Okay, so we're now over 75% of the way through the full NWSL season and our poor Breakers are not having a good time. Here're my thoughts on our roster as it stands today: (Players ordered based on when they joined the team; numbers from NWSLFL, thus they don't include games since 7/18) O'Reilly - 4 goals, 1 assist; would be nice for us to stop using her as a utility player, as she's strongest as an outside mid and I hate seeing her up front or on our backline Evans - 2 assists; having a good sophomore season; I feel like we play better when she's there, but I've gotta run those numbers Whitehill - despite the occasional Adventures of the Attacking Center Back, I really love Cat and think she's not only our strongest defender but one of the strongest players we've got Sanderson - 4 goals, 1 assist; I wish we could see her up front more. I know we drafted a bunch of rookie forwards, but man is she wasted in midfield (even though she does well there, I'd really rather see her up front) Lohman - 1 goal; I don't like her as a DM (does anyone know what her particular midfield position is, I thought I'd heard that she wasn't naturally a DM) Schoepfer - 2 goals; not my favorite of our players, but until Ezurike's back up to snuff, I don't think she'll be going anywhere. Her lack of speed is what nags me. D'Agostino - According to the NWSLFL stats in the 373 minutes she's played, she's committed 9 fouls and sustained 1, as well as earning 1 yellow card. Not my favorite feature of a sub we've got, frankly. Even Courtney Jones has a lower fouls/minute ratio (15 committed in 801 minutes, though also with 4 yellow cards). King - 1 goal, 1 assist; man, this kid. I think her conversion to center back has been working very well even though we really needed her as fullback (in my opinion), and I'm glad she's on our team. Naeher - 74 saves, 35 goals conceded; oh keeper, my keeper! Honestly, I think she's so under appreciated and I think we got SO lucky getting her. Avant - meh. The only stat of note is that in 778 minutes she's earned 2 yellow cards and basically done nothing else (both committed and sustained 11 fouls). I feel better with her at fullback than with some of our other options, though. Jones - 3 goals, 1 assist; I actually didn't hate her on our back line, but man I'm glad she's back up front. Wouldn't change a thing. Mewis - 1 assist; horrifically underwhelming sophomore season for me, good goodness. I feel like I spend a lotta time begging her to do something... Stewart - Meh. I'm glad she's allocated and thus paid for, but I'd rather have the open roster spot to do something else with her. She's played 366 minutes over 7 games, 5 of which she started. I'm not a fan. Ezurike - 2 goals; yes. Yes yes yes. I don't know why Durkin isn't working with her more (I mean, maybe he is, but it's not translating into minutes!) but my god I love her. Reeves - 5 goals, 1 assist, 1 hat trick; one of four players to score an NWSL hat trick and the others were Sydney Leroux (vs. last year's Chicago Red Stars), Carli Lloyd (vs. last year's Washington Spirit), and Christine Sinclair (vs. this year's Boston Breakers). A damn good group to be a part of, I think. I hope it's not my bias, but I do think that achieving that hat trick versus this year's Portland Thorns (albeit before Vero-Morgan-RVH-Heath) is more impressive than some of the others--on par with Syd's from last year). Pathman - 1 assist; How she's played 1117 minutes, I won't even know. I guess that's the curse of defense? I barely notice her. She's been converted from a forward though, so major props there. I prefer her as a fullback to Washington. Kranich - I wish I had something to say! Having not seen her in NWSL, I can't make any direct comparisons. I know that the Boston Reserves had an undefeated WPSL season and she was their starting keeper, so that's something there. Washington - Oh. My. God. I feel like I scream and yell about her every feckin' game. She doesn't move! She doesn't run! She stands and walks and then runs. STOP WATCHING THE BALL. Please god, can we trade her now? Sierra - Kid's a bit foul happy (13 committed, 2 sustained in 868 minutes--most @ the Spirit, though), but I'm fine with her so far. That wasn't a PK last night. Wood - No stats on NWSLFL yet because she had her first Breakers game last night, but I thought she did well? Keep: O'Reilly, Evans, Whitehill, Sanderson, Lohman, King, Naeher, Jones, Ezurike, Reeves Meh: Schoepfer, Avant, Mewis, Pathman, Kranich, Sierra, Wood Trade/Waive: D'Agostino, Stewart, Washington Durkin's not workin'. We've got some phenomenal players, but there's no connection. Our team isn't playing *together* and that's the issue.
