I really hate thinking about this, but saw the posts on other teams. It is next to impossible to only pick 10, especially since I dont know who has a 1 year contract,and whether DeVanna coming back.Here are my thoughts anyway: 1 Abby Wambach 2 Sonia Bompastor 3 Lisa DeVanna (if she comes back,if not then Rebecca Moros) 4 Cat Whitehill 5 Allie Krieger-even for half of the season I think she is still worth holding 6 Sarah Huffmann 7 Becky Saurbraunn 8 Erin McCloud 9 Homare Sawa/Allie Long I am torn between them 10 Alex Singer -loved her in the first half of season-not sure what happened with the coach in the 2nd half of season.
Yeah, I didn't want to start this thread because I didn't want to think about it, but here's mine: 1. Erin McLeod - Not many topnotch goalkeepers out there, and you need one in order to succeed in this league. 2. Abby Wambach - Marquee player, moved up list toward end. 3. Sonia Bompastor - MVP, pure and simple. 4. Lisa De Vanna - Offensive spark plug, one of the most exciting players in the league. 5. Becky Sauerbrunn - One of the best young defenders in the league. 6. Ali Krieger - Local product born to play for the Freedom. 7. Sarah Huffman - One of our very best W-Leaguers, needs a chance to prove herself. 8. Cat Whitehill - Slow but savvy defender with a strong leg. 9. Lori Lindsey - Stabilizing influence in the midfield, with the Freedom since 2003 and should retire from them. 10. Rebecca Moros - Smart and hardworking. I perhaps have a misguided loyalty to our W-Leaguers in wanting to protect Lindsey and Moros ahead of Sawa. I'm basically sacrificing Sawa in the 11th position, then hoping we can protect Long and Singer in the 12th and 13th positions while figuring we'll lose Gilbeau and/or DeDycker as well. Note that Sawa and DeDycker used to play for the Beat in the WUSA era.
I figured you didnt want to start this StarCityFan,but I couldnt keep talking to myself about this.Thanks for your thoughts. I wouldnt call it "misguided loyalty", you should be able to protect those that have been with the team and worked hard for years,while at the same time hold on to other talent. Obviously we cant do that, but I hate to send off those younger players (Singer,Long) and then see them really shine after a year or two. I can see them both becoming top quality players. Yes Lori should absolutely retire from the Freedom (but not for many years). She is a great role model for players and fans I wish Gabarra luck, he has proven his loyalty to Freedom W League players, so I am guessing he will continue with that pattern. It is not gonna be easy ..
If a team has to protect their internationals then we won't be able to protect all those W-Leaguers. This is who I think they'll protect: Bompastor Huffman Krieger McLeod Sauerbrunn Sawa Wambach Whitehill plus 2 more internationals, possibly I think they'll find they will lose more than they gain. If they don't protect Lindsey they stand a good chance of losing her, especially since she's been called up to the WNT camp - she may go quickly in the expansion. I also wouldn't agree with protecting Krieger since she's a 1/2 year player for us. And, I don't think she played as well as you would expect; but perhaps once her foot is completely healed she'll be better. What's the date of the expansion draft again?
Krieger should be all ours after next season. But it might be worth taking a chance on leaving her unprotected, figuring no expansion team is going to want a player they won't get until June. The expansion draft is September 15.
Got this from the soccer insider: *The Insider has obtained the Washington Freedom's protected list ahead of WPS's expansion draft: Abby Wambach, Cat Whitehill, Ali Kreiger, Homare Sawa, Lisa De Vanna, Sonia Bompastor, Erin McLeod, Sarah Huffman, Becky Sauerbrunn and Allie Long. Surprisingly, Lori Lindsey, who was invited to USA national team training camp next month, was not protected. Atlanta and Philadelphia will select up to nine players apiece on Sept. 15. No current team can lose more than three players. After a team loses a player, it may add two to the protected list. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/soccerinsider/2009/08/dcu_freedom_u-20s.html?wprss=soccerinsider
This is why I love Stephen Goff! I am not really surprised about Lori Lindsey- I figured that they would just make her a free agent so she wasn't available for the expansion draft. After the draft they can just resign her - I seriously doubt she will resign anywhere else. The person I am worried about losing the most though is Becca Moros - I honestly would have like to have seen her protected (instead of Allie Long maybe)
They can't protect her if she isn't under contract. In other words, a free agent is a free agent. So, yes, it looks like you have her. That's good news for you. I always thought that with Wambach and DeVanna, Washington was the only team with two standout strikers that were a cut above the rest. Maybe they aren't the ideal pairing but like I said, what other team has two above-average strikers?
Now you tell us that...(!) You'd look like a BigSoccer genius if you'd said that before the fact! As for Moros - good player and a lot of Washington fans like her but still, #2 or #3 strikers who score 3 goals a season are hardly irreplaceable. I haven't seen enough Washington games to have a good opinion on protecting Moros vs Long, but I will say this - you have to remember that Long just came out of college. It really looks like being 2, 3, 4 years older helps at this level among the American players. You have to figure you haven't seen the best out of your youngest players. They have an upside to them that you may not have as much with players who are 25 or 26. With the 25 or 26 year olds you're pretty much seeing what they have to offer - what you see is what you get.
I was actually logging on to give my two cents on who I thought the Freedom would protect when I noticed the list that Stephen Goff obtained. I planned on mentioning my Lindsey thoughts then, but was too late. Why wasn't I just a couple of hours earlier. Of course I could be completely wrong in my thought process.
The thing about Moros (and Lindsey even more so) is that there's a lot of Freedom history that goes a long with them. Lori's been with the team every year since 2003, while Becca joined the team in 2007 and scored the game-winning goal in the W-League championship that year. So on the field they may be replaceable, but in the fans' hearts is quite another thing. I am going to be peeved beyond description if Lori's playing for another team in 2010.
And the thing about Long is that she's nearly as critical to the team as Lindsay...I'm so sad right now. I hope that list is wrong. This is a huge mistake.
I say plan on being peeved because my guess is that Lindsey may not want to stay if she's riding the bench, which she is likely to do if Gabarra puts Huffman in front of her! I guess we'll know better in a couple of weeks...
Becky Sauerbraun ready for Røa, Norway. http://msn.tv2sporten.no/fotball/toppserien/arnabjornars-kaptein-til-roa-2881117.html http://www.dynamitegirls.no/
Random question: besides your four developmental players, do you know if you have any free agents at the moment who would be immune to the draft?
Good question and I wish I knew the answer! I think the only way we are going to find that out is if the Soccer Insider is able to get the information. That is the only way we found out who the Freedom protected. I know the initial terms of the contracts were not released so I don't really expect them to release who became free agents - at least not until the after the expansion draft.
I am not an expert on this league's rules but you talked as if a team can keep a player who is a free agent/ not under contract. That is ludicrous. A free agent is someone who can sign with anyone she wishes. If the Freedom does not protect Lindsay, she will be picked up by someone else. I doubt that she can collude to refuse to sign with other teams and stay with the Freedom either. It has to be against league's rules.
The players that are protected are for the expansion draft only. The expansion draft will allow the two new teams (Atlanta and Philly) to pick players from current rosters. The Freedom might not have protected Lindsay for many different reasons one of which is she could be a free agent (she might have only signed a one year deal) which means she is not considered part of the Freedom roster. If she is a free agent the Freedom cannot protect her, but at the same time she is not eligible to be selected in the expansion draft. If she is a free agent then she can sign with whoever she wants. Now if she is not a free agent then she is eligible for the expansion draft and I would fully expect her to be selected by one of the expansion teams. If this happens of course she would not be able to refuse to sign with one team and then go back to the Freedom. The key here is if Lori Lindsay is a free agent or not. I doubt we will find out the answer to this question until after the expansion draft
That makes sense but .. That does not. If she is the 10th or 11th player on the Freedom's list, how much money do you think they'll pay her? I seriously doubt she will play for Washington for peanuts if someone else offers her a decent wage.
Certainly she might consider going somewhere else if another team paid her a lot more than the Freedom are offering, but given the very tight salary cap, how likely is that? If she's #11 on the Freedom list, she's not going to be all that much higher on another team's list - maybe #7 or #8. If they're going to spend their money, they'll do it on the internationals, something they're really going to need to do if they're going to be competitive.
What makes you think Lindsey is #7 or 8 on other team's list? If you think there are 6 x 2 (teams) = 12 players out there who are better than her (and available), I'd like to hear their names.
Well, it depends on how much she makes from other gigs in the DC area where she's been for the last several years (if I understand correctly). She may have contacts and other job(s) in the area that would be too valuable to lose in a move.