2015-2016 Breakers offseason

As I said before:

He's done a good job with the non-roster related things. But the roster is not quality enough, it's really unrealistic to expect Durkin, let alone anyone, to put that roster in the playoffs. It's a bit of a cliché, but they need to build a team with a solid spine. Kallman is a good start, but King is not impressive at CB (IMHO, even Wood is better. King's alright as an outside back though). Schoepfer is not a DM. None of the Brazilians have stepped up to be that #10/CAM that the team needs. Their MF is just so weak; everything ends up going through Mewis, which makes it fairly easy to defend.

 

who picked the players?

that person needs to go.

 

The GM is ultimately responsible for the players on the team.

 

I have no particular axe to grind with Billiard and don't know what he deserves credit for and what blame he deserves. However, I DO know Lee Billiard did not build the academy program. Breakers bought (merged with, whatever) the Scorpions which was already an ECNL Club which boasted the Mewis sisters among others (Meehan twins now at BC eg) as their alums. Scorpions was one of the top two clubs for girls in Massachusetts (both eventually became ECNL clubs) during the early 2000's through 2011 or 2012 while Billiard coached at what was a distant third or lower club (MPS). So you can give him credit for the merger/acquisition but the Scorpions now Breakers program was built by others (and in decline when acquired.) He may have improved it since it was acquired after the downturn; I honestly don't know. Scorpions now Breakers was built primarily by Coach Fred Marks - an infamous coach in Massachusetts - not Billiard.

 

Then you should learn what the GM is... The GM is the one responsible for player personnel. Sure, scouts and coaches can advise, but as I said, he is ultimately responsible for all those decisions. Do I need to remind you off all the bad trades he's made? All the draft picks wasted? Additionally, he is the one responsible for firing Lisa Cole and the subsequent hiring of Tom Durkin. If he's done all that, and you're perfectly happy with his results, then how on earth can you want Durkin fired and not be perfectly satisfied with finishing in last place?

 

the team is the worst thing about the breakers. isn't it?

whoever built it should not continue in the employ of the owner.

no?

 

You would think so, but not according to the majority of voters at The Bent Musket...

 

I was neither defending nor criticizing Billiard. Nor did I say Durkin should be fired. I was responding to Pressurecooker giving Billiard credit for building an Academy. Honestly I don't like to discuss people's careers here. I should have just stayed out of it rather than feeling the need to clarify.

 

Well, saying you don't have an axe to grind means you have nothing to complain about. Which would imply you are happy (well maybe happy is too strong, but at least satisfied) with his results. So, I was merely pointing out things to complain about. His job is GM. We know what the GM's primary responsibility is by definition and he has not been doing a good job of that.

Sorry, I just assumed you agreed with the majority of Boston fans (as evidenced in that poll) who think Durkin is the main problem.

 

Can anyone make sense of the trade the Breakers did yesterday? We gave away Lianne Sanderson for a player to be named later? Sound familiar? Didn't we do the same with Leroux? We need some (inter)national caliber talent on this team. It is painful to watch. I love how hard the Breakers play but when the other team has more players who are quicker, more skilled and more creative in their play, hard work doesn't cut it.

Remember the days when we had Maren Meinert, Angela, Lil, Lesley? It's also striking the number of players who are standouts in the league who cycled through Boston- like Keelin Winters.

 

No, they traded her for a draft pick. That's different than a player to be named later, as that would imply it's someone currently on the Seattle Reign roster. But it will be someone who graduates from college this school year.

No. This trade was a 1 for 1. Sanderson for 1 Draft Pick. The Leroux trade was a 4 for 1 trade, that got turned into a 5 for 1 after trading Betos to Portland, but then to 4.5 to 1 after trading for McCaffrey.

This is how it worked out:

from Boston	from Seattle	from Portland	from WNY	from Draft	from Chicago
Leroux	Mewis
	Betos	2014 4th Round		Kimberly DeCesare
		2015 2nd Round		Jamia Fields
	2015 1st Round				Stephanie McCaffrey
2015 2nd Round
	2015 2nd Round		Amy Barczuk

When you look at all that they got for Leroux, the Sanderson trade looks downright awful.

 

Good points made. Bottom line, there is something not clicking with this organization. Whether it warrants individual or more likely collective blame, it isn't acceptable or explainable on the surface.

I get that "they" are on a "3 year plan" to develop both on and off the field but for the most part it strikes me as being more excuse than plan.

 

Well see, the thing is when you have difficulty bringing in elite players what you have to do is get the promising young players in the draft. You look at their move for McCaffrey, and while sure she's a promising player, they gave up what would be Daniel Colaprico and Sophia Huerta for her. And then when Boston finally did draft they picked Jamia Fields who they didn't even sign out of camp and she ended up going to WNY. Their next pick was Samantha Lofton. Would it surprise you to know she's not on the team either? And their next pick was Bianca Brinson. Also not with the team. It isn't until you get to the 4th round that the Breakers actually drafted someone who made the team. This was one of the deepest drafts in WoSo history and Boston was #2 in the draft order. And all they got out of it was McCaffrey and Stephanie Verdoia. That's not how you do it.

 

Boston had 6 picks in each of the past 2 drafts (including McCaffrey this year). In total half were on their opening day rosters their rookie season, including the 2 this year. Of the 4 in '14, three are still with the team. That is total of 5 picks for the past 2 drafts still with the team. McCaffrey and Pathman ('14) have played all games this year and started all but 2. GK Kranich has been the sub for Naeher. But Ezurika the first round pick in '14 has played 11 games this year, starting 3, and Verdonia has played in 7 games, starting one. So only one starter from each of the past 2 drafts.

PS- Boston got Marlborough and Kallman in the O'Reilly trade to KC. Kallman has started every game this year and Marlborough played 15, starting 8 and scoring 3 games. O'Reilly has scored 2 goals in her 7 games at KC. Not a bad trade considering O'Reilly asked to be traded.

 

Yeah, I actually think that's the best trade they've done (The Leroux trade was 2nd best). But the funny thing is that they traded away their 1st round draft pick to KC, which KC would use to draft Kallman, for Courtney Jones and KC's first round pick. So the net trade result is that they got KC's first round pick (that they used for Ezurike), Jones, and Marlborough for O'Reilly. Which doesn't look as good a deal, especially since Jones retired, but it's still not horrible.

 

http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2015/aug/27/nwsl-womens-soccer-world-cup-usa


This article has been posted in other threads, but as it relates to Boston.

WARNING- CONTAINS MASSIVE UNDERSTATEMENTS

"Needing Intervention
How bad does a team need to get before looking for a major overhaul? That is the question the Boston Breakers will need to answer before next season. The Breakers have won just four games in 19 this season. Perhaps worse, they more often than not haven’t even looked competitive in games.

The glaring culprit is their defense. They’ve allowed a whopping 42 goals in 19 games. That is the most in the league by a margin of 12 and cause for some lopsided, demoralizing score lines like their 3-1 loss to the Reign on Wednesday.

Boston’s scoring record is average – three teams have been worse at finding the back of the net than the Breakers and most the teams that are better at scoring are only marginally so. That makes the defense’s stats all the more concerning.

If not the defense, the spotlight may fall on Tom Durkin’s record since taking over in 2014. The Breakers fired their previous coach, Lisa Cole, in the middle of the inaugural NWSL season, at the time saying it was necessary as the team pushed to reach the playoffs. But the team’s performance has been worse under Durkin, who has a winning percentage is .270 to date compared to Cole’s .425 during her shortened season.

The Breakers have at times appeared to be on the losing ends of transfer deals, particularly an usual one this month where Boston sent English forward Lianne Sanderson to Portland, but Seattle served as the middleman and gave less to Boston than they got from Portland. Boston will need to be a bit more shrewd if they hope to pull off the sort of transformation Harvey did."

 

New name for the Harvard soccer/lax pitch:
http://gocrimson.com/sports/wsoc/2015-16/releases/20150909_Jordan_Field

 

Well, that's shorter and easier to say/type than "Soldiers Field Soccer and Lacrosse Stadium." So I'm all for it. (Though would still rather see the Breakers play at Ohiri Field)

 

And Durkin is now out as head coach and takes a coaching role in the academy.

http://www.bostonbreakerssoccer.com/home/893205.html

 

"“An immediate search for a new head coach has started,” Billiard said “It is important we get this right as we have great ambitions in the coming years."

Uh huh.

 

The fact that Durkin remains working for the team is just sad. He should've been unceremoniously fired months ago. You have to wonder what is up with the ownership when they're happy to let Billiard continue to run this train wreck.