league when the most marketable players are on the exhibition team. It's still a big mess.

I wonder if Solo will end up in Germany or maybe Australia.

 

Apparently CONCACAF is Geoblocked, but thankfully Sportsnet has me covered.

I'm predicting a US/Canada final with a US win. Realistically, only the US, Canada, and Mexico have a shot at the final and I'm thinking the US will pull off the win against Mexico after their shocking defeat next year. I'll go with Canada over Mexico because they're playing at home, they're gonna be hungry after their dismal WC, and I love Christine Sinclair.

 

I believe there was also very controversial officiating in the US women's loss to Mexico last year. With a fairly called match, the US should win. I also like Canada as the runner up.


I don't know if you've stumbled across this article yet, but it's a good overview of some of the challenges that the US women will face in Olympic qualifying.

 

Abby Wambach's not wasting any time tonight. Less than 40 seconds in, she's got a 1-0 lead for the US over the Dominican Republic.

Edit 3-0 within the first 5 minutes...probably should be 4-0 already. The rout is on, surprising no one.

 

Oh man. I am praying Krieger didn't just tear her acl...

 

Well that was quite the slaughter. 14-0 with A-Rod almost getting a double hat trick. I was almost expecting Solo to score at some point.

The commentators sure didn't seem to approve of the US though. I mean seriously, they were upset that the team was congratulating each other after scoring. I also heard from people at the game that once the score got high enough fans were told to stop chanting for the USA.

Best news though is that initial analysis shows Krieger partially tore her mcl but the acl looks fine. So while she's done for this tournament she should be ok for the Olympics.

That's a good article you posted. The main criticism I hear towards Sundhage is her steadfastness regarding her starting lineup (mainly in regards to Morgan as Pia's consistently commented that she liles her to come off the bench.) And while I don't think Alex will be starting anytime soon with the current formation, it was nice to see Heath start last night. And she scored, even if it was just against a rubbish opponent.

 

It's a tough situation. Let's be honest...the US will blow out everyone that they play within CONCACAF with the exceptions of Mexico and Canada. The talent differential is just that big. There needs to be a way to prevent situations that happened last night, whether it means fewer teams making to the qualifying tournament or some sort of mercy rule.

Hope that Krieger is able to go for the Olympics. The US should be fine for the qualifiers without here, but she'll be needed in London.


Morgan needs to be a starter...she's just too good not to be one.

 

Yeah, I'd be ok with less teams in the tournament. Hell, after last ight I'd be ok with a mercy rule like softball.

I just don't see Morgan starting when we're playing a formation with only one forward (baring injury to Wambach.) When we're playing a 4-4-2, I do like Morgan over A-Rod up top.

Unfortunately it looks like initial reports were overally optimistic and Krieger did tear her acl and mcl. They're saying 6-8 months so she's effectively out of the Olympics. I expect Mitts to start but hopefully we'll see KO and Saubrun too. I thought the latter did pretty well in the WC. Hell last time they won the Olympics without Wambach this time it looks like they'll have to do it without Krieger. I'm just really bummed she's out due to such a poor tackle in a game that was nothing more than a brief exercise for the US.

 

Grant Wahl reporting Krieger tore both ACL and MCL. Likely out 6-8 months and will almost certainly miss the Olympics, should the US qualify.

 

Good day for the US with another double digit blow out and zero injuries. And Syd Leroux proved her worth for the team, scoring 5 goals in a half to tie A-Rod's record.

Mexico beat DR 7-0 and Guatemala 5-0 compared to the US 14-0 and 13-0, so while it won't be anywhere near as easy as their first couple games (and there can always be an upset), I'm not too worried about a US win on Tuesday which will almost certainly guarantee them a spot in the Olympics, since they'll avoid the Canada semifinal.