There is some Breakers player speculation spread through some other threads, but figured since we have a Breakers Forum now it would be proper to discuss here. So, as posted by M6 here https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?p=15615186#post15615186, Lilly will be part of the allocation. I have a hard team believing Lil won't be one of the Breakers 3 choices given her history with the club and I think said she would play for Boston or retire? Hucles indicated she would choose Boston, but didn't see any other players quoted as making it their first choice. So who will be our 3 players? Will it be Lilly, Hucles and ???
I expect to see Lilly and Hucles in Boston. The third player will depend on how those two are ranked by the league and coaches - and I have no idea how they'll be ranked. Kristine Lilly is one of the greatest female soccer players ever, but she's also 37, a new mom, and hasn't played in a while. How should she be ranked? Before the Olympics, I thought Hucles would be Boston's #3 pick. But she had a great tournament, and so it's likely that she'll be ranked a little higher than that. Will the league make the allocations as balanced as possible (giving each team one player deemed to be in the top 7, etc.), or will they simply match preferences and attempt to reconcile any imbalance with the international draft (as they did in the WUSA)? I don't know... To make things interesting, Brandi Chastain and Tiffeny Milbrett will also be in the allocation pool. I can't wait for Sept. 15.
Foreign draft/allocation will be used to balance teams based on initital allocations. So if your players include a 37 year-old new mom, a late bloomer and an unknown, expect to get an early shot at foreign players. and NJ Sky Blue will look good with Rampone, O'Reilly & Lloyd, won't they?
The event listing on the WPS Network says the International Draft order will be set by how strong they (WPS) think each team is coming out of the US Allocation phase... so it sounds like they will be matching preferences, they are not expecting the US Allocations to be even in terms of talent, which is OK. Site also says that USWNT pool players will have completed contract negotiations by today.... makes it sound like they are contracted to WPS not the individual franchise? Will the contract $$ have any impact on a team's choices/preferences? Each team gets to draft the rights to 2 Internationals... doesn't sound like the players will be contractually bound by the draft. Can Chastain and Milbrett still play at this (hoped for) level? Don't hold your breath on 9/15, it says WPS begins meeting that day, but announcements may not come til 9/19.
As a Boston fan I refuse to acknowledge the possibility of any NY/NJ team ever looking good under any circumstances Rampone and O'Reilly will be solid choices for any team.... lots of NJ natives in the pool, don't see how Sky Blue can go wrong! And even though Lloyd is the Flavor of day/Hero of the moment, I hope she lands in NJ, or at least anywhere except Boston... if she hadn't scored that goal she would have been the Olympic goat with all her giveaways and horrendous passes.
I'm thinking an announcement may be made in conjunction with the USWNT/Ireland game in NJ that Wednesday. Rampone, O'Reilly, and Lloyd would certainly put Jersey in the seventh position for the international draft - unless some team manages to get Chalupny, Wambach, and Solo
The Freedom won't get Wambach if she doesn't want to go there. Which is totally beside the point since I think M6 had tongue planted firmly in cheek suggesting that any one team would be allocated those 3 players. If they were, they would be 7th in the International draft order.
Heck if one team gets all three of those players, they should be required to fill out their starting lineup with women from the stands.
Give me Hucles as our #1, Markgraf as our #2, Lilly as our #3 And we'll take the Brazillian allocation of Marta and Cristianne...
Mitts lists Boston as one of her 3 teams: http://blogs.chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/soccer_redcard/2008/09/mitts-intereste.html I am not disappointed, but am suprised!
The breakers have already signed most of their roster from the us team and filled their foreign spots..they are looking for make up players enetring the try outs..
Speculation relayed to me by M6 has Wambach listing Boston among her teams. She would obviously be tier 1 with Hucles being tier 2 and Lilly tier 3. Speculation drives me nuts!
That's not exactly true... I said I thought Wambach might be interested in Boston. Whether or not she actually listed it or any other city in her top 3, I have no clue. I seem to recall Leslie Osborne mentioning Boston (third after Chicago and one other, LA maybe) in an interview, but I can't remember where I read it.
Mitts lists Chicago as one of her top 3. If that happens I may have to upgrade my season tickets so that I can be around the Stadium Club.
I'll come clean....she wants to come this way to see me. We had a pretty tough break up a while back and I think she wants to rekindle..... or I could be dreaming.