One of the better game I have seen this team play. Both teams put on a clinic on how to pass and play attractive soccer. Though at times it did get frustrating when I felt they were giving FCKC too much space and not pressing enough. It seems after the slow start offensively this season Harvey have found an offensive lineup that works. By starting Bullock at the 6, Fishlock is now even more free to help up offensively and that has paid dividends for everyone especially Little. Another change that I like is moving Fletcher to right back and having her up in the offense. I think defensively Reed might be a tad better than her at that position but her advantage is her contribution up top is better. Crosses that she used to play as CB is now more deadly coming from the wing. I'm mightily impressed with her ability to get off quality crosses while on the run or under pressure. Speaking of right wing, Mathias started the season fine but have steadily being in decline. I therefore won't be overly shocked if we see Reed starting for her at right forward in coming games. Watching MM, she has the speed but lacks composure in the box and is too foul happy. Reed for her part has impressed me greatly in the last three games that she has come on as an offensive sub. She's playing confidently and bring speed and pressure late in games when needed. It also must be confusing for defenders as to think you have two Kim Littles running around as they both look so similar. In the defense, I'm still not convinced with Corsie or Kopmeyer but for now it's not affecting us too much. Overall I'm just glad that the team is hitting stride at the right time as we will soon be moving into the difficult stretch of the season with NTs returning. For the Reign this is happy news as well as we get Hope and Pinoe back but also the unknown that is Veje.
Lol, I always found funny how similar Little and Reed are, especially from a distance (i.e. watching a match). Do you really think opponents can be mislead?
Seattle took advantage of having a mostly intact team during the WC stretch to move up in the standings. Just one more game to go, then they get two in-form players back for the second half of the season. And luckily for them, it's against the team they demolished in the opener.
Agreed. The departure of other NT players have been good for the growth of Seattle. I like that Harvey didn't use the opportunity to run up the score (so to speak) but rather focus on working on different lineups and tactical plans at the risk of potentially losing points. This is the luxury the team didn't have last year as every time they step on the pitch, they HAD to win and at the end of the day it was what that hurt them in the playoffs. Down the stretch they became so predictable and you can go so far as say one dimensional. This year and this team have so many different options to work with as the players have shown incredible growth and versatility. Last year there would have been no way Harvey would have trusted Bullock to play a full game let alone in the middle of the park given her the amount of responsibilities we have seen so far this season. For that reason, she has improved her performance every game. Than there is Fletcher switching over to RB quite seamlessly. Reed is another player who you could blindly pencil into the starting lineup last season but she did show signs early in the season of struggling on the right side with Mathias. I'm glad Harvey saw that and made a change. She have been coming on as a sub and have had more impact than Mathias. I con honestly say I won't be too shock if we see Reed start at RF in the next match to potentially light a spark under Mathias. We already saw Harvey sub her in very early (60th minute) than she normally does in the last match.
Out of curiosity.. Why weren't the Reign impacted as much as other teams? I thought every NWSL team had three USWNT and up to two CANWNT and MEXWNT players. What happened to the Reign's Canadian and Mexican allocated players?
Player allocation has shifted A LOT over the years (see here). Seattle didn't have any Canadian or Mexican allocated players this year, and traded Leroux for rights to Wambach.
The simple answer is they weren't allocated any. I don't know if this is true for the Canadians but I know the Mexican players are only allocated if the team wants them. So Seattle may not have wanted any Canadian or Mexican players
Thanks to you both. I was under the mistaken impression that the allocation was an annual thing.. Obviously yanking a player away from their current team isn't going to happen, but I figured unattached WNT would end up at teams that were missing players. Guess the Reign "lucked out" on that front.
I was under the impression that they had wanted Moscato back, but Canada wouldn't allocate her. She still seems on good terms with Seattle, so it would seem strange to me if Seattle hadn't wanted her back...
Well if they really wanted her they would have signed her similar to what they did with Winters and Cox. So no I do not think Moscato was in their plans. Remember even when she was further along into her recovery last year and had even played some minutes, she was place on the season ending injury list (instead of Frisbie who had zero chance of playing) to sign Hein. I think that was a sign that her time was done at the club. I can also remember she and Leroux having a twitter exchange where if you read between the lines it seemed like she was moving on.
I think it was more that the Reign did not want to pay for her to play there rather than not wanting her at all. I'm sure they would have been more than happy to have her if the CSA paid her salary. However, I can also see why the CSA would be reluctant to allocate her back to the Reign since it didn't seem like she would be getting much in the way of playing time.
If this was any other year I say Seattle can carry her on the roster if CSA was paying her salary. However being a world cup year with players being away, I can't see how they could have rationalize her occupying a spot on a roster that is already small to begin without taking account the players that were departing for the world cup, Carm included. That would have just been a waste. I do not think Seattle is that cheap.
It doesn't make sense to sign her a la Winters/Cox as that would be a wasted salary with her still being on the Canadian team and missing a large part of the season. Plus that is a wasted international slot. If she was an allocated player she costs nothing, they'd have her back for the rest of the season now, and they could've used an amateur call up while she was away. I know she's just going to be a backup for the team, but just like them trading for Brooks, she'd be one of the best backups in the league.
I get that but my point was I don't even think she would have made this team as a backup. I don't see Harvey as the kind of person who will carry a player on a team that wasn't in their plans just because she was free.
Why not? It's not like Carm is awful... she still is good enough to be a backup for the CanWNT. And, as the team stands with Fletcher playing RB, who even is their CB backup?
Cruz, Barnes, Fletcher and Corsie are the CB. Which begs the question, if Harvey really wanted Carm, she could have signed her instead of Cruz. It's not like Cruz has been playing any minutes anyway while the world cup is going on.
Haven't commented in here for a long time. The season started off shaky but you can see the flow coming back into Harvey's system. I like that she's mixing it up because when the playoffs roll around, the team will be less predictable and we'll have given a lot of the squad minutes beforehand. I'd say we, and Chicago, have put ourselves in prime position for when the NT players return and ultimately, the playoffs.
When the Nigerians finally start playing for Washington, I think they will be scary at least on the offensive end. Can you imagine an attack including Dunn, Ordega, Okobi, Raso (don't know much about her though)? That is some serious firepower
Kim Little have won the player of the month for June. I did not see that coming. Congrats to #ReignFC's own @kimlittle16 on being voted June's @NWSL Player of the Month! 👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/ts3zBR3Ofa— Seattle Reign FC (@reignfc) July 2, 2015 Katrine Veje as reported at the time of signing arrived somewhere in the US yesterday. Look who is here! Please join us in welcoming Katrine Veje, #ReignFC's newest player, to the Emerald City! 👋 pic.twitter.com/BnsKXjUATL— Seattle Reign FC (@reignfc) July 2, 2015 Is it me or does she look a bit like Mia Hamm without makeup?
Now that we are all hopefully back down to earth, I'll try to keep this place active. First thingsfirst, congrats to Solo and Rapinoe on their world cup championship. Some people at times rightfully get the feeling that some NTers do not take NWSL very seriously so it was nice to see that Solo and Rapinoe forewent the joys of a Taylor Swift concert (this statement is 100% sarcastic) to fly across the country to attend the game. I recommend watching this post match conference from Rapinoe as it encapsulates the entire world cup experience rather well.