I agree, but disagree. She is Boston's best defender, but Boston's defense is terrible. She's not the player she used to be. On a team with a good defense... heck a team with a mediocre to terrible defense, she wouldn't even be a starter and none of the other defenders would even make a team other than Washington who's desperate for defenders. She's the best player on the team. I don't think she's wasted in midfield at all, cause if she were to play forward there'd be nobody to get her the ball. She just needs the support of better players around her. I thought she'd get that with HAO and Mewis, but it hasn't been the case this season. She's a DM or a defender. She's a good keeper, but just like Harris in Washington, not good enough to hide the deficiencies of the back line. Jones was terrible as a center back. She's much better as an attacker. Keep: O'Reilly, Sanderson, Naeher, Reeves Keep but only because of Sanderson: Lohman Meh: Schoepfer, Mewis, Pathman, Jones, Ezurike, D'Agostino Trade/Waive: Stewart, Washington, Whitehill, King, Sierra, Evans, Avant Too soon to decide: Wood, Kranich Fire: Billiard, Durkin Disagree. The team is substandard pretty much top to bottom other than a few good players. That is the GM's fault. He needs to go and fans stop blaming the coach for his ineptness. Not saying Durkin's great by any means (you can see I listed him under fire), but Billiard needs to go.
Having watched the Thorns/Breakers game close up on Sunday, I was very impressed with Sanderson. I felt she was the best Breakers player on the field, always scary. I also felt that Schoepfer was a problem for the Thorns in the first half. In the second half, I didn't notice her, but then in the second half I didn't notice many of the Breakers except for Sanderson. I'm not sure it showed in the broadcast, but after the game I noticed Sanderson flat on her back on the field for about five minutes. She looked spent, but also greatly disappointed. She's a warrior!
holden, I appreciate all the discussion!! I'll concede the point on Sanderson, she wouldn't have anyone to feed balls to her, so keeping her in midfield is the best bet for the Breakers at the time. I still disagree a bit on Whitehill, but I understand what you're saying. I think that Naeher and Harris are doing a lot better than some people are giving them credit for. Their back lines suck so much. With regards to 'keep but only because of Sanderson', I don't think that's quite a factor anymore. Supposedly they've broken up. I wouldn't be surprised to see Lohman traded to the Spirit (she was raised in Maryland). If you're going to get rid of Whitehill, King, Washington, Sierra, and Avant (hey look, every defender we've got!) who would you be looking to? According to Billiard on twitter big changes are coming but he's staying on. He then joked 'sorry to disappoint' and I was sad.
He drafted Reeves, Ezurike and Pathman - all of whom have gotten a lot of playing time despite finishing school. He didn't have much choice trading Syd for Mewis as Syd was making it clear she was unhappy in Boston.
Oh, well if they broke up, then she goes on my Trade/Waive list. I just hadn't heard that they had. Well, I would probably look to internationals for it, since the US doesn't seem very strong in that regard. Boston will have all 3 of it's international spots back for next season. So if they keep Ezurike, they'll still have 2 that could be used to bring in some solid defenders. I would also look to draft strong defenders in the draft. She probably won't still be available for their 1st round pick (which is now reported to not be the #1 overall), but someone like Abby Dahlkemper would be a great pick.
I should hope so, why would he draft them if he is not gonna play them. But really, all that is is a sign of how poor the team is, not how good those players are. I don't know why everyone always brings that up in defense of him. As I've already said, that's the only trade he's done that I actually thought was decent. He got 4 players for 1: Syd for Mewis, Betos, Seattle's 1st round pick, and Seattle's 2nd round pick. Sure those picks are now going to be the last of the round (but who really thought Seattle was gonna dominate this way?). But they still aren't a bad return. That 1st round pick could net them Sam Mewis. The problem is all the other trades he has made. Their #1 overall pick in this years draft (which could've been Morgan Brian) was traded away for Lisa De Vanna (source). And Lisa De Vanna was traded for Bianca Sierra and Washington's 3rd and 4th round picks. So they in essence traded Morgan Brian for Bianca Sierra (who was undrafted!!!!!!). That alone should get the GM fired. And if the ownership doesn't see that as a reason to fire him, they are beyond help.
If you also factor in how Leroux is performing her sophomore season (may have had better numbers in Boston), this trade is looking like one of the better one. Come to think about it, Boston problem is not generating offense. The problem is defending.
Exactly. They had the 2nd best offense last year. But because of the defense ended up out of the playoffs. Sure, this year the offense is down, but the defense is even worse. Last year they allowed 1.55 goals/game, this year it's up to a staggering 2.39 goals/game. No other team is allowing an average of more than 2 goals/game (Washington, the 2nd worst is at 2 goals/game exactly).