I had quite the same reaction, about Ohno playing in a FW-crowded team... It has to be said, though, that, although she was played as a FW at Olympics, Ohno can also play as attacking midfielder/wing midfielder. It can seem strange but, if I am not wrong, she was listed as a MF at the last Nadeshiko League Awards. Anyway I wondered if Ohno's recruit couln't mean that some of the OL FWs are maybe going to play elsewhere (NWSL in USA? Otaki back to Japan? )
well, the girl who falls off the end of the bench is ami, but to fuel all the wild speculation possible (that's what we're here for, no?) ELS has just become sponsor of the training academy at rennes in her "native" brittany*, lotta may be getting ready for new pastures (she never played in the US despite having been drafted quite high for the WPS) and lara may be tired of being a deluxe sub... and she went to OSU and loves the states. so a departure or two just may happen. *actually born in grasse on the cote d'azur but has a strong bretonne identity.
I am surprised that OL is recruiting extra attacking midfields as well. I tought a few defenders are out of contracts soon and might not stay (Viguier, Franco, Renard and Georges) ?
If wild speculation has to be... I was wondering if INAC couldn't have asked something in return for Ohno...
i think the necessary effort will be made to ensure keeping wendie, even if the competition to sign her will be strong. viguier and georges are both players PL can imagine doing without; sabrina will be 32 next month and laura was nearly let go last summer. franco's recent appearance on OLTV leads one to believe that she may leave this summer... my little finger tells me for juvisy. laura agard is doing great and is probably second in the pecking order after wendie right now. and crazy me i am still convinced rapinoe will line up often as a fullback which at OL is an attacking position. but if all the players whose contracts end this summer leave (and rapinoe does as announced) lyon will need to find at least two defenders, as i am not aware of anyone in the academy ready to step up at that position.
this link which still works for the moment but which is no longer directly visible on olweb says : which seems to indicate the arrivals aren't going to stop with ohno and rapinoe and will include a defender. thank you santa! more as concerns defenders, noemie carage and eve perisset are both at camp for preparing the second half of the season, and both listed as defenseuses... which is kind of a silly thing to say about little eve but carage just may be ready to fill in some next year.
Noemie Carage is this player that I saw in France U-17 World Cup winning side? I didn't follow all of the matches, but it didn't seem to me that she was playing DF at WWC...
Indeed I think 3 out of those 4 players will leave, that's why I thought OL woudl get some quality defenders as a priority as all the attacking players have more or less extended their contracts already.
that's the one. she's listed as left or central defender, and in azerbaijan she was generally on the left.
she's not mentioned in the last batch of resignings, but then neither is lotta and i know she's under contract until 2014. i can't find info on when her contract ends but in any and all cases she will probably retire in 2014 so it's time to prepare.
she has even been iffy about future coaching positions (a lot of fans in lyon see her as the successor to lair) because #1, 2 and 3 on her agenda are get a family started.
I just read that Sonia's contract is up at the end of the season, I hope she resigns for at least another year. I would hate to see her retire when she is still so fit to play.
i finally found that schelin's contract is up in june too, and it's only an "option" until 2014... which can mean anything. hard for me to see sonia leave too, but something tells me she'll resign at for another year. but i don't see her going anywhere else.
How often does Lara Dickenmann play? Only time I get to see Lyon is WCL final once in a blue moon find some link for a match.
Here you go all her stats thanks to footofeminin.fr Regarding those OL out of contracts player, we could end up with all of them except Bompastor going to PSG. You'd think Schelin would fit well with Horan and Asslani.
M = matchs = games Tit = titularisation = starts B= buts = goals Intercontinental is the Mobcast Cup probably
I confirm, because the data are correct: she played both matches in Mobcast Cup, but just one as a starter, and she scored twice, vs NTV Beleza (in the final match, instead, she hit the crossbar in the 2nd half).
beyond the stats which shlj offers, i can add that lara is very much the 12th woman in the sense of a basketball 6th man. if she doesn't start she will always be warmed up at HT (if not before!) to bring her special vivacity to bear against tired legs. whether she is happy with this status i don't know, but it certainly doesn't stem from a lack of consideration from her coach. apparently schelin already turned down PSG last summer but this year i tend to agree more with you. she will go where the money is and i think PSG will make the bigger effort. franco i see more going to juvisy than PSG, unless thiney makes a move. viguier's future is wide open; she's still good enough to be a sub for PSG, or continue at lyon, but could also end up at a club where she'd be more important, which would be a good thing for the league in general; too bad her first club TFC is going down, but she's a native of rodez, and they're coming along nicely. or she may just retire; she'll be 32 in january, and is a certified public school teacher. georges is parisian and started out at PSG, but i would think only one between her and renard would be allowed to leave : if they can't manage to hang onto wendie... but she's the big prize, and i think the future of the tug o' war between the two clubs depends much on who signs her.
With all the transaction talk, you knew that I was going to ask you about this, right? You think that PSG will shell out the big bucks to acquire Wendie or will Lyon likely hold on to her?
Besides the money question there is also a coaching question : would some players like to be coached by Benstiti or Lair ? Many clearly said Lair by extanding their OL contract, others might vote with their feet.