WPS has announced allocation! We will know who will play in Boston on Tuesday (9/16) following an event at the Sports Museum of America. Read the league's announcement here I also just got a facebook message saying that the Breakers are going to hold a live chat from allocation on Tuesday at 1:30pm here Go Breakers! Can't wait to see who you get!!
I am still going with Hucles as one of the other two. She has some history here and says Boston was one of her choices.
Also, Hucles and Lilly were both at the press conference announcing the return of the Breakers. (Wow, that was well over a year ago...) So not only do they each have a history with the team and a desire to play here, but the 'new' Breakers have already used them to promote the team. Not that that means much, but I'd be shocked if they weren't 2 of Boston's 3. As for the third, I haven't a clue. Tomorrow will tell...
All of the WPS teams have access to the players, so that may not necessarily be an indicator. There is a 21-player rotation as far as those appearances go.
Hucles does sound like a logical choice. So those two would give us a solid forward and midfielder to build off of.
But would you prefer to build off a solid keeper? What are the guesses on where the keepers will go? Solo Barnhart Scurry Luckenbill
Whooo hoooo! Here are the rumors: Highlight below if you want to know. Abby to DC Hope to St. Louis Carli Lloyd to Chicago Kristine Lilly and Angela Hucles to Boston
Markgraf, who I thought would be a Boston candidate, came out pretty strongly for Chicago. Mitts mentioned Chicago, Boston and I think LA but would like to return to Philly in 2010.
I think keeper is a position that can be developed or a lesser known star can shine. LeBlanc rocked for the "old" Breakers after Ducar went down, and if memory serves a couple of the USWNT pool keepers were busts in WUSA. But would like to start with Solo at the back? Heck ya!
Yes and No. A strong keeper is an obvious asset, but a shoddy offense can easily negate that. I'd much prefer an average player between the pipes and an exceptional attack.
I just think that the ratio of quality keepers vs quality out field players will be low. I don't know that there are enough for every team to have a quality keeper. So, while I might not build around a keeper, I definitely one one of the better ones.
Besides the US Nat'l keepers, I think we'll see from Canada Erin McLeod and Karina LeBlanc. Next, is there a decent chance of getting keepers from Australia, Brazil, and some parts of Europe - like the British Isles and Iceland? That would add: Melissa Barbieri (Australia) Andreia (Brazil) Barbara (Brazil) Emma Byrne (Ireland - yeah, I told all you boys and girls she could be reason enough to watch the Gold Medal Celebration tour) Thoradottir (Iceland, can't remember her first name) Anna Marie Picarelli (Italy, US-born played for Pepperdine) That's another 8 international keepers to choose from (I'm being conservative and figuring we don't get any keepers from Scandinavia or from Continental Europe just yet except the American-born Picarelli) Add in a few recent NCAA grads playing in the W-League or WPSL and that seems like enough keepers to go around.
I think the only one happier to get Mittsie than me are the Breakers ticket reps... well done! Hopefully we can persuade her to stick around and forget about moving onto Philly in 2010... For the record...I like our allocation, but I think Chicago has won the first battle!
Preferably with her still in them ; ) I gotta go...I'm sure Heath (as I call her) will be calling for a place to stay until she get's set up herself. She's been wanting to get back together for some time anyway so now is as good a time as any.
Hopefully hocho won't scare her away in 2010 lol..... Not so sure Chicago's is better, I like Sky Blue then us. Tarpley is solid, if you take away the winning goal I thought Lloyd showed a lot of weaknesses in the Olympics. And Kate showed when she was here before that while she is big part of a world-class backline, she is not a world class defender when surrounded by regular players